Application method and application system

Abstract

The invention relates to an application method for applying a coating agent, in particular a paint, sealant, release agent, or adhesive, to a component (6), especially a motor vehicle body component. The application method comprises the following steps: dispensing a coating agent jet (5) from an application device (2) and positioning the application device (2) relative to the component (6) at a specific application distance (d) between the application device (2) and the component (6), such that the coating agent jet (5) strikes the component (6) and coats it. It is proposed that the application distance (d) be smaller than the decay length (LZERFALL) of the coating agent jet (5), so that the coating agent jet (5) strikes the component (6) with its continuous portion. The invention further relates to a corresponding application system.

Description

[0001] The invention relates to an application method and an application system for applying a coating material (e.g. paint, sealant, release agent, adhesive, functional layer) to a component (e.g. a motor vehicle body component).

[0002] From DE 10 2010 019 612 A1, a coating process is known in which a droplet jet of the coating material is generated and impacts the component surface to be coated. The droplet breakup of the initially continuous coating material jet is specifically accelerated by vibration coupling so that the breakup length of the coating material jet is smaller than the coating distance, i.e., the distance between the application device and the component surface.

[0003] However, this well-known application method using a droplet jet is not yet completely satisfactory.

[0004] Furthermore, reference should be made to the state of the art in DE 38 35 078 C2, WO 2010 / 046064 A1, US 2004 / 0261701 A1 and DE 10 2009 004 878 A1 as well as to the Wikipedia article "Liquid jet".

[0005] Finally, US 2004 / 0217202 A1 discloses an application method according to the preamble of claim 1 and an application apparatus according to the preamble of claim 14. However, this prior art is hardly suitable for the application of patterns.

[0006] The invention is therefore based on the objective of creating a correspondingly improved application method and a corresponding application system.

[0007] This problem is solved by an application method according to the invention and a corresponding application system according to the independent claims.

[0008] The invention preferably comprises the general technical teaching of not forcing droplet breakup—as in DE 10 2010 019 612 A1—by selectively coupling vibrations, but rather utilizing the continuous portion of the coating agent jet for coating purposes. The application distance (i.e., the distance between the outlet of the application device on the one hand and the component surface to be coated on the other) is therefore chosen to be smaller than the breakup length of the coating agent jet, i.e., the length of the continuous portion of the coating agent jet between the outlet of the application device on the one hand and the end of the continuous portion at the transition to droplet breakup. This results in the coating agent jet impacting the component with its continuous portion, leading to a better coating result.

[0009] In the application method according to the invention, a coating agent jet is thus emitted from an application device in accordance with the prior art described above, wherein the coating agent jet, after exiting the application device, initially has a continuous area in the jet direction until a fragmentation length is reached, whereupon the coating agent jet then, after the fragmentation length after exiting the application device, breaks up into droplets according to the laws of nature ("natural Rayleigh fragmentation") which are separated from each other in the jet direction.

[0010] The term "coating agent jet" used within the scope of the invention encompasses both single and multiple coating agent jets; however, for the sake of simplicity, only the singular form will be used in the following. The coating agent jet is to be distinguished from a coating agent mist, such as that emitted by conventional rotary atomizers. The coating agent jet according to the invention is characterized by a continuous cross-section, a small spreading angle compared to an atomizing mist, and a very small lateral extent, which is particularly important for detail painting.

[0011] Furthermore, the application method according to the invention, in accordance with the prior art described above, provides that the application device is positioned relative to the component to be coated (e.g., a motor vehicle body component) with a specific application distance between the application device and the component, so that the coating medium jet hits the component and coats the component.

[0012] By appropriately positioning the application device relative to the component, detailed painting is also possible in this way, since the cross-section of the coating medium jet is relatively small and defined. Therefore, it is also possible to selectively coat only a correspondingly small area of ​​the component surface.

[0013] Alternatively, it is also possible to coat the component over its entire surface with the coating material by having the coating material jet travel across the component surface in several adjacent or overlapping passes.

[0014] In one embodiment, the application method differs from the prior art described above in that the application distance is chosen to be smaller than the fragmentation length of the coating agent jet, so that the coating agent jet impacts the component with its continuous area. Thus, in the known prior art described above, individual droplets of the coating agent impact the component surface, whereas according to the invention, a continuous coating agent jet impacts the component.

