Dust extraction by Thorne for Stoves' new laser cell unit
17th March 1999

Stoves Plc, Britain's leading independent manufacturer of a huge range of domestic cookers, recently installed a new laser cell system to add speed and flexibility to the final manufacturing stage of its oven and grill cavities and providing dust extraction capability for the zero-carbon steel operation is an Autoflo unit from J.B. Thorne of Leicester.

The Fanuc Robot Arc Mate 120i unit installed by Stoves gives the company maximum flexibility for the late dedication of cavities for a huge range of cookers, including gas, electric, built in, freestanding and leisure market products. Altogether the company offers nearly 3000 separate variants in its range.

"The new programmable system gives us great flexibility without the need for retooling as would be the case with a mechanical system.," says Stoves project leader Alan Elmer, "and is part of our ongoing investment in new equipment and manufacturing processes."

The Autoflo AFT/AFC series from J.B. Thorne has been designed to use either tubular or cartridge filters in the same casing, a feature Thorne believes to be a 'first.' Because of its modular design, the new Autoflo offers much greater flexibility of size than existing units, while the cleaning system has been redesigned to make more effective use of compressed air.

By incorporating major modifications to the conventional system, the cleaning process drastically reduces the risk of overloading the cleaned filter, thus improving the life of the filter media.

High-efficiency filter elements are continuously cleaned by downblasted compressed air in 60-second cycles. Waste dust is collected in a hopper and conveyed by screw conveyor through a rotary valve, into either a closed skip or a sealed bag, for disposal or recycling according to customer requirements. In this way the risk of secondary contamination is completely eliminated.

Thorne's Autoflo continuous automatic extraction units are believed by the company to be unique in that they have an internationally patented failsafe dust filter seal, making it virtually impossible for dust to leak through, even when the seal is damaged. An explosion-relief facility is another important part of the Autoflo's capability.

J B Thorne can supply wet and dry dust extraction equipment for all dust problems. In addition, it designs systems of all sizes, for external and internal use, from complete turnkey installations to individual units. It also supplies hoods, ducting, and a range of special work benches and laminar flow booths.

All Thorne systems meet current COSHH requirements, on which the company is qualified to give up-to-date advice. Thorne also carries out mandatory testing on installations when this service is required.