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| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | WHY PATRIOT? Composites manufacturers have been experiencing the same quality control issues for years, including porosity, prerelease, gelcoat cracking and more. As pumping technology improved over the years to address things like lowering styrene emissions, the root problem behind the quality control issues was not directly addressed. That problem -imprecise metering. Seeing a growing trend with Composites manufacturers moving to more automated processes, where pumping system performance and precise metering would become critical, the MVP Advanced Design Group set to work in developing the next generation of Composites Pumping System. The new system would need to work as efficiently in the small-to-mid size shop as it would in a fully automated operation. It would need to have the ability to handle multiple flow rates and varying materials to meet the demand for efficient modularity, and would need to be constructed of rugged materials able to withstand increased production runs. And, it would need to greatly reduce the flow-rate variations to improve the precision in production. Through extensive testing, the MVP Advanced Design Group determined that most standard pumping systems available on the market today have variations in their resin flow rates as high as 25%, and the catalyst to resin variance ratios were as high as 30%. Knowing that as more manufacturers move into automated production, pumping system performance would be even more critical to an efficient operation. With the variations seen through testing, the Advanced Design Group determined that a revolutionary new system, with a production based design, would need to be developed to meet the coming demands of increased precision. What they designed is the Patriot Pumping System. Patriot is a versatile pumping system that addresses many of the problems currently experienced in production control. During testing, Patriot turned in an amazing catalyst to resin variance of less than 1%. With precision like that, many of the quality issues that currently face composites manufacturers can be dramatically reduced. Those issues include: | | | | | | What Is Different About Patriot? The quality of the pumping system itself is another variable that will become more important as the industry moves forward. In an increasing effort to find new ways of lowering production costs, customers will begin demanding systems that will run and last longer. Precision machining of all system components by expert machinists, adds to the precision of Patriot - making it a system constructed to last. Fluid Section The displacement rod on Patriot is deep induction heat hardened, and then coated with a thick hard chrome layer to increase the wear characteristics of the system, allowing it to run for longer periods. The MVP Advanced Design Group has also developed a unique "self-healing" seal with the lowest coefficients of friction available today. This seal, in both the resin and catalyst pumps, does not require packing adjustments, and greatly reduces the problems associated with heat build-up and wear. MVP also offers the option of a Tuff Coat ceramic coated displacement shaft that takes wear to an all time low. Catalyst Marine pump The Catalyst Pump on Patriot was redesigned to be more efficient and durable. In addition to the new self-healing seal, the new Catalyst Pump features a new soft stop inlet valve which allows for a positive seating surface with a "stop" feature to maintain consistent flow and reduce inlet ball wear, no packing adjustments are necessary, the seals are pre-loaded, and, as with all MVP Catalyst Pumps, it is fully passivated to increase durability. Powerhead Powering Patriot is the Powerslide Powerhead. Designed to meet market demand to reliably deliver smooth power at low pressures, the MVP Powerslide Powerhead is available in three diameters: 3.25" PAT-PH-3250 5" PAT-PH-5000 7" PAT-PH-7000 With these sizes, Patriot is able to fit virtually any application process, and has been engineered with interchangeable parts for easy ratio changes. In addition, the shaft in the Powerslide have been encoded for easy adaptation when monitoring is required. The MVP Powerslide Powerhead is truly the heart of the MVP Pumping System. Innovative features include: | | | | | | How does Patriot improve RTM? The extremely low variance rate offered by Patriot makes this system ideal not only for typical "chop and spray" operations, but also for closed molding processes such as RTM. The closed molding process requires a higher level of precision with every cycle, and testing has shown that Patriot delivers the most efficient and consistent level of precision for the closed mold process. If the injection system is inconsistent, the quality of the product will be inconsistent. Testing Proves Patriot Efficiency In the course of developing Patriot, MVP conducted extensive testing on Patriot compared with two competitive pumping systems. The results were remarkable. Flow variations, like the ones seen in the first set of graphs, were recorded during typical application methods. The extreme fluctuations in pressure/flow can become real problems when used in composites processing. Porosity, mil-build consistency, runs, sags, cracking and emissions spikes are just a few of the problems that can occur with inconsistent material flow. You can't have quality control with a pump that is out of control. | | | | | | | | | | MVP also carefully analyzed how close the pressure/flow of both the resin and catalyst were throughout the cycle of the pump. Again, the results, shown in the graphs below, clearly show that the resin to catalyst ratios in the two competitor's systems vary dramatically, while Patriot remained consistent throughout the cycle. Key issues such as post curing, prerelease, yellowing, and varying levels of Barcol development can easily be attributed to inconsistent metering of catalyst. Accurate catalyst-to-resin ratios are vital in achieving top quality in the end product when processing today's materials. | | | | | | | | | | | a pilot valve operated by line pressure modular components ■ Rapid Access Design (R.A.D.) for quick | | allows for quick response shifting disassembly and re-assembly | | | | | | Porosity Pre-Release Post Curing Gelcoat Cracking Alligatoring Inconsistent Thickness And more... Illl Alligatoring Cracking Porosity While there are other factors that can contribute to these quality issues, an improved performance in the meter/mix system can result in a significant reduction of these problems. Bottom Line? The bottom line - with dramatically increased precision and performance, and superior wear characteristics, the Patriot Pumping System is designed in every way to improve your bottom line. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | These innovations are the driving forces behind the growing demand for the Powerslide Powerhead. In addition, the streamlined design has fewer parts than any powerhead currently available, giving Powerslide users the edge in lower maintenance costs. Design Options Another optional feature offered with Patriot is an enclosed cabinet design. This design makes monitoring the system more efficient with all of the gauges in one place, and the need for maintenance is reduced as less dirt and other contaminants common to most operations that often get into the system. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
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