The air knife uses a motor, filter, and blower to generate an air stream that blows through blades. It was originally called an air doctor or air blade and was used in textile and paper industries starting in the 1950s to dry and remove contaminants from large volumes of materials. Modern air knives are used in electronics manufacturing to precisely direct air and remove dust from small components. They provide benefits of replacing solvents, reducing manual cleaning hazards, and lowering costs through energy and maintenance savings compared to other cleaning methods.
2. The basic parts behind an air knife are the
following motor (or generator), filter, and the
blower (knives themselves). The motor starter
generates power, of which electricity if often the
source. It draws in air from outside that passes
through the filter before finally blown through the
blades. Some air knives nowadays employ the
tear-drop design to enhance velocity at a much
lower energy output. Other than the blow-type,
there are also compressed air knives commonly
seen in large factories.
3. The air knife had been around as early as 1950s,
but back then, it was referred to as air doctor,
air jet, or air blade. Its primary beneficiaries
were industries that produced large volumes of
textile and print papers, mainly for the purpose
of eliminating contaminants and mass drying.
Air doctors became an important step in the
assembly line, because they ensured proper
quality control, as well as contributed to the
general maintenance of huge machineries that
were involved in the production.
4. With the advances in information technology (IT),
especially at the turn of the century, air knife
manufacturing is invigorated once again.
Mushrooming worldwide are producers of
computer mother boards, silicon micro chips,
and other similar hardware. They require high
precision even customized blower blades that
can penetrate the smallest nook and cranny of
IT products that are especially prone to
gathering dust during production. Moving small
parts to the next phase of production is also
another application of air knives.
5. That it has replaced solvent-based cleaning
chemicals is perhaps the greatest benefit of the
air knife. No longer is CFC chemical used in
factories as cleaning agents, reducing harmful
effects on the environment. Cleaning and drying
of assembly line products by hand are also
substantially minimized, if not eliminated
altogether, with the use of air blades. People
are kept safe from such hazards and their
energies are channelled to the more important
aspects of monitoring operations and quality.
6. Its second greatest benefit is a natural byproduct-
cost and energy savings. The air knife is
anything but high maintenance. Air, being its
main component to operate, is everywhere and
practically available all day, all night. It can
easily be designed to fit a manufacturer's
production requirements, regardless of industry.
It saves on power and labour cost, depending
on the type of air knives used; blower-type air
knives are said to be more effective at lower
power output compared to the compressed-
type.