Recently we were contacted by one of the world’s leading tire manufacturers to help optimize their car tire manufacturing process. Specifically, they were having quality issues with applying an anti-stick chemical spray on the rubber as it was moving along the conveyor belt.
The old setup just used a single atomizer nozzle that was spraying all the time during production runs. This was obviously very wasteful and severely polluted the work environment. Additionally, the lack of control of this setup meant that not all tires were coated correctly. Some tires received too much coating while others weren’t coated enough. This caused quality issues which - in a competitive market especially - are unacceptable.
The tire producer decided to replace the existing setup with a new system that would be able to adapt the liquid delivery to the incoming tires. The goals was that this would improve the end product quality and reduce pollution in the workspace.
AutoJet® Automated Spraying System
As the leaders in spray technology we were consulted to come up with a more performant solution. With our Precision Spray Control (PSC) technology we can turn the nozzles on and off very quickly to control the flow rate. With traditional nozzles, flow rate adjustments require a change in liquid pressure, which also changes the nozzle’s spray angle, coverage and drop size. This would make it very difficult to apply the correct amount of chemical to the tires. With PSC however, pressure remains constant, enabling flow rate changes without changes in spray performance. This is the ideal solution for our customers’ issues.
Before deciding on the required PSC system we first tested the chemical in our lab to analyze the behavior under different pressures. Together with the customer we then decided on the optimal settings for this specific case.
Once the correct settings were found we selected the AutoJet® spray system that would be perfect for applying the anti-stick chemical:
- • AutoJet® E1850+ Spray Controller
- • Pressure tank
- • 4x PulsaJet® AAB10000AUH-03 nozzles
Result
The tire manufacturer was happy to replace the old setup with a performant AutoJet® solution. They now have full control over the anti-stick chemical that they’re spraying on the tires and they have fixed their ongoing issues.
Because the spray is now only sprayed when a tire passes the nozzle there is no longer any excess waste. For such an expensive chemical that’s already a major cost-saving.
The correct application also means that there are no more quality issues with the end product. More importantly though is that the work environment is no longer being polluted and that there are no more slippery floors. This means less risk for operators, an important sustainability goal for our customers’ management.