Coating apparatus and coating method

Abstract

This application relates to a blade coating apparatus and coating method. The apparatus includes: a cavity; an air inlet unit, including at least an air inlet pipe, for introducing reactive gas into the cavity; a heating unit, including at least a heating wire disposed within the cavity, for heating the reactive gas; a fixing unit disposed within the cavity for fixing the blade, so that both sides of the blade are exposed to the reactive gas, and both sides of the blade are coated simultaneously when the heating unit heats the reactive gas; and a vacuum unit for adjusting the vacuum level within the cavity. Using a heating wire as the heating unit and coating through the pyrolysis of the reactive gas avoids blade dulling caused by high temperature or high-energy particle bombardment, thus improving blade sharpness. The fixing unit exposes both sides of the blade to the reactive gas, enabling simultaneous coating on both sides. This achieves efficient, low-cost, and low-damage preparation of a uniform, robust, waterproof, and non-stick functional film layer on the blade surface.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of coating technology, and in particular to a blade coating equipment and coating method. Background Technology

[0002] Various cutting tools, such as surgical blades, razor blades, high-frequency electrosurgical electrodes, PCB solder paste scraping blades, industrial adhesive material cutting blades, CNC cutting tools, and agricultural trenching knives, are prone to surface adhesion to materials during actual use. For example, when shaving or cutting hair, skin oils, dander, and hair debris can stick to the blade surface, increasing friction and affecting smoothness. When surgical blades and high-frequency electrosurgical units cut tissue, blood, soft tissue, and other substances can easily adhere and form eschar, affecting the clarity of the surgical field and potentially causing secondary tissue damage. In industrial applications, when cutting adhesives, resins, tapes, foams, or high-temperature alloys, residues can firmly adhere to the cutting edge and sides, leading to increased cutting resistance, decreased machining accuracy, and even forcing frequent machine shutdowns for cleaning or blade replacement, severely impacting production efficiency and product quality.

[0003] To overcome the aforementioned adhesion problems, existing technologies have proposed preparing functional coatings with hydrophobic, oleophobic, and low surface energy properties on the blade surface. These coatings allow liquids or semi-solid substances such as water droplets, oil stains, blood, and adhesives to form spherical shapes on the blade surface and easily roll off, achieving a "self-cleaning" or "non-stick" effect. Various coating methods and equipment are already used for blade surface treatment, such as physical vapor deposition (PVD), chemical vapor deposition (CVD), dip coating, spraying, and spin coating.

[0004] However, existing blade coating equipment still has the following shortcomings in practical applications: (1) Low clamping efficiency makes it difficult to achieve batch coating. Blades are usually thin and require uniform coverage of functional film layers on both sides or the entire circumference. Existing equipment mostly adopts single-sided batch coating or uses complex fixtures, which not only takes a long time to clamp, but also makes it difficult to guarantee the consistency of the blade edge and the film thickness on both sides, affecting the reliability of the hydrophobic and anti-stick effect.

[0005] (2) Potential damage to the blade substrate and cutting edge. Some coating processes (such as high-temperature PVD or plasma treatment) require high substrate temperature or high-energy particle bombardment, which can easily cause the already sharpened blade edge to become dull, softened by tempering, or deformed by thermal stress, reducing the initial sharpness and service life of the blade.

[0006] (3) The equipment has a complex structure and is difficult to operate and maintain. To meet the requirements of blade clamping and uniform coating, existing equipment often requires complex rotating mechanisms, multi-station transmission systems or large vacuum chambers, resulting in large equipment footprint, high energy consumption, short maintenance cycle, and high skill requirements for operators. Summary of the Invention

[0007] To address the aforementioned technical problems, this application provides a blade coating apparatus, comprising: cavity; An intake unit, including at least an intake pipe, is used to introduce the reaction gas into the chamber; A heating unit includes at least a heating wire disposed within a cavity for heating the reaction gas; The fixing unit, located inside the cavity, is used to fix the blade so that both sides of the blade are exposed to the reaction gas. When the heating unit heats the reaction gas, both sides of the blade are coated simultaneously. The vacuum unit is used to adjust the vacuum level inside the cavity.

[0008] In one embodiment, the air intake unit further includes a gas distribution pipeline disposed within the cavity and connected to the air intake pipeline to diffuse the reactant gas into the cavity.

