“Welded Cordwood,” Last Step in Conventional Circuits?

A technique of “3-D” welded-circuit assembly has been developed after more than three years of investigation at APL, producing electronic packages that may be hard to improve upon with conventional components. The Laboratory has been a leading proponent of this type of packaging, long recognizing the need for increased reliability, reduced size, and lighter weight. Development of the new technique was the work of the Laboratory staff, chief among whom were F. R. Muccino and co-workers, encouraged and assisted by R. T. Ellis and K. G. Dyer. The cooperation and efforts of Autonetics, Convair, General Electric, Hughes Aircraft, Sippican Corporation, Weldmatic, and WEMS, Inc., who were independently and simultaneously making studies in this field, made possible the rapid development of this process.