As a company specializing in engineering platens for use in the composite, rubber, and plywood industries, Venango Machine is well aware of the benefits of heating and cooling platens for manufacturing. The heat transfer cycle, from elevated temperatures back to normal and safe operating conditions is not only critical for developing a premium product but protects employees from possible injuries during operation. This article looks at the many benefits provided by heating and cooling platens for manufacturing, the industries that benefit most from integrating cooling platens into their presses, and how our decades of industry experience set us apart from other platen manufacturing companies in the United States and abroad.
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Are Cooling Platens & Cooling Plates the Same?
When industry professionals speak about cooling platens, the term cooling plates can essentially mean the same thing. Both terms refer to a flat plate used in a press that can quickly reduce temperature across the surface using a coolant dispersed throughout the platen. While there are some instances where each term refers to a more specific part used in electronic components, similar to heat sinks, cooling platens, and cooling plates are both designed to efficiently transfer away heat to prevent overheating, aid manufacturing processes, and maintain safe operating temperatures.
Benefits of Cooling Platens for Manufacturing
Cooling platens present a wide range of benefits for manufacturers of rubber, laminate, plywood, and composite products. As these industries rely on elevated temperatures to help cure various adhesives and polymers, having a high-quality dual-function heating and cooling platen instead of a heating platen presents the following advantages.
- Production Efficiency: The faster a platen can transition from the elevated production temperatures required for rubber and composite manufacturing back to safe handling levels means more cycles can be completed with more finished products in each shift. Combination heating and cooling platens are essential resources for manufacturers looking to increase their production capacity without compromising quality.
- Curing Polymers & Adhesives: While high temperatures may be required to activate or cure polymers and adhesives, using a cooling platen in place of air-cooling methods may help expedite the final hardening process and assist in easy removal from the platen.
- Precise Temperature Control: Venango MultiZone platens use a precision control panel to precisely measure and calibrate temperatures and cooling cycles. These platens are designed with intricate or complicated manufacturing processes in mind and deliver ultimate results.
- Heat Dissipation: Quickly dissipating heat from the platens, press, and products can prevent overheating between cycles and maintain consistent production quality from one run to the next. Lingering heat may also result in unwanted damage or excessive wear to supplemental components that will then require costly repairs or replacement.
- Enhanced Safety: Using cooling platens for manufacturing processes that rely on human intervention is an excellent way to help avoid possible injuries caused by hot surfaces and products. By reducing operating temperatures quickly with cooling platens, workers can seamlessly unload presses and reload for the next run without significant downtime or risk.
Industries Requiring Heating & Cooling Platens
Nearly all of the industries that have chosen Venango Machine for their platens could benefit from integrating cooling platens or combination platens into their presses. The heat transfer benefits alone can increase production cycle efficiency to a point where companies no longer need to add new presses to meet certain goals. Rubber, laminate, composite, and plywood manufacturing companies are all exploring new adhesives that require higher temperatures to properly cure and quickly cooling platens back to a safe operating range and maintain quality without the risk of overheating.
Cooling platens are exceptionally important to the production of sensitive materials used in the precision electronics industry, as prolonged exposure to certain temperatures can completely ruin the final product and detail production goals. Overall, cooling platens combined with the detailed experience and knowledge of Venango Machine can provide tremendous upside to just about any manufacturing sector using compression molding to produce goods or materials.
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Heating and cooling platens play a vital role in optimizing manufacturing processes, from improving production efficiency to ensuring product consistency and even worker safety. By integrating advanced combination cooling platens or cooling plates into your manufacturing processes, you can enhance cycle times, reduce material waste, and maintain quality across every production run. With decades of expertise, Venango Machine delivers engineered platens designed to meet the demands of industries that require efficient thermal management.
