SW OCTOBER 2021 WEB | Page 64

PRODUCTS & PROCESSES

Electrostatic solution for glass bottles :

How Wiegand-Glas significantly simplified its coating process

The Wiegand-Glas Group manufactures and sells individual packaging concepts made of glass and PET for the beverage and food industries . In Bavaria ( Germany ), Wiegand-Glas produces around 3.5 million glass containers per day . Coating plays a decisive role in the production of high-quality glass bottles with individual designs . A system for electrostatic liquid coating had been in use for several years .
However , the previous coating process was very complex due to the processing of conductive water-based paint with electrostatics . Wiegand-Glas wanted to make the entire process simpler . Due to the internal charging of the previous application equipment , the entire system was permanently under high voltage during production . Wiegand-Glas was therefore looking for a new , more efficient solution with optimized line lengths that would achieve the same high surface quality as the existing system .
In the new liquid coating system , the first step is to process the glass bottles with the GA 1030 automatic airspray guns . ( Picture : WAGNER )
In order to continue to achieve the highest possible application efficiency , Wiegand- Glas also relied on electrostatics for the new liquid paint system . WAGNER supplied the application equipment , paint supply and associated control system . In a first step , the glass bottles are processed in the paint booth with the GA 1030 automatic airspray guns .
The upstream guns generate an initial paint film on the glass . Due to the conductive water-based paint , the paint film forms a bridge to the ground potential . This makes the glass electrically conductive in the first place and creates an electrostatic effect .
For the subsequent electrostatic coating , the WAGNER TOPFINISH Bell 1S ECH is used ,
Electrostatic coating with external charging with the TOPFINISH Bell 1S ECH . ( Pictures : WAGNER )
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