JP2706409B2 - Method and apparatus for preventing solidification of application roller - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for applying a coating liquid such as a primer to a window glass or the like of an automobile using an application roller, and to a method and apparatus for preventing solidification of the coating liquid adhered to the coating roller. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, a window glass of an automobile is
After applying a primer (coating solution) as an adhesion auxiliary agent to the peripheral surface, the adhesive is further applied and assembled to the vehicle body.

[0003] The application of the primer is usually performed using a robot device, and a brush is generally used as the application tool. Specifically, the brush attached to the tip of the robot arm comes into contact with the peripheral surface of the window glass held at a predetermined work station, and in this state, teaching is performed in advance according to the shape of the peripheral surface of the glass. The robot arm is moved together with the brush according to the given predetermined trajectory. At this time, the primer is supplied to the brush to apply the primer to the peripheral surface of the window glass.

However, in such a primer coating operation using a brush, it is necessary to ensure a uniform contact area between the brush and the glass due to deformation of the brush or the like, and to uniformly apply a primer to each part of the contact portion. Is difficult to supply, and therefore, uneven coating of the primer, blurring, and the like are likely to occur.

[0005] In order to solve such inconveniences, the present applicant has previously proposed a coating apparatus using a coating roller as a coating tool. (Japanese Patent Application No. 3-123509).

In this coating apparatus, an application roller formed of a soft material such as monofoam ethylene propylene rubber to which a primer can adhere can be rolled on the peripheral surface of a window glass while the primer is applied to the outer surface of the application roller. To thereby apply the primer to the peripheral surface of the window glass.

As described above, according to the coating apparatus using the coating roller as the coating tool, the contact area between the window glass and the coating roller as the coating tool is relatively uniform as compared with the case where the brush is used as the coating tool. This is advantageous in that a uniform coating film can be formed easily.

Incidentally, since the primer is liable to be solidified due to volatilization of the solvent contained therein, the coating tool to which the primer has adhered is left in the atmosphere during the above-mentioned coating operation suspension. If this is done, the primer adhering to the applicator will solidify, and the next time the primer is applied to the window glass, coating unevenness, blurring, and the like will tend to occur. This is true not only when the brush is used as the applicator but also when the applicator roller is used.

As a technique for preventing such inconvenience, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 62-23613, an application tool (stroke) attached to the tip of the robot arm when the application operation is stopped is used. There is known an arm that is housed in a closed container by the operation of an arm and supplies an inert gas such as nitrogen gas into the closed container, thereby preventing the primer attached to the coating tool from solidifying. ing. In this case, the technique disclosed in the publication is a case where a brush is used as an applicator, but it is needless to say that the technique can be similarly applied to a case where an applicator roller is used as an applicator.

However, in such a technique, while the applicator is housed in a closed container, it is possible to prevent the primer adhering to the applicator from solidifying to some extent, When the applicator is moved between the time of storage and storage, the primer adhering to the applicator gradually solidifies, and thus the solidification of the primer cannot be reliably prevented. And since the primer adhering to the applicator gradually solidifies, it is necessary to exchange the applicator relatively frequently, which hinders improving the operation efficiency of the applicator. ,
It was disadvantageous in terms of cost. Therefore, there has been a demand for a technique capable of more effectively preventing the solidification of the primer attached to the application roller even when the application roller is used as the application tool.

Incidentally, in order to prevent the primer adhered to the coating roller from solidifying, the outer surface of the coating roller may be immersed in a cleaning liquid such as a solvent to remove the primer adhering to the coating roller. It is conceivable, however, that simply immersing the outer peripheral surface of the application roller in the cleaning liquid takes time to remove the primer, and the cleaning liquid adheres to the foamed portion on the surface of the soft material forming the outer peripheral surface of the application roller. As a result, there is a problem in performing the coating operation by supplying the primer to the coating roller next time.

[0012]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the foregoing, the present invention provides an apparatus for applying a coating liquid such as a primer to a work such as a window glass of an automobile through the coating roller by using an application roller as an application tool. It is another object of the present invention to provide a method and an apparatus capable of reliably preventing the application liquid adhering to the application roller from solidifying when the application operation is stopped.

