Challenges in cosmetic sealing
A car’s design has complex geometries and many surface breaks where tight seals are critical to prevent corrosion. Areas using cosmetic sealing including doors, trunks and hoods, rear gutters, roof ditches, and rear lights, are often difficult to reach with precision. To meet these high demands in function, quality, and aesthetics, Atlas Copco’s SCA product line offers different technologies to apply cosmetic beads. Selecting the right application technology depends on the geometry of the car body and customer requirements. The nozzle geometry plays an important role and must be tailored to the car design and the robot movement. We provide customized nozzles for every requirement, e.g. special hook or L shapes.
Mini flat stream
Mini flat stream is a low-pressure application with a high precision of the material flow and accurate material distribution. As with all flat stream applications, the width and length of the nozzle slot determine the bead geometry. Our mini flat stream solutions provide a highly precise application. The result is a smooth surface for excellent aesthetic appearance. That makes it a preferred application choice for hem flange sealing frequently on doors.
Jet stream
The jet stream application is particularly suitable for aesthetically demanding seam sealing areas like trunk lids, roof ditches and rear lights. This streaming technology is suitable for high robot speeds while ensuring a high-quality surface finish. The tool’s symmetry means no set orientation of the nozzle. That allows easy robot programming even at challenging part geometries. Jet stream can be customized to many sealing areas using a variety of nozzles with different shapes and openings.
Extrusion
Extrusion is a low-pressure application that requires a short application distance. Special U-shaped nozzles can precisely apply a bead at trim edges (trim edge protection) that prevent corrosion on a section that is not zinc coated. The process is used in high-stress areas such as wheel arches. Our specific elastic nozzles compensate for deviations in robot movements and car part tolerances. They also allow for a constant robot speed with a certain bead shape.
Learn more about cosmetic sealing:
- Cosmetic Sealing 2.1 MB, PDF
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