Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B05—SPRAYING OR ATOMISING IN GENERAL; APPLYING FLUENT MATERIALS TO SURFACES, IN GENERAL
  • B05C—APPARATUS FOR APPLYING FLUENT MATERIALS TO SURFACES, IN GENERAL
  • B05C5/00—Apparatus in which liquid or other fluent material is projected, poured or allowed to flow on to the surface of the work
  • B05C5/02—Apparatus in which liquid or other fluent material is projected, poured or allowed to flow on to the surface of the work the liquid or other fluent material being discharged through an outlet orifice by pressure, e.g. from an outlet device in contact or almost in contact, with the work
  • B05C5/027—Coating heads with several outlets, e.g. aligned transversally to the moving direction of a web to be coated
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F16—ENGINEERING ELEMENTS AND UNITS; GENERAL MEASURES FOR PRODUCING AND MAINTAINING EFFECTIVE FUNCTIONING OF MACHINES OR INSTALLATIONS; THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL
  • F16J—PISTONS; CYLINDERS; SEALINGS
  • F16J15/00—Sealings
  • F16J15/002—Sealings comprising at least two sealings in succession
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F16—ENGINEERING ELEMENTS AND UNITS; GENERAL MEASURES FOR PRODUCING AND MAINTAINING EFFECTIVE FUNCTIONING OF MACHINES OR INSTALLATIONS; THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL
  • F16J—PISTONS; CYLINDERS; SEALINGS
  • F16J15/00—Sealings
  • F16J15/16—Sealings between relatively-moving surfaces
  • F16J15/162—Special parts or details relating to lubrication or cooling of the sealing itself
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F16—ENGINEERING ELEMENTS AND UNITS; GENERAL MEASURES FOR PRODUCING AND MAINTAINING EFFECTIVE FUNCTIONING OF MACHINES OR INSTALLATIONS; THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL
  • F16J—PISTONS; CYLINDERS; SEALINGS
  • F16J15/00—Sealings
  • F16J15/16—Sealings between relatively-moving surfaces
  • F16J15/32—Sealings between relatively-moving surfaces with elastic sealings, e.g. O-rings
  • F16J15/3204—Sealings between relatively-moving surfaces with elastic sealings, e.g. O-rings with at least one lip
  • F16J15/3232—Sealings between relatively-moving surfaces with elastic sealings, e.g. O-rings with at least one lip having two or more lips
  • F16J15/3236—Sealings between relatively-moving surfaces with elastic sealings, e.g. O-rings with at least one lip having two or more lips with at least one lip for each surface, e.g. U-cup packings
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F16—ENGINEERING ELEMENTS AND UNITS; GENERAL MEASURES FOR PRODUCING AND MAINTAINING EFFECTIVE FUNCTIONING OF MACHINES OR INSTALLATIONS; THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL
  • F16J—PISTONS; CYLINDERS; SEALINGS
  • F16J15/00—Sealings
  • F16J15/46—Sealings with packing ring expanded or pressed into place by fluid pressure, e.g. inflatable packings
  • F16J15/48—Sealings with packing ring expanded or pressed into place by fluid pressure, e.g. inflatable packings influenced by the pressure within the member to be sealed

