Fiber Yarn Coating Drum and Tapered Die for Uniform Thickness
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional coating machines for fiber yarns face issues such as deformation, uneven coating, and high costs due to wear of molding dies, especially when coating yarns with small diameters, leading to inefficiencies and machine downtime.
Innovation Solution
A coating machine with a drum-based coating device, a tapered thickness adjuster with diamond-like carbon coating, and a controlled heating and cooling system to ensure uniform coating and extended die life, reducing wear and costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If a molding die is used to adjust the thickness of plastisol on fiber yarn, then the coating thickness can be controlled, but the molding die is prone to plugging by fiber yarn and wear from friction
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the thickness control function from the molding die by introducing a separate doctor blade. The molding die is now only responsible for shaping the coating material, while the doctor blade independently controls the coating thickness by scraping excess material, thereby eliminating plugging and wear issues from the molding die.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention segments the coating process into distinct functions: the molding die handles material shaping, the doctor blade handles thickness control, and the heating device handles curing. This functional segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently, with the doctor blade being a simple, wear-resistant component for thickness control.
2Temperature
If a roller is used to press and cool the coated fiber yarn, then the yarn can be cooled after coating, but the pressure from the roller deforms the coated fiber yarn resulting in an elliptical cross-section
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of pressing the coated yarn against a roller surface that causes deformation, the invention inverts the approach by using a roller that rotates within a coating material reservoir. The coating material itself provides the cooling and shaping function, while the roller simply transports the yarn through the material without applying deforming pressure.
3Ease of operation
If a pellet extruder is used to coat fiber yarn with extruded plastic material, then coating is more convenient, but small diameter yarns deform and it is hard to control central location of the yarn in the coated layer
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies local quality by using a doctor blade that contacts only the surface of the coating material to scrape off excess. This localized action ensures uniform thickness control across the yarn surface without affecting the overall coating process or yarn positioning, maintaining both convenience and precision.
4Duration of action of stationary object
If the molding die is made of platinum or diamond to lengthen its life, then wear resistance is improved, but the production cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the wear-prone function from the molding die by transferring the thickness control function to a doctor blade. The molding die now only performs shaping, which requires minimal wear resistance, allowing the use of cheaper materials while extending the overall system life.
Solution Approach 2:
The doctor blade is designed as a simple, inexpensive component that can be easily replaced. This allows the use of a low-cost material for the thickness control function, eliminating the need for expensive platinum or diamond coatings on the molding die while maintaining system reliability.
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
The machine provides improved production efficiency and availability by ensuring uniform coating, reducing deformation, and extending the life of the molding dies, thus lowering production costs and maintaining coating quality.
Implementation Method 1
a shape-setting device disposed downstream of the thickness adjuster for setting the shape of the coated fiber yarn, the shape-setting device having a heating unit controllable to operate at a predetermined temperature for heating the coated fiber yarn
Implementation Method 2
a cooling device disposed downstream of the shape-setting device for cooling the coated fiber yarn
Data Source
AI summary
A coating machine for coating fiber yarns includes: a yarn supply device; a coating device including a tank, a drum rotatably disposed in the tank, and at least one annular groove formed circumferentially in an outer surface of the drum; a thickness adjuster disposed downstream of the coating device and including an adjuster support and at least one adjusting die mounted movably to the adjuster support, the adjusting die having a through hole, the through hole having an upstream inlet end and a downstream outlet end and being tapered from the upstream inlet end to the downstream outlet end; a shape-setting device disposed downstream of the thickness adjuster and having a heating unit controllable to operate at a predetermined temperature; a cooling device disposed downstream of the shape-setting device; and a yarn pick-up device disposed downstream of the cooling device.