Fluidised bed treatment

An apparatus for the treatment of a component using a fluidised bed, the apparatus comprising:

• a treatment chamber, the fluidised bed in use being retained in the treatment chamber by one or more containment surfaces, the apparatus being adapted to allow at least one treatment part of the component to be placed in the fluidised bed and at least one non-treatment part of the component to be located outside the chamber and out of contact with the fluidised bed,
• wherein in use the boundary between the at least one treatment part and the at least one non-treatment part of the component is defined by a boundary containment surface of the treatment chamber at a fixed location with respect to the component, the boundary containment surface being a sealing surface directly contacting the component when the at least one treatment part is placed in the fluidised bed,
• the treatment chamber is configured to receive the component in one orientation of the treatment chamber, and then to treat the component in another orientation of the treatment chamber, and
• the sealing surface comprises one or more openings for receiving the component, and the treatment chamber is movable to the one orientation in which the one or more openings for receiving the component face substantially upwardly and is subsequently movable to the another orientation in which the fluidised bed covers the part of the component projecting into the treatment chamber.