Spark plug and method of manufacturing the same

1. A method of manufacturing a spark plug, the method comprising the steps of:

providing a firing pad, a ground electrode, and a metallic shell;

directing a first laser beam from a laser beam welder to a first welding site that is at or near an interface between the firing pad and the ground electrode and attaching the firing pad to the ground electrode with a first laser weld; and

directing a second beam from the laser beam welder to a second welding site that is at or near an interface between the ground electrode and the metallic shell and attaching the ground electrode to the metallic shell with a second laser weld, wherein the first laser beam and the second laser beam are both emitted using the same laser beam welder.

2. The method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the firing pad is a thin firing pad made of a precious metal material, and the method further comprises attaching the thin firing pad to the ground electrode with the first laser weld which extends from a sparking surface of the firing pad, through the thickness of the firing pad, across the interface between the firing pad and the ground electrode, and into a body of the ground electrode.

3. The method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the firing pad is a thin firing pad made of a precious metal material, and the method further comprises attaching the thin firing pad to the ground electrode with the first laser weld which is an annular weld formed inboard of a peripheral edge P of the firing pad.

4. The method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the laser beam welder includes a high energy density fiber laser, and the method further comprises attaching the firing pad to the ground electrode with the first laser weld which is a key-hole laser weld that initially starts as a temporary cavity and is then filled in with molten material from at least one of the firing pad or the ground electrode that flows into and solidifies in the temporary cavity.

5. The method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the ground electrode is made of a nickel-based material with greater than approximately 20 wt % chromium (Cr), and the method further comprises attaching the ground electrode to the metallic shell with the second laser weld which penetrates into the ground electrode and extends to an outer surface of the ground electrode.

6. The method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the ground electrode is made of a nickel-based material, and the method further comprises attaching the ground electrode to the metallic shell with the second laser weld which includes a plurality of weld segments that extend back and forth across the interface between the ground electrode and the metallic shell.

7. The method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the laser beam welder includes a high energy density fiber laser, and the method further comprises attaching the ground electrode to the metallic shell with the second laser weld which is a key-hole laser weld that initially starts as a temporary cavity and is then filled in with molten material from at least one of the ground electrode or the metallic shell that flows into and solidifies in the temporary cavity.

8. The method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the laser beam welder includes a programmable focusing optic (PFO) assembly, and the method further comprises using the PFO assembly to direct the first laser beam to the first welding site to create the first laser weld and using the PFO assembly to direct the second laser beam to the second welding site to create the second laser weld.

9. The method as set forth in claim 8 , wherein the firing pad, the ground electrode, and the metallic shell generally remain stationary while the PFO assembly changes the direction of the laser beam from one of the first or second welding sites to the other of the first or second welding sites.

10. The method as set forth in claim 8 , wherein the method further comprises using the PFO assembly to direct the first laser beam to the first welding site at an orthogonal angle and using the PFO assembly to direct the second laser beam to the second welding site at a non-orthogonal angle.

11. The method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises directing the first laser beam to the first welding site and attaching the firing pad to the ground electrode with a first laser weld formed according to a first laser intensity or energy, and directing the second laser beam to the second welding site and attaching the ground electrode to the metallic shell with a second laser weld formed according to a second laser intensity or energy, and the second laser intensity or energy is greater than the first laser intensity or energy.

12. The method as set forth in claim 1 , further comprising:

resistance welding the firing pad to the ground electrode prior to applying the first laser beam, and then reinforcing the resistance weld by directing the first laser beam through at least a portion of the resistance weld.

13. The method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the metallic shell and the ground electrode are oriented relative to the laser beam welder so that an inner surface of the ground electrode confronts the laser beam welder while the first and second laser beams are applied, and the first and second laser beams are applied when the ground electrode is in an unfinished state before a bending process is carried out to the ground electrode.

14. 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 made of a precious metal material being attached to the ground electrode, wherein an attachment between the firing pad and the ground electrode includes a first key-hole weld and an attachment between the ground electrode and the metallic shell includes a second key-hole weld.

15. The spark plug as set forth in claim 14 , wherein the firing pad is a thin firing pad with a greatest width dimension across a sparking surface that is at least several times larger than a greatest thickness dimension through the firing pad.

16. The spark plug as set forth in claim 14 , wherein the first key-hole weld comprises solidified material of the firing pad and of the ground electrode that, amid formation of the first key-hole weld, was driven into a temporary cavity created by vaporization via impingement of a first laser beam emitted to produce the first key-hole weld, and the second key-hole weld comprises solidified material of the ground electrode and of the metallic shell that, amid formation of the second key-hole weld, was driven into a temporary cavity created by vaporization via impingement of a second laser beam emitted to produce the second key-hole weld.

17. The spark plug as set forth in claim 14 , wherein at least a portion of the first key-hole weld extends from a sparking surface of the firing pad and penetrates entirely through a thickness of the firing pad, penetrates past a surface-to-surface interface between the firing pad and the ground electrode, and penetrates into the ground electrode.

18. The spark plug as set forth in claim 14 , wherein at least a portion of the second key-hole weld extends from an inner surface of the ground electrode and penetrates radially through a surface-to-surface interface between the ground electrode and the metallic shell.

19. The spark plug as set forth in claim 14 , wherein the second key-hole weld includes a stitch weld pattern with individual and discrete key-hole welds at the attachment between the ground electrode and the metallic shell.

20. The spark plug as set forth in claim 14 , wherein the attachment between the firing pad and the ground electrode includes a first resistance weld, and the attachment between the ground electrode and the metallic shell includes a second resistance weld.