JP2009034565A - Electrostatic coater and electrostatic coating method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce grime by unapplied coating material in an opening/closing means which operates an opening/closing object. <P>SOLUTION: The electrostatic coater 1 operates to electrostatically apply a coating material using a door coating robot 4 while opening/closing a door 3 installed at a vehicle body 2 by a door opening/closing device 5. The door opening/closing device 5 is constituted of a multi-articulate robot 12 and an opening/closing tool 13. An opening/closing hook 18, which comes into contact with the door 3, of the opening/closing tool 13, is composed of a resin which is an insulator. In addition, the second arm 16 of the multi-articulate robot 12 is formed in resin and a high-voltage generator 19 is arranged inside the second arm 16. High voltage generated by the high-voltage generator 19 is applied to the second arm 16, a third arm 17 and the opening/closing tool 13. The high voltage is of the same polarity as that of atomized particle coating material for electrostatic coating. Further, an electrostatic field 21 of the same polarity as the atomized particle coating material is formed on the surface of the opening/closing tool 13 including the opening/closing hook 18 and each arm 16 and 17. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an electrostatic coating apparatus and an electrostatic coating method for performing electrostatic coating by a coating means while opening and closing an opening / closing object provided on an object to be coated.

  Conventionally, as this type of technology, for example, Patent Document 1 below describes an automobile painting system including a door opening / closing mechanism that opens and closes a door in order to perform electrostatic coating on a door of a vehicle body. The door opening / closing mechanism includes an articulated robot and a pin member provided at the tip of the robot. By inserting this pin member into the glass groove of the door and driving the articulated robot horizontally, the door is opened and closed horizontally. Electrostatic coating is performed on the outside and inside of the door by making full use of a painting robot as the door is opened and closed.

  In general, electrostatic coating on an object to be painted such as a car body of an automobile forms an electrostatic field between both electrodes by grounding the object to be painted and using the painting robot as a cathode. Then, the atomized particle paint charged on the cathode is adsorbed to the object to be coated by an electrostatic field.

JP-A-8-164349

  However, in the coating system described in Patent Document 1, there is a possibility that uncoated floating atomized particle paint adheres to the door opening / closing mechanism and the door opening / closing mechanism becomes dirty. However, the door opening / closing mechanism has no function for reducing and preventing such contamination. For this reason, the door opening / closing mechanism has to be frequently cleaned to remove dirt. When the removal of dirt is insufficient, there is a concern that the coating quality of the object to be coated is deteriorated.

  That is, in general, in electrostatic painting, an electrostatic high voltage is applied to the electrostatic electrode at the tip of the painting robot, and air ions generated when these are discharged in the air are attached to the atomized particle paint to charge the paint. Alternatively, a high voltage is directly applied to the paint to charge it, and the charged atomized particle paint is adhered to the object to be coated by electrostatic attraction. For this reason, if there is something other than the object to be coated that has a different potential difference with respect to the charged atomized particle paint, the atomized particle paint is also electrostatically attached to this object.

  Here, in the coating system described in Patent Document 1, the charged atomized particle paint may electrostatically adhere to the door opening / closing mechanism. Thus, the stain | pollution | contamination which arises because a coating material adheres to a door opening / closing mechanism became a serious problem in the painting process. This is because when the dirt becomes prominent, the dirty paint becomes spits and adheres to the object to be coated, thereby reducing the coating quality. Particularly, in the door opening / closing mechanism, since the pin member comes into contact with the door, when the pin member is contaminated with the paint, the contamination easily adheres to the door. Further, in order to prevent deterioration of the coating quality, it is conceivable to clean dirt generated in the door opening / closing mechanism. However, during this cleaning, the painting line must be stopped. If the frequency of cleaning increases, the productivity of painting will be hindered. For example, this type of cleaning may be performed once for about one hour of electrostatic coating during which the coating line had to be stopped. In particular, in an automobile production line that produces large products with a short tact, a long line stop time becomes a serious problem for automobile productivity.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an electrostatic opening / closing means used for opening / closing an opening / closing object, which can reduce contamination due to uncoated paint. A coating apparatus and an electrostatic coating method are provided.