[0009] In one embodiment, the fixing unit includes a blade holder, in which uncoated blades are placed and both sides of the blade to be coated are exposed outside the blade holder.

[0010] In one embodiment, the fixing unit is used to fix multiple blades, and the heating unit includes multiple heating wires, wherein the multiple blades are arranged in the same direction as the multiple heating wires.

[0011] In one embodiment, the temperature range of the hot filament includes 300°C to 800°C.

[0012] This application also provides a blade coating method, including the following steps: Pre-treat the blades; The blade is placed in the blade coating apparatus described in any of the above, and a first coating process is performed to deposit a transition layer on the blade; A second coating process is performed to deposit a fluorine-containing functional layer on the blade.

[0013] In one embodiment, pretreatment of the blade includes cleaning with a cleaning solution, the cleaning solution including hydrochloric acid and nitric acid, the cleaning temperature range including 70°C to 90°C, and the cleaning time range including 10 min to 20 min.

[0014] In one embodiment, during the first coating process, the vacuum level inside the cavity is less than 10. -4 Pa, hot wire temperature range includes 300℃~600℃, reaction gas flow range includes 100sccm~1000sccm, cavity pressure is less than or equal to 1000Pa, and blade temperature range includes 20℃~60℃.

[0015] In one embodiment, when performing the second coating process, the vacuum level inside the cavity is less than 10.-4 Pa, hot wire temperature range includes 300℃~800℃, reaction gas flow range includes 100sccm~1000sccm, and cavity pressure is less than or equal to 1000Pa.

[0016] In one embodiment, the transition layer comprises polymethacrylic acid and the reactant gas comprises polymethacrylic acid vapor; the transition layer comprises glycidyl methacrylate and the reactant gas comprises glycidyl methacrylate vapor; the fluorinated functional layer comprises polytetrafluoroethylene and the reactant gas comprises hexafluoropropylene oxide.

[0017] According to the blade coating equipment and coating method provided in this application, a hot wire is used as the heating unit, and coating is carried out through pyrolysis reaction gas, which avoids blade dulling caused by high temperature or high energy particle bombardment and improves the sharpness of the blade. By fixing the unit, both sides of the blade are exposed to the reaction gas, realizing simultaneous coating on both sides of the blade, shortening the coating time of the blade on both sides, ensuring the consistency of film thickness on both sides of the blade, and realizing the preparation of a uniform, firm waterproof and non-stick functional film layer on the blade surface in a high-efficiency, low-cost and low-damage manner. Attached Figure Description

[0018] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with this application and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of this application.

[0019] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the blade coating apparatus according to an embodiment of this application; Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the blade coating apparatus according to an embodiment of this application; Figure 3 This is a flowchart of a blade coating method according to an embodiment of this application; Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the contact angle test of the coated blade according to an embodiment of this application.

[0020] Figure Labels 10. Cavity; 21. Air inlet pipe; 22. Gas distribution pipe; 31. Hot wire; 32. Electrode; 41. Blade box; 50. Vacuum unit; 60. Blade. Detailed Implementation

[0021] To better understand the above-mentioned objectives, features, and advantages of this application, embodiments of this application will be further described below. It should be noted that, unless otherwise specified, the embodiments and features described herein can be combined with each other.

[0022] Numerous specific details are set forth in the following description to provide a thorough understanding of this application, but this application may also be implemented in other ways than those described herein. Clearly, the embodiments described in the specification are only a portion of, and not all, of the embodiments of this application.

[0023] To address the shortcomings of existing blade coating equipment, this application provides a blade coating device, referring to... Figures 1-2 As shown, it includes: Cavity 10; The intake unit includes at least an intake pipe 21 for introducing the reaction gas into the cavity 10; The heating unit includes at least a heating wire 31, which is disposed inside the cavity 10 and is used to heat the reaction gas; A fixing unit is set inside the cavity to fix the blade 60 so that both sides of the blade 60 are exposed to the reaction gas. When the heating unit heats the reaction gas, both sides of the blade 60 are coated simultaneously. Vacuum unit 50 is used to adjust the vacuum level inside cavity 10.

