JP2003344137A - Liquid flowmeter and coating device using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a liquid flowmeter and a coating device using the same, which permit a high precision measurement of a feed amount per time of a liquid such as a paint and which are excellent in the maintenance properties by the compact miniaturization, in a paint feed line or the like which feeds a constant amount of paint to a spray gun at the line terminal. <P>SOLUTION: In the structure of the liquid flowmeter 1 and the coating device using the same, a pair of elliptic measurement rotary gears 2A and 2B which have the same shape and the same size and which are engaged with each other are housed in a measurement cavity 7 of a casing 3 having a liquid inlet port 4 and a liquid outlet port 5. A sidewall of the casing 3 is composed of a transparent cover plate 10 so that the operation of the rotary gears 2A and 2B can be seen therethrough. An optical sensor 15 for grasping the rotational operation of the rotary gears 2A and 2B is provided, in which the sensor end 16 is faced to the transparent cover plate 10. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a paint feeding hose in the vicinity of a spray gun, for example, in a mass-production coating line, when an object to be sequentially fed by a conveyor is continuously and automatically coated by a spray gun. The present invention relates to a "liquid flow meter and a coating device using the same" which is installed and used to accurately detect and display the paint flow rate.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the above-mentioned mass-production coating line, it is necessary to precisely adjust and control the instantaneous spray amount of paint of a spray gun to "make a uniform coating and obtain high-quality coating without overspray to prevent waste of the coating. It is an important requirement for “working”.

Therefore, in view of the above technical requirements, "a pair of rotary gears or eccentric rotors meshing with each other" is provided in the vicinity of a spray gun for pumping paint by a mechanical pump.
A paint flowmeter having a structure in which a magnetic sensor is provided in the vicinity of the outside of a casing that accommodates the eccentric rotor / rotary gear is used to catch the rotation pulse number of the rotation due to the liquid pumped by the magnetic sensor, and the eccentric rotor / A flow rate control system is used to measure and grasp the accurate "paint flow rate per unit time" of the pressure-fed paint to the spray gun by calculating the amount delivered to the spray gun side by one rotation of the rotary gear and the number of rotation pulses.

[0004]

The above-mentioned conventional paint flowmeter having a magnetic sensor structure has the following drawbacks. That is, since the eccentric roller or the like, which is rotated by the pressure-feeding force of the passing paint and becomes the flow rate calculation base, receives the rotation resistance force due to the magnetic force of the magnetic sensor, it is difficult to achieve high rotation of "3,000 rpm" or the like. Therefore, in a coating line with a large paint flow rate, a large-scale flow meter with a large measuring capacity by one rotation of a rotary gear or the like is inevitably used, resulting in an increase in size and cost of the device.

Then, due to the strength of the magnetic force due to the relative positional relationship between the magnetic sensor and the magnet body of the eccentric rotor / rotary gear, the rotational resistance of the eccentric rotary / rotary gear becomes uneven, which impedes highly accurate rotational operation to measure the flow rate. Affect the accuracy of sex.

Since an electric circuit for operating the magnetic sensor is required, a special safety measure for the explosion resistance near the spray gun of the paint using the organic solvent is required.

Further, the rotary gear makes fine foreign matter (fine foreign matter such as suspended matter in the air), which is mixed when the paint is put into the paint tank, passes through the paint filter and is ejected from the spray gun. ) Is stopped, it is impossible to judge whether the flowmeter has a hard accident due to foreign matter being caught or a software accident in the control program of the above calculation, so it is essential to disassemble and clean the stopped flowmeter. The work is extremely complicated and takes a lot of trouble, and there is a problem that the spray gun is stopped for a long time during the maintenance.

The present invention provides a liquid flowmeter and a coating apparatus using the liquid flowmeter, which solves the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art.