  In order to achieve the above object, an invention described in claim 1 is directed to an electrostatic coating apparatus that electrostatically paints by an application means while opening and closing an opening / closing object provided on an object to be coated. The part that comes into contact with the switchgear is made of a resistor-containing conductor, semiconductor or insulator, and high voltage application means is provided to apply a high voltage to the switchgear with the same polarity as the atomized particle paint for electrostatic coating. Intended to be

  According to the configuration of the invention, at least a portion of the opening / closing means that comes into contact with the opening / closing object is constituted by a resistor-containing conductor, a semiconductor, or an insulator. For this reason, even when a high voltage having the same polarity as the atomized particle paint of electrostatic coating is applied to the opening / closing means, the current does not flow from the opening / closing means to the opening / closing object, and the high voltage is effectively applied to the opening / closing means. The electric charge is held on the surface of the opening / closing means. Accordingly, the uncoated atomized particle paint repels the electric charge on the surface of the opening / closing means, and is difficult to adhere to the surface.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the opening / closing means is a multi-joint robot including a plurality of arms connected in series, and a plurality of arms among the plurality of arms. The engagement tool is configured to be configured to be engageable with the opening / closing object at the distal end portion of the front arm, and the engagement tool is configured of a resistor-containing conductor, a semiconductor, or an insulator.

  According to the configuration of the above invention, the engagement tool provided to be able to engage with the opening / closing object at the distal end portion of the foremost arm of the multi-joint robot is configured by the resistor-containing conductor, the semiconductor, or the insulator. For this reason, even when a high voltage having the same polarity as the atomized particle paint of electrostatic coating is applied to at least the engagement tool among the multi-joint robot and the engagement tool, all of the current flows from the engagement tool to the opening / closing object. Therefore, at least a high voltage is effectively applied to the engagement tool, and the charge is held at least on the surface of the engagement tool. Therefore, the uncoated atomized particle paint repels at least the charge on the surface of the engagement tool, and is difficult to adhere to the surface.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the invention, a high voltage applying means is provided on one of the plurality of arms other than the frontmost arm, and the earliest is provided. The side arm is made of metal, the arm provided with the high voltage application means is made of an insulator, and the high voltage is applied to at least the foremost arm, one arm and the engagement tool.

  According to the configuration of the invention, in addition to the operation of the invention according to claim 2, the high voltage applying means is provided in one of the arms of the articulated robot, so that a special installation space is provided for the high voltage applying means. unnecessary. Since a high voltage is applied to at least the foremost arm, one arm, and the engagement tool, the charge is held on the surfaces of these arms and the engagement tool. Accordingly, the uncoated atomized particle paint repels the charges on the surfaces of the arms and the engagement tool, and is difficult to adhere to the surfaces.

  In order to achieve the above object, the invention described in claim 4 is the invention described in claim 3, wherein an electrode pin protruding outward is provided on the outer periphery of the arm to which a high voltage is applied. And

  According to the configuration of the above invention, in addition to the action of the invention according to claim 3, the electric field strength is increased at the portion where the electrode pin of the arm is provided.

  In order to achieve the above object, an invention according to claim 5 is an electrostatic coating method in which an opening / closing object provided on an object to be painted is opened / closed by an opening / closing means and electrostatically applied by a coating means. The part that comes into contact with the switchgear is made of a resistor-containing conductor, semiconductor, or insulator, and electrostatically applies a high voltage of the same polarity as the atomized particle paint of electrostatic coating to the surface of the switchgear by the high voltage application means. The purpose is to paint.

  According to the configuration of the invention, at least a portion of the opening / closing means that comes into contact with the opening / closing object is constituted by a resistor-containing conductor, a semiconductor, or an insulator. For this reason, even when a high voltage of the same polarity as the electrostatic coating atomized particle paint is applied to the opening / closing means, the current does not flow from the opening / closing object to the opening / closing object, and the high voltage is effectively applied to the opening / closing means. The electric charge is held on the surface of the opening / closing means. Accordingly, the uncoated atomized particle paint repels the electric charge on the surface of the opening / closing means, and is difficult to adhere to the surface.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to reduce contamination due to uncoated paint on the opening / closing means used for opening / closing the opening / closing object.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to reduce the contamination due to the unpainted paint on at least the engaging tool among the articulated robot and the engaging tool used to open and close the opening / closing object.

  According to the invention described in claim 3, in addition to the effect of the invention described in claim 2, the opening / closing means can be made compact while ensuring a high voltage application function.

  According to the invention described in claim 4, in addition to the effect of the invention described in claim 3, the effect of reducing dirt can be improved in the portion of the arm where the electrode pin is provided.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to reduce contamination due to uncoated paint on the opening / closing means used for opening / closing the opening / closing object.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment embodying an electrostatic coating apparatus and an electrostatic coating method according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  In FIG. 1, the electrostatic coating apparatus 1 of this embodiment is shown with a schematic block diagram. The electrostatic coating apparatus 1 is configured to perform electrostatic coating while opening and closing a door 3 that is an opening and closing object provided on a vehicle body 2 as an object to be coated. In this embodiment, the door 3 is of a type that opens and closes in the horizontal direction. The electrostatic coating apparatus 1 includes a door painting robot 4 as a painting means of the present invention and a door opening / closing apparatus 5 as an opening / closing means of the present invention. The vehicle body 2 is placed on the carriage 6 and carried to the vicinity of the electrostatic coating apparatus 1. The vehicle body 2 is electrically grounded via the carriage 6.

