Spark plug having firing pad

1. A spark plug, comprising:

a metallic shell having an axial bore;

an insulator having an axial bore and being disposed at least partially within the axial bore of the metallic shell;

a center electrode being disposed at least partially within the axial bore of the insulator;

a ground electrode being attached to the metallic shell; and

a firing pad having a sparking surface surrounded by a peripheral edge and being attached to the center electrode or to the ground electrode with a weld so that the firing pad is exposed to a spark gap, wherein the weld includes one or more fused portion(s) on the sparking surface with an overall fused area that is located largely or entirely inboard of the peripheral edge of the firing pad.

2. A spark plug as defined in claim 1 , wherein the firing pad is a thin pad that has a greatest width dimension (W) that is at least several times larger than a greatest thickness dimension (T).

3. A spark plug as defined in claim 1 , wherein the sparking surface includes one or more first unfused portion(s) located at the peripheral edge and the weld includes one or more first fused portion(s) located entirely inboard of the first unfused portion(s), and the first fused portion(s) are configured to follow the shape of at least a section of the peripheral edge to prevent lifting of the firing pad at the peripheral edge.

4. A spark plug as defined in claim 1 , wherein the weld includes one or more fused portion(s) with a weld starting point and a weld stopping point, and the fused portion(s) cross over the peripheral edge of the firing pad so that at least one of the weld starting point or the weld stopping point is located outboard of the peripheral edge and does not reside on the sparking surface of the firing pad.

5. A spark plug as defined in claim 1 , wherein the weld includes one or more fused portion(s) produced by a laser beam applied to a point on the sparking surface of the firing pad and moved around to encircle the point and make multiple overlapping weld pools in a circular or ring shape.

6. A spark plug as defined in claim 1 , wherein the weld includes a first fused portion located largely or entirely inboard of the peripheral edge and a second fused portion located largely or entirely inboard of the peripheral edge, and the first and second fused portions are separate fused portions that cross one another at an overlapping fused junction located on the sparking surface of the firing pad.

7. A spark plug as defined in claim 1 , wherein at least one of the fused portion(s) has a width value (W 1 ) ranging between approximately 0.14 mm and approximately 0.30 mm, inclusive.

8. A spark plug as defined in claim 1 , wherein the firing pad is a thin pad made of a noble metal-alloy material that includes at least one noble metal selected from the group consisting of: iridium (Ir), platinum (Pt), palladium (Pd), ruthenium (Ru), or rhodium (Rh).

9. A spark plug as defined in claim 1 , wherein the weld includes one or more fused portion(s) with an overall fused area that is located entirely inboard of the peripheral edge of the firing pad, and the sparking surface includes one or more unfused portion(s) located between the peripheral edge and the fused portion(s).

10. A spark plug as defined in claim 2 , wherein the firing pad is attached to the center electrode or to the ground electrode with a keyhole weld that is formed by a fiber laser and penetrates entirely through a thickness of the firing pad and through a surface-to-surface interface (S) between the firing pad and the underlying center or ground electrode.

11. A spark plug as defined in claim 3 , wherein at least one of the first unfused portion(s) has a width value (W 2 ) ranging between approximately 0.03 mm and approximately 0.08 mm, inclusive.

12. A spark plug as defined in claim 3 , wherein at least one of the first unfused portion(s) has a width value (W 2 ) that is greater than or equal to approximately 10% of the average thickness of the firing pad.

13. A spark plug as defined in claim 3 , wherein at least one of the first unfused portion(s) has a width value that is less than or equal to approximately 50% of the width of a laser beam used to form the weld that attaches the firing pad to the center electrode or to the ground electrode.

14. A spark plug as defined in claim 3 , wherein the one or more first fused portion(s) include a plurality of discrete and individual fused portions that are short linear weld segments generally arranged as one or more broken line(s) located entirely inboard of the peripheral edge.

15. A spark plug as defined in claim 3 , wherein the weld further includes one or more second fused portion(s) located inboard of the first fused portion(s) and near a center of the sparking surface, and the second fused portion(s) are configured to prevent bowing of the firing pad at the center.

16. A spark plug as defined in claim 6 , wherein the first and second fused portions are linear fused portions that extend between different corners of the firing pad, and the first and second fused portions are generally configured so that they are perpendicular to one another and form a V-, Y- or X-shape on the sparking surface of the firing pad.

17. A spark plug as defined in claim 6 , wherein the weld further includes third and fourth fused portions, the first and third fused portions extend across the sparking surface of the firing pad and are generally parallel to one another, the second and fourth fused portions extend across the sparking surface of the firing pad and are generally parallel to one another and perpendicular to the first and third fused portions, and the fused portions are generally configured so that they form a grid-like arrangement on the sparking surface of the firing pad.

18. A spark plug as defined in claim 17 , wherein each of the first, second, third and fourth fused portions crosses over the peripheral edge of the firing pad so that at least one of a weld starting point or a weld stopping point for each fused portion is located outboard of the peripheral edge and does not reside on the sparking surface of the firing pad.

19. A spark plug as defined in claim 17 , wherein the first, second, third and fourth fused portions divide the sparking surface of the firing pad into at least nine separate and discrete unfused portions that are separated from one another and are generally the same size as one another.

20. A spark plug, comprising:

a metallic shell having an axial bore;

an insulator having an axial bore and being disposed at least partially within the axial bore of the metallic shell;

a center electrode being disposed at least partially within the axial bore of the insulator;

a ground electrode being attached to the metallic shell; and

a firing pad having a sparking surface surrounded by a peripheral edge and being attached to the center electrode or to the ground electrode with a weld so that the firing pad is exposed to a spark gap, wherein the weld includes one or more fused portion(s) on the sparking surface located inboard of the peripheral edge and the sparking surface includes one or more unfused portion(s) located along the peripheral edge so that a majority of the peripheral edge is unfused.

21. A spark plug electrode assembly, comprising:

an electrode; and

a firing pad attached to the electrode with a weld, and the firing pad having a sparking surface surrounded by a peripheral edge and the weld having a fused portion on the sparking surface with a weld starting point and a weld stopping point, wherein the weld starting point, the weld stopping point, or both are located outboard of the peripheral edge and reside on the electrode, and the sparking surface includes an unfused portion located along the peripheral edge.