How to Automate a System That Uses Glue With Light Curing
Adhesive bonding in plastic manufacturing comes with several distinct technical challenges: dispensing the correct amount, dispensing in the correct location, achieving the right hold pressure for a reliable bond, and curing for the right amount of time. AMS has glue dispensing systems that can fully automate all of these details for a very high quality bond. Our recent advancements specifically in light-assisted curing solutions are especially beneficial.
Adhesive Curing Using Light
A growing number of plastic manufacturing applications rely on adhesive bonding instead of more traditional fastening, welding or friction joint assembly. Modern adhesive formulations easily stand up to challenging applications, including those with elevated temperature, pressure, weather exposure and heavy use conditions. While most adhesives cure by waiting a prescribed amount of time to dry, more recent variants of industrial adhesives can now be artificially cured using light waves. Light-curing methods speed up chemical reaction times, drive bonding penetration deeper into the surface of plastics and provide much higher bond strengths. These adhesives are commonly known as UV- or light-cured adhesives and sealants, or more informally, light-cure glues.
Light-cured adhesives are mainly formulated from epoxy or acrylate bases, and are best utilized in fabrication processes using glass, plastic, rubber, ceramic and even some metal materials. These adhesives are specifically formulated for industrial applications, and offer benefits targeted at manufacturers who make durable or disposable goods for both business and end-consumer use.
Light-cured adhesives feature a number of special properties that provide tangible manufacturing benefits over traditional glues, such as:
- Very high viscosity, which helps reduce adhesive run-off, over-dispensing and inaccurate positioning.
- Very fast curing under light wavelengths: between 3-5 seconds to achieve full bond strength.
- High transparency: great for use with clear or light-colored plastics.
- Non-yellowing, which maintains a nice appearance over a long life (particularly important in consumer and medical goods given their aesthetic considerations).
With certain adhesives, the cure-activating light wavelength can be intentionally customized, allowing adhesives to only react to specific points on the light spectrum. This affords more flexibility in the manufacturing process. Different adhesives can be activated by visible or non-visible light sources, granting many options for cure activation and rate control.
With light-cured adhesives, a wide range of technical properties are available, such as flexibility, tensile strength, moisture sensitivity, hygienic cleanability and substrate compatibility.
Automated Light Curing
Fabrication processes that require a glue with a light-curing step can be easily automated using AMS’s GC-401 Automated Glue Dispensing semi-standardized system platform. This system is centered on a recipe-driven, multi-part capable tooling set that dispenses adhesive and sealant fluids onto a part with high precision, fast cycle times and active instrument verification of the bonding process.
Adding light curing to this platform is a standardized option. After adhesive is applied and the separate components are pressed together, the assembly is automatically indexed over to a light-curing position located behind the glue dispensing position within the machine. This curing position can be built in many different manners, using non-contact lamps and spotlights targeted at the adhesive locations, or a light oven enclosure that can fully bathe the part in evenly distributed lighting. Light types can be UV, LED, infrared or incandescent, and can even be mixed within the same machine to cure different adhesive types in a single operation.
Common applications of light-cured adhesive assembly include:
- Respiratory devices
- Blood filtration devices
- Syringes
- Reservoirs
- Air and vacuum chambers
- Waterproof enclosures
- Protective containers
- Disposable medical test strips, sensors and applicators
- Optical lens housings
- Circuit boards
- Electronic assemblies with vapor-tight housings
- Many other medical, automotive, instrumentation, maritime, military and consumer goods products
Questions on Glue With Light Curing? Automated Machine Systems (AMS) is an industrial automation integrator in Cincinnati, Ohio. We specialize in advanced automation solutions for manufacturers in a variety of industries, including medical, plastic processing, consumer goods and transportation. With 99.5 percent on-time delivery, 97 percent customer satisfaction, 24/7 service and over 20 years of earning our customer’s trust, AMS is your partner for industrial automation. Book a virtual meeting today to discuss your next automation project.
