When parts with interior cavities are treated by spraying or dipping, residual treatment liquid may become trapped in the interior cavities. Allowing time for the residual liquid to drain in between processing steps increases the processing time required to treat parts. In some circumstances it is not feasible to wait until all of the residual liquid has drained. If adequate time is not provided between treatment steps to allow the trapped liquid to drain, the residual liquid may contaminate liquid used in a subsequent processing step. This contamination makes it necessary to drain and dispose of the contaminated liquid, which is costly and time consuming.
A part hanger is provided that engages a part being treated in a manner that orients the part so that treatment liquid tends to drain from the part. To this end, a part hanger is provided that is configured to suspend a part for treatment with a liquid. The part hanger includes one or more elongate members formed into a substantially U-shape having first and second side legs connected by a bottom leg. The first leg is configured to support a portion of the part from below at a first leg distal end. A hanger extension is connected at one end to a second leg distal end. In some example embodiments, the angle between the hanger extension and the second side leg is obtuse. The hanger extension is disposed substantially parallel to the bottom leg and terminates at a hanger extension distal end in a mounting feature. The hanger extension terminates prior to contacting the first leg distal end such that the first leg distal end and the mounting feature define a part clearance gap through which at least a portion of the part may extend into the U-shape. In some example embodiments, the hanger extension terminates less than half the distance between the first and second side leg distal ends.
In some example embodiments, the first, second, bottom legs and the hanger extension are formed from the same elongate member. The mounting feature may include an s-shaped hook that made up of first and second U-shaped hook portions that share a common middle leg. The first U-shaped hook portion is configured to hang on a mounting rack and the second U-shaped hook portion includes the common middle leg and the hanger extension.
In another example embodiment, an enclosure hanger is provided for suspending an enclosure for treatment with a liquid. The enclosure includes enclosure walls connected at respective rear edges to an enclosure floor to define an interior and the enclosure walls define an opening opposite the enclosure floor. The enclosure hanger includes an elongate member having a first distal end configured to contact an interior-facing surface of a top enclosure wall at an engagement point proximate to the rear edge of the top enclosure wall. The engagement point is selected relative to a center of gravity of the enclosure such that when the first distal end supports the enclosure at the engagement point, the enclosure orients in a position that places the enclosure floor above the enclosure opening to cause liquids to tend to drain from the enclosure.
The elongate member is formed to define an open interior hanger region into which the one of the enclosure walls supported by the first distal end extends when the enclosure is installed on the enclosure hanger. The interior hanger region is bounded by first and second side legs, a bottom leg, and a hanger extension that extends from the second side leg part of the way to the first distal end and terminates in a mounting feature disposed at a distal end of the hanger extension. The mounting feature and the first distal end define an enclosure clearance gap through which the one of the enclosure walls enters the interior hanger region.
According to another example embodiment, a method is provided for mounting an enclosure for treatment with a liquid. The enclosure includes enclosure walls connected at respective rear edges to an enclosure floor to define an interior, and the enclosure walls define an opening opposite the enclosure floor. The method includes inserting a top enclosure wall through an enclosure clearance gap defined between a first distal end of an enclosure hanger and a mounting feature disposed proximate a second distal end of the enclosure hanger. The top enclosure wall in thus positioned in an interior hanger region defined by first and second side legs, a bottom leg, and a hanger extension that extends from the second side leg part of the way to the first distal end and terminates in the mounting feature disposed at a distal end of the hanger extension.
The method also includes contacting an interior-facing surface of the top enclosure wall with the first distal end at an engagement point proximate to a rear edge of the top enclosure wall. The engagement point is selected relative to a center of gravity of the enclosure such that when the first distal end supports the enclosure at the engagement point, the enclosure orients in a position that places the enclosure floor above the enclosure opening to cause liquids to tend to drain from the enclosure.
In one example embodiment, the method includes inserting the top wall through an enclosure clearance gap of a second enclosure hanger and contacting the interior-facing surface of the top enclosure wall with the first distal end of the second enclosure hanger. The method may also include capturing liquid that drains from the enclosure after treatment by the liquid while the enclosure is supported by the enclosure hanger.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate various example systems, methods, and other example embodiments of various aspects of the invention. It will be appreciated that the illustrated element boundaries (e.g., boxes, groups of boxes, or other shapes) in the figures represent one example of the boundaries. One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that in some examples one element may be designed as multiple elements or that multiple elements may be designed as one element. In some examples, an element shown as an internal component of another element may be implemented as an external component and vice versa. Furthermore, elements may not be drawn to scale.
The part hanger 40 has a U-shape with a distal end 40a configured to support a front edge of the top wall 10a for treatment with a liquid. The part hanger 40 is connected to a rack 50 that may mount several hangers for treatment of multiple enclosures. As can be seen in
The hanger extension 66 terminates at a hanger extension distal end 70 that includes a mounting feature 72 configured to be mounted on the rack 50 (shown in
The mounting feature 72 is S-shaped, comprising a first U-shaped hook portion 78 configured to fit around the rack 50 (not shown in
While example systems, methods, and so on have been illustrated by describing examples, and while the examples have been described in considerable detail, it is not the intention of the applicants to restrict or in any way limit the scope of the appended claims to such detail. It is, of course, not possible to describe every conceivable combination of components or methodologies for purposes of describing the systems, methods, and so on described herein. Therefore, the invention is not limited to the specific details, the representative apparatus, and illustrative examples shown and described. Thus, this application is intended to embrace alterations, modifications, and variations that fall within the scope of the appended claims.
To the extent that the term “includes” or “including” is employed in the detailed description or the claims, it is intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising” as that term is interpreted when employed as a transitional word in a claim.