PAINT & POWDER
12,000 cubic meters . Impurities and micro particles are retained by the after filter .
To initiate one of the five daily color changes in a three-shift operation , the operator must click on the touch screen of the PowderPilot ® HD control system and the color change starts automatically . The intuitive system also guides the operator easily through the process .
Also the rest of the installation is operated by the PowderPilot HD control system . “ The handling is very intuitive . What the operator needs to know or do is displayed almost seamlessly in easy understandable icons ,” says Zimmerhackel , addressing the issue of the lack of skilled workers . “ Good language skills and extensive training are not necessary for safe operation of the system . Even the control of the robots were placed on the Windows-based PowderPilot HD ”.
Better , faster and more economical
For almost four years now , the fully automatic system has been coating aluminum , steel and magnesium components with great precision and reliability in three shifts at WELCO . “ The interplay of robot technology and dense phase technology has been proven with a 100 % process control .”
“ The expected quality improvement has been achieved in all aspects .” The coating specialist attributes this to the uniform and consistent powder coverage on oddly shaped parts . This is achieved by the soft powder cloud that emerges from the powder gun at a low speed and from a short distance . Less overspray produces a high penetration depth of the powder which is exactly how Nordson engineered its dense phase technology with HDLV pumps in the Encore HD spray system .
“ In fact , the extremely precise application of the dense phase technology is further enhanced by the precisely controllable robots and with maximum repeatability . The basis for this is the wide range of data recorded both by the coating system and the robots , which are stored in the recipes . This makes the entire production process both very reliable and flexible and it results in uniform coatings and visible quality advantages .” Mr . Zimmerhackel added .
The effectiveness and efficiency of the coating process has also increased significantly and can be expressed in concrete figures , “ Instead of over two minutes with the old technology , we now coat our workpieces in about one minute on average . At the same time the rework rate has fallen to 5 %. We save around 25 % to 35 % of the powder through consistent recovery , with a consumption of around 40 tons per year , that is about 10 tons ,” Richard Nuber continues . “ This has enabled us to double our production output and achieve a significant increase in sales !”
The time required for a color change has settled down to well under 15 minutes . Since the complex color change process is now largely automated , one operator can be saved in each shift . “ But it was never our goal to rationalize jobs with the new technology . We advised our workers very early on in the planning phase and involved them in the change process . This caused the workers to be highly motivated and concentrate on their new tasks ,” says Nuber .
In conclusion , Richard Nuber mentions with a smile : “ In addition to the cost savings and because of the absolute process control , the Nordson dense phase technology , with its very uniform coating quality , gives me great pleasure right from the start . Recently , I received another request for a sample coating from a very well-known and high quality automotive group . I just couldn ’ t help myself . I was looking forward to coating this sample myself again with our Nordson Encore ® HD manual system and being able to present an excellent , very consistent result to the customer , who was also very enthusiastic about the quality ”.
View also the video of the WELCO powder coating system
www . nordsoncoating . com / robot
Nordson Dense Phase Technology
Nordson ’ s patented HDLV ® pumps use dense-phase technology with high-density powder , low-velocity air to pump more powder to the spray gun with a minimum of air , and maximum process control .
This results in superior efficiency , unmatched coverage , and reliable self-clean color change , boosting productivity and reducing operating costs .
With more than 10 years of field-proven experience , Nordson remains at the cutting edge of dense phase pump technology in the powder coating industry .
Powder output stability and process control , for precise applied coating thickness and significant powder savings
Highest application efficiency with soft spray pattern
Superior coverage of recessed areas through optimized spray velocities
Longtime wear life of the internal pump components significantly reduces maintenance downtime for maximum productivity
Contamination free color change of the entire spray system due to an automated purge clean system read online : www . surfaceworld . com DECEMBER 2020
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