Elevator ovens give high throughputs in restricted floor space

Citation

(1999), "Elevator ovens give high throughputs in restricted floor space", Pigment & Resin Technology, Vol. 28 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/prt.1999.12928cad.023

Elevator ovens give high throughputs in restricted floor space

Elevator ovens give high throughputs in restricted floor space

Keywords Curing, Hedinair, Ovens

An entirely new series of elevator ovens, designed to provide high throughputs in only a fraction of the floor space needed by horizontal belt conveyor ovens, has been introduced by Hedinair Limited, of Romford, Essex (Plate 5).

Plate 5 An example of the new elevator oven, designed to provide high throughputs in only a fraction of the floor space needed by horizontal belt conveyor ovens, introduced by Hedinair Limited, of Romford, Essex

Using either gas or electric heating, they are said to be suitable for a wide range of industrial applications, from drying or curing screen-printing inks, paints, coatings, printed circuit boards and rubber products, to annealing automotive components, springs, gears and other metal pans.

The elevator comprises two strands of continuous conveyor chain connected by cross bars, from which components can be suspended directly or hung in a basket or other carriers. Flat panel products are carried in on shelves or side channels.

In a typical installation, a manual loading/unloading table and back-stop, fed by a roller track, are located below the oven. Safety is reported to be assured by a vertical lifting counterbalance gate connected to an interlock which ensures that the elevator cannot be operated until the gate is closed.

Alternatively, for highly standardised products such as printed circuit boards, automatic loading can be arranged on one side of the oven, with either automatic or manual unloading on the other side.

Operation of the elevator is under the control of a variable timer which indexes the carriers at appropriate intervals, depending on the dwell time required. A beacon light indicates if carrier unloading is overdue, and repeated indexing is achieved by pressing a push button.

Forced air circulation is provided by a powerful top-mounted fan which gives rapid and uniform heating of the components while at the same time ensuring highly efficient energy utilisation.

Air temperatures within the ovens can range from 100° to 500°C.

A cooling fan can also be provided, if required, to cool the operator area and partially cool the load, enabling the baskets or carriers to be handled with light gloves.

All Hedinair elevator ovens can be customised around the basic design to suit users' individual requirements. Sizes available range from approximately 1000mm high by 500mm wide by 500mm deep to 4000mm high by 2000mm wide by 2000mm deep.

Further details from Hedinair Limited. Tel: +44 (0) 181 590 2090; Fax: +44 (0) 181 590 0260.