A glove manufacturer needed to decrease the reject rate with their natural rubber gloves. They were seeing brush marks in the rubber material which was a visual defect. Their operation used a ceramic hand that was used to form the size of the glove. After the rubber material was applied, it was dipped into water to set the material. It would come out of the water tank, and a mechanism on the conveyor would rotate the hands to “shake” off the excess water. It would then go over brushes to wipe the water from in between the fingers. Much of the water had to be removed before it entered into the coagulation tank because it would affect the stretching ability of the glove. With their current operation, they were seeing the scuff marks from the brushes which was a visual defect. This cost them down time and product rejects. So, they contacted EXAIR to see if we could help.
In looking at their process, they had two conveyors running side by side with each other. This made it a bit more difficult as we could only work on one side. Being that the ceramic hand rotated around twice in 36” before hitting the brushes, I could focus in this area. When it comes to wiping products without touching it, air is required. And EXAIR knows how to use compressed air very efficiently, safely, and effectively. For this application, I suggested our model 110236 Super Air Knife kit. It has an overall length of 36” which could span the target area. It comes with a filter, regulator, and shim set to clean and control the air flow. It would be able to “wipe” the water off the hands like a non-contact squeegee. The air flow from the Super Air Knife will hug the exterior portion of the hand; removing the water from the surface and in between the fingers. They removed the brushes and did not have to worry about brush marks on the glove.
If you require a non-contact wiping in your application, use EXAIR Intelligent Compressed Products to accomplish this. You will not have to keep replacing items that wear or use items that cause damage to your product. EXAIR has the ability to use compressed air to create a strong force without scraping or scratching your material.
John Ball
Application Engineer
Email: johnball@exair.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_jb