Immersion can coating apparatus and method

An apparatus for immersion coating of ferro-magnetic cans in a coating bath wherein each can has an open top and a closed bottom, comprising:

• an immersion coating bath;
• an infeed conveyor adapted to transport said cans with an open top of said cans held to said infeed conveyor and a closed bottom of said cans facing away from said infeed conveyor, said infeed conveyor being operable to transport said cans toward said coating bath;
• a magnetic coating conveyor disposed at least partially in said coating bath and adapted to remove said cans from said infeed conveyor and transport said cans through said coating bath with said closed bottoms of said cans magnetically held to said coating conveyor and said open tops of said cans facing away from said coating conveyor, said magnetic coating conveyor having an endless conveyor belt defining an inlet end and an outlet end relative to said coating bath for moving said cans respectively into and out of said coating bath as said cans move between said inlet and outlet ends whereby coating flows into and out of said open tops of said cans;
• and
• an outfeed conveyor adapted to remove said cans from said magnetic coating conveyor and transport said cans with said open tops of said cans held to said outfeed conveyor and said closed bottoms of said cans facing away from said outfeed conveyor.

An apparatus for coating ferro-magnetic cans, comprising:

• an immersion coating bath;
• a first conveyor having first and second runs and further being adapted to magnetically hold and rotate said cans from a first position resting on said first run to a second position resting on said second run whereby said cans are transported toward said coating bath;
• a second conveyor having inlet and outlet runs, said inlet run being adapted to remove said cans from said second run of said first conveyor and magnetically hold and transport said cans toward a bottom portion of said coating bath, said outlet run being adapted to magnetically hold and transport said cans away from said bottom portion of said coating bath;
• and
• a third conveyor having first and second runs, said first run being adapted to remove said cans from said outlet run of said second conveyor, said third conveyor further being adapted to magnetically hold and rotate said cans from a first position resting on said first run to a second position resting on said second run whereby said cans are transported away from said coating bath.

A magnetic conveyor assembly for use in immersion coating of ferro-magnetic cans in a coating bath wherein each can has an open top and a closed bottom, comprising:

• an immersion coating bath;
• a support frame associated with said coating bath;
• and
• a magnetic coating conveyor rotatably supported by said support frame and disposed at least partially in said coating bath, said magnetic coating conveyor including an endless conveyor belt defining an inlet end and an outlet end relative to said coating bath for moving said cans respectively into and out of said coating bath, said magnetic coating conveyor being adapted to magnetically hold a closed bottom of each said can as said cans move between said inlet and outlet ends whereby coating flows into and out of an open top of each said can as said cans move through said coating bath,
• said magnetic conveyor defining an inlet run entering said coating bath at said inlet end and an outlet run exiting said coating bath at said outlet end wherein an edge of said closed bottoms of said cans enters said coating bath at the same time or before an edge of said open tops of said cans along said inlet run, and further wherein an edge of said closed bottoms of said cans exits said coating bath at the same time or before an edge of said open tops of said cans.