Paint booth

Abstract

To provide a paint booth which can reduce air-conditioning energy without deteriorating working efficiency.SOLUTION: A paint booth 1 is given in which: the paint booth is arranged in a coating chamber 2 or concatenated to the coating chamber 2; the paint booth includes a painting robot 4 and workpiece supply means 6; an aperture 3 is arranged in the coating chamber 2; and paint is sprayed, while outer air adjusted to specified temperature and humidity is supplied from the coating chamber 2, from the painting robot 4 toward a workpiece attached to the workpiece supply means 6 to paint the workpiece. The paint booth includes: a mist catcher 10 which recovers coating mist generated when painting the workpiece; an exhaust fan 11 which discharges the outer air supplied to the paint booth 1 to outside; and return flow means which returns a part of the outer air discharged from the paint booth 1 through the exhaust fan 11 to the paint booth 1.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a painting booth, and more particularly to a painting booth capable of achieving energy savings.

Background Art

[0002] In painting using a painting robot, generally, a painting booth is arranged in a painting chamber, or the painting booth is arranged in a state of being continuously provided in the painting chamber, and in the painting booth, painting of a workpiece to be painted is performed.

[0003] That is, the painting booth is provided with a painting robot and a workpiece supply means, and by spraying paint toward the workpiece attached to the workpiece supply means by a spray gun provided in the painting robot, the workpiece is painted.

[0004] And in the painting chamber, operations such as loading a workpiece into the painting booth, unloading the workpiece from the painting booth, and further, operations for transferring the painted workpiece to the next process are performed.

[0005] That is, in the painting chamber, a workpiece before painting is prepared, and operations such as attaching the workpiece before painting to the workpiece supply means and removing the painted workpiece from the workpiece supply means are performed, and further, operations for moving the painted workpiece removed from the workpiece supply means to the next process such as a drying process are performed.

[0006] To explain this relationship, after loading a workpiece to be painted into the painting chamber, the workpiece before painting is attached to the workpiece supply means, and then in the painting booth, paint is sprayed from the painting robot onto the workpiece attached to the workpiece supply means to paint the workpiece. And after the painting of the workpiece is completed, the painted workpiece is removed from the workpiece supply means, and the removed workpiece is unloaded from the painting chamber and transferred to the next process.

[0007] By the way, since the paints used to paint the workpieces contain substances harmful to the human body, it is necessary to collect the paint mist generated during painting to prevent harm to those working in the painting room.

[0008] Conventionally, outside air that has been adjusted to a predetermined temperature and humidity and had dust and other particles removed by a filter is supplied into the painting chamber by an air supply means such as a fan. This outside air supplied into the painting chamber is then supplied into the paint booth, where the airflow of the outside air is directed in a constant direction, and the mist inside the painting chamber is collected by a mist collection means. After that, the outside air from which the mist has been removed is exhausted to the outside.

[0009] In other words, an air supply system is connected to the painting room, and outside air is supplied to the painting room by this system. The air supply system is equipped with a filter, a heat exchanger, a humidifier, and a fan. After taking in outside air, the air supply system removes dust and other contaminants with the filter, adjusts the temperature to a predetermined level with the heat exchanger, and further adjusts the humidity to a predetermined level with the humidifier before supplying it to the painting room.

[0010] On the other hand, the paint booth has an opening that extends into the painting chamber, and the painting robot and workpiece supply means are arranged in order from the side of this opening. Workpieces to be painted are attached to the workpiece supply means, and the workpieces are painted in that state. After painting, the painted workpieces are removed from the workpiece supply means, and unpainted workpieces are attached to the workpiece supply means, and the workpieces that have been newly attached to the workpiece supply means are painted. After that, the workpiece replacement and painting are repeated until the required number of workpieces have been painted.

[0011] Furthermore, at the back of the paint booth, specifically on the opposite side of the opening that leads to the painting room, there is a mist collection device such as a mist catcher for collecting paint mist, and an exhaust fan is connected to the mist catcher. By operating the exhaust fan, outside air supplied to the painting room through the opening is drawn into the paint booth, and within the paint booth, the airflow of the drawn-in outside air is directed in a constant direction toward the mist catcher, while the mist catcher collects the mist in the painting room, and then the outside air from which the mist has been removed is exhausted to the outside.

