Vacuum technology is a finishing process that can coat either three or four sides of a profile or linear board and minimizes VOC’s (volatile organic compounds) that negatively affect the ozone. The technology minimizes the amount of wasted coating by continuously recirculating coatings through the system onto parts as they are fed through the system. The application head has a manual adjustment feature that allows the coating thickness to be controlled as it is applied to each part. This feature is typically set before production starts or is included in your product’s “formula.” By way of a 12-inch wide conveyor, the parts automatically exit the application head and enter into the curing or drying unit.

Cefla’s vacuum units are compact, multi-process painting systems. Depending on model, specification and application, systems include sanding, staining/priming/coating, and curing/drying units that allow parts to easily integrate from a secondary process, to finishing, to a finished good ready for shipping – with minimal human interaction. Cefla has Vacuum Finishing Systems for both water-based and 100% solids, for UV, finishing needs.

The CVR and CVS Vacuum Finishing Systems have maximum working widths of 8- to 12-inches and minimum working length of 24 inches, making it ideal for optimizing the production of linear profiles and flat boards including shiplap, which is growing in popularity in North America due to its feature on several DIY and reality television shows. Using vacuum technology, shiplap can be denibbed, coated, and cured or dried in a single pass, then packed and shipped.

Other system features:

• Low VOC’s for minimized emissions
• Closed loop system offers maximum transfer efficiency
• Small footprint
• One system comprised of multiple processes – no need for different sets of equipment
• Options for water-based and 100% solid UV coatings
• Machine-side control panel is easy to use with a touch screen featuring large print and color graphics
• Compatible with wood, wood-based derivatives, plastic, and metal substrate
• Made in the USA

These machines are designed exclusively to support the needs of a variety of North American industries, including residential and commercial construction. Contact us today.

Standing out from the crowd is easy when you have access to some of today’s most innovative digital printing technologies. Ready for you to see and feel thanks to our J-PRINT TD printer, which will be running throughout the trade show, countless embossed surface samples produced before your eyes will persuade you to believe in the huge potential this technology offers for individualisation together with high output rates.
 
Haptic effects and EIR (Embossing In Register) 

15 years after being launched in 2006, iBotic has undergone some major improvements which will maximise your uptime, reduce your operating costs as well as your lacquer and solvent costs, and with a brand new interface and integrated software, allow you to train operators in no time and access key production data directly on the machine or by feeding it into your company ERP.

Despite being a solution which has no rivals currently on the market, with its two spray arms acting totally independently to boost production efficiency and deliver the highest quality coating, iBotic benefits from a series of updates, fine-tuning and additional functions which enhance its appeal as a high-performance machine.

Brand new interface

Thanks to a new HMI with intuitive commands, user-friendly graphics and a software integration to help operators manage the equipment, iBotic is now easy to use with little initial training needed. Moreover, the software includes diagnostic tools, information to support maintenance requirements, valuable production data which can be consulted directly or fed into the company ERP for productivity analyses. 

Zero downtime while changing colour

The key innovation enables on-the-go colour changeovers without interrupting production. While one arm is automatically set aside for cleaning and colour change, the second arm continues to spray workpieces without stopping. This keeps your production running and adds more or less 90 minutes per shift (we assume you avoid thirty 3-minute downtimes for colour changeover on each shift) to your effective production time, accelerating the ROI. Clearly, without production stoppages, you are constantly earning money rather than just changing colours. TIMESKIP also handles cleaning procedures in such a way as to reduce solvent consumption and cut lacquer wastage.

Energy recovery system to reduce operating costs

Our POWERBACK energy recovery system accounts for a 15-20% energy saving. This lowers operating costs and contributes to increasing your overall sustainability, environmentally and economically.

So, whoever thought it would have been difficult to improve iBotic, consider the benefits that are now available: zero downtime for colour changeovers, increased productivity, lower operating costs, less solvent and less lacquer wastage, plus a new HMI to support operators and optimise the process.

What are the main steps of a coating cycle? The process can be grouped into 5 main phases:

➊ Sanding: sanding the untreated panel is a phase that we will find in almost all coating cycles, both when talking of wood or and other materials, such as fibre cement and some plastic substrates. In the case of a wooden substrate, it smoothes out the panel by removing the woody fibres that rise up from the surface due to humidity, while in materials other than wood, normally it improves the adhesion of the first coat of paint
➋ Coating / impregnation: coating is the application of solvent-based or water-based dyes, which alter the colour of the substrate. Impregnation, on the other hand, has the dual purpose of both colouring and protecting against mould and fungi
➌ Application of the primer: this is the first of a series of base coats, carried out to: clog the pores, allow sanding while preserving the colouring of the substrate, provide an optimal base for the first finishing layer
➍ Sanding of the substrate
➎ Finishing: application of the finishing coats, transparent or pigmented, glossy, matt, or even deep matt and soft touch. It ensures surface resistance and protection against adverse weather conditions.

Your company has been performing surface finishing for producers of furniture components, the automotive industry or manufacturers of windows and doors, and you’ve been doing it for years.
Today you need to become more efficient, more flexible and ultimately more competitive? Probably your future prospects depend on that. 

Becoming more competitive depends on factors like these:

➀ Productivity is all about handling whatever the market wants in the quantities it demands. You can increase flexibility by integrating an oven which accepts totally different shapes and sizes one after the other without stopping

➁ Flexibility also means being able to coat different pieces simultaneously in the same machine using a Cartesian robot

➂ Transfer efficiency is a key issue. Our experience and our technologies enable us to find the best solution, leading to potentially huge annual savings in terms of lacquer consumption.
Here, a new concept of elliptical sprayer, Elispray, which combines extremely high work rates with high quality transfer efficiency, comes into play.

➃ Product differentiation. How does your product differ compared to that of the competition? The answer, in this sense, has much to do with the integration of digital printing technologies with relief effects on the coating line, allowing for uniqueness and personalisation that - thanks to flexible, competitive processes - can respond quickly to market trends.

➄ Training. Having trained staff is certainly a key strength for a company that aims to be competitive on the market. In this regard, the Italian Finishing School provides essential support by teaching a combination of coating theory and coating practice.