[0015] The term "coating material" used in the context of the invention is to be understood generally and includes, for example, paint (e.g., base coat, clear coat), sealant, release agent, functional layer, and adhesive. However, in a preferred embodiment of the invention, a detailed coating is provided, in which a paint is applied. The category of functional layer includes all layers that result in surface functionalization, such as adhesion promoters, primers, stone chip protection, or layers for reducing transmission.

[0016] According to the invention, the coating medium jet must apply a pattern to the component, such as a stripe (e.g., design stripe, decorative stripe). However, the term "pattern" used within the scope of the invention is to be understood generally and is not limited to stripes. For example, the pattern can also be a graphic, such as the silhouette of a prancing horse on a car hood or a checkered flag on the roof of a motor vehicle body.

[0017] In contrast to conventional atomization methods using rotary atomizers, the application method according to the invention achieves a sharply defined pattern, which is important for a high-quality appearance. Firstly, the term "sharply defined pattern" as used in the invention means that the edge of the pattern exhibits only very slight deviations from a predetermined edge profile, which are less than 3 mm, 1 mm, 0.5 mm, 0.2 mm, or even 0.1 mm. Secondly, the term "sharply defined pattern" as used in the invention also means that no coating material splashes onto the component surface outside the coated pattern.

[0018] As briefly mentioned above, the application method according to the invention is also suitable for coating components over a large area. In this process, the coating agent jet can be passed over the component multiple times, applying a coating agent layer each time. In this way, numerous parallel coating agent layers can be applied by following a meandering path of the coating agent jet.

[0019] According to the invention, the individual coating material webs do not overlap, but form two or more separate strips in the finished state.

[0020] It has already been briefly mentioned above that the term "pattern" used within the scope of the invention preferably refers to a strip that is applied to the component surface. The application method according to the invention advantageously allows the application of extremely narrow strips, which can have a width of less than 1 m, 10 cm, 5 cm, 2 cm, 1 cm, 5 mm, 2 mm, 1 mm, 400 µm, or even less than 200 µm. However, the individual strip preferably has a width of at least 100 µm, 200 µm, 400 µm, 1 mm, 2 mm, 5 mm, 1 cm, 2 cm, 5 cm, 10 cm, or even 1 m.

[0021] According to the invention, the application device emits not just a single jet of coating material, but several jets of coating material that are essentially parallel to one another. The distance between the immediately adjacent jets of coating material is preferably such that the immediately adjacent jets do not merge between the application device and the component, but rather strike the component surface as separate jets, yet still merge to form a single area on the component. Several application nozzles are provided for emitting the individual jets of coating material, each with a specific inner diameter and arranged at a specific distance from the surface.To prevent adjacent coating material jets from merging between the application nozzles and the component surface, the nozzle spacing between the immediately adjacent application nozzles is preferably at least three, four or six times the nozzle inner diameter.

[0022] The individual application nozzles are preferably arranged together in a perforated plate, which enables cost-effective manufacturing.

[0023] Furthermore, the invention provides that the individual application nozzles or areas with multiple nozzles can be controlled independently of one another, so that the coating material jets exiting the individual application nozzles have different operating parameters. For example, in addition to the volume flow rate, the exit velocity of the coating material from the application nozzles or the type of coating material can also be individually adjusted for the individual application nozzles or areas.

[0024] It has already been mentioned above that the application device is moved relative to the component during the application of the coating material, so that the coating material jet follows a corresponding path with its point of impact on the component surface.

[0025] In one embodiment of the invention, the application device can be arranged in a fixed position while the component is moved. The speed of movement is preferably at least 10 cm / s, 50 cm / s, 1 m / s, 1.5 m / s and at most 10 m / s, 5 m / s, or at most 1 m / s. This embodiment is already known from EP 1 745 858 A2, so that the content of this patent application is fully attributable to the present description with regard to the relative movement of the application device and the component.

[0026] In another embodiment of the invention, the component is arranged in a fixed position while the application device is moved. Here, the movement speed is preferably at least 10 cm / s, 20 cm / s, 30 cm / s, 50 cm / s, 1 m / s or at least 2 m / s and at most 250 cm / s, 700 mm / s, 500 mm / s or at most 100 mm / s.

[0027] Furthermore, the relative movement between the application device and the component to be coated can be achieved by moving both the application device and the component to be coated.

