Sheathed Aerosol Transport Path for Fast, Buildup-Free Jet Printing
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Aerosol jet deposition systems face failures due to material buildup in the upstream interior portions of the aerosol delivery path, leading to print material output variations, geometry errors, and potential catastrophic blockages, making it difficult to design systems that can run for more than 4-8 hours without material agnosticism.
Innovation Solution
A method involving a concentric sheath of gas surrounding the aerosol stream, which is maintained throughout the transport path, including a switching chamber and nozzles, to prevent material accumulation by ensuring constant gas flow rates and pressures, allowing for rapid switching between deposition and diversion paths to prevent aerosol contact with surfaces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a conventional aerosol delivery path is used without continuous sheath gas protection, then the device complexity is reduced, but material buildup occurs on surfaces leading to print quality degradation and system failures within 4-8 hours
Solution Approach 1:
A sheath gas flow is introduced as an intermediary substance between the aerosol and the transport path surfaces. This sheath gas forms a protective barrier that prevents aerosol material from contacting and accumulating on the interior surfaces of the transport path, thereby eliminating material buildup issues without requiring complex mechanical cleaning or replacement systems
Solution Approach 2:
The sheath gas protection is maintained continuously throughout the entire aerosol transport path, from the aerosol generation source through the transport tube to the deposition nozzle. This continuous protective action ensures that surfaces remain free of material buildup throughout extended operation periods (greater than 24 hours), providing uninterrupted reliable operation
2Productivity
If rapid aerosol flow switching is implemented for high-speed printing, then productivity increases, but the complexity of flow control mechanisms increases
Solution Approach 1:
Pneumatic valves are used to control the rapid switching of aerosol flow between deposition and diversion paths. The system utilizes gas pressure control to achieve switching times less than 1 millisecond, enabling high-speed printing applications while maintaining relatively simple valve-based control mechanisms rather than complex mechanical or electronic systems
Solution Approach 2:
The flow control system is designed to dynamically switch the aerosol flow path in real-time based on printing requirements. The pneumatic valves can rapidly change the flow direction, allowing the system to adapt to high-speed printing demands with switching times less than 1 ms between deposition and diversion modes
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
This approach enables high-reliability aerosol delivery for extended periods (>24 hours) by preventing material buildup, ensuring consistent print quality and preventing system failures, with rapid switching times (<1 ms) for efficient high-speed printing.
Implementation Method 1
maintained throughout the transport path, including a switching chamber and nozzles, to prevent material accumulation by ensuring constant gas flow rates and pressures
Implementation Method 2
surrounding both the aerosol and the transport sheath gas with a deposition sheath flow to form a combined flow
Implementation Method 3
switching a flow path of the boost gas so it is added to the deposition sheath flow instead of being exhausted from the deposition apparatus, thereby stopping a flow of the aerosol into the deposition nozzle
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus and method for depositing an aerosol that has an ultrafast pneumatic, shutter. The flow of aerosol through the entire deposition flow path is surrounded by at least one sheath gas, thereby greatly increasing reliability. The distance between the aerosol switching chamber and a reverse gas flow chamber input is minimized to reduce switching time. The distance from the switching chamber to the nozzle exit is also minimized to reduce switching time. The gas flows in the system are configured to maintain a substantially constant pressure in the system, and consequently substantially constant flow rates through the deposition nozzle and exhaust nozzle, to minimize on/off switching times. This enables the system to have a switching time of less than 10 ms.