Schuberts Automatic Finishing in the UK
Automatic paint finishing systems through Schubert Technical Services Ltd
High Speed Window Line Installed
New 40m/min (!) Window Component Finishing Line Commissioned at one of the UK’s largest manufacturers of windows.
Schuberts have just installed and commissioned a radical new type of finishing line to produce between 1600 and 2000 window components per shift.
The customer employs approximately 20,000 people worldwide and has manufacturing and distribution locations across the United States and in more than 20 countries, including multiple sites in the UK.
In the UK, the customer has approximately 1200 staff that produce and distribute quality doors, windows, patio doors and stairs. The new Schubert paint finishing system is a first in the UK.
The new high speed line incorporates a totally new way of thinking for the window industry; each individual window component is painted in water based white primer in 2 passes at a line speed of 40m/min, all around the product. Key areas such as joints, end grain and complex grooves have special attention.
The FPC spray machine is a specially designed unit with a full overspray recovery system for waterbased paints and random loading abilities. All of this at a speed totally unknown for the window industry.
The paint finishing line has the ability to accept random length, height and width product either in batches or single individual pieces. This new approach gives the line complete flexibility with zero set-up time between products.
The coatings are cured within 10 mins, which again is very quick for external waterbased paints, with WindJet hot air modules and laminar air movement.
Once coated, the window components are assembled and then top coat paint is applied on an overhead conveyor system.
Schubert supply a full range of paint finishing systems for joinery, wood, plastic and metal industries, including automatic spray machines.
For more information, email sales@schuberts.co.uk or call +44 1226 360900
Carlick’s Cat
Faster drying, less fibre raising, less denibbing, less paint removed, better quality finish and reduced paint costs – these are just some of the benefits Carlick Contracts has found its new Schubox flash-off and drying system is delivering.
The contract furniture industry is renowned for short lead times,” says Josh O’Donnell, Procurement Manager for Manchester-based Carlick Contract Furniture Ltd. “Whatever they want, they want it within days.” In our climate, that can be a problem for any company that’s finishing furniture with a lacquer. Carlick was no exception: sprayed product from half a dozen manual spray booths was being left to dry until it could be handled, then it was transferred to a conventional oven. “We were using a conventional oven that was warm air circulating,” admits Josh. “It’s a very, very slow process and it doesn’t cure the product fully. We were giving it two to three days before sending the product out.”
That was until Carlick bought a cat. And now everybody is purring about it, whatever the weather. Carlick’s cat is a custom-built flash-off and Schubox drying system which uses infra-red catalytic conversion to cure paint and lacquer. “It has helped us massively with regard to production,” says Josh. “We can get more through, quicker and with the peace of mind that there will be no come-backs because it’s fully cured when it comes out of the Schubox. Tops, it takes an hour to dry AC coatings. It’s a superb product.”
The new installation doesn’t just address the issue of curing time for Carlicks, it also reduces the likelihood of contamination and variations in paint quality. A dedicated flash-off room was designed and built in the spray shop area where wet sprayed product is loaded onto drying racks or low level trolleys. The flash-off is fitted with a pressurised air balance system which matches input air to extracted air volume. All incoming air is filtered to remove particulate and the solventladen extract air is fed into the modified Schubox catalytic infra-red drying system where it is neutralised. The permanent extraction system is set at low level to remove the VOC’s. Flash-off takes about 15 minutes, after which the racks are transferred into the edicated custom Schubox drying zone.
The Schubox is fitted with three gas catalytic heater panels that provide heat, long wave infra-red and air movement at a gentle 35-40oC. A dedicated control panel with an easy-to-use touch screen HMI serves the whole of the new installation from a central point.
The gas catalytic process is a chemical reaction that produces heat and long wave infra-red. The long wave infra-red technology inside the Schubox removes the water or solvent carrier quickly and efficiently at the fraction of the cost of traditional air drying methods. There is no spark, no flame, nor any form of combustion, therefore it is completely safe to use with solvent-based coatings. Single pack, two-pack, water-based and solvent-based products can all be used in the Schubox system in conjunction with either hand spray and automatic spraying machines.