[0028] As briefly mentioned above, the application device is moved relative to the component across its surface, so that the coating agent jet traces a path at its point of impact on the component surface, which is then coated with the coating agent. It is possible for the coating agent jet to be briefly switched off or interrupted while traversing the path on the component surface and then switched on or resumed, leaving a gap on the component surface that is not coated with the coating agent. According to the invention, the coating agent jet can be moved so slowly across the component surface and switched on and off so quickly that a spatial resolution of finer than 5 mm, 2 mm, or 1 mm is achieved on the component. This is particularly advantageous for detailed coating of a sample.

[0029] An advantage of the application method according to the invention lies in the avoidance of overspray and / or the increase in the deposition efficiency, i.e., the proportion of the applied coating material that is actually deposited on the component surface. The coating material jet is therefore preferably only switched on when it actually strikes the component surface. When coating a component with a side edge, the application device is therefore preferably moved laterally towards the edge with the coating material jet switched off. The coating material jet is then only switched on when the application device is positioned above the edge, so that the switched-on coating material jet then actually strikes the component.The application device is then moved along the surface of the component to be coated, applying a corresponding path of the coating material. The spray of coating material is switched off when the application device moves over a side edge of the component, as the spray would then no longer reach the component surface.

[0030] To enable the appropriate switching on and off of the coating agent jet, the spatial positions of the component to be coated and the application device are preferably detected in order to determine whether the coating agent jet would strike the component surface. The coating agent jet is preferably switched off when the detected positions of the component and application device indicate that the coating agent jet would not strike the component surface. Conversely, the coating agent jet can preferably only be switched on when the detected positions of the component and application device indicate that the coating agent jet would actually strike the component surface.

[0031] The aforementioned position detection can be achieved, for example, using a camera, an ultrasonic sensor, an inductive or capacitive sensor, or a laser sensor. However, it is also possible for the positions of the component and application device to be read from a machine or robot controller, provided that the component and the application device are positioned by a machine or robot.

[0032] It has already been mentioned above that the application method according to the invention enables a high deposition efficiency, which can be greater than, for example, 80%, 90%, 95% or even greater than 99%, so that essentially the entire applied coating material is completely deposited on the component without any significant overspray occurring.

[0033] Furthermore, the application method according to the invention also enables a relatively high surface coating performance of at least 0.5 m² / min, 1 m² / min or 3 m² / min. The surface coating performance can be increased almost indefinitely by increasing the number of application nozzles in the application device accordingly.

[0034] Furthermore, it should be noted that the coating agent jet should not rebound from the component after impact, as this would lead to disruptive coating agent splashes that prevent a sharply defined coating edge. Therefore, the volumetric flow rate of the applied coating agent, and thus the exit velocity of the coating agent, is preferably adjusted so that the coating agent does not rebound from the component after impact.

[0035] The exit velocity of the coating material is preferably at least 5 m / s, 7 m / s or 10 m / s and at most 30 m / s, 20 m / s or 10 m / s.

[0036] The application distance between the outlet opening of the application device on the one hand and the component surface on the other hand is preferably at least 4 mm, 10 mm or at least 40 mm and preferably at most 200 mm or 100 mm.

[0037] Furthermore, it should be mentioned that the application device is preferably moved by means of a multi-axis robot, which may have serial or parallel kinematics. Such robots are known from the prior art and therefore do not need to be described in more detail.

[0038] Furthermore, as briefly mentioned above, the coating material can be a paint, such as a base coat, clear coat, effect paint, micro-paint, or metallic paint. It should also be noted that the coating material can be either water-based or solvent-based.

[0039] Furthermore, it should be mentioned that, within the scope of the invention, the coating agent jet can preferably be switched on or off with a switching time of less than 50 ms, 20 ms, 10 ms, 5 ms, or 1 ms. The switching time is defined here as the minimum time required to switch the coating agent jet off and then on again, or to switch it on and then off again.

[0040] In addition to the application method described above, the invention also includes a corresponding application system, as can already be seen from the above description, so that a separate description of the application system can be dispensed with.

[0041] Other advantageous embodiments of the invention are characterized in the dependent claims or are explained in more detail below together with the description of the preferred embodiments of the invention with reference to the figures. The figures show: Figure 1 a schematic representation of a conventional application system, Figure 2 a schematic representation of an embodiment of an application system according to the invention, Figures 3A-3C and 4A-4C Various representations of sharply defined or non-sharply defined stripes of a coating material, Figure 5 a representation of a coating medium strip to illustrate edge sharpness, Figures 6A-6DSchematic diagrams for switching the coating medium jet on and off during component painting, as well as Figure 7 a flowchart according to the Figures 6A-6D .

