Most curing lines do not run one part forever. When a single UV light curing conveyor handles several products, the time and risk sit in the changeover — and a streamlined line is one where switching products is a short, documented routine rather than a fresh setup.

Q: What changes when a UV curing conveyor switches from one product to another?

A: Up to four settings can change: belt speed (which sets dose), lamp height (which sets working distance), the lamp head itself if the new product needs a different width, wavelength, or spectrum, and the fixtures or belt surface the parts ride on. The fewer of those that change between products, the faster and safer the changeover.

Classify Each Changeover Before It Happens

Not every switch is equal. Grouping your products by what actually changes lets you plan the line around the cheap changeovers and isolate the expensive ones.

1. Speed-only change. Same head, same height, new belt speed. On Incure’s CDM™, belt speed adjusts from 1.5 to 12.0 ft/min and directly sets dose, so a product needing more cure can often run on the same head at a slower setting. This is the fastest changeover available.
2. Height change. Taller or shorter parts need the lamp repositioned to keep the working distance the dose was qualified at. LED heads on the CDM™ adjust from 0.5 to 2.0 inches; F400/F500 arc heads adjust from 3.0 to 6.5 inches.
3. Head swap. A part wider than the current head’s usable width, or an adhesive needing a different wavelength, means changing the lamp head. The CDM™ chassis accepts LED flood, LED focused-beam, and mercury-arc heads, so this is a head change rather than a second conveyor.
4. Belt change. A product that rules out the standard polypropylene belt needs the stainless-steel wire belt of the CDM™ Compact, which is a separate chassis.

Choose a Head That Covers the Whole Product Family

The cheapest changeover is the one that never needs a head swap. Before buying, list every product the line will run and check each against the candidate head’s limits:

• Width. Maximum part width is 1 inch on the M51, 2 inches on the M62, 4 inches on the L64, 5 inches on F400/F500, and 8 inches on the L88, F100, and F200.
• Wavelength. LED heads are factory-configured to one wavelength (365, 385, 395, or 405 nm). Every adhesive on the line must cure at that wavelength.
• Spectrum. If any product’s adhesive is qualified on broadband mercury-arc cure including UVC, it needs an x2AC arc head.

If one head clears every product, the line only ever makes speed and height changeovers. If no single head does, group products by head and schedule them in blocks so swaps happen once per block rather than once per order.

Email Us with your product list and each adhesive’s requirements, and Incure can check which CDM™ head covers the most of it.

Build a Recipe Sheet for Every Product

Each product needs a one-page recipe recorded at qualification, not reconstructed at changeover:

• Lamp head and wavelength
• Lamp height setting
• Belt speed in ft/min
• Required dose and the radiometer reading taken at qualification
• Fixture or carrier used
• Timer or continuous mode (LED heads support both)

With the recipe written down, a changeover becomes “set, verify, release” instead of a trial-and-error search for settings that worked last month.

Verify Before Releasing the First Part

A changeover is not complete when the knobs are turned. Run a radiometer pass at the new speed and height and compare it with the recipe’s recorded value. Lamp output drifts over life — Incure rates LED heads past 20,000 hours with up to 20% decay and arc heads past 1,000 hours with up to 45% decay — so a speed that delivered the right dose at qualification may not deliver it now. If the reading is low, slow the belt in proportion rather than accepting under-cure.

On lines with PLC control, LED heads on the CDM™ accept PLC, RS-232, and foot-switch inputs, which makes it practical to pull speed and mode settings from a stored recipe. Arc heads on the same chassis have no external control port, so their changeovers rely on manual settings and the written recipe.

Clean Between Chemistries

When products use different adhesives, residue on the belt or fixtures can transfer. The stainless-steel wire belt on the CDM™ Compact tolerates a wider range of cleaning agents and does not trap solvent residue the way a polymer surface can over repeated cycles, which is one reason lines that switch formulations often consider it. On the standard polypropylene belt, confirm the cleaning agent is compatible with the belt before adding a solvent wipe to the changeover routine.

Sequence Products to Reduce Work

A few scheduling habits shorten total changeover time:

• Run products in order of lamp height so the head moves in one direction through the day.
• Group products on the same head into one block.
• Schedule head swaps at shift boundaries or planned stops.
• On arc-equipped lines, avoid unnecessary lamp shutdowns, since arc heads need a warm-up and cool-down cycle that LED heads do not.

For the wider process picture, the curing conveyor industrial guide covers how conveyors fit a production line, and the CDM™ lamp-head category guide helps narrow which head family suits a mixed product list.

Contact Our Team to plan a multi-product changeover routine around your CDM™ configuration.

Visit www.incurelab.com for more information.