Apparatus for the temperature control of objects, in particular for drying coated vehicle bodies

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11029089-B2
Application number	US-201615763521-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 27, 2016
Priority date	Sep 29, 2015
Publication date	Jun 8, 2021
Grant date	Jun 8, 2021

Abstract

An apparatus and method for the temperature control of objects, in particular for drying coated vehicle bodies, with a temperature control chamber with at least one lock region, a fresh air device for producing fresh air which can be supplied to the temperature control chamber, a circulating air device which extracts exhaust air from the temperature control chamber and produces circulating air which can be supplied to the temperature control chamber, an air intake device for supplying air to the temperature control chamber, and a control device. A fresh air volume flow and a circulating air volume flow can be supplied to the air intake device, and the control device is configured to control the fresh air volume flow and the circulating air volume flow in such a manner that the overall volume flow which is supplied to the temperature control chamber does not fall below a lower limit.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for the temperature control of objects comprising:
a temperature control space with at least one air lock region
a conveying device for conveying objects through the temperature control space, the conveying device comprising available spaces for objects;
a fresh air device for producing fresh air which can be fed to the temperature control space;
a recirculating air device which removes temperature control space waste air from the temperature control space and produces recirculating air which can be fed to the temperature control space,
a feed air device for feeding air to the temperature control space;
a detection device for detecting empty spaces where no objects are being conveyed on the conveying device; and
a control device,
wherein an overall volumetric flow is fed to the temperature control space from the feed air device, the overall volumetric flow comprising a fresh air volumetric flow, and the control device is set up to reduce the temperature and the fresh air volumetric flow in response to empty spaces being detected on the conveying device by the detection device, the control device further being set up to supply the feed air device with a recirculating volumetric flow of recirculating air from the recirculating air device to supplement the fresh air volumetric flow to ensure that the overall volumetric flow does not drop beneath a lower threshold when the temperature in the temperature control space and the fresh air volumetric flow is reduced in response to the apparatus operating at a reduced load.

2. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the overall volumetric flow is fed via the at least one air lock region.

3. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the control device is set up to keep the overall volumetric flow constant.

4. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a heating device in which at least a portion of the temperature control space waste air removed from the temperature control space can be heated to form a heated air volumetric flow and can be fed into the recirculating air volumetric flow.

5. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the control device controls the feed of fresh air in a manner which is dependent on the loading of the temperature control space.

6. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein
the recirculating air device has an afterburning device, the temperature control space waste air being fed to the afterburning device for thermal aftertreatment,
the fresh air device comprises a fresh air heat exchanger with a fresh air feed line and a fresh air discharge line, the fresh air discharge line being connected to the feed air device,
the temperature control space defines at least one temperature control space section, and
the recirculating air device has at least one temperature control space section heat exchanger which is assigned the at least one temperature control space section of the temperature control space, the at least one temperature control space section and the at least one temperature control space section heat exchanger being connected in such a way that temperature control space air can be removed from the at least one temperature control space section and guided through the at least one temperature control space section heat exchanger for temperature control purposes, and can be fed back to the temperature control space section, the temperature control space air being fed to the temperature control space section in a circuit as a circulating air flow,
wherein
the temperature control space air which is temperature controlled by means of the at least one temperature control space section heat exchanger is fed via a line from the temperature control space section heat exchanger to the feed air device, and/or
wherein the temperature control space waste air which can be fed to the afterburning device is fed to the feed air device.

7. The apparatus as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the line from the at least one temperature control space section heat exchanger is connected to the fresh air discharge line of the fresh air heat exchanger.

8. The apparatus as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the fresh air discharge line leads from the fresh air heat exchanger to the temperature control space, the feed air device comprising a fresh air fan, and the line from the at least one temperature control space section heat exchanger to the fresh air heat exchanger opening out downstream of the fresh air heat exchanger and upstream of the fresh air fan.

9. The apparatus as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the afterburning device has a waste air feed line and a pure air discharge line, a waste air fan being arranged in the waste air feed line between the temperature control space and the afterburning device, and a line being provided from the afterburning device to the fresh air heat exchanger, the line which leads from the afterburning device to the fresh air heat exchanger leading from the waste air feed line to the fresh air discharge line.

10. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a transport apparatus for objects to be temperature controlled for loading the temperature control space, a control device to adapt parameters which influence the temperature control operation based on a loading of the temperature control space, the loading of the temperature control space comprising a number of objects to be temperature controlled.

11. The apparatus as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the overall volumetric flow is controlled by at least one control unit which controls a rotational speed of a fan, a position of a throttle valve, a position of an air guiding valve and/or a position of a bypass valve.

12. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the adaptation of the parameters which influence the temperature control operation takes place in a stepped manner which is dependent on a number of objects to be temperature controlled, the surface area of coating to be dried, or the quantity of coating to be dried.

13. A coating plant for coating objects, having an apparatus for the temperature control of objects as claimed in claim 1 .

Assignees

• Eisenmann Se

Inventors

• Hack Eduard Karl

Classifications

• F26B21/25

  partly outside the drying enclosure · CPC title

• F26B21/30 Primary

  Controlling, e.g. regulating, parameters of gas supply · CPC title

• F26B23/022

  incinerating volatiles in the dryer exhaust gases, the produced hot gases being wholly, partly or not recycled into the drying enclosure · CPC title

• F26B23/002

  recovered from dryer exhaust gases (F26B23/022 takes precedence) · CPC title

• F26B2210/12

  Vehicle bodies, e.g. after being painted · CPC title