JP5373784B2 - Coating material discharging apparatus and discharging method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for discharging coating material. The present invention is disclosed in connection with an apparatus and method for discharging a non-electrically insulating coating material and indirectly charging the released non-electrically insulating coating material. However, the present invention is believed to be useful for other applications.

  This application claims priority from UK Provisional Patent Application No. 06255583.0 filed on Dec. 21, 2006. The disclosure of UK Provisional Patent Application No. 06255583.0 is referred to as an integral part of this application.

  As used herein, materials referred to as “conductive” and “electrically non-insulating” are electrically conductive materials that are more electrically conductive than materials that are broadly “non-conductive” and “electrically insulating”. Characterized by degrees. Also, materials that are considered “electrically semiconductive” are broadly characterized by conductivity between electrical conductivity and electrical non-insulation. Further, terms such as “front”, “rear”, “upper”, and “lower” are used only for the illustrated embodiment and are not intended to be limiting.

  Various devices are known for coating articles with particles of atomized and charged coating material. In general, there are two types of such devices. One is a type in which the particles of the coating material are in direct contact with a surface maintained at a considerable potential that is not 0 (zero), and is sometimes referred to as “direct charging”. The other is a type in which the particles of the coating material are charged after atomization, and is sometimes referred to as “indirect charging”.

  Direct charging is usually used when the atomizing material is non-conductive. The power supply that directly supplies the charge to the charging device does not short-circuit or ground through the flow of the coating material flowing to the atomizer. In contrast, indirect charging, for example, if the material to be atomized is water-electrically non-insulating, and if a so-called “voltage interruption device” is not provided in the supply line between the coating material supply source and the atomizer, This is used when the power supply that provides the charge is short-circuited or grounded.

  US Pat.No. 3,365,514, US Pat.No. 3,575,344, US Pat.No. 3,608,823, US Pat.No. 3,698,636, US Pat. No. 3913523, U.S. Pat. No. 3,964,683, U.S. Pat.No. 4,036,561, U.S. Pat.No. 4,141,564, U.S. Pat.No. 4,135,667, U.S. Pat. Description, U.S. Pat.No. 4,438,079, U.S. Pat.No. 4,447,008, U.S. Pat.No. 4,450,785, U.S. Reissued Patent No. 31867, U.S. Pat. Specification, U.S. Pat.No. 4,802,625, U.S. Pat.No. 4,811,898, U.S. Pat.No. 4,943,005, U.S. Pat.No. 5,533,995, U.S. Pat. U.S. Pat.No. 5,562,563, U.S. Pat.No. 5,633,306 , U.S. Pat.No. 5,562,278, U.S. Pat.No. 5,720,436, U.S. Pat.No. 5,803,372, U.S. Pat.No. 5,853,126, U.S. Pat. Patent No. 6042030, U.S. Pat.No. 6,067,751, U.S. Pat.No. 6,230,993, U.S. Pat.No. 6,328,224, U.S. Pat. U.S. Pat. No. 2005/0035229 and WO 03/031075, which are shown and described. In addition, such a device is disclosed in U.S. Pat.No. 2,749,673, U.S. Pat.No. 2,877,137, U.S. Pat.No. 2,955,565, U.S. Pat. No., U.S. Pat.No. 3,684,174, U.S. Pat.No. 4060441, U.S. Pat.No. 4,171,100, U.S. Pat.No. 4,214,708, U.S. Pat. , U.S. Pat.No. 4,350,304, U.S. Pat.No. 4,440,291, U.S. Pat.No. 4,225,277, U.S. Reissued Patent 31,590, U.S. Pat. , U.S. Pat.No. 4,778,805, U.S. Pat.No. 4,789,995, U.S. Pat.No. 4,879,137, U.S. Pat.No. 4,890,190, U.S. Pat. U.S. Pat.No. 4,896,384, British Patent Application No. 1209653 Description, JP-A-62-140660, JP-A-1-315361, JP-A-3-169361, JP-A-3-221166, JP-A-60-151554, JP-A-60-94166, JP-A-63-116776, International application PCT / JP2005 / 018045, JP-A58-124560, French patent application No. 1274814 Is shown and described. In addition, "Aerobell (trade name) Powder Applicator ITW Automatic Division", "Aerobell (trade name) & Aerobell Plus (trade name) Rotary Atomizer, DeVilbiss Ransburg Industrial Liquid Systems" and "Wagner PEM-C3 Spare parts list" Some devices are described.

