US2387516A - Radiant heating apparatus - Google Patents

Description

4 Sheets-Sheet l Oct. r23, .1945- J.- KAMlNsKl RADIANT HEATING APPARATUS Filed April 14, 1942 Oct 23, 1945- J. KAMlNsKl RADIANT HEATING APPARATUS Filed April 14, 1942 4 SheeLs-Sheetl 2 U- LE..

Oct. 23, 1945. J, KAMlNsKl 2,387,516

` RADIANT HEATING APPARATUS Filed April 14,*1942 4 sheets-sheet 3 4 Sheets-Shet 4 Oct. 23, 1945. J, KAMlNsKl RADIANT HEATING APARATUS Filed April 14, 1942 Patented Oct. 23, 1945 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE RADIANT HEATING APPARATUS John Kaminski, Altadena, Calif.

Application April 14, 1942, Serial No. 438,880

(Cl. 21S-34) 12 Claims.

This invention relates to .apparatus for heating objects by radiant energy, and is particularly useful for drying paint on automobiles and the like.

It is old to dry paint on automobiles with heat derived from infrared lamps, but prior methods have required the use of very large numbers of lamps, suicient to at least blanket the entire surface being heated. This is objectionable, not only because it requires a large investment in lamps, but because it involves an electric power drain so heavy that it cannot be supplied over the wiring of the average paint shop. In some instances, automobiles have been moved slowly through a tunnel lined with infrared lamps, but such a system requires so many lamps that it is quite impractical except in very large establishments, such as automobile manufacturing plants.

Another defect of prior systems known to me, particularly the tunnel system, is that the heat is unequally applied to diierent portions of the painted surfaces, and excessive heat is applied to the windows of the automobile unless they are specially protected. Thus it is quite apparent that an automobile passing through a 'drying tunnel would have its sides and top, in-

cluding the side windows, exposed to full intensity of heat, Whereas the front and rear end surfaces would be inadequately heated.

An object of the present invention is to provide a practicable apparatus for drying paint on automobiles by radiant energy without the use of an excessive number of lamps and without excessive power drain.

Another object is to heat all portions of the painted surface approximately equally.

Another object is to reduce, or substantially eliminate, the application of heat to window areas of the automobile. 1

Another object is to provide an infrared heating apparatus for drying paint on automobiles, so constructed that it can be installed in the paintroom where the paint is sprayed onto the automobile, so that the latter need not be disturbed, after being sprayed, until the paint has been dried.

Another object is to provide a radiant heating system for drying paint on automobiles that can be adjusted to bring the heating lamps into relatively close spacing with practically all portions of the automobile surface so as to increase the efliciency and produce equal baking of all portions of the automobile surface.

My apparatus, whereby I attain the foregoing proximately parallel to the automobile Surface,

so as to successively heat different portions thereof.

Because of the irregular shape of an automobile, special supporting mechanisms are employed to move the lamps in the particular manner described, and the invention will now be explained by describing in detail one form of the invention as illustrated in the drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a plan view, partly in section, showing a spraying and drying room equipped with paintdrying equipment in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation, showing one-half of the apparatus, the view being taken along the line Il II of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating the mechanical movements for moving the heat lamps along an automobile, while maintaining them in close proximity thereto;

Fig. 4 is a detail side elevation of one of the front lamp-supporting units of my apparatus;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the apparatus shown in elevation in Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a detail vertical section, taken in the plane VI-VI of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a detail plan view of a driving unit I for the apparatus;

Fig. 8 is a detail plan view of one of the rear lamp-supporting units;

Fig. 9 is a detail vertical IX-IX of Fig. 8;

Fig. 10 is a detail vertical X-X of Fig. 8;

Fig. 11 is a detail vertical )H XI of Fig. 8;

Fig. 12 is a detail elevation showing a tripping mechanism associated with the rear lamp carriers; and

Fig. 13 is a view taken at right angles to that of Fig. 12, showing the apparatus at the time of tripping.

