EP3517263A1 - Applicator for activating a functional layer of a coating material and method - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention discloses one for activating a functional layer of a coating material (8), comprising: a base body having at least one cavity therein, which may be at least partially filled, and a guide configured to guide a coating material (8) the base body is configured to allow a flow through the at least one cavity with a fluid and / or a fluid-solid mixture.

Description

Subject of the invention

The present invention relates to an applicator for activating a functional layer of a coating material. In addition, the present invention relates to a device for activating the functional layer of the coating material, a method and a use of a fluid and / or a fluid-solid mixture.

State of the art

It has proven useful to coat cutting surfaces of plate-shaped workpieces, so-called workpiece surfaces, with an approximately strip-like coating material. On the one hand, the narrow surface can be adapted to the properties of the workpiece surface of the workpiece without the need for time-consuming reworking. On the other hand, such a coating makes it possible to carry out the core of the workpiece with another, for example, more cost-effective or more stable material than the externally visible surfaces.

In order to bond the workpiece with the coating material, an adhesive or an adhesive is used. In this case, in particular, an adhesive is used which is activated by an energy input and only then can produce a reliable connection between two components (coating material and workpiece).

There are many ways to integrate this adhesive into the joining process. So that beats EP 1 163 864 B1 a method in which a plastic edge is coextruded with an adhesive layer. This bond between coating material and activatable functional layer (or adhesive layer) is then melted when applied to the workpiece by means of laser light in the region of the adhesive and pressed onto the workpiece.

Also known is the thermal activation of the functional layer by means of electromagnetic waves, in particular in the microwave spectrum. The use of electromagnetic waves in the microwave spectrum can have advantages in terms of accuracy and adaptability of the amount of energy in the functional layer.

However, there are challenges in the use of electromagnetic waves, because electromagnetic waves can have harmful effects. For this reason, the use of applicators is known in which the functional layer of the coating material is activated by the electromagnetic waves. These applicators are designed to shield the electromagnetic waves while the coating material is guided therein.

Using applicators, on the other hand, brings with it further challenges. The thermal energy input into the functional layer of the coating material can lead to particle-containing outgassing, which can be precipitated as soiling. Even dusty ambient air or abrasion of the coating material can lead to contamination. The contaminants can be applied both to a region of the applicator directly on the coating material and in a cavity of the Applicator, are passed through the approximately electromagnetic waves to the coating material.

Such contamination can lead to arcing, wherein such an arc can affect the energy input into the functional layer of the coating material and in the worst case can destroy the applicator and / or the edge band.

It is known that contaminants in the applicator can be removed by means of a cleaning process. However, the cleaning process of the applicator is complicated and time-consuming, since the applicator can not be used during this time and an at least partial disassembly must take place. This requires not insignificant downtime.

Presentation of the invention

From the above, it has emerged as an object of the present invention to provide an applicator for activating a functional layer of a coating material, which can be cleaned in a less expensive and time-consuming manner.

As a solution, the present invention provides the applicator of claim 1.

The invention was based on the finding that the above-mentioned problems are mainly due to the fact that the known manual cleaning of the applicator requires that the applicator can not be used during cleaning.

Based on this it was recognized that the cleaning of the applicator by rinsing with a fluid and / or a Fluid-solid mixture can be done during operation of the applicator.

There is thus disclosed an applicator for activating a functional layer of a coating material, comprising: a base body having at least one cavity therein, and a guide configured to guide a coating material, wherein the base body is configured to flow through the at least one cavity to allow a fluid and / or a fluid-solid mixture and / or the base body is configured to allow a filling of the at least one cavity with a fluid and / or a fluid / solid mixture.

An applicator shown above can thus allow a flushing of the same, which prevents contamination and thus can prevent arcing. Thus, a cleanliness of the molten or meltable joining layer can be made possible.

