JP2612901B2 - Color change method - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a method for changing colors of a coating machine in which a plurality of paint sources having different coating colors are connected to a coating gun.

(Prior Art) In a car body painting line, when sequentially painting bodies having different body colors, a painting machine capable of switching and supplying a paint of a desired color is generally adopted. That is, in this coating machine, a plurality of paint sources having different paint colors, a thinner source, and an air source are connected to the paint supply passage of the paint gun via the respective open / close valves, and these open / close valves are selectively opened / closed. Then, a desired paint is supplied to the paint gun.

In such a coating machine, when a color change (change of paint color) is performed, thinner and air are used in order to prevent the paint that has been used so far from being mixed with the changed paint to make the paint color unstable. Is supplied to clean the paint supply passage. Also, in the above-mentioned cleaning, thinner is supplied at the same discharge flow rate as the current paint, thereby pushing out the paint remaining in the paint supply passage,
A method is known in which the coating with the current paint is continued by this extrusion while simultaneously cleaning the paint supply passage (see, for example, JP-A-60-61076).

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) By the way, in the conventional color change method, even if the current paint color and the next paint color are the most easily mixable colors, the color mix can be reliably prevented. Normally, the washing time of the paint supply passage is uniformly set based on the most easily mixed color combination. Therefore, although there is no problem in preventing color mixing, the cleaning time tends to be unnecessarily long, and the amount of thinner and air used for cleaning also increases.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to solve such a problem, the present invention provides a color change in accordance with the type of combination of both the paint colors before and after the change, or the paint color before or after the change. It is intended to shorten the cleaning time and save the thinner by cleaning the paint supply passage with the optimum cleaning ability.

That is, according to the invention of claim 1, a plurality of paint sources having different paint colors, a thinner source, and an air source are connected to the paint supply passage of the paint gun through the respective open / close valves. A color change method of a coating machine that opens and closes a paint gun to supply a paint of a desired paint color to a paint gun, and supplies the paint by thinner and air according to a combination of both paint colors before and after the change. Set the cleaning ability for the passage, and select the corresponding setting value from the respective setting values for the cleaning ability based on the combination information of the two painting colors upon changing from the current painting color to the next painting color, Based on the selected set value, the paint supply passage is washed by operating the open / close valves communicating with the thinner source and the air source with the open / close valves leading to the respective paint sources being closed, and then the next paint supply is performed. It is characterized in that opening and closing valve leading to the paint source.

Further, in the invention of claim 2, a plurality of paint sources having different paint colors, a thinner source and an air source are connected to the paint supply passage of the paint gun via open / close valves, respectively. A color change method of a coating machine that opens and closes a paint gun to supply a paint of a desired paint color to a paint gun, and supplies the paint by thinner and air according to a combination of both paint colors before and after the change. The washing time for the passage is set, and upon changing from the current paint color to the next paint color, a corresponding set value is selected from the respective set values for the wash time based on the combination information of the two paint colors, The paint supply passage is cleaned by operating the open / close valves communicating with the thinner source and the air source with the open / close valves communicating with each paint source being closed based on the selected set value,
Thereafter, the opening and closing valve leading to the paint source of the next paint color is opened.

Further, in the invention of claim 3, a plurality of paint sources having different paint colors, a thinner source, and an air source are connected to the paint supply passage of the paint gun via open / close valves, respectively. A color change method of a coating machine that opens and closes to supply a coating of a desired coating color to a coating gun,
The cleaning ability for the paint supply passage by thinner and air is set in advance according to the type of the paint color before or after the change, and when changing from the current paint color to the next paint color, before or after this change A corresponding set value is selected from each set value for the cleaning ability based on the paint color information, and the thinner source is aired with the open / close valve communicating with each paint source closed based on the selected set value. The paint supply passage is cleaned by operating an open / close valve connected to each of the sources, and thereafter, the open / close valve connected to the paint source of the next paint color is opened.