Referring to Fig. 1, there is shown, in plan, a room dimensioned to contain an automobile with sufficient clearance to permit use of a spray gun on all sides of the automobile for painting it. As

section in the plane section in the plane section in the plane shown, this room has a right wall 2B, a front wall 2l, a left wall 22, and doors 23 for closing the rear'end of the room. The heating equip.- ment in accordance with the present invention, for drying the paint on an automobile after it has been applied thereto, is mounted on the walls 2U, 2l and 22 of the room. As will appear later, all portions of the apparatus can be folded up quite close to the walls of the room .so as to be out of the way during the paintingoperation. Thereafter the apparatus is quickly adjustable to heat the automobile and dry the paint thereon.

Heat lamps 214 are employed as the source of heat, and they are divided into four groups, each. group consisting of a row of lamps supported on one of four lamps arms 25, 26, 2T and 2'8, respectively. The arms and 26 are mounted on opposite walls of the room and together constitute a yoke bracketing the rear portion of the automobile,V Similarly the front lam-p arms 21 and 28V arel mounted -on opposite walls of the room and together forina yokebracketing the front portion of the automobile. The separate arm-s 2 5, 25, 21f and 213` are employed, instead of using two continuous yoke-shaped arms, to facilitate folding the arm-s outof the way when not in use. However,y the mechanismY is such that the arr-11525 and 26 move in unison with each other, and the arms 2.1 and 28- move in unison with. each other, during the heating operation. y

Fig. 1 shows. the posi-tions of the lamp arms 2.5,to 2,8-, inclusive, at the beginning of a heating or drying operation. It will be observed that at this time the arms 25 and 2.6 lie in substantially a horizontal plane at the lower edge of the auto.- mobile body andthe arms 2"!l and. 28 lie in a Vel".- tical plane just above the rear portion of the hood of the automobile, thev lower ends of the arms being substantially level with the lower edge ofthe automobile body, as shown. in Fig.. 2.VA

the rear end of the automobile untii the arms are.. f

in a vertical plane, after which they advance forwardly almost to the position initially occupied by the. frontlamparm-s 21- and 28. At the same time, the front armsmove slowly forwardly above. the hood and front'. fenders of the automobile until they are near the forward end thereof, after which they swing forwardly and downwardly to heat the front ends of the hood andthe front. fenders. At the endV of the operation, the rear arms 25 and 25 are close to the. initial position. of the, fro-nt arms 2.1 and 28 (as shown nFigs. 1 and 2), and the front arms occupy a substantially horizontal position along the fron-t lower margin of the automobile bod-Y, corresponding to the initial position of the rear arms 25 and 26. Means is provided for automaticallyA stopping the movements of the lamp arms and cutting oiv the power supplied to the lamps at the completion of thel operation, so that after starting the mechanism the operator can go away and forget about it.. Such automatic Control is desirable not. only from they labor-saving standpoint but because. the room can be left closed, thereby reducing the. opportunity for dust to collect on they tacky painted surface.

As already indicated, the lamp arms 25` and 2l are completely supported by apparatus mounted on the right wall 20, and the arms. 26 and-23 are completely supported. on the. leftf wall. 22.. The apparatus on one wall isy the mirror image. of the apparatus on the other' wall. Therefore it f ends' to the. outer ends of va pair of arms: 34 and 35, which are rigidly secured at their inner ends to a pivotal plate 36 (Fig. 2) secured by a pivotal bolt 3i' to the face of a carriage 33 which is slidablezon a. horizontal track 39 extending alongside the. wall 20.

During a painting operation, the shaft 32, which; carries the arm 25 is prevented from rotating within the sleeve 33 by a locking pin 95 inserted through suitable registering apertures in the shaft 32 and the sleeve: 33. However, when the device.- is not i-n use, the pin 35 isremoved and. the Varm 'iwith itslamps'is swung intox position alongside the wall 2U so as to be out of the way while the ,automobile isv being moved into out ofthe room and while itis beingv painted.

