EP3804863A1 - Application method and application system - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to an application method for applying a coating agent, in particular a lacquer, a sealant, a release agent or an adhesive, to a component (6), in particular to a motor vehicle body component. The application method comprises the following steps: delivery of a coating agent jet (5) from an application device (2) and positioning of the application device (2) relative to the component (6) with a certain application distance (d) between the application device (2) and the component ( 6), so that the coating agent jet (5) strikes the component (6) and coats the component (6). It is proposed that the application distance (d) is smaller than the disintegration length (L _ZERFALL) of the coating agent jet (5) so that the coating agent jet (5) strikes the component (6) with its contiguous area . The invention also relates to a corresponding application system.

Description

The invention relates to an application method and an application system for applying a coating agent (e.g. paint, sealant, release agent, adhesive, functional layer) to a component (e.g. a motor vehicle body component).

Out DE 10 2010 019 612 A1 a coating method is known in which a jet of droplets of the coating agent is generated which impinges on the component surface to be coated. The droplet disintegration of the initially continuous coating agent jet is specifically forced by coupling in vibrations so that the disintegration length of the coating agent jet is smaller than the painting distance, ie the distance between the application device and the component surface.

However, this known application method by means of a jet of droplets is not yet completely satisfactory.

Furthermore, reference should be made to the state of the art DE 38 35 078 C2 and DE 10 2009 004 878 A1 .

The invention is therefore based on the object of creating a correspondingly improved application method and a corresponding application system.

This object is achieved by an application method according to the invention and a corresponding application system in accordance with the independent claims solved.

The invention includes the general technical teaching, not the droplet disintegration - as in DE 10 2010 019 612 A1 - to force it in a targeted manner by coupling in vibrations, but to use the continuous area of the coating agent jet for coating. In the context of the invention, the application distance (ie the distance between the outlet opening of the application device on the one hand and the component surface to be coated on the other hand) is therefore selected to be smaller than the disintegration length of the coating agent jet, ie the length of the continuous area of the coating agent jet between the outlet opening of the application device on the one hand and the end of the continuous area at the transition to the drop disintegration. This has the consequence that the coating agent jet strikes the component with its coherent area, which leads to a better coating result.

In the application method according to the invention, in accordance with the prior art described at the beginning, a coating agent jet is output from an application device, the coating agent jet initially having an area that is contiguous in the jet direction after exiting the application device until it reaches a disintegration length Disintegration length after exiting the application device according to the laws of nature ("natural disintegration according to Rayleigh") disintegrates into droplets that are separated from one another in the direction of the jet.

The term coating agent jet used in the context of the invention includes both one and more coating agent jets, however, in the following for the sake of simplicity, only the singular form is used. The coating agent jet is to be distinguished from a coating agent mist, as it is emitted, for example, by conventional rotary atomizers. Thus, the coating agent jet according to the invention is characterized by a coherent cross section, a widening angle that is small compared to an atomization mist, and a very small lateral expansion, which is particularly important in the case of detailed painting.

In addition, the application method according to the invention, in accordance with the prior art described at the beginning, provides that the application device is positioned relative to the component to be coated (e.g. motor vehicle body component) with a certain application distance between the application device and the component, so that the coating agent jet hits the component and the component is coated.

By appropriately positioning the application device relative to the component, a detailed painting is also possible in this way, since the cross section of the coating agent jet is relatively small and defined. It is therefore also possible to selectively coat only a correspondingly small area of the component surface.

Alternatively, however, it is also possible for the component to be coated flatly with the coating agent, in that the coating agent jet traverses the component surface in several adjacent or overlapping paths.

The application method according to the invention differs from the prior art described at the beginning in that that the application distance is selected to be smaller than the disintegration length of the coating agent jet, so that the coating agent jet strikes the component with its coherent area. In the known prior art described at the outset, individual droplets of the coating agent hit the component surface, whereas according to the invention a continuous jet of coating agent hits the component.

The term coating agent used in the context of the invention is to be understood in general terms and includes, for example, paint (e.g. basecoat, clearcoat), sealant, release agent, functional layer and adhesive. In a preferred exemplary embodiment of the invention, however, detailed painting is provided, with a paint being applied. The functional layer category includes all layers that result in surface functionalization, such as adhesion promoters, primers, stone chip protection or layers to reduce transmission.