  Indirect charging devices are disclosed in, for example, the specification, U.S. Pat. No. 5,0508,373, U.S. Pat.No. 4,955,960, U.S. Pat.No. 4,872,616, U.S. Pat. , U.S. Pat.No. 4,760,965, U.S. Pat.No. 4,143,819, U.S. Pat.No. 4,141,810, U.S. Pat.No. 3,408,985, U.S. Pat. This is shown and described in Japanese Patent No. 2960273 and US Pat. No. 2,890,388. Typically, such devices form an electric field so that the sprayed particles of non-insulating coating material pass through the electric field and become charged between the atomizing device and the object to be coated by the atomized particles. It has become.

  The above references are referred to as being integral with the present application. This listed document is not intended to be a complete search, or that there is no related technology other than this listed document, or that the listed technology is related to patentability. Or this should not be estimated.

  According to one aspect of the present invention, a system for atomizing and discharging coating material comprises an atomizer and an electrode assembly. The electrode assembly is detachably coupled to the atomizer, and the electrode assembly is removed from the atomizer so that the opening is smaller than the atomizer-electrode assembly. An atomizer can be introduced.

  As an example, one of the electrode assembly and the atomizer includes a grooved surface. The groove includes first and second portions. The other of the electrode assembly and the atomizer includes a protrusion. Inserting the protrusion into the first portion, and then relatively operating the atomizer and the electrode assembly to move the protrusion to the second portion; and Assemble the atomizer. As an example, the atomizer may include the protrusion, and the electrode assembly may have the groove.

  As an example, the electrode assembly includes an annular support portion, and a plurality of electrodes protrude from the surface of the support portion in a common direction. As an example, the apparatus further comprises a source of coating material to be atomized and released, and a conduit for coupling the source of coating material to the atomizer.

  As an example, the apparatus further comprises a high voltage source and a conductor for coupling the high voltage source to the electrode. As an example, the apparatus further comprises a device for supporting the electrode assembly when the electrode assembly is separated from the atomizer.

  As an example, the apparatus includes an internal space in which at least a part including a plurality of electrodes of the electrode assembly protrudes in the internal space when the electrode assembly is removed from the atomizer. . As an example, the apparatus includes at least one outlet for supplying a material for removing coating material from at least a portion of the electrode assembly protruding into the interior space to the at least a portion of the electrode assembly. Is included.

  As an example, the device includes a mechanism operable to attach the electrode assembly to the device, and the electrode assembly is unintentionally removed from the device when the electrode assembly is removed from the atomizer. The possibility of shifting the position is made as small as possible.

It is a perspective view of the spraying apparatus by a prior art. 1 is a partial side view of a spray device according to the present invention. It is a fragmentary perspective view which shows the detail of the spraying apparatus of FIG. FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional side view of the spray device of FIG. 2 located at a docking station.

The invention will be better understood from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings.
Referring to FIG. 1, a known rotary atomizer 10 includes a housing 12 having an opening 14. Through the opening, the bell cup 16 discharges the atomized coating material. The bell cup 16 is typically attached to a rotating shaft of a motor (not shown) driven by, for example, compressed air. In use, the coating material is supplied to the bell cup 16 through the conduit 18 and atomized and discharged from the front edge of the bell cup 16 according to known principles.

  The housing 12 is attached to the flange portion 20. The flange portion supports the electrode 22. As an example, the electrodes 22 are arranged at equal intervals around the rotation axis of the bell cup 16, and at intervals of about 60 ° in this embodiment. For example, US Pat. No. 6,562,137, US Pat. No. 6,537,378, US Pat. No. 6,432,142, US Pat. No. 6,144,570, US Pat. No. 5,978,244, US Pat. No. 5159544, U.S. Pat.No. 4,475,520, U.S. Pat.No. 4,485,427, U.S. Pat.No. 4,441,557, U.S. Pat.No. 4,324,812, U.S. Pat. A high potential is applied by a power source of the type illustrated and described in US Pat. No. 3,894,272, U.S. Pat. No. 3,878,922, and U.S. Pat. Corona occurs in the vicinity of. The droplets of the coating material that are atomized and emitted from the edge of the bell cup 16 pass through the corona and become charged. The form of the electrode 22 is merely an example, and an electric discharge in which droplets of a coating material are allowed to pass through can be generated using electrodes having various shapes, numbers, and intervals. Electrode 22 is incorporated into an assembly 24 formed from an electrically insulating material. A high voltage is required to generate the corona, and the electrode 22 is configured to release an electrically non-insulating material such as a water-based coating material.

  Typically, in a painting facility such as an automobile paint shop, the atomizer 10 is usually attached to the tip of a robot arm. Such a robot arm is programmed to operate the atomizer 10 and sprays the coating material onto the vehicle body moving on the production line in the factory. The vehicle body is typically grounded or maintained at a low voltage relative to the electrode 22. Due to the electrostatic attractive force between the charged particles of the coating material and the ground or the vehicle body, the transport efficiency of the atomized coating material to the vehicle body is further increased.

