APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR DISPENSING DISCRETE AMOUNTS OF VISCOUS MATERIAL

摘要

Apparatus and methods for dispensing small amounts of a viscous material onto a workpiece. The narrow-profile dispensing apparatus (10) includes a fluid chamber (28), a nozzle (35), and a valve seat disk (62; 136) representing individual components that are removable from a main body (22) of the dispensing apparatus (10) for cleaning and/or replacement. The nozzle (35) is coupled with the fluid chamber (28) by a heat transfer body (44) that may be cooled by, for example, a cooling fluid routed through an air pathway (86, 88, 90) defined in the heat transfer body (44). The main body (22) of the dispensing apparatus (10) may be cooled by air exhausted from an air cavity (80) of a pneumatic actuator (78, 80) regulating the movement of a needle (22) to control the flow of viscous material in the dispensing apparatus (10).