CN212167980U

CN212167980U - Device for coating the surface of a part

Info

Publication number: CN212167980U
Application number: CN201921683109.4U
Authority: CN
Inventors: A·茹韦特·维拉; X·佩尔皮尼亚·萨尔萨
Original assignee: Gilbao Ltd
Current assignee: Gilbao Ltd; Girbau SA
Priority date: 2018-10-10
Filing date: 2019-10-09
Publication date: 2020-12-18
Anticipated expiration: 2029-10-09
Also published as: EP3636349B1; ES1222534U; ES2877179T3; EP3636349A1; ES1222534Y

Abstract

An apparatus (1) for surface coating of a part is disclosed. The device (1) comprises: a housing (2), the housing (2) comprising a sealed chamber (3) containing a drum (4); a heating device (5); at least one water inlet conduit (6a) and one dye inlet conduit (6 b); a recovery tank (7); and a fluid recirculation circuit (7a) from the recovery tank (7) to the sealed chamber (3) and the drum (4). The capsule (3) comprises a first level sensor (30) connected to a first control device (9a) so that water breaks into the capsule (3) when a certain level is reached in the capsule (3), and the recovery tank (7) comprises at least one second level sensor (70) connected to both control devices (9a, 9b) so that water and dye break into the capsule (3) when the certain level is exceeded in the recovery tank (7).

Description

Device for coating the surface of a part

Technical Field

The present invention describes an apparatus for surface coating a component or part, which is mainly obtained based on additive manufacturing techniques (according to a method also commonly referred to as additive manufacturing), such as stereolithography (SL or SLA), Selective Laser Sintering (SLs), Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) or other 3D printing and/or rapid prototyping techniques.

Reference is made to surface coating on the part by applying a dye to the outer surface of the part by immersing the part in a water-based dye solution.

Background

There are a variety of processes and apparatuses that allow coating the surface of parts with a substrate such that these parts obtain an optimal and uniform (unified) visual appearance for decorative or aesthetic purposes and/or for modifying or improving the surface properties of the coated parts. Some of these processes include (among others) coatings based on:

-a Chemical Vapour Deposition (CVD) process,

-a Physical Vapour Deposition (PVD),

-applying a film substrate to the outer surface of the part,

using an aerosol or spray, or

-dipping into a dye solution,

the utility model relates to the latter. Dip coating involves manually or automatically dipping the part to be coated into a suitable sealed bath, chamber or container containing a dye solution at a predetermined temperature for a predetermined period of time.

Patent US 4,726,318 describes a device for coating parts with a dye solution, formed by a cylindrical dyeing bath with a fixed hollow shaft extending horizontally and axially through to eject the dye solution, and an auxiliary bath on which a cylindrical bath is rotatably mounted, into which the part is inserted; the auxiliary tank is directly connected to the bottom of the dyeing tank and integrates a heating device in which the mixing of the dye solution is carried out, and has a recirculation system connected to a hollow shaft.

The object of the present invention is to propose a new design of a device for improving the process of surface treatment of parts, simplifying the said process of combining and/or carrying out steps in a synchronized manner, reducing the dimensions of the network of ducts integrated into the device itself, besides comprising safety elements to ensure that the device works under optimal working conditions, while also preventing possible leaks or overflows of the dye solution and losses therein in the working cycle.

Disclosure of Invention

The utility model describes a device for carrying out surface coating of part, wherein, the device including: a housing comprising at least one sealed chamber containing a roller for introducing the part to be coated; a heating device; one or more water supply conduits; and at least one dye inlet conduit for entering the capsule and the drum, the water inlet conduit and the dye inlet conduit being controlled by a control unit by means of a first control device and a second control device; and a recovery box connected with the sealed cavity is arranged; and a fluid recirculation loop from the recovery tank to the seal chamber and the drum.

In a particular embodiment, the drum disposed inside the capsule has a cylindrical geometry, is mounted in a horizontal configuration, and has a plurality of perforations which allow the dye solution, which is the result of the pre-mixing of water and dye, to flow between the capsule and the inside of the drum where the parts are placed.

Once the parts and dye solution are inside the drum and the device is in working circulation, the drum can be in a standby position or a rest position, or preferably in a dynamic movement around a drive shaft operated by an actuator, wherein said dynamic movement is preferably selected from: an oscillating motion or a back and forth motion or a rotational motion. It has to be noted that the drive shaft of the drive roller is preferably coaxial with an imaginary central axis defined by the geometry of the roller.

These parts are introduced into the drum through a door and optionally placed in a bag or bag to prevent possible defects caused by the impact of the parts against the inner surface of the drum, causing scratches, cracks or indentations and other possible defects.