  The array of electrodes 22 significantly increases the physical envelope of the device 10, making it difficult to handle, particularly in tight spaces. Furthermore, when the atomizer 10 is operated by the robot, the electrode surface is soiled by the coating material. Furthermore, when the coating material is deposited, the corona generation performance of the electrode 22 is adversely affected. In the atomizer 10 operated by a robot, contamination of the electrode 22 with a coating material is a problem.

  Referring to FIG. 2, the atomizer 110 is similar to the atomizer 10 of FIG. 1, and like components are labeled with the same reference numerals. Rather than a single flange portion 20, the housing 112 is attached to the bulkhead 126 and the assembly 124 includes electrodes 122. In order to attach the assembly 124 to the bulkhead 126, detachable means 128 is provided. FIG. 3 shows an “arrangement twist type” attachment / detachment means 128 as an example.

  The atomizer 110 has a known configuration and includes a bell cup 116 that is rotationally driven by a motor housed in a housing 112. By an independent line, the coating material is supplied from the coating material supply source 111 to the atomizer 110 and the compressed air is supplied from the compressed air supply source 113 to the atomizer 110 via a passage in the robot arm 115 and the bulkhead 126. In use, the coating material is supplied to the bell cup 116. As already described in connection with the apparatus of FIG. 1, the bell cup 116 is rotationally driven by a motor at a speed capable of generating droplets of an appropriately sized coating material.

  A high voltage source 117, which can be one of the types previously described as an example, is coupled to the electrode 122 via a suitable electrical connector to create a corona adjacent to the atomizer 110, which corona is generated. Atomized coating material particles pass through and become charged.

  Referring to FIG. 3, the placement torsion mechanism includes a groove 132 formed in the surface 133 of the assembly 124. The groove 132 includes a first portion 134 that opens into the surface 135 of the assembly 124. The second portion 136 of the groove 132 is provided with a tongue 138. The tongue is formed with a complementary dimension that fits into the groove 132. To attach assembly 124 to bulkhead 126, bulkhead 126 is moved to a position where tongue 138 is positioned adjacent to first portion 134 of groove 132. Next, the bulkhead 126 is moved in the axial direction with respect to the atomizer 110 in this embodiment until the tongue 138 is pressed against the joint between the first and second portions 134 and 136 of the groove 132. The bulkhead 126 is then rotated to move the tongue 138 along the second portion 136 of the groove 132, completing the attachment of the assembly 124 to the bulkhead 126. Removal is performed by the reverse procedure.

  FIG. 3 shows the assembly 124 and the bulkhead 126 only partially, that is, only a single tongue 138 and groove 132. The atomizer 110 of FIG. 2 includes any suitable number, such as two, three, four, or six of such twisted torsional couplers, which can be arranged in any suitable manner, for example, assembly 124 and The bulkhead 126 may be distributed and arranged around the bulkhead 126 at regular intervals or at irregular intervals.

  When the atomizer 110 has to be used in a narrow place, for example, in the interior of a vehicle or on the lower surface of the vehicle body, the assembly 124 can be removed by releasing the engagement between the assembly 124 and the bulkhead 126. By providing a simple attaching / detaching means such as the arrangement torsion mechanism shown in FIG. 3, a robot to which the atomizer 110 is attached by a simple operation command (a torsion operation of the bulkhead 126 and an axial movement following the torsion operation). The removal operation can be easily automated by the arm control device.

  A mechanism that can be remotely activated may be provided instead of the arrangement twisting mechanism. For example, one of the assembly 124 and the bulkhead 126 can be provided with a suitably shaped recess, and the other of the assembly 124 and the bulkhead 126 can be provided with a complementary member that operates to engage the recess. For example, the assembly 124 may be fixed to the bulkhead 126 by the ON operation, and may be operated by a relay and a plunger that detaches the assembly 124 from the bulkhead 126 by the OFF operation, or an electromechanical actuator such as an electromagnet. . Such switching could be performed by the process controller 127 through a controller area network bus (CAN bus) 129 that can address the electromechanical actuators, for example, to engage and disengage the assembly 124 from the bulkhead 126. .

  Referring to FIG. 4, the docking station 150 has an upper surface 152 on which an opening 154 is formed. The atomizer 110 can be inserted into the opening such that the outer periphery of the assembly 124 is seated on the shelf 156 while the housing 112 and the electrode 122 are disposed in the station 150 from the opening. For example, the assembly 124 is fixed to the station 150 by operating a fixing mechanism including a remotely operable slide pin 160 and a small hole 162 aligned with the slide pin. The slide pin 160 could be remotely operated by the process controller 127 via the CAN bus 129, for example. The pin 160 may be operated by a solenoid or similar device 163.

