Patent Application
20210146500
This disclosure relates to printed electronics process manufacturing and in particular, to an apparatus for precision squeegee grinding.
Table-top devices for grinding squeegee blades are directed to servicing squeegee blades that print graphical inks on textiles, plastic substrates, and the like. These devices tend to be expensive, have larger comparative footprints, and lack the precision and adjustability necessary for preparing squeegee blades to print intricate circuitry trace lines. In particular, these devices cannot deliver the flat, uniform, and precise grinds required for printing intricate circuitry.
Disclosed herein are implementations of devices and methods for precision grinding of squeegees. A precision squeegee grinder including a grinder assembly configured to grind an edge of a squeegee blade, a squeegee mounting assembly configured to hold the squeegee blade, a grinder assembly vertically alignable with respect to the squeegee mounting assembly, a latitudinal movement assembly connected to the grinder assembly, the latitudinal movement assembly configured to position the grinder assembly with respect to the squeegee blade in defined increments, a longitudinal movement assembly connected to the latitudinal movement, the longitudinal movement assembly configured to move the grinder assembly along a width of the squeegee blade, and a base assembly. The grinder assembly, the squeegee mounting assembly, the latitudinal movement assembly, and the longitudinal movement assembly are connected to the base assembly. The squeegee mounting assembly, the latitudinal movement assembly, and the longitudinal movement assembly enable triaxial alignment between the grinder assembly and the squeegee blade.
The disclosure is best understood from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and are incorporated into and thus constitute a part of this specification. It is emphasized that, according to common practice, the various features of the drawings are not to-scale. On the contrary, the dimensions of the various features are arbitrarily expanded or reduced for clarity.
The figures and descriptions provided herein may be simplified to illustrate aspects of the described embodiments that are relevant for a clear understanding of the herein disclosed processes, machines, manufactures, and/or compositions of matter, while eliminating for the purpose of clarity other aspects that may be found in typical similar devices, systems, compositions and methods. Those of ordinary skill may thus recognize that other elements and/or steps may be desirable or necessary to implement the devices, systems, compositions and methods described herein. However, because such elements and steps are well known in the art, and because they do not facilitate a better understanding of the disclosed embodiments, a discussion of such elements and steps may not be provided herein. However, the present disclosure is deemed to inherently include all such elements, variations, and modifications to the described aspects that would be known to those of ordinary skill in the pertinent art in light of the discussion herein.
Embodiments are provided throughout so that this disclosure is sufficiently thorough and fully conveys the scope of the disclosed embodiments to those who are skilled in the art. Numerous specific details are set forth, such as examples of specific aspects, devices, and methods, to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure. Nevertheless, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that certain specific disclosed details need not be employed, and that embodiments may be embodied in different forms. As such, the exemplary embodiments set forth should not be construed to limit the scope of the disclosure.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. For example, as used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” may be intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “including,” and “having,” are inclusive and therefore specify the presence of stated features, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
The steps, processes, and operations described herein are thus not to be construed as necessarily requiring their respective performance in the particular order discussed or illustrated, unless specifically identified as a preferred or required order of performance. It is also to be understood that additional or alternative steps may be employed, in place of or in conjunction with the disclosed aspects.
Yet further, although the terms first, second, third, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, steps or aspects, these elements, steps or aspects should not be limited by these terms. These terms may be only used to distinguish one element or aspect from another. Thus, terms such as “first,” “second,” and other numerical terms when used herein do not imply a sequence or order unless clearly indicated by the context. Thus, a first element, step, component, region, layer or section discussed below could be termed a second element, step, component, region, layer or section without departing from the teachings of the disclosure.
Polyurethane squeegee blades are used for screen printing circuitry trace lines. It is required to refurbish and/or renew these polyurethane squeegee blades by grinding down their leading edge. This grinding must be done with extreme precision and consistency. The grinder device must be able to grind squeegee blades that are permanently bonded to proprietary squeegee holders as well as squeegee blades that are not. This mechanism should also be a table-top unit that takes up a minimal footprint.
The devices described herein provide precision and consistency by incorporating completely adjustable, and tight-tolerance machine components. The device is a tri-axis or triaxial device which permits precision movement, alignment, and/or calibration in the x, y and z axes. In addition, both sets of linear guides described herein can be aligned parallel. This allows for smooth, undisturbed movement which in turns creates a uniform grind on the squeegee blade.
In an implementation, the squeegee mount can be leveled and/or aligned with a carriage plate's horizontal movement. This allows the squeegee blades to be grinded evenly over their entire length and at a square, 90-degree angle. A micrometer head and digital dial indicator allow for calculated latitudinal movement of the diamond grinding wheel. This allows the user to grind away precise amounts of the squeegee blade's leading edge. For electronic printing, a resolution of the edge or surface of the squeegee is on the order of 8-16 micro inches. Accordingly, the device enables precision and uniform grinding of the squeegee at the necessitated resolutions.
