A paint kitchen is a colorful but sometimes dangerous place. Because vapors can escape from paints and varnishes and form explosive mixtures, strict explosion protection regulations apply. The Nuremberg-based company DETE Dr. Tettenborn GmbH has developed a compact siphon that enables clean and safe paint supply - the DeLift. The agitator technology of the successful Franconian model comes from PTM mechatronics.

The DeLift shimmers royal blue at PaintExpo, the world's leading trade fair for industrial painting technology, in April 2018. This is its second appearance in Karlsruhe; the pneumatic drum lid lifter, as it is technically known, made its debut at the previous trade fair two years earlier. Nevertheless, it attracts the attention and interest of trade fair visitors. „Safety and cleanliness are issues that are currently of great concern to the industry,“ says Wolfdietrich Ederer, Technical Managing Director of DETE. Companies are therefore trying to automate as many processes as possible. One of these processes is the replacement of ink containers - a simple task in itself, but tricky in detail.

Removing the agitator by hand and changing the paint container is a „pretty dirty“ job, says Ederer. A worker has to remove the agitator from the container, put it aside and replace the container. „The paint sticks to the agitator, supply and return pipes and then drips down,“ explains Ederer, „which results in soiling over a larger radius.“ The DeLift, on the other hand, only moves up and down.

Safe and clean paint supply

Due to the precise work exclusively in a vertical direction, paint drops are limited to a small spot. The DeLift also contributes to safety during operation: „If you operate the lifter, the agitator comes to an instant stop,“ says Ederer. „Injuries are virtually impossible.“
Thanks to its design and pneumatic applications, the DeLift meets the European requirements for explosion protection in ATEX zone 1. ATEX protection is also maintained with extensions such as control panels, agitator control or paint collection basins. In order to equip the DeLift for the important ATEX zone 0, which prevails in closed containers, DETE relies on agitators from PTM mechatronics, which are equipped with a zone separation flange 0/1.

Specialist for four decades

The Nuremberg-based company was founded in 1976 and has since made a name for itself as a specialist in paint supply. This includes spraying and painting systems, 2K mixing and dosing systems. DETE's portfolio also includes the construction of entire paint and coating lines. „But the heart of the whole thing is always the paint supply,“ says Ederer.
Most of the lifters have been fitted with an agitator from PTM mechatronics for a good year now. For Ederer, this is an ideal combination: „The radial piston motors are reliable and very efficient. The energy consumption is close to that of electric motors.“ Many customers still rely on compressed air because of the explosion protection, but also because it is easier to operate. „Because the supply of compressed air is guaranteed in most paint kitchens anyway, customers also like to operate their agitators with it,“ says Ederer.

„Pleasant collaboration“

In Ederer's experience, it is not only the agitators from PTM that are reliable, but also the company itself. This is also worth a small surcharge. „There is a selection of different sizes for every application and detailed documentation for every order,“ says Ederer. „Communication is uncomplicated, it's a pleasant collaboration.“
The successful DeLift model was introduced by the Franconian company in 2016. It is currently available for standard containers in two sizes: 500 and 1000, where the number stands for the stroke length in millimetres. Order inquiries quickly piled up. „We had to increase production capacity,“ reports Ederer, „drum lid lifters like the DeLift play an important role in the automation of paint kitchens.“ And this trend, as the PaintExpo trade fair in mid-April 2018 showed, will become even more important in the near future.