Multipart Paint Spray Gun Needle for Fast Tip Exchange
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing paint spray gun needles face challenges in rapid and precise exchange, leading to potential contamination and wear issues, which affect the spray pattern, and existing solutions are complex to manufacture and do not ensure axial alignment or prevent unintentional release.
Innovation Solution
A material needle design with a front and rear needle connected via an axial form-fitting connection, secured by a radially outer sliding bearing surface to prevent unintentional release, ensuring axial forces can be transmitted while allowing for easy release and reconnection, with features like tilting bearings and friction-reducing coatings for precise alignment and reduced wear.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If an exchangeable needle head with screw connection is used, then rapid exchange of needle tip is possible, but manufacturing complexity increases and axial alignment precision deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The material needle is divided into two separable parts: a reusable rear needle and an exchangeable front needle. The rear needle remains mounted in the paint spray gun while only the front needle (needle tip) needs to be exchanged. This segmentation enables rapid replacement of the contaminated or worn front needle without removing the entire material needle assembly, thus reducing needle exchange time while simplifying the overall system.
Solution Approach 2:
The front needle is extracted as a separate, removable component from the rear needle. The connection portion allows the front needle to be easily detached and replaced. This extraction principle enables the needle tip to be quickly removed and exchanged without affecting the rear needle or the paint spray gun itself, thereby reducing exchange time and operational downtime.
2Loss of time
If an exchangeable needle head with clamping sleeve is used, then rapid exchange of needle tip is possible, but axial alignment precision deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the material needle into front and rear parts with a dedicated connection portion, the design enables quick exchange of the front needle while maintaining precise axial alignment through the form-fitting connection geometry. The connection portion is designed with specific geometric features that ensure accurate repositioning of the front needle on the rear needle, preserving axial alignment precision despite the exchangeable design.
3Ease of operation
If a form-fitting connection is used to connect front and rear needles, then rapid exchange is possible, but unintentional release risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The connection portion is designed as a segmented interface between front and rear needles with form-fitting geometric features. This segmented design allows for tool-free, rapid exchange by simply pushing or pulling the front needle off the rear needle. The form-fitting geometry provides inherent positioning and connection stability during normal operation, enabling easy exchange while maintaining connection reliability through proper geometric interlocking.
Solution Approach 2:
The front needle is designed to be easily extracted from the rear needle through the connection portion without requiring tools or complex release mechanisms. The form-fitting connection allows for simple axial displacement to detach the front needle, enabling rapid exchange while the same geometric features prevent unintended release during normal spraying operations through proper mechanical interlocking.
4Reliability
If sliding bearing surface is added to prevent unintentional release, then connection reliability improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The sliding bearing surface is merged with the connection portion geometry rather than being a separate component. The radially outer sliding bearing surface is integrated into the form-fitting connection structure, combining the functions of connection, positioning, and prevention of unintentional release into a single geometric feature. This merging approach improves connection reliability while avoiding additional structural complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The connection portion is designed with multi-functionality, serving as both the mechanical connection interface and the sliding bearing surface. The same geometric features that enable form-fitting connection also provide the radially outer sliding bearing surface that prevents unintentional release. This universal design achieves improved connection reliability without adding separate components or increasing structural complexity.
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
Enables simple and rapid exchange of the needle tip with high manufacturing tolerances, preventing contamination and wear, ensuring precise alignment and reliable operation, and reducing the risk of unintentional release during use.
Implementation Method 1
a sliding bearing formed by a radially outer sliding bearing surface (8) of the front needle (4) and/or of the rear needle (5) for form-fitting interaction with a corresponding sliding surface (9') of the guide channel (F)
Implementation Method 2
The front needle (4) has spring tongues (14) on which the form-fitting elements (6a) are arranged, in particular in such a way that the spring tongues (14) of the front needle (4) do not touch the rear needle (5) in the connected state
Data Source
AI summary
A material needle is insertable into a guide channel of a spray gun and is displaceable along a longitudinal axis to open and close a nozzle opening of the spray gun material nozzle by a defined needle stroke movement. The material needle has front and rear needles which are releasably connected together to guide axial forces via an axial form-fitting connection. The axial form-fitting connection is formed by front form-fitting elements arranged on the front needle and rear form-fitting elements arranged on the rear needle. The front and/or rear form-fitting elements can be elastically deflected in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis to release the axial form-fitting connection. The axial form-fitting connection is secured against being released by a securing member which includes an externally sliding bearing surface of the front needle and/or the rear needle to interact with a corresponding sliding surface of the spray gun.