This is a vertically oriented continuous-flow curing oven. This design minimizes the floor space required for the oven. Wire baskets suspended from two strands of #80 Stainless Steel chain carry the parts through the oven. The baskets are spaced six (6) inches apart along the chain. During a 30-second cycle, the chain will move six inches in about five seconds. During the remaining 25 seconds of the dwell cycle, the parts are unloaded from each basket in turn. Then fresh parts are loaded onto the basket at the next station.
The load and unload mechanism is about 36 inches from the floor. Each basket can hold up to 5 parts of approximately 5 inches in diameter or square producing a potential production rate of ten (10) parts per minute or 600 parts per hour. With smaller parts, an even greater production rate is possible.
When a basket is detected at the unload station, a vibrator feeder rises between the strands of the basket and moves the parts off the basket and onto your conveyor. , the unload vibrator lowers clear of the basket and the basket is ready to be indexed. At the next index, the empty basket moves to the load station.
There is a preload station that accumulates a tray full of parts on a vibrating feeder table. When the empty basket is detected, the load vibrator is positioned, a gate/ramp between the preload and load vibrators opens which transfers the accumulated parts onto the basket. The gate/ramp closes, the load vibrator lowers clear of the basket and the basket is ready to be indexed.
To minimize heat loss to the factory environment, the entry and exit openings are on the bottom of the oven. The oven entry opening is equipped with a mechanically operated door. This minimizes the size of the opening between baskets during the unload and load cycle. There is a cooling station under the oven before the unload/load stations where some of the heat from the cooling cured parts is recovered. This warm air is drawn into the oven as replacement air for the vapors being vented through the roof of the factory. Four (4) inches of "range" class fiberglass insulation similar to that used on self-cleaning ovens insulate the surfaces of the oven.
The oven contains about 120 feet of chain and 240 baskets. There is an additional length of chain and baskets in the cooling area and unload/load section. The chain will move six (6) inches every 30 seconds for a dwell time in the oven of 120 minutes. Externally mounted bearings for easy access and maintenance support the chain.
The oven is of modular construction with most panels easily removed for access to the interior of the oven. The oven is about 17 feet tall, 4 ½ feet wide, and 8 ½ feet long. The unload / load section increases the width to 5 ½ feet.
The heaters are mounted in an air handler at one end of the oven. Air is drawn into the air handler near the bottom of the oven and passed through the air handler where it is heated as necessary and reintroduced into the oven through diffusers at the top of the oven. The volume of the oven is such that all the air in the oven passes through the air handler once each minute. The fan motor is mounted externally. The fan assembly is rated for continuous use at 450 degrees F.
The whole system is timed, controlled and sequenced by a PLC controller with speed and timing programmable from an operator interface. The oven can be equipped with any number of thermocouples desired. The thermocouples can be attached to a recording device or the system can be tied into a factory network for monitoring.