(Operation) In the above color change method, the cleaning ability according to the type of the combination of the coating colors before and after the change is used in the invention of claim 1, and before or after the change in the invention of claim 3 Since the paint supply passage is cleaned with the cleaning ability according to the type of the subsequent paint color, the above-described cleaning time can be shortened even in a combination of colors in which the current paint color and the next paint color are most easily mixed. Become.

In particular, according to the second aspect of the present invention, the paint supply passage is cleaned with a cleaning time corresponding to the type of the combination of the two paint colors before and after the change, so that the current paint color and the next paint color are most easily mixed. In the color combination, the cleaning time is relatively long, which is not much different from the conventional one, but the above-described cleaning is performed in the case of a color combination in which the current coating color and the next coating color are hardly mixed, such as a change from blue to yellow. Time can be shortened.

As a result, the cleaning time corresponds to the discharge time or the discharge amount of the thinner and the air. Therefore, the shortening of the cleaning time reduces the amount of the thinner used.

(Effects of the Invention) Therefore, according to the inventions of claims 1 to 3, when changing from the current coating color to the next coating color, various cleaning times and the like set in advance based on the information on the coating colors before and after the change. Since the corresponding paint was selected from the cleaning capacity and the paint supply passage was cleaned based on the selected paint, the paint of the next paint color was supplied, so that the above-mentioned cleaning time was shortened and the amount of thinner used was reduced. Can be reduced, so that it is possible to reduce the overall time required for sequentially performing color change and prevent waste of thinner.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

 FIG. 1 shows the entire configuration of the coating machine 1.

In the coating machine 1, reference numeral 2 denotes a coating gun, and a hose 3 which forms a part of a coating supply passage for the coating gun 2.
A plurality of paint sources 4-9 having different paint colors, a thinner source 10, and an air source 11 are connected to the hose 3 via a valve device 12 for color change. That is, the valve device 12 has black, red, green,
Opening / closing valves for paints 13 to 18 communicating with paint sources 4 to 9 for blue, yellow and white, opening / closing valves 19 for thinner leading to thinner source 10 and opening / closing valves for air leading to air source 11
20 are arranged in order from the downstream side of the paint supply passage. A control device 21 for controlling the opening / closing valves 13 to 20 is connected to the valve device 12.

The control device 21 inputs information on the current paint color and the paint color to be used next, calculates (selects) a set value corresponding to the input information from data set and stored in advance, and sets the set value. And outputs an operation signal to the valve device 12 based on the above. The above data is shown in the following table.

That is, each numerical value in the above table represents the number of the cleaning patterns (1), (2), and (3) shown in FIG. 2, and in the control device 21, before and after the change, Each combination of both paint colors is the combination in which the paint colors are most easily mixed,
A group is divided into three groups, a combination that is most difficult to mix, and a combination between the two, and a cleaning pattern (cleaning time) for the paint supply path by thinner and air is set and stored for each group.

In the case of this example, when cleaning the paint supply passage,
By operating the open / close valve 19 for thinner and the open / close valve 20 for air, the air and the thinner are alternately discharged for a predetermined time. Then, in a combination of colors in which the current paint color and the next paint color are most easily mixed (for example, change from white to yellow), a relatively long cleaning time is required, and the current paint color and the next paint color are used. For combinations of colors that are difficult to mix with (for example, changing from blue to yellow), the cleaning patterns are set so that the cleaning time is shortened.

Next, a color change method in the coating machine 1 will be specifically described.

First, the control device 21 opens the opening / closing valve of the corresponding paint source based on the paint color information input according to the type of the article to be coated, and causes the paint gun 2 to supply the paint. Thus, the object to be coated is coated by the coating gun 2.

Next, if there is a paint color change command, a cleaning pattern corresponding to the combination of the two paint colors is selected from the above data based on information on the current paint color and the paint color of the next paint. Then, when the scheduled painting with the current paint color is completed, the opening / closing valve of the paint source is closed, and the thinner opening / closing valve 19 and the air opening / closing valve 20 are operated according to the selected cleaning pattern, so that the air and the thinner are separated. Discharge alternately for a certain time,
Wash the paint supply passage.