In addition to the above-described purity of the Applikaots further advantages can be realized by the present invention. Furthermore, by flushing with a fluid and / or a fluid-solid mixture, a preheating / cooling of the functional layer can be achieved if the fluid or fluid-solid mixture is regulated to a specific temperature. Thus, the base body can be kept at an advantageous temperature, preferably cooled to the advantageous temperature. Also, pre-cleaning of the functional layer of the coating material prior to thermal activation is possible, for example, when the rinsing operation is performed at a position of the edge band where the edge band has not yet been heated.

Furthermore, the introduction of a reactive fluid and / or a reactive fluid-solid mixture for about the chemical activation of the functional layer is possible. For example, a 2-component adhesive may be mentioned here, in which one component forms the functional layer of the coating material and the other component is part of the reactive fluid and / or of a reactive fluid-solid mixture. Thus, the adhesive component of the coating material can be chemically activated by means of the fluid.

It is also possible to apply markings, for example for marking missing parts. For this purpose, the introduction of a fluid or fluid-solid mixture can be provided with coloring properties.

If the activation of the functional layer of the coating material requires a protective atmosphere, then this can also be provided by the fluid or fluid-solid mixture.

A targeted regulation or control of the process of energy input into the functional layer during the activation of the functional layer can be made possible by the flushing. If the energy input into the functional layer is made possible by means of electromagnetic waves, such as microwaves, for example, then the use of a fluid or solid mixture having dielectric properties can change the propagation of the electromagnetic waves such that a maximum of the wave propagates at a velocity in the propagation velocity electromagnetic wave is located. Thus, the efficiency of energy transfer into the functional layers can be maximized.

A pre- or post-treatment of the coating material is conceivable, for example by means of a chemical treatment thereof.

These are some advantages that result from the applicator shown in the foregoing.

The applicator preferably additionally has at least one preferably controllable or controllable fluid or fluid solids feed for supplying the fluid and / or a fluid-solid mixture into the at least one cavity and / or at least one preferably controllable or controllable fluid or fluid solids removal for discharging the fluid and / or the fluid-solid mixture from the at least one cavity.

Fluid or fluid solids feeds and / or fluid or fluid solids discharges may allow for well-controlled fluid or fluid-solid mixture rinse. This is possible both by means of manual adjustment of the rate of delivery or removal, as well as by a control thereof. This can be done, for example, to regulate the preheating / cooling shown in the previous, so to ensure optimal energy input into the functional layer.

More preferably, the applicator is an applicator that is configured to thermally activate a functional layer of a coating material by means of electromagnetic waves, even more preferably microwaves.

Electromagnetic waves, in particular microwaves, have proved to be particularly advantageous for heating functional layers of coating material.

The applicator may be even more preferably configured to electromagnetic waves within the cavity of the To guide main body to a functional layer of a coating material.

Thus, a shield for the electromagnetic waves can be achieved, further, the applicator is thus independent of spatial conditions at the installation.

Preferably, the applicator is configured such that the fluid and / or the fluid-solid mixture flows through a region of the applicator in which the guide is provided.

Contaminations can occur in particular on the coating material and thus on the guide, for example due to abrasion or outgassing during heating. The flow can thus dissipate such contamination in a particularly efficient manner and in particular keep the leadership of the applicator clean.

The present invention further provides a device for thermally activating a coating material, comprising: a generator for generating electromagnetic waves, in particular microwaves, and an applicator, as described above, which is designed to apply the electromagnetic waves generated in the generator to the coating material ,

The device is thus able to generate electromagnetic waves, in particular microwaves, and subsequently transfer these to a coating material while avoiding deposits of contamination.

Furthermore, the present invention provides a method of thermally activating a functional layer of a coating material, which method comprises Thermal activation of a functional layer of a coating material preferably by means of electromagnetic waves, in particular microwaves, and flowing through a cavity of the applicator with at least one fluid and / or a fluid-solid mixture, wherein the last two process steps preferably at least partially run simultaneously.

Preferably, this method is performed using an applicator as set forth above and / or using a device as shown above.

Furthermore, the present invention discloses the use of a fluid and / or a fluid-solid mixture for flowing through an applicator for thermally activating a functional layer of a coating material.

