Durr develops light tunnel to check quality of painted surfaces

The Dürr Group, one of the world's leading mechanical and plant engineering firms, has announced the development of EcoReflect, a light tunnel for checking surface quality on painted vehicle bodies.

With an innovative light concept and a perfectly ergonomic environment design, it delivers precise and highly focused vision. This enables continuous detection of irregularities in paint with maximum accuracy, the company says.

Before car bodies leave the paint shop and go into final assembly, the paint structure is checked for the smallest flaws like inclusions of dust or small hairs. The EcoReflect light tunnel provides the best visual and ergonomic conditions for this difficult quality inspection task.

Detecting deviations calls for a reflected image with high, but not too stimulating contrasts. With EcoReflect, the number of contrast lines in the field of vision is also based on a suitable stimulus frequency.  Since it generates vertical contrast lines, the operators can follow the progression of the car bodies when checking them. In contrast to conventional systems with horizontal lines, with this system the operators do not have to keep looking up and down, which is much more ergonomic and less physically strenuous. 

Glare-free vision is another important prerequisite for detecting surface flaws and at the same time minimizing fatigue symptoms for operators. With EcoReflect, appropriate prisms at the lamps ensure that as much light as possible is shone onto the car bodies, and that the operators are not subjected to glare. The radiation principle of asymmetric lighting helps here.

LED modules also drive energy savings
Dürr has also enhanced the luminaire concept with the use of LED modules. The result is both high contrasts in the reflected image and areas with homogeneous illumination. The LED technology used requires just the half of the energy of conventional fluorescent tubes. EcoReflect is also more economical than standard LED designs because the arched shape of the light tunnel casts a particularly large amount of light onto the car body.

Durr says EcoReflect can be constructed as an individual station or as a line. The system can also be extended and customised in terms of light colours and materials for complex flaw types.

Dürr India, based in Chennai, offers painting, application, final assembly and energy efficiency technology products as well as exhaust-air purification systems. Since April 2015, Dürr India has also been offering on-the-job as well as classroom training in paint and application systems to customers at its new training center.