ARLT
Arlt relies on finiture for the new painting plant
Finiture appears in the June-Juli 2018 edition of Exakt, a German magazine dedicated to the woodworking market. Focus: the plant Finiture created for Arlt Fenster-Türenbau GmbH in 2017.
The decisive push towards productive automation comes with the retirement of the last manual painter of the company. After setting up a shed with two distinct work areas, Arlt, reassured by the positive experiences of colleagues, decided to rely on Finiture for the investment.
The Arlt plant is articulated in an impregnation line for the application of the base and of an intermediate coat (operated by a Superjet flow-coating) and in a painting line with an automatic spray robot in a pressurized cabin. Both the flow-coating and the robot are equipped with automatic color change systems. For both areas, dehumidification systems have been provided to guarantee the right degree of humidity. Hot and dry air is introduced into the drying tunnel, while the cold and humid air is drawn in. The heat contained in the water vapor is recovered with the condensation and transmitted through the heat exchanger to the dehumidified air, which starts the next cycle.
The water collected during the condensation phase is eliminated directly in the drain, since with the use of water-based paints there are no solvents to be disposed of. For safety reasons, the waste water of the flow-coating instead is collected in a clarifier, treated and disposed of.
Before entering the pressurized paint booth, the pieces pass through a scanner that detects their shape and size. In this phase the relative painting programs are set, the color is chosen, the thickness of the piece is detected and the commands are transmitted to the robot.
For the spraying of large pieces the robot moves on a trolley. There is a floor-mounted suction system in the cabin that eases the overspray channeling in the filters. At the end of the work, a door opens in the back of the cabin and the piece passes into the drying lung. The robot cleans the gun and waits for the next piece to arrive.
At the end of the painting treatment, the pieces remain hung in a second loading-unloading station.
It takes about 24 hours for a complete painting cycle, including drying. With the painting system and an appropriate work surface, it is possible to complete everything within 8 hours.
The production optimization guaranteed by the high level of automation of the plant is now essential for the competitiveness of medium-sized companies. The saving of time and the quality of finishing guaranteed by an automatic spraying system make the manual work the prerogative of a past of which, for Arlt, only the memory will survive.