[0012] Figure 3 shows the configuration of this conventional paint room. In the figure, 31 is the paint room, and a filter unit 32 is provided on the ceiling of this paint room 31.

[0013] On the other hand, in the figure, 33 is an air supply device, and as described above, this air supply device 33 takes in outside air, adjusts this taken-in outside air to a predetermined temperature and humidity, and then supplies this outside air, which has been adjusted to the predetermined temperature and humidity, into the painting room 31 via the filter unit 32.

[0014] The air supply device 33 consists of a filter 34, a heat exchanger 35, a humidifier 36, and a fan 37 arranged in that order. By operating the heat exchanger 35, humidifier 36, and fan 37, outside air adjusted to a predetermined temperature and humidity is supplied to the painting room 31 via the air supply pipe 38. In the figure, 39 is an air conditioning heat source used in the heat exchanger 35 to adjust the outside air to a predetermined temperature.

[0015] Next, in the figure, 41 is a paint booth, which is located inside the painting room 31 and has an opening that opens into the painting room 31, through which it is connected to the inside of the painting room 31.

[0016] Inside the painting booth 41, a painting robot 42 equipped with a spray gun 43 and a work supply means 44 to which the workpiece to be painted is attached are arranged. After the workpiece to be painted is attached to the work supply means 44, paint is sprayed from the spray gun 43 towards the workpiece attached to the work supply means 44, thereby painting the workpiece.

[0017] Furthermore, in the paint booth 41, a mist catcher 45 for catching paint mist with oil or water is positioned at the back of the opposite side of the opening, that is, at the back of the work supply means 44, and an exhaust fan 46 is provided on the ceiling above the mist catcher 45. As a result, outside air is supplied into the paint room 31, and by operating the mist catcher 45 and the exhaust fan 46, the outside air supplied into the paint room 31 is supplied into the paint booth 41, and within the paint booth 41, the airflow is directed towards the back, the mist in the paint booth 41 is collected by the mist catcher 45, and the outside air supplied into the paint booth 41 is exhausted to the outside by the exhaust fan 46 and exhaust pipe 47.

[0018] Incidentally, in painting workpieces using painting robots, in order to process a large number of workpieces, a rotary table is used as a workpiece supply means, with multiple workpieces placed around the periphery of this rotary table. Furthermore, multiple rotary tables with multiple workpieces placed around their peripheries are sometimes used to paint a large number of workpieces simultaneously. In such cases, the number of spray guns is also increased to correspond to the number of rotary tables, and paint is sprayed from each spray gun towards the workpieces placed on each rotary table.

[0019] Therefore, when a configuration is used to paint a large number of workpieces simultaneously, the painting robot becomes larger, and consequently, the painting booth also has to be made larger.

[0020] And when the painting booth is enlarged like this, the amount of outside air supplied to the painting chamber also increases. Therefore, the air conditioning energy required to adjust the temperature and humidity of the outside air inevitably becomes enormous, and accordingly, the painting cost increases. That is, conventionally, since the total amount of air supplied to the painting booth was covered by outside air, the energy required to adjust the outside air supplied to this painting booth to a predetermined temperature and humidity became enormous, resulting in high costs.

[0021] Therefore, conventionally, a method has been proposed to return a part of the exhaust air from the painting booth to the painting chamber. By doing so, it is possible to reduce the amount of outside air supplied to the painting chamber, thereby reducing the air conditioning energy. Even when the painting booth is enlarged to paint a large number of workpieces, it is possible to prevent the air conditioning energy from becoming enormous and achieve energy savings.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0022]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Patent Document 3

Patent Document 4

Patent Document 5

Patent Document 6

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0023] However, even when harmful substances are removed by a filter or the like, the harmful substances cannot be completely removed from the exhaust discharged from the painting booth. Therefore, in the method of returning a part of the conventional exhaust as described above, since a method of returning a part of the exhaust from the painting booth to the painting chamber is adopted, it is assumed that no one enters the painting chamber.

