Kristen, HVLP equipment would be a step in the right direction, but if they are painting metal you should seriously consider power coatings. Powder paints have been used in the appliance industry since the 50's. Because they are a powder they eliminate all solvents and reduced paint consumption another magnitude past HVLP. We can give on-site demonstrations to anyone interested in the technology. [Our charter as a nonprofit is to do technology transfer of leading environmental technologies.] Thought our demonstration equipment is big and automated, the technique is easily done with a manual spray gun in a booth and a small curing oven. Here is an excerpt from our Home Page: Powder Coating Equipment Description ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Specifications Part Size: Up to 3' x 4' x 4' Batch Size: Small (6 lbs of powder) to Medium (50 lbs) to Large (500 lbs) Conveyor Speed: Variable, 2 to 12 feet per minute Cure Temperature: Variable, up to 500°F Cure Time: Variable, no limit During powder coating demonstrations, operators and engineers study process parameters for finish quality, film thickness, edge coverage, corrosion resistance, and mechanical properties such as impact resistance, hardness, and abrasion resistance to find the best coating application for your products. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Powder coating is a finishing technique that offers economic and performance advantages over conventionally applied coatings. Economically, powder coatings have bottom-line savings in three key cost areas-materials, energy, and environmental compliance. Material costs are low because usage efficiency is high-up to 99% of overspray is recycled. Energy costs are low because spray booth and bake oven ventilation is reduced. And two familiar environmental costs-VOC control and sludge disposal-are virtually eliminated because powder coatings are solvent free and produce no paint sludges. Powder coatings also provide quality finishes and surface properties that rival those of liquid coatings. Technological advancements make powder coatings versatile enough to meet finishing needs that range from primers to chemical agent resistant coatings. The electrostatic powder spray processes in the Main Demonstration Factory use many types of thermoplastic and thermosetting materials, such as epoxies, polyesters, acrylics, vinyls, and PVC. These coatings can be used to meet the coating requirements for metal substrates such as aluminum, brass, bronze, steel, and zinc. Advances in new chemistries are also now meeting the requirements of nonmetallic substrates such as fiber-reinforced plastic, composites, wood, glass, and ceramics. The powder coating line in the Main Demonstration Factory consists of a pretreatment line, an enclosed spray booth, and a curing area. Parts are cleaned and pretreated in a seven-stage pretreatment line, then transferred to the spray booth. Powder coating starts with fluidization, where a feed hopper mixes powder paints with compressed air. The fluidized powder is pumped from the hopper to spray guns. The system has eight automatic, corona-charging guns on vertical reciprocators, two hand-held corona guns, and two hand-held tribomatic guns. In corona guns, electrodes at the gun's tip receive a high-voltage charge from a power supply. This creates a cloud of charged particles in front of the guns. In tribomatic guns, internal friction is used to build up a charge on the particles. Parts are suspended inside or conveyed through the booth and sprayed with the charged powder. Overspray is contained within the booth, recycled, then supplied back to the guns. Parts are then transferred to a curing area to be cured either with convection or infrared heat. ------------------------------------------------------------------ If you would like more information about powder paints or equipment, just let me know, or check out our web site below. Allan Butler Senior Engineer Concurrent Technologies Corporation 510 Washington Ave, Suite 120 Bremerton, WA 98337-1844 360-405-5408 butler@ctc.com http://www.ndcee.ctc.com -----Original Message----- From: Kirsten Koepsel [SMTP:kkoepsel@arrirs04.uta.edu] Sent: Wednesday, June 25, 1997 9:05 AM To: p2tech@great-lakes.net Subject: HVLP painting equipment and robots Greetings all, On July 1, I will be visiting one of our local manufacturers who make metal based furniture. Since their operation involves painting, I was interested in the use of HVLP equipment for their operation. I know that they currently use robots to paint with humans doing the touch-up work. Enamel is their paint of choice. They do send the parts through an oven after painting. Question-is it possible to use HVLP equipment with robots and enamel paint? In the telephone call, I suggested this option as a possibility for them to decrease the amount of paint they are using which caught their eye. Thanks. Kirsten Koepsel Texas Manufacturing Assistance Center 7300 Jack Newell Blvd., South Fort Worth, TX 76118 817-272-5925 e-mail kkoepsel@arri.uta.edu Kirsten M. Koepsel Texas Manufacturing Assistance Center 7300 Jack Newell Blvd., South Fort Worth, TX 76118 817-272-5925 817-272-5977 (fax)
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