[0013]

According to the present invention, there is provided a method for preventing solidification of a coating roller, wherein an outer peripheral surface is coated with a coating liquid such as a primer on a coating surface of a work such as a window glass of an automobile in order to achieve the above object. The coating liquid is supplied to the coating surface by supplying the coating liquid to the outer peripheral surface of the coating roller while rolling the coating roller along the coating surface in a state where the coating roller formed of a possible soft material is in contact with the coating roller. In the application device, a method for preventing the solidification of the application liquid adhered to the outer peripheral surface of the application roller, when the application of the application liquid is stopped, moving the application roller above the cleaning roller,
The cleaning roller is rotationally driven while the outer peripheral surface of the coating roller is pressed against the upper surface of the outer peripheral surface of the cleaning roller from above, and at this time, the cleaning liquid of the coating liquid is applied to the pressure contact point between the coating roller and the cleaning roller. The application roller is washed by being supplied.

Further, in order to achieve the above object, the solidification prevention device for an application roller according to the present invention comprises a work station and a standby station for applying a coating liquid such as a primer to a work such as a window glass of an automobile. A coating jig that is provided movably between the outer periphery and a rotatable support of an application roller whose outer peripheral surface is formed of a soft material to which the coating liquid can be attached. Along with moving the application roller from the standby station to the work station, and rolling the application roller along the application surface while bringing the application roller into contact with the application surface of the work held at the work station at the work station,
Further, the application liquid coating apparatus includes a moving unit that returns the work station to the standby station after the application liquid application operation, and a coating liquid supply unit that supplies the application liquid to the outer peripheral surface of the application roller during the application operation. A cleaning roller provided rotatably at the standby station, wherein the outer peripheral surface of the application roller is pressed from above by the moving means when the application jig is returned to the standby station; Drive means for rotating the cleaning roller in a state in which the application roller is pressed against the upper surface of the outer peripheral surface of the cleaning roller by moving means; and pressure contact between the cleaning roller and the application roller when the cleaning roller is rotationally driven. Cleaning liquid supply means for supplying a cleaning liquid of a coating liquid to the portion.

The cleaning liquid supply means includes a cleaning liquid tank in which a part of the outer peripheral surface of the cleaning roller is immersed in the cleaning liquid to store the cleaning liquid, and the cleaning liquid is rotated by the driving means by the driving means. The cleaning liquid in the tank is supplied to a press contact portion between the cleaning roller and the application roller.

Further, the cleaning roller is arranged at a position where the axis of the cleaning roller is inclined with respect to the axis of the application roller moved to the standby station and is pressed against the outer peripheral surface of the application roller. Features.

[0017]

According to the method for preventing solidification of the application roller of the present invention,
When the application of the application liquid is stopped, the cleaning roller is moved above the application roller cleaning roller, and the outer peripheral surface of the application roller is pressed against the upper surface of the outer peripheral surface of the cleaning roller from above. By rotating, the application roller rotates together with the cleaning roller, and according to the rotation,
Each part of the soft material forming the outer peripheral surface of the application roller is pressed against the upper surface of the outer peripheral surface of the cleaning roller. Thereby, the coating liquid adhering to the respective portions of the soft material on the outer peripheral surface of the coating roller during the coating operation of the coating liquid oozes out, and at this time, the cleaning liquid is supplied to a pressure contact portion between the coating roller and the cleaning roller. The coating liquid is washed and removed, thereby preventing the coating liquid adhering to the coating roller from solidifying. When supplying the cleaning liquid, the outer peripheral surface of the application roller is pressed against the outer peripheral surface of the cleaning roller from above (the location where the application roller is pressed against the cleaning roller is the lower surface of the outer peripheral surface of the coating roller). In addition, the cleaning liquid does not adhere to the soft material forming the outer peripheral surface of the application roller, and the application operation of the application liquid can be performed using the application roller during the next application operation without any trouble.

According to the apparatus for preventing solidification of an application roller of the present invention, after the operation of applying the application liquid to the application surface of the work in the work station is completed, the moving means moves the application jig into the standby state. The cleaning roller is moved to a station where the outer peripheral surface of the application roller is pressed against the upper surface of the outer peripheral surface of the cleaning roller from above. Then, in this state, the cleaning roller is rotationally driven by the driving unit. At this time, the application roller rotates together with the cleaning roller, and according to the rotation, the respective portions of the soft material forming the outer peripheral surface of the application roller are pressed against the upper surface of the outer peripheral surface of the cleaning roller and adhere to the respective portions. Primers seep out. Further, at the time of this rotation, the cleaning liquid is supplied to the pressure contact point between the application roller and the cleaning roller by the cleaning liquid supply unit, and the cleaning liquid removes the application liquid that has oozed from the application roller at the pressure contact point. Thus, the application roller is cleaned. Thereby, solidification of the application liquid adhering to the application roller is prevented. And
When the cleaning liquid is supplied, the outer peripheral surface of the application roller is pressed against the outer peripheral surface of the cleaning roller from above (the location where the application roller is pressed against the cleaning roller is the lower surface of the outer peripheral surface of the application roller). The cleaning liquid does not adhere to the soft material forming the outer peripheral surface of the roller.