[0042] Figure 1 Figure 1 shows a conventional application system, such as that known from DE 10 2010 019 612 A1. In this system, an application technology 1 supplies an application device 2 with the necessary media, such as the coating material to be applied, which may, for example, be a paint.

[0043] The application device 2 has a perforated plate 3 in which numerous application nozzles 4 are formed. Each of the application nozzles 4 of the perforated plate 3 emits a coating agent jet 5, wherein the coating agent jets 5 are initially continuous over a decay length L in the jet direction immediately after exiting the application nozzles 4 and then subsequently break up into droplets, whereby the droplet breakup is specifically accelerated in this conventional application system by coupling vibrations.

[0044] The application device 2 is positioned relative to a component 6 to be coated at an application distance d, the positioning being such that the application distance d is greater than the decay length Ldecay. This means that the coating agent jets 5 do not strike the component 6 with their continuous range, but rather as a sequence of droplets.

[0045] Figure 2 shows a modification of the conventional application system according to Figure 1 in the direction of the invention. The application system according to the invention. Figure 2 partially corresponds to the conventional application system described above, so that, to avoid repetition, reference is made to the preceding description, using the same reference numerals for corresponding details.

[0046] A special feature of the application system according to the invention is that the application device 2 is positioned relative to the component 6 such that the application distance d is smaller than the decay length LCORROT. This means that the coating agent jets 5 strike the surface of the component 6 with their continuous area in the direction of travel, resulting in a better coating result.

[0047] Furthermore, the droplet disintegration of the coating agent jets 5 is not specifically forced by vibration coupling, since droplet disintegration is precisely what the invention aims to prevent.

[0048] The application system according to the invention enables the application of sharply defined patterns, as in the Figures 3A-3C and 4A-4C is shown and explained below.

[0049] This shows Figure 3A a sharply defined strip, as produced by the application system according to the invention Figure 2 can be applied to component 6.

[0050] The Figures 3B and 3C In contrast, they show examples of conventional strips with more or less frayed edges of the strip.

[0051] The Figures 4A-4C They also do not show sharply defined stripes, but rather unsuitable stripes with coating agent splashes to the side of the actual stripe.

[0052] Figure 5Figure 7 shows a schematic representation of a strip 7 to illustrate the edge sharpness of the strip 7. The strip 7 exhibits a maximum deviation a from a predetermined edge profile, where, within the scope of the invention, the deviation a is preferably less than 3 mm, 1 mm, or 0.5 mm. This allows, for example, the creation of decorative stripes with a high-quality appearance on a motor vehicle body.

[0053] The Figures 6A-6D The figures show in schematic form the application of a coating layer to a component 9, wherein the component 9 is laterally bounded by two edges 10, 11.

[0054] The coating material webs are applied by means of an application device 12, the application device 12 being able to emit coating material jets 13 as already described above.

[0055] The application device 12 is first brought laterally to the component 9, as shown in Figure 6Ais shown, with the coating medium jet 13 initially still switched off, since the coating medium jet 13 would not hit the component 9 if the application device 12 were still located laterally next to the edge 10 of the component 9.

[0056] When passing the edge 10 of component 9, the coating medium jet 13 is then switched on, as shown in Figure 6B is shown.

[0057] The application device 12 is then guided over the surface of the component 9 with the coating medium jet 13 switched on, as shown in Figure 6C is shown.

[0058] When passing the opposite edge 11 of component 9, the coating medium jet 13 is then switched off again, as shown in Figure 6DThis is shown because the coating medium jet 13 would no longer hit the surface of the component 9 if the application device 12 were subsequently moved further beyond the edge 11 of the component 9.

[0059] By switching the coating medium jet 13 on and off in this way, an exceptionally high application efficiency can be achieved with virtually no overspray.

[0060] The precise switching on and off of the coating medium jet 13 is made possible by detecting the positions of the application device 12 and the component 9 using a camera sensor 14.

[0061] As already mentioned, instead of a camera sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, an inductive or capacitive sensor or a laser sensor can also be used, which can be fixed in the vicinity of the application device and the component, but can also be moved with the application device.

