Application case of automated powder coating line for hardware tools
Project Background
A hardware tool manufacturing enterprise mainly produces various manual and electric tools such as wrenches, pliers, screwdrivers, etc. For a long time, enterprises have faced problems such as uneven coating thickness, poor adhesion, low production efficiency, and serious environmental pollution by using traditional manual painting or simple dipping processes. With the increasing demand for surface quality in export orders and the tightening of domestic environmental policies, enterprises urgently need to introduce an efficient, environmentally friendly, and adaptable automated powder coating solution for small batch production of multiple varieties.
Process flow design
Pre treatment: The workpiece enters the spray pre-treatment channel through the suspension chain, and goes through processes such as degreasing, water washing, surface adjustment, phosphating, etc. to remove surface oil stains and oxide layers, forming a dense phosphating film to enhance coating adhesion.
Drying: By circulating hot air in the drying channel, the moisture on the surface of the workpiece is completely removed to prevent the formation of bubbles during spraying.
Electrostatic spraying: This is the core process. After the workpiece enters the powder spraying room, the automatic reciprocating spray gun group first applies a large area of uniform spraying to the surface of the workpiece. For the complex geometric shapes of hardware tools, such as the inside of the handle of pliers and the opening of the wrench, a manual spray station is equipped to use the principle of electrostatic adsorption to ensure that the powder can penetrate deep into blind spots and achieve all-round coverage.
Powder recycling: The bottom of the powder spraying room is connected to a large cyclone recycling system. Unadsorbed powder is sucked in by negative pressure and separated by a cyclone. More than 98% of ultrafine powder is recycled to the powder supply center for reuse, greatly reducing material waste.
High temperature curing: After spraying, the workpiece enters the curing oven and is baked at a temperature of 180 ℃ -200 ℃ for 15-25 minutes (depending on the thickness of the workpiece) to melt, level, and solidify the thermosetting powder, forming a hard and wear-resistant protective layer.
Cooling offline: After solidification, the workpiece is naturally cooled or cooled by an air cooling section before being manually offline and packaged.
Project Results
A leap in coating quality: solving common defects in traditional processes. Powder coating has extremely strong wear resistance, corrosion resistance, and impact resistance, especially suitable for hardware tools that are frequently rubbed and used, and has a delicate appearance texture.
Production efficiency improvement: Automated assembly line operations have replaced inefficient manual spraying, resulting in a significant increase in daily production and stable production pace, enabling timely delivery of large quantities of orders.
Significant cost reduction: high powder utilization rate, and the overspray powder can be recycled, resulting in minimal material waste.
Environmental compliance: There are no volatile organic compound emissions during the production process, and the workshop dust is treated by the recycling system to meet the emission standards, fully complying with environmental safety supervision requirements and eliminating environmental hazards for the enterprise.
High flexibility: The Great Whirlwind Recycling System reduces the color change time to less than 20 minutes, perfectly adapting to the production characteristics of the hardware tool industry of “multiple varieties, multiple colors, and small batches”.
Summary
The successful application of this hardware tool powder coating line not only helps enterprises solve the dual problems of environmental protection and quality, but also enhances the brand’s competitiveness in domestic and international markets by improving the appearance grade and durability of products, achieving a win-win situation of economic and social benefits.