The utility model is characterized in that, this sealed chamber includes first level sensor, and this first level sensor is directly or indirectly connected to the first controlling means of water supply pipe for reach predetermined liquid level in airtight intracavity in order to carry out the cylinder water with when the best of dyestuff mixes, the aquatic is disconnected to get into sealed chamber and gets into the cylinder that the part of treating the coating will be introduced. The first level sensor of the capsule is preferably an analogue sensor and it can also be located inside the drum, instead of in the capsule, performing the same function.

Furthermore, the present invention also has at least one second level sensor integrated in the recovery tank installed below the housing of the device and connected directly or indirectly to the first and second control means of the at least one water inlet conduit and the at least one dye inlet conduit, so that when a specific level is exceeded in the recovery tank, adapted to its capacity, the water and dye are interrupted into the closed chamber and the drum, preventing possible leakage or overflow of the dye solution.

The described apparatus may also include a dye solution drain system located in the capsule comprising at least one outlet from the capsule, each outlet being controlled by a drain pump and a check valve, wherein each outlet of the drain system is connected to one or more water treatment tanks. The discharge system is automatically activated by the control unit once the dye solution has undergone or exceeded a predetermined number of duty cycles of dye solution circulation, or once the dye solution has exceeded a predetermined life span, after selection of a predetermined program stored in its memory.

Each drain pump associated with the outlet conduit is controlled by a level sensor integrated in at least one of the one or more water treatment tanks, so that it is activated or deactivated in accordance with a signal (indicative of whether the level of liquid in the tank is less than or equal to or greater than a predetermined maximum level) issued by the level sensor associated with said drain pump.

Furthermore, the heating means used in the device are preferably heating coils with two thermal contacts, controlled by programmable safety relays, which in a preferred embodiment are also included in the drum, although they may also be introduced in a sealed chamber, obtaining a similar heating effect. It has to be noted that the use of other equivalent heating means, such as radiator heat exchangers, will be obvious to a person skilled in the art and must be considered equivalent in view of achieving the same purpose.

In a preferred embodiment, the first control means of the water inlet conduit is a solenoid gate valve and the second control means of the dye water inlet conduit is a regulating pump.

The working principle of the device is as follows:

opening a solenoid valve regulating the passage of water to introduce water into the sealed chamber and the drum until a level sensor integrated in the drum or in the sealed chamber detects that the level of liquid accumulated in the drum is optimal and sends a signal to close the solenoid valve;

once the solenoid valve has been closed, the pump regulating the passage of the dye is activated for a predetermined time so as to introduce a predetermined quantity of dye into the drum, so as to obtain an optimal ratio of the dyeing bath.

Mixing water and dye in a drum, and optionally heating the mixture at a predetermined temperature to obtain a dye solution;

once the dye solution is obtained, it is discharged from the drum into a recovery tank in order to introduce the parts that have to be treated into the drum;

recirculating the dye solution from the recovery tank back into the drum by a recirculation pump to surface coat the part introduced into the drum, and repeating the operation over a plurality of work cycles; and

finally, once the service life of the dye solution is reached, the dye solution is discharged from the sealed chamber to the treatment tank through a discharge system.

Alternatively, once the dye solution is discharged from the drum into the treatment tank, a seal chamber cleaning procedure may be performed before the next working cycle is started.

Before, during or after initiating the duty cycle of the device, the user may select different programs stored in the memory of the device control unit, cause the device to operate automatically, and perform them according to the sequence of the selected programs. Some of the programs stored in the memory are:

a mixing procedure, in which a new dye solution is prepared by introducing water and dye into a drum for mixing.

The suggested service life of the dye solution is about 5 duty cycles or about one week in duration, provided that no more than 5 duty cycles are performed.

And ii, a regulating procedure for regulating the dye solution used, i.e. the solution is in the working conditions most suitable for use.

If a predetermined period of time (typically 1 to 2 days) has elapsed since the last duty cycle, the program will preheat the dye solution using a heating device included in the apparatus.

A coating procedure for coating parts under predetermined temperature conditions, preferably at least 50 ℃ (said temperature preferably being 60 ℃), followed by a rinse cycle.

Iv-a draining procedure for draining the dye solution once its service life has been reached and/or exceeded after a predetermined number of working cycles.

And vi, a cleaning program used for cleaning the sealing cavity, the recovery box and the conduit network after the dye solution is discharged.

Furthermore, it is also possible for the control unit to automatically select one of the programs stored in its memory, depending on the program selected by the user or the number of operating cycles previously performed in the other operation.

