Movable Spray Head Coating Device for Vacuum Maintenance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing coating devices require significant downtime and complex maintenance procedures for replacing the injection head, as the entire system must be stopped, cooled, and ventilated, leading to substantial production losses and operational interruptions.
Innovation Solution
A coating device design featuring a movable spray head with a gas-tight removal chamber accessible from outside the vacuum chamber, allowing for maintenance without interrupting the vacuum, and a shutoff device to maintain chamber pressure, along with a high-temperature-resistant injector tube to prevent condensation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of repair
If the spray head is removed for maintenance from the vacuum chamber, then the spray head can be serviced, but the entire coating device must be stopped, cooled, and ventilated which causes significant production loss and operational interruption
Solution Approach 1:
The vacuum chamber is segmented into two separate spaces: the main vacuum chamber where coating operations occur and the removal chamber accessible from outside. This segmentation allows the spray head to be removed from the removal chamber without breaking the vacuum seal of the main chamber, enabling maintenance operations without stopping production.
Solution Approach 2:
The removal chamber acts as an intermediary space between the external environment and the vacuum chamber. It provides a transition zone where the spray head can be accessed, removed, and serviced while the main vacuum chamber maintains its vacuum seal, thus mediating between maintenance needs and vacuum integrity.
2Ease of repair
If the spray head is made movable between operating and removal positions, then maintenance can be performed without interrupting vacuum, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The spray head assembly is segmented into movable and fixed portions, allowing it to be positioned in operating or removal locations. This segmentation enables the spray head to be moved without requiring complex reconfiguration of the entire vacuum chamber system.
Solution Approach 2:
The spray head is designed with dynamic positioning capability, allowing it to move between operating and removal positions. This dynamic design enables flexible maintenance operations while maintaining a relatively simple overall structure compared to complete system reconfiguration approaches.
3Reliability
If the removal chamber is sealed off from the vacuum chamber, then vacuum integrity is maintained during spray head replacement, but the removal chamber requires additional sealing mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing mechanism is applied locally at the interface between the removal chamber and vacuum chamber, rather than requiring comprehensive sealing throughout the entire system. This localized sealing approach maintains vacuum integrity while minimizing the complexity of sealing mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The removal chamber serves as an intermediary space that is sealed off from the vacuum chamber, creating a barrier that protects the vacuum environment. This intermediary sealing approach maintains vacuum integrity without requiring complex sealing systems throughout the entire device.
4Reliability
If the injector tube is made high-temperature-resistant, then condensation of coating material is prevented, but the material selection is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The injector tube is designed with high temperature resistance properties, changing the thermal parameter of the component to prevent condensation of coating material. This parameter change ensures reliable operation across different coating materials while maintaining a focused material selection strategy.
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 quick and simple replacement of the spray head during operation, minimizing downtime and maintaining vacuum integrity, thus reducing production losses and operational interruptions.
Implementation Method 1
the coating material reaches a spray head, in which the two material wires form a cathode and an anode and are connected to an electrical DC voltage source, so that an electric arc is formed between the two material wires, as a result of which the coating material provided in the form of the two material wires is evaporated and/or liquefied
Implementation Method 2
the spray head is provided with a gas flow which conducts the evaporated or liquefied coating material to a crucible via an injector tube
Implementation Method 3
The coating material conducted to the crucible then evaporates completely within the heated crucible and is guided from the crucible onto the substrate to be coated
Implementation Method 4
To ensure the absence of oxygen, the coating process takes place in a vacuum chamber at pressures significantly below the atmospheric pressure
Data Source
AI summary
A coating device includes a vacuum chamber, a crucible, at least one spray head for preparing the coating material, and an injector tube, wherein the injector tube is designed to conduct the prepared coating material to the crucible and is connected to the crucible, wherein the at least one spray head can be moved between an operating position, in which the spray head supplies the injector tube with the prepared coating material, and a removal position, and wherein at least one removal chamberis provided which is designed to be accessible from outside the vacuum chamber and which can be sealed off from the vacuum chamber and in which the at least one spray headin its removal position is separated from the vacuum chamber in a gas-tight manner.