[0009]

The liquid flowmeter and the coating apparatus of the present invention for solving the above technical problems are described as follows: "The pumped liquid can be rotated by the pumped liquid in a casing provided with an inlet port and an outlet port for the pumped liquid. In the liquid flowmeter containing the measuring rotary body, the casing is provided with a see-through portion in which the rotational operation of the measuring rotary body is visible, and an optical sensor having a sensor end close to the see-through portion is further provided. ,
A rotary operation pulse of the metering rotary body by the optical sensor is input, amplified and converted into an electric signal, and a flow rate calculation display unit for computing and displaying the flow rate of the pressure-fed liquid or the working rotational speed of the metering rotary body is provided. Liquid flow meter characterized by its structure ",

"A coating device for sequentially delivering paint to a spray gun of a line terminal by a paint delivery pump, characterized in that the liquid flow meter of the present invention having the above-mentioned structure is provided in the vicinity of the spray gun" Made of

That is, the liquid flowmeter of the present invention having the above-mentioned structure is
The rotation actuating pulse of the pair of metering rotary bodies is configured to be transparent and graspable from the outside of the housing casing of the rotary body through the transparent portion by "a known optical sensor without an electric circuit", As the measurable fluid, various liquids including the above-mentioned paints are targeted.

The liquid flowmeter having the above basic structure is a magnet body for artificially enabling a rotational operation by bringing the magnet body close to the outside of the casing at the time of function inspection and maintenance of the rotary body for measurement. Is adopted in the rotary body.

[0013]

In the liquid flow meter of the present invention having the above-described structure, the rotation operation pulse of the rotary body for measurement is caught by the optical sensor through the see-through portion provided in the housing casing of the rotary body and input to the above-mentioned calculation display portion. Therefore, the rotary body, which is rotated by the pressure-feeding pressure of the liquid, does not receive harmful rotation resistance due to the magnetic force as in the conventional structure, and performs a pure rotation action only by the flow pressure of the liquid. Therefore, the liquid flow rate can be grasped with high accuracy based on the number of rotation operation pulses, and high-speed rotation such as 3,000 rotations per minute becomes possible.

Further, since the transparent portion is present on the peripheral wall of the casing accommodating the measuring rotary body, the operating state / function check of the measuring rotary body in the casing can be visually recognized from the outside of the casing, and the liquid flow meter is provided. The function inspection / maintenance of is improved.

Since the actuating pulse catch of the measuring rotary body is formed by an optical sensor that does not require an electric circuit, the safety of fire and explosion proof in the vicinity of a spray gun of a coating line using an organic solvent is improved.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment in which the magnet body is implanted in the measuring rotary body, the measuring rotary body in the casing can be artificially operated and rotated by bringing the magnet body close to the outside of the casing. The function inspection / maintenance of is further improved.

The coating apparatus of the present invention, which is provided with the liquid flow meter of the present invention having the above-mentioned operation near the spray gun, is
The liquid flow meter enables accurate time-series grasping of the instantaneous paint delivery amount to the spray gun. Therefore, by feeding back the flow rate grasping information to the rotation control unit of the paint delivery pump, "a uniform film thickness is achieved and overspray is performed. High quality painting that prevents

[0018]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION A liquid flowmeter according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. That is, the liquid flow meter 1 of this embodiment is used for measuring the amount of instantaneous spray paint of a spray gun in a mass-production coating line in which a spray gun sequentially and continuously coats an object to be painted which is sequentially fed. Then, the inlet port 4 and the outlet port 5 of the paint P pressure-fed by the paint delivery pump having a mechanical structure are set to 1
In the casing 3 provided in the opposite direction of 80 °, "a pair of elliptical spur gear body rotary gears 2A and 2B having the same shape for interlocking with each other to interlock the tooth tips with each other" It is stored rotatably by press-fitting pressure.

For details (see FIG. 2), the rotary gear 2
A and 2B are the rotary bodies for weighing having the above-mentioned configuration, and the tooth tips on the major axis side are placed in the weighing cavity 7 (hereinafter, simply referred to as the cavity 7) in the casing 3 so as to be close to the inner circumference of the cavity 7. It is rotatably accommodated by a central support pin 9 and is rotated by the pressure input of the paint P press-fitted from the liquid inlet port 4 to deliver a predetermined volume of the paint P to the liquid outlet port 5 for each rotation. It has an ordinary rotary gear type liquid flow meter configuration.

And, the rotary gears 2A and 2B
One side of the side wall of the cavity 7 on one side is released, and the transparent lid plate 10 made of a hard glass plate is pressure-bonded and fixed to the casing 3 by the pressing plate 12 having the see-through hole 11 at the open portion. It constitutes a see-through portion, and the rotary operation of the rotary gears 2A and 2B can be visually recognized from the outside of the casing 3 through the see-through window 11 and the transparent lid plate 10.