For example, the coating agent jet can apply a pattern to the component, such as a strip (e.g. design strips, decorative strips). The term pattern used in the context of the invention is, however, to be understood in a general way and not restricted to stripes. For example, the pattern can also be a graphic, such as a silhouette of a jumping horse on a bonnet or a checkered flag on a roof surface of a motor vehicle body.

With the application method according to the invention, in contrast to conventional atomization methods by means of rotary atomizers, a pattern with sharp edges can be achieved, which for a high quality appearance is important. On the one hand, the term of a sharp-edged pattern used in the context of the invention means that the edge of the pattern has only very slight deviations from a given edge profile, which are preferably smaller than 3 mm, 1 mm, 0.5 mm, 0.2 mm or even 0.1 mm. On the other hand, the term “pattern with sharp edges” used in the context of the invention also means that outside of the coated pattern no coating agent splashes hit the component surface.

It has already been mentioned briefly above that the application method according to the invention is also suitable for flat component coating. In this case, the coating agent jet can be moved over the component several times, with a coating agent strip being applied in each case. In this way, by guiding the jet of coating agent in a meandering manner, numerous parallel coating agent paths can be applied.

In a variant of the invention, the individual coating agent webs run into one another after application and then form a uniform strip or a uniform coating agent layer.

In another variant of the invention, on the other hand, the individual coating agent webs do not run into one another, but rather form two or more separate strips in the finished state.

It has already been mentioned briefly above that the term pattern used in the context of the invention is preferably based on a strip that is applied to the component surface. With the application method according to the invention extremely narrow strips can advantageously be applied which can have a width of less than 1 m, 10 cm, 5 cm, 2 cm, 1 cm, 5 mm, 2 mm, 1 mm, 400 μm or even less than 200 μm. However, the individual strip preferably has a width of at least 100 μm, 200 μm, 400 μm, 1 mm, 2 mm, 5 mm, 1 cm, 2 cm, 5 cm, 10 cm or even 1 m.

In the preferred exemplary embodiment of the invention, the application device emits not just a single jet of coating agent, but rather a plurality of jets of coating agent which are aligned essentially parallel to one another. The distance between the directly adjacent coating agent jets is preferably so large that the directly adjacent coating agent jets between the application device and the component do not unite, but instead strike the component surface as separate coating agent jets, but still unite on the component to form a surface.

A plurality of application nozzles, which have a specific nozzle inside diameter and are arranged at a specific nozzle spacing, are preferably provided for the delivery of the individual jets of coating agent. To avoid a unification of adjacent jets of coating agent between the application nozzles and the component surface, the nozzle spacing between the directly adjacent application nozzles is preferably at least three, four or six times the nozzle inside diameter.

The individual application nozzles are preferably arranged together in a perforated plate, which enables inexpensive production.

In addition, within the scope of the invention there is the possibility that the individual application nozzles or areas with several nozzles can be controlled independently of one another, so that the coating agent jets emerging from the individual application nozzles have different operating parameters. For example, the exit speed of the coating agent from the application nozzles, the type of coating agent or the volume flow of the exiting coating agent can be set individually for the individual application nozzles or areas.

It has already been mentioned above that the application device is moved relative to the component during the application of the coating agent, so that the coating agent jet travels a corresponding path with its point of impact on the component surface.

In a variant of the invention, the application device can be arranged in a stationary manner while the component is being moved. The speed of movement is preferably at least 10 cm / s, 50 cm / s, 1 m / s, 1.5 m / s and at most 10 m / s, 5 m / s or at most 1 m / s. This variant is already off in itself EP 1 745 858 A2 known, so that the content of this patent application is to be fully attributed to the present description with regard to the relative movement of the application device and the component.

In another variant of the invention, on the other hand, the component is arranged in a stationary manner while the application device is moved. Here, the movement speed is preferably at least 10 cm / s, 20 cm / s, 30 cm / s, 50 cm / s, 1 m / s or at least 2 m / s and at most 250 cm / s, 700 mm / s, 500 mm / s or at most 100 mm / s.