[0024] On the other hand, as described above, in order to attach and detach the work in the painting chamber, it is necessary for the operator to enter and exit. Therefore, when adopting the conventional method of returning a part of the exhaust to the painting chamber, it is necessary to prevent the operator from entering the painting chamber while painting is being performed, and since new work preparation etc. cannot be performed during the painting of the work, there is a problem that the work efficiency deteriorates.

[0025] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a painting booth that can reduce air conditioning energy without reducing work efficiency.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0026] The painting booth of the present invention is Outside air is supplied by the air supply device. arranged inside the painting chamber or Outside air is supplied by the air supply device. continuously arranged with the painting chamber, equipped with a painting robot and a work supply means inside, and having an opening that opens into the painting chamber This creates a continuous area that is connected to the aforementioned painting room. and, the Through the opening, while the outside air adjusted to a predetermined value of temperature and humidity is supplied from the painting chamber, a painting booth that paints the work by spraying paint from the painting robot toward the work attached to the work supply means, , supplied by the aforementioned air supply device having a mist catcher for collecting paint mist generated during the painting of the work, Located on the far side opposite the opening, an exhaust fan for exhausting the outside air supplied into the painting booth to the outside, and a reflux means for refluxing a part of the outside air exhausted from the painting booth through the exhaust fan back to the painting booth Located above the mist catcher, In addition, outside air supplied to the painting chamber (2) by the air supply device is supplied through the opening (3), and a portion of the outside air exhausted from the painting booth (1) via the exhaust fan is supplied by the recirculation means. The aforementioned recirculation means is a recirculation pipe connected to the exhaust fan, By making the side walls on both sides near the opening of the aforementioned paint booth into two layers, an air supply space is formed within the side walls. ​ Numerous punched holes are formed on the side of the two-layered side wall facing the interior of the paint booth. A filter unit connected to the air supply space is connected to the ceiling portion of the air supply space in the side wall, and the tip of the return pipe is connected to the filter unit. A portion of the outside air exhausted from the paint booth via the exhaust fan is supplied to the air intake space formed in the side wall via a recirculation pipe and a filter unit, thereby returning the air to the interior of the paint booth through the perforated holes in the side wall. It is characterized by the following. [Effects of the Invention]

[0027] The paint booth of the present invention is equipped with a recirculation means for returning a portion of the exhaust air from the paint booth back into the paint booth, thereby returning a portion of the outside air that is discharged to the outside by the exhaust fan back into the paint booth. As a result, it is no longer necessary to supply all the air to the paint booth with fresh outside air, and therefore the amount of outside air taken into the paint room can be reduced. This allows for reduced air conditioning energy consumption even when the paint booth is enlarged, and thus reduces painting costs.

[0028] Furthermore, unlike conventional methods in which a portion of the exhaust from the paint booth is returned to a painting room where workers may enter, the paint booth of the present invention recirculates a portion of the exhaust from the paint booth to a paint booth where workers do not enter. This allows workers to enter the painting room even while painting is in progress, enabling them to prepare new workpieces while the workpieces are being painted, thus preventing a decrease in work efficiency. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0029] [Figure 1] This figure illustrates the configuration of an embodiment of the paint booth of the present invention. [Figure 2] This figure illustrates the configuration of an embodiment of the paint booth of the present invention, viewed from a planar perspective. [Figure 3] This is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a conventional paint booth. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0030] The present invention relates to a painting booth which is located in or adjacent to a painting room where workpieces are attached to and detached from a workpiece supply means and painted workpieces are transferred to the next process, and which is equipped with a painting robot and a workpiece supply means inside, and has an opening that opens into the painting room.

[0031] Furthermore, the painting of a workpiece is performed by spraying paint from a painting robot onto a workpiece attached to a workpiece supply means, while outside air with temperature and humidity adjusted to predetermined values ​​is supplied from the painting chamber.

[0032] Furthermore, it is equipped with a mist catcher for collecting paint mist generated during workpiece painting, and an exhaust fan for exhausting outside air supplied to the paint booth.

