EP0540892B2 - Exchangeable container with mixing device - Google Patents

Abstract

The exchangeable container which can be attached to application units, vehicles, robots and the like serves for receiving, mixing or homogenising and also discontinuously dispensing single or multicomponent fluid coating materials and/or repair materials. It is relevant to the container that it possesses, as main components, an outer container (1.1) for the coating material and/or repair material (1.2) and a mixing insert (1.4) which can be inserted in said outer container (1.1) and removed from it again, the two front sides (1.6, 1.7) of the exchangeable container being designed such that, when the mixing insert is inserted in the container, they can be brought into contact with fixing counter-surfaces. A plurality of partial containers and also active or passive mixing inserts may be present; the latter may also comprise a conveying unit. <IMAGE>

Description

This invention relates to an application device vehicles, robots, etc. usable swap body for inclusion, mixing or Homogenization and - also discontinuous - delivery of one or more component fluids Coating and / or repair materials as well as its use.

Robots for the repair and renewal of pipes with exchangeable containers for the repair material have been known since EP-B1 0 211 825. Only then was the practically continuous repair work possible on site.

The container according to this EP-B1, as well as the various repair materials contained therein, are not further specified in the script.

On the other hand, multi-component containers for resins and the like. also known from the patent literature:
CH-A5 659 629 (D 1) teaches and describes a container for pasty masses. This container is obviously neither intended nor suitable for insertion in an application device: the rear container end is not further defined and, above all, has no contact surfaces; a dispensing tip protrudes at the front. The mixing of the two masses to be ejected from the container does not seem to be a problem with this container, neither passive nor active mixing inserts are provided.

In the mixing container according to EP-A 0 445 951 (D 2) the pre-mixed pre-polymer is filled and then squeezed out under pressure. This device teaches of a replacement container that even used temporarily, gone.

Finally, both U.S. Patent 4,771 919 as well as U.S. Patent 4,811,590 (D 3 and 4, respectively) containers for two-component resins with mixing attachments. Also These documents describe the use of the containers in application devices not taught.

Not easily foreseeable even by the expert can now perform the task specified above with the swap body according to the invention in practical sufficient scope of application can be solved.

The inventive, on application devices, Vehicles, robots, etc. usable swap bodies for absorption, mixing or homogenization and also discontinuous delivery of one or multicomponent fluid coating and / or Repair materials with, as main components, an outer container for the coating and / or Touch up material is characterized by the features of claim 1.

When using the swap body, the Mixed use - if necessary after removing one Protective cover over the resin - in the front in the or the swap body containing the material (s) is used and the swap body into the designated one Cradle of the device or vehicle used, the rear container front sealing on the fixing counter surface and the front container front sealing against the counter surface with the material outlet opening be attached.

To do this, the compressed gas moving the pistons is either fed from outside via hoses or by means of generated by a compressor in the device.

In particular, the active mixed use with the Conveyor unit at the front into the material (s) containing swap body used that the Energy supply connected to the unit and that the swap body sealing against the counter surfaces of the Device or the vehicle are attached.

The invention is now based on the Figures 2 and 3 and the subsequent written explanations exemplified:

• die Figur 1 die allgemeine Anordnung der Hauptkomponenten des Wechselbehälters, jedoch ohne zylindrische Teilbetiälter,diese Ausbildungs form fällt nicht unter Anspruch 1,
• die Figur 2 die Anordnung weiterer zylindrischer Materialbehälter beim ertindungsgemässen Wechselbehälter und
• die Figur 3 einen passiven Misch-Einsatz.

Show:

• 1 shows the general arrangement of the main components of the swap body, but without a cylindrical part, this form of training does not fall under claim 1,
• 2 shows the arrangement of further cylindrical material containers in the swap body according to the invention and
• 3 shows a passive mixing insert.

All figures are shown with the left end with in the "rear" sense and the right end with are to be equated with "front" in terms of emissions.

In Figure 1 is the cylindrical outer container with 1.1 designated. It consists of metal or - if necessary armored - plastic. To prevent liability of the repair material on the inner wall can be specially pretreated or coated.

The repair material 1.2 itself can be a one-component his; technically more important, however two-component. These belong to the group of structural adhesives; typical representatives are phenolic resins, Polyurethanes, unsaturated polyesters and epoxy resins.

See especially "Epoxy Resins" in The Library der Technik, No. 51, CIBA-GEIGY.

With 1.4 in Figure 1 is shown schematically Mixed use and with 1.6 or 1.7 are the two front sides of the swap body.

The arrangement according to FIG. 2 shows the arrangement according to the invention Swap bodies with a total of three coaxial, cylindrical material containers; the respective Outer and inner walls of the middle container are designated 2.1. 2.2 contains this guided rod / pipe / pipe 2.4. In the sense of expulsion at the back are the various movable ones in the containers Sealing piston 2.6. In the order according to 2 there are two circular hollow cylinders. The different Components of the touch-up material are with a removable protective cover 2.8 covered. This is before the mixing insert is inserted away.

