Dipping Technologies - Why are Piper's Technologies so good?

The Oven

Quite frankly, the better the oven, the better the parts. This is true for both dip molding and dip coating. In production, and in order to maximize consistency and quality of dipped parts, using a conventional oven for dipping purposes is not advised. Natural ovens and those relying solely on natural convection are unlikely to heat parts evenly. There will be temperatures gradients both vertically (from the bottom to the top) of the oven, as well as across X-Y axis (or dipping plane.) These oven gradients will result in inconsistent parts every cycle, ultimately increasing reject rates and costs.

The solution is to use forced air convection ovens in the dipping process. At Piper, we’ve been designing and improving on our custom forced air convection ovens for over two decades.  Using either natural gas or electricity as an energy source, we believe we have the best ovens in the industry. Our well designed heat chambers, efficient ductwork and plenums, and controlled circulation enable us to maintain exceptional temperature stability AS WELL AS convection air velocity stability across the two dimensional (XY) dipping array. This ensures that all parts in the two dimensional dipping array heat uniformly.

Finally, we utilize custom tuned PID controllers, which enable us to maintain our temperature setpoint to ±1°F.

The Dipping Axis

Controlling both the dip and withdraw are critical if you want to make complex, consistent, and beautiful dip molded and dip coated parts. Piper accomplishes this by using computer controlled robotic technologies for our z-axis. Again, at the heart of our system is a proprietary PID controller, with feedback on both position and velocity. Our position control has a resolution of .005″ with a similar number for repeatability, and our velocity control is accurate to a fraction of an inch per minute. Combining this technology, we have infinite control of both dipping and withdraw profiles.

The Dip Tank

What kind of vessel you dip into is just as important as the other two components. Again… control is the key. At Piper, our custom dipping tanks utilize sufficient agitation, filtration, and temperature control so your parts are as blemish free and consistent as possible.