Abstract: An adhesive dispensing device includes a heater unit for melting adhesive, a fill system communicating with a receiving space for feeding the heater unit, and a reservoir for receiving melted adhesive from the heater unit. The dispensing device also includes a capacitive level sensor located along a sidewall of the receiving space such that the level of adhesive in the receiving space can be detected by sensing the difference in dielectric capacitance where the adhesive is located compared to where air acts as the dielectric. The size of the driven electrode produces a broader sensing window capable of generating multiple control signals corresponding to different fill levels of adhesive. The receiving space and reservoir are minimized in size so that adhesive is not held at elevated temperatures long enough to char or degrade.

Abstract: An adhesive dispensing device includes a heater unit for melting adhesive material, a receiving space for feeding the heater unit, and a cyclonic separator unit for delivering adhesive pellets to the receiving space. The cyclonic separator unit includes a tangential inlet pipe proximate to a top end of a generally cylindrical pipe, which is connected to the receiving space at an open bottom end. The tangential or spiral flow of air and adhesive pellets generated through the cyclonic separator unit reduces the speed of the air and adhesive pellets to avoid splashing of molten adhesive material while maintaining enough speed to avoid adhesive build up on the generally cylindrical pipe.

Abstract: A transfer pump for moving pellets of adhesive includes a pump housing with an adhesive inlet coupled to a supply hopper, an adhesive outlet coupled to an outlet hose, and an adhesive passage extending between the adhesive inlet and the adhesive outlet. A first air nozzle communicates with the adhesive passage adjacent the adhesive inlet and expels a first air jet that pushes pellets of adhesive through the adhesive passage. A second air nozzle communicates with the adhesive passage between the adhesive inlet and the adhesive outlet and expels a plurality of second air jets that draw pellets of adhesive through the adhesive passage by a vacuum force. The first and second air nozzles prevent clogging of pellets in the adhesive passage and enable movement of larger pellets than either air nozzle individually.

Abstract: In one aspect, an adhesive dispensing system 30 includes a dispensing module 32 having an inlet and an outlet, a supply 35 of hot melt adhesive maintained at low pressure, and a low pressure liquid passageway 44 communicating between the supply 35 and the inlet of the dispensing module 32. Liquid material is received through the inlet at a low pressure, and the dispensing module 32 rapidly develops high pressure at the outlet 78 to jet the liquid material from the outlet 78. In another aspect, an apparatus for jetting liquid material includes a dispenser body 38 having a liquid chamber 40. A piston 54 is movably disposed within the liquid chamber 40, from a position wherein a piston tip 58 is spaced from a complimentary shaped recess 76, to a position wherein the piston tip 58 effectively seals off the recess 76, then to a position wherein the piston tip 58 is received within the recess 76 to displace a discrete volume of liquid material from the recess 76.

Abstract: Self-locking handheld adhesive dispensers and methods for dispensing an adhesive using a handheld dispenser. The self-locking handheld dispenser includes a valve, a trigger connected to the valve, and a spring-biased trigger lock mechanism used to lock and unlock the trigger. A locking member of the trigger lock mechanism normally has a blocking relationship with the trigger that prevents an incidental force applied to the trigger from opening the valve. The trigger is unlocked by manually moving a locking member of the trigger lock mechanism out of the blocking relationship with the trigger. The trigger is then freed to respond to an applied manual force and open the valve to dispense the adhesive. When the trigger is released, the valve closes and the spring biasing of the trigger lock mechanism automatically returns the locking member to the blocking relationship with the trigger so that the locked state is restored.

Abstract: Jetting dispensers and methods of non-contact dispensing a hot melt adhesive onto a substrate. The method may include jetting a plurality of droplets of the hot melt adhesive from a nozzle outlet toward the substrate in a direction of travel. Each droplet has a droplet length approximately aligned with the direction of travel and a droplet width shorter than the droplet length. The jetting is controlled such that each of the droplets does not collapse into a spherical-shaped droplet during flight from the nozzle outlet to the substrate. The nozzle outlet may be heated to a first temperature, and the method may further include rapidly heating each droplet of the hot melt adhesive to a second temperature higher than the first temperature upon release from the nozzle outlet.