Definitions

• the present invention relates generally to seal mech- anisms, and more particularly to a hydraulic seal assembly for use within a hot melt adhesive or other thermoplastic material dispensing valve assembly
• a dispensing valve assembly comprising a reciprocally moving valve stem having a valve member fixedly disposed thereon and operative- ly associated with a valve seat, is usually employed so as to in fact permit the dispensing of the hot melt adhesive or other thermoplastic material when the valve member is disposed at its UNSEATED or OPENED position with respect to the valve seat, or to prevent the dispensing of the hot melt adhesive or other thermoplastic material when the valve member is disposed at its SEATED or CLOSED position with respect to the valve seat.
• conventional dispensing valve assemblies also comprise a seal cartridge which includes a seal mechanism for preventing the leakage of the hot melt adhesive or other thermoplastic material out from the dispensing valve assembly.
• the seal cartridge is provided with a weep hole from which the hot melt adhesive or other thermoplastic material can effectively escape indicating to the operator that the seal mechanism has undergone failure and that the valve assembly needs to be replaced. Since a pressure differential is effectively defined across the seal mechanism barrier, due to the fact that one side of the seal mechanism is exposed to the pressure comprising the hot melt adhesive or other thermoplastic material while the other side of the seal mechanism is effectively at atmospheric pressure, this constant pressure differential always tends to push or force the hot melt adhesive or other thermoplastic material past the seal mechanism.
• the operative service life of a hot melt adhesive or other thermoplastic material valve dispensing assembly is conventionally measured in cycles.
• Conventional valve dispensing assemblies employing conventional seal mechanisms can normally have an operative service life of approximately 250,000,000 cycles.
• the valve stem is moved in a reciprocal manner past the seal mechanism.
• the hot melt adhesive or other thermoplastic material tends to cling or adhere to the valve stem and therefore the hot melt adhesive or other thermoplastic material also moves past the seal mechanism in a reciprocal manner.
• a new and improved seal assembly for use within a hot melt adhesive or other thermoplastic material dispensing valve assembly, wherein the new and improved seal assembly comprises a sealing cartridge or casing comprising a first or primary seal member, a secondary seal member, and a viscous incompressible silicone grease or similar fluid disposed internally within the sealing cartridge or casing.
• the viscous silicone grease or similar fluid effectively distributes the pressure forces such that internal pressure forces within the silicone grease or simi- lar fluid are substantially equal to the external pressure forces of the hot melt adhesive or other thermoplastic material whereby a pressure differential across the primary seal member is effectively eliminated thereby effectively eliminating the tendency or propensity for leakage of the hot melt adhesive or other thermoplastic materials.
• the viscous silicone grease or similar fluid acts as a lubricant thereby reducing friction and wear of the primary and secondary seal members whereby the cyclic operation and service life of the hot melt adhesive valve dispensing assembly can be substantially increased, such as, for example, by a factor of two or three, such that the operative cycles can be approximately within the range of 500,000,000-750,000,000.
• FIGURE 1A is a left side elevational view of a new and improved hot melt adhesive or other thermoplastic material dispensing valve assembly incorporating the new and improved seal assembly of the present invention therewithin;
• FIGURE IB is a front elevational view of the new and improved hot melt adhesive or other thermoplastic material dispensing valve assembly as shown in FIGURE 1A;
• FIGURE 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the new and improved hot melt adhesive or other thermoplastic material dispensing valve assembly as shown in FIGURE 1A as taken along the lines 2-2 of FIGURE 1A;
• FIGURE 3 is an enlarged view of the new and improved seal assembly as disclosed within FIGURE 2 so as to clearly show the details of the new and improved seal assembly .
• a new and improved hot melt adhesive or other thermoplastic material dispensing valve assembly incorporating a new and improved seal assembly of the present invention therewithin, and constructed in accordance with the principles and teachings of the present invention, is disclosed and is generally indicated by the reference character 100. More particularly, the new and improved dispensing valve assembly 100 of the present invention can be used to dispense hot melt adhesives or other thermoplastic materials onto an underlying substrate or product as the substrate or product passes beneath the dispensing valve assembly 100 along a product processing line during a hot melt adhesive or other thermoplastic material application or dispensing operation or cycle.
