Infrared Curing Oven Provides Optimal and Uniform Foam Heating

Supplier: WECO International + Ceramicx
Client: Consumer Electronics Company
Industry: Electronics Manufacturing
Location: USA

Innovative Solution to Cure Curved Foam:

Finding the need to optimize production of their speaker line, a leading USA based consumer electronics company reached out to WECO International. Our engineers designed the system to cure foam on the back outer edge of polycarbonate speaker baskets at an accelerated rate. The team supplied a 42 kW long-wave infrared tunnel oven in two sections.

Curved Infrared Heating Elements Ensure Optimal Heating:

The infrared curing oven used Ceramicx Long Wave Half Trough Elements (HTE) to ensure optimal and uniform foam heating. These curved ceramic infrared heaters are an industry-leading product. HTE-type elements allow an increased number of zones within the oven for better temperature control.

A wide range of industrial, commercial, and domestic applications use the solid cast elements. They consist of a high-temperature FeCrAL resistance alloy embedded in a specially formulated ceramic body. This design allows operating temperatures up to 750°C. You can learn more about these elements by visiting our Infrared Ceramic Heating Elements page.

Multi-Zone Clamshell Infrared Oven With Conveyors:

Designed with the future in mind, a clamshell design makes it easy to access parts for replacement and maintenance.  The system consists of 4 primary components: The infrared oven, conveyor 1 ( load conveyor ), conveyor 2 ( unload conveyor ) and a control panel. As is standard for Ceramicx and WECO ovens, the frameworks of all components (infrared oven and conveyor) were constructed with stainless steel.

Optimal Integrated Oven Controls:

The key to the state-of-the-art machinery was the Human Machine Interface (HMI) control system that allowed the conveyor speed as well as oven power could be controlled. The control type included a 24 zone closed loop control with embedded TC/K feedback for optimal performance.