Mixing and degassing materials, such as precious metal pastes, pharmaceuticals or optical adhesives, is generally a two-part process that can take a lot of time - problematical when product pot life is measured in minutes. Intertronics believes it has a solution to this problem with the introduction of the Thinky ARE-250, a bench-top planetary mixer, already proven in Japan and the US and now available CE marked for the European market.
The unit works by revolving and rotating a container in a planetary manner at various speeds with both overall and planetary rotational speeds independently pre-programmable. Centrifugal force presses the material outwards to the inner wall of the container. Other forces cause the material to move downwards in a spiraling direction along the slope of container wall. The material then moves back to the centre of the container and up to the top. As a result, material circulation from top to bottom generates a kneading effect, forcing trapped air out of the material. There is no cross-contamination between batches, no damage to material from rollers, mixing blades or propellers and no requirement for cleaning between batches.
It mixes, disperses and degasses down to micron level without a vacuum and in the customer's own pot. It is suitable for materials of variable viscosity, and its non-contact mixing operation enables compounds from just 0.5ml to 310g to be formulated. Both mixing and bubble removal are carried out simultaneously.
Typical applications include epoxies and polyurethanes, especially where optical clarity or thermal conductivity must be maintained (by eliminating bubbles). The benefits of the mixer are most evident in time-critical applications for example, a two-part polyurethane with an isocyanate component and a pot life of around ten minutes. The single process of mixing and degassing can be achieved in seconds to ensure that the adhesive remains workable for the longest possible time.
Some materials may benefit from multiple mixing/degassing/mixing/degassing cycles with different timing and spin speeds at each stage. The ARE-250 caters for this by providing five program memories, each with five process profiles. These are operator-determined and programmed for instant access. The mixed material can be applied immediately, thanks to the provision of twelve holding fixtures that fit standard syringe sizes. These fixtures offer special process enhancements to maintain the workability of materials, such as pre-freezing or pre-heating.