Adhesive dispensing system and method using smart melt heater control

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9200741-B2
Application number	US-201313799737-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 13, 2013
Priority date	Oct 25, 2012
Publication date	Dec 1, 2015
Grant date	Dec 1, 2015

Abstract

An adhesive dispensing system is configured to automatically reduce the temperature of adhesive material to reduce degradation of the adhesive caused by holding the adhesive at an application temperature during periods of low throughput. To this end, a controller of the system operates a heater unit to maintain a unit set point temperature to heat and melt adhesive until a set threshold time has elapsed since the most recent supply of adhesive to the system by a fill system. Once the time elapsed since the most recent supply of adhesive exceeds the set threshold time, the heater unit is reduced in temperature to reduce the temperature of adhesive. This reduction is temperature is large enough to minimize degradation and outgassing but small enough to enable rapid warm-up times after a new supply of adhesive occurs.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for dispensing adhesive with an adhesive dispensing system, the method comprising:
operating a heater unit to maintain a unit set point temperature that is sufficient to melt and heat the adhesive;
determining that the adhesive dispensing system requires a supply of adhesive;
actuating a fill system to supply adhesive to the adhesive dispensing system;
determining whether a first set threshold time has elapsed following the most recent…

Assignees

• Nordson Corp

Inventors

• Bondeson Benjamin J
• Estelle Peter W
• Hand Kent

Classifications

• B05C11/1002

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• B05C11/1042 Primary

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• Y10T137/6416

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• B05C11/1007

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• Y10T137/0391

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic