Nip roller adjustment

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12036717-B2
Application number	US-202217980933-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 4, 2022
Priority date	Nov 4, 2021
Publication date	Jul 16, 2024
Grant date	Jul 16, 2024

Abstract

Disclosed are apparatuses and methods for forming films having uniform thicknesses across the entire width of the film. The films are also disclosed. The apparatus for forming the film includes a first nip roller and a second nip roller, each of the first nip roller and the second nip roller being configured to compress the powder as it passes between the first nip roller and the second nip roller and thereby form the film, whereby in the absence of a force counteracting the pressure of the passage of the powder between the first nip roller and the second nip roller the first nip roller is deflected to a greater degree than the second nip roller. Furthermore, the first nip roller and the second nip roller are each associated with one or more eccentric bearings that rotate to apply force vectors to the first nip roller and the second nip roller.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An apparatus for forming a film having a uniform thickness from a powder, the apparatus comprising:
a first nip roller and a second nip roller, each of the first nip roller and second nip roller being configured to compress the powder as it passes between the first nip roller and the second nip roller and thereby form the film, whereby in the absence of a force counteracting the pressure of the passage of the powder between the first nip roller and the second nip roller the first nip roller is deflected to a greater degree than the second nip roller;
wherein the first nip roller and the second nip roller are each associated with one or more eccentric bearings that rotate to apply force vectors to the first nip roller and the second nip roller.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the apparatus is configured so that a first contact area between the film and the first nip roller is smaller than a second contact area between the film and the second nip roller.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the eccentric bearings are configured to apply a greater magnitude of force from the force vectors to the second nip roller than to the first nip roller.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the eccentric bearings are configured to apply a different vector of force to each side of the same nip roller.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a position sensor configured to determine the position of at least one of the eccentric bearings.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first nip roller and the second nip roller are configured to each independently apply a force having a magnitude of about 1 kN to about 75 kN, where such force is attributable only to the action of the eccentric bearings and is separate from any additional force applied by other parts of the apparatus on the first nip roller and the second nip roller.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the apparatus is capable of imparting a uniform thickness to the film such that the film has a thickness variation across its width of no more than about 10 μm.

8. A method of forming a film having a uniform thickness from a powder, the method comprising:
compressing and passing the powder between a first nip roller and a second nip roller to thereby form a film, whereby in the absence of a force counteracting the pressure of the passage of the powder between the first nip roller and the second counteracting force the first nip roller is deflected to a greater degree than the second nip roller by passage of the film, and
adjusting the deflection of the first nip roller, the second nip roller, or both by rotating one or more eccentric bearings that are associated with the first nip roller and the second nip roller to apply force vectors to the first nip roller and the second nip roller.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the eccentric bearings apply a greater magnitude of force from the force vectors to the second nip roller than to the first nip roller.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the eccentric bearings apply a different vector of force to each side of the same nip roller.

11. The method of claim 8 , further comprising determining with a position sensor the position of at least one of the eccentric bearings.

12. The method of claim 8 , wherein the magnitude of the force vectors that are applied by rotating the one or more eccentric bearings is about 1 kN to about 75 kN.

13. The method of claim 8 , wherein the film has a thickness variation across its width of no more than about 10 μm.

Assignees

• Matthews Int Corp

Inventors

• Hackfort Thomas
• Bartsch Harald
• Wilmer Hermann Bernhard

Classifications

• F16C13/00

  Rolls, drums, discs, or the like (guide rollers in feeding webs B65H27/00; calender rolls, bearings therefor D21G1/02; rotary drums or rollers for heat-exchange or heat-transfer apparatus F28F5/02); Bearings or mountings therefor · CPC title

• B29C43/245

  Adjusting calender parameters, e.g. bank quantity · CPC title

• Y02E60/10

  Energy storage using batteries · CPC title

• B29L2007/008

  Wide strips, e.g. films, webs · CPC title

• H01M2004/021

  Physical characteristics, e.g. porosity, surface area · CPC title