Peelable Shim With Metallized Sheet For Thickness Precision
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing peelable shims face challenges in achieving precise thickness adjustments due to high counting errors and long execution times when the initial thickness differs significantly from the desired thickness, and previous solutions involving transparency-based identification are impractical for materials lacking sufficient transparency, such as polyimides, and are costly and difficult to implement.
Innovation Solution
A peelable shim comprising a first sheet of translucent or transparent polymer material and a second sheet with a metallized surface, allowing for easy visual and electrical differentiation between the sheets, enabling precise thickness adjustments without tearing, and accommodating various materials with different thermomechanical properties.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If sheets of high elementary thickness are used to quickly approach the desired thickness, then the number of peeling operations is reduced and execution time is decreased, but the precision of the final thickness is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The shim is segmented into multiple stacks of sheets with different elementary thicknesses. Each stack contains sheets of a specific thickness (e.g., 1mm, 0.5mm, 0.1mm), allowing the user to select the appropriate stack based on the desired final thickness precision requirements while minimizing the number of peeling operations.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the shim (different stacks) have different sheet thickness qualities. The first stack has thicker sheets for rapid thickness reduction, while subsequent stacks have progressively thinner sheets for fine-tuning the final thickness with high precision.
2Ease of operation
If transparency-based identification symbols are printed on the central sheet, then visual identification of sheet orientation is enabled, but the solution is restricted to transparent materials like polyesters and excludes materials like polyimides
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of relying on transparency, the invention uses color changes through metallization. The second sheet is metallized with aluminum or other metals, creating a visually distinct appearance that can be easily identified regardless of the base polymer material's transparency properties.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention replaces the optical transparency-based identification system with a metallization-based visual identification system. This substitution allows the same identification approach to work with any polymer material, including opaque materials like polyimides.
3Ease of operation
If printing symbols on the central sheet is implemented for identification, then visual differentiation is achieved, but the cost increases and the symbols become difficult to read when machining destroys parts of them
Solution Approach 1:
The metallization of the second sheet provides inherent visual differentiation through color and reflectivity changes, eliminating the need for additional printed symbols. This approach reduces manufacturing cost while providing clear visual identification that is not susceptible to being destroyed by machining.
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 precise and efficient thickness adjustments with reduced counting errors and extended material compatibility, including polyimides, by visually and electrically distinguishing between sheets, facilitating use in both industrial and automated environments.
Implementation Method 1
the said physical characteristic comprises a metallization of the polymer material so as to reflect light
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
AI summary
The shim (1) has a sheet (3) adhered to a plane face (7). Another sheet (5) is made of polyethylene terephthalate and aluminum and adhered to a plane face (9), where the latter plane face is arranged opposite to the former plane face. The latter sheet comprises physical characteristics uniformly different from that of the former sheet that is made of electrically insulating polyethylene terephthalate. The latter sheet is covered with a metal film on a contact surface (11). The physical characteristics relates to current transmission coefficient and light transmission coefficient.