  The door painting robot 4 includes a base member 7, a turning member 8 that is turnably provided on the base member 7, a first arm 9 and a second arm 10 that are sequentially connected to the turning member 8 and that are turnably provided. And a coating nozzle 11 provided at the free end of the second arm 10. The coating nozzle 11 is adapted to spray a paint into an atomized particle paint. The coating nozzle 11 can freely move up and down, front and rear, and left and right within a predetermined range by rotating the members 7 to 10 described above.

  The electrostatic coating apparatus 1 performs coating by applying a high voltage of 30,000 to 100,000 volts between the coating nozzle 11 and the vehicle body 2 with the coating nozzle 11 side as a cathode and the vehicle body 2 side as an anode. It has become. The atomized particle paint sprayed from the coating nozzle 11 is attracted to the vehicle body 2 that is a ground, and is electrostatically attached to the surface of the vehicle body 2. At this time, the atomized particle paint travels to the back side of the vehicle body 2 not facing the coating nozzle 11 and adheres to the surface thereof.

  The door opening / closing device 5 includes an articulated robot 12 and an opening / closing tool 13 provided at the tip of the articulated robot 12. The articulated robot 12 includes a base member 14, a first arm 15, a second arm 16, and a third arm 17 that are sequentially connected to the base member 14. The first arm 15 is supported horizontally with respect to the base member 14 and is provided to be rotatable in the horizontal direction. The second arm 16 is horizontally supported with respect to the distal end portion of the first arm 15, and is provided to be rotatable in the horizontal direction. The foremost third arm 17 is vertically supported at the tip of the second arm 16 and is provided so as to be rotatable in the horizontal direction and movable in the vertical direction. In this embodiment, the first arm 15 and the third arm 17 are made of metal, and the second arm 16 is made of resin as an insulator.

  The opening / closing tool 13 is provided at the tip of the third arm supported vertically. The opening / closing tool 13 includes a frame 13a having a bowl shape and an opening / closing hook 18 provided at the tip of the frame 13a. The opening / closing hook 18 corresponds to the engagement tool of the present invention, and is provided so as to be engageable with the door 3 downward. The opening / closing hook 18 is made of a resistor-containing conductor, a semiconductor, or an insulator. In this embodiment, the opening / closing hook 18 is formed of a resin that is an insulator.

  FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing an example of the relationship between the opening / closing hook 18 and the door 3. The door 3 includes an outer panel 3a and an inner panel 3b. Between both panels 3a and 3b, a glass groove 3c for mounting a window glass is provided. By making full use of the articulated robot 12, the opening / closing hook 18 is inserted into the glass groove 3 c of the door 3 from the position indicated by the solid line in FIG. 2 as indicated by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 2. ing. From this inserted state, the door 3 can be opened and closed by moving the open / close hook 18 in the horizontal direction.

  As shown in FIG. 1, in this embodiment, on the surfaces of the second arm 16, the third arm 17 and the opening / closing tool 13 of the door opening / closing device 5, a high voltage having the same polarity as the atomized particle paint of electrostatic coating is used. A high voltage generator 19 is provided as a high voltage applying means for applying. The high voltage generator 19 is provided in the resin second arm 16 or in front thereof. In order to control the high voltage generator 19, a high voltage controller 20 is provided outside the articulated robot 12. In this embodiment, since the atomized particle paint is cathodic, the high voltage generator 20 applies a cathodic high voltage (for example, “−60 kV”) to the second arm 16, the third arm 17, and the open / close tool 13. To be applied. As a result, an electrostatic field 21 (shown by a broken line in FIG. 1) having the same negative polarity as that of the atomized particle paint is formed around the second arm 16, the third arm 17, and the opening / closing tool 13.

  In this embodiment, a plurality of electrode pins 22 projecting outward are provided at the central portion of the second arm 16 and the upper and lower end portions of the third arm 17. The plurality of electrode pins 22 are attached to the outer circumferences of the arms 16 and 17 via belts 23.