The track 33 may .consistoftwo tubular.- mem.- bersA 133i supported at. intervals,'by hangers 11|; secured directly tozthe wall: 21h One of .these hangers 4 l' is shown in Fig. 9. It will. be observed that they hanger is ses'.'.ured,- as: by welding, to the underside of the upper tubular member and to the upper side: o1"- the lower tubular member, andthat the. carriage Sabas flanges: or lips 42' extending over' the upper side of: the upper' tubular member.V and. under the lower side of. the lower tubular member, so that the movement of the carriage is notinterferred. with. by theV track-supporting brackets 4l.

The carriages. are moved; forwardly along the track 33 by a. reciprocating bar 43 through asu-itable clotch. mechanism, to be described later. The reciprocating bar 43 rests loosely upon the brackets 4l'. The two. bars 43 on the twoopposite sides of' the room are reciprocated in unison with each other by a common drive mech- Referring to) Figs; 1 and- 7, the source of drivi'ng power is an; electric motor' mounted in one front corner oi the room, which motor has a shaft connect'ed't'o a Worm 45 meshing with a wormwheel' 4'6 keyed to. a shaft 4T, which is4 supported for rotation a bearing 43 secured to the front. wall 2i, a bearing- 49 secured to the forward end of the track 39,V and a bearing 5U secured to a bracket 5F. Intermediate the bearings 49 andf 51S; the shaft 41 has an eccentric journal 52, which is coupled by a connecting rod 53' and a clevice 54 to the forward end of the reciprocatory bar 43. It willjbe observed that rotation of the shaft ofthe electric -motor 44 rotates the shaft 4l at reduced speed, which in turn continuallyrecipro'cates' the bar 43 through a shortstroke.

Still referring to Fig. '7, the lower end of the shaft 4T is connected to a shaft 55 which extends along the iront wall 2l (Fig. l.) and connects to a shaft corresponding to shaft 4.1:, which drives a rod mounted on. the left.l wall. 223,l corresponding to the rod 43., so that the apparatus on both walls 2U and 22 i'sdriven. unison.

Referring to Figs. 8- and 1-1, a.l clutch is disclosed for advancing the carriage 3% forwardly in response to each forwardY reciprocati'on of the bar @3 and releasing the carriage from the bar duringrearwardreciprocation of the latter. Thus a box frame 56 is seouredto the rear wall of the carriage 38 and has end walls 5l and 58 containing guide apertures through which the bar 43 extends. Y.Positioned within the box frame 55 is a wedging plate 59 having an aperture 53 through which the bar 43 extends. The aperture 50 is slightly larger than the bar 43, so that when the plate is perpendicular to the bar (as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1l), the latter can slide freely through the plate. However, if the plate is canted slightly (the position shown in full lines in Fig. l1), it grips the bar 43 tightly and will be moved therewith. The lower end of the wedge plate 59 extends between a pair of transverse pins 6i secured to the box frame 55, to provide a pivotal support for the wedge plate at its lower end. Furthermore, the plate is constantly urged into binding position by a helical spring 52 which surrounds the rod 43 and is compressed between the wedge plate 59 and the end wall 58 of the box member. l

It will be obvious from an inspection of Fig. l1 that when the bar 43 is moving forwardly through its stroke (to the left in Fig. l1) the wedge plate 59 is locked to the bar so that the bar carries the wedge plate, the box member 55 and the carriage 38 forwardly with it. However, during the return stroke of the bar 43 (to the right in Fig. 11), initial movement of the bar rocks the wedge plate 59 into the dotted line position against the force exerted by the spring 52, thereby releasing the wedge plate from locking engagement with the bar and permitting thelatter to slide through the wedge plate during the remainder of its stroke. Mowever, as soon as the bar 43 resumes its forward motion it again locks with the wedge plate 59 and carries the carriage along with it.

