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US 10,588,183 B2Granted
Inline plasma-based system and method for thermal treatment of continuous products
AssigneeIllinois Tool Works Inc.
InventorDorival Goncalves Tecco
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An inline thermal treatment system for thermally treating a continuous product includes a gas supply system configured to supply a first gas flow and a power source configured to supply power. The system includes a plasma torch configured to receive the first gas flow from the gas supply system and power from the power source to form a plasma arc, wherein the plasma arc heats a portion of the continuous product disposed near the plasma arc.
Claims19
An inline thermal treatment system for thermally treating a continuous product, comprising:
- a gas supply system configured to supply a first gas flow;
- a power source configured to supply power;
- and
- a plasma torch configured to receive the first gas flow from the gas supply system and power from the power source to form a plasma arc;
- and
- a target positioned a distance from the continuous product on a same side of a surface of the continuous product as the plasma torch, wherein the power source is configured to apply an electrical bias between an electrode of the plasma torch and the target to form the plasma arc between the plasma torch and the target, wherein the plasma arc between the plasma torch and the target thermally treats the continuous product to reduce an organic contaminant on a surface of the continuous product by heating a portion of the continuous product disposed near the plasma arc between the plasma torch and the target and vaporizing the organic contaminant from the surface of the continuous product by application of heat, via the thermal treatment system, to the surface of the continuous product.
3 more elements
A method, comprising:
- advancing a continuous product through an inline thermal treatment system;
- thermally treating a portion of the continuous product to reduce an organic contaminant on a surface of the continuous product by plasma heating, using one or more plasma torches and one or more corresponding targets positioned a distance from the continuous product on same respective sides of a surface of the continuous product as the corresponding plasma torches, the portion of the continuous product with one or more plasma arcs between the one or more plasma torches and the one or more corresponding targets disposed near the portion of the continuous product,
- wherein the power source is configured to apply an electrical bias between an electrode of the plasma torch and the target to form the plasma arc between the plasma torch and the target;
- wherein the organic contaminant is vaporized from the surface of the continuous product through application of heat, via the inline thermal treatment system, to the surface of the continuous product;
- and
- supplying at least one gas flow to modify an atmosphere near the continuous product at least one of during or after plasma heating of the continuous product.
3 more elements
A continuous production system for manufacturing a continuous product, comprising:
- an inline production system configured to receive a continuous material and to output a continuous product;
- an inline thermal treatment system configured to receive the continuous product from the inline production system and to output a thermally treated continuous product, wherein the inline thermal treatment system comprises:
- a plasma torch disposed near a portion of the continuous product;
- a target positioned a distance from the continuous product on a same side of a surface of the continuous product as the plasma torch;
- a power source configured to apply an electrical bias between an electrode of the plasma torch and the target to form the plasma arc between the plasma torch and the target, wherein the plasma torch is configured to thermally treat the portion of the continuous product to reduce an organic contaminant on a surface of the continuous product by forming a plasma arc between the plasma torch and the target that heats the portion of the continuous product near the plasma arc between the plasma torch and the target, vaporizing the organic contaminant from the surface of the continuous product through application of heat, via the thermal treatment system, to the surface of the continuous product;
- and
- a controller comprising a memory and a processor, wherein the controller is configured to control the inline production system and the inline thermal treatment system based on instructions stored in the memory.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.