The use of the fluid and / or the fluid-solid mixture has as a technical effect to enable a simple and quick cleaning of the applicator.

Brief description of the drawings

Fig. 1 shows a sectional view of a preferred embodiment of an applicator according to the invention.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention

Fig. 1 shows a sectional view of a preferred embodiment of an applicator according to the invention. Applicator 10 is intended to be connected to a generator and a feed device (both not shown) that generates electromagnetic waves and directs them to the resonant cavity of the applicator. Furthermore is provided that these electromagnetic waves thermally activate a functional layer of a coating material 8.

As electromagnetic waves in this preferred embodiment, in particular microwaves in a frequency band between 2.4 GHz - 2.5 GHz are provided, but also the frequency band of 5.725 GHz - 5.875 GHz is conceivable for this purpose. This is provided for in the Radio Regulations of the Constitution and Convention of the International Telecommunication Union, an international treaty on radio frequency use as the ISM band (Industrial, Scientific and Medical Band) and thus also for such applications.

The applicator initially has a main body 13, which forms the structure of the applicator 10 and receives further elements thereof. Thus, in the base body 13, the cavity 14 is arranged, which in this preferred embodiment has a substantially rectangular shape along a propagation direction of the electromagnetic waves. In Fig. 2, this propagation direction of the electromagnetic waves is in the same direction as the introduction of the electromagnetic waves via a waveguide terminal 19, the introduction of the waves being shown here by reference numeral 17. Electromagnetic waves hit after the energy input into the coating material 8 on the absorption or reflection layer 18, which can absorb or reflect the electragnetischen waves. Depending on the specific application, both of these technical possibilities can represent preferred embodiments.

For guiding the coating material 8, a guide 11 is further provided, which can guide the coating material 8 and can wrap. This can be arranged removably in the base body and consists in the here illustrated embodiment of a dielectric such as polyethylene, PTFE or alumina. Thus, it is possible that electromagnetic waves provide a low energy input into the guide 11.

When using the applicator 10, various contaminants may occur. These impurities arise primarily on the coating material 8, for example by abrasion or outgassing during the energy input. However, other sources of contamination are conceivable, such as dust from the ambient air, which may occur at different locations of the applicator 10 in the cavity 14 of the body 13.

Among other things, for cleaning the cavity 14, a plurality of fluid or fluid-Feststoffgemischzuführungen 15a, .., 15g are provided. These supplies may supply the purge with a fluid and / or with a fluid-solid mixture. These elements, in the preferred embodiment shown here, are configured as nozzles which receive the fluid mixture from a storage facility such as a tank.

Similarly, in the illustrated preferred embodiment, multiple fluid or fluid-Feststoffgemischabführungen 16a, .., 16g are provided, which dissipate the fluid or the fluid-solid mixture. These elements are configured in the illustrated preferred embodiment as suction devices, which can absorb absorbed fluid and / or fluid-solid mixture in a collecting device, not shown.

These fluid / solid mixture feeds 15a, .., 15g and fluid / solid mixture discharges 16a, .., 16g can purge separate chambers 12a,..., 12g, although it is not absolutely necessary that all of them Chambers 12a, .., 12g be rinsed. It is preferred that at least a portion of these chambers is divided by partitions, in Fig. 1 represented by the dashed lines between them.

In Fig. 1 A cleaning fluid is introduced into the chamber 12d through the fluid-solid mixture feed 15d, which is formed as a nozzle in the present embodiment. This cleaning fluid may preferably consist of purified ambient air, which absorbs accumulating dust and is discharged together with this from the fluid or fluid-solid mixture discharge 16d. Thus, harmful deposits inside the body 13 of the applicator 10 are avoided. The chamber 12d is separated from the adjacent chambers 12c and 12e by means of the above-mentioned partitions, which are preferably made of a dielectric such as polyethylene, PTFE or alumina.

The impurities can be removed or discharged either directly, for example by means of direct flow, or indirectly, for example through a fluid vortex system.

In an alternative embodiment, the fluid introduced through the nozzle 15d consists of a reactive gas which combines with the expected deposits and is thus able to convert them into harmless or less harmful deposits.