An optical sensor 15 (a known optical sensor) that faces the sensor end 16 is provided in the transparent portion of the transparent lid plate 10 so that the rotary operation of the rotary gears 2A and 2B can be counted and caught. At the same time, the end of the fiber cable 17 of the optical sensor 15 is "rotary gear 2A.2
The amplifier unit 18 which inputs the number of rotation pulses of B, amplifies and converts it into an electric signal, and numerically displays it on the display unit 21. It is connected to the calculation display unit 20 for displaying as.

Further, the rotary gear 2 of this embodiment
A and 2B (see FIG. 2 (B)) have magnet bodies 8 planted on the side peripheral surface thereof, and by moving other magnet bodies (not shown) from the outside of the transparent cover plate 10 in close proximity, The gears 2A and 2B are provided with "artificial forced rotation means by external force" that can be artificially rotated slightly from the outside of the casing 3.

The rotary gear 2A of this embodiment
・ 2B is made of carbon resin, pitch circle diameter on the major axis side = approx. 14 grits, pitch circle diameter on the minor axis side = approx. 8 grits, tooth width = approx. 8 grits, paint amount per rotation operation = approx. With the specifications of 0.2 cc, the side faces of the rotary gears 2A and 2B are set in a substantially horizontal position, and the transparent cover plate 10 is positioned in an upper position. In the figure, 13 is a base plate of the flowmeter 1, and 14 is a holding arm of the optical sensor 15.

The liquid flowmeter 1 of the above-mentioned embodiment has the above-mentioned action, and the rotary gears 2A and 2B are inputted with the paint P press-fed from the liquid injection port 4 "without receiving external force resistance of magnets or the like". Rotation is performed only by the pressure, and the number of pulses of the rotation is caught by the optical sensor 15, and the extremely accurate "the number of rotation activation pulses and the number of rotations per unit time of the rotary gears 2A and 2B" are grasped and displayed. can do.

The rotary gears 2A and 2B are made of a lightweight carbon resin having a specific gravity smaller than that of the paint P, and
Since the transparent cover plate 10 is set in a horizontally placed form on the upper surface, the rotary gears 2A and 2B float on the coating material P and slide on the inner surface of the transparent cover plate 10 to rotate the gear side face. The inner surface of the plate 10 is not fogged by the paint P, and the rotary gear 2A by the optical sensor 15 is used.
-There is a unique effect that makes the 2B rotation pulse catch extremely accurate.

Then, the rotary gears 2A and 2B
Can be made into an elliptical shape, and the two points on the major axis side can be used as the catch points of the optical sensor 15.
Each time the rotary gears 2A and 2B make one rotation, "four-point catch by the optical sensor 15" is enabled, and the above-mentioned high-performance weighing can be further improved. And because high speed rotation of 3000 rpm is possible,
Even in the case where the flow rate of the liquid to be pumped is large, the compact and compact form is sufficient, and there is a merit action that is excellent in practicality.

Further, since the liquid flowmeter 1 of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 has the artificial forced rotation means by the magnet body 8 which is planted in contact with the rotary gear 2A, the rotary gear 2A.
Even if the above-mentioned fine foreign matter is caught in B and a trouble of rotation stop occurs, another magnetic body is brought into close proximity and artificially rotated by the magnetic force between the magnet body 8 and the discharge port of the fine foreign matter. It is possible to drive to the 5th side, and the trouble can be solved very easily and quickly.

Next, one embodiment of the coating apparatus of the present invention using the liquid meter of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
That is, in a coating device 30 having a paint delivery line configuration in which a delivery pump 24 for the paint P is arranged in a pipeline 25 between the paint tank 23 at the beginning of the line and the spray gun G at the line terminal, the embodiment shown in FIG. Liquid flow meter 1
Is provided, and an arithmetic display control unit 22 described in detail below is connected to the amplifier unit 18 of the liquid flow meter 1 to configure an automatic measurement control system of paint to be delivered to the spray gun G.

