METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PREPARING AND DISPENSING A MIXTURE OBTAINED BY MIXING CHEMICALLY REACTIVE COMPONENTS, AT LEAST ONE OF WHICH CONTAINING A FILLER MATERIAL

    公开(公告)号:US20210308906A1

    公开(公告)日:2021-10-07

    申请号:US17224435

    申请日:2021-04-07

    Applicant: AFROS S.P.A.

    Abstract: A method is disclosed for preparing and dispensing a mixture obtained by mixing at least one first chemically reactive component and at least one second chemically reactive component containing a dispersed solid material i.e. a filler, by a high pressure mixing device comprising a head provided with injectors and one or more interception and supply devices defined by respective nozzles for narrowing the passage of the flows and with correlated plug members that are movable axially and settable for controlling said narrowing. The injectors and the interception and supply device transform the pressure energy of the fluids into kinematic energy of the jets that clash in the mixing chamber to mix the components for turbulence induced by the jets, in which a valve member is slidable, in particular a slide-valve, provided with longitudinal slots for recirculating the components to respective storage tanks. The method provides: removing from at least one tank, by pumping arrangement connected to a respective hydraulic delivery line to the head, a dosed quantity of the at least second chemically reactive second component to with filler material is added; preventing, once said quantity is removed, that the second component flows back from the pumping arrangement to the tank; dosing the component with a controlled flowrate B to the delivery line to the mixing head; keeping the slide-valve closed in a recirculating position and preventing the entry of the at least second component to the head and to the respective recirculating slot and pressurizing, by a dosed quantity Vot, the delivery line to subject the at least second polymeric component to a pressure increase along the delivery line until a value is reached that is near that reached by the passage through the nozzle of the respective interception and supply device; subsequently enabling the entry of the second component into the head to make the second component recirculate to the slots of the slide-valve for a period of time that is comparatively very reduced until it is reduced virtually to zero with respect to a recirculating step of the at least first component through the slide-valve, and subsequently opening by retracting the slide-valve to permit mixing by high pressure collision of the first and at least one second components to dispense the resulting mixture through the mixing chamber and the dispensing conduit for pouring the mixture into a cavity or into a shape to make an object by reaction of the aforesaid first and second chemically reactive components. An apparatus for preparing and dispensing the mixture is also disclosed.

    HIGH-PRESSURE MIXING DEVICE WITH SINGLE-PIECE DELIVERY DUCT

    公开(公告)号:US20200307025A1

    公开(公告)日:2020-10-01

    申请号:US16826631

    申请日:2020-03-23

    Applicant: AFROS S.p.A.

    Abstract: A high-pressure mixing device adapted to form a polymeric mixture from the reaction of two or more reactive liquid components or resins, comprises a head-body provided with a mixing chamber having an inner cylindrical surface with inlet and outlet openings for injecting and recirculating reactive components; a duct for delivering the mixture, communicating with the mixing chamber; a valve body with recirculation longitudinal slots, sliding into the mixing chamber between a backward position in which it clears the inlet openings and enables to mix components, and an advanced position, in which the slots put inlet openings in communication with outlet openings for recirculating the reactive components; the delivery duct, of the self-cleaning type, is a single-piece tubular element, removably fastened—by means of fixing members—and can be inserted into a hole transversal to the mixing chamber passing through the head-body; the tubular element has an intermediate transversal hole aligned with the mixing chamber with a diameter greater than a diameter of the mixing chamber for compensating, while assembling, for possible inevitable errors of alignment and mutual positioning due to processing tolerances of the parts to be coupled and for avoiding protrusions of the walls of the transversal hole from forming inwardly of the mixing chamber of the head-body, protrusions that might interfere with the end the walls of the valve member during the movement in the hole passing through the thickness of the tubular element until the end of said hole leading into the delivery chamber and that extends the mixing chamber to the wall of the self-cleaning delivery duct. Between the tubular element and the pass-through hole in the head-body a gap is defined, i.e. a certain coupling tolerance with a clearance between the tubular element and the hole, enabling to insert and remove the tubular element into/from the pass-through hole. Sealing elements prevent the leakage of polymeric mixture and lubricant liquid in the aforesaid gap; analogously, between the surface of the cap and the second hole—obtained in a opposite position with respect to the hole—a respective gap with clearance is defined where an elastic or elasto-plastic sealing is interposed; the valve member, in the advanced and penetrating position into the hole of the tubular element, is separated therefrom by a gap, with a sealing member interposed therebetween; the gap prevents the metal-on-metal contact on the front part of the valve element when it enters into the intermediate hole; generally, thanks to gaps, the assembly and coupling of respective components is eased, facilitating the centering and mutual angular positioning thereof and avoiding undesired interferences; the sealing elements prevent the leakage of polymeric mixture and possible lubricant liquid in the respective aforesaid gaps.

