Humans have been welding since the Bronze Age with evidence seen by ancient Egyptians who welded bronze, and later iron in the Iron Age, who made everything from cooking pots to weapons. This took a lot of physical strength because their welding technique meant hammering two pieces of metal together under heat until they joined. Fast forward to the 1800s, and welding as we know it came to be, meaning using an electrical arc to fuse metal together, which made the welding process significantly easier. But what about plastic welding? You might be surprised to learn that the birth of plastic welding machines was due to a combination of a shortage of metal resources and a discovery by German chemists right before World War II.<\/p>\n
The first record of plastic welding was in pre-WWII Germany when a shortage of non-ferrous metals (metals with no significant amount of iron that are more malleable) pushed Hitler’s chemists to find a substitute material. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC)<\/a>\u00a0 production increased significantly in the 1930s, and it didn\u2019t take long before researchers realized that PVC could easily be moulded and heat-formed to create multiple configurations and that it could be welded in very similar ways as metal. The birth of plastic welding had begun but was initially only used by Germany during WWII. During this time, the plastic welding machines were mostly in the form of fuel convection ovens, which were very basic. Infrared heating (IR) began being used at the start of WWII when it became clear that it was the fastest way to work with plastics, although the process was much more expensive. After the war, IR welding decreased, but in the 1990s IR welding became more popular thanks to a price decrease in the equipment used for IR plastic welding machines.<\/p>\n In 1956, the Soviet Union took the next step in the development of plastic welding machines with their experiments in friction welding<\/a> (heat generated through mechanical friction), which<\/u> is still being used today. American companies soon after realized the potential of friction welding, and some big name companies in welding and manufacturing started building their own friction-based plastic welding machines, and patents started to pour in from across the US and Europe.<\/p>\n Ultrasonic welding (heat generated from high-frequency mechanical motion) was the next big shift in plastic welding machines when hard plastics could be welded together using a more reliable, consistent, and repeatable method. In 1965, Robert Soloff, an American lab manager, accidentally made the discovery of ultrasonic welding when he unknowingly moved an ultrasonic probe close to\u00a0a plastic dispenser and the joint of the dispenser welded together. This discovery revolutionized the plastic welding industry because excessive heat was no longer the only option to meld plastics. Prior to ultrasonic plastic welding machines, items that were welded were heavy and unwieldy. But with this new form of plastic welding, much lighter items were now able to be welded, such as toys which happened to be the first industry to take advantage of ultrasonic welding.<\/p>\nThe 1950s<\/h2>\n
The 1960s<\/h2>\n
The 1970s and 1980s<\/h2>\n