Spraying Device for Reactive Polymer Coatings
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional techniques for producing thin articles and coatings using reactive polymer materials face issues with nozzle blockage due to high viscosity and reactivity, limiting the production of articles and coatings with small, well-defined designs and high-definition textures.
Innovation Solution
A device with a helical mixing screw and precise metering valves ensures thorough mixing of reactive components, forming a thin tube-like mixture that is then atomized and sprayed using pressurized air, maintaining a small nozzle diameter to prevent blockage and achieve high-definition, thin coatings and articles without air pockets.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If a very small nozzle cross-section is used to achieve thin articles with high definition, then the flowrate can be reduced to enable thin coatings, but the nozzle becomes blocked very rapidly due to viscosity and reactivity
Solution Approach 1:
The device divides the single nozzle into multiple nozzles arranged in a star pattern. Each nozzle has a larger cross-section than a single small nozzle would require, preventing blockage while the collective arrangement maintains the ability to produce thin, high-definition coatings through controlled material distribution
Solution Approach 2:
The mixing chamber is positioned inside the spray device housing, with the mixing screw nested within the chamber. The multiple nozzles are arranged concentrically in a star pattern around the central mixing axis, creating a compact nested structure that allows thorough mixing before spray distribution
2Ease of operation
If pressurized air is added to the polymer mixture to enable spraying, then the mixture can be atomized and sprayed, but air pockets or cavities are introduced as defects
Solution Approach 1:
The polymer components are thoroughly mixed and reacted in the sealed mixing chamber before any air contact occurs during spraying. The mixing screw completes the mixing process internally, and the material is discharged directly for application without intermediate air exposure, preventing air pocket formation
Solution Approach 2:
The harmful function of air (introducing air pockets) is eliminated by removing air from the mixing and spraying process. The system uses a sealed mixing chamber that prevents air ingress, and the spray mechanism applies material without introducing air into the mixture
3Stability of the object's composition
If the basic components are thoroughly mixed and pressurized before spraying, then the mixture can be sprayed effectively, but the viscosity and reactivity cause rapid nozzle blockage
Solution Approach 1:
The single high-viscosity flow path through a small nozzle is segmented into multiple parallel flow paths through several nozzles. This distribution reduces the viscosity challenge in each individual nozzle while maintaining thorough mixing through the central mixing screw action
Solution Approach 2:
The mixing screw rotates at variable speeds to dynamically adjust the mixing intensity and material flow characteristics. This dynamic control allows optimization of mixing thoroughness while managing viscosity effects on nozzle flow and blockage resistance
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 solution allows for the production of articles and coatings with minimum thicknesses of 0.1-4 mm, enabling high-definition textures and fine designs, reducing nozzle blockage, and eliminating defects like air pockets, while allowing for clear legible text at small heights.
Implementation Method 1
a first cylindrical chamber (212) and, in succession along the same axis X, a second frustoconical chamber (214)... A helical-profile screw (218) operates inside the chambers (212) and (214) and is able to rotate about its axis... so as to mix the reactive components
Implementation Method 2
the mixture is imparted a tube-like form and pulverized or atomized the instant it emerges from the device inside which the basic components are thoroughly mixed together... the mixture thus obtained is sprayed with the local introduction of pressurized air
Data Source
AI summary
A method and a device for producing a thin article or a thin coating on a previously manufactured solid body. At least two reactive polymer materials are mixed together thoroughly and die resultant mixture is discharged via a nozzle in the form of a thin tube. This thin tube is pulverized or atomized by means of the introduction of a controlled flow of pressurized air with the result that die pulverized mixture may be sprayed onto an open mold or onto a surface or onto a previously manufactured solid body which is to be coated.