[0062] Figure 7 The operating procedure of the application system according to the invention is shown in the various stages in the Figures 6A-6D in a corresponding flowchart. List of reference symbols: 1 Application technique 2 Application device 3 Perforated plate 4 Application nozzles 5 Coating agent blasting 6 Component 7 Strip 8 Predetermined edge profile 9 Component 10 Edge 11 Edge 12 Application device 13 Coating agent blasting 14 Camera sensor 15 Uncoated substrate a Deviation from the predetermined edge profile d Application distance L COLLAPSE COLLAPSE length

Claims

1. Application method for applying a coating agent to a component (6; 9), comprising the following steps: a) emitting a plurality of coating agent jets (5; 13) from a plurality of application nozzles (4) of an application device (2; 12), a1) wherein the coating agent jets (5; 13), after exiting the application device (2; 12) and until reaching a decay length (LZERFALL), initially have a contiguous region in the jet direction, a2) whereupon the coating agent jets (5; 13), after the decay length (LZERFALL) after exiting the application device (2; 12), decay into droplets that are separated from each other in the jet direction, b) positioning the application device (2; 12) relative to the component (6; 9) with an application distance (d) between the application device (2; 12) and the component (6; 9) so that the coating agent jets (5; 13) impinge on the component (6; 9) and coat the component (6; 9), the coating agent jets (5; 13) applying a pattern on the component (6; 9), characterized in c) that at least some of the application nozzles (4) are controlled independently of one another, and d) that, in the case of the application nozzles (4) which can be controlled independently of one another, the volumetric flow of the coating agent through the application nozzles (4) can be controlled independently, and e) that the pattern is edge-sharp with maximum deviations (a) from a predetermined edge course of at most 3 mm and without coating agent splashes outside the pattern, and f) that the application distance (d) is smaller than the decay length (LZERFALL) of the coating agent jet (5; 13), so that the coating agent jet (5; 13) impinge on the component (6; 9) with its contiguous region.

2. Application method according to claim 1, characterized in a) that the coating agent jets (5; 13) are moved several times over the component (6; 9) to produce the pattern, one coating agent path being applied in each case, and b) that the adjacent coating agent paths run into one another after application and then form a uniform strip, or c) that the adjacent coating agent paths do not run into one another after application and then form two or more separate strips.

3. Application method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in, a) that the pattern comprises a strip of the coating agent, and b) that the strip has a width of at least 1 mm, and c) that the strip has a width of at most 1 m, 10 cm, 5 cm, 2 cm, 1 cm, 5 mm or 2 mm.

4. Application method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in, a) that the coating agent jets (5, 13) are aligned parallel to one another, and b) that the distance between the directly adjacent coating agent jets (5, 13) is so large that the adjacent coating agent jets (5, 13) do not combine between the application device (2; 12) and the component (6; 9), and c) that the application nozzles (4) are provided with a specific inner nozzle diameter and a specific nozzle spacing, the nozzle spacing being at least equal to three, four or six times the inner nozzle diameter.

5. Application method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that, in the case of the independently controllable application nozzles (4), at least one of the following operating variables can be controlled independently: a) exit speed of the coating agent from the application nozzles (4), b) type of coating agent.

6. Application method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the application device (2; 12) is moved relative to the component (6; 9) during the application of the coating agent.

7. Application method according to claim 6, characterized in a) that the application device (2; 12) is arranged stationary while the component (6; 9) is moved, and b) that the component (6; 9) is moved at a speed of at least 10 cm / s, 50 cm / s or 1 m / s during the application of the coating agent, and c) that the component (6; 9) is moved at a speed of at most 10 m / s or 5 m / s during the application of the coating agent.

8. Application method according to claim 6, characterized in a) that the component (6; 9) is stationary while the application device (2; 12) is moved, and b) that the application device (2; 12) is moved at a speed of at least 10 cm / s, 20 cm / s, 30 cm / s, 50 cm / s, 1 m / s or 2 m / s during application of the coating agent, and c) that the application device (2; 12) is moved during the application of the coating agent at a speed of at most 250 cm / s, 700 mm / s, 500 mm / s or 100 mm / s.

9. Application method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in, a) that the application device (2; 12) is moved relative to the component (6; 9) over the component surface so that the coating agent jet (5; 13) travels a path with its point of impact on the component surface, and b) that the coating agent jet (5; 13) is switched off and switched on again during the traversing of the path on the component surface, and c) that the coating agent jet (5; 13) is moved so slowly over the component surface and is switched on and off so quickly that a spatial resolution of finer than 5 mm, 2 mm or 1 mm is achieved on the component (6; 9).