Preferably, the water introduced into the sealed chamber including the drum is water that has been heated, thereby reducing the use of the heating means included in the sealed chamber, reducing the power consumption of the apparatus, and limiting the use of the heating means only when the dye solution conditioning program is selected, in addition to accelerating the surface treatment process.

The dye may preferably be selected from the group comprising at least one of: a water-based liquid dye, powder or paint, colorant or other dye available to a user, preferably said water-based liquid dye.

Preferably, the dye used in the dye solution gives the final coating of the part a dark shade, mainly a black shade, and optionally a grey shade.

In a preferred embodiment, the dye solutions obtained from the mixture of water and dye each have a ratio of about 10: 1 under normal operating conditions. However, the ratio may vary depending on the dye used, the volume of the part to be coated, the geometry or design of the part, the nature of the surface coating, and/or the type of final surface coating to be obtained.

It will be understood that references to geometric positions, such as parallel, perpendicular, tangent, etc., allow a maximum deviation of ± 5 ° with respect to the theoretical position defined by the term.

It will be appreciated that the final value of any provided range of values may not be optimal and that modifications to the invention may be required so that the final value is applicable, such modifications being within the ability of those skilled in the art.

Other features of the invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the embodiments.

Drawings

The foregoing and other advantages and features will be better understood on the basis of the following detailed description of an embodiment with reference to the drawings, which must be interpreted in an illustrative and non-limiting manner, in which:

fig. 1 shows a schematic design of an embodiment of the device and the elements constituting the device.

Detailed Description

The drawings illustrate illustrative, but not limiting, embodiments of the invention.

Fig. 1 shows a schematic design of an embodiment of a device 1 for surface coating of parts and the elements constituting the device. Said device 1 is formed by an electronic control unit 8, a housing 2 (inside the housing 2 there is provided a sealed chamber 3), a water inlet conduit 6a and a dye inlet conduit 6b, wherein preferably the water is hot water and the dye is a water-based liquid dye, said conduit 6a is regulated by a first control means 9a (preferably a solenoid valve) and said conduit 6b is regulated by a second control means 9b (preferably a regulation/drive pump), both control means 9a, 9b being controlled by said control unit 8 according to signals captured by

level sensors

30, 70 and 12.

Inside the sealed chamber 3 is provided a drum 4, in which drum 4 the parts to be coated are arranged through a door (not shown in fig. 1) that provides access to the inside of the drum 4. In order to simplify the schematic representation of the device 1 shown in fig. 1, the drive shaft of the drum 4 or its actuator is not shown, nor is the imaginary geometric axis of the drum 4 shown.

The capsule 3 comprises a first level sensor 30, which first level sensor 30 is connected, directly or indirectly, to a solenoid valve which regulates the flow of water into the capsule 3 through a water inlet conduit 6 a.

Below the housing 2 of the device is mounted a recovery tank 7, which recovery tank 7 is connected to the sealed chamber 3 of the device by a recirculation circuit 7a formed by a plurality of pipes, which allows the dye solution in the device to be recirculated by a driving pump 7b mounted in the recirculation circuit 7 a. Furthermore, the recovery tank 7 has a second level sensor 70, the function of which is related to the prevention of possible leaks or spills, said sensor 70 being configured to detect whether the level of dye solution or fluid inside the tank 7 exceeds a predetermined maximum level. If this maximum level is exceeded, both control means 9a, 9b are switched off or locked to prevent further water or dye from entering the device 1, as it is directly or indirectly connected to both control means 9a, 9b controlled by the control unit 8.

The device 1 further comprises a discharge system 10 capable of discharging the dye solution once a predetermined number of working cycles have been carried out or the service life of said dye solution has been exceeded, said system having at least one outlet duct 10a coming out of the sealed chamber 3 comprising the drum 4. Wherein each outlet 10a has a discharge pump 10b and a check valve 10c arranged at the outlet of said discharge pump 10 b. As described above, there may be a plurality of outlet conduits 10a (not shown), wherein each outlet 10a directs the dye solution to a single water treatment tank 11 or water treatment tank 11 associated with each outlet conduit 10a to enable proper treatment of the dye solution.

In the preferred embodiment shown in fig. 1, the discharge system 10 comprises a single outlet conduit 10a from the capsule 3, which is divided into at least two branch conduits, each equipped with a discharge pump 10b and an associated non-return valve 10c, which regulate the flow of dye solution to a single water treatment tank 11 or, preferably, to different water treatment tanks 11, each water treatment tank 11 being connected independently to one of at least two branch conduits, the water treatment tanks 11 being arranged in a remote position with respect to the device 1.

