METHOD FOR LACQUERING PENCILS, AND LACQUERING APPARATUS

Abstract

In a method for lacquering pencils by the push-through method, a respective pencil is guided through a lacquering chamber in order to apply a lacquer coat. After exiting the lacquering chamber, successive pencils butt against one another and are held against one another at their end sides such at a plurality of pencils form a stable strand which is guided, subsequent to the lacquering chamber, through a drying section, with the result that a respective pencil is held in a hovering manner on leaving the lacquering chamber. It is hereby in particular also made possible to use UV-curing lacquers, with the overall result that a very short total lacquering time for lacquering pencils, in particular cosmetic pencils, is achieved.

Claims

1. A method for lacquering pencils via a push-through method, which comprises the steps of: guiding a respective pencil through a lacquering chamber for applying lacquer thus forming a lacquer coat, after exiting the lacquering chamber, successive ones of the pencils butt against one another and are held against one another at their end sides such that a plurality of the pencils form a strand; and guiding the strand, downstream of the lacquering chamber, through a drying section, with a result that the respective pencil is held in a hovering manner on leaving the lacquering chamber.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein two successive ones of the pencils are held against one another by the lacquer applied.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the strand is enveloped by a continuous, interruption-free lacquer coat.

4. The method according to claim 1, which further comprises pressing the strand against an abutment such that the pencils are pressed against one another at the end sides.

5. The method according to claim 1, which further comprises disposing a UV lamp in the drying section and the lacquer used is a UV-curing lacquer.

6. The method according to claim 5, which further comprises forming the drying section as a drying chamber filled with protective gas.

7. The method according to claim 5, wherein the drying section provided with the UV lamp is spaced by a number of centimeters from an outlet of the lacquering chamber.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the drying section has a length which is larger than a pencil length.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein an outlet of the lacquering chamber has a first guide point for the pencil, and the drying section has, at a spacing from the lacquering chamber, a second guide point for the pencil, wherein no further guide point is disposed between the first and second guide points.

10. The method according to claim 1, which further comprises disposing a mechanical separator for separating the strand into the individual pencils subsequent to the drying section.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the lacquering chamber and the drying section form a lacquering stage, and in that a plurality of lacquering stages are formed directly in succession and form a lacquering section, in such a way that the pencil is completely lacquered after a single pass through the lacquering section.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein the lacquering chamber and the drying section form a lacquering stage, and a clear lacquer is applied in a first lacquering stage and a pigmented lacquer is applied in a subsequent lacquering stage.

13. A lacquering apparatus for lacquering pencils by a push-through method, the lacquering apparatus comprising: a lacquering chamber; a feed unit for feeding and conveying the pencils, said feed unit is formed such that, during operation, a plurality of the pencils are conveyed in direct succession to form a strand; an abutment for the strand is formed against which the strand is pressed during operation; and a drying section formed downstream to said lacquering chamber, in said drying section a respective pencil is held in a hovering manner after leaving said lacquering chamber.

14. The lacquering apparatus according to claim 13, wherein: said drying section has a UV lamp; and said drying section has a drying chamber with a protective gas connection.

15. The lacquering apparatus according to claim 13, wherein said lacquering chamber has an outlet; further comprising a first guide point for the respective pencil, said first guide point is disposed at said outlet of said lacquering chamber; and further comprising a second guide point for the respective pencil and disposed so as to be spaced from said first guide point by more than a pencil length, and no further guide point is formed between said first and second guide points.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

[0037] FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic, perspective view of a lacquering apparatus according to the invention;

[0038] FIG. 2 is a perspective, exploded view showing a drying chamber; and

[0039] FIG. 3 is a sectional view through a strand.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0040] In the figures, parts acting in the same way are provided with the same reference signs.

[0041] Referring now to the figures of the drawings in detail and first, particularly to FIG. 1 thereof, there is shown a lacquering apparatus 2 which forms a system for lacquering individual pencils 4. Here, the pencils 4 are in particular pencils 4 provided with a core 6, in particular cosmetic pencils. Such pencils 4 typically have a pencil length I1 (see in this respect FIG. 3) of about 10 to 20 cm and, in the case of cosmetic pencils, typically a length I1 of about 12 cm. The diameter is typically in the range from about 0.5 to 2 cm.

[0042] The lacquering apparatus 2 has a lacquering section formed by a plurality of, in the exemplary embodiment two, lacquering stages. Here, a respective lacquering stage contains a lacquering chamber 8 and a drying chamber 10. Here, the drying chamber 10 is arranged subsequent to the lacquering chamber 8 in a conveying direction 12. The lacquering apparatus 2 has furthermore a drive (not illustrated in detail here) or a feed unit, via which drive or feed unit the individual pencils 4 are fed to the lacquering section, in particular the first lacquering chamber 8. An inclined shield, also referred to as impact plate, is arranged at the end of the lacquering apparatus 2 as a mechanical separating device 14.

[0043] The individual pencils 4 are guided through the entire lacquering section, that is to say from the start of the first lacquering chamber 8 of the first lacquering stage to the separating device 14, as a continuous strand. Here, the strand 18 is formed by a plurality of individual pencils 4 which butt against one another at their end sides 19.

[0044] Upstream of the separating device 14, there is additionally arranged a guide element 20 for the strand 18. This is formed in particular as a guide roller which has a concave guide groove in which the strand is partially located.

