Patent ID: 6582773
Filing Date: 2003-06-24
Classification: B29C,C08J

Abstract:
A method, comprising the steps of:mounting a gas burner assembly on an end of arm tool, said gas burner assembly including a flame jet forming ring that generally fully encloses a chamber that is defined within a body portion of said gas burner assembly, said gas burner assembly having an air/gas inlet that communicates with said chamber, said flame jet forming ring including at least one port defined therein that communicates with said chamber and that is generally annular in shape, said gas burner assembly further including a discharge tube having an inlet and an outlet, said outlet being generally peripherally surrounded by said at least one port; feeding a pre-mixed air/gas mixture into said chamber through said air/gas inlet to cause said air/gas mixture to be generally evenly distributed throughout said chamber and said at least one port, and to cause substantially all of said air/gas mixture to flow from said air/gas inlet to ambient atmosphere through said chamber and said at least one port; igniting said air/gas mixture to create a generally annular flame that projects from said flame jet forming ring of said gas burner assembly; causing said end of arm tool to move said gas burner assembly with respect to a product or mold so that at least a portion of said generally annular flame is in direct contact with desired portions of the product or mold; and spraying a mixture from the outlet of said discharge tube as desired while said generally annular flame is in direct contact with the product or mold (i) so that, when said method is used to flame treat a product, at least some of said mixture is chemically bonded to at least some of the flame treated portions of the product thereby allowing a coating to be subsequently applied thereon with improved adhesion, or (ii) so that, when said method is used to manufacture a product on a mold, a product can be formed on and then removed from the mold.