Method for electrostatic powder coating of fasteners magnetically suspended from a conveyor

A method of providing a protective powder coating to ferromagnetic fasteners by an electrostatic process, each fastener having a pointed end, the method comprising the steps of:

• providing a plurality of said fasteners to be coated in an unoriented bulk state;
• orienting said fasteners into a desired arrangement, one behind the other;
• transferring each fastener in succession to a respective position on a face of a rotating feed wheel at a first position with respect to said feed wheel;
• magnetically retaining each fastener at said respective position on said face of said feed wheel;
• transporting each fastener to a second position with respect to said feed wheel by rotation of said feed wheel;
• transferring each fastener in succession at said second position to a respective portion of a moving conveyor;
• releasably retaining and electrostatically grounding each of said fasteners to said respective portion of said conveyor by suspending each fastener from said conveyor by the pointed end of said fastener so that all of said fastener including the pointed end of said fastener is beneath said conveyor;
• conveying each fastener, while said fastener remains suspended magnetically from said conveyor by the pointed end of said fastener so that all of said fastener including the pointed end of said fastener is beneath said conveyor, into a coating booth and through a cloud of charged coating particles in the coating booth to electrostatically coat each fastener;
• conveying each coated fastener such that the coating on each fastener is cured;
• and
• removing each fastener from said conveyor.