More specifically, the arithmetic display control unit 22 automatically adjusts and controls the rotation pulse of the delivery pump 24 in accordance with the required delivery amount of the coating material that meets the coating conditions by "a metering electric signal from the amplifier unit 18". Is set, and based on the measured value of the amount of paint sent by the liquid flow meter 1 immediately before the spray gun G (the amount sent per current time),
An automatic control unit that controls the number of rotation pulses of the delivery pump 24 to match the required delivery amount in time series is configured. In addition,
Reference numeral 26 in the figure is a control circuit for controlling the number of rotation pulses of the delivery pump 24.

The coating apparatus 30 described above enables highly accurate time-series automatic control in which the actual coating material delivery amount immediately before the spray gun G is matched to the coating conditions, and a uniform coating film with no coating unevenness is obtained. Successive continuous coating of quality and low cost is possible. Then, the "fire-resistant / explosion-resistant portion" including the spray gun G can be set in the fire-resistant / explosion-proof zone Z in the dotted frame in the figure in which the electric circuit does not exist.

Therefore, the coating apparatus 30 does not require any special fire and explosion proof measures, and even in the case where the amount of coating applied is large, the compact and compact liquid flow meter 1 is sufficient, and the configuration of the coating line is further simplified. The trouble caused by the fine foreign matter can be dealt with very easily and quickly, and the line stop time due to the trouble is extremely short.
Good maintainability and further improvement of coating productivity can be promoted.

The liquid flow meter of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment (see FIG. 4), but instead of the pair of rotary gears 2A and 2B, a pair of circular gear rotary gears 2A and 2B is used. Or a single circular rotary R with a blade V that presses against the peripheral wall of the measuring cavity 7 by a rotating centrifugal force, or a single eccentric roller (not shown) may be used. It is used by mounting it in a liquid flow path other than the above, if necessary.

[0033]

As described above, the liquid flow meter of the present invention is capable of accurately grasping the flow rate of the liquid such as paint in the pressure feed line, and has fire resistance / explosion resistance and functional checkability / maintenability. It is excellent and has a practical effect that can be used very effectively in mass-production coating equipment.

The coating apparatus of the present invention which uses the liquid flow meter of the present invention has a useful effect of making the coating film uniform and providing high-quality coating with no coating unevenness and further improving coating productivity. is there.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a liquid flow meter according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

2 shows a detailed structure of the liquid flow meter of FIG. 1 embodiment,
1A is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. 1, and FIG. 1B is an enlarged plan view of a weighing cavity and a rotary body.

FIG. 3 is a line configuration diagram of the coating apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of another embodiment of the liquid flow meter of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Liquid flow meter 2A ・ 2B Rotary gear for weighing 3 casing 4 Inlet port 5 outlet port 7 Measuring cavity 10 Transparent lid plate 11 see-through hole 15 Optical sensor 18 Amplifier section 20 Calculation display section 22 Calculation display control unit 23 Paint tank 24 delivery pump 30 coating equipment G spray gun P paint Z Fireproof / explosion proof zone

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A liquid flow meter in which a measuring rotary body capable of rotating by the pumping liquid is housed in a casing provided with an inlet port and an outlet port for the pumping liquid, wherein the casing has the measuring rotary body. Is provided with a see-through portion in which the rotation operation is visible, and an optical sensor having a sensor end in proximity to the see-through portion is further provided, and further, a rotation actuating pulse of the measuring rotary body by the photo sensor is inputted and amplified to an electric signal A liquid flowmeter having a structure including a flow rate calculation display unit for converting and displaying the flow rate of the pressure-fed liquid or the operating speed of the measuring rotary body. 2. A magnet body is implanted in a measuring rotary body,
2. The liquid flowmeter according to claim 1, wherein the rotary body for rotation of the metering body is allowed to rotate and rotate by means of a magnet body arranged close to the outside of the see-through portion. 3. The liquid flowmeter according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the measuring rotary body comprises a pair of elliptical rotary gears of the same shape in which tooth tips are meshed with each other. 4. A coating apparatus for sequentially feeding paint to a spray gun of a line terminal by a paint delivery pump, characterized in that the liquid flow meter according to any one of claims 1 to 3 is provided near the spray gun. And coating equipment.