Chamber for Vacuum Extrusion System

vacuum extrusion system chamber
Rear view of the Custom Vacuum Extrusion Chamber
This is a custom acrylic vacuum chamber build for a high volume manufacturer of parts that are fabricated using vacuum extrusion techniques. The challenge was to build a vacuum chamber system which interfaced on 3 sides with various in-house extrusion equipment components in order to create a good vacuum seal. The bottom, the top, and on the rear of the chamber had to interfere with the vacuum extruder assembly. This was accomplished by incorporating a double gasket mechanism on the bottom and top and by incorporating a clamping mechanism on the rear. The top of the chamber interfaced with extrusion cutting equipment. The rear of the chamber interfaced with the vacuum extrusion die. The bottom of the chamber interfaced with the vacuum hopper.

The advantages of using an acrylic vacuum chamber in vacuum extrusion environments is that it allows for full visibility of the product. Additionally, a camera system can be added to the operation enabling fully visual inspection of the interior hence increasing throughput, quality, and safety.

On a personal note, this was a very tricky engineering problem because we were aiming to design a chamber which had to create a vacuum tight fit against three surfaces which were not completely perpendicular to each other due to wear and tear. This was accomplished by using a double gasket aluminum interface plate.

In the end, all went well, and looking back we have nothing but gratitude to this customer for giving us a chance to push ourselves beyond what we were comfortable doing - hence making us better engineers. This was a challenging and fun project; not only were we able solve a problem they were wrestling with for quite some time, we also made friends and connected with people on the other side of this country.

Video of the Extrusion Vacuum Chamber

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Altitude Simulation Systems
Altitude simulation systems are devices that simulate a certain altitude equivalent by controlling the vacuum inside a vacuum chamber. Altitude is a function of absolute pressure, therefore if a certain pressure is accomplished inside a vacuum chamber, a specific altitude can be simulated from the set pressure. Altitude simulation systems can be configured to not only hold a certain pressure, a complete pressure vs time profile can be programmed to be run. Furthermore, pressure vs time recipes can be loaded and run based on test requirements.
Liquid and Gas Vacuum Feedthroughs
A Liquid and Gas Vacuum Feedthroughs are tubes that will allow you to run liquid or gas into your vacuum chamber without contaminating the vacuum levels or vacuum chamber in general. Say you are looking to run a coolant into the vacuum chamber and cool a component you are testing. You can simply install a liquid and gas vacuum feedthrough are run your coolant towards your test specimen.
Our Work: Modified 14 inch Cube Vacuum Chamber for Degassing
This custom job was a modification to our standard acrylic vacuum chambers. When it comes to working with the Us Military, they want all specs to be met 110% and they want it yesterday. The military does not mess around which is why they came to us since we know how important it is to meet specs and ship fast.
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This article will talk about how to test the seal integrity of food bars. You will understand what you will need to do in order to ensure good seal quality. This article covers the seal integrity testing of Breakfast bars, Chocolate candy bars, Crisped rice bars, Energy bars, Granola bars, Health bars, Protein bars, Fruit and Nut Bars, Meal Replacement Bars or any other food bar sealed with a flow wrapper.