[0033] Furthermore, it is equipped with a recirculation mechanism to return a portion of the exhaust from the paint booth back into the paint booth, thereby returning some of the outside air that is discharged to the outside by the exhaust fan back into the paint booth.

[0034] Here, the recirculation means has a recirculation pipe connected to an exhaust fan, and an air supply space is formed in the side wall of the paint booth. The tip of the recirculation pipe is connected to the air supply space in the paint booth, and a portion of the exhaust is returned from the side wall of the paint booth, thereby preventing turbulence in the airflow at the spraying location.

[0035] Furthermore, a filter is installed at the connection point between the reflux pipe and the paint booth, which makes it possible to make the exhaust gas returned to the paint booth cleaner. [Examples]

[0036] An embodiment of the paint booth of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Figures 1 and 2 are diagrams illustrating the configuration of the paint booth of this embodiment. Figure 1 shows the interior as viewed from the side, and Figure 2 shows the configuration as viewed from the top. In the figures, 1 is the paint booth.

[0037] Furthermore, in the figure, 2 is a painting room, and the painting booth 1 in this embodiment is located inside the painting room 2 and has an opening 3 that opens into the painting room 2, thereby creating a continuous area where the painting room 2 and the painting booth 1 are connected to each other.

[0038] Next, in the figure, 4 is a painting robot, and this painting robot 4 is equipped with a spray gun 5 for spraying paint. In this invention, the type of painting robot 4 is not particularly limited, and it may be a stationary painting robot or a ceiling-mounted robot consisting of an arm suspended from the ceiling.

[0039] Furthermore, in the figure, 6 is a workpiece supply means, and with the workpiece attached to this workpiece supply means 6, paint is sprayed from the spray gun 5 toward the attached workpiece, thereby painting the workpiece. Therefore, during painting, the workpiece to be painted is positioned on the far side of the paint booth, that is, on the side opposite the opening 3, as seen from the painting robot 4.

[0040] In Figure 2, the work supply means 6 is configured such that a circular rotary table 7, capable of holding multiple workpieces and being rotatable, is provided at both ends of the support arm 8, and multiple workpieces are attached along the circumference of the rotary table 7.

[0041] Furthermore, the work supply means 6 of this embodiment is equipped with a rotating arm 9 that is rotatable around the location where the painting robot 4 is positioned, and the support arms 8 are connected to both ends of this rotating arm 9.

[0042] Furthermore, the rotating arm 9 allows for the attachment of a workpiece to the opposite side of the rotating table 7 while spraying paint towards a workpiece attached to the rotating table 7 located at the back of the paint booth, i.e., on the side opposite the opening, as viewed from the painting robot 4. This facilitates the exchange of workpieces by rotating the rotating arm 9. However, the form of the workpiece supply means 6 is not necessarily limited to the form shown in Figure 2; any form that allows for the attachment of a workpiece is acceptable.

[0043] Next, in the figure, 10 is a mist catcher for collecting over-mist that did not adhere to the workpiece. That is, as mentioned above, the paint used to paint the workpiece contains substances harmful to the human body, but some of the paint sprayed from the spray gun does not adhere to the workpiece and flows behind it, and this paint is generally called over-mist. If this over-mist is left unattended, it can harm those working in the painting room. Therefore, in the painting booth 1 of this embodiment, a mist catcher 10 is placed inside the painting booth 1, and outside air is supplied into the painting room 2 by an air supply device, and the outside air taken into the painting room 2 is also supplied into the painting booth 1, and inside the painting booth, the airflow of the taken-in outside air is directed in a certain direction toward the mist catcher, and the mist inside the painting room is collected by the mist catcher, and then the outside air supplied into the painting booth is exhausted to the outside.

[0044] Here, the air supply device for supplying outside air into the painting room 1 will be described. In Figure 1, 12 is the air supply device. In this embodiment, the air supply device 12, like the conventional air supply device described above, has a filter 13, a heat exchanger 14, a humidifier 15, and a fan 16 arranged in that order. By operating the heat exchanger 14, humidifier 15, and fan 16, outside air is drawn in, and this drawn-in outside air is adjusted to a predetermined temperature and humidity. This outside air, adjusted to the predetermined temperature and humidity, is then supplied to the inside of the painting room 2 via the air supply pipe 17 and filter unit 18. In the figure, 19 is the air conditioning heat source for adjusting the outside air to a predetermined temperature in the heat exchanger 14.