In the in Fig. 1 1, a fluid-solid mixture with dielectric properties is introduced into the further fluid or solid-solid mixture feeds 15a to 15c and 15e to 15g in order to ensure a wave maximum of the electromagnetic waves on the coating material 8. As a fluid-solid mixture is an offset with alumina granules or powder ambient air intended. It may be preferable to provide an active control of the amount of fluid-solid mixture introduced in order to ensure an always optimal energy input into the coating material.

Not shown in Fig. 1 are more rinses with a fluid or with a fluid-solid mixture, these are in a plane outside the cutting plane, ie in front of or behind, arranged. Thus, any necessary surface coatings can be applied, which corresponds to a pre- and / or post-treatment of the coating material 8.

Examples of such a pretreatment are a chemical cleaning, a material removal of the coating material 8 before the thermal activation, a preheating by means of a tempered fluid, or the introduction of additional particles to assist an adhesion process of the coating material 8.

As an example of a post-treatment of the coating material 8, an optional loading of the coating material 8 with dyes may be mentioned, which may serve to apply markings to the coating material, such as for characterizing a defective part.

All of the above-described types of flushing of the applicator continue to form individually or in any combination thereof exemplary embodiments thereof. It will be appreciated that various flushes may be provided in an applicator and combined with each other as required.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

8th

coating material

10

applicator

11

guide

12a, .., 12g

chamber

13

body

14

cavity

15a, .., 15g

Fluid or fluid-solid mixture feed

16a, .., 16g

Fluid or fluid-solid mixture removal

17

electromagnetic waves

18

Absorption or reflection layer

19

Waveguide terminal

Claims (10)

An applicator (10) for activating a functional layer of a coating material (8) comprising: a base body (13) having at least one cavity (14) therein, and a guide (11) configured to guide a coating material (8), in which the base body (13) is configured to allow a flow through the at least one cavity (14) with a fluid and / or a fluid-solid mixture and or the base body (13) is configured to allow a filling of the at least one cavity (14) with a fluid and / or a fluid-solid mixture. The applicator (10) of claim 1, additionally
at least one preferably controllable or fluid-solid mixture feed (15a, .., 15g) for supplying the fluid and / or a fluid-solid mixture in the at least one cavity (14), and / or
at least one preferably controllable fluid or fluid-solid mixture removal (16a, .., 16g) for discharging the fluid and / or the fluid-solid mixture from the at least one cavity (14). An applicator (10) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein
the applicator (10) is configured to thermally activate a functional layer of a coating material (8) by means of electromagnetic waves, in particular microwaves or laser beams, or by means of heated ambient air. The applicator (10) of claim 3, wherein
the applicator (10) is configured to guide electromagnetic waves within the cavity (14) of the base body (13) to a functional layer of a coating material (8). An applicator (10) according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
wherein the applicator (10) is designed such that the fluid and / or the fluid-solid mixture flows through a region of the applicator (10), in which the guide (11) is provided. Device for activating a coating material (8), comprising: a generator for generating electromagnetic waves, in particular microwaves, and An applicator according to any one of claims 1 to 5, which is configured to apply the electromagnetic waves generated in the generator to the coating material (8). A method of activating a functional layer of a coating material (8), the method comprising the steps of: Activating a functional layer of a coating material (8) preferably by means of electromagnetic waves, in particular microwaves, and Flowing through a cavity (14) of the applicator (10) with at least one fluid and / or a fluid-solid mixture, wherein the previous two method steps preferably occur at least partially simultaneously. The method of claim 7, wherein
the method is carried out using an applicator (10) according to any one of claims 1 to 5 and / or using a device according to claim 6. Use of a fluid and / or a fluid-solid mixture for flowing through an applicator (10) for activating a functional layer of a coating material (8), preferably by means of a method according to one of claims 7 to 8. Use of a fluid and / or a fluid-solid mixture according to claim 9, wherein
the fluid or the fluid-solid mixture is used in a method according to one of claims 7 to 8.

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