Abstract
An application device for materials, in particular adhesives, including at least one cartridge receiving device for receiving a replaceable cartridge which contains a material and has a material outlet opening; a rotary device for metering or mixing the material, rotary device having a first engagement element; a drive device for driving the rotary device, the drive device having a rod which is mounted in a rotatable and axially movable manner and has a second engagement element at the end face; and a gearing unit for driving the rod in order to bring the first and the second engagement element into engagement with each other.
Claims
1. An application device for materials, including adhesives, the application device comprising: at least one cartridge receiving device for receiving a replaceable cartridge which contains a material, and having a material outlet opening; a rotary device for metering or mixing material, wherein the rotary device includes a first engagement element; a drive device for driving the rotary device, wherein the drive device includes: a rod, which is mounted so as to be rotatable and axially displaceable, and which includes a second engagement element at an end face; and a gearing unit for connection of an electric, drive, wherein the gearing unit is arranged to drive the rod in order to move the first and/or the second engagement elements into engagement with one another; wherein the first and the second engagement elements include polygonal profiles which are adapted to one another and have engagement aids, by which engagement aids the polygonal profiles in a circumferential direction of the polygonal profiles, are aligned with respect to one another.
2. The application device as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one of the first or second engagement elements moves into contact with the engagement aids when the engagement elements move closer as a result of an axial displacement of the rod when the engagement elements move into one another.
3. The application device as claimed in claim 2, wherein the engagement aids comprise: sliding surfaces which are aligned in each case in a direction of an edge of the polygonal profile), wherein surface normals of the sliding surfaces enclose acute angles with a circumferential direction of the polygonal profiles.
4. The application device as claimed in claim 2, wherein the engagement aids comprise: pairs of first and second sliding surfaces which are arranged symmetrically with respect to one another in the circumferential direction of the polygonal profiles.
5. The application device as claimed in claim 2, wherein the engagement aids comprise: sliding surfaces, which are aligned in the circumferential direction of the polygonal profiles, only in a direction of rotation of the rod, on only one side.
6. The application device as claimed in claim 1, wherein an engagement aid is a tetrahedron volume, which projects centrally with a corner of the tetrahedron out of an angled surface of an inside bevel of the polygonal profile.
7. The application device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the polygonal profiles are beveled hexagonal profiles, wherein the first engagement element of the rotary device comprises: an internal hexagonal profile and the second engagement element of the rod, comprises: an external hexagonal profile.
8. The application device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first and the second engagement elements are produced from among different materials which include plastics material and steel, the first engagement element being produced from plastics material and engagement aids being provided only on the first engagement element.
9. The application device as claimed claim 1, wherein the first engagement element one piece with the rotary device.
10. The application device as claimed in claim 1, comprising: a braking element for braking rotational movement of the rod, via a wrap spring housing or a plastics material brake, which is configured to generate an axial feed movement of the rod even with the rod idling, wherein the braking element is entrained axially with the rod.
11. The application device as claimed in claim 10, wherein the braking element is freely movable in the circumferential direction of the rod within an angular range which is adapted to the polygonal profile, such that a further feed movement will not be generated until the polygonal profiles are aligned with respect to one another.
12. The application device as claimed in claim 10, wherein the polygonal profiles are hexagonal profiles and the axially entrained braking element is mounted so as to be freely movable over a circumferential angular range of the rod of approximately 60°.
13. The application device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rotary device is an expelling rotary piston with an external thread, and the drive device is configured to screw the expelling rotary piston into the cartridge in order to drive material out of the cartridge through the material outlet opening.
14. The application device as claimed in claim 13, wherein engagement aids are provided only on the expelling rotary piston, wherein the expelling rotary piston is configured to be replaced together with the cartridge as a disposable part produced from plastics material.
15. The application device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rotary device is a mixing rotor for mixing expelled materials, including material components, wherein the mixing rotor comprises: a rotor shaft and a mixing mandrel around which several mixing blades are arranged, wherein the rotor shaft includes the first engagement element.
16. The application device as claimed in claim 1 for applying multi-component materials, including multi-component adhesives, the application device comprising: several replaceable cartridges with individual material components, the drive device being configured for simultaneously expelling material components out of the cartridges through material component outlet openings with the aid of expelling pistons which are arranged to move into the cartridge receiving device or the cartridges.
