Patent 7364062 was granted and assigned to American Axle on April, 2008 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
A method of magnetically welding an end fitting to a metal tube includes assembling a driver ring over an end of the tube and inserting a length of the end fitting into a bore of the tube. An overlap region of the tube, the driver ring and the cylinder are encompassed by an inductor assembly of a magnetic pulse welding apparatus and the tube is welded to the end fitting using the magnetic welding apparatus.