Furthermore, the relative movement between the application device and the component to be coated can be achieved by moving both the application device and the component to be coated.

It has already been briefly mentioned above that the application device is moved over the component surface relative to the component, so that the coating agent jet travels a path with its point of impact on the component surface, which is then coated with the coating agent. In this case, there is the possibility that the jet of coating agent is briefly switched off or interrupted during the movement of the path on the component surface and then switched on again or continued so that the path that has been traveled has a gap on the component surface that is not coated with the coating agent. In the context of the invention, the coating agent jet can be moved so slowly over the component surface and switched on or off so quickly that a spatial resolution of finer than 5 mm, 2 mm or 1 mm is achieved on the component. This is particularly advantageous when painting a sample in detail.

One advantage of the application method according to the invention is the avoidance of overspray or the increase in the application efficiency, ie the proportion of the applied coating agent that is actually deposited on the component surface. The coating agent jet is therefore preferably only switched on when the coating agent jet actually strikes the component surface. When coating a component with a lateral edge, the application device is therefore preferably moved to the edge in a lateral direction with the coating agent jet switched off. The coating agent jet is only switched on when the application device is over the edge, so that the switched-on coating agent jet actually hits the component. The application device is then moved over the component to be coated along the component surface to be coated in order to apply a corresponding path of the coating agent. The jet of coating agent is then switched off again when the application device is moved over a lateral edge of the component to be coated, since the jet of coating agent would then no longer impinge on the component surface.

To enable the coating agent jet to be switched on and off appropriately, the spatial positions of the component to be coated and of the application device are preferably recorded in order to be able to deduce from this whether the coating agent jet would strike the component surface. The jet of coating agent is preferably switched off when the detected positions of the component and application device indicate that the jet of coating agent would not impinge on the component surface. The coating agent jet, on the other hand, can preferably only be switched on if the detected positions of the component and application device indicate that the coating agent jet would actually strike the component surface.

The above-mentioned position detection can take place, for example, by means of a camera, an ultrasonic sensor, an inductive or capacitive sensor or by means of a laser sensor. However, there is also the possibility that the positions of the component and application device are read out from a machine or robot controller, provided that the component and the application device are positioned by a machine or a robot.

It has already been mentioned above that the application method according to the invention enables a high application efficiency, which can be, for example, greater than 80%, 90%, 95% or even greater than 99%, so that essentially all of the applied coating agent is completely deposited on the component without creating a significant amount of overspray.

In addition, the application method according to the invention also enables a relatively high surface coating performance of at least 0.5 m ² / min, 1 m ² / min or 3 m ² / min. The surface coating performance can be increased almost at will by increasing the number of application nozzles in the application device accordingly.

In addition, it should be mentioned that the coating agent jet should be prevented from bouncing off the component again after hitting the component, since this would lead to disruptive coating agent splashes that prevent sharp-edged painting. The volume flow of the applied coating agent and thus the exit speed of the coating agent are therefore preferably set in such a way that the coating agent does not bounce off the component after it hits the component.

The exit speed of the coating agent is preferably at least 5 m / s, 7 m / s or 10 m / s and at most 30 m / s, 20 m / s or 10 m / s.

The application distance between the outlet opening of the application device on the one hand and the component surface on the other hand is preferably at least 4 mm, 10 mm or at least 40 mm and preferably at most 200 mm or 100 mm.

It should also be mentioned that the application device is preferably moved by means of a multi-axis robot, which can have serial or parallel kinematics. Such robots are known per se from the prior art and therefore do not need to be described in more detail.

Furthermore, it has already been mentioned briefly above that the coating agent can be a lacquer, which can be, for example, a base lacquer, a clear lacquer, an effect lacquer, a micro lacquer or a metallic lacquer. It should also be mentioned here that the coating agent can optionally be a water-based varnish or a solvent-based varnish.

It should also be mentioned that, within the scope of the invention, the coating agent jet can preferably be switched on or off with a switching time of less than 50 ms, 20 ms, 10 ms, 5 ms or 1 ms. The switching time is defined here as the minimum time required to switch off the coating agent jet and then switch it on again or switch it on and then switch it off again.

