RIPPERT supplied a powder-coating plant to the new Warema works in Wertheim in which the parts are fed not to the plant itself, but locally. This has resulted in a minimisation of the necessary handling steps, since the feeding of the components to the lifting beams takes place directly at the upstream manufacturing stations.
AGVSs (Automated Guided Vehicle Systems) then take care of the transport from the manufacturing stations to the powder-coating plant, where sorting and buffering can take place under MES control.
The coating plant with VARIO conveying technology is constructed on two levels. It essentially consists of a 6-chamber pre-treatment plant, a residual water dryer, two powder-coating booths, a gelling and powder curing oven, two cooling zones and process air replenishment.
The feeding of the lifting beams from the transport containers into the powder-coating plant takes place fully automatically. On completion of the pre-treatment process, the running gear is transported to the second level by a double lift. By means of a double transfer bridge, the components are unloaded and subsequently transported to the residual water dryer. On expiry of the drying time, the parts pass through the cooling zone to the automatic powder-coating booths, where they are coated. Following the powder coating, the parts are taken by a double transfer bridge to the powder curing oven, where they first pass through the gelling zone before moving into the actual curing oven. On expiry of the curing time, the parts are cooled down again in the cooling zone and then conveyed with the lift to the lower level, where they can be driven directly to packing stations by the VARIO conveying technology, which in turn minimises the handling steps. However, AGVSs can also transport the lifting beams to local feeding stations.