A metal cutting facility would cut pieces of aluminum extrusions, bars and cylinders to specific lengths as requested by their customers.  They used a variety of different types of cutting equipment depending on the size and profile, but every cutting machine would use coolant. At the end of the cutting process, they would run the parts through a washing system to remove any coolant and then through an inkjet marking system.  They would print the corresponding tag information on the top of each product.

The surface had to be dry or the ink would run and become illegible.  To try and speed up the drying process, they attached four soft copper tubes to blow compressed air along the top of the parts.  They flattened the ends slightly to give a wider blowing area as well as to direct the air into the T-slots of the extrusions.  The customer liked the flexibility of the copper tubes as they would need to change the position often to fit the appropriate size and profile.

The problem that they had with their setup was that the blowing was too loud and it used a large amount of compressed air.  They found EXAIR which looked to have a better solution to blow off the water from the product.

The customer gave some additional details on their process.  They could cut a wide range of diameters from 2 inches (51 mm) to 12 inches (305 mm) within their bar and cylinder stock.  They also would cut square and rectangular extrusions that had a variety of profiles and dimensions.  They requested a flexible product that could conform to the different sizes and types and also be adjusted manually for optimum blowing positions.

EXAIR offers a great product line that would fit their requirements for this application, the Blowoff Systems.  With their requested specifications, the flat blowing pattern and flexibility, it directed me to the model 1122-9412 Blowoff Kit.  This kit comes with a Magnetic Base, Flat Super Air Nozzles, and flexible Stay Set Hoses.  The model 1122-9412 has two 2” Flat Super Air Nozzles which will give a wide blowing area.

The Magnetic Base contains two outlets with shut off valves on each port to allow for an easy way to turn off a nozzle when not needed for the smaller products.  Between the Magnetic Base and the 2” Flat Super Air Nozzle, a 12” (305mm) long Stay Set Hoses connects them together which will allow for precise blowing and maneuverability.

By installing two pieces of the model 1122-9412 to his system, the customer was able to remove the four pieces of the copper tubing which were loud and inefficient.  The noise level dropped to 77 dBA with the 2” Flat Super Air Nozzles which was a relief, and they realized that the air compressor was working less.  By adding the Blowoff Kits to their system, they now had a flexible, efficient and effective way in drying the products prior to printing.

With the customer above, they saw much improvement in blowing off the water which kept the ink jet printing process from running or smearing.  If you need flexibility in your blowing application, EXAIR offers a variety of kits with different types of nozzles to accommodate the best blowing feature for your application.  If you would like to discuss these options, you can contact an EXAIR Application Engineer, and they will be happy to help.

John Ball
Application Engineer
Email: johnball@exair.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_jb