Rotating Die Wheel Resin Transfer for Fastener Patterns
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for manufacturing fastener products, such as hook components of hook-and-loop fasteners, face challenges in efficiently producing fastener elements arranged in discrete areas with specific configurations, requiring improvements that are adaptable to current manufacturing methods and equipment without significant investments in new equipment.
Innovation Solution
The method involves using a rotating die wheel with extrusion orifices to transfer resin in discrete doses into a pressure nip between a mold roll and a counter-rotating pressure roll, allowing the resin to be laminated and molded into fastener elements with a base that interconnects the stems, enabling the formation of fastener products with discrete fastener elements arranged in specific patterns.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If continuous molten polymer is forced under high pressure into fastener cavities, then fastener elements are molded efficiently, but resin transfer patterns cannot be easily reconfigured and discrete area arrangements are difficult to achieve
Solution Approach 1:
The die wheel is segmented into multiple independently controllable extrusion orifices arranged in specific patterns. Each orifice can be individually activated or deactivated to create different resin transfer patterns, allowing discrete area arrangements without reconfiguring the entire mold system.
Solution Approach 2:
The system employs a rotating die wheel with variable speed control and adjustable orifice positioning. The rotational speed and orifice selection can be dynamically changed during operation to achieve different fastener element arrangements and patterns, providing adaptability without physical reconfiguration.
2Productivity
If high pressure is used to force molten polymer into cavities, then molding efficiency is maintained, but calender pressure requirements increase and material integrity may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
Resin is extruded through orifices in the die wheel before reaching the mold cavities, allowing preliminary shaping and distribution. This pre-positioning of resin reduces the pressure needed during the actual molding operation, as the material is already positioned and partially formed when it enters the cavities.
Solution Approach 2:
The die wheel acts as an intermediary device between the resin source and the mold cavities. It controls resin delivery in a regulated manner, distributing material evenly and reducing pressure spikes that would otherwise be transmitted directly to the mold system, thereby lowering calender pressure requirements.
3Manufacturing precision
If discrete doses of resin are transferred through a rotating die wheel, then fastener elements can be arranged in discrete areas with specific configurations, but resin delivery precision must be maintained
Solution Approach 1:
The die wheel serves multiple functions: it stores resin, meters discrete doses, positions elements in specific patterns, and controls delivery timing. This multi-functionality achieves precise fastener element arrangement through a single integrated component rather than multiple separate positioning systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The die wheel orifices are arranged to copy the desired fastener element pattern directly onto the mold roll. By positioning orifices in the same relative arrangement as the final product requires, the system transfers the pattern accurately without complex positioning mechanisms or multiple adjustment steps.
4Speed
If molten resin is applied to a moving surface, then high-speed production is enabled, but resin transfer timing and positioning must be precisely controlled
Solution Approach 1:
The die wheel rotates at controlled intervals, delivering resin in periodic doses that correspond to the rotational position. This periodic action synchronizes resin delivery with the motion of the mold roll, ensuring precise positioning even at high speeds, as each orifice delivers material at a specific point in the rotation cycle.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates speed synchronization between the die wheel and mold roll, where the rotational speed and position of the die wheel are controlled based on feedback from the mold roll operation. This feedback mechanism ensures that resin delivery timing and positioning remain accurate even as production speed increases.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach allows for high-speed production of fastener products with improved tear resistance and reduced calender pressure, enabling the use of lighter materials and rapid reconfiguration of resin transfer patterns, while maintaining the integrity of the carrier sheet.
Implementation Method 1
Moldable resin is extruded in discrete doses through an orifice defined in an outer surface of a rotating die wheel
Implementation Method 2
The extruded resin is transferred into the pressure nip and pressed into multiple cavities of the mold roll in the pressure nip
Implementation Method 3
The resin is laminated to a carrier sheet and pressed into multiple cavities of the mold roll in the pressure nip to form at least the stems of the fastener elements
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and machines for making fastener products having molded projections or other molded features carried on a surface feature transferring resin in discrete doses through an orifice defined in an outer surface of a rotating die wheel.