• the dispensing valve assembly 100 is seen to comprise a valve body section or housing 102 containing a dispensing valve as will be more fully disclosed hereinafter, a dispensing valve actuator assembly 104 for controlling the movement of the dispensing valve in a vertically reciprocal manner as will also be disclosed more fully hereinafter, an electro-pneumatic solenoid assembly 106 that controls the disposition of control air to the dispensing valve actuator assembly 104 so as to control the reciprocal movement of the dispensing valve as will be more fully disclosed hereinafter, and an output manifold assembly 108 which provides for the output or dispensing of the hot melt adhesive or other thermoplastic material.
• valve body section or housing 102 has a vertically reciprocal valve stem 110 disposed therein.
• a valve member 112 is fixedly secured to the lower end portion of the valve stem 110 and it is also seen that a valve seat 114 is effectively disposed at the interface defined between the lower end portion of the valve body section or housing 102 and the upper end portion of the output manifold assembly 108.
• the output manifold assembly 108 is seen to further comprise a hot melt adhesive or other thermoplastic material output port 116, a hot melt adhesive or other thermoplastic material dispensing port 118, from which hot melt adhesive or other thermoplastic material can be dispensed as illustrated at 120, and a hot melt adhesive or other thermoplastic material output passage 122 defined within the output manifold as- sembly 108 and fluidically connecting the hot melt adhesive or other thermoplastic material output port 116 to the hot melt adhesive or other thermoplastic material dispensing port 118.
• a hot melt adhesive or other thermoplastic material inlet supply port 124 is also provided within the valve body section or housing 102 so as to introduce hot melt adhesive or other thermoplastic material into the dispensing valve assembly 100 as at 126, and still yet further, the valve body section or housing 102 is also provided with a vertically oriented fluid passageway 128 which annularly sur- rounds the valve stem 110 and is fluidically connected to the hot melt adhesive or other thermoplastic material inlet supply port 124 by means of a horizontally oriented fluid conduit or passageway 130 also defined within the valve body section or housing 102.
• valve member 112 when the valve stem 110 is moved toward its lowered position, as illustrated within FIGURE 2 , the valve member 112 will be disposed at its UNSEATED or OPENED position with respect to the valve seat 114 whereby the hot melt adhesive or other thermo- plastic material can flow from the hot melt adhesive or other thermoplastic material inlet supply port 124, through the horizontally oriented fluid conduit or passageway 130, into the vertically oriented fluid passageway 128 annularly surrounding the valve stem 110, into a vertically oriented pass- ageway 132 defined within the valve seat 114 and annularly surround the valve stem 110, around the valve member 112, since it is UNSEATED or OPENED with respect to the valve seat 114, into a chamber 134 defined within the lower portion of the valve seat 114, and out through the hot melt adhesive or other thermoplastic material output port 116, the hot melt adhesive or other thermoplastic material output passage 122, and the hot melt adhesive or other thermoplastic material dispensing port 118.
• valve stem 110 when the valve stem 110 is disposed at its upper or elevated position, the valve mem- ber 112 will be disposed at its SEATED or CLOSED position with respect to the valve seat 114 whereby fluid flow of the hot melt adhesive or other thermoplastic material is terminated .
• the electro-pneumatic solenoid assembly 106 has a control air input fitting 136 fixedly secured within one side wall portion 138 of the electro-pneumatic solenoid assembly 106 so as to permit control air 137 to enter the electro-pneumatic solenoid assembly 106, as well as a pair of control air output fittings 140,142 also fixedly secured within the side wall portion 138 of the electro-pneumatic solenoid assembly 106.
• a pair of control air input/output fittings 144,146 have first end portions thereof fixedly disposed within an opposite side wall portion 148 of the electro-pneumatic solenoid assembly 106, while second end portions of the control air input/output fittings 144,146 are fixedly disposed within a side wall portion 150 of the dispensing valve actuator assem- bly 104. It is further seen that a piston 152 is fixedly attached to an upper portion of the valve stem 110, and that the piston 152 is movable in a vertically reciprocal manner within a piston chamber 154 defined within a substantially central region of the dispensing valve actuator assembly 104.
• a coil spring 156 is also annularly disposed around an upper portion of the valve stem 110 wherein opposite ends of the coil spring 156 are disposed within counterbored regions 158, 160 respectively defined within an undersurface portion of the piston 152 and a central region of the dispensing valve actuator assembly 104.
