JPH10151393A - Material coater - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To surely send a viscous fluid material filled in a cartridge vessel under pressure and to utilize the material to the fullest. SOLUTION: A piston rod 18 is driven by the air supplied in an air cylinder 14 from an air feed means 17, a plunger 15 in a cartridge vessel 10 is moved by the pressing force, and air is simultaneously supplied to the pressurization chamber C in a cartridge cap 16 from the air feed means 17 to pneumatically move the plunger 15. Namely, the plunger 15 in the vessel 10 is moved by the pressing force of the cylinder 14 and the air pressure generated by the pressurization chamber C, and the fluid material in the vessel 10 is sent under pressure. Consequently, the deformation of the moving plunger 15 is avoided, the entrainment of the air is prevented, and a defective discharge is prevented.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a material coating apparatus, and more particularly, to a method for stably pumping a fluid filled in a cartridge container, for example, a relatively viscous fluid material such as an adhesive or a sealant. The present invention relates to a material application device capable of performing the above-described operations.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known an apparatus for applying a material such as an adhesive or a sealant made of a high-viscosity fluid such as silicone or epoxy filled in a cartridge container to a work. 2 and 3 are cross-sectional views of main parts of a conventional material coating apparatus. In FIG. 2, a cartridge container 52 housed inside a cartridge tank 50 is filled with a fluid material 53 such as an adhesive or a sealant. A plunger 56 is inserted into the cartridge container 52 so as to be movable up and down. The plunger 56 is supplied with high-pressure air into the cartridge tank 50 from an air supply port 58 provided in the cap 57 so that the fluid material 53 is supplied. Can be pumped. The pumped fluid material is
It is discharged from the discharge port 54 and is applied to a surface to be coated of a work (not shown). Note that a rubber packing 60 is provided below the cap 57 so that the introduced air does not leak.
Is attached.

[0003]

However, in the case of a conventional material application apparatus, particularly when applying a high-viscosity material, it is necessary to send high-pressure air into the cartridge container 52. As a result, FIG. As shown in FIG. 7, air enters the cartridge container 52 below the plunger 56 due to deformation of the plunger 56 and the like, and an air layer 64 is generated between the plunger 56 and the material 53. Then, due to the influence of the air layer 64, the material 53 inside is hardened to cause ejection failure, and it is difficult to completely use the material 53 to the end. Further, there is also a disadvantage that the air layer 64 below the plunger 56 acts as a cushion when the plunger 56 is pushed down, and a sufficient discharge amount cannot be obtained. Further, the plunger 56 may be lifted and inverted by the influence of the high-pressure air, which may make it impossible to function as the plunger.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the disadvantages of the prior art, and has as its object to surely pump a high-viscosity fluid material such as silicone or epoxy filled in a cartridge container. It is an object of the present invention to provide a material application device which can completely use up a fluid material without causing a discharge failure.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a material coating apparatus for feeding a fluid material filled in a cartridge container by a plunger in the cartridge container and discharging the fluid material. A driving unit including a piston that contacts the plunger and presses the plunger; and a pressurizing device that moves the plunger by pneumatic pressure in conjunction with or independent of the driving unit, and , The plunger is pressed using at least one of them. By employing such a configuration, when the high-viscosity fluid material filled in the cartridge container is pressure-fed and discharged, the plunger is driven by the pressing force of the piston of the driving means with respect to the plunger moved by air pressure. The effect of correcting the posture is added. Thereby, the air is not trapped in the cartridge container due to the deformation of the plunger, and the ejection failure or the like due to the hardening of the material is prevented.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In the above-mentioned material applying apparatus, the driving means is provided with a plunger position detecting means. By employing such a configuration, the remaining amount of the fluid material in the cartridge container can be detected from the position of the plunger.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a material coating apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a main part of a material coating apparatus according to this embodiment. Referring to FIG. 1, a material application apparatus according to the present embodiment includes a cartridge container 10 filled with a fluid material, a cartridge tank 12 containing the cartridge container 10, and an air cylinder 1 as a driving unit.
4 and a cartridge cap 16 attached to the upper end of the cartridge tank 12.