[0024] In one embodiment, the number of inlet pipes 21 is equal to or less than the number of types of reactant gases. Specifically, when one type of reactant gas is introduced, only one inlet pipe 21 is required; when two types of reactant gases are introduced, it is preferable to provide two inlet pipes 21. If the two reactant gases do not react at room temperature, only one inlet pipe 21 may be provided. When multiple types of reactant gases are introduced, it is preferable that the number of inlet pipes 21 corresponds one-to-one with the types of reactant gases. Alternatively, different types of gases can be introduced into the cavity 10 through the same inlet pipe 21. The cavity 10 is used to provide the coating reaction space.

[0025] In one embodiment, each intake pipe 21 is equipped with a flow controller (not shown) to regulate the flow rate of the reactant gas.

[0026] Optionally, the air intake unit also includes a gas distribution pipe 22, which is disposed inside the cavity 10 and connected to the air intake pipe 21 to diffuse the reaction gas into the cavity 10.

[0027] In one embodiment, refer to Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, each gas distribution pipe 22 includes one inlet and multiple outlets. The inlet is connected to the end of the inlet pipe 21, and the multiple outlets can be set at different positions in the cavity 10 to achieve diffusion of the reaction gas within the cavity 10. Specifically, the end of the inlet pipe 21 is usually set above the hot wire 31, and the outlets of the gas distribution pipe 22 are set around the hot wire 31 to facilitate the pyrolysis of the reaction gas.

[0028] In one embodiment, the heating unit is used to provide the temperature required for the pyrolysis reaction gases. (See reference...) Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, the heating system consists of multiple parallel-arranged heating wires 31, which are equally spaced inside the cavity 10. Figure 1 In the embodiment shown, the heating wire 31 is arranged in a direction parallel to the length direction of the cavity. Figure 2 In the illustrated embodiment, the heating filament 31 is arranged in a direction parallel to the height direction of the cavity. (Refer to...) Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, the two ends of each set of hot wires 31 are connected to the power supply through electrodes 32. The temperature of the hot wires 31 is controlled by adjusting the power supply output to achieve the temperature required for coating.

[0029] In one embodiment, the temperature range of the hot filament is 300°C to 800°C. When coating is performed by hot filament CVD, the temperature of the hot filament 31 is usually below 800°C, preferably 300°C to 600°C. At this temperature, the blade temperature is maintained at 20°C to 60°C, avoiding the influence of high temperature on the blade. Coating by hot filament CVD pyrolysis reaction gas also avoids the influence of high-energy particle bombardment on the blade, thereby preventing the blade edge from becoming dull, softened by tempering, or deformed by thermal stress, and ensuring the sharpness of the blade.

[0030] In one embodiment, refer to Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, the fixing unit includes a blade material box 41. The blade body, which does not require coating, is placed inside the blade material box 41, while both sides of the blade 60 to be coated are exposed outside the blade material box 41. By exposing both sides of the blade 60 to be coated outside the blade material box 41, simultaneous coating on both sides of the blade can be achieved. This shortens the coating time on both sides of the blade, ensures the consistency of the film thickness on both sides, and improves the reliability of the blade's hydrophobic and anti-sticking effect.

[0031] In one embodiment, the blade holder 41 can simultaneously hold multiple blades 60, enabling batch double-sided coating of blades. (Refer to...) Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, the number of hot wires 31 and the spacing between adjacent hot wires 31 can be designed to match the size of the cavity 10 and the size of the blade box 41. The arrangement direction of the multiple blades is the same as the arrangement direction of the multiple hot wires. Figure 1 In the illustrated embodiment, multiple blades 60 and multiple hot wires 31 are arranged parallel to the length direction of the cavity, with a blade holder 41 for fixing the blades 60 provided only on one side of the hot wires 31. Figure 2 In the embodiment shown, multiple blades 60 and multiple hot wires 31 are arranged in a direction parallel to the height direction of the cavity, and blade boxes 41 for fixing the blades 60 are provided on both sides of the hot wires 31.

[0032] By optimizing the arrangement of the blade feed box, batch double-sided coating of blades can be achieved without the need for flipping or complex motion mechanisms. Adjusting the blade feed box allows the blade coating equipment to accommodate blades of different materials, sizes, and shapes, improving production flexibility and market responsiveness.

[0033] In one embodiment, the vacuum unit 50 includes a vacuum pump, such as a dry pump or a molecular pump, connected to the chamber 10 via a valve, and configured with an ionization gauge to monitor the pressure inside the chamber 10. Before introducing the reactant gas, the vacuum unit 50 maintains a vacuum level of less than 10 within the chamber 10. -4 When the reaction gas is introduced for coating, the pressure inside the cavity 10 is maintained at less than or equal to 1000 Pa by the vacuum unit 50.