[0045] The individual pencils 4 and thus the strand 18 are pushed from behind in the conveying direction 12 through the entire lacquering section by means of the feed unit (not illustrated in detail here). Here, the strand 18 is guided, inter alia, also through an annular guide opening in the drying chamber 10 which forms an abutment 22. The term abutment here is to be understood as meaning an element which exerts a force on the strand 18 which is directed counter to the conveying direction 12. In the exemplary embodiment, the abutment 22 is formed as a ring of a soft material, in particular of felt, through which the strand 18 is pushed (see in this respect also FIG. 2).

[0046] As a result of this counter-force, the individual pencils 4 are pressed against one another at their end sides and thus form the stable, self-supporting strand 18. The self-supporting property is additionally assisted by the lacquering coat 24 (see in this respect FIG. 3) which is applied in the lacquering chambers 8 and which forms a continuous coat over the whole strand 18. Therefore, the abutment points of the pencils 4 are also bridged by the lacquering coat 24 such that, owing to the adhesiveness of the lacquer, the individual pencils 4 are held together to form the self-supporting strand. Here, some lacquer also partially penetrates at the abutment points, for example into interstitial regions. This leads overall to a certain degree of adhesive bonding between the individual pencils 4 in the region of their abutment points. A holding force is first of all exerted by the liquid lacquer and further on by the cured lacquer.

[0047] The lacquering in a respective lacquering chamber 8 takes place in a manner known per se by the so-called push-through method. For this purpose, a respective pencil 4 is inserted into the lacquering chamber 8 and provided there with a lacquer coat for example by spraying or immersion. The pencil then leaves the lacquering chamber 8 via a stripping ring (not illustrated in detail here) which is arranged directly at the end of the lacquering chamber 8 on an outlet side. This outlet side therefore forms a first guide point 26 for the strand 18. The drying chamber 10 adjoins in the conveying direction 12 after a spacing a. Here, the spacing a is in the range from 2 to 10 cm, for example.

[0048] The strand 18 is introduced into the drying chamber 10, wherein here a corresponding opening larger than the cross section of the strand 18 is formed such that the strand 18 thus freely enters the drying chamber 10 without contact with a wall or some other guide.

[0049] At the end of the drying chamber 10 there is formed the aforementioned abutment 22 which is arranged in particular as a ring element, in particular of a soft material, for example of felt. The abutment 22 simultaneously forms a second guide point 27 for the strand. The abutment 22 is preferably arranged in a removable receptacle 32 such that the abutment 22 (felt ring) can be exchanged in a simple manner.

[0050] In the exemplary embodiment, the drying chamber 10 is subdivided into a lower sub region and an upper hood-like sub region. Here, in the exemplary embodiment, the upper hood-like sub region is formed as a UV lamp 28 which thus radiates downwardly into the lower sub region. Arranged in the latter is a curved, in particular elliptically formed, mirror 30 such that complete homogeneous illumination of the strand 18 over the entire circumference is obtained by UV light. Here, UV light tailored to the UV lacquer used is radiated. Here, a UV light with a predetermined wavelength or else a plurality of wavelengths or broad-band UV light can be radiated. LED light elements are preferably used to produce the UV light.

[0051] Furthermore, the drying chamber has a protective gas connection 34 via which a protective gas, in particular nitrogen, can be introduced into the drying chamber 10. During operation, the protective gas flows out via a nozzle 36 into the drying chamber. The protective gas leaves the drying chamber on the opposite inlet side via the free opening through which the strand 18 is inserted. A continuous protective gas flow is established in a suitable manner.

[0052] The drying chamber furthermore has a length 12 which is preferably larger than the pencil length I1.

[0053] After leaving the last drying chamber 10, the strand is guided via the aforementioned guide element 20 towards the separating device 14. Owing to the inclined separating device 14, the strand 18 butts against the separating device 14, which exerts a lateral force which is sufficient to separate the strand 18 into the individual pencils 4 again.

[0054] The lacquering apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1 with the two lacquering stages forms a complete lacquering section, i.e. the pencils 4 separated again at the end are provided with the finished lacquer coat 24.

[0055] Here, a clear lacquer is first applied in the first lacquering stage and a colored lacquer, for example a black lacquer, is applied in the second lacquering stage. Therefore, in the exemplary embodiment described here, only a single colored lacquer coat is applied.

[0056] The lacquer is generally a UV curable lacquer, which has no constituents which escape during drying, for example solvents or binders. Overall, a hard, customarily high-gloss lacquer coat 14 is formed hereby.

[0057] Overall, the method described here and the lacquering apparatus 2 illustrated afford efficient lacquering in particular of cosmetic pencils 4, wherein only a comparatively small space requirement in the conveying direction 12 of for example about 1 to 2 m for the entire system (lacquering section) is necessary. The lacquering time for a pencil 4 is considerably shortened by the method described here in comparison to the traditional methods.

[0058] The following is a summary list of reference numerals and the corresponding structure used in the above description of the invention: [0059] 2 Lacquering apparatus [0060] 4 Pencil [0061] 6 Core [0062] 8 Lacquering chamber [0063] 10 Drying chamber [0064] 12 Conveying direction [0065] 14 Separating means [0066] 18 Strand [0067] 19 End side [0068] 20 Guide element [0069] 22 Abutment [0070] 24 Lacquer coat [0071] 26 First guide point [0072] 27 Second guide point [0073] 28 UV lamp [0074] 30 Mirror [0075] 32 Receptacle [0076] 34 Protective gas connection [0077] 36 Nozzle [0078] a Spacing [0079] I1 Pencil length [0080] I2 Length