It will be observed from Fig. 2 that the rear lamp arm is initially in substantially horizontal position, and the arm must be swung upwardly and forwardly into a vertical plane before it is advanced bodily along the automobile. To produce such a movement,'I employ a link 63 for restraining forward movement of the lower end of the arm 25 until the latter has been swung into substantially. vertical position. This link 63 is pivotally connected at its rear end to a pin 64 on an upward extension 65 on the rear end ofthe track 39, and at its forward end it is pivotally connected to an extension E6 (Fig. 10) of the shaft 32. Thus a pin 67, extending from the side of the extension 66, is engaged in a notch 68 (Fig. 13) in the underside of the forward end of the link 63.

Progressive movement of the arm 25, from the starting position shown in Fig. 2 into vertical position, is shown in the diagram of Fig. 3. When the arm has reached the vertical position indicated at C in Fig. 3, the link 63 is automatically disconnected from the extension 56 so that it will thereafter permit bodily forward movement of the arm 25. without further rotation of the arm with respect to the carriage 38. This automatic disconnection is effected by providing an adjustable lip 69 (Figs. 12 and 13) on the extension 65 which, by the time the extension has swung into Vertical position, has swung the link 63 to carry the notch 68 clear of the pin 67, as shown in Fig. 13. The lip 59 is so inclined that the notch 68 will not engage it. As the extension 65 moves away from the link 63 the lower end of the latter simply drops to the floor, where it remains until the apparatus is reset for painting another automobile.

It is desirable to provide an automatic holding structure for retaining the lamp arm 25 in its vertical position following disconnection of the link 63. To this end, I provide a holding link 1U (Fig. 2) which is pivotally connected at its lower end to the arm 35 and extends through a clutch mechanism 'H similar to the clutch mechanism described with reference to Fig. 1l, and pivotally mounted on a vertical extension 'l2 (Fig. 9) on the rear end of the carriage 38. The clutch 1l, as illustrated in Figs. 9 and 10 is so arranged as to permit upward movement of the bar 'l0 therethrough, but prevent downward movement.

After the arm 25 has been swung into the vertical position indicated at C in Fig. 3, it moves forward bodily with the carriage 38 until the lamp arm nearly reaches the position initially occupied by the front lamp arm 21 (Fig. 1). At that time the arm is automatically stopped by release of the wedge bar 59. To this end, there is mounted on the wall 20 above the track 39 a flat bar 13, on which is mounted an adjustable stop 14, which can be slid along the bar 13 and locked in any position thereon by tightening a set screw 15. The stop 14 has a horizontal arm 16 projecting laterally therefrom, and the bar 13 is mounted at such a height that the horizontal arm 'l5 is on the level with the lever ll of a standard toggle switch 18 mounted on the carriage 38. The switch 18 is connected inthe circuit of all of the lamps on the arm 25, and the switch is on when the lever 'Il is to the left (with reference to Fig. 8) and is off when the lever is swung to the right. The stop 'I4 is so adjusted on the bar 13 that when the front arm has traveled as far forwardly as is desired for the particular automobile to be baked, the arm 'l5 intercepts the switch lever ll and snaps it over, thereby shutting off all the lamps on the arm. At the same time that the arm 'I6 intercepts the switch lever TI it intercepts an upstanding arm 'F9 positioned alongside the switch lever 'Il and secured to a slide plate slidably supported on the top plate of the switch 'I8 by headed pins Sl which extend through slots 82 in the slide plate, thereby moving the slide plate to the right simultaneously with the switch lever l'l. The slide plate 80 is joined to a rod 83 which extends forwardly therefrom and through a hole 84 (Fig. 11) provided therefor in the upper end of the wedge plate 59. The forward end of the rod 83 is threaded to receive stop nuts 84. These stop nuts are so adjusted that the movement of the plate 8E) by the arm 15 carries the stop nut 84 against the wedge plate 59, to swing it into the release position shown in dotted lines, to thereby prevent further forward movement of the lamp arm.

