A joining method involving a plastic stud protruding from one component fitting into a hole in the second component. The stud is deformed through the softening of the plastic to form a head which mechanically locks the two components together. It is a versatile technique benefiting from being quick, economical and consistent. Unlike welding techniques, staking has the capacity to join plastics to other materials (e.g. metal) in addition to joining like or dissimilar plastics and it has the advantage over other mechanical joining methods in eliminating the need for consumables such as rivets and screws.

In heat staking, a compression probe is heated to form a head on a thermoplastic stud. This widens the application of staking to a broader spectrum of thermoplastic materials than is possible with cold staking, including glass-filled materials. The quality of the joint is dependent on control of the processing parameters: temperature, pressure and time - a typical cycle time being between 1 and 5 seconds. Heat staking has the advantage that parts can be disassembled. It also has the flexibility to allow the simultaneous formation of a large number of studs and to accommodate a variety of stud head designs.
Related to contact welding, this technique is used to weld larger parts, or parts that have a complex weld joint geometry. The two parts to be welded are placed in the tooling attached to the two opposing platens of a press. A hot plate, with a shape that matches the weld joint geometry of the parts to be welded, is moved in position between the two parts. The two opposing platens move the parts into contact with the hot plate until the heat softens the interfaces to the melting point of the plastic. When this condition is achieved, the hot plate is removed, and the parts are pressed together and held until the weld joint cools and re-solidifies, which creates a permanent bond.
In ultrasonic welding, high frequency sound waves (20 kHz and above) are used to melt the materials to be joined. Localized melting may be accomplished with designing an energy directing tip into the one of the parts being welded.
This is the plastic welding technique that makes use of a specially designed heat gun (hot air welder) to produce a jet of hot air that softens the parts to be joined, as well as a plastic weld rod. Hot gas welding is a common fabrication technique for manufacturing smaller items including and not limited to chemical tanks, heat exchangers, and plumbing fittings. The materials being welded and the welding rod must be of the same or very similar plastic. Welding PVC to acrylic is an exception to this rule.
This is the process whereby a clip style fastener is attached to a sub-assembly component by means of a mechanical installation tool. The installed clip provides the attachment mechanism for joining components into a final assembly. Clips are normally used for non-structural attachments and are often found as the preferred method of attaching automotive interior trim panels and decorative accessories.

Nut install equipment is similar except that the fastener is threaded. This attachment mechanism is used when the sub assembly requires the attachment strength of a steel, nylon or plastic threaded fastener.
Injection molded products require trim equipment to remove excess material at the injection point where molten plastic was inserted into the tool to mold the part. Depending on the part and mold design, the equipment requirements can range from simple manual equipment to complex automated systems requiring precision tooling.
Is a mechanical fastening method that uses a rivet. This type of fastener is normally described as a cylindrical shaft with heads on either end. The heads are somewhat larger than the diameter of the hole into which the rivet has been inserted. Generally one head is factory formed. The other is formed by clinching metal after the rivet has been inserted. This is normally accomplished with a die over the end to be clinched and by squeezing the rivet and work together with a press. Presses for this type of application are usually pneumatic.
This process is used extensively to affix decorative components to automotive, heavy truck and recreational product bodies. The process involves the surface preparation and affixing of the components by means of glue or permanent tape. The press equipment is normally designed and built to accommodate a specific part design and allows for repeatable installation of items such as molded logos, striping, and related trim items.