In addition to the application method described above, the invention also includes a corresponding application system, as can already be seen from the description above, so that a separate description of the application system can be dispensed with.

• Figur 1 eine schematische Darstellung einer herkömmlichen Applikationsanlage,
• Figur 2 eine schematische Darstellung eines Ausführungsbeispiels einer erfindungsgemäßen Applikationsanlage,
• Figuren 3A-3C und 4A-4C verschiedene Darstellungen von randscharfen bzw. nicht randscharfen Streifen eines Beschichtungsmittels,
• Figur 5 eine Darstellung eines Beschichtungsmittelstreifens zur Verdeutlichung der Randschärfe,
• Figuren 6A-6D schematische Darstellungen zum Einschalten bzw. Ausschalten des Beschichtungsmittelstrahls bei einer Bauteillackierung, sowie
• Figur 7 ein Flussdiagramm entsprechend den Figuren 6A-6D.

Other advantageous developments of the invention are characterized in the subclaims or are explained in more detail below together with the description of the preferred exemplary embodiments of the invention with reference to the figures. Show it:

• Figure 1 a schematic representation of a conventional application system,
• Figure 2 a schematic representation of an embodiment of an application system according to the invention,
• Figures 3A-3C and 4A-4C various representations of sharp-edged or non-sharp-edged stripes of a coating agent,
• Figure 5 a representation of a coating agent strip to illustrate the edge sharpness,
• Figures 6A-6D schematic representations for switching on and switching off the coating agent jet when painting components, as well as
• Figure 7 a flow chart corresponding to the Figures 6A-6D .

Figure 1 shows a conventional application system such as that shown in, for example DE 10 2010 019 612 A1 is known. In this case, an application technology 1 supplies an application device 2 with the necessary media, such as the coating agent to be applied, which can be a lacquer, for example.

The application device 2 has a perforated plate 3 in which numerous application nozzles 4 are formed. Each of the application nozzles 4 of the perforated plate 3 emits a respective jet of coating agent _{5, the coating agent jets} 5, immediately after exiting the application nozzles 4, initially being contiguous over a disintegration length L DECAY in the direction of the jet and then subsequently disintegrating into droplets, the droplet disintegration being specifically forced in this conventional application system by coupling in vibrations.

The application device 2 is positioned at an application distance d relative to a component 6 to be coated, the positioning being carried out in such a way that the application _distance d is greater than the disintegration length L DECAY. This means that the coating agent jets 5 do not impinge on the component 6 with their continuous area, but rather as a series of droplets.

Figure 2 shows a modification of the conventional application system according to FIG Figure 1 towards the invention. The application system according to the invention according to Figure 2 partially coincides with the conventional application system described above, so that reference is made to the above description to avoid repetition, the same reference symbols being used for corresponding details.

A special feature of the application system according to the invention is that the application device 2 is positioned relative to the component 6 in such a way that the application _distance d is smaller than the disintegration length L DECAY. This means that the coating agent jets 5 strike the surface of the component 6 with their area that is contiguous in the jet direction, which leads to a better painting result.

In addition, the droplet disintegration of the coating agent jets 5 is not specifically forced by coupling in vibrations, since the droplet disintegration is precisely to be prevented within the scope of the invention.

The application system according to the invention enables the application of patterns with sharp edges, as in FIGS Figures 3A-3C and 4A-4C is shown and is explained below.

So shows Figure 3A a sharp-edged strip, as shown in accordance with the application system according to the invention Figure 2 can be applied to the component 6.

The Figures 3B and 3C however, show embodiments of conventional strips with more or less frayed edges of the strip.

The Figures 4A-4C likewise do not show any sharp-edged stripes but rather unsuitable stripes with coating agent splashes to the side of the actual stripe.

Figure 5 shows a schematic representation of a strip 7 to clarify the edge sharpness of the strip 7. Thus, the strip 7 has a maximum deviation a compared to a given edge profile, the deviation a within the scope of the invention preferably being less than 3 mm, 1 mm or 0.5 mm. In this way, for example, decorative strips with a high quality impression can be produced on a motor vehicle body.

