Hemispherical Bonding Tip for Cooling Tower Fill Sheets
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for bonding film-type cooling tower fill sheets, such as chemical welding, snap buttons, rods, screws, and nails, face limitations including the need for solvents, additional parts, and difficulty in achieving a strong, uniform bond, especially in reaching interior sites, leading to weak pack structures.
Innovation Solution
A thermal bonding method using a hemispherical bonding tip with an insulating bushing and air pulse to bond multiple sheets simultaneously without a backing die, allowing for a full field of bonding sites and eliminating the need for solvents, with a device featuring a heater block, spring mechanism, and air conduit for efficient bonding.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If chemical welding is used to bond fill sheets, then bond strength is improved, but the process requires solvents and extensive curing time, making it unsuitable for on-site bonding
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces chemical welding with thermal bonding using a heated rod that melts the plastic material directly at the bond site. This substitution eliminates the need for chemical solvents and curing time, allowing immediate bonding strength without the time loss associated with chemical processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the bonding parameter from chemical reaction to thermal melting. By controlling the temperature of the bonding rod and the melting characteristics of the fill sheet material, the process achieves strong bonds without requiring solvent application or extended curing periods.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If existing thermal bonding methods are used, then solvents are eliminated, but satisfactory bond strength and interior site accessibility are difficult to achieve
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a hollow bonding rod that allows air to be injected through its interior. This dimensional change from a solid to a hollow structure enables air pressure to be applied from within the rod, forcing melted material into interior bond sites and achieving strong bonds in locations previously difficult to reach.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention uses pneumatic pressure by injecting air through the hollow bonding rod. This air pressure forces the melted fill sheet material into the bond site, ensuring complete bonding even in interior locations, while maintaining the solvent-free thermal bonding process.
3Productivity
If multiple sheets are bonded simultaneously without backing, then productivity is improved, but existing processes can only bond two sheets at a time with edge-only attachment
Solution Approach 1:
The bonding rod is designed to bond multiple sheets simultaneously by melting through the entire stack and allowing air pressure to force material into all bond sites within the pack. This multi-functional capability replaces the limitation of bonding only two sheets at a time, enabling full-field bonding of entire stacks in a single operation.
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
Enables strong, uniform bonding of fill sheets across all thicknesses and designs, improving the structural integrity of fill packs by ensuring every bond site is reached, reducing costs, and eliminating solvent use, while allowing on-site bonding.
Implementation Method 1
heating a hemispherical bonding tip to the melting point of the fill sheet
Implementation Method 2
the bond can cool
Implementation Method 3
providing a pulse of air through the bonding tip that pushes the melted sheets together
Data Source
Figure 1
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AI summary
A Thermal Bonding Method and Apparatus to thermally bond sheets of fill in a cooling tower fill pack. The apparatus creates a hemispherical joint extending through two fill sheets to provide a substantial joint between said sheets.