UV dryer for bottles

1. Structure

Light source system:
• The core is the ultraviolet (UV) lamp tube, usually a mercury lamp or LED lamp. Mercury lamps have high power and good luminous efficiency; LED lamps have the advantages of energy saving and environmental protection, long life, fast startup, and flexible wavelength adjustment.
• Equipped with a reflector, its function is to focus and reflect UV light onto the surface of the bottle, improve the utilization rate of light energy, and make the curing or drying effect more uniform.

Conveying system:
• Contains a conveyor belt, which is generally made of UV-resistant and high-temperature resistant materials, such as Teflon conveyor belt. It can smoothly convey plastic bottles through the UV treatment area.

• There is a drive motor and a speed regulating device, which can accurately control the conveying speed of the bottle to adapt to different production rhythms and curing requirements.

Box structure:

• The outer shell is generally made of metal, such as stainless steel, which protects the internal components and prevents UV light leakage.

• There is a good ventilation system inside, including air inlets, exhaust ports and fans. This is to exhaust harmful gases such as ozone generated during the curing process, and introduce fresh air to ensure the normal operation of the UV lamp.

2. Principle

Utilize the photochemical effect of ultraviolet light (UV). When UV light irradiates the UV coating, ink and other coatings on the surface of the bottle, the photoinitiator in the coating absorbs ultraviolet energy and produces active substances such as free radicals or cations. These active substances trigger the polymerization reaction of monomers and oligomers in the coating, so that the coating quickly changes from liquid to solid, thereby achieving the purpose of curing or drying.

3. Operation process

1. Preparation

• Check whether the power supply and ventilation system of the equipment are normal.

• Install the appropriate UV lamp tube and ensure that the reflector is in the correct position, clean and unobstructed.

• Place the plastic bottle to be processed at the starting position of the conveyor belt.

2. Parameter setting

• Set the power of the UV lamp according to factors such as the material, coating material and thickness of the bottle. Generally speaking, the power ranges from tens of watts to thousands of watts.

• Adjust the speed of the conveyor belt, usually in the range of several meters to tens of meters per minute, to ensure that the bottle stays under the UV lamp for enough time to complete curing or drying.

3. Start the equipment

• Turn on the ventilation system and let the fan run normally to ensure air circulation in the box.

• Turn on the power of the UV lamp, the equipment starts to run, and the bottles pass through the UV treatment area at a uniform speed on the conveyor belt.

4. Monitoring and adjustment

• Observe the curing or drying of the bottle to see whether the coating is evenly cured, whether there are sagging, bubbles and other problems.

• If incomplete curing or over-curing is found, the UV lamp power or conveyor belt speed can be adjusted appropriately.

5. Complete the treatment

• The bottles after treatment are output from the end of the conveyor belt and collected and sorted.

• Turn off the power of the UV lamp, and turn off the ventilation system and the main power of the equipment after the lamp tube cools down.

IV. Scope of application

• Widely used in the surface treatment of plastic bottles, such as food packaging bottles, cosmetic bottles, pharmaceutical bottles, etc.

• Suitable for UV coating curing on the surface of bottles, including improving the wear resistance, corrosion resistance, glossiness, etc. of bottles.

• It is also used for drying UV ink on bottles. For example, after printing patterns and labels on the bottle surface, these devices can quickly dry the ink and improve production efficiency.