Irrespective of the number of water treatment tanks 11, each tank 11 has a third level sensor 12 for regulating the flow of dye solution from the device 1 to the tank 11 through at least one outlet conduit 10a to prevent possible spillage, said third level sensor 12 being connected, directly or indirectly, to each discharge pump 10b of each outlet conduit 10a, said discharge pump 10b being determined, whether it is necessary to activate or deactivate, depending on the signal emitted by the third level sensor 12, which signal indicates whether the maximum safety level is reached and/or exceeded, in which case the discharge pump 10b will be deactivated, so as to prevent the dye solution from reaching the water treatment tank 11 through the outlet conduit 10a until the level of the liquid in the tank 11 drops.

It must be noted that any other possible configuration of the discharge system 10 described above, whether it be the number of outlet conduits 10a, the number of water treatment tanks 11, or the final distribution between the outlet conduits 10a and the water treatment tanks 11, must be considered equivalent to the described configuration, except as will be apparent to the skilled person.

In this particular embodiment, the water inlet conduit 6a, the dye inlet conduit 6b, the recirculation loop 7a and the outlet conduit 10a are directly connected to the capsule 3 inside the device 1, the capsule 3 housing the drum 3.

It will be understood that the different parts constituting the invention described in one embodiment may be freely combined with the parts described in the other different embodiments, even if said combination is not explicitly described, as long as the combination does not imply any disadvantages.

Claims

1. A device (1) for surface coating of parts, wherein the device (1) comprises a housing (2), the housing (2) comprising at least:

-a sealed chamber (3) containing a roller (4), said roller (4) introducing the piece to be coated;

-heating means (5);

-at least one water inlet duct (6a) and one dye inlet duct (6b) for entering the sealed chamber (3) and the drum (4); and

-a recovery tank (7) communicating with the sealed chamber (3) and a fluid recirculation circuit (7a) from the recovery tank (7) to the sealed chamber (3) and to the drum (4),

wherein the at least one water inlet conduit (6a) and dye inlet conduit (6b) are operated by a control unit (8) by means of a first control device (9a) and a second control device (9b),

characterized in that said sealed chamber (3) comprises a first level sensor (30), said first level sensor (30) being directly or indirectly connected to said first control means (9a) of the at least one water inlet conduit (6a) so as to interrupt the water entering the sealed chamber (3) when a specific level adapted to its capacity is reached inside the sealed chamber (3), and in that the recovery tank (7) comprises at least one second level sensor (70), said second level sensor (70) being directly or indirectly connected to the first control means (9a) and to the second control means (9b) of the at least one water inlet conduit (6a) and of the at least one dye inlet conduit (6b) so as to interrupt the water and the dye entering the sealed chamber (3) when the specific level adapted to its capacity is exceeded inside the recovery tank (7).

2. Device (1) for the surface coating of parts according to claim 1, further comprising a drainage system (10) of said sealed chamber (3), said drainage system (10) comprising at least one outlet (10a) of said sealed chamber (3), each outlet (10a) being controlled by a drainage pump (10b), wherein each outlet (10a) of the drainage system (10) is connected to one or more water treatment tanks (11).

3. Device (1) for the surface coating of parts according to claim 2, characterized in that each discharge pump (10b) is automatically activated by the control unit (8) as soon as the mixture of water and dye is subjected to a predetermined plurality of recycles.

4. Device (1) for the surface coating of parts according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that each drain pump (10b) is controlled by a third level sensor (12) integrated in said one or more water treatment tanks (11).

5. Device (1) for the surface coating of parts according to claim 1, characterized in that said first level sensor (30) of the sealed chamber (3) is an analog sensor.

6. Device (1) for the surface coating of parts according to claim 1, characterized in that said drum (4) has a cylindrical geometry.

7. Device (1) for the surface coating of parts according to claim 1 or 6, characterized in that said drum (4) performs an oscillating or rotating movement around a drive shaft operated by an actuator.

8. Device (1) for the surface coating of parts according to claim 7, characterized in that said drive shaft is horizontal and coaxial to a central axis defined by the geometry of the drum (4).

9. Device (1) for the surface coating of parts according to claim 1, characterized in that said heating means (5) are formed by a heating coil with two thermal contacts, controlled by a programmable safety relay.

10. Device (1) for the surface coating of parts according to claim 1 or 9, characterized in that said heating means (5) are comprised within said drum (4).

11. Device (1) for the surface coating of parts according to claim 1, characterized in that the first control means (9a) of said at least one water inlet duct (6a) is a solenoid gate valve and in that the second control means (9b) of said at least one dye inlet duct (6b) is a pump.