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CN-116635218-B - Treatment element with structural element

CN116635218BCN 116635218 BCN116635218 BCN 116635218BCN-116635218-B

Abstract

The invention relates to a treatment element (1) for treating a material, such as a welding head (3) or an anvil, which treatment element (1) has a substantially cylindrical or cylindrical segment-shaped carrier surface (2), which carrier surface (2) is intended to be brought into contact with the material during treatment, the treatment element (1) being arranged to rotate about its longitudinal axis (10) during treatment such that the carrier surface (2) moves in a circumferential direction and rolls over the material to be treated, wherein at least one structural element (4) is arranged on the carrier surface (2), which structural element (4) protrudes away from the carrier surface (2) in a radial direction, wherein the structural element (4) has a top surface, which top surface is intended to be brought into contact with the material to be treated. In order to provide a treatment element (1) which can be reliably welded at a high feed rate, it is proposed according to the invention that the top surface has a base section and at least one recess section, the distance between the recess section and the longitudinal axis (10) being smaller than the base section, wherein the base section and the recess section are arranged adjacent to each other in a section view perpendicular to the longitudinal axis (10).

Inventors

  • R. Russell Garcia
  • R. A. Byrd
  • T. ZINK

Assignees

  • 海尔曼超声波技术两合有限公司

Dates

Publication Date
20260512
Application Date
20211207
Priority Date
20201207

Claims (18)

  1. 1. A treatment element (1) for treating a material, the treatment element having a carrier surface (2) in the shape of a cylinder or a cylinder segment, the carrier surface (2) being intended to be brought into contact with the material during treatment, the treatment element (1) being intended to be rotated about a longitudinal axis of the treatment element (1) during treatment such that the carrier surface (2) moves in a circumferential direction and rolls over the material to be treated, at least one structural element (4) being arranged on the carrier surface (2), the structural element (4) protruding above the carrier surface (2) in a radial direction, the structural element (4) having a top surface, the top surface being intended to be brought into contact with the material to be treated, characterized in that the top surface has a base section and at least one recess section, the distance between the recess section and the longitudinal axis (10) being smaller than the base section, wherein in a sectional view perpendicular to the longitudinal axis (10), the base section and the recess section are arranged adjacent to each other, wherein the recess section and the recess section are not formed by the carrier surface (2).
  2. 2. A treatment element (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the depth of the recess is less than 1mm.
  3. 3. A treatment element (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the recess section is formed as a groove (5), the groove (5) being misaligned in the circumferential direction.
  4. 4. A processing element (1) according to claim 3, characterized in that the width of the recess (5) is less than 1mm.
  5. 5. A treatment element (1) according to claim 3, characterized in that the cross-sectional area of the recess (5) is smaller than 0.15mm2.
  6. 6. A processing element (1) according to claim 3, characterized in that the structural element (4) has a plurality of grooves (5) on the top surface that are not circumferentially aligned, the grooves (5) being arranged parallel to each other.
  7. 7. A processing element (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the top surface comprises a main section (6) and at least one chamfer section (7, 8), the main section (6) being formed flat or with a convex curvature with a radius of curvature corresponding to the distance between the main section (6) and the cylindrical axis, the chamfer section (7, 8) adjoining the main section (6) in the circumferential direction, the chamfer section also being angled with respect to the main section (6) such that the main section (6) and the chamfer section (7, 8) form an angle of <180 ° and/or are convexly curved, wherein the radius of curvature of the chamfer section (7, 8) is smaller than the radius of curvature of the main section (6) if the main section (6) is convexly curved, wherein the at least one recess section is arranged in the main section (6).
  8. 8. A treatment element (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that at least two of the structural elements (4) are arranged spaced apart from each other in the circumferential direction.
  9. 9. The processing element (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the processing element (1) is designed as an anvil.
  10. 10. The processing element (1) according to claim 1, wherein the top surface is an elongated shape having a length l and a width b, wherein l > b.
  11. 11. The treatment element (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the structural element (4) and the recess section arranged on the top surface extend continuously over an overall length l of the treatment element (1), wherein the length l is oriented parallel to the longitudinal axis (10).
  12. 12. An ultrasonic welding device comprising a treatment element (1) according to any of the preceding claims and an counter element (3), the counter element (3) having a sealing surface (9), which sealing surface (9) can be arranged opposite the treatment element (1) such that a gap is formed between the top surface and the sealing surface, in which gap a material to be treated can be arranged, wherein, in a cross-sectional view perpendicular to a longitudinal axis (10) of the treatment element (1), the sealing surface (9) has a welding section (9 b) which is concavely curved at least in sections.
  13. 13. Ultrasonic welding apparatus according to claim 12, characterized in that the radius of curvature of the concavely curved section of the counter element (3) is equal to the radius of curvature of the main section (6) of the treatment element (1).
  14. 14. Ultrasonic welding device according to claim 12, characterized in that the counter element (3) has a groove for at least partially receiving at least one wire, which groove is oriented in a feed direction in which the material to be treated is moved through the gap between the treatment element (1) and the counter element (3), wherein the material to be treated comprises at least two material web sections and the at least one wire, wherein the at least one wire is positioned between the two material web sections.
  15. 15. The ultrasonic welding apparatus according to claim 12, characterized in that the sealing surface (9) has an entry section (9 a), which entry section (9 a) is located in the vicinity of the welding section (9 b) and is non-curved or concavely curved with a radius of curvature greater than the radius of curvature of the welding section (9 b).
  16. 16. Ultrasonic welding apparatus according to claim 14, characterized in that the treatment element (1) is intended to rotate in a feed direction, in which feed direction the material to be treated passes between the treatment element (1) and the counter element (3), wherein an entry section (9 a) and a welding section (9 b) are arranged such that the material moving through the gap in the feed direction first comes into contact with the entry section (9 a) and then with the welding section (9 b).
  17. 17. Ultrasonic welding apparatus according to claim 15, characterized in that the entry section (9 a) and the welding section (9 b) are equal in size.
  18. 18. Ultrasonic welding apparatus according to claim 12, characterized in that the counter element (3) is designed as a welding head.