[0034] The blade coating equipment provided in this application uses a hot filament as the heating unit and performs coating through pyrolysis reaction gas, avoiding blade dulling caused by high temperature or high-energy particle bombardment and improving blade sharpness. A fixing unit exposes both sides of the blade to the reaction gas, enabling simultaneous coating on both sides, shortening the coating time, ensuring consistent film thickness on both sides, and allowing for batch coating of multiple blades simultaneously. The blade coating equipment provided in this application can efficiently, cost-effectively, and with minimal damage, prepare a uniform, robust, waterproof, and non-stick functional film layer on the blade surface.

[0035] This application also provides a blade coating method based on the above-mentioned blade coating equipment, referring to... Figure 3 As shown, it includes the following steps: Step S1: Pre-treat the blade; Step S2: The blade is placed in the blade coating equipment and the first coating process is performed to deposit a transition layer on the blade; Step S3: Perform a second coating process to deposit a fluorine-containing functional layer on the blade.

[0036] First, perform step S1 to pre-treat the blade.

[0037] In one embodiment, the blade pretreatment method includes, but is not limited to, cleaning, plasma treatment, and high-temperature treatment. Cleaning includes using a cleaning solution comprising hydrochloric acid and nitric acid, with a cleaning temperature range of 70°C to 90°C and a cleaning time range of 10 to 20 minutes. Specifically, a solution with a volume ratio of HCl:HNO3:H2O = 1:1:1 is used as the cleaning solution, the cleaning temperature is controlled at 80°C, and the blade surface is etched for approximately 15 minutes. Then, it is ultrasonically cleaned with deionized water and anhydrous ethanol, and dried for later use. This cleaning method effectively removes cobalt (Co) from the blade surface, preventing its graphitization in the subsequent deposition process of the catalytic functional layer.

[0038] Next, step S2 is performed, where the blade is placed in a blade coating equipment and a first coating process is performed to deposit a transition layer on the blade.

[0039] In one embodiment, the transition layer includes a polymeric material transition layer containing specific groups. The specific groups refer to groups containing carboxyl, amino, hydroxyl, pyridyl, etc. The polymeric material transition layer containing specific groups includes, but is not limited to, polymethacrylic acid (PAA), polyglycidyl methacrylate (PGMA), polyhydroxyethyl methacrylate (PHPMA), polyamino acrylate (PAAM), and poly4-vinylpyridine (P4VP).

[0040] In one embodiment, the pre-treated blade is placed in the blade hopper of the blade coating equipment, exposing the blade to be coated. Both sides of the blade are exposed outside the blade hopper, and the surface of the blade to be coated faces the hot wire. Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown. The vacuum unit is activated, and a vacuum is created inside the chamber to a degree less than 10. -4 Pa. Start the heating unit and adjust the power output to maintain the hot wire temperature at 300℃~600℃. Start the air intake unit to introduce the reactive gas corresponding to the formation of the transition layer into the cavity. Maintain a certain pressure within the cavity and a certain temperature on the blade. The transition layer is deposited on the blade. After a certain deposition time, turn off the hot wire power to end the transition layer deposition. Specifically, when the transition layer is polymethyl methacrylate (PAA), the introduced reactive gas is methyl methacrylate (MAA) vapor, with a gas flow rate ranging from 100 sccm to 1000 sccm, a cavity pressure less than or equal to 1000 Pa, and a blade temperature ranging from 20℃ to 60℃. When the transition layer is glycidyl methacrylate (PGMA), the introduced reactive gas is glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) vapor, with a gas flow rate ranging from 100 sccm to 1000 sccm, a cavity pressure less than or equal to 1000 Pa, and a blade temperature ranging from 20℃ to 60℃.

[0041] Next, step S3 is performed to perform a second coating process to deposit a fluorine-containing functional layer on the blade.

[0042] In one embodiment, the fluorinated functional layer includes, but is not limited to, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), perfluoropolyether (PFPE), and a fluorinated copolymer film formed by copolymerization of at least two fluorinated monomers.