Summarizing the operation of the rear lamp arm 25: The arm is first manually set in the lowermost and rearmost position shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the motor 44 is started, and the switch lever 'il is moved forward manually to light the lamps on the arm. Thereafter, in response to the slow continual reciprocation of the bar 43 by the motor 44, the carriage 38 is successively moved forwardly by small increments by the automatic action'of the clutch shown in Fig. 11. This forward movement of the carriage initially causes the arm 25 to swing up over the rear end of the automobile, by virtue of the fact that the link 63 restrains the lower end of the arm against advancing movement. However, 'when the varm attains substantially vertical position, the link 63 is tripped off the pin 61 (Fig. '12) by :action of the lip 69, the arm being prevented .from falling back vdown into horizontal position by the holding clutch 1| acting on the rod 10. Thereafter the lamp arm is advanced bodily along the automobile until it is nearly opposite the windshield of the automobile, whereupon its movement is stopped and its vlights are extinguished by action of the stop plate 14 on the switch lever 11, yand the upstanding arm 19, as described.

It is sometimes desirable to shut off those lamps that are juxtaposed to the side windows of the automobile as the arm traverses the windows, to avoid applying excessive heat to the glass. I therefore make provision for shutting off two of the lamps 2li@ after the arm .25 has completed its swinging movement over the curved rear end of the automobile and is about to commence its linear forward movement. To effect this operation, these particular lamps 24a are energized through an additional conventional toggle switch (Fig. l0) mounted on the sleeve 33 and upper arm 35 .which supports the lamp arm. This toggle switch 35 is so `positioned that its lever 85 comes into Contact with an adjustable stop 81 (Fig. 9) just before the lamp `arm completes its upward movement, so that nal upward movement trips the lever 86 of the switch into lower position to shut off the two lamps 2da.. The adjustable stop 81 is mounted on the housing of the clutch 1| which itself is mounted on the extension 12 of the carriage '38.

To facilitate manual movement of the carriage 38 along the track 39 when initially setting the apparatus, a special release is provided for the wedge plate 59 (Fig. 1l). This release comprises a rod B9 extending through an aperture provided therefor in the forward wall 51 of the box frame 56, and having an inner headed end 90 which is constantly urged toward t-he wedge plate 59 in direction to release the latter, by a helical spring 9| surrounding the rod 89 and compressed between the head 90 thereon and the end plate 51. The rod 89 extends some distance forwardly beyond the wall 51 and has its forward end bent laterally outwardly, as indicated at 92 (Figs. 8 and l1) to form a lateral arm 92. The projecting portion of rod 09 is partially surrounded by a semicylindrical stop 93, and When the lateral arm 92 extends horizontally, as shown in Figs. 8 and l1, it rests against the end of this semicylindrical stop 93 and maintains the spring 9| compressed. However, by rotating the lateral arm 92 upwardly it can be disengaged from the stop 93, whereupon the spring9| is effective to move the head 90 against the wedge plate 59 and Carry the latter into the released position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 11.

There has been shown in Figs. 1 and 2 an automobile body of the coupe type, in which the passenger portion of the body is relatively short and slopes rather gradually back to the tail With a body of this type, the link 63 should be relatively long, as shown, in order to produce a relatively slow rise of the lamp arm 25, so that the latter will not reach full vertical position until it has, by its forward movement, reached the highest part' of the body. However, when an automobile of a different type, such as a sedan, having a more abruptly sloping rear end, is being dried, the lamp arm should rise more rapidly, relative to the advancement of the carriage along the track 39. Such movement can bereadily effected by shortening the effective length Vofthe link 63, and the link can be given any desired effective length less than its full length by providing auxiliary holes 63a for engagement with the pin 64. Of course when (referring to Fig. 2) the hole 63a is engaged with the pin 64, the carriage 38 must be moved further rearward than as shown in Fig. 2, in order to obtain the desired low starting position of the lamp arm 25. This is natural, since there is a larger varea of surface to heat on a sedan than on a coupe, and, since the speed of movement of the carriage is xed, it must travel a greater distance to secure Vthe same radiation on a longer body. Only one hole 63a is shown in the rod VE53, since it is found by experience that with most modern automobiles one positioning of the hole 63a will take care of all modern sedans, just as one hole at the extreme rear end of the link will take care of modern coupes. However, it will be obvious that more accurate adjustment of the motion of the device can be obtained, if desired, by providing a larger number of holes in the link E3.

