New rotary infrared welding system with multiple heating station

Rotary infrared welding system

Dukane introduces new rotary infrared welding system with multiple heating stations to reduce cycle time. This system is designed for assemblies falling within a footprint of 200mm x 250mm or less, requiring a fast cycle rate. Automotive, appliances, medical equipment, and various other plastic part manufacturers will benefit from this technology. This unique machine provides a particulate free, non-contact Infrared welding solution that is capable of producing welded assemblies as fast as every 8 seconds as compared to conventional IR welding machines that run at a rate of 30-40 seconds per cycle. These rates are accomplished by enabling the normally sequential welding steps (load, heater extend, melt, retract, join, hold, open, and unload) to happen simultaneously on a rotary indexing machine. Each step of the weld process occurs at the same time on each of the indexer stations. Using this method, a welded assembly is discharged at the same time a new one is being loaded.

Dual heat station of rotary infrared welding system

Simply stated this rotary welder indexes and produces a part about as fast as the melt rate of the plastic. If 16 seconds of Infrared bulb exposure is required to sufficiently melt the plastic part for welding, then the rotary table is indexed every 16 seconds plus a fraction of time for index speed. The welder with two dedicated index stations to Infrared heat the plastic can index the table every 8 seconds rather than 16. The part still receives the required 16 seconds of exposure over two stations, but the index time is divided in half making the machine run twice as fast.

High-speed fluid rotary motion introduces the parts to the heaters rather than shuttling the heaters in and out each cycle. This drastically reduces vibration on the heaters and increases life cycle. A servo driven clamping station with programmable process limits for precise control provides repeatable and accurate results. Water-cooled, contour milled aluminum shields over Infrared heaters eliminate the wasted time of machine heat-up and cool-down while protecting the IR elements from damage in the event of a crash.