Once removed from the Schubox, the cured product can either be denibbed in preparation for the next application, or sent for packing and dispatch. As the Schubox cures the product quickly, using low temperature, there is less fibre raise on the surface. Less fibre raise means less denibbing and of course, less denibbing means less paint is removed from the surface by sanding. This in turn gives a higher overall film build, a better quality finish and a very worthwhile reduction in paint costs.
“We’re absolutely delighted with the whole system,” adds Josh. “It’s a real blessing and Schuberts are fantastic to work with. The whole system was delivered and installed within six to eight weeks – very quick – and the service has been great. To be honest, I wish all our suppliers were like Schuberts.”
In addition to internationally acclaimed Schubox systems, Schuberts supply manual spray booths, spray enclosures, overhead joinery coating systems and the full range of Makor automatic coating machinery. For more information on how Schuberts can streamline your finishing bottlenecks, call 01226 360900 or email sales@schuberts.co.uk
Carlick Contract Furniture Ltd employs over 100 staff in its 85,000ft2 factory in northern Manchester and manufactures a range of both standard and custom restaurant and bar furniture.
The Schubox is fitted with three gas catalytic heater panels that provide heat, long wave infra-red and air movement at a gentle 35-40oC. A dedicated control panel with an easyto-use touch screen HMI serves the whole of the new installation from a central point
Perfect Schubox Weather!!!
Autumn is here, so time for your new Schubox gas catalytic IR drying system to be on order!!
Schuberts Install New Automatic Panel Spray Machine, Clean Room and Schubox
Schuberts have recently installed and commissioned a new panel spray machine, heavy duty stacking machine and clean room at one of the UK’s leading producers of specialist door coatings. This is a totally unique and special installation, meaning anything from a kitchen door front, mouldings and up to full size 130kg doors can be processed.
The line incorporates a wide 1300mm automatic spray machine, capable of running at 5m/min. This machine features twin oscillating arms, fitted with 3 separate paint circuits and up to 8 guns. This machine is able to spray primers, base coats and top coats in both water based AND solvent based finishes.
The unique recovery system allows the paint overspray to be reclaimed, filtered and blended back into virgin paint product where possible.
The LIFT system means that up to 130kg doors can be unloaded wet from the spray line and then placed automatically into heavy duty drying trolleys. Each product has its length and width measured automatically before being loaded into its own individual space in the trolley. Once full, the operators move the trolley within the clean room.
The clean room is designed as a flash-off zone and allows the wet coating, specifically high gloss, to be in a clean area before being dried. The flash-off zone here is large enough to accommodate up to 8 full trolleys. The air flow is filtered using capture and hold air input filters and the extracted air goes to atmosphere.
For more information on the range of automatic spray machines for panels, doors and components, email sales@schuberts.co.uk
High Gloss Problems Cured!
One of the UK’s most well known and high quality manufacturers of high gloss and flat matt doors has just taken delivery of a new installation from Schuberts connected directly to a Giardina spray machine.
Schuberts installed a new flash-off zone and gas catalytic IR drying zone to service the finishing needs of both hand sprayed products as well as wet panels coming from a fully automatic Giardina spray machine.
The customer sprays solvent based high gloss PU as well as solvent and waterbased matt paints and lacquers. With the Giardina spray machine able to run at and above 6m/min, the bottleneck was always the flash-off and curing time, not to mention issues with contamination and variation in finishing quality when the wet product was left in the open factory environment. The new Schubert installation addresses each of those issues in three key ways.
A dedicated flash-off room was designed and built around the outfeed conveyor of the Giardina automatic reciprocating spray machine, where wet product is loaded onto drying racks. The flash-off is fitted with a pressurised heated air balance system via a biomass boiler, whereby the 18c input air is matched to the air extracted. All heated incoming air is filtered to remove any particulate and the extract air is fed into the modified Schubox catalytic infra red drying system. The permanent extraction system is at low level to remove the VOC’s.
