Coating Head Attitude Tilt for Residual Material Flushing
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing coating machines face challenges in thoroughly and quickly flushing out residual coating material from the coating head due to its complex structure and the short time available between coating vehicle bodies, leading to potential color mixing and reduced efficiency during color changes.
Innovation Solution
A coating machine with a robot arm and a cleaning system that tilts the coating head and supplies cleaning liquid through a controlled attitude change, combined with vibration, to facilitate the removal of residual material, utilizing a supply passage and return flow passage configuration to efficiently direct the cleaning liquid and improve flushing efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If cleaning liquid is supplied through the supply passage to flush residual coating material, then cleaning is performed, but the cleaning is not thorough enough due to the complex structure of the coating head
Solution Approach 1:
The coating head attitude is dynamically changed from a horizontal specified attitude to a tilted attitude during cleaning. The arm control unit controls the robot arm to tilt the coating head, enabling cleaning liquid to flow through flow passages more effectively and flush out residual coating material from difficult-to-reach areas, thereby improving cleaning effectiveness without modifying the complex coating head structure.
2Productivity
If cleaning operation is performed quickly to meet production schedule, then productivity is maintained, but residual coating material is not thoroughly flushed out
Solution Approach 1:
The coating head attitude is dynamically adjusted to a tilted position during cleaning, which enhances the flushing effect of cleaning liquid. This allows thorough cleaning to be achieved in a shorter time period, thereby maintaining high productivity while ensuring complete removal of residual coating material.
Solution Approach 2:
The cleaning system utilizes hydraulic flow of cleaning liquid through the supply passage and flow passages. By tilting the coating head, the hydraulic action of cleaning liquid is optimized to quickly flush out residual coating material, achieving both speed and thoroughness in cleaning operation.
3Reliability
If the coating head maintains a fixed attitude during cleaning, then control is simple, but residual coating material remains in the flow passages
Solution Approach 1:
The coating head attitude is changed from a fixed horizontal position to a tilted position during cleaning operation. The arm control unit automatically controls the robot arm to achieve this attitude change, which facilitates complete removal of residual coating material from flow passages. The automated control minimizes operational complexity while improving cleaning effectiveness.
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
This approach allows for quick and thorough removal of residual coating material, reducing cleaning time and improving efficiency during color changes, thereby enhancing the overall performance and reliability of the coating process.
Implementation Method 1
a coating head that ejects a predetermined amount of droplets of coating material from each of a plurality of nozzles provided on the nozzle forming surface (ejection surface) towards the vehicle body, for example, by driving a piezo element or other piezoelectric device
Implementation Method 2
a cleaning liquid supply unit which supplies cleaning liquid to the coating head via the supply passage
Implementation Method 3
the arm control unit controls the driving of the robot arm during cleaning of the coating head so as to change the attitude of the coating head from a specified attitude to a tilted attitude in which the ejection surface is tilted relative to the horizontal plane
Data Source
Figure 1(a)~1(b)
Figure 2(a)~2(b)
Figure 3
AI summary
[Problem] To quickly and thoroughly flush out residual coating material remaining in a coating head. [Solution] The coating machine of the present invention is a coating machine comprising an inkjet type coating head having an ejection surface on which a plurality of nozzles for ejecting coating material are provided, the coating machine comprising: a robot arm comprising a plurality of arm members at least including an arm member that holds the coating head; an arm control unit that controls the position and attitude of the coating head by driving the robot arm; a supply passage for supplying coating material to the coating head; a cleaning liquid supply unit which supplies cleaning liquid to the coating head via the supply passage; and a cleaning control unit which controls the cleaning liquid supply unit, wherein the arm control unit controls the driving of the robot arm during cleaning of the coating head so as to change the attitude of the coating head from a specified attitude to a tilted attitude in which the ejection surface is tilted relative to the horizontal plane, and the cleaning control unit drives the cleaning liquid supply unit to supply cleaning liquid to the supply passage in a state where the attitude of the cleaning head has been changed.