Abstract: An infra-red and forced air oven for drying a freshly painted object. The drying oven has a plurality of heating elements, which radiate infra-red energy, disposed about the object to be dried. Each heating element preferably has an annular shell, an electrically conductive coil carried by the shell, and an air passage through the shell through which air is forced by a fan. Electricity is provided to the electrically conductive coil which becomes heated and thereby heats the shell and radiates heat and infra-red energy into the oven. The fan forces air through the air passage of the shell so that heated air flows to the interior of the oven. Thus, the oven provides both radiant energy and forced air to dry an object within the oven.

Abstract: The quartz tubes of the heating elements of an infrared oven have a limited portion of their circumference coated with a mixture containing platinum. The platinum coating provides a reflective surface to direct infrared radiation towards the object to be heated within the oven. The heating element tubes coated with platinum provide substantially the same performance and are significantly less expensive to manufacture than conventional heating element tubes with a gold reflective coating.