The Figures 6A-6D show in schematic form the application of a paint web to a component 9, the component 9 being laterally bounded by two edges 10, 11.

The coating agent webs are applied by means of an application device 12, the application device 12 being able to emit coating agent jets 13, as has already been described above.

The application device 12 is first moved laterally towards the component 9, as in FIG Figure 6A is shown, wherein the coating agent jet 13 is initially still switched off, since the coating agent jet 13 would not impinge on the component 9 if the application device 12 is still to the side next to the edge 10 of the component 9.

When passing the edge 10 of the component 9, the coating agent jet 13 is then switched on, as in FIG Figure 6B is shown.

Then the application device 12 is then guided with the switched-on coating agent jet 13 over the surface of the component 9, as in FIG Figure 6C is shown.

When passing the opposite edge 11 of the component 9, the coating agent jet 13 is then switched off again, as in FIG Figure 6D is shown, since the coating agent jet 13 would no longer impinge on the surface of the component 9 if the application device 12 were subsequently moved further over the edge 11 of the component 9.

By switching the coating agent jet 13 on and off, an extremely high application efficiency can be achieved with almost no overspray.

The precise switching on and off of the coating agent jet 13 is made possible here by the positions of the application device 12 and the component 9 by means of a camera sensor 14 can be detected.

As already mentioned, instead of a camera sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, an inductive or capacitive sensor or a laser sensor can be used, which can be fixed in the vicinity of the application device and the component, but can also be moved along with the application device.

Figure 7 shows the operating method of the application system according to the invention according to the various stages in FIG Figures 6A-6D in a corresponding flow chart.

The invention is not restricted to the preferred exemplary embodiments described above. Rather, a large number of variants and modifications are possible which also make use of the inventive concept and therefore fall within the scope of protection. In particular, the invention also claims protection for the subject matter and the features of the subclaims regardless of the claims referred to in each case. The invention thus also includes variants of the invention in which the application device does not have a plurality of application nozzles and in which the volume flow of the individual application nozzles cannot be controlled independently of one another.

List of reference symbols:

1

Application technology

2

Application device

3

Perforated plate

4th

Application nozzles

5

Coating agent blasting

6th

Component

7th

Stripes

8th

Preset edge course

9

Component

10

Edge

11

Edge

12th

Application device

13th

Coating agent blasting

14th

Camera sensor

15th

uncoated substrate

a

Deviation from the specified edge course

d

Application distance

LZERFALL

Decay length

Claims (17)

