HEAT SPREADER AND WAVE GUIDE UNIT, AND CONVEYOR-TYPE PAINT DRYING FURNACE COMPRISING SAME

Abstract

A heat spreader and waveguide (HSWG) unit of the present invention includes a main body having a ceiling portion and a wall wherein the ceiling portion and the wall are provided with waveguides, and one or more heat spreader modules in a space inside the main body, wherein at least one waveguide among a waveguide extending downward from one lower side of the heat spreader module and an intermediate waveguide extending downward in a curtain manner is further included, and each of the ceiling portion and the wall is formed in a unit length so that a plurality of units is combined to form a paint drying furnace. In the HSWG unit of the present invention, the heat spreader module includes a housing opened downward, and a radiant wave generator including a radiant wave converter 111a and a heater is provided in the housing, wherein the heater is provided in the radiant wave converter so that thermal energy from the heater is converted into radiant wave energy by a radiant wave conversion material applied to a surface of the radiant wave converter and then is emitted.

Claims

1. A heat spreader and waveguide (HSWG) unit, comprising: a main body 102 having a ceiling portion 104 and a wall 106, wherein the ceiling portion 104 and the wall 106 are provided with waveguides 108; and one or more heat spreader modules 110 in a space of the main body 102, wherein at least one among a waveguide 112 extending downward from one lower side of the heat spreader module 110 and an intermediate waveguide 118 extending downward in a curtain manner is further included, and wherein each of the ceiling portion 104 and the wall 106 is formed in a unit length so that a plurality of units is combined to form a paint drying furnace.

2. The unit according to claim 1, wherein the heat spreader module 110 includes a housing 111 opened downward, and a radiant wave generator including a radiant wave converter 111a and a heater 111b is provided in the housing 111, wherein the heater 111b is provided in the radiant wave converter 111a so that thermal energy from the heater 111b is converted into radiant wave energy by a radiant wave conversion material applied to a surface of the radiant wave converter 111a and then is emitted.

3. The unit according to claim 1, wherein, if the intermediate waveguide 118 is provided, a plurality of holes 120 is formed in an upper portion of the intermediate waveguide 118.

4. The unit according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein each radiant waveguide is formed by attaching an aluminum foil or a mica sheet to a base plate including a plate material, a fiber material or a nonwoven fabric.

5. A conveyor type paint drying furnace formed by combining a plurality of HSWG units 100 according to claim 1 in succession, comprising: a trolley type conveyor 116, which suspends an object to be coated on an upper side thereof and transports the same; and/or a tray type conveyor 122, which stacks an object to be coated on a lower portion thereof and transports the same, is provided.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0027] FIG. 1 is a conceptual cross-sectional view illustrating a first embodiment of the HSWG unit according to the present invention.

[0028] FIG. 2a is a conceptual cross-sectional view illustrating a heat spreader module part of the HSWG unit.

[0029] FIG. 2b illustrates a heater used in a heat spreader module.

[0030] FIG. 3 is a conceptual cross-sectional view illustrating a second embodiment of the HSWG unit according to the present invention.

[0031] FIG. 4 is a conceptual cross-sectional view illustrating a third embodiment of the HSWG unit according to the present invention.

[0032] FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view conceptually showing a waveguide disposed inside the heat spreader module of the present invention.

BEST MODE

[0033] The heat spreader and waveguide (HSWG) unit of the present invention may include: a main body having a ceiling portion and a wall, wherein the ceiling portion and the wall are provided with waveguides; and one or more heat spreader modules in a space of the main body, wherein at least one among a waveguide extending downward from one lower side of the heat spreader module and an intermediate waveguide extending downward in a curtain manner is further included, and wherein each of the ceiling portion and the wall is formed in a unit length so that a plurality of units is combined to form a paint drying furnace. Herein, the heat spreader module may include a housing opened downward and a radiant wave generator including a radiant wave converter and a heater provided in the housing, wherein the heater is provided inside the radiant wave converter, and thermal energy from the heater is converted into radiant wave energy by a radiant wave conversion material applied to a surface of the radiant wave converter and then is emitted.

Detailed Description of Preferred Embodiments of Invention

[0034] Hereinafter, a heat spreader and waveguide unit (HSWG unit) and a conveyor type paint drying furnace equipped with the HSWG unit according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings FIG. 1 is a conceptual cross-sectional view illustrating a first embodiment of the HSWG unit according to the present invention.

[0035] The HSWG unit 100 of the present invention includes a main body 102 wherein the main body 102 has a ceiling portion 104 and a wall 106. The walls 106 on both sides may extend from each other to form a bottom portion. The ceiling portion 104 and the wall 106 are provided with a waveguide 108 on the inner surface thereof.

