Vacuum Sealing Device for Profiled Objects Using Roller Compression
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vacuum treatment systems for profiled objects with concave sections face challenges in maintaining appropriate vacuum conditions due to frequent loading and unloading operations, which lead to inefficient processing and leakage issues during the treatment of wiper blades made from elastomer-based materials.
Innovation Solution
A sealing device using a pair of rollers with orthogonal axes to compress and deform the profiled object, creating a temporary seal between the rollers and the object, combined with a peripheral coating that deforms elastically to enhance sealing, allowing continuous vacuum treatment without significant leakage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If frequent loading and unloading operations are performed to process multiple binoculars, then the treatment chamber can be accessed for processing, but the vacuum conditions are lost and must be recreated after each operation
Solution Approach 1:
The profiled object is segmented into multiple binocular sections that can be processed sequentially. The segmentation allows the object to be divided into manageable portions that can be fed through the chamber continuously, enabling multiple sections to be processed during a single vacuum cycle without repeated loading/unloading operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables continuous processing by maintaining the vacuum condition throughout the entire treatment chamber while the profiled object moves through it on conveying means. The useful action (vacuum treatment) continues uninterrupted as different sections of the object pass through the treatment zone, eliminating the need to break vacuum for each processing step.
2Reliability
If the profiled object is compressed between rollers to create a seal, then vacuum conditions are maintained, but the object undergoes elastic deformation
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing system uses dynamic rollers that apply controlled compression to the profiled object during conveying. The rollers create a moving seal that maintains vacuum integrity while allowing the object to pass through. The elastic deformation is temporary and reversible, with the object returning to its original shape after passing the rollers.
Solution Approach 2:
The system temporarily changes the physical state of the profiled object by applying compression pressure from the rollers, causing elastic deformation that enables sealing. After the sealing zone, the pressure is released and the object returns to its original shape, effectively using parameter change (pressure) to achieve the sealing function without permanent shape alteration.
3Reliability
If a peripheral coating is added to the rollers to deform with the profile, then sealing is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The rollers are constructed as composite structures with a peripheral coating layer applied to the roller surface. This coating is made of elastomeric material that can deform elastically in coordination with the profiled object during compression, improving the seal between the roller and object. The composite structure combines the structural integrity of the roller core with the sealing properties of the elastomeric coating.
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 solution enables continuous vacuum treatment of profiled objects by maintaining the treatment chamber under consistent vacuum conditions, reducing processing time and allowing for efficient ion bombardment of both surfaces simultaneously, while minimizing the need for frequent chamber venting and loading/unloading operations.
Implementation Method 1
cause the elastic deformation of the profile by compression between the two rollers, so that the rollers and the deformed profile contribute to sealing between the two spaces
Implementation Method 2
conveying of the profile between them and cause the elastic deformation of the profile by compression between the two rollers
Implementation Method 3
Each roller comprises an elastically deformable peripheral coating intended to be in contact with the profile so as to deform together with the profile
Data Source
Figure 1~4
Figure 5~6
AI summary
The invention relates to a sealing device (24) for separating two spaces at different pressures through which a profiled object (12) having a concave cross-section is conveyed. The device (24) includes a pair of conveying rollers for the profiled object (12), having axes that are substantially parallel to each other and that are perpendicular to the conveying direction. The axes of the rollers are spaced from each other so that the profiled object (12) can be conveyed therebetween and so as to induce the plastic deformation of the profile by compression between the two rollers so that the rollers and the deformed profile contribute to the tightness between the two spaces. The invention also relates to a treatment facility (10) that includes said sealing device (24).