10. Application method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by the following steps; a) approaching the application device (2; 12) to an edge (10) of the component (6; 9) to be coated with the coating agent jet (5; 13) switched off, b) switching on the coating agent jet (5; 13) when the application device (2; 12) is located above the component (6; 9), c) moving the application device (2; 12) over the component (6; 9) to be coated along the component surface to be coated, d) switching off the coating agent jet (5; 13) when the application device (2; 12) is no longer located above the component surface to be coated.

11. Application method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by the following steps: a) detecting the spatial position of the component (6; 9) to be coated, and b) detecting the spatial position of the application device (2; 12), and c) switching on the coating agent jet (5; 13) in dependence on the detected position of the component (6; 9) and / or the application device (2; 12), and d) switching off the coating agent jet (5; 13) as a function of the detected position of the component (6; 9) and / or of the application apparatus (2; 12).

12. Application method according to claim 11, characterized in that the position is detected by means of a) a camera (14) b) an ultrasonic sensor, c) an inductive sensor d) a capacitive sensor e) a laser sensor, and / or f) a robot controller from which the position is read out.

13. Application method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in, a) that the application method has an application efficiency of at least 80%, 90%, 95% or 99%, so that the entire applied coating agent is deposited completely on the component (6; 9) without overspray occurring, and b) that the application method has an area coating capacity of at least 0.5 m2 / min, 1 m2 / min or at least 3 m2 / min, and c) that the volumetric flow of the applied coating agent and thus the exit velocity of the coating agent is set in such a way that the coating agent does not bounce off the component (6; 9) after striking the component (6; 9), and d) that the exit speed of the coating agent from the application device (2; 12) is at least 5 m / s, 7 m / s or 10 m / s, and e) that the exit velocity of the coating agent from the application device (2; 12) is at most 30 m / s, 20 m / s or 10 m / s, and f) that the application distance (d) is at least 4 mm, 10 mm or 40 mm and / or, and g) that the application distance (d) is at most 200 mm or 100 mm, and h) that the application device (2; 12) is moved by means of a machine, and i) that the coating agent is a paint, and j) that the coating agent is a water-based paint or a solvent-based paint, and k) that the coating agent jet (5; 13) is switched on or off with a switching time of less than 50 ms, 20 ms, 10 ms, 5 ms or 1 ms.

14. Application system for applying a coating agent to a component (6; 9), comprising a) an application device (2; 12) having a plurality of application nozzles (4) for delivering a plurality of coating jets (5; 13), a1) wherein the coating agent jets (5; 13), after exiting the application device (2; 12) and until reaching a decay length (LZERFALL), initially have a coherent region in the jet direction, a2) whereupon the coating agent jets (5; 13), after the decay length (LZERFALL) after exiting the application device (2; 12), decay into droplets that are separated from each other in the jet direction, and b) a positioning device for positioning the application device (2; 12) relative to the component (6; 9) with a certain application distance (d) between the application device (2; 12) and the component (6; 9) so that the coating agent jets (5; 13) impinge on the component (6; 9) and coat the component (6; 9), the coating agent jets (5; 13) applying a pattern on the component (6; 9), characterized in c) that at least some of the application nozzles (4) can be controlled independently of one another, and d) that, in the case of the application nozzles (4) which can be controlled independently of one another, the volumetric flow of the coating agent through the application nozzles (4) can be controlled independently, and e) that the pattern is edge-sharp with maximum deviations (a) from a predetermined edge course of at most 3 mm and without coating agent splashes outside the pattern, and f) that the positioning device positions the application device (2; 12) relative to the component (6; 9) so that application distance (d) is smaller than the decay length (LZERFALL) of the coating agent jet (5; 13), so that the coating agent jet (5; 13) strikes the component (6; 9) with its contiguous region.

15. Application system according to claim 14, characterized in a) that the application apparatus (2; 12) has a nozzle plate in which the application nozzles are arranged, and b) that the application nozzles each emit a coating agent jet (5; 13), the coating agent jets (5, 13) together producing a strip on the component (6; 9), and c) that the strip has a width of at least 1 mm, and d) that the strip has a width of at most 1 m, 10 cm, 5 cm, 2 cm, 1 cm, 5 mm, 2 mm, 1 mm, 400 µm or 200 µm.

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