[0036] One or more heat spreader modules 110 are provided in a space of the main body 102 and another waveguide 112 extending downward from one lower side of the heat spreader module 110 is included. The extended waveguide 112 may form a further radiant wave conversion chamber at the bottom of the heat spreader module 110, thereby improving radiant wave generation efficiency. That is, a radiant wave conversion chamber 110a to convert thermal energy into radiant wave energy in the heat spreader module 110 is provided to convert high temperature thermal energy into radiant wave energy, and the extended waveguide 112 may form an additional radiant wave conversion chamber 110b to maintain a higher temperature in the radiant wave conversion chamber 110a, thereby improving radiant wave conversion efficiency. Generally, a waveguide allows an object to be efficiently irradiated and dried with far infrared rays. That is, the waveguides 108 and 112 herein may guide radiant wave energy of the far-infrared rays converted by the heat spreader module 110 to the object to be dried in the drying furnace without escaping from the drying furnace, and may function to evenly distribute the radiant wave energy. Further, each of the waveguides 108 and 112 is made of a known material reflecting far-infrared rays, for example, the waveguide may be formed by attaching an aluminum foil or a mica sheet to a base plate comprising a plate material, a fiber material or a nonwoven fabric. Herein, a shape or material of the waveguide may be diversely adopted.

[0037] The ceiling portion 104 and the wall 106 of the HSWG unit 100 are formed in a unit length of, for example, about 1 to 1.5 m, and a plurality of units is combined to form a paint drying furnace. For example, a drying furnace having a length of 50 to 70 m may be formed by joining 50 HSWG units in succession. The unit length may be increased or decreased as needed. In addition, width and height of the HSWG unit may also be appropriately determined in consideration of a size and coating characteristics of the object to be dried. A conventional hot-air drying furnace may be remodeled using the HSWG unit 100 so as to rapidly and easily fabricate a smart drying furnace. Further, using the HSWG unit 100 of the present invention may reduce a length of the conventional hot air type drying furnace to at least half the original length.

[0038] A plurality of HSWG units may be connected to constitute a drying furnace, which in turn may be provided with a trolley type conveyor 116 to suspend and transport the object 114 to be dried in the drying furnace. Far infrared rays are radiated from the heat spreader module 110 in each HSWG unit 100 to dry a surface of the object 114 while transferring the object 114 by the trolley type conveyor 116.

[0039] FIG. 1 illustrates a state wherein four heat spreader modules 110 are arranged in one HSWG unit. The number of heat spreader modules 110 in one HSWG unit depends on heating, drying and hardening temperatures of various paints, or a size of the object to be dried.

[0040] Within the drying furnace having such a structure as described above, a surface temperature of the object to be dried may be adjusted usually in a range of 80 to 230 C., and the temperature is appropriately selected depending on the size of the object to be dried and the coating properties thereof.

[0041] FIG. 2a is a conceptual cross-sectional view illustrating the heat spreader module portion 110 of the HSWG unit.

[0042] The housing 111 of the heat spreader module 110 opened downward is made of a heat insulating material and an inner surface of the housing 111 is made of the same material as the waveguide. The inner space of the housing 111 forms a radiant wave conversion chamber 110a. A waveguide 112 extending downward from one lower side of the housing 111 is provided, and may form a second radiant wave conversion chamber 110b on the bottom of the housing 111 along with the waveguide 108 at the wall 106 of the HSWG unit 100. The extended waveguide 112 may prevent heat loss due to convection to maintain a temperature of the radiant wave conversion chamber 110a at a high temperature close to, for example, about 450 C. and may convert thermal energy into high density radiant wave energy, thereby increasing conversion efficiency of the radiant wave energy. In other words, the extended waveguide may allow emission of high density radiant wave energy to increase a drying speed. Further, the waveguides may enable radiant wave energy to be distributed and evenly radiated without being directly concentrated on the object 114 to be dried, thus attaining effects of reducing temperature deviation on the surface of the object 114.

[0043] The first radiant wave conversion chamber 110a is provided with a radiant wave generator including a radiant wave converter 111a and a heater 111b. The heater 111b is disposed inside the radiant wave converter 111a. Thermal energy from the heater 111b may be converted into radiant wave energy by a radiant wave conversion material applied to a surface of the radiant wave converter 111a and then emitted. The heater 111b used herein may be an electrical pipe heater commercially available in the art.

[0044] Since thermal energy is converted into radiant wave energy and then emitted, the object 114 to be dried may be directly heated and dried without heating air around the object 114, thereby remarkably improving thermal efficiency and a quality of the coated surface.

[0045] FIG. 2b illustrates the heater 111b used in the heat spreader module 110. The heater 111b used herein may be an electrothermal heater. The heater 111b is usually mounted in the radiant wave converter 111a in a pipe shape.

[0046] FIG. 3 is a conceptual cross-sectional view illustrating a second embodiment of the HSWG unit according to the present invention.

[0047] As in the first embodiment, the HSWG unit 100 of the second embodiment may include a main body 102 having a ceiling portion 104 and a wall 106. Similarly, the ceiling portion 104 and the wall 106 are also provided with a waveguide 108 on an inner surface thereof.

[0048] Further, one or more heat spreader modules 110 may be provided on upper portions at both sides in a space of the main body 102. The heat spreader module 110 includes a waveguide 112 extending downward from one lower side thereof. The heat spreader module 110 may further be provided with an intermediate waveguide 118 which extends downward from the heat spreader module 110 to evenly distribute radiant wave energy without being concentrated. Either the extended waveguide 112 or the intermediate waveguide 118 may be included or, otherwise, both the extended waveguide 112 and the intermediate waveguide 118 may be provided.