Application method for applying a coating agent, in particular a lacquer, a sealant, a release agent, a functional layer or an adhesive, to a component (6; 9), in particular to a motor vehicle body component, with the following steps: a) delivery of a coating agent jet (5; 13) from an application device (2; 12), a1) wherein the coating agent jet (5; 13) after exiting the application _device (2; 12), preferably until it reaches a disintegration length (L DECAY), initially has a region that is contiguous in the direction of the jet, _{a2) whereupon the coating agent jet} (5; 13) after the disintegration length (L DECAY) after exiting the application device (2; 12) preferably disintegrates into droplets which are separated from one another in the direction of the jet, b) Positioning the application device (2; 12) relative to the component (6; 9) with a certain application distance (d) between the application device (2; 12) and the component (6; 9), so that the coating agent jet (5; 13) strikes the component (6; 9) and coats the component (6; 9),
_{wherein the application distance} (d) is preferably smaller than the disintegration length (L DECAY) of the coating agent jet (5; 13), so that the coating agent jet (5; 13) strikes the component (6; 9) with its contiguous area,
characterized, c) that the application device (2; 12) has several application nozzles (4), at least some of which are controlled independently of one another, and d) that in the case of the application nozzles (4) which can be controlled independently of one another, the volume flow of the coating agent through the application nozzles (4) can be controlled independently. Application method according to claim 1,
characterized, a) that the coating agent jet (5; 13) applies a pattern, in particular a strip, to the component (6; 9), and b) that the sample has a sharp edge with maximum deviations (a) from a specified edge of a maximum of 3mm, 1mm, 0.5mm, 0.2mm or a maximum of 0.1mm and no coating agent splashes outside the sample. Application method according to claim 2,
characterized, a) that the coating agent jet (5; 13) is moved several times over the component (6; 9) to generate the pattern, a coating agent web being applied in each case, and b) that the adjacent coating agent webs run into one another after application and then form a uniform strip, or c) that the adjacent coating agent webs do not run into one another after application and then form two or more separate strips. Application method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a) that the pattern is a strip of the coating agent has, and / or b) that the strip has a width of at least 100µm, 200µm, 400µm, 1mm, 2mm, 5mm, 1cm, 2cm, 5cm, 10cm or 1m, and / or c) that the strip has a width of at most 1m, 10cm, 5cm, 2cm, 1cm, 5mm, 2mm, 1mm, 400µm or 200µm. Application method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a) that the application device (2; 12) emits a plurality of coating agent jets (5, 13) which are aligned essentially parallel to one another, and / or b) that the distance between the directly adjacent coating agent jets (5, 13) is so great that the adjacent coating agent jets (5, 13) do not merge between the application device (2; 12) and the component (6; 9), and / or c) that several application nozzles (4) with a specific nozzle inner diameter and a specific nozzle spacing are provided for the delivery of the coating agent jets (5, 13), the nozzle spacing being at least three, four or six times the nozzle inner diameter. Application method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a) that the application device (2; 12) has several application nozzles (4), at least some of which are controlled independently of one another, and / or b) that with the independently controllable application nozzles (4) at least one of the following operating variables can be controlled independently: b1) exit speed of the coating agent from the application nozzles (4), b2) type of coating agent, b3) Volume flow of the coating agent through the application nozzles (4). Application method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the application device (2; 12) is moved relative to the component (6; 9) during the application of the coating agent. Application method according to claim 7,
characterized, a) that the application device (2; 12) is arranged in a stationary manner while the component (6; 9) is moved, and / or b) that the component (6; 9) is moved during the application of the coating agent at a speed of at least 10 cm / s, 50 cm / s, 1 m / s, 1.5 m / s, and / or c) that the component (6; 9) is moved during the application of the coating agent at a speed of at most 10 m / s, 5 m / s or 1 m / s. Application method according to claim 7,
characterized, a) that the component (6; 9) is arranged in a stationary manner while the application device (2; 12) is moved, and / or b) that the application device (2; 12) is moved during the application of the coating agent at a speed of at least 10 cm / s, 20 cm / s, 30 cm / s, 50 cm / s, 1 m / s or 2 m / s, and / or c) that the application device (2; 12) during the application of the coating agent at a speed is moved at a maximum of 250cm / s, 700mm / s, 500mm / s or 100mm / s. Application method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a) that the application device (2; 12) is moved relative to the component (6; 9) over the component surface, so that the coating agent jet (5; 13) travels a path with its point of impact on the component surface, and b) that the coating agent jet (5; 13) is switched off and switched on again while the web is moving on the component surface, and / or c) that the coating agent jet (5; 13) is moved so slowly over the component surface and is switched on and off so quickly that a spatial resolution of finer than 5mm, 2mm or 1mm is achieved on the component (6; 9). Application method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by the following steps; a) moving the application device (2; 12) up to an edge (10) of the component (6; 9) to