  In this embodiment, by using the electrostatic coating apparatus 1 described above, when performing electrostatic coating by the door coating robot 4 while opening and closing the door 3 provided on the vehicle body 2 by the door opening / closing apparatus 5, the door opening / closing apparatus is provided. 5, the opening / closing hook 18 that comes into contact with the door 3 is made of resin, and the same high negative voltage as the atomized particle paint of electrostatic coating is applied to the second and third arms 16, 17 of the door opening / closing device 5. The surface of the opening / closing tool 13 is electrostatically coated while being applied by a high voltage generator 19.

  According to the electrostatic coating apparatus 1 of this embodiment described above, the opening / closing hook 18 that directly contacts the door 3 in the door opening / closing apparatus 5 is made of resin. For this reason, even when a high voltage having the same polarity as the atomized particle paint of electrostatic coating is applied to the opening / closing hook 18, the current does not flow from the opening / closing hook 18 to the door 3, and a high voltage is applied to the opening / closing hook 18. The charge is effectively applied and the electric charge is held on the surface of the opening / closing hook 18. Accordingly, the uncoated atomized particle paint repels the electric charge on the surface of the opening / closing hook 18 and hardly adheres to the surface. As a result, it is possible to reduce contamination due to unpainted paint on the opening / closing hook 18 used to open and close the door 3.

  In this embodiment, the opening / closing tool 13 including the opening / closing hook 18 and the second arm 16 and the third arm 17 constituting the articulated robot 12 are also applied with a high voltage having the same polarity as the atomized particle paint. The electric charge is also held on the surfaces of the opening / closing tool 13 and the second and third arms 16 and 17. Therefore, the uncoated atomized particle paint repels the charges on the surfaces of these members 13, 16, and 17 and is difficult to adhere to the surfaces. As a result, it is possible to reduce contamination by the unpainted paint on the opening / closing tool 13, the second arm 16, and the third arm 17 including the opening / closing hook 18.

  FIG. 3 is a time chart showing the relationship between (a) high voltage application by the high voltage generator 19, (b) door opening / closing operation by the door opening / closing device 5, and (c) current value flowing through the opening / closing hook 18. In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, a high voltage is applied to the door opening / closing device 5 at a time t0 slightly before the door 3 is opened (time t1), and the door 3 is closed. (Time t2) The application of the high voltage is stopped at time t3 when a little has elapsed. Here, as indicated by a solid line in FIG. 3C, at time t 0, the current value flowing through the opening / closing hook 18 rises immediately after the high voltage is applied, and the opening / closing hook 18 is brought close to the door 3 to open the door 3. Accordingly, the current value increases. After that, while the door 3 is opened at the time t1 to t2, the current value does not change, and the current value decreases as the door 18 is moved away from the door 3 after the door 3 is closed at the time t2. To do. Thereafter, at time t3, immediately after the application of the high voltage is stopped, the current value falls. Thus, in this embodiment, the value of the current flowing through the resin opening / closing hook 18 does not exceed the current upper limit value. On the other hand, when a metal opening / closing hook is used, as indicated by a broken line in FIG. 3C, the current value exceeds the current upper limit value and reaches an abnormal region. As described above, in this embodiment, by using the resin opening / closing hook 18, the above-described dirt reduction effect can be obtained even when a high voltage is applied to the opening / closing hook 18 and the like while the opening / closing hook 18 is in contact with the door 3. Can last.

  In this embodiment, since the high voltage generator 19 is provided in the second arm 16 of the articulated robot 12, no special installation space is required for the high voltage generator 19. For this reason, the door opening and closing apparatus 5 can be made compact while ensuring a high voltage application function.

  In this embodiment, since a plurality of electrode pins 22 projecting outward are provided on the outer circumferences of the second arm 16 and the third arm 13 to which a high voltage is applied, the electrode pins 22 of the arms 16 and 17 are provided. The electric field strength of the electrostatic field 21 is increased in the portion where is provided. For this reason, the dirt reduction effect can be improved in the portions where the electrode pins 22 of the arms 16 and 17 are provided.

  As described above, in this embodiment, in the door opening and closing device 5, the opening and closing tool 13 that is a part that contacts or approaches the door 3, and the second and third arms 16 and 17 can be less contaminated by uncoated paint. For this reason, about the door opening / closing apparatus 5, the cleaning frequency for dirt removal can be reduced. For example, in the past, cleaning for removing dirt was performed once for electrostatic coating for about 1 hour. According to this embodiment, cleaning for removing dirt was performed for electrostatic coating for about 4 to 5 hours. May be performed once. In addition, since the dirty paint can be prevented from becoming spits and adhering to the vehicle body 2 or the door 3, it is possible to prevent the coating quality of the vehicle body 2 from being deteriorated.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, A part of structure can also be changed suitably and implemented in the range which does not deviate from the meaning of invention.