The cartridge container 10 is filled with a high-viscosity fluid material 25 such as a sealant or an adhesive, and a discharge portion 10A for the fluid material is formed at the lower end of the cartridge container 10. A dish-shaped plunger 15 is movably disposed inside the cartridge container 10.

The air cylinder 14 is driven by compressed air, and has an air supply port 14A for supplying air at an upper portion thereof. The high pressure air is supplied to the air cylinder 14 from the air supply means 17 via the air supply port 14A. Further, the air cylinder 1 is provided at the lower end of the air cylinder 14.
A piston rod 18 is provided which can be extended by the high-pressure air supplied into the piston 4, and a piston 19 is fixed to a lower end of the piston rod 18. The outer diameter of the piston 19 is formed to be substantially the same as or slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the concave portion of the plunger 15 so that the piston 19 can be kept in a state of being fitted into the concave portion of the plunger 15. Further, the air cylinder 14 has a piston rod 18
A reed switch 23 is provided as a plunger position detecting means for detecting the position of the plunger.
5 is detected to have reached the lower limit, so that the state of consumption of the material can be grasped.

The cartridge cap 16 is arranged at the upper open end of the cartridge tank 12, and covers the open end of the cartridge tank 12, and a pressurizing chamber C forming a pressurizing device is formed between the cartridge cap 16 and the plunger 15. . A hole 11 is bored in the center of the top wall of the cartridge cap 16, and an air cylinder 14 is inserted into the hole 11, and a socket 20 disposed inside the hole 11 is provided with an air cylinder 1.
The air cylinder 14 can be supported on the cartridge cap 16 by being screwed with the lower end of the cartridge 4. The cartridge cap 16 is provided with an air supply port 16A that forms a pressurizing device together with the pressurizing chamber C. As in the case of the air cylinder 14, high-pressure air is supplied from the air supply unit 17. It is supplied into the pressure chamber C. A bush 21 is attached to a lower portion of the socket 20, and a piston rod 18 extending downward from a lower end of the air cylinder 14 is guided along the inside of the bush 21 to move up and down. An engagement groove (not shown) is formed in the lower part of the outer peripheral surface of the cartridge cap 16, and a protrusion (not shown) projecting from the upper outer peripheral surface of the cartridge tank 12 is engaged with the engagement groove by relative rotation. It is provided as possible.

A rubber seal 22 is supported on the flange 21A of the bush 21. The rubber seal 22 is provided with a hole 22A for guiding the air supplied from the supply port 16A toward the plunger 15. A seal spring 24 is interposed between the cartridge cap 16 and the rubber seal 22, and the seal spring 24
2 is urged toward the cartridge container 10 so that the rubber seal 22
Is brought into close contact with the upper edge of the cartridge container 10 to prevent leakage of the air supplied into the cartridge container 10.

Next, a method of using the material application apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described.

First, the air supply port 14 of the air cylinder 14
A supplies high-pressure air from the air supply means 17 and also supplies high-pressure air from the air supply port 16A of the cartridge cap 16. Then, as shown in FIG. 1, the plunger 15 is pressed by the piston 19 at the tip while the piston rod 18 of the air cylinder 14 is lowered by the high-pressure air. At the same time, the air supplied into the cartridge cap 16 pressurizes the pressurizing chamber C through the hole 22A of the rubber seal 22, and these interact with each other to show the dish-shaped plunger 15 by a two-dot chain line. And lower it. That is, the plunger 15 is pushed down by both the pressing force of the piston rod 18 and the pressure increase in the pressurizing chamber C, and pressurizes the fluid material 25 in the cartridge container 10 to discharge the fluid material 25. Discharge from the part 12A. The discharged fluid material 25 is
It is applied to the surface of the work (not shown).