Once flash-off has happened, the racks are transferred into the dedicated custom Schubox drying zone.
This area is fitted out with 5 gas catalytic heater panels, providing heat, long wave infra red and air movement at a gentle 35-40c. A dedicated control panel serves the whole of the new installation from a central point from an easy to use touch-screen HMI.
Drying times are slashed, productivity is up, reworks are down and Schuberts have another satisfied customer!
Complete Manual Schubert and Automatic Finishing System Installed at AJB Group
AJB Group have taken delivery of a new turn-key Schubert finishing installation for both the manual and automatic application of their production.
Having just moved into a new 36,000 ft² factory, AJB took the decision to invest in new technology for finishing their wide range of high quality Internal Joinery, External Doorsets, Windows, Composite Doors and Mouldings.
The first part of the install was a new Schubert spray booth enclosure, complete with filtered air input, 1000 lux lighting and Andreae High Efficiency filters. An overhead conveyor track was installed where windows and doorsets can be hung and painted on both sides before moving into the flash-off and Schubox
A separate adjoining paint mix room was added, with a bunded floor, explosion relief panels, ATEX heating system, permanent independent extraction to atmosphere.
The spray shop features manual entrance doors as well as product slots in the side of the structure. Bright white lighting gives great colour rendition. Air input is through capture and hold tack filters, meaning the pressurised spray room is free from dust and contamination. The extract filters are Andreae HE two stage filters. Both the input and extract fans are inverter driven through a PLC run control system and air pressure differential sensors. This means that the spray room remains pressurised right up until the extract filters are clogged with overspray.
The spray shop was connected to a flash-off section, again with lighting and extraction into the Schubox. The flash-off allows the product to flow and settle after spraying. If the paint hasn’t settled and vented, the rapid drying in the gas catalytic infra red Schubox will encourage a too fast process and solvent entrapment can occur, producing tiny bubbles in the dried lacquer. The flash-off is also supplied with clean air through roof filtration to ensure the wet product is not coated in airborne contamination.
The Schubox gas catalytic infra red drying system features bi-fold double doors on the infeed and outfeed. Each coated piece is stacked in the flash-off zone and then introduced into the Schubox catalytic IR curing system for a maximum of 30 minutes at 35°C. The wet lacquer is fully cured with long wave IR and at a temperature that does not affect the substrate in any way. After 30 minutes, the pieces are removed from the Schubox and are taken straight to fitting up and then despatch.
To compliment the manual spray system, Schuberts have also installed an automatic profile spraying line. Lineal lengths are handfed onto the line at ~30m/min, sanded and then sprayed with either solvent or waterbased paints. The profile line is controlled from a central touchscreen PLC where run speeds and gun settings can be altered.
Once sprayed, the pieces are racked up on finger trolleys and taken to the Schubox for rapid drying, before being loaded onto the line again for the next coat.
Mandeep Binji, Operations Director at AJB Group, says “The new Schuberts installation is fabulous, allowing us to achieve a faultless finish time and time again. The pressure sensors on the spray booth are fantastic which tells the operators its time to change the filters and the pressurised booth means we can finally appreciate the benefits of spraying in a controlled pressured spray environment.”
For more information on the range of products from AJB Group, please see www.ajb-group.co.uk
To see how Schuberts can design and install a custom finishing system for your company, call +44 (0) 1226 360900.
Schubox For The Jet Age!
Schuberts, along with their Polish agent Artech, have just delivered and installed a custom Schubox gas catalytic infrared installation for drying and curing a wide range of surface coatings at the aerospace manufacturer WZL2, Poland.
WZL2 are the main partner arm of the Polish Air Force, supporting and providing for the operation of the Polish Air Force aircraft, including Su-22, MiG-29 and C-130 Hercules.
