PLASMAJET® in Detail
The PlasmaJet® is your compact system for non-contact surface treatment for cleaning, activating, and modifying a wide variety of 3D materials. Thanks to its special plasma jet and flexible application options, even hard-to-reach geometries can be processed effortlessly. This allows you to achieve excellent treatment results universally and easily.
Function of the PlasmaJet®
The PlasmaJet® is a compact system for contactless surface treatment – ideal for cleaning, activating, or modifying a wide variety of materials using a special plasma jet.
It always consists of a high-voltage generator and a plasma nozzle. Inside the plasma nozzle, the plasma is created by a high-voltage discharge between two electrodes. The process gas flows around the electrodes, where it is converted into plasma and exits through a nozzle due to its flow. Experts refer to this as remote plasma. This already allows excellent treatment results to be achieved.
By selecting the appropriate outlet nozzles, even workpiece geometries that are difficult to access can be treated. The low weight of the plasma nozzle and the flexible gas and energy supply make the PlasmaJet® universally applicable.
What is Plasma?
Plasma is an electrically conductive gas consisting of positive and negative ions, electrons, and excited and neutral atoms and molecules. In physics, it is often referred to as the fourth state of matter. Plasma is unstable and requires a constant supply of energy to maintain it.
Air is the preferred process gas. Other gases and mixtures can be used for special applications without any problems, provided they are not flammable or even explosive. The process gases ionize and dissociate due to the energy of the plasma arc. The absorbed energy is released abruptly through the recombination of atoms and molecules outside the generation system (plasma nozzle). This intensifies the physical and chemical effect of the plasma jet on the surface. The result of this effect is, for example, chemical changes on the surface of polymers due to the incorporation of oxygen. Cleaning effects are achieved by removing volatile components. Functional nanocoatings are created when appropriate process gases are used.
Advantages of the process
- Atmospheric pressure process, i.e., no vacuum technology required
- Extremely low operating costs (energy consumption per nozzle approx. 500 W)
- Very safe and clean process compared to flame treatment systems
- Potential-free plasma jet, meaning that even metallic materials can be treated without any problems
- Good controllability of the plasma nozzles, both in combination for complex applications and individually
- Separate function monitoring of each plasma nozzle in a complex composite system
Application examples
- Surface activation to increase wettability many times over (e.g., car body parts and headlight components in automotive engineering, printed circuit boards, glass and PC screens, window profiles, and much more)
- Improving the durability and reliability of adhesive bonds
- Treatment of silicone, PTFE, and EPDM profiles prior to flocking or prior to the application of lubricating varnish
- Electrical neutralization of static charges
- Cleaning
- Dust removal
- Production of functional layers on a wide variety of substrates
- Single-thread treatment in fabric production
- Longitudinal and contour welding of plastic films
- Joining PE/PP films with non-woven fabric
AFS Generators
The generators, which were developed specifically for PlasmaJet® applications, enable unprecedented power output. A mere 500 W per nozzle is sufficient for surface treatment, while a maximum nozzle power of 1000 W is required for welding and cleaning.
G10P: Generator in a 1/2 19″ housing for one nozzle with a maximum power of 1000 W
G12P: Generator in a 1/2 19″ housing for two nozzles with a maximum power of 1200 W
G05P: Generator for one nozzle with max. 500 W power for multi-nozzle applications (exclusively for control cabinet installation)
Features of all generators
- Comprehensive plain text self-diagnostic system in various languages
- Power control
- Setpoint limitation
- Power measurement and display in watts
- All connections pluggable
- Voltages, currents, temperature, and power setpoint can be displayed during operation
- Process gas monitoring
- Max. ambient temperature 40°C
Features G10/G12P
- RS232 interface for connecting a remote control, etc.
- Temperature monitoring with advance warning, display in °C or °F
- Switching output for process gas
- Power measurement and display in watts
- Error memory with real-time clock and operating hours counter
Features of the PlasmaJet®
The generators specially developed for PlasmaJet® applications enable unprecedented power output. Just 500 W per nozzle is sufficient for surface treatment, while a maximum nozzle power of 1000 W is required for welding and cleaning.
- Rapid cycling of the plasma beam for synchronous short interruptions in the direction of travel
- Good integration into existing processes
- Quiet treatment procedure thanks to special generator technology
- New generator concept for maximum energy utilization
- Processor control for consistent and reproducible treatment results
- Bus-compatible (CAN bus, Profi bus, MOD bus, etc.)
- Allow mounting on a robotic arm, e.g., to handle complex contours or three-dimensional objects
- The process is also ideal for welding continuous plastic webs, even in contours.