17. The application device as claimed in claim 2, wherein the polygonal profiles are beveled hexagonal profiles, wherein the first engagement element of the rotary device comprises: an internal hexagonal profile and the second engagement element of the rod, comprises: an external hexagonal profile.
18. The application device as claimed in claim 17, comprising: a braking element for braking rotational movement of the rod, via a wrap spring housing or a plastics material brake, which is configured to generate an axial feed movement of the rod even with the rod idling, wherein the braking element is entrained axially with the rod.
19. The application device as claimed in claim 18, wherein the polygonal profiles are hexagonal profiles and the axially entrained braking element is mounted so as to be freely movable over a circumferential angular range of the rod of approximately 60°.
20. The application device as claimed in claim 19, wherein the rotary device is an expelling rotary piston with an external thread, and the drive device is configured to screw the expelling rotary piston into the cartridge in order to drive material out of the cartridge through the material outlet opening.
Description
REPRESENTATION OF THE INVENTION
[0037] The invention is also explained below in more detail with regard to further features and advantages by way of the description of exemplary embodiments and with reference to the drawings below, in which :
[0038] FIG. 1 shows a schematic design of an embodiment of the application device according to the invention;
[0039] FIG. 2a shows a top view of an embodiment of an expelling rotary piston according to the invention;
[0040] FIG. 2b shows a side sectional representation of an embodiment of an expelling rotary piston according to the invention according to FIG. 2a;
[0041] FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of an embodiment of an expelling rotary piston according to the invention;
[0042] FIG. 4 shows an expelling rotary piston according to the prior art;
[0043] FIG. 5 shows an embodiment of a mixing rotor according to the invention;
[0044] FIG. 6a shows a top view of an embodiment of a mixing rotor according to the invention;
[0045] FIG. 6b shows a side sectional representation of an embodiment of a mixing rotor according to the invention according to FIG. 5a;
[0046] FIG. 7 shows a side view of an embodiment of an expelling piston according to the invention and of a rod;
[0047] FIG. 8 shows a side sectional representation of an embodiment of a mixing rotor according to the invention and of a rod;
[0048] FIG. 9 shows a perspective view of an embodiment of a rod according to the invention;
[0049] FIG. 10a shows a perspective view of an embodiment of a braking element as a wrap spring housing;
[0050] FIG. 10b shows a perspective view of an embodiment of a braking element as a plastics material brake.
[0051] The same reference symbols are used for identical and identically operating elements in the following part of the description of the invention.
[0052] FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of an application device 10 for materials, in particular multi-component materials, further particularly multi-component adhesives or multi-component sealing compounds. The application device 10 comprises two cartridge receiving devices 11 and 12, one for a cartridge 13 with a material outlet opening 131 and one for a cartridge 14 with a material outlet opening 141. The cartridge 13 is preferably realized as a tubular bag and contains a first material component, whilst the cartridge 14 is realized as a rigid (self-supporting) cartridge and contains a second material component, preferably a booster or an accelerator. An expelling rotary piston 15 with the external thread 151 is screwed by the rod 21 (the lower of the two rods 21 in the drawing) into the cartridge 14 in order to press out the first material component. An expelling piston 132 presses the second material component out of the cartridge 13. The material components are mixed in a mixer 34 and expelled through a discharging tip 33. The rod 21 (the upper of the two rods 21 in the drawing) drives the mixing rotor 26 in a rotating manner. The expelling rotary piston 15 and the mixing rotor 26 each provide an embodiment of a rotary device 16 according to the invention. The two rods 21 can be realized exclusively variously or identically. They are mounted so as to be rotatable and axially displaceable. In particular, they can be driven variously, preferably separately from one another. The mixer rotor 26 is rotatably mounted in the mixer attachment 36 which is fitted onto the cartridge cap 37, by means of which the expelled material components are pressed into the mixer 34. The drive device 20 includes a gearing unit 23 and a preferably electromotive drive 24, which can be controlled by a drive control unit 27, being supplied with, in particular, electric power via a battery 28 and can be actuated by means of a control unit 29. Reference is made to EP 2 606 984 A1 with regard to possible designs and to the method of operation of the drive device.