[0045] Next, in the paint booth 1, a mist catcher 10 is positioned at the back of the side opposite the opening 3, and an exhaust fan 11 is provided above the mist catcher 10. As a result, when outside air is supplied into the paint room 2 by the air supply device 12, and the mist catcher 10 and exhaust fan 11 are activated, the outside air supplied into the paint room 2 is supplied into the paint booth 1, and within the paint booth 1, the airflow of the supplied outside air is directed towards the back, the mist catcher 10 collects the mist inside the paint booth 1, and the outside air supplied into the paint booth 1 is discharged outside the paint booth 1 by the exhaust fan 11. Therefore, it is possible to prevent harmful paint mist from remaining inside the paint booth 1.

[0046] A mist catcher uses oil or water to capture paint mist, and its structure is not particularly limited. However, in this embodiment, the mist catcher 10 is equipped with a baffle plate for capturing mist, and oil is flowed through the baffle plate to capture excess mist. An exhaust passage is formed behind the baffle plate, a filter is placed in the middle of this exhaust passage, and the exhaust fan 11 is provided above the exhaust passage. However, as mentioned above, the structure of the mist catcher is not particularly limited, and any configuration is acceptable as long as it can capture excess mist. Also, since mist catchers are a well-known technology, a detailed explanation will be omitted.

[0047] Next, in the figure, 21 is a recirculation pipe that serves as a means of recirculation. Specifically, the exhaust fan 11 is connected to an exhaust pipe 20 for exhaust and a recirculation pipe 21 for recirculation, with the tip of the exhaust pipe 20 open to the outside of the paint booth 1. The tip of the recirculation pipe 21 is connected to the paint booth 1, thereby returning a portion of the exhaust from the exhaust fan 11 to the paint booth 1.

[0048] Now, let's explain how to return a portion of the exhaust from the exhaust fan 11 to the paint booth 1. In this embodiment, the side walls on both sides near the opening 3 in the paint booth 1 are made of two layers, thereby creating an air intake space within the side walls. The inner side of the two layers of side walls, that is, the side wall facing the interior of the paint booth 1, is perforated to form numerous perforated holes that serve as exhaust holes.

[0049] Furthermore, a filter unit 23 connected to the air intake space is connected to the ceiling portion of the air intake space in the side wall, and the tip of the recirculation pipe 21 is connected to this filter unit 23. As a result, a portion of the exhaust from the exhaust fan 11 is supplied to the air intake space formed in the side wall of the paint booth 1 via the recirculation pipe 21 and the filter unit 23, and is then returned to the inside of the paint booth 1 through punch holes formed on the side of the two-layered side wall facing the inside of the paint booth 1. Therefore, the amount of outside air taken into the paint room can be reduced by the amount of exhaust returned to the paint booth 1, thereby reducing the air conditioning energy required to adjust the temperature and humidity of the taken-in outside air.

[0050] Next, the operation of the paint booth 1 of this embodiment, which is configured as described above, will be explained. When painting a workpiece, the heat exchanger 14, humidifier 15, and fan 16 in the air supply device 12 are activated, and the mist catcher 10 and exhaust fan 11 are also activated, and paint is sprayed toward the workpiece in this state.

[0051] As a result, the outside air supplied into the painting room 2 by the air supply device 12 is supplied into the painting booth 1 by the action of the exhaust fan 11, and within the painting booth 1, it flows towards the mist catcher 10, passes through the mist catcher 10, and then passes through the exhaust fan 11.

[0052] Then, any excess mist generated during the painting of the workpiece is carried by the outside airflow through the paint booth 1 towards the mist catcher 10, where it is captured by the mist catcher 10.