• electro- pneumatic solenoid assembly 106 is also provided with fluid passageways, not shown, which fluidically interconnect the pair of control air output fittings 140,142 with the pair of control air input/output fittings 144,146, and in a similar manner, the dispensing valve actuator assembly 104 is likewise provided with fluid passageways, also not shown, which fluidically interconnect the pair of control air input/output fittings 144,146 to regions of the piston chamber 154 above and below the piston 152.
• control air 137 when control air 137 is conducted, for example, into the control air input fitting 136 of the electro- pneumatic solenoid assembly 106, and when the electro-pneumatic solenoid assembly 106 has been operated in a first mode, the control air 137 will be fluidically conducted from the control air input fitting 136, into the first control air input/output fitting 144 and into the upper portion of the piston chamber 154, that is, into that region of the piston chamber 154 disposed above the piston 152, so as to force the piston 152, the valve stem 110, and the valve member 112 to move downwardly toward the valve member ' s UNSEATED or OPENED position.
• the air within the lower portion of the piston chamber 154 that is, the air beneath the piston 152, is forced outwardly and exhausted to atmosphere through the second control air input/output fitting 146 and the first one of the control air output fittings 140.
• the control air 137 will be fluidically conducted from the control air input fitting 136, into the second control air input/output fitting 146 and into the lower portion of the piston chamber 154, that is, into that region of the piston chamber 154 disposed beneath the piston 152, so as to force the piston 152, the valve stem 110, and the valve member 112 to move upwardly toward the valve member's SEATED or CLOSED position.
• the sealing assembly 200 is seen to comprise a seal cartridge or casing 202 which is adapted to be fixedly disposed within a chamber 204 which is defined within an up- per axial portion of the valve body section or housing 102.
• the uppermost portion of the seal cartridge or casing 202 is provided with a containment washer 206 and a retaining ring 208, and it is to be appreciated from FIGURES 2 and 3 that the retaining ring 208 is diametrically larger than the diametrical extent of the seal cartridge or casing 202 so as to extend radially outwardly therefrom.
• An annularly counterbor- ed region 210 is defined within the upper end portion of the valve body section or housing 102, and is adapted to accommo- date the retaining ring 208 of the seal cartridge or casing
• seal cartridge or casing 202 is in fact fixedly secured within the valve body section or housing 102.
• the lower end portion of the seal cartridge or casing 202 is also noted as being seat- ed upon an annular shoulder portion 212 which also effectively defines the floor region of the chamber 204.
• the seal cartridge or casing 202 annularly surrounds the valve stem 110 so as to define an annular space or chamber 214, however, unlike conventional seal cartridges or cas- ings, the seal cartridge or casing 202 is not empty and does not have a weep hole. To the contrary, the annular space or chamber 214 of the seal cartridge or casing 202 is filled with a high temperature viscous silicone grease or similar fluid .
• the sealing assembly 200 of the present invention comprises sealing members which operate in conjunction with the aforenoted silicone grease or similar fluid in order to effectively prevent the hot melt adhesive or other thermoplastic material from passing through the sealing assembly 200 and into the piston chamber 154 of the dispensing valve actuator assembly 104 and thereby fouling the operation of the piston 152.
• the sealing assembly 200 comprises a first or primary seal member 216 which annularly surrounds a central portion of the valve stem 110 and is mounted in a vertically reciprocal manner within the lower end portion of the sealing cartridge or casing 202.
• First and second washers 218,220 are operatively associated with the first primary seal member 216, and a preloading or compression spring 222 is interposed between the first and second washers 218,220 as a result of being disposed within a chamber 223 defined between the first and second washers 218,220.
• thermoplastic material dispensing valve assembly As the hot melt adhesive or other thermoplastic material enters the hot melt adhesive or other thermoplastic material dispensing valve assembly as at 126 and through means of inlet supply port 124, the operating pressure, characteristic of the incoming pressurized hot melt adhesive or other thermoplastic material, will be exerted up- on the undersurface portion of the first primary seal member 216 as indicated by reference arrows 224.