As previously stated, the front arm 21 is adapted to move forwardly over the hood and front fenders and then downwardly over the front end of the hood and fenders. The construction for producing this movement will now be described. The lamp arm 21 is connected by arms |00 and |0| (Figs. l and 4) to a shaft |02 which shaft is rotatably supported by a sleeve |03, corresponding to the sleeve 33 which supports the rear lamp arm 25. The shaft |02 is adapted to be locked against rotation with respect to the sleeve |03 by a pin |04 when the device is in use. When it is not in use, the pin is removed to permit the lamp arm to be swung flat against the wall 20, out of the way.

The sleeve |03 is secured by a pair of arms |05 to a pivotal plate |05 pivotally held by a bolt |01 against a carriage |08 which rides on the track 39 in the same manner that the rear carriage 33 rides thereon. This carriage |08 is connected by a clutch |09, corresponding to the clutch of Fig. 11, to the reciprocatory bar 43 for forward .movement by the latter.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the lamp arm 21 is initially positioned opposite the rear end of the hood, and during the major portion of its forward movement the lamp arm is held in vertical position by a roller ||0 (Fig. 4) on the arm |05, which roller rides on an auxiliary track positioned immediately lbelow the lower tubular member of the track 39. The track extends horizontally for a distance and then bends sharply into a vertical downwardly extending .section |2. As the forward movement of the carriage |08 progresses, the roller ||0 rides around the bend H3 onto the vertical track ||2, which permits the pivot plate |06 and the arm |05 and the lamp arm 21 to swing about the pivot point |01 in response to further forward movement of the carriage |08. As a result, by the time the carriage |08 has reached the forward limit of its motion, the arms |05 extend almost vertically down, and the lamp arm 21 has been moved into a nearly horizontal plane adjacent the lower side and front edges of the hood and fender ofthe automobile. In fact the finished position of the front lamp arm 21 corresponds closely to the starting position of the rear lamp arm 25 as the latter is shown in Figs. 1 and 2. However, whereas the link 53 (Fig. 2) causes the rear lamp arm 25 to rise gradually and thereby follow the gradually slopin'g rear portion of the automobile, the roller IIO and tracks |II and ||2.cause the front lamp arm 21 to swing downward much more sharply so as to maintain the lamps in relatively uniform spaced relation with the approximately vertical surfaces at the front and sides of the automobile hood and fenders.

To help support the weight of the front arm assembly, as the roller rides down along the vertical track |I2, I provide a yieldable support consisting of a pair of arms I I and |I6 and a torsion spring I|1. The arm |I5 is pivotally connected at one end by a pivot I|8 to the track ||2 near the lower end thereof, and is pivotally connected at its other end by a pivot ||9 to one end of the arm IIS. The other end of the arm |I6 is pivotally connected by a pin |20 to a carriage |2| slidable on the track ||2 and having a shelf |22 which is engaged by the roller ||0 as the latter moves over the bend H3'. The inner Aend of the torsion spring I I1 is connected to the arm II5 and the outer end is connected to the larm I|6 so as to tend to maintain the latter in the upper position shown in Fig. 4. The force of the spring ||1 is insuflicient to completely support the Weight of the lamp arm, so it does not prevent the downward movement of the roller ||0 as the carriage |08 moves forwardly. However, it does prevent the weight of the lamp arm from moving the carriage |08 forwardly along the track 39 faster than it is normally advanced by the reciprocatory bar 43.

Slightly before the lamp arm 21 reaches its iinal position adjacent the bottom edges of the hood and fenders of the automobile, the carriage |09 is stopped by release of its associated clutch |09. This clutch, which corresponds in structure to the clutch shown in Fig. ll, has a release pin 89 terminating in a transverse arm 92, and as the carriage I 08 approaches its nal position the arm 92 reaches and rides up on an inclined trip |23 secured to the track 39 by a clamp |24 (Fig. 4). The inclined surface |23 rotates the arm 92 out of engagement with its stop wall 93, permitting the spring 9| to move the head 90 of the pin 89 againstvthe wedge plate 59 of the clutch and release it from the reciprocatory bar 43.

