Over the last couple of years HIX has been developing a new drying / curing technology that is ideal for continuous web roll to roll printing operations. HIX was asked by one of our customers to develop a tower curing configuration that actually worked. The primary reason for this was that the tower ovens available were expensive and didn't work very well in terms of uniform heat distribution, consistent quality and reliability. Existing units were very cumbersome to work on when there was a problem or servicing the web while inside the oven chamber. These and several other issues that needed to be addressed in order to have a tower oven that was worth the cost and was operationally friendly. In addition tower ovens on the market did not have consistent temperature throughout the oven chamber and were expensive to operate/ energy inefficient. The Pro's at HIX began developing designs to improve upon these shortcomings. Based on the units delivered and market feedback, we would have to say we hit a home run.

HIX came up with a drive system that not only is superior with very light substrates, but also has non obstruction/open access guide system at the top that allows easy access to the web and help run it through the oven. HIX made its air nozzles easily removable; another feature to help in access to, inspection of or working on the web. Another HIX feature introduced was a very simple control system backed up by a PLC control. This allows for much simpler operator interface.

Additional HIX features incorporated into the Tower Oven are: two piece construction for easier shipping, handling and installation, Sensors in the vacuum boxes that will sense any material including clear plastics down to 2 mils in thickness. The vacuum boxes can be adjusted without web path interferences and the vacuum boxes apply vacuum on the sides to help reduce flutter.
The tower oven is very energy efficient and uses thick high quality insulation to provide for a very green operation. Recirculating over 95% of the hot air generated the HIX electric Tower oven is more energy efficient than other gas fired units.

Overall HIX was successful in introducing a more efficient and reliable tower oven than has ever been presented to the printing industry. Contact Tim McNally at HIX for more information. tmcnally@hixcorp.com 1-800-835-0606 (ext.234)