be coated with the coating agent jet (5; 13) switched off, in particular in a lateral direction with respect to the component surface to be coated, b) switching on the coating agent jet (5; 13) when the application device (2; 12) is above the component (6; 9), c) moving the application device (2; 12) over the component to be coated (6; 9) along the component surface to be coated, d) switching off the coating agent jet (5; 13) when the application device (2; 12) is no longer above the component surface to be coated is located. Application method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by the following steps: a) detecting the spatial position of the component (6; 9) to be coated, and / or b) detecting the spatial position of the application device (2; 12), and / or c) switching on the coating agent jet (5; 13) as a function of the detected position of the component (6; 9) and / or of the application device (2; 12), and / or d) switching off the coating agent jet (5; 13) as a function of the detected position of the component (6; 9) and / or of the application device (2; 12). Application method according to claim 12, characterized in that the position is detected by means of a) a camera (14), b) an ultrasonic sensor, c) an inductive sensor, d) a capacitive sensor, e) a laser sensor, and / or f) a robot controller from which the position is read out. Application method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a) that the application process has an application efficiency of at least 80%, 90%, 95% or 99%, so that essentially all of the applied coating agent is completely deposited on the component (6; 9) without overspray occurring, and / or b) that the application process has a surface coating performance of at least 0.5m ² / min, 1m ² / min or at least 3m ² / min, and / or c) that the volume flow of the applied coating agent and thus the exit speed of the coating agent is adjusted so that the coating agent does not bounce off the component (6; 9) after it hits the component (6; 9), and / or d) that the exit speed of the coating agent from the application device (2; 12) is at least 5 m / s, 7 m / s or 10 m / s, and / or e) that the exit speed of the coating agent from the application device (2; 12) is at most 30 m / s, 20 m / s or 10 m / s, and / or f) that the application distance (d) is at least 4mm, 10mm or 40mm and / or, and / or g) that the application distance (d) is at most 200mm or 100mm, and / or h) that the application device (2; 12) is moved by means of a machine, in particular a multi-axis robot, and / or i) that the coating agent is a lacquer, in particular a base lacquer, a clear lacquer, an effect lacquer, a mica lacquer or a metallic lacquer, and / or j) that the coating agent is a water-based paint or a solvent-based paint, and / or k) that the coating agent jet (5; 13) is switched on or off with a switching time of less than 50 ms, 20 ms, 10 ms, 5 ms or 1 ms. Application system for applying a coating agent, in particular a lacquer, a sealant, a release agent or an adhesive, to a component (6; 9), in particular to a motor vehicle body component a) an application device (2; 12) for emitting a coating agent jet (5; 13), a1) wherein the coating agent jet (5; 13) after exiting the application _device (2; 12), preferably until it reaches a disintegration length (L DECAY), initially has a region that is contiguous in the direction of the jet, _{a2) whereupon the coating agent jet} (5; 13) after the disintegration length (L DECAY) after exiting the application device (2; 12) preferably disintegrates into droplets which are separated from one another in the direction of the jet, and b) a positioning device for positioning the application device (2; 12) relative to the component (6; 9) with a certain application distance (d) between the application device (2; 12) and the component (6; 9), so that the coating agent jet (5; 13) strikes the component (6; 9) and the component (6; 9) is coated,
wherein the positioning device positions the application device (2; 12) relative to the component (6; 9) preferably in such a way that the application _distance (d) is smaller than the disintegration length (L DECAY) of the coating agent jet (5; 13), so that the coating agent jet (5; 13) strikes the component (6; 9) with its contiguous area,
characterized, c) that the application device (2; 12) has several application nozzles (4), at least some of which can be controlled independently of one another, and d) that in the case of the application nozzles (4) which can be controlled independently of one another, the volume flow of the coating agent through the application nozzles (4) can be controlled independently. Application system according to claim 15,
characterized, a) that the application device (2; 12) has a nozzle plate in which several application nozzles are arranged, and / or b) that the application device (2; 12) has several application nozzles, each of which emits a coating agent jet (5; 13), the coating agent jets (5, 13) jointly generating a strip on the component (6; 9), and / or c) that the strip has a width of at least 100µm, 200µm, 400µm, 1mm, 2mm, 5mm, 1cm, 2cm, 5cm, 10cm or 1m, and / or d) that the strip has a width of at most 1m, 10cm, 5cm, 2cm, 1cm, 5mm, 2mm, 1mm, 400µm or 200µm. Application device (2; 12) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a) that the application device (2; 12) emits a plurality of coating agent jets (5, 13) which are aligned essentially parallel to one another, and / or b) that the distance between the directly adjacent coating agent jets (5, 13) is so great that the adjacent coating agent jets (5, 13) do not merge between the application device (2; 12) and the component (6; 9), and / or c) that the application device (2; 12) for delivering the coating agent jets (5, 13) has several application nozzles with a specific nozzle inner diameter and a specific nozzle spacing, the nozzle spacing being at least three, four or six times the nozzle inner diameter.

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