Spray Gun Cup Liner with Segmented Compartments
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Solution Overview
Problem
Painters face issues with mixing separate liquid paint components that initiate a chemical reaction, leading to hardening, and excess paint waste due to the need for pre-mixing larger quantities to ensure enough material for a project, as existing cup liners do not effectively keep fluids separate before use with a spray gun.
Innovation Solution
A cup liner with a fluid reservoir portion divided into compartments to keep separate fluids from mixing, connected to a fitting that allows controlled dispensing of each fluid through the spray gun, preventing premature reaction and enabling storage and reuse of leftover paint.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If separate liquid paint components are mixed before placement in the cup, then the painting process can proceed, but the mixture hardens after a limited time and any leftover paint must be thrown away
Solution Approach 1:
The cup liner is divided into multiple separate compartments that physically isolate different paint components from each other. Each compartment can hold a separate liquid component without mixing, allowing painters to store multiple components in one cup and mix them only when needed at the spray gun, thereby eliminating waste from premature mixing
2Quantity of substance
If painters mix larger quantities of paint materials to ensure enough mixture for a project, then sufficient paint is available, but excess mixture that is not used must be discarded due to hardening
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the cup into multiple compartments, painters can store exactly the required amount of each individual component without needing to over-mix. The components remain separate and can be dispensed in controlled proportions, allowing precise quantity control and eliminating the need to discard excess mixed paint
Solution Approach 2:
The invention enables recovery of unused paint components by keeping them separate in compartments. Since components don't mix until dispensing, any unused components remain in their original state and can be saved for future use, rather than being lost in a hardened mixture
3Device complexity
If a single compartment cup liner is used, then the structure is simple, but it cannot keep separate fluids from mixing before use
Solution Approach 1:
The cup liner incorporates multiple compartments separated by dividers, creating a multi-chamber structure within a single liner. This segmentation allows reliable separation of multiple fluid components while maintaining the simplicity of a disposable liner format, solving the contradiction between structural simplicity and functional reliability
Data Source
AI summary
A cup liner for a cup of a spray gun includes a fluid reservoir portion that defines a reservoir and includes a divider portion dividing the reservoir into two or more compartments. Each compartment contains a fluid to be dispensed by the spray gun and keeps the fluids separated from fluids held by other compartments. In addition, a fitting for a spray gun includes two or more inlet interfaces and an outlet interface. Each inlet interface couples to a fluid source and the outlet couples to the spray gun such that the fitting provides fluid communication between each fluid source and the spray gun. This permits the spray gun to spray a mixture of the fluids.