Spinneret Assembly Flow Guide for Air Bubble Purging
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional fiber spinning technologies face challenges in quickly identifying and purging air bubbles and polymer gels, leading to spinning defects due to trapped air in the spinneret cavity, which can take hours or days to resolve, and result in non-uniform fibers with less circular cross-sections in dry spinning.
Innovation Solution
A spinneret assembly with a cap, flow guide, and filter system that allows for preliminary visual inspection of the polymer dope as an annular film to remove air bubbles and gels before installation, and a diverging flow passage design to prevent air entrapment during the spinning process, ensuring air-free polymer delivery and stable spinning.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional fiber spinning technology is used without a flow guide and visual inspection system, then the device complexity is reduced, but air bubbles and polymer gels cannot be quickly identified and purged, leading to spinning defects and non-uniform fibers
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary action by providing a visual inspection system that allows operators to examine the polymer dope flow before it enters the spinneret. The flow guide creates a visible flow path where air bubbles and gels can be detected in advance, enabling preventive purging before spinning begins, thus avoiding defects without requiring complex post-processing systems
Solution Approach 2:
The flow guide acts as an intermediary component between the polymer dope supply and the spinneret. It provides a transparent or observable section that mediates the flow, allowing visual inspection of the dope quality while maintaining the integrity of the spinning process. This intermediary structure enables quality control without adding significant complexity to the overall system
2Stability of the object's composition
If a flow guide with tapered geometry is added to create a diverging flow passage, then air entrapment is prevented and spinning stability is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies curvature principles by designing a flow guide with tapered geometry that creates smooth, curved flow passages. The diverging flow passage uses gradual angular changes rather than sharp edges, allowing polymer dope to flow smoothly without creating turbulence or air pockets. This curved geometry naturally guides the flow in a stable manner, preventing air entrapment through hydrodynamic design rather than complex mechanical mechanisms
3Loss of time
If preliminary visual inspection is implemented to remove air bubbles and gels, then the time to identify and purge defects is reduced, but the device complexity and initial setup time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the inspection function from the main spinning process by creating a separate, dedicated flow guide section that allows visual examination. This extracted inspection capability is integrated into the flow path itself, enabling operators to view dope quality without interrupting the flow or requiring additional external equipment. The inspection function is taken out as a distinct visual pathway while maintaining process continuity
Data Source
AI summary
A spinneret assembly for spinning polymeric fibers, including: (a) a cap provided with an inlet port and a flared lower surface that flares outwardly from the inlet port in the direction of flow; (b) a spinneret having numerous spinning flow channels through its thickness; (c) a filter freely resting on the spinneret; and (d) a flow guide with a tapered geometry mounted in a cavity defined by the cap and the spinneret. The flow guide has an apex facing the inlet port, a base facing the filter, and one or more side surfaces tapering up to the apex. A diverging flow passage is defined by the tapering side surface(s) of the flow guide and the cap's flared lower surface. The base of the flow guide is spaced apart from an upper surface of the spinneret, creating a space that is in fluid communication with the divergent flow passage.