797PCP-2K Improve Automotive Relay Production
797PCP-2K Progressive Cavity Pump Improve Automotive Relay Production
Relay Application
One common application we see in the automotive industry is applying epoxy to relay housings. Automotive relays are an integral part of a vehicle’s circuit design. Keeping heat and moisture out is required for proper function and to avoid contamination or corrosion. The epoxy works well as a sealant to fill voids. It provides reliable cooling, and environmental temperature, and humidity protection for sensitive automotive electronic circuits.Recently Nordson EFD helped a machine builder develop a solution for a customer with this exact application. In this blog post, you’ll learn how Nordson EFD provided a total system solution. It took months of testing at one of our global application labs, but we were able to improve the customer’s current process and exceed expectations in terms of the application requirements.
Here are some details about this application:
Fluids Used
2-part epoxy
Application Requirements
Dispense precise amounts of 2-part epoxy onto aluminum relay housings
Dispense accurate, repeatable lines with a consistent cycle time
Eliminate drooling and dripping
To keep the process automated, we recommended our 3-axis EV Series robot that features vision-guided software to deliver precise fluid placement. Vision-guided dispensing robots use marks and fiducials to automatically offset the dispense program to compensate for slight shifts in part orientation or location. For example, if someone were to put the relay housing onto the robot in the wrong direction, the software would recognize this and automatically correct the dispense.
This helped to eliminate user error and provided the accurate, repeatable lines that this application required. Lastly, the robot’s vision system helped the machine builder detect the substrate more easily, which allowed for simple set up and programming.
Since dispense weight accuracy and repeatability were a significant part of the application requirements, we recommended our 797PCP-2K progressive cavity pump. The pumps are designed to precisely meter accurate ratios of part A and part B materials through static mixers for highly repeatable dispensing with fluid deposit accuracy at ± 1% regardless of variation in material viscosity over time. When paired with our ValveMate 7197PCP-2K volumetric pump controller, adjusting controls of meter mix dispensing parameters were made easy with the intuitive touchscreen interface.
The next product we highly recommended were our mixers. Having the correct static mixer can make or break your application. It’s important to look at the material properties of both parts A and B and pick the mixer with the right number of elements and diameter to achieve the proper bonding properties. In this case, our Series 190 disposable plastic spiral bayonet mixers were the best fit and a key to the success of this application because they ensured that the materials were 100% mixed by the time they left the mixer.
The implementation of our 797PCP-2K Y shutoff valve was also critical for this application. It eliminated the dripping and drooling issues caused by the previous process by aligning the mixer in a diagonal versus a vertical position, thus eliminating the dead fluid volume. In addition, the shutoff valve works to stop the flow of the material and provide a clean, drip-free cutoff of material flow.
Lastly, choosing the right tip is an important part of an application because choosing the wrong one could lead to rejects, rework, and affect cycle rates. Since we were working with mixed 2-part epoxy with a very thick viscosity, we suggested our Optimum 14 ga SmoothFlow tapered tip that attached to the shutoff valve.
Nordson EFD tapered tips work perfectly when applying thick viscosity fluids because of their large diameter that makes it easier to push material through them. They’re also designed with unrestricted flow, unlike other tips that have a choke point. This is important for thick epoxies because any restriction can cause a build-up of pressure and affect the accuracy of the dispense.
Results
In the end, the machine builder benefited from our overall expertise to provide them with a complete dispense solution that included automation, dispense pumps, controllers, cartridges, retainers, mixers, and tips.
Nordson EFD total system solution was able to meet their application requirements by delivering precise amounts of 2-part epoxy, dispensing accurate and repeatable lines of material, and eliminating the drooling/dripping issue they were having with their previous process. Offering the total system led to faster, easier set up and programming since our products work harmoniously with one another.