Surface Treating
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About Robotic Surface Treating
Surface treatment is used to clean, etch, and functionalize surfaces to improve adhesion to a wide variety of plastic and metal surfaces. Just like most automation systems, the use of robotics and automation in the realm of industrial surface treating has benefits such as increasing productivity, safety, flexibility, and efficiency while reducing production costs.
In most cases, automating the material handling aspect of the surface-treating processes is necessary in order to achieve throughput goals. This is especially true in large-volume industrial manufacturing situations. Some of the areas that MWES has surface treating experience in are printing, coating, bonding, labeling and heat treating.
Surface Treatment Automation
Just like most automation systems, the use of robotics and automation in the realm of surface treating has benefits such as increasing productivity, flexibility, and efficiency while reducing production costs. In most cases, automating the material handling aspect of the surface-treating processes is necessary in order to achieve throughput goals. This is especially true in large-volume manufacturing situations.
Printing
Surface treating parts prior to printing enhance ink adhesion. Surface treatment can be used to improve print quality and production speed. In some cases, printing would not be possible without pretreatment.
Painting
Injection molded or thermoformed parts are often treated prior to painting. Surface treatment allows the paint to adhere to and increase the life and durability of the paint on the object’s surface.
Coating
Products are coated to protect their surface from harsh environments or as decoration. Doors, frames, and extrusions/profiles are often coated. The medical industry uses surface treatment to improve the adhesion of antimicrobial/antibiotic coatings.
Bonding
Bonding is primarily used to increase the strength of an adhesive. The medical and automotive industries rely on surface treatment to remove contaminants such as dust, grease, oils, or mold to improve bonding. Typical cleaning solvents such as methyl ethyl ketone, trichloroethylene, toluene, or acetone may be used for this purpose, but cleaning agents that leave a film residue upon evaporation will retard bonding.
Labeling
Surface treating caps, bottles and lids ensure that labels will not peel off before the destruction of the label occurs. Air, flame, and chemical plasma treatment of materials like high-molecular weight/high-density polyethylene (HMW/HDPE) can effectively improve the adhesion of labels.
Robotic automation is rapidly becoming a crucial component of an already evolving world. High-performing robotic surface treating can be semi or fully automated and custom-built for your treatment requirements. The automation products Midwest Engineered Systems provides can elevate your business to new heights. Contact us today if your business is looking to expand its surface-treating production capacity or to move away from the rigors of a manual labor workforce.
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