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US 10,246,565 B2Granted
Rapidly curing adhesives using encapsulated catalyst and focused ultrasound
AssigneeThe Boeing Company
InventorsAndrew P Nowak, Geoffrey P. McKnight, Carissa A. Pajel, Sophia S. Yang, Thomas I Boundy, April R. Rodriguez, Darrin M Hansen, Alain A Adjorlolo
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Abstract
Methods for making and curing resin-based adhesives are disclosed using encapsulated amine accelerators activated by providing ultrasonic energy.
Claims21
A method for making an on-demand adhesive comprising the steps of:
- mixing a resin-based compound with a non-gas-filled encapsulated catalyst to form an uncured resin-based adhesive,
- depositing said uncured resin-based adhesive onto component, said catalyst encapsulated within a shell, said shell having an average shell diameter of from about 1 to about 1000 microns, and said shell having an average shell wall thickness of from about 1 to about 10% of the shell diameter;
- directing non-thermal ultrasonic energy from an ultrasonic energy source through the component, said ultrasonic energy source emitting ultrasonic energy from a curved piezoelectric ceramic probe head with the emitted ultrasonic energy tuned to an ultrasonic energy in the range of from about 0.5 to about 50 MHz;
- focusing the non-thermal ultrasonic energy through the component to a region or point located in the deposited adhesive;
- targeting non-thermal ultrasonic energy frequencies corresponding to a natural resonant frequency of the shell;
- rupturing the non-gas-filled encapsulated catalyst;
- and
- curing on-demand the uncured resin-based adhesive.
5 more elements
A method for applying and curing an on-demand adhesive comprising the steps of:
- mixing a resin-based compound with a non-gas-filled encapsulated catalyst to form an uncured adhesive material, said catalyst encapsulated within a shell, said shell having an average shell diameter of from about 1 to about 1000 microns, and said shell having an average shell wall thickness of from about 1 to about 10% of the shell diameter;
- applying the uncured adhesive material onto an interior surface of a first component having an interior surface and an exterior surface;
- positioning an ultrasonic energy source proximate to the exterior surface of the first component said first component having a thickness ranging from about 0.1 to about 0.25 inches;
- directing non-thermal ultrasonic energy from an ultrasonic energy source through the first component and focused to a region or point in the uncured adhesive material applied onto the first component, said ultrasonic energy source emitting ultrasonic energy from a curved piezoelectric ceramic probe head with the emitted ultrasonic energy tuned to an ultrasonic energy in the range of from about 0.5 to about 50 MHz;
- focusing the ultrasonic energy through the component to a region or point located in the deposited adhesive;
- targeting ultrasonic energy frequencies corresponding to a natural resonant frequency of the shell;
- rupturing the encapsulated catalyst;
- and
- curing on-demand the uncured adhesive material.
6 more elements
An uncured adhesive material, said uncured adhesive material comprising in a mixture:
- a resin-based compound;
- and a non-gas-filled encapsulated catalyst;
- wherein the catalyst is encapsulated within a shell, said shell having an average shell diameter of from about 1 to about 1000 microns, and said shell having an average shell wall thickness of from about 1 to about 10% of the shell diameter, and wherein the shell ruptures when a predetermined amount of energy is received by the shell from an ultrasonic energy source, said ultrasonic energy source configured to emit emitting ultrasonic energy from a curved piezoelectric ceramic probe head with the emitted ultrasonic energy tuned to an ultrasonic energy range of from about 0.5 to about 50 MHz, and wherein the uncured adhesive material is configured to be cured on-demand.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.