Pre-Activation Channel Cooling for Actinically Curable Mass Dosing
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing devices for pre-activating and dosing actinically curable materials face issues with self-ignition due to heat buildup, particularly during faults or normal operation, without effective cooling mechanisms, leading to potential damage and downtime.
Innovation Solution
A device comprising a metering unit, channel, and irradiation unit with a radiolucent window section, surrounded by a thermally conductive sleeve and holder, allowing indirect heat dissipation through a thermally conductive bracket, ensuring continuous cooling and preventing ignition.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the irradiation unit continuously supplies heat to pre-activate the curable mass, then the pre-activation effectiveness is improved, but the temperature rises sharply leading to spontaneous combustion
Solution Approach 1:
A thermally conductive holder is introduced as an intermediary between the irradiation unit and the curable mass. The holder absorbs excess heat from the irradiation unit and conducts it away, preventing direct overheating of the curable mass while maintaining effective pre-activation. This mediator component resolves the contradiction by decoupling the heat supply function from the pre-activation function.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the thermal parameters of the environment by introducing the thermally conductive holder with specific thermal conductivity properties. This parameter change allows the system to maintain optimal pre-activation temperature while preventing temperature rise to combustion levels, effectively resolving the contradiction between pre-activation effectiveness and combustion prevention.
2Manufacturing precision
If the viscosity of the curable mass increases during operation, then the dosing precision is maintained, but more pressure is built up leading to system shutdown
Solution Approach 1:
The thermally conductive holder acts as a pressure-regulating intermediary by providing an additional heat dissipation path. This prevents excessive pressure buildup in the dosing unit while maintaining the viscosity required for precise dosing, resolving the contradiction between dosing precision and pressure control.
3Device complexity
If no cooling mechanism is provided, then the device complexity is reduced, but heat dissipation is insufficient leading to ignition
Solution Approach 1:
The thermally conductive holder provides self-service cooling by naturally conducting heat away from the curable mass through its inherent thermal conductivity. No external cooling system is required - the holder's material properties enable passive heat dissipation, resolving the contradiction between device simplicity and effective cooling.
Solution Approach 2:
The holder serves as a passive thermal intermediary that automatically regulates temperature through heat conduction without requiring external cooling infrastructure. This intermediary component enables heat dissipation while maintaining device simplicity.
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 device effectively dissipates heat generated during pre-activation, preventing curable materials from reaching ignition temperature, ensuring a safe and reliable application process without the need for cooling breaks, and maintaining optimal application conditions.
Implementation Method 1
The heat generated during pre-activation, which is transferred to the sleeve, can be dissipated via the thermally conductive holder and released into the environment
Implementation Method 2
activate curable materials by irradiation to trigger a curing process
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3~5
AI summary
A device (10) for pre-activating and metering an actinically curable mass, in particular a polymerizable mass, is specified, comprising a metering unit (12) for adjusting a volumetric flow rate of the curable mass, a channel (14) for guiding the curable mass to an emergence nozzle (16), and an irradiation unit (22) which radiates actinic radiation for pre-activating the actinically curable mass, wherein the channel (14), at least in a window portion (15), is transparent to the actinic radiation of the irradiation unit (22), the irradiation unit (22) is assigned to the transparent window portion (15) of the channel (14), and the device (10) has a sleeve (20) which is likewise formed, at least in part, from a material transparent to the actinic radiation and which surrounds the channel (14) at least in the region which is assigned the irradiation unit (22), and the device (10) has a thermally conductive holder (18) in which the channel (14) and the sleeve (20) are held, the thermally conductive holder (18) surrounding the perimeter of the channel (14) and of the sleeve (20) and having at least one transparent window (38) assigned to the irradiation unit (22). A use of the device (10) with a curable mass is also specified.