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Reducing the Expense of Servicing Diaphragm Dispensing Valves
Continued from page 56 oretically,
these materials are
“always” protected from air, moisture and light by proper valve selection and proper workplace procedure, many operations find that, in the real world, a technician forgetting to put a cap on a valve after the shift can lead to a valve full of hardened adhesive in need of repair or replace- ment.
Risk and Expense in Routine Maintenance
Even during more routine cir-
cumstances, such as the end of each regular shift, operators must take the fast-curing properties of their dispensed materials into account when developing standard mainte- nance procedures. For example, in many opera-
tions, immediately upon scheduled stoppage of the line between shifts, technicians must quickly perform a flush of every dispensing nozzle to remove residual adhesive and ensure that it does not have a chance to harden. This procedure can be especially
risky for production lines that have numerous valves, or use particularly fast-curing materials. Sufficient manpower must be provided to ensure that the flushing of each valve can be completed within the brief working life of the material. Getting to a valve “a little too late” is not an uncommon scenario, and is another avenue that can create the need for the repair or the loss of a valve.
Along with the risk, the costs
relating to these commonplace main- tenance procedures can likewise be significant. Sufficient solvent for sev- eral rounds of flushing per day must be purchased and inventoried. Also, depending on the solvent used, prop- er disposal procedures must be fol- lowed — with the threat of regulato- ry issues and fines a possibility. Proper equipment, often a minimum of gloves and face masks, must be provided for each technician, and health and safety risks to personnel on the line and in adjacent areas are always a concern. And, there are the added expenses of technician train- ing and labor, and the time it takes to conduct the flushing procedure itself, which eats into the productive manufacturing time of each shift.
The Hidden Cost of Avoiding Automation
In addition to all this, there is a
hidden cost attributed to this current state of the dispensing industry, and while it doesn’t show up on ledgers, it is nonetheless significant. Seeking to avoid the risk and expense of period- ically losing valves to hardened material, thousands of manufactur- ers are continuing the use of manual dispensing processes long after the volume of their operation would oth- erwise dictate that they upgrade to automated dispensing systems. That is, instead of high-speed operations, many operators are using rows of technicians dispensing adhesives with a syringe and a foot pedal, incurring avoidable labor costs that
can be considered significant even in areas that have lower labor costs. Furthermore, not only do speed and productivity suffer by this methodol- ogy, but so do quality and repeatabil- ity. The ability to maintain consis- tent size and placement of material beads is severely limited in a techni- cian-dependent process. Fortunately, these manufactur-
ers will soon have little impediment to upgrading their dispensing opera- tions to a fully automated solution. Thousands more will be able to sig- nificantly reduce the risks and the ongoing maintenance costs of their current dispensing operations.
Disposable Material Path Technology
At one time, operations dispens-
ing high-viscosity materials of rough- ly 30,000-1,300,000cp, utilizing rotary (auger) dispensing valves, faced very similar problems to those outlined above, but, for most rotary valve users, this situation has long been a thing of the past. A solution to these difficulties is
a patented micro-valve technology developed by Techcon Systems, an OK International company that spe- cializes in the production of precision liquid dispensing equipment. The company reimagined rotary dispens- ing valves and created a highly effec- tive valve with a low-cost wetted path insert that is removable, dispos- able and replaceable, in a matter of seconds. Thousands of these valves have been proven in use, forever changing the economics of dispensing
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for many operations. A significant investment in
R&D allowed the company to create a similar solution for operations that use low-to-medium-viscosity materi- als of 1-50,000cp and are dispensed using diaphragm valves. The dispos- able material path (DMP) diaphragm valve has helped thousands of opera- tions to reduce their dispensing costs, and has helped many more to take advantage of automated dis- pensing of low-viscosity two-part adhesives without fear of damage to costly equipment. In operation, the DMP dia -
phragm valve operates similarly to standard top-of-the-line dia phragm valves. Air pressure forced through the air inlet port drives a piston assembly back, opening the material path and allowing fluid to flow from the material inlet to its outlet. Relieving the input air pressure allows the piston return spring to close the diaphragm, ensuring fast cut-off of fluid and the dispensing of an accurate, repeatable bead — down to 0.002ml in size. Also, an external stroke control adjuster makes it easy to fine-tune bead sizes with a high degree of precision. However, in the design of the
material path, similarities between the DMP valve and standard diaphragm valves end. The wetted parts of the DMP valve are designed to be self-contained, easily removable and disposable. Manufactured from black, high-density polyethylene, these durable inserts provide long life, are compatible with a wide range of chemicals, and cost only a few dollars each. They can be
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