Joining intransparent components by UV-hardening systems through POF based UV-light initiation.

UV-light hardening adhesives provide many advantages as fast curing and good handling compared to PUR-based adhesives. But currently their use is limited as they may only be used if at least one adherent is transparent. The authors proved that the use of UV-light hardening adhesive systems on non-transparent adherents is possible using POF for UV-light initiation in the adhesive gap. Therefore the POF is integrated to the adhesive gap and remains there after curing is completed. The UV light is guided through the POF and initiates the joining process, which may reduce the processing time to below 3 minutes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]