Their scope of activity includes:
• overhaul including verification, repair, assembly, painting and test flights;
• scheduled maintenance check, phased inspection;
• aircraft servicing;
• verifying and repairing aircraft system components;
• extending overhaul life;
• manufacturing and delivering spare parts;
• developing and implementing test equipment;
• designing and manufacturing Ground Support Equipment;
• training personnel;
• developing technical publications.
Introducing new aircraft types to be operated by the Polish Air Force resulted in a need to develop service capabilities to support the operation of F-16 and C-130. The Schubox will be a key part of this new service.
This custom-built Schubox is designed to cure specialist coatings from 40c to 200c and anywhere in between. Cycle time for drying the painted product in the Schubox is drastically cut from hours to minutes and with a better quality finish!
The long wave infrared technology removes both the water or solvent carriers quickly and efficiently at the fraction of the cost or traditional air drying methods. Single pack, two pack, waterbased and solvent based products can be used in the Schubox system and can be utilised in conjunction with both hand spray and auto-spray machines.
The control panel is remotely mounted in a control room some 500 metres away. The HMI interface, optional trending and fully automatic start-up and run make the Schubox easy but effective to run.
For more information on how Schubox systems can be used in the aerospace, wood, composite and automotive industries, email sales@schuberts.co.uk
Garden Trellis Company Invest A New Schubert Finishing System
The Garden Trellis Company manufacture and supply a wide range of high quality timber garden products. From affordable ready-made and ready to assemble products, to the most desirable and bespoke custom made garden joinery available, they have it covered.
From their extensive workshop and design centre in Essex they continue to develop new and interesting products and are proud to work with many of the UK’s leading garden designers, landscape gardeners, developers and architects. They design, build and pre-paint a wide range of products for their bespoke customers. They offer site visits, free CAD design service and an installation service with a “clean site guarantee”.
Key to this high quality service is the finishing of the products. To this end, a complete new finishing system has been installed at The Garden Trellis Company. The new system was a scratch install and includes a full overhead conveyor system, support steel work, flow-coating system, spray booth, sanding booth, flash-off, gas catalytic drying zone and humidification system.
Working at a height of over 3m, the conveyor features multiple trolleys and flight bars to hang the product from. Each conveyor gate is actuated with compressed air, meaning moving the trolleys into the correct position is easy.
A heavy duty automatic lift station takes the strain when product is loaded and unloaded from the line.
The flow-coating liquid is applied with a low pressure spray system and allowed to soak into the structure of the wood. This gives the wood extra external use protection and a better quality finish. Once dried, the base coat is carefully hand applied in front of the spray booth with airmix pumps and guns for an even and regular coating.
To dry and cure the paints, Schuberts installed a 3 lane buffer zone, fitted with long wave gas catalytic infrared heaters and fan sets. This system quickly and evenly cures the waterbased paint in a fraction of the time it would take in ambient conditions. The multi-lane buffer means that dozens of trolleys loaded with product can be dried at the same time. The temperature inside the drying room is at a maximum of 30c, so it doesn’t affect the wood structure or the paint chemistry, yet dries the coatings very quickly with long wave infrared and air movement.
Once dried the product is sanded and cleaned in a sanding booth before being returned for top-coat paint application, drying and then finally off the line for packing and despatch.
Along with the finishing system, Schuberts installed a humidification system. This actively monitors and controls the moisture content of the air within the finishing shop. This improves the quality of the paint, means the wood is under less stress when coating and drying processes take place and it ensures a high quality, uniform finish can be achieved come rain or shine!
Julian Furness, MD of The Garden Trellis Company, said “A goal of our business is to continually try to improve the quality of our joinery and the efficiency of our factory; the system designed and installed by Schuberts has helped achieve both these. Painted joinery is increasingly popular with customers so the quality of the finish matters more than ever.”
For more information on the range of high quality products from Garden Trellis, please see http://www.gardentrellis.co.uk
To see how Schuberts can design and install a complete finishing system for you, email sales@schuberts.co.uk