Heraeus infra-red system helps Vauxhall apply body mouldings

Citation

(1999), "Heraeus infra-red system helps Vauxhall apply body mouldings", Pigment & Resin Technology, Vol. 28 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/prt.1999.12928bad.003

Heraeus infra-red system helps Vauxhall apply body mouldings

Heraeus infra-red system helps Vauxhall apply body mouldings

Keywords Adhesives, Automotive industry, Heraeus, Infrared

An infrared heating system from Heraeus Noblelight Ltd, of Bromborough, is reported to be helping Vauxhall Motors ensure excellent adhesion of body moulding strips during the manufacture of the Vauxhall Vectra at its Luton plant. The system combines heating of the vehicle body and heating of the moulded trim strip itself to optimise adhesive efficiency and is thyristor controlled to match the throughput of the production line.

Stick-on mouldings are now fairly standard in the car industry, as a result of extensive collaboration between the manufacturers of adhesives and the motor manufacturers themselves. Apart from ensuring that the area of the vehicle where the moulding is applied is free of any dirt, dust or grease, the development work established that bonding was greatly improved if both the vehicle body and the moulding were heated to a temperature of between 35°C and 45°C. This pre-heating not only makes the moulding more pliable but, more importantly, it "reactivates" the adhesive, making it sufficiently tacky to initiate a good bond.

At Vauxhall, each vehicle is heated to 40°C along the required section of its body by two banks of fast response, medium wave infra-red emitters, rated at 9.6kW, which are switched on only when the vehicle is presented. The Heraeus fast response emitter operates at a filament temperature of over 1,500°C and its response time is virtually instantaneous, providing flexibility and energy-saving. A special anti-glare coating minimises the effect of the light intensity on operatives in the vicinity.

The mouldings themselves are stored in racks at room temperature at the moulding application station. The operative selects the type of moulding required to match the appropriate vehicle at the work station and loads this moulding into a special-purpose body moulding oven, designed and developed by Heraeus. Short wave infrared heaters, rated at 21kW but running at around 101Ž2kW, then bring the moulding up to a temperature of 40°C in six seconds, before it is applied by hand.

Heraeus Noblelight informs us that since installation, Vauxhall has found the system extremely reliable, as the temperature of the mouldings is consistently repeated and it is very energy-efficient, the short wave emitters being activated for only six seconds every minute. The new system also eliminates any of the problems associated with conventional, convection heating systems, as heating is virtually instantaneous, so there is no possibility of mouldings being applied cold if the residence time within convection ovens cannot be matched to the production requirement for any reason. In addition, there is no danger of mouldings being over-cooked, because they have been left too long in the oven.

Heraeus body moulding systems are now in operation throughout the world and the recent Luton installation follows on from successful systems which were previously supplied for the Cavalier at Luton and for the Astra at the Vauxhall plant in Ellesmere Port.

Details are available from Heraeus Noblelight Ltd. Tel: +44 (0) 151 343 0545; Fax: +44 (0) 151 343 9883.