[0049] The intermediate waveguide 118 extends downward from the heat spreader module 110, thus extending downward over at least a portion of the object 114 to be dried. The intermediate waveguide 118 prevents radiant wave energy generated in the heat spreader module 110 from directly and intensively irradiating the object 114 to be dried, thereby evenly emitting and distributing the radiant wave energy.

[0050] A plurality of holes 120 is formed in an upper portion of the intermediate waveguide 118. These holes 120 allow radiant wave energy to be evenly distributed and radiated to the object 114 to be dried.

[0051] FIG. 4 is a conceptual cross-sectional view illustrating a third embodiment of the HSWG unit according to the present invention.

[0052] The HSWG unit 100 of the present invention includes a main body 102, and the main body 102 has a ceiling portion 104 and a wall 106. The ceiling portion 104 and the wall 106 are provided with a waveguide 108 on an inner surface thereof.

[0053] One or more heat spreader modules 110 may be provided on the ceiling portion 114. The heat spreader module 110 includes a waveguide 112 extending downward from one lower side thereof. The extended waveguide 112 may be provided with an additional radiant wave conversion chamber on the bottom of the heat spreader module 110, thereby further improving radiant wave generation efficiency. In other words, the heat spreader module 110 may be provided with the radiant wave conversion chamber 110a to convert thermal energy into radiant wave energy, thereby converting thermal energy at a high temperature into radiant wave energy. Further, the extended waveguide 112 may be provided with an additional radiant wave conversion chamber 110b to maintain a higher temperature inside the above radiant wave conversion chamber 110a, thereby improving radiant wave conversion efficiency. In addition, the extended waveguide 112 may evenly distribute and emit the radiant wave energy generated in the heat spreader module 110 over the object 114 to be dried. The waveguide 108 provided on an inner surface of the wall 106 may be a waveguide 108 shown in FIG. 1, a protruding waveguide or a shutter-type waveguide with adjustable height. The object 114 to be dried may be successively transferred by a tray type conveyor 108 on which the object 114 can be placed. The successively transferred object 114 may be substantially evenly irradiated and dried with radiant wave energy generated from each of the heat spreader modules 110 in HSWG units 100 arranged in succession.

[0054] FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view conceptually illustrating waveguides disposed inside the heat spreader module of the present invention.

[0055] A plurality of inclined waveguides 124 may further be disposed inside the radiant wave conversion chamber 110b formed by the extended waveguide 112 under the heat spreader module 110. The inclined waveguide 124 is provided for more evenly distributing and emitting the radiant wave energy generated in the heat spreader module 110 in a longitudinal direction of the drying furnace.

[0056] The conveyor type paint drying furnace equipped with the HSWG unit of to the present invention may be configured in various forms according to a size of an object to be coated, heating conditions, and the like. In other words, the drying furnace of the present invention may be configured in diverse forms such as: a small trolley type paint drying furnace having a tunnel height of less than 3 m, which is optimized for drying an object coated by painting, powder coating and water-soluble liquid coating after plating at a relatively high temperature of 150 to 230 C.; a medium size trolley type paint drying furnace having a tunnel height of 3 to 5 m, which is optimized for drying an object coated by oil liquid coating at a relatively low temperature of 80 C.; or a tray conveyor type paint drying furnace, which is optimized for completely hardening an object to be coated such as automobile exterior parts by heating, drying and melting the object at a temperature in a wide range of 80 to 230 C. Further, it is possible to simply replace a conventional hot air drying furnace with the drying furnace equipped with HSWG units according to the present invention. While the present invention has been particularly illustrated and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the configurations and functional effects of the disclosed exemplary embodiments. On the contrary, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that numerous alterations and modifications of the invention are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, all such modifications, alterations and equivalents are to be regarded as being within the scope of the present invention.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

[0057] The conveyor type paint drying furnace equipped with the HSWG unit according to the present invention is capable of rapidly drying a composite paint sample. Therefore, it is anticipated that parts suppliers may develop exterior parts coated with new designs and provide samples of the parts to any global automobile company or household appliance company, thereby successfully receiving orders for the samples. Consequently, it will be expected to increase international competitive power of parts suppliers and painting companies. Further, it is possible to re-model an existing hot air convection type drying apparatus into one similar to the conveyor type paint drying furnace of the present invention only by applying the HSWG unit to the existing drying apparatus, thereby reducing energy required for paint drying as well as greenhouse gas emissions. Further, it is possible to reduce coating failure by offering a smart paint drying furnace.

[0058] In addition, the inventive drying furnace may be helpful to parts suppliers and painting companies as subcontractors of automobile exterior parts in quickly and easily developing new designs for external parts. Accordingly, when samples of newly developed products are presented to global automobile manufacturers for order receipt, the order may be easily received, which in turn assists the parts suppliers and painting companies to evolve into specialized color design exterior companies for automobile parts.