• the chamber 223 also contains, and is fluidically connected to, the viscous silicone grease or similar fluid disposed within the annular space or chamber 214, the upwardly oriented pressure forces 224 will cause the first primary seal member 216 to move upwardly, such movement compresses the preloading or compression spring 222, and the pressure forces are further transmitted to the viscous silicone grease or similar fluid disposed within the annular space or chamber 214.
• the upper portion of the sealing car- tridge or casing 202 is also provided with a secondary seal member 226, however, since the secondary seal member 226 cannot move upwardly because the upper portion of the sealing cartridge or casing 202 is effectively closed by means of the containment washer 206 and the retaining ring 208, and because the viscous silicone grease or fluid comprises an incompressible fluid, pressure forces 228,230 are respectively exerted by the viscous silicone grease or similar fluid upon the valve stem 110 and the underlying surface portion of the secondary seal member 226.
• the pressure forces characteristic of the hot melt adhesive or other thermoplastic material varies.
• the reciprocating first or primary seal member 216 dynamically compensates for such changes in the pressure forces.
• canted spring members 232,234 are respectively disposed internally within the primary and secondary seal members 216,226 so as to help maintain the structural integrity and configurations of the primary and secondary seal members 216,226 in order to permit the same to perform their sealing functions with respect to, for example, the valve stem 110 and the sealing cartridge or casing 202.
• the primary and secondary seal members 216,226 may be fabricated from a suitable material, such as, for example, polyether-ether-ketone (PEEK) or a similar material.
• the viscous silicone grease or similar fluid is a lubricant. Accordingly, due to laminar flow characteristics, small amounts of the silicone grease or similar fluid may cling or adhere to the valve stem 110 or to the primary or secondary seal members 216,226 as extremely thin film layers. Therefore, friction developed between the valve stem 110 and the primary or secondary seal members 216,226, as the valve stem 110 undergoes its cyclic reciprocating movements, will be substantially reduced.
• the tendency of the hot melt adhesive or other thermoplastic materials to in fact cling or adhere to the valve stem is markedly reduced.
• small amounts of the hot melt adhesive or other thermoplastic materials may nevertheless possibly cling or adhere to the valve stem 110 as extremely thin film layers, and effectively bypass, for example, the first or primary seal member 216.
• the hot melt adhesive or other thermoplastic materials will effectively be encapsulated within the viscous silicone grease or similar fluid.
• the hot melt adhesive or other thermoplastic material will not in fact be exposed to the ambient air or oxygen such that the hot melt adhesive or other thermoplastic material cannot harden and become an abrasive mass conventionally acting upon the seal members.
• the sealing point or barrier has effectively been moved from the primary seal member 216 located at the lower end portion of the sealing assembly 200 to the secondary seal member 226 located at the upper end portion of the sealing assembly 200.
• the pressure forces 224,228 across the sealing member, sealing point, or barrier 216 have effectively been equalized such that a pressure differential no longer exists, as has been explained hereinbefore, however, at the secondary seal member 226, a pressure differential does exist because the internal pressure forces 230 are relatively larger than the external pressure forces which are atmospheric pressure forces. This is important in that the secondary seal member 226 is effective- ly protected from any deleterious effects normally caused by the hot melt adhesive or other thermoplastic materials.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Architecture (AREA)
• Fluid Mechanics (AREA)
• Lift Valve (AREA)
• Fluid-Driven Valves (AREA)
• Details Of Valves (AREA)
• Details Or Accessories Of Spraying Plant Or Apparatus (AREA)
• Coating Apparatus (AREA)
• Adhesives Or Adhesive Processes (AREA)
• Sealing Devices (AREA)

Priority Applications (5)

Applications Claiming Priority (4)

Publications (1)

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Family Applications (1)

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Citations (2)

Family Cites Families (36)

• 2012
  • 2012-06-27 US US13/534,018 patent/US20130048900A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2012-08-28 ES ES12754188.6T patent/ES2558358T3/es active Active
  • 2012-08-28 WO PCT/US2012/052594 patent/WO2013033053A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 2012-08-28 JP JP2014528505A patent/JP6141848B2/ja not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2012-08-28 PL PL12754188T patent/PL2751450T3/pl unknown
  • 2012-08-28 CN CN201280039418.2A patent/CN103748389B/zh not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2012-08-28 EP EP12754188.6A patent/EP2751450B1/en not_active Not-in-force

Patent Citations (2)

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