[0053] On the other hand, some of the exhaust from the exhaust fan 11 is discharged to the outside of the paint booth 1 through the exhaust pipe 20, while the remaining portion is supplied to the inside of the paint booth 1 through the recirculation pipe 21. That is, some of the exhaust from the exhaust fan 11 is supplied to the filter unit 23 through the recirculation pipe 21, and then passes through this filter unit 23 to the air supply space formed in the side wall near the opening 3. Then, some of the exhaust supplied to the air supply space is returned to the paint booth 1 through punch holes formed in the side wall facing the inside of the paint booth 1.

[0054] Therefore, this makes it possible to reduce the amount of outside air supplied from the air supply device 12 by the amount of exhaust gas returned to the paint booth 1 through the recirculation pipe 21, thereby reducing air conditioning energy.

[0055] In this embodiment, since a portion of the exhaust from the paint booth 1 is recirculated back into the paint booth, it becomes unnecessary to prohibit workers from entering the paint room while a workpiece is being painted. This allows for tasks such as attaching unpainted workpieces to the workpiece supply means or transferring painted workpieces to the next process, even while a workpiece is being painted, thereby increasing work efficiency.

[0056] Furthermore, the exhaust gas returned through the recirculation pipe 21 is returned to the interior of the paint booth 1 from the side wall of the paint booth 1 through punch holes formed in the side wall, thus preventing the airflow at the spray area from being disturbed by the exhaust gas returned to the interior of the paint booth 1.

[0057] In this embodiment, the paint booth 1 is configured to be located inside the paint room 2. However, the paint booth does not necessarily have to be located inside the paint room; it only needs to have an opening that allows outside air supplied to the paint room to be taken in, and it may be located continuously with the paint room. [Industrial applicability]

[0059] In the paint booth of the present invention, by returning a portion of the exhaust from the paint booth back into the paint booth, air conditioning energy is reduced and a decrease in work efficiency is prevented, making it applicable to all paint booths that take in outside air for over-mist recovery. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0060] 1. Paint booth 2 Painting Room 3 Opening 4 Painting robots 5. Spray gun 6. Work supply means 7 Rotating Table 8 support arms 9 Rotating Arms 10 Mist Catchers 11 Exhaust fan 12. Air supply system 13 filters 14 Heat exchanger 15 Humidifier 16 Fans 17 Air supply pipe 18 filter units 19 Heat source 20 Exhaust pipe 21 Reflux pipe 23 Filter Unit

Claims

[Claim 1] A painting booth (1) is located inside or in a continuous area with a painting chamber (2) to which outside air is supplied by an air supply device (12), and is equipped with a painting robot (4) and a workpiece supply means (6) inside, and having an opening (3) that opens into the painting chamber (2), thereby being a continuous area communicating with the painting chamber (2), wherein outside air supplied by the air supply device, whose temperature and humidity have been adjusted to predetermined values, is supplied from the painting chamber (2) through the opening (3), and paint is applied to a workpiece attached to the workpiece supply means (6) by spraying paint from the painting robot (4), The painting booth (1) has a mist catcher (10) located at the back of the side opposite the opening (3) for collecting paint mist generated during painting of the workpiece, an exhaust fan (11) located above the mist catcher (10) for exhausting outside air supplied into the painting booth (1) to the outside, and a recirculation means for recirculating a portion of the outside air exhausted from the painting booth (1) via the exhaust fan (11) back into the painting booth (1). Thus, outside air supplied to the painting chamber (2) by the air supply device is supplied through the opening (3), and a portion of the outside air exhausted from the painting booth (1) via the exhaust fan is supplied by the recirculation means. The aforementioned recirculation means is a recirculation pipe (21) connected to the exhaust fan (11), In the aforementioned paint booth (1), the side walls on both sides near the opening (3) are made into two layers, thereby creating an air supply space within the side walls. Numerous punched holes are formed on the side of the two-layered side wall facing the interior of the paint booth (1), A filter unit (23) connected to the air supply space is connected to the ceiling portion of the air supply space in the side wall, and the tip of the return pipe (21) is connected to the filter unit (23). A paint booth characterized in that a portion of the outside air exhausted from the paint booth (1) via the exhaust fan (11) is supplied to the air supply space formed in the side wall via a recirculation pipe (21) and a filter unit (23), thereby returning the outside air to the inside of the paint booth (1) from the side wall through the punched holes.

Images