  When fixed by the fixing mechanism, the housing 112 and the bulkhead 126 can be detached from the assembly 124 by operating the attaching / detaching means 128. The housing 112 and bulkhead 126 can then be removed from the docking station 150 with the assembly 124 secured to the docking station. This housing 112 can be used to continue to release coating material in a tighter space without having a large envelope by the assembly 124.

  A cleaning nozzle 157 is provided in the interior 158 of the docking station 150 so that when the entire assembly 110, 124 is oriented as shown in FIG. 4, the entire assembly can be cleaned. Yes. Alternatively, the assembly 124 located at the docking station can be cleaned after the housing 112 and the bulkhead 126 are removed from the docking station 150 leaving the assembly 124.

  Hereinafter, an example of a painting process using an indirect charging technique by a painting robot using the assembly 124 that is automatically detachable and the in-process applicator cleaning device 150 will be described.

  1. The electrode 122 is used as a cathode for the object to be coated, and the potential difference between the electrode and the object to be coated is set to 70 KV, for example, and the outer surface of the automobile is spray-coated by the assemblies 110 and 124 in an indirect charging process.

  2. The high voltage is switched so that the voltage between the electrode and the painting object is, for example, 0 KV, and the painting robot 115 is operated to move the atomizer 110 to the docking station 150 in order to remove the assembly 124. The robot 115 and the controller 127 are operated to remove the assembly 124 from the bulkhead 126 and support it on the docking station 150.

  3. With the voltage kept at 0 KV, the painting robot 115 is moved to a predetermined position, and the assembly 124 is separated from the atomizer 110 and left in the docking station 150. The robot arm 115 is moved to a position for resuming the painting of the part.

  4). Move the atomizer 110 to a separate cleaning station (not shown), clean it, or move it to the docking station 150 and insert the atomizer 110 into the docking station 150 through the assembly 124. The vessel is cleaned and the assembly 124 is reinstalled.

  5. The painting robot 115 is moved to a position to resume the painting robot on the outer surface of the next automobile transported through the painting space, and the voltage is applied to the assembly 124 again by the high voltage source 117 (the atomization of the coating material, When compressed air is used for the supply, compressed air is supplied from the compressed air supply source 113 and the coating material to be supplied next is supplied from the coating material supply source 111, and the painting is resumed.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 110 Atomizer 111 Coating material supply source 112 Housing 113 Compressed air supply source 115 Bot arm 116 Bell cup 117 High voltage source 122 Electrode 124 Assembly 126 Bulk head 127 Process control device 128 Attachment / detachment means 129 Controller area network bus (CAN bus)
132 Groove 133 Assembly Surface 134 First Part 136 Second Part 138 Tongue 150 Docking Station 152 Top 154 Opening 156 Shelf 157 Cleaning Nozzle 158 Inside Docking Station 160 Slide Pin 162 Small Hole 163 Solenoid

Claims (8)

In a device that atomizes and discharges coating materials,
An atomizer including a bulkhead ;
An electrode assembly having a flange and a plurality of electrodes extending in the distal direction from the flange ,
One of the flange and the bulkhead has a surface facing the other of the flange and the bulkhead, and a groove is formed on the surface, the groove extending in the axial direction of the atomizer. A portion and a second portion extending in the circumferential direction;
The other of the flange and the bulkhead has a protrusion formed on the surface facing the surface,
The protrusion is inserted into the first part, and then the bulkhead and the flange are relatively rotated to move the protrusion to the second part, and the atomizer is moved to the electrode assembly. The electrode assembly and the atomizer are assembled so as to be separable from
The maximum diameter of the separated atomizer is smaller than the diameter of the flange, and by removing the electrode assembly from the atomizer, a smaller opening than the assembly of the atomizer and electrode. A device for atomizing and discharging a coating material in which the atomizer can be introduced into the part. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the bulkhead includes the protrusion and the flange includes a surface having the groove. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the flange includes an annular support having the surface, and a plurality of electrodes protrude from the surface of the support in a common direction. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a source of coating material to be atomized and released, and a conduit for coupling the source of coating material to the atomizer. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a high voltage source and a conductor for coupling the high voltage source to the electrode. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising an apparatus for supporting the electrode assembly when the electrode assembly is separated from the atomizer. The apparatus for supporting an electrode assembly has an interior space, and the assembly including a plurality of electrodes of the electrode assembly when the electrode assembly is removed from the atomizer. The inner space protrudes at least partially, and at least one outlet is provided in the inner space, and coating material is supplied from at least a part of the electrode assembly protruding into the inner space. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein a substance for removal is supplied to the at least part of the electrode assembly from the at least one outlet. The apparatus for supporting an electrode assembly includes a mechanism operable to attach the electrode assembly to the apparatus, and the electrode assembly is unintentionally removed when the electrode assembly is removed from the atomizer. The device according to claim 7, wherein the possibility that the solid is displaced from the device is made as small as possible.

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