Description

Treatment element with structural element The invention relates to a treatment element, such as a welding head (sonotrode) or anvil (anvil), for the ultrasonic treatment of materials. Corresponding processing elements are described, for example, in EP 3 209 b 433 B1. Ultrasonic waves are increasingly used to join nonwoven materials. Two nonwoven fabric sections to be joined together are placed one above the other in the gap between the horn and the anvil, and the horn is subjected to ultrasonic vibrations. Due to friction caused by ultrasonic vibrations, localized heating occurs at the contact surface, so that thermoplastic parts, in particular nonwoven materials, are melted. The melted parts of the material sections to be joined flow into each other and ensure a firm bond after cooling. In this way, this makes it possible to join together the respective sections of nonwoven to form side seams when manufacturing the diaper. In the treatment of nonwoven fabrics, it is often necessary to collect material. For this purpose, additional elastic threads are inserted between the nonwoven sections to be joined. The nonwoven sections to be joined are then connected to one another on at least two connection surfaces, so that the threads are secured between the two connection surfaces by means of ultrasound during the treatment, so that there is a positive connection between the threads and the nonwoven sections in two spatial directions, which are oriented perpendicularly to one another. In this way, collection of material may be achieved. In this case, the treatment element may have a substantially cylindrical or cylindrical segment-shaped carrier surface, which is intended to be in contact with the material during treatment. Then, during processing, the processing element is rotated about its longitudinal axis, causing the carrier surface to roll over the material to be processed. In this case, the carrier surface typically has at least one structural element protruding radially above the carrier surface, such that the structural element has a top surface intended to come into contact with the material to be treated. The actual welding is then carried out in the area between the top surface of the structural element and the sealing surface of the counter element arranged at a distance therefrom. In the case of a wire anchor, the elongated structural element typically extends along the longitudinal axis of the treatment element such that the structural element is typically oriented at an angle, typically a right angle, to the wire. Thus, the structural element connects the thread segments to the nonwoven section. The areas where the threads can move freely alternate with the sections where the threads are connected to the nonwoven sections. Such a connection can be realized in the spatial direction by a force-fitting connection or by a material-fitting connection between nonwoven and threads, in which there is no form-fitting connection. If the thread is pulled during the ultrasonic treatment, the thread segments are fixed, which results in collecting the nonwoven when the thread is relaxed after the treatment. For example, the counter element may be a horn and the processing element may be an anvil. Hereinafter, the present invention is explained on the basis of this embodiment, which is a preferred embodiment. In principle, however, it is possible to design the processing element as a welding head and the counter element as an anvil. During the treatment, the surface of the carrier with the structural elements rolls over the material to be treated, so that the structural elements cause in particular welding. The processing speed is limited by prior art devices. In principle, the feed rate, i.e. the speed at which the material passes through the gap between the processing element and the counter-element, can be increased. However, a welding head that acts on the material at a fixed frequency will no longer apply sufficient energy to the material to achieve reliable welding. This is because at higher feed rates, the material is in contact with the sealing surface of the horn for a shorter period of time, and therefore less "stroke" of the horn is applied to the material. This can be partially compensated by increasing the force with which the welding head presses against the material to be treated. As a result, more energy is transferred into the material during the "per stroke" of the horn. However, this results in more friction and in molten parts that are formed by ultrasonic treatment at the interface between the layers of material to be welded. I.e. in the so-called joint region, the structural element presses out of the joint region, which also leads to a deterioration of the joint, since the joint region is no longer available for sufficient thermoplastic parts. Alternatively or in combination, the vibration amplitude of the ultrasonic vibration may also be increased. This will also transfer more energy into