  (1) In the above embodiment, the door 3 that opens and closes in the horizontal direction is used as an opening and closing object, and the door opening and closing device 5 that opens and closes the door 3 is configured to reduce contamination due to unpainted paint. On the other hand, the trunk cover and bonnet of the vehicle body that opens and closes the opening and closing object in the vertical direction, or the flip-up type door at the rear of the vehicle body, and the opening and closing device that opens and closes the trunk cover, bonnet or the door-up type door are uncoated. You may comprise so that the stain | pollution | contamination by a coating material can be reduced. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, a robot having the same configuration as the door painting robot 4 described above can be used as the door opening / closing device 25 that is an opening / closing means. In FIG. 4, the second arm 10 is made of resin, and a high voltage generator 19 is provided in the second arm 10. A hook-shaped opening / closing hook 26 made of resin is provided as an engagement tool at the tip of the second arm 10. By hooking the opening / closing hook 26 on a trunk cover, a bonnet, or a flip-up type door and rotating the second arm 10 in the vertical direction, the trunk cover and the like can be opened and closed in the vertical direction.

  (2) In the said embodiment, it comprised so that a high voltage might be applied to both the opening / closing tool 13 and the 2nd and 3rd arms 16 and 17. FIG. On the other hand, the open / close tool is extended in the horizontal direction, and the second and third arms are separated from the door by the extended amount, so that the object to which the high voltage is applied can be limited to the open / close tool. .

  (3) In the above-described embodiment, the opening / closing hook 18 is made of an insulating resin. However, the opening / closing hook may be made of a resistor-containing conductor or semiconductor. Examples of the conductor containing resistance include “carbon-containing resin”, and examples of the semiconductor include “polyurethane”. Further, a fluorine coating (for example, “Teflon” (registered trademark)) may be applied to a resin which is an insulator.

  (4) In the embodiment, the opening / closing hook 18 is configured to be engaged with the glass groove 3 c of the door 3. On the other hand, an engaged jig having a function of locking the door is attached to the inside (inner panel side) of the door, and the door is opened and closed by engaging an opening / closing hook with the engaged jig. You may comprise.

  (5) In the above-described embodiment, the case where the vehicle body 2 including the door 3 that is an opening / closing object is electrostatically coated as the object to be coated has been described. However, the object to be painted provided with the opening / closing object is limited to the vehicle body. It is not a thing.

The schematic block diagram which shows an electrostatic coating apparatus. Sectional drawing which shows the example of a relationship between an opening-and-closing hook and a door. The time chart which shows relations, such as a high voltage application, door opening / closing operation | movement, and an electric current value. The side view which shows an opening / closing apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

1 Electrostatic coating device 2 Car body (object to be painted)
3 Door (opening and closing)
4 Door painting robot (painting means)
5 Door opening and closing device (opening and closing means)
12 articulated robot 13 opening / closing tool 14 base member 15 first arm 16 second arm 17 third arm 18 opening / closing hook (engagement tool)
19 High voltage generator (high voltage application means)
22 Electrode pin 25 Door opening and closing device (opening and closing means)
26 Opening and closing hook (engagement tool)

Claims (5)

In electrostatic coating equipment that electrostatically paints by means of painting while opening and closing the opening and closing object provided on the object to be coated,
A portion of the opening / closing means that contacts at least the opening / closing object is made of a resistor-containing conductor, a semiconductor or an insulator, and applies a high voltage having the same polarity as the atomized particle paint of the electrostatic coating to the opening / closing means. An electrostatic coating apparatus provided with high voltage applying means. The opening / closing means includes an articulated robot including a plurality of arms connected in sequence, and an engagement tool provided to be able to engage with the opening / closing object at a distal end portion of a frontmost arm among the plurality of arms. The electrostatic coating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the engagement tool is configured by a resistor-containing conductor, a semiconductor, or an insulator. The high voltage applying means is provided in one arm other than the earliest arm among the plurality of arms, the earliest arm is made of metal, and the arm provided with the high voltage applying means is made of an insulator. The electrostatic coating apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the high voltage is applied to at least the foremost arm, the one arm, and the engagement tool. The electrostatic coating apparatus according to claim 3, wherein an electrode pin protruding outward is provided on an outer periphery of the arm to which the high voltage is applied. In the electrostatic coating method of electrostatic coating by the painting means while opening and closing the opening and closing object provided on the object to be coated,
At least a portion of the opening / closing means that comes into contact with the opening / closing object is configured by a resistor-containing conductor, a semiconductor, or an insulator. An electrostatic coating method, wherein the electrostatic coating is performed while applying by the method.

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