Coating Application Head with Overlapping Aerosol Jets
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing coating application technologies, such as pneumatic guns and rotating bowls, suffer from low precision and high 'overspray' issues, resulting in inefficient paint deposition with up to 20% of the paint being applied outside the desired area.
Innovation Solution
A head with multiple nozzles that create overlapping aerosol jets with smaller droplet diameters, reducing unwanted deposition and increasing precision by combining droplets from adjacent jets, while allowing for wide surface coverage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a single spray nozzle is used to spray paint in a wide jet of aerosol, then the application speed is high and large surface area can be coated, but the precision of paint application is poor and overspray occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The single spray nozzle is divided into multiple spray nozzles (at least two, preferably three or more) arranged in an array. Each nozzle creates a separate aerosol jet, allowing the wide coating area to be achieved through multiple smaller jets instead of one large jet, thereby reducing overspray while maintaining high application speed.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple aerosol jets from adjacent spray nozzles are allowed to overlap and merge as they travel toward the surface. The droplets from different jets combine in the air, creating a unified coating pattern that covers the entire target area with precise control, eliminating the need for a single large nozzle that would cause excessive overspray.
2Area of stationary object
If a single spray nozzle creates a wide aerosol jet, then large surface area can be coated, but up to 20% of the paint is deposited outside the desired area
Solution Approach 1:
The coating task is segmented into multiple smaller aerosol jets from individual nozzles. Each jet has a narrower spread pattern, and by controlling the spacing and orientation of multiple nozzles, the total coated area covers the required surface while minimizing paint deposition outside the target zone.
Solution Approach 2:
Each spray nozzle is independently controlled to create aerosol jets with specific local characteristics. The nozzles are positioned and oriented so that their aerosol jets overlap in a controlled manner, ensuring that paint is deposited precisely where needed while reducing overall overspray loss.
3Manufacturing precision
If multiple spray nozzles are used to create overlapping aerosol jets, then deposition efficiency is improved and overspray is reduced, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The spray system is segmented into multiple simple nozzle units that can be mass-produced and arranged in standardized patterns. This modular approach increases precision through multiple jets while keeping individual nozzle complexity low and facilitating easier manufacturing and maintenance.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution enhances deposition efficiency and precision, reducing 'overspray' and enabling high-quality, wide-area coating applications with improved control over paint placement.
Implementation Method 1
each adapted to project the coating product in the form of an aerosol jet, by simultaneously creating several droplets whose diameter is smaller than the diameter of the outlet orifice of the spray nozzle
Implementation Method 2
one or more additional spray nozzles, distinct from the spray nozzles, the additional spray nozzles being adapted to generate a drop-by-drop jet of coating product
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~3
Figure 4
AI summary
This application head (6) for a coating product on a surface (S) to be coated, includes at least two spray nozzles (60) for the coating product, each adapted to project the coating product in the form of an aerosol jet (61), simultaneously creating several droplets whose diameter is less than the diameter (D) of the outlet orifice of the spray nozzle (60).