The stop mechanism is also employed to shut oif the current to the lamps on the arm 21. Thus there is provided on the clamp |24 (Fig. 5) an adjustable stop |21 adapted to contact the forward end of a rod |28 which is slidably mounted on the carriage |08 by guides |29 and has its rear end extending transversely to form an arm |30 normally positioned in front of the level` I3I of a standard toggle switch |32 in the lamp circuit. Slightly before the pin 89 is tripped, the forward end of the rod |28 contacts the stop |21, and the final forward movement of the carriage |08 shifts the arm |30 rearwardly a sufficient distance to actuate the toggle switch lever I3I. Electrical connections between the lamps, switches and any suitable power supply line can be completed by iiexible cords, some of which are shown in Fig. 1, but the remainder have been omitted to simplify the drawings.

The track ||I, with its integral vertical track |52, is longitudinally adjustably supported so that it can be properly positioned for diierent size automobiles. To this end, the forward end of the track I|I is supported by a bracket |35 secured to and extending rearwardly from the clamp |24, and the rear end of the track III is slidably supported on a bracket |3t` (Fig. 5) extending from one of the brackets 4|. The lower end of the track ||2 is slidably supported against lateral swinging movement by a track |31 which is secured at its opposite ends to the wall 20. The track |31 extends through a hole provided therefor in the lower end of the tubular track I|2 and the latter lcan be locked to the track |31 by a handscrew |38.

Although for the purpose of explaining the invention a particular embodiment thereof has been described in detail, it is to be understood that various changes can be made in the constructions shown without departing from the invention, which is to be limited only to the extent set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for applying radiant energy to the surface of an object such as an automobile, said apparatus comprising: an energy-radiating device having a first elongated section approximately parallel to one side of said object and a second integral section extending from one end of said iirst section at approximately a right angle thereto, said second section extending across said object, carriage means for supporting said device, means for moving said carriage means alongside said object substantially parallel to said one side, and means for swinging said device with respect to said carriage means from a i'lrst position in which both said sections lie substantially in a common horizontal plane, into a second position in which both said sections lie in a common vertical plane, with said second section extending substantially transversely of said object.

2. Apparatus for applying radiant energy to the surface of an object such as an automobile, said apparatus comprising: a device for emanating radiant energy and having a first elongated section approximately parallel to one side of said object, and a second integral section extending from one end of said rst section at a right angle thereto across said object, carriage means for supporting said device, means for moving said carriage means alongside said object substantially parallel to said one side, and means for swinging said device relative to said carriage means from a first position in which said rst section is vertical and said second section extends horizontally above said object into a second position in which both said sections are substantially horizontal and juxtaposed to side and end portions respectively of said object.

3. Apparatus for applying radiant energy to the surface of an object such as an automobile, said apparatus comprising: a device for emanating radiant energy extending approximately trans versely across said object, a track extending alongside of and parallel to said object, carriage means on said track, means for moving said carriage along said track, means pivotally mounted on said carriage for supporting said device for movement in a curved path over an end portion of said object, and means for swinging said device on its carriage simultaneously with movement of said carriage along said track.

4. Apparatus for applying radiant energy to the surface of an object such as an automobile, said apparatus comprising: a device for emanating radiant energy extending approximately transversely across said object, a track extending alongside of and parallel to said object, carriage means on said track, means for moving said carriage along said track, means pivotally mounted on said carriage for supporting said device for movement in a curved path over. an end portion of said object, and means forV swinging said device on its carriage in response to movement of said carriage along said' track.

