Hi-Tec Spray Ltd join forces in Blades factory expansion

Blades Joinery is a long established partnership employing some 16 operatives specialising in high quality furniture and fittings for a very impressive corporate and private client portfolio. From quality office fittings for prestigious London companies to fit or re-fit new or refurbished multi-million pound residential dwellings, their service in providing the finished product is as "top draw" as you can get. (Pictured on the right: Hi-Tec Spray's 3-Spraybooth system).

Their success has brought growth. A planned re-location and expansion provided the opportunity to re-fit their own sprayshop with three new spray booths (to replace the original two) and they were to turn to surface coating specialists, Hi-Tec Spray Ltd, (HSL) to deliver the £35k project.

Each of the three spray booths measured 3500mm deep x 4000mm wide x 3000mm high with a dry filter extract on one side and inlet filters to the other and were made of single skin, galvanised panels with glass panelled, double doors to the front. The performance of the specially designed, high powered fans delivered a superior capture rate of overspray than the previous system, improving the air quality within the booth and making the system more environmentally friendly as it meets HSE and HSG178 standards.

Gaining as much working width as possible in each booth brought its own obstacles as the outer limits were impeded by the roof pitch in the single story building. The extractor/inlet fans were to be located above each booth on a mezzanine  floor and the ducting was designed to accommodate the limitation.

For future flexibility, alongside the air ducting, burner chambers to each room and a control panel were designed-in to facilitate a burner to be retrofitted at a later date.

Hi-Tec Spray Ltd. supply more than application equipment and plant in isolation. They also develop a partnership with their clients to design and develop turnkey systems, where, on the one hand - individual components work well independently, and on the other - collectively fit together like a glove.  They are one of few companies able to pull both sides of the industry together to deliver that total professional solution.

The company also supplies equipment and applications for pumping, fluid dispense and metering, multi component metering and mixing, sealant and adhesive applications, paint and adhesive spraying, mixing, spray booths, stoving and drying ovens, air replacement systems, powder coating, pre-treatment plants and turnkey systems.

For further information, e-mail: alison@hitecspray.co.uk or view website: www.hitecspray.co.uk 

Hoists with air-powered, non-lub operation facilitate safe and efficient
product discharge from big bag containers, used for transit and storage

Twin Profi 2 Ti air-operated hoists from J D Neuhaus have been used to facilitate safe and efficient product discharge from big bag containers. The containers, ranging in size from 500kg to one tonne capacity, are used for the transit, storage and subsequent loading of powdered or granulated materials into processing machines. Individual bags are positioned over collection hoppers using air operated pendant hand controllers, each providing precise height control and positioning over the discharge chutes.

The range of products being handled includes chemical and pharmaceutical materials as well as food additives and ingredients. It was imperative that the hoists offered oil-free operation to avoid any potential contamination of the transported product lines. This is a major feature of the Neuhaus Profi range, which offer lubrication-free operation, together with the capability to withstand dust, humidity and temperatures ranging from -20°C to +70°C.

The Profi range of hoists are available in lift capacities from 250kg up to a full 20 tonnes. They can be equipped with manual or powered trolleys for overhead rail mounting, with powered products being air-operated, suitable for operation within hazardous areas or environments subject to potentially explosive conditions.

Twin Profi 2 Ti hoist from J D Neuhaus are safe to use.

For operating areas subject to reduced headroom conditions, specialised BBH (big bag handling) hoists can be supplied from the Neuhaus range. These can be supplied with single load hook and one tonne lift capacity for operation with standard cruciform lift beam designs. With this hoist, the extended distance between the lift hook and chain box ensures there is no collision between big bags or other bulky loads and the chain box. A twin suspension hook version offering two tonne synchronised lifting/lowering facilities, is also available for more complex cruciform lifting or suspension beams fitted with two lifting points.

All J D Neuhaus air-powered handling products are designed to provide high performance combined with efficiency and reliability. They incorporate a patented low maintenance motor-brake system, together with integrated emergency-stop switch and overload protection for load capacities over one tonne. These features, together with Ex ratings for hazardous area operation, form part of their high safety-level attributes.

For further information : e-mail: info@jdneuhaus.co.uk or view website: www.jdneuhaus.co.uk    Refer to page 72

High-Tec Spray keeps driving up the pressure

Several years past Hi-Tec Spray Ltd. (HSL) designed and commissioned their first Mobile Rig that incorporated the use of the Graco A-20 Reactor from their range of Plural Component Proportioners. Reactors are used for industry-wide applications of fast setting materials - including polyureas and foams. The A-20 is only one of an extensive range of machines but has become the industry machine of choice for the application of polyurethane fast setting insulation foam.

The rigging out of vehicles has since evolved into a major component of HSL's business development, especially as the procedure from the customers' standpoint is less than complicated; the customer supplies the vehicle and HSL do the rest.  Within 2-3 weeks a fully equipped, pre-commissioned vehicle is presented with free training and an additional visit by an engineer to assist with initial start-up on site within the UK.

The mobile rigs now have a significant presence on construction sites around the country as well as being the standard outfit adopted by the insulation contractor operating in the domestic roof insulation retrofit industry.

The purpose of the specific equipment within each vehicle is to address every aspect of application -  hot or cold application, large or small volume and low level or high rise environment and to achieve that the installed kit comprises of: 1) Graco A-20 Reactor, with integral material heaters; built in automatic shutdown facility to prevent off ratio spraying and user friendly control panel. 2) Fully heated hose bundle to deliver the materials to the spray gun at a constant controlled temperature. 3) Minimum hose length is 18m (60ft) and maximum is 64m (210ft). 4) Graco Fusion air purge spray gun with mixing chamber and air cap. 5) Graco Husky air operated diaphragm feed pumps to deliver the 'A' and 'B' materials from on board 200 litre drums to the Reactor. 6) e proven, petrol powered, 7.5 HP belt driven ABAC air compressor together with all interconnecting hoses and support bracketry complete the installation. 7) The system is supplied for 240 volt operation or can be specified for 415 volt 3 phase electrical supply.

All put together at a very competitive price that minimises the contractors' capital outlay.

Hi-Tec Spray Ltd. supply more than applications equipment and plant in isolation. They also develop a partnership with their clients to design and develop turnkey systems, where, on the one hand - individual components work well independently and on the other - collectively fit together like a glove.  They are probably the only company able to pull both sides of the industry together to deliver that total professional solution.

For further information, e-mail: alison@hitecspray.co.uk or view website: www.hitecspray.co.uk 

FDB Panel Fittings certainly rose to the
challenge for the new T45 warships recently

FDB Panel Fittings certainly rose to the challenge for the new T45 warships recently. Like any very large single community the T45s face security issues for their personnel, in this case the requirement for a zone based wing lock system to cover personal lockers, wardrobes and other storage areas. With typically over 2000 locks on each ship a project based master key system was specified for crew cabins and furniture or lockers in communal areas.

This ideally suited the specialists at FDB Panel Fittings who were able to carry out planning, supply, specialist project packaging, administration of coding/delivery and long-term backup support. Not only was it important to have a zoned security with key operated wing locks offering a very high number of  "differs" - up to 5000 different combinations with master keys - it was also important that the locks and keys were separately labelled for specific locations and delivered at a very early stage so that they could be brought together later during final fit out.

Explained M.D. Terry Cantle "We were delighted that our experience and systems enabled us to meet the needs of this project in a similar fashion to the way we would approach similar industrial applications such as zoned equipment control systems."

For further information, e-mail: info@fdb.co.uk or view website: www.fdb.co.uk   Refer to page 71