[0043] In one embodiment, the vacuum unit is activated to evacuate the cavity to a vacuum level of less than 10. -4Pa. Start the heating unit and adjust the power output to maintain the hot wire temperature below 800℃, preferably 300℃~600℃. Start the gas inlet unit to introduce the reactive gas corresponding to the formation of the fluorinated functional layer into the cavity. Maintain a certain pressure within the cavity and continue depositing the fluorinated functional layer on the blade with the already deposited transition layer. After a certain deposition time, turn off the hot wire power to end the fluorinated functional layer deposition and complete the blade coating. Specifically, when the fluorinated functional layer is polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), the introduced reactive gas is hexafluoropropylene oxide (HFPO) gas, with a gas flow rate ranging from 100 sccm to 1000 sccm, and the cavity pressure less than or equal to 1000 Pa. The thickness of the PTFE layer deposited on the blade ranges from 400 nm to 600 nm.

[0044] In one embodiment, refer to Figure 4 As shown, after a 500 nm polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) film is formed on the blade, its contact angle is approximately 137°, indicating good hydrophobicity.

[0045] According to the blade coating method provided in this application, a transition layer and a fluorine-containing functional layer are sequentially deposited on the blade using a blade coating equipment. The transition layer and the fluorine-containing functional layer are firmly bonded and are not easily peeled off under repeated cutting and scraping conditions, thus extending the effective period of the anti-sticking effect and reducing the frequency of blade replacement.

[0046] It should be noted that, in this document, relational terms such as "first" and "second" are used merely to distinguish one entity or operation from another, and do not necessarily require or imply any such actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. Furthermore, the terms "comprising," "including," or any other variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not expressly listed, or elements inherent to the process, method, article, or apparatus. Without further limitations, an element defined by the phrase "comprising one..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that includes said element.

[0047] The above descriptions are merely embodiments of this application, which enable those skilled in the art to understand and implement this application. Various modifications to the embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be implemented in other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of this application. Therefore, this application is not to be limited to the embodiments described herein, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A blade coating apparatus, characterized by, include: cavity; An intake unit, including at least an intake pipe, is used to introduce the reaction gas into the cavity; A heating unit includes at least a heating wire disposed within the cavity for heating the reaction gas; A fixing unit is disposed in the cavity to fix the blade, so that both sides of the blade are exposed to the reaction gas. When the heating unit heats the reaction gas, both sides of the blade are coated simultaneously. A vacuum unit is used to adjust the vacuum level within the cavity.

2. The blade coating equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that, The air intake unit further includes a gas distribution pipeline, which is disposed in the cavity and connected to the air intake pipeline to diffuse the reaction gas into the cavity.

3. The blade coating equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that, The fixing unit includes a blade material box, in which blades that do not require coating are placed, and both sides of the blades to be coated are exposed outside the blade material box.

4. The blade coating equipment according to claim 3, characterized in that, The fixing unit is used to fix multiple blades, and the heating unit includes multiple heating wires. The multiple blades are arranged in the same direction as the multiple heating wires.

5. The blade coating equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that, The temperature range of the hot wire is 300℃~800℃.

6. A method for coating a blade, characterized in that, Includes the following steps: Pre-treat the blades; The blade is placed in the blade coating apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, and a first coating process is performed to deposit a transition layer on the blade; A second coating process is performed to deposit a fluorine-containing functional layer on the blade.

7. The blade coating method according to claim 6, characterized in that, Pretreatment of the blades includes cleaning with a cleaning solution, which includes hydrochloric acid and nitric acid. The cleaning temperature range is 70℃~90℃, and the cleaning time range is 10min~20min.

8. The blade coating method according to claim 6, characterized in that, The vacuum degree in the cavity is less than 10 -4 The hot wire temperature range includes 300-600℃, the reaction gas flow range includes 100-1000sccm, the cavity pressure is less than or equal to 1000Pa, and the blade temperature range includes 20-60℃.

9. The blade coating method according to claim 6, characterized in that, The vacuum degree in the cavity is less than 10 -4 The hot wire temperature range includes 300-800℃, the reaction gas flow range includes 100-1000sccm, and the cavity pressure is less than or equal to 1000Pa.

10. The blade coating method according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that, The transition layer comprises polymethacrylic acid, and the reaction gas comprises polymethacrylic acid vapor; the transition layer comprises glycidyl methacrylate, and the reaction gas comprises glycidyl methacrylate vapor; the fluorinated functional layer comprises polytetrafluoroethylene, and the reaction gas comprises hexafluoropropylene oxide.

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