[0053] FIGS. 2a and 2b show an expelling rotary piston 15 according to the invention which comprises a first engagement element 17 with a polygonal profile 18 which is realized here as a hexagonal profile. On an end-face inside bevel 171 of the expelling rotary piston 15, a total of six regularly arranged engagement aids 19 are arranged on the six bevel surfaces 172 which project, in each case centrally, in the form of tetrahedron volumes from a bevel surface 172 of the inside bevel 171. The engagement aids 19 are designed symmetrically and comprise in each case first 191 and second 192 triangular sliding surfaces, which provide the side surfaces of the tetrahedron volumes. A side surface of a tetrahedron volume connects in each case to an inside surface of the internal hexagon, said side surface not necessarily having to be in the same plane, but could also be tipped outward against the inside surface of the internal hexagon. The height of the engagement aids 19 or rather the depth of the inside bevel 171 is shown here to be smaller than the diameter of the polygonal profile 18, but could also be approximately the same size or larger. The width of the engagement aids 19 could extend directly up to the edges of the polygonal profile 18, or could be realized in a narrower manner. The side edges of the tetrahedron volumes do not have to be straight, but can also be curved. Other curve progressions, which can be optimized, in particular, with reference to optimized engagement or rather to an external polygon running into the corresponding internal polygonal profile, are also conceivable. The engagement aids 19 do not have to be realized in a symmetrical manner but can also be designed on one side such that they only comprise in each case one single sliding surface. The surface normals of the sliding surfaces 191, 192 form an acute angle with the circumferential direction of the polygonal profile 18. Each edge 181 of the polygonal profile 18 does not necessarily have to have assigned thereto an engagement aid 19. It would also be possible to have fewer or more engagement elements 19 than edges 181. The first engagement element 17 with the polygonal profile 18 and the engagement aids 19 is shown here in a schematically simplified manner. It is possible, in particular, to provide curves usual for polygonal profiles and deviations from the geometries shown with sharp edges in the drawing which can be specified, for example, as a result of manufacturing tolerances, as casting radii or desired curves for improved engagement behavior.
[0054] FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of an expelling rotary piston 15 according to the invention, in the end face of which a polygonal profile 18 is realized with engagement aids 19 according to the invention.
[0055] In comparison to this, FIG. 4 shows an expelling rotary piston with an external thread according to the prior art which does not comprise any engagement aids according to the invention. An inside bevel is certainly realized on a hexagonal profile. In particular, here, the surface normals of the six bevel surfaces of the inside bevel are in each case perpendicular to the circumferential direction of the hexagonal profile. It has been shown, however, that a plain inside bevel without additional engagement aids, as are proposed in the present invention, is not able to solve satisfactorily the problem of incorrect engagement of an expelling rod in the expelling rotary piston shown. In particular, when the expelling rotary piston is produced from a softer material, for example plastics material, than the expelling rod, the expelling rotary piston can be canted or rather damaged such that it is not possible to screw the expelling rotary piston in a reliable and controlled manner into a cartridge. Reference is made to EP 2 468 415 A1 for further designs of an expelling rotary piston as is known from the prior art.
[0056] FIG. 5 shows a mixing rotor 26 which is rotatably mounted in the mixer attachment 36 and comprises a mixing mandrel 262 with a plurality of mixing blades 263 and a rotor shaft 261 with the outside bevel 264. When the mixing rotor 26 rotates, the mixing blades 263 promote the stirring of a material or the mixing of different material components which are supplied from the cartridges. The outside bevel 264 facilitates the inserting of the mixing rotor 26, which here is realized in one piece, into the mixer attachment 36. A first engagement element 17 is provided on the end face of the rotor shaft 261.
[0057] FIGS. 6a and 6b show the first engagement element 17 of the mixing rotor 26 according to the invention shown in FIG. 5 in more detail. In this respect, the statements made concerning FIGS. 2a and 2b are applicable with the exception of the mixing rotor 26 or rather the rotor shaft 261 not having an external thread in contrast to the expelling rotary piston 15.