    Apparatus for fine and controlled adjustment of an injection molding process and related industrial process

    公开(公告)号:US20190152169A1

    公开(公告)日:2019-05-23

    申请号:US16184643

    申请日:2018-11-08

    Applicant: Afros S.p.A.

    Abstract: The invention relates to an apparatus for fine and controlled adjustment of an injection molding process and a related industrial process.The apparatus (1) has a sealed mold (2) supplied with fluid reactive resin via a supply inlet (8) and by means of a mixing and injection head (9) so as to impregnate with said resin fibers of composite material loaded inside a cavity (6) of the mold (2) and wherein at least one storage container (10) having an inlet/outlet opening (11) in fluid communication with an outlet (13) of said injection head (9) is provided so as to store a predefined quantity of fluid resin inside a storage chamber (16) prior to completion of the injection phase. Advantageously, the storage container (10) is a cylinder (18) defining internally a storage chamber (16) which houses slidably inside it a plunger (21) operated by an actuator (25) configured as a cylinder/piston assembly arranged as a coaxial extension of said cylinder (18) and comprising an actuating piston (15) having a stem (22) coinciding with the stem of said plunger (21); the cylinder (18) of the storage chamber (16) and the cylinder (14) of said actuator (25) having cross-sections different from each other.

    INJECTOR DEVICE FOR AN APPARATUS SUITABLE FOR MIXING CHEMICALLY REACTIVE COMPONENTS

    公开(公告)号:US20220362724A1

    公开(公告)日:2022-11-17

    申请号:US17741007

    申请日:2022-05-10

    Applicant: AFROS S.P.A.

    Abstract: An injector device for supplying a chemically reactive component to a mixing head includes a modular structure defined by a hollow housing and guiding body extending around a longitudinal symmetry axis and having one or more supply openings for supplying the chemically reactive component; in the hollow body a nozzle orifice is obtained arranged to face and communicate with a mixing chamber obtained in the mixing head; a pin-shaped partialization and control element, which is housed and slidably movable—along the longitudinal symmetry axis—in the hollow body and configured to vary a narrowed active section of the nozzle orifice; on the partialization and control element a tip portion is obtained that is conformed to receive pressure from the respective polymer component delivered to said hollow body so as to move away said partialization and control element from said nozzle orifice to vary the area of said narrowed active section; a modular adjusting and contrasting unit, which is removably couplable with the hollow body and with the partialization and control element and configured to exert an axisymmetric thrust action on the partialization and control element to arrange the partialization and control element in an initial position and preload condition to adapt the narrowed active section to a reference flowrate and pressure of the polymer component and subsequently to vary the position of said partialization and control element to adjust the narrowed active section according to the flowrate variation, exerting the contrasting force that is suitable for balancing the pressure exerted by the polymer component; the modular adjusting and contrasting unit includes a series of interchangeable elastic elements of conical disc shape, configured to exert a non-linear elastic action that is such as to contain the retracting stroke of the partialization and control element, limiting as much as possible the pressure variation at the variation of the flowrate of the respective polymer component entering the hollow housing and guiding body; the modular adjusting and contrasting unit, the tip portion and the nozzle orifice cooperate mutually to confer to the injector device a geometric conformation with high section gain, corresponding to a high ratio between the variation of the area of narrowed active section and the longitudinal shift of the partialization and control element.

Patent Agency Ranking