Rotating Shaft Seal Structure for Vacuum Component Transfer
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing component transfer devices struggle to accurately adsorb and separate small-sized components or sheet forms using vacuum and pressure, particularly in applications like secondary battery manufacturing and roll-to-roll printing, without causing wrinkles or leaks.
Innovation Solution
A component transfer device with a hollow housing, rotatable shaft, and a roller equipped with communication holes, combined with a rotation shaft seal that includes circumferential and axial direction seals to maintain vacuum or pressure isolation, allowing precise component transfer and separation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a simple shaft structure is used without seals, then the device complexity is reduced, but vacuum or pressure leaks occur between the shaft and housing
Solution Approach 1:
The seal structure is divided into multiple independent seals (first seal and second seal) positioned at different locations along the shaft. Each seal independently addresses sealing at specific sections, allowing the system to maintain vacuum/pressure integrity without requiring a single complex seal design.
Solution Approach 2:
Different seal types and configurations are applied at different locations along the shaft based on specific sealing requirements. The first seal and second seal may have different structures and properties optimized for their respective positions, enabling effective sealing without uniform complexity throughout the entire shaft structure.
2Reliability
If multiple seals are added to the shaft, then vacuum or pressure sealing is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing function is segmented into multiple independent seals positioned at different locations, allowing each seal to be optimized for its specific function while maintaining overall system reliability. This segmentation enables effective sealing without requiring a single overly complex seal design.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of attempting to seal the entire shaft with one complex seal, the approach inverts the strategy by using multiple simpler seals at critical locations. This inverted approach achieves better sealing reliability with manageable complexity by focusing sealing efforts where they are most needed.
3Manufacturing precision
If communication holes are provided in the shaft, then component transfer accuracy is improved through selective vacuum/pressure application, but vacuum or pressure leaks may occur
Solution Approach 1:
The communication holes act as intermediaries that selectively connect different regions of the shaft to vacuum or pressure sources. By strategically positioning these holes and controlling their connectivity through the seal structure, the system achieves precise component transfer while maintaining overall vacuum/pressure integrity through the multi-seal design.
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 accurate transfer of components like MLCCs and secondary battery tapes using vacuum adsorption without wrinkles, while maintaining sealed areas within the shaft and housing to prevent leaks.
Implementation Method 1
a roller hole of the roller communicating with the one or more vacuum ports may adsorb the component to the roller
Implementation Method 2
a roller hole of the roller communicating with the one or more pressure port may separate the component from the roller via pressure
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is a component transfer device. The component transfer device includes: a hollow housing provided with, along an outer diameter thereof, one or more fluid ports forming vacuum or pressure; a shaft provided rotatably with respect to the housing inside the housing, and provided with, on an outer diameter thereof, a plurality of communication holes for selectively communicating with the one or more fluid ports according to a rotation location; and a roller fixed to the shaft and rotating together with the shaft, and provided with, on an outer diameter thereof, a plurality of roller holes communicating in response to locations of the plurality of communication holes.