5. Apparatus for applying radiant energy to the surface of an object such as an automobile, said apparatus comprising: a horizontal track alongside which said object is adapted to be positioned, a device for radiating energy extending across said object, a carriage on said track, means pivotally supporting said device on said carriage for swinging movement with respect to the carriage, stationary anchor means, nonextensible link vmeans connecting said anchor means to a portion of saidl radiating means vertically displaced from the pivot point on said carriage, means for advancing saidV carriage along said track, whereby relative movement of the carriage with respect to said anchor member produces a force couple for swinging said device about said pivot point, and means for advancing said carriage, to swing said device' from a position extendingacross one end of said object to a higher position extending acrossthe top of the object.

6. Apparatus as described in claim with means for' releasing said link in response to full elevation of said radiating means whereby the further movement of said carriage along said track imparts linear movement only to said device.

7. Apparatus as described in claim 5, including oneway clutch means for preventing reverse swinging movement of said device on said carriage, and means for di'sengaging said link means and thereby stopping the swinging movement of said device following a predetermined swinging movement.

8. In apparatus for applying radiant energy to the surface of an object such as an automobile, having side windows extending thereabove at a predetermined level, said automobile sloping downwardly and rearwardly back of the last window: a device for emanating radiant energy comprising an elongated frame'positioned in a plane parallelV to said one side of said automobile and having a plurality of radiating devices in a longitudinal row thereon, means for moving said device from an initial', horizontal position substantially juxtaposed to the rear, lower side margin of the automobile into a vertical position substantially juxtaposed to the rear edge of said windows of said automobile, and thence bodily horizontally along the side of said automobile, predetermined ones of said radiating devices being juxtaposed to said windows during the last-mentioned linear movement of said device, and switch means operable in response to movement of saiddevice for denergizing only said predetermined radiating devices in response to movement of the device into position juxtaposed to said windows. Y

9. Apparatus for applying radiant energy to the surface of an automobile having a passenger compartment merging at its forward end into a hood with a windshield positioned at the juncture of said passenger compartment and hood, said apparatus comprising: a first radiating device initially extending across. the rear. end of said automobile, a second radiating device initially disposed .across said automobile immediately infront of' said Windshielmmeans for simultaneously advancing both said, devices forwardly alongsaid automobile to heat: the surface of the latter, first meansfor stopping said first device before' it reaches` said windshield, and second means for stopping' said second device when it reaches the' forward' end of said automobile.y

l0. Apparatus for" applying radiant energy to the surface of' an object such as an automobile, said apparatus comprising: a device adapted to extend across said object and radiate energy thereon, a horizontal track extending: alongside said object, a carriage on said'. track for movement therealong, arm means supporting' said radiating device for swinging movement on said carriage, auxiliary track means having a first section extending` parallel to said iirst track, and a secondl section' extending downwardly from the orwardend of'said'rst section, and guide means on said swingingv structure adapted to ride on said second track means for controlling: swinging movement of saidV device on said carriage, said means maintaining said device against swinging movementA while ridingon said rst section of said auxiliary track, and permitting rotary swinging movement of saidA device in response to forward movement of said carriage as said'means ridesalong said' second section of said auxiliary track.

11. Apparatus for applying radiant energy to the surface of an object such as an automobile, said apparatus comprising: a horizontal track alongside which said object is adapted to` be positioned', a carriage mounted on said track for movement therealong, means for advancing said carriage along said' track, a device foremanating radiant energy adapted t'o extend across said object substantially at right angles to said track, means pivot'ally supporting saidV device on said carriage for swinging movement about an axis lying in a vertical plane parallel to said track, whereby said devicel can be folded away from said object, and means for locking said pivotal mounting means to retain said device in transverse position extending across saidY object.

l2. Apparatus for applying, radiant energy to the surface of an object such' asA an automobile, said apparatus comprising: a device for emanating radiant energy, a track alongside which said object is adapted to be positioned, a carriage mounted on said track for movement therealong, means supporting said device from. said carriage for traversing movement ofV said object in response to movement of said carriage, and means for eifecting .movement of said carriage along said track comprising a bar extending adjacent and parallel to said track, clutch means on said carriage engaging said barA for preventing relative movement of said bar with respect to said carriage in one direction while permitting it in the other direction, and means for reciprocating said bar.

JOHN KAMDISKI.

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