Therefore, for example, when the current coating color is red, if the next coating color is green, the above-described cleaning is performed according to the cleaning pattern (2), and when the next coating color is white, the above-described cleaning is performed using the cleaning pattern (1). Will be performed.

Then, after the completion of the washing, the opening / closing valve of the paint source of the next paint color is opened to supply the paint to the coating gun 2. Thereby, painting is performed with the paint of the changed painting color.

Therefore, according to the color change method, the washing time is shortened in the case of a combination of colors in which the current paint color and the next paint color are hardly mixed, such as a change from blue to yellow, and the amount of thinner used is reduced. Can be reduced, the overall time required for painting when sequentially performing color changes can be shortened, and thinner can be prevented from being wasted, thereby improving productivity. In addition, in the above-mentioned cleaning, since a method of alternately supplying air and thinner is employed, the cleaning efficiency is increased, which also contributes to shortening the cleaning time or preventing waste of thinner. ing.

In the above-described cleaning, a method of supplying air after supplying the thinner for a predetermined time may be adopted.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, each combination of both the pre-change and post-change paint colors is divided into groups, and the cleaning pattern is set according to each group, thereby reducing the storage amount of the control device 21. A cleaning pattern may be set for each combination.

[Brief description of the drawings]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a coating machine, and FIG. 2 is a cleaning pattern diagram. 1 ... painting machine, 2 ... painting gun, 4-9 ... paint source, 10
... Thinner source, 11 ... Air source, 13 to 18 ... Open / close valve for paint, 19 ... Open / close valve for thinner, 20 ... Open / close valve for air.

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] A plurality of paint sources having different paint colors, a thinner source, and an air source are connected to a paint supply passage of a paint gun via open / close valves, respectively, and these open / close valves are selectively opened / closed. A color changing method of a coating machine for supplying a coating material having a desired coating color to a coating gun, wherein the cleaning ability of the coating material supply passage by thinner and air according to the type of a combination of the coating colors before and after the change. Is set,
Upon changing from the current paint color to the next paint color, a corresponding set value is selected from the above set values for the cleaning ability based on the combination information of the two paint colors, and each paint is selected based on the selected set value. The paint supply passage is cleaned by operating the open / close valves communicating with the thinner source and the air source while the open / close valve leading to the source is closed, and thereafter, the open / close valve communicating with the paint source of the next paint color is opened. A color change method characterized by the following. 2. A plurality of paint sources having different paint colors, a thinner source, and an air source are connected to the paint supply passage of the paint gun through open / close valves, respectively, and these open / close valves are selectively opened and closed. A method of changing the color of a coating machine for supplying a coating material having a desired coating color to a coating gun, wherein the cleaning time for the coating material supply passage by thinner and air is determined according to the type of a combination of the coating colors before and after the change. Is set,
Upon changing from the current paint color to the next paint color, a corresponding set value is selected from the above set values for the cleaning time based on the combination information of the two paint colors, and each paint is selected based on the selected set value. The paint supply passage is cleaned by operating the open / close valves communicating with the thinner source and the air source while the open / close valve leading to the source is closed, and thereafter, the open / close valve communicating with the paint source of the next paint color is opened. A color change method characterized by the following. 3. A plurality of paint sources having different paint colors, a thinner source, and an air source are connected to the paint supply passage of the paint gun through open / close valves, respectively, and these open / close valves are selectively opened / closed. A color change method of a coating machine for supplying a paint of a desired paint color to a paint gun, wherein a cleaning ability for the paint supply passage by thinner and air is set in advance according to a kind of a paint color before or after a change. In advance, upon changing from the current paint color to the next paint color, a corresponding set value is selected from each of the above set values for the cleaning ability based on the information on the paint color before or after this change, and this selected The paint supply passage is washed by operating the open / close valves communicating with the thinner source and the air source with the open / close valves leading to the respective paint sources being closed based on the set values, and then the paint of the next paint color is performed. Through the source Color change wherein the opening and closing valve that.