Stator Lamination Conveyor Cure Oven, Cooler, and Controls System

Infrared Heating Technologies recently designed, manufactured, tested, shipped, and installed two (2) curing lines for dielectric coatings on stamped electrical steel laminations for stators. One (1) line installed in the US and one (1) line installed in India.

The curing systems consist of multi-zone medium-wave (MW) quartz tube electric infrared (IR) and convection combination heating, and include the conveyor oven, forced-air cooling conveyor tunnel, and controls system with PLC/HMI recipe generation. The dielectric coatings, (e.g. Dupont Volatex E1151 E, Rembrandtin Remisol EB 500, etc.), are applied to the electrical steel laminations with a roll coater, cured and cooled at rates of up to 10 Meters per minute.

The conveyor cure oven features a dual-roller chain slat conveyance system with adjustable and interchangeable stand-off supports that minimize marking of the coated bottom-facing lamination surface. The speed of the conveyor is adjustable and can be set precisely to match the speed of the roll coater conveyance for seamless transition onto the curing oven conveyor. The dual roller chain slat conveyor features oversized roller chain, adjustable take-ups, synchro-hub sprockets, and an adjustable Teflon-block return rail system for precise alignment of the conveyor that minimizes conveyor tracking issues and roller chain wear.

The system includes two (2) heat control temperature zones and an ambient air forced-air cooling conveyor tunnel for reducing the temperature of the coated electrical steel stator laminations. The entire line is turn-key and includes all SCR, temperature, FM-approved over temperature, blower and fan motor, and conveyor motor speed controls. A PLC with touch screen HMI is included that integrates all the controls into a simple part recipe format with both automatic and manual modes. All heater elements are accessible and easily changed from the outside of the oven. Plug-fan style recirculation fans, (one per heat control zone), are included for convention assisted heating and uniformity, and an exhaust fan system is included for removing any water vapor and/or volatiles emitted by the coating. A variety of PLC options are available for this system including Allen Bradley, Automation Direct Koyo, Siemens, and others.