[0058] FIGS. 7 and 8 illustrate the interaction between the first engagement element 17 and the second engagement element 22 which, in each case, comprise corresponding polygonal profiles 18. The rod 21 and the cartridge 14 or rather the rotor shaft 261 are movable axially relative to one another, for example in the application device 10 according to FIG. 1 the rods 21 being axially movable, whilst the cartridge 14 or rather the rotor shaft 261 being axially fixed. In this case, engagement aids 19 are only realized on one side, namely on the first engagement element 17, whilst the second engagement elements 22 comprise, in each case, a known hexagonal exterior profile without engagement aids. It would be conceivable, in principle, for only the second engagement elements 22 or the first 17 and the second 22 engagement elements to comprise engagement aids 19. When the rod 21 contacts the first engagement element 17 in a position in the circumferential direction such that neither of the two polygonal profiles 18 are congruent with one another, the rod 21, when the second engagement element 22, in particular its end face, approaches or rather contacts the engagement aids 19, is automatically rotated such that the edges 181 of the two polygonal profiles 18 coincide and the rod 21 is able to enter with its second engagement element 22 into the interior of the expelling rotary piston 15 or rather of the rotor shaft 261. FIGS. 7 and 8 consequently show first engagement elements 17 and second engagement elements 22 which are precisely not in engagement. Torque transmission is possible by means of the polygonal profiles 18 as soon as the exterior hexagon of the rod 21 is received in a positive locking manner in the interior of the expelling rotary piston 15 or rather of the rotor shaft 26. The axial relative movement and the rotatability of the two parts with respect to one another are indicated by the double arrows. The first engagement element 17, or in the case of an integral realization the entire expelling rotary piston 15 or rather the mixing rotor 26, is preferably produced from plastics material, whilst the second engagement element 22 or rather the rod 21 is preferably produced from steel.
[0059] However, it can also be produced from plastics material. As a result of realizing the engagement aids 19 exclusively on the side of the first engagement element 17, the steel part can be realized as a known polygonal profile, in particular as a hexagonal profile. The geometrically more complex first engagement element 17 can, in contrast, be produced in a cost-efficient and easy manner as a plastics material part. As a result, it is possible to design the expelling rotary piston 15 or rather the mixing rotor 26 as disposable parts and to dispose of them, for example, together with an empty cartridge 14 or rather a disposable mixer 34.
[0060] FIG. 9 shows an embodiment of a rod 21, which is mounted by means of bearings 30 so as to be rotatable and axially displaceable, in particular in a housing (not shown) of the application device 10. The rod 21 comprises, on an end, a threaded spindle portion 32 by means of which the rod 21 is able to be set in rotation and in axial movement by means of the threaded drive 31 with the threaded nut 35. The drive is effected, as described in conjunction with FIG. 1, by means of the gearing unit 23. The braking element 25 is realized here so as to entrain the rod 21, as described in detail in EP 2 606 984 A1. In contrast to the braking device shown there, however, in an embodiment according to the invention the braking element 25 can be freely movable in the circumferential direction of the rod 21 over a certain angular range, said angular range being adapted to the polygonal profile 18. Such mobility could be realized structurally, for example, by a guide in a groove, which, instead of or in addition to an axial guide, permits a degree of freedom of the movement element 25 in the circumferential direction of the rod 21. In the case of a hexagonal profile as a polygonal profile 18, such a circumferential angular range could be, for example, approximately 60°, but could also be smaller or larger. On one end of the rod 21, a second engagement element 22 is realized as a hexagonal shaft continuation which is preferably produced from steel.
[0061] FIGS. 10a and 10b show an embodiment of the movement element 25 as a wrap spring housing (FIG. 10a) and a plastics material brake (FIG. 10b), which can be realized such that they are mounted so as to be freely movable over a circumferential angular range, as described in conjunction with FIG. 9.
LIST OF REFERENCES
[0062] 10 Application device [0063] 11 Cartridge receiving device [0064] 12 Cartridge receiving device [0065] 13 Cartridge [0066] 131 Material outlet opening [0067] 132 Expelling piston [0068] 14 Cartridge [0069] 141 Material outlet opening [0070] 15 Expelling rotary piston [0071] 151 External thread [0072] 16 Rotary device [0073] 17 First engagement element [0074] 171 Inside bevel [0075] 18 Polygonal profile [0076] 181 Edge of the polygonal profile [0077] 19 Engagement aid [0078] 191 First sliding surface [0079] 192 Second sliding surface [0080] 20 Drive device [0081] 21 Rod [0082] 22 Second engagement element [0083] 23 Gearing unit [0084] 24 Drive [0085] 25 Braking element [0086] 26 Mixing rotor [0087] 261 Rotor shaft [0088] 262 Mixing mandrel [0089] 263 Mixing blade [0090] 264 Outside bevel [0091] 27 Drive control unit [0092] 28 Battery [0093] 29 Control unit [0094] 30 Bearing [0095] 31 Threaded drive [0096] 32 Threaded spindle portion [0097] 33 Discharge tip [0098] 34 Mixer [0099] 35 Threaded nut [0100] 36 Mixer attachment [0101] 37 Cartridge cap