Finally, FIG. 3 schematically shows the structure a passive mixing insert for in the inventive Swap body. The in The sense of ejection first layer 3.1 is compact and has different separate holes as lines for the repair material from the container to the first Mixing layer of the insert. The latter 3.2 consists of a sintered material or of each other connected filling or mixing structures. The third Layer 3.3 of the mixed insert consists of even finer ones Sintered or filling structure materials.

These sintered or mixed body structures need not made of metal, it can be simple ceramic or polymer materials can be used.

• Misch- und/oder Pumpaggregate, welche durch eine Stange 2.4 mechanisch angetrieben werden; das oder die Ausbesserungsmaterial(ien) wird/werden jedenfalls auch durch Kolbendruck in das Aggregat gefördert.
• Entsprechende Misch- und/oder Pumpaggregate, die hydraulisch (Druckluft durch Rohr 2.4) oder mittels eingebautem Elektromotor (Elektrischleitung 2.4) angetrieben werden.
• Thermokopf, dies speziell bei 1-Komponenten-Epoxidharzmischungen, in welchen der Härter desaktiviert vorliegt und durch Aufheizen aktiviert, z.B. in Lösung gebracht, wird, worauf die Härtungsreaktion einsetzt.

The active mixing inserts to be used in the swap body according to the invention belong to the following, known elements:

• Mixing and / or pumping units which are mechanically driven by a rod 2.4; the repair material (s) is / are in any case also conveyed into the unit by piston pressure.
• Corresponding mixing and / or pumping units which are driven hydraulically (compressed air through pipe 2.4) or by means of a built-in electric motor (electric line 2.4).
• Thermal head, especially with 1-component epoxy resin mixtures in which the hardener is deactivated and activated by heating, for example brought into solution, whereupon the curing reaction starts.

Claims (4)

1. Interchangeable vessel, capable of being used on application instruments, vehicles, robots and the like, for the reception, intermixing or homogenization and also discontinuous dispensing of one-component or multi-component fluid coating and/or touching-up materials, with, as main components, an outer vessel (1.1) for the coating and/or touching-up material (1.2) and a mixing insert (1.4), characterized

   in that the mixing insert (1.4) is capable of being inserted into the outer vessel (1.1) and of being extracted from the latter again,

   in that inside the outer vessel there is at least one cylindrical inner wall, spaced from the inner face of the latter, for forming concentric part-vessels (2.1), and

   in that either part-vessels containing all the material are sealed off at the rear in the ejection direction by means of mechanically or hydraulically movable pistons, the mixing insert being a passive mixing insert which consists of a plurality of layers, with, at the rear in the ejection direction, a compact layer (3.1) having only leadthrough bores, with, in the following layers (3.2), a sintered or packing structure becoming finer in the forward direction, and with an outlet orifice of the foremost layer (3.3), said outlet orifice corresponding approximately to the outlet area,

   or in that all the vessels containing material are sealed off at the rear in the ejection direction by means of fixed closures (2.6), the mixing insert being an active mixing insert which

   either contains a feed assembly, such as a centrifugal, geared, rotary or spindle pump which feeds the coating and/or touching-up material through a passive mixing insert or

   has a moved mixing head, blade or worm mixer, if appropriate with a drive motor, or, finally,

   has a thermal head for the purpose of dissolving solid hardeners in one-component epoxy resin mixtures prior to dispensing,

   the respective drives taking place mechanically, hydraulically or electrically by means of a rod, tube or line led through a central part-vessel,

   the two front sides (1.6, 1.7) of the interchangeable vessel being designed in such a way that they can be brought into contact with fixing counterfaces of the instrument or of the vehicle.
2. Use of the interchangeable vessel according to Patent Claim 1, characterized

   in that the mixing insert, if appropriate after the removal of a protective covering (2.8) over the resin, is inserted at the front into the interchangeable vessel containing the material or materials, and

   in that the interchangeable vessel is inserted into the receiving device, provided for it, of the instrument or of the vehicle, the rear vessel front side being attached sealingly to the fixing counterface and the front vessel front side being attached sealingly to the counterface having the material outlet orifice.
3. Use according to Patent Claim 2, characterized in that the compressed gas moving the pistons is generated either from outside via hoses or by means of a compressor in the instrument.
4. Use according to Patent Claim 2, characterized

   in that the active mixing insert, together with the feed assembly, is inserted at the front into the interchangeable vessel containing the material or materials,

   in that the power supply to the assembly is connected, and

   in that the interchangeable vessel is attached sealingly to the counterfaces of the device or of the vehicle.

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