In addition to the device's precision, the device can handle squeegees mounted in proprietary squeegee holders since once a squeegee blades is mounted in one of these holders, the squeegee blade cannot be removed. In an implementation, the device vertically clamps onto the polyurethane squeegee blade and suspends its corresponding holder in the air. Because the squeegee is mounted in this fashion, the device permits square, 90-degree grinds of the squeegee edge. In an implementation, the device can handle bare or unmounted squeegees.
The carriage plate 1250 is used to translate a cross-slide plate 1300, and thus a diamond wheel grinder 1550, longitudinally along a length of a squeegee blade 1900. The carriage plate 1250 translates along the pair of linear guides 1150 of the base plate 1100. The carriage plate 1250 has a handle 1275 for moving the carriage plate 1250 along the pair of linear guides 1150. The carriage plate 1250 includes a cutout 1350 (seen best in
The cross-slide plate 1300 can be used to grind a calculated amount of material from the squeegee blade's 1900 leading edge. The cross-slide plate 1300 implements this by vertically mounting the diamond wheel grinder 1550 and the electric motor 1600. The diamond wheel grinder 1550 includes an integrated set screw 3150 (an example is shown in
A squeegee mount 1800 is suspended off the base plate 1100 using a set of fasteners 1825. In an implementation, the set of fasteners 1825 can be threaded rods with associated nuts. The set of fasteners 1825 allows for full adjustability and accurate leveling of the squeegee mount 1800 in the z axis. In an implementation, the squeegee mount 1800 includes a first plate 1830, a second plate 1832, and assembly hardware 1834. The first plate 1830 and the second plate 1832 are machined flat for precise mounting of the squeegee blade 1900. The first plate 1830 and the second plate 1832 are attached at a right angle using the assembly hardware 1834. The first plate 1830 and the second plate 1832 span the entire length of the base plate 1100. In an implementation, the first plate 1830 and the second plate 1832 are braced for additional support using braces 1836. In an implementation, the first plate 1830 and the second plate 1832 are also braced to the base plate 1100 using braces 1838 to prevent unwanted bowing. In an implementation, the squeegee mount 1800 can hold proprietary squeegee blade holders. In an implementation, a bare squeegee adapter 1850 can be fastened directly onto the squeegee mount 1800 when it is necessary to grind bare squeegee blades 1900 that are not mounted in proprietary squeegee blade holders.
As noted, the bare squeegee adapter 1850 can be used to precisely mount bare squeegee blades 1900 onto the squeegee mount 1800. The bare squeegee adapter 1850 includes a a cutout 1855 on its bottom side to slip directly onto the vertically oriented plate of the squeegee mount 1800, i.e. the first plate 1830, and fastened into position. The bare squeegee adapter 1850 has a machined lip 1860 that allows the user to seat a bare squeegee blade 1900 perfectly parallel to the squeegee mount 1800.
A squeegee clamp 1950 can be used to secure the squeegee blade 1900 while it is being grinded. The squeegee clamp 1950 slides directly onto two threaded rods 1870 from the squeegee mount 1800 and can be tightened onto the squeegee blade 1900 by threaded knobs 1955 on the squeegee clamp 1950.
A vacuum system (shown in the photographs of
Operationally, the precision squeegee grinder device 1000 uses the pair of linear guides 1150 and 1400 along with the precision micrometer head 1450 and the dial indicator 1500 to precisely control and provide a smooth, undisturbed movement that in turns creates a uniform grind on the squeegee blade 1900. In addition, since the squeegee mount 1800 can be leveled and/or aligned with the carriage plate's 1250 horizontal movement, the squeegee blades 1900 can be grinded evenly over their entire length and at a square, 90-degree angle. The precision micrometer head 1450 and the dial indicator 1500 allow for calculated latitudinal movement of the diamond wheel grinder 1550. This allows the user to grind away precise amounts of the squeegee blade's 1900 leading edge.
The method 13000 includes mounting 13100 a squeegee blade in a squeegee mount. In an implementation, a bare squeegee blade can be mounted in a precision squeegee grinder. In an implementation, a squeegee blade mounted in a holder can be mounted in the precision squeegee grinder.
The method 13000 includes aligning 13200 a diamond wheel grinder with the squeegee mount. The squeegee mount of the precision squeegee grinder is leveled. The diamond wheel grinder is vertically aligned with the squeegee mount by turning an integrated set screw in the diamond wheel grinder.
The method 13000 includes aligning 13300 the diamond wheel grinder in a y direction. The diamond wheel grinder is aligned relative to the edge of the squeegee blade using a precision micrometer and display as described herein.
The method 13000 includes grinding 13400 the squeegee blade edge by moving the diamond wheel grinder along the x direction.
While the disclosure has been described in connection with certain embodiments, it is to be understood that the disclosure is not to be limited to the disclosed embodiments but, on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the scope of the appended claims, which scope is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures as is permitted under the law.