Abstract: A high flow intake system for a horizontal pump skid installation is provided for reducing cavitation and for eliminating a necessity to have a booster pump. A pump inlet assembly has a collar that is affixed to a horizontal pump body proximate a pump intake. The pump inlet assembly has a plurality, e.g., four, inlet members that protrude from the collar member at an angle, preferably, 30 degrees, from a longitudinal axis of the pump body. Each of a plurality of hoses is connected to one of the plurality of inlet members. A distribution manifold has an inlet and a plurality of outlets that receive the second ends of the hoses. Preferably, each of the hoses has a length that is at least 20 times an inner diameter so that fluid passing through each of the hoses develops laminar flow.

Abstract: Self-locking handheld adhesive dispensers and methods for dispensing an adhesive using a handheld dispenser. The self-locking handheld dispenser includes a valve, a trigger connected to the valve, and a spring-biased trigger lock mechanism used to lock and unlock the trigger. A locking member of the trigger lock mechanism normally has a blocking relationship with the trigger that prevents an incidental force applied to the trigger from opening the valve. The trigger is unlocked by manually moving a locking member of the trigger lock mechanism out of the blocking relationship with the trigger. The trigger is then freed to respond to an applied manual force and open the valve to dispense the adhesive. When the trigger is released, the valve closes and the spring biasing of the trigger lock mechanism automatically returns the locking member to the blocking relationship with the trigger so that the locked state is restored.

Abstract: The invention comprises a solid dosage form for delivery of water soluble pharmaceutical agents. The solid dosage form comprises a matrix core containing the pharmaceutical agent and a hydrophobic material, and a coating containing a hydrophilic pore-forming agent and a hydrophobic polymer. The dosage form exhibits a zero-order release profile upon dissolution.

Abstract: A micro pressure sensor comprising a glass substrate or a bulk silicon wafer with a rampart protruding from the surface and a plurality of first contacting pads, a thin membrane having a plurality of piezo-resistors, circuit patterns, and a plurality of second contact pads, and conducting lines, wherein the plurality of contact pads are partially exposed to outside. The rampart on the substrate has a cavity formed on the center of the top surface of the rampart. The top surface of the rampart is tightly bonded to the surface of the thin membrane. The piezo-resistors are sealed in the cavity. Preferably, the micro sensor further comprises a plurality of thermo sensors, and a plurality of temperature-controlling elements all enclosed inside the cavity, and additional protective layers formed on the exposure regions of all contact pads.

Abstract: A method for producing an isolated micro pressure sensor and the process for producing the same are disclosed. The method for manufacturing the isolated micro pressure sensor includes: (A) etching one surface of a substrate to form a rampart with an open cavity on the center of its top surface and with plate portions surrounding the rampart; (B) forming a plurality of first contact pads on said plate portions of the substrate outside said rampart; (C) forming a plurality of second contact pads, a plurality of piezo-resistors, thermo sensors, temperature-controlling elements and circuit patterns on a bulk silicon wafer; (D) forming a plurality of grooves on the periphery of the bulk silicon wafer; (E) bonding the bulk silicon wafer and the substrate; and (F) thinning said bulk silicon wafer until said bulk silicon wafer forming a thin membrane.

Abstract: It is an object of the present invention to provide a frequency synthesiser with a lock speed-up arrangement in a simple and effective form. In accordance with the invention there is provided a frequency synthesiser including a voltage controlled oscillator, a phase detector which receives a base frequency signal and a feedback signal derived from the output of the voltage controlled oscillator and a filter circuit connecting the output of phase detector to a frequency control voltage input of the voltage controlled oscillator, the filter circuit having a reference voltage connection, and a speed-up circuit for applying a voltage signal to the reference voltage connection when a frequency change is demanded.