The lowering plunger 15 descends smoothly following the decrease of the fluid material 25 because the posture is not corrected and deformed by the pressing force of the piston 19 of the air cylinder 14, so that the plunger 15 and Fluid material 25
There is no possibility that air will be trapped between them. Further, a reaction force is generated in the cartridge container 10 below the plunger 15 due to the pressurization of the fluid material 25, but since the pressurizing chamber C is pressurized, a large pressure difference does not occur. That is, the pressure balance in the upper and lower spaces sandwiching the plunger 15 is favorably maintained. Therefore, deformation of the outer periphery of the plunger 15 is more reliably prevented. Then, the plunger 15 descends, and the reed switch 23 provided on the air cylinder 14 causes the piston rod 18 to move.
Is detected, that is, the plunger 15 has reached the lower end in the cartridge container 10, whereby it can be detected that the fluid material 25 in the cartridge container 18 has been used up.

Note that the air pressure applied to the air cylinder 14 and the plunger 1
It may be better to change the air pressure to 5 in some cases. For example, while applying a low pressure to the air cylinder 14,
High pressure may be applied to the plunger 15. Furthermore, without applying air pressure to the plunger 15, the air cylinder 1
There is also a method of driving only 4.

As described above, according to the material application apparatus of this embodiment, the plunger 15 of the cartridge container 10 is lowered by the pressing force of the piston rod 18 and the air pressure supplied into the cartridge cap 16. Therefore, the plunger 15 can be moved in a stable posture, and the fluid material 25 can be used up to the end while preventing the formation of an air layer between the plunger 15 and the fluid material 25. In addition, the air cartridge container 10
Since the fluid material 25 is not entangled inside, the fluid material 25 is not hardened, and it is possible to reliably prevent the plunger 15 from being lowered and the posture from being defective, and to prevent the fluid material 25 from being unable to be discharged. An extraordinary effect, which has not been achieved in the prior art, can be obtained.

In this embodiment, the air cylinder 14 is used as the driving means. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a hydraulic cylinder driven by hydraulic pressure may be used. The piston rod 1 is used as a plunger position detecting means.
The reed switch for detecting the position of the lower end of the cartridge 8 is used. However, if a detection mechanism that can sequentially detect the position of the piston rod 18 and detect the position of the plunger 15 is used, the cartridge can be detected based on the detection result. The remaining amount of the fluid material in the container 10 can be detected in an analog manner.

[0019]

As described above, according to the present invention,
When the high-viscosity fluid material filled in the cartridge container is pressure-fed and discharged, the action of correcting the posture of the plunger by the driving means during the pressure-feeding of the fluid material is added because the plunger is moved by the pressing force of the driving means, At the same time, the plunger is pressurized by the pressurizing device independent of the driving means, so that the balance with the reaction force accompanying the pressurization of the material can be achieved, and the deformation of the plunger can be prevented. Therefore, the air is not entrapped in the cartridge container due to the deformation of the plunger, and ejection failure due to hardening of the material is prevented. Further, since no air layer is generated in the cartridge container, the fluid material in the cartridge container can be completely used up to the end.

Further, in the present invention, since the driving means is provided with the plunger position detecting means for detecting the position of the plunger, the remaining amount of the fluid material in the cartridge container can be detected from the position of the plunger.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a main part of a material application apparatus according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a main part of a conventional material application apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a main part of a conventional material application apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Cartridge container 12 Cartridge tank 14 Air cylinder 14A Air supply port 15 Plunger 16 Cartridge cap 16A Air supply port 17 Air supply means 18 Piston rod 19 Piston 23 Reed switch C Pressurizing chamber

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A material application device for discharging a fluid material filled in a cartridge container by pressure-feeding by a plunger in the cartridge container, comprising: a driving unit including a piston in contact with the plunger and pressing the plunger; A pressurizing device for moving the plunger by pneumatic pressure in combination with or independently of a driving unit, wherein the plunger is pressed by using at least one of the driving unit and the pressurizing device. Coating device. 2. A material applying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said driving means is provided with a plunger position detecting means.