Ed was reasonably correct. It is ultrasonic plastic welding. In a galaxy far far away I used to work at a company that made plotter pens and ink cartridges. I was the utility set up person. Some of the machines that were on site were injection molding, pad printing, and ultrasonic plastic welders. All machines could have made model railroad items! They also had a small workshop for making fixtures and small repairs etc. That is where I first used a metal lathe.
Pad printing was a persnickety beast. The ink viscosity changed by the minute as did the print quality. The pads were a silicone rubber that was creepy to touch. I also made nylon photo sensitive image plates for short run items. Most were an expensive hardened steel plate. The ultrasonic welders rubbed the 2 plastic pieces together so fast the plastic melted together at the contact points. A typical weld was no more than 3 seconds - most were 1 to 2 seconds. There was the frequency adjustment, and a very slight down pressure that pushed the pieces together as it welded. You had to balance between getting a complete even weld that held the ink without leaking and not create too much flash or distort the pieces. It was a piercing high pitched sound when it was a good weld. It was a very loud uncomfortable sound if something went wrong. The later SHS couplers were undoubtedly ultrasonic welded together. Thank You, Bill Lane Modeling the Mighty Pennsy & PRSL in 1957 in S Scale since 1987 See my finished models at: <http://www.lanestrains.com/> http://www.lanestrains.com Look at what has been made in PRR in S Scale! See my layout progess at: <http://www.lanestrains.com/My_Layout.htm> http://www.lanestrains.com/My_Layout.htm Custom Train Parts Design <http://www.lanestrains.com/SolidWorks_Modeling.htm> http://www.lanestrains.com/SolidWorks_Modeling.htm PRR Builders Photos Bought, Sold & Traded (Trading is MUCH preferred) <http://www.lanestrains.com/PRRphotos.xls> http://www.lanestrains.com/PRRphotos.xls ***Join the PRR T&HS*** The other members are not ALL like me! <http://www.prrths.com/> http://www.prrths.com <http://www.lanestrains.com/PRRTHS_Application.pdf> http://www.lanestrains.com/PRRTHS_Application.pdf Join the Pennsylvania Reading Seashore Lines Historical Society It's FREE to join! <http://www.prslhs.com/> http://www.prslhs.com Preserving The Memory Of The PRSL