When a part of the outer peripheral surface of the cleaning roller is immersed in the cleaning liquid in the cleaning liquid tank, the cleaning roller in the cleaning liquid tank is rotated by the driving means so that the cleaning liquid in the cleaning liquid tank is removed from the cleaning roller. While adhering to the outer peripheral surface, the cleaning liquid is supplied to the pressure contact portion between the cleaning roller and the application roller according to the rotation of the cleaning roller. Therefore, it is possible to easily supply the cleaning liquid to the press contact portion.

When the cleaning roller and the application roller are pressed against each other so that their axes are inclined with respect to each other, the application roller is brought into contact with the outer peripheral surface of the cleaning roller by the thrust force when the cleaning roller rotates. It rotates while being rubbed, whereby the outer peripheral surface of the application roller is more reliably cleaned.

[0021]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is an explanatory plan view showing the overall configuration of a primer coating apparatus to which the present invention is applied, FIG. 2 is a side view of a main part of the coating apparatus, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are respectively III-III in FIG.
5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line IV-IV, FIG. 5 is an explanatory perspective view of a cleaning device for the coating tool of the coating device, and FIG. 6 is a view taken in the direction of arrow VI in FIG.

In FIG. 1, this coating device is for coating a primer, which is a coating liquid, on a window glass W of an automobile (hereinafter simply referred to as glass W). A coating robot device, which is a moving means provided in the section, a solidification prevention device 3 for preventing the solidification of the primer attached to the coating roller provided on the coating jig 2 as described later, and a coating roller 4 of the coating jig 2 Is a controller for monitoring the state of application of the primer to the glass W. In this case, the glass W is held in a substantially horizontal posture by a holding device (not shown) at a predetermined work station Sa with the surface on which the primer is to be coated facing upward, and the coating jig 2 is operated by the operation of the robot arm 1a. The work station Sa is movable between a standby station Sb where the applicator cleaning device 3 is disposed. Then, in the work station Sa, the robot arm 1a operates so that its tip moves together with the coating jig 2 along a predetermined trajectory above the peripheral edge of the glass W in advance.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the coating jig 2 includes a base 6 attached to the distal end of the robot arm 1a, and a coating roller 7 which is a coating tool supported by the base 6.
The coating jig 2 constitutes a coating unit.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, a base plate 6 has a main plate 8 having an upper surface fixed to the robot arm 1a.
A pair of sub-plates 9, 9 suspended from both sides of the front end of the main plate 8, and a lower end of the sub-plates 9, 9 between the lower ends of the base 6 in the width direction (in FIG. (A vertical direction) and a support shaft 10
A swing plate 12 is provided extending substantially in the front-rear direction from a block body 11 rotatably supported at 0, and swingably supported by a support shaft 10 via the block body 11.
Then, as shown in FIG. 2, the tip of the swing plate 12 projecting forward of the sub plate 9 and the main plate 8
Between the upper end of the upright portion 8a formed at the tip of
A coil spring 13 is stretched. Due to the tensile force of the coil spring 13, the swing plate 12 has a tip portion swinging upward around the support shaft 10, that is, after the swing plate 12 protruding backward from the sub-plate 9. The end is biased to the side that swings downward around the support shaft 10.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the coating roller 7 is rotatably supported at the rear end of the swinging plate 12 via a bearing 14, and is integrally formed with the swinging plate 12. It is swingable around the shaft 10. And
When applying the primer to the glass W, the application roller 7 is supported on the primer application surface c of the glass W as shown in FIG. To be able to roll on the primer coating surface c. In this case, the outer peripheral portion of the application roller 7 that comes into contact with the glass W is formed of a porous soft material 15 such as foamed ethylene propylene rubber.

In FIGS. 2 to 4, in this embodiment, the coating jig 2 includes a proximity switch 16 attached to the sub-plate 9 to detect the swing position of the swing plate 12.
A rotation sensor 17 attached to the tip of the oscillating plate 12 to detect the rotation speed of the coating roller 7, and a primer coating film b on the primer coating surface c of the glass W after the rotation of the coating roller 7. Optical detector 1 attached to main plate 8 to optically detect whether or not it is formed
8, and these detection signals are input to the controller 5.

In FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the primer supply device 4 is provided with a pump 20 from a storage tank 19 for the primer a.
And a fluid supply path 22 connected to the on-off valve 21 fixedly provided on the main plate 8 of the coating jig 1 via the opening / closing valve 21 and a primer supply pipe 23 connected to the fluid path 22 via the on-off valve 21. . The primer supply pipe 23 extends from the on-off valve 21 to a position close to the outer peripheral surface of the coating roller 7, and has a tip end fixed to a rear portion of the swing plate 12.
It is supported by. And this primer supply device 4
Is designed to supply the primer a to the outer peripheral surface of the application roller 7 from the storage tank 19 via the pump 20, the fluid path 22, the on-off valve 21, and the primer supply pipe 23.

In the middle of the fluid path 22, the pump 20
Is provided with a pressure sensor 25 for detecting the supply pressure of the primer a to the primer supply pipe 23 by means of the pressure sensor 25. The signal of the pressure sensor 25 is input to the controller 5.

As shown in FIG. 5, the solidification preventing device 3 comprises a plurality of sub-bases 28 resiliently supported via springs 27 on a base 26 provided at the standby station Sb. A cleaning liquid tank 29 fixed on the sub-base 28; a cleaning roller 30 as a cleaning tool rotatably provided in the cleaning liquid tank 29; and a driving unit 31 for rotating the cleaning roller 30. An auxiliary tank 34 connected to the cleaning liquid tank 29 via a pair of pipes 32 and 33,
And a pump 35 provided in the pipe 33. In this case, the cleaning liquid tank 29 and the auxiliary tank 34 store a primer cleaning liquid x made of a solvent such as ethyl acetate. As will be described later, the cleaning liquid supply means for supplying the cleaning liquid x to the pressure contact portion between the application roller 7 and the cleaning roller 30 which is pressed against the cleaning roller 30 includes a cleaning tank 29 and a driving means 31.

The cleaning roller 30 is coaxially fixed to one end inside the cleaning liquid tank 29 of a rotating shaft 36 rotatably supported by penetrating the side wall of the cleaning liquid tank 29 and integrally formed with the rotating shaft 35. It is rotatable. The lower portion of the cleaning roller 30 is immersed in the cleaning liquid x in the cleaning liquid tank 29.

The driving means 31 comprises a motor 37 fixed on the sub-base 28 beside the washing liquid tank 29,
7, a driven pulley 39 inserted at an end of the rotary shaft 36 outside the cleaning liquid tank 29, and a pulley wound around these pulleys 39, 40. The driving force of the motor 37 is transmitted from the driving shaft 38 to the cleaning roller 30 via the driving pulley 39, the pulley belt 41, the driven pulley 40, and the rotating shaft 36, thereby rotating the cleaning roller 30. I am trying to do it.

The auxiliary tank 34, the pipes 32 and 33, and the pump 35 circulate the cleaning liquid x between the auxiliary tank 34 and the cleaning liquid tank 29 and appropriately replenish the cleaning liquid x in the auxiliary tank 34 to the cleaning liquid tank 29. The cleaning liquid x in the cleaning liquid tank 29 is circulated through the pipe 32, the auxiliary tank 34, and the pipe 33 by the operation of the pump 35. In this case, a filter (not shown) is provided in the auxiliary tank 34, and the cleaning liquid x in the cleaning liquid tank 29 is appropriately filtered in the circulation process.

The cleaning liquid tank 29 is open upward, and a pair of open / close lids 42, 4 are provided at the open end 29a.
Two are supported. These opening / closing lids 42, 42 are slidable on the opening end 29a so as to be able to approach and separate from each other. In the approach state, the cleaning liquid tank 29 is closed, and in the separation state, the cleaning liquid tank 29 is moved upward. I am trying to open it. And the robot arm 1a
When moved to the standby station Sb, its tip is inserted into the cleaning liquid tank 29 from above with the cleaning liquid tank 29 in an open state as shown in FIG. At this time, the application roller 7 of the application jig 2 at the tip of the robot arm 1a is
Is pressed against the upper surface portion of the outer peripheral surface portion. still,
For convenience of explanation, in FIG. 5, only the main part of the application jig 2 is simplified and described, and a part is omitted.

An opening / closing cylinder 43 for performing these opening / closing operations is attached to the opening / closing lids 42, 42. The opening / closing cylinder 43 has a main body 43a connected to one opening / closing lid 42, and a piston rod 43b projecting from the main body 43a so as to extend and contract freely connected to the other opening / closing lid 42. The opening and closing lids 42, 42 are opened and closed according to the expansion and contraction of.
In this case, the movement of the open / close lids 42, 42 to the open state is regulated by a stopper (not shown), and the movement to the closed state is performed by a recess formed at the tip of each open / close lid 42. 42a is regulated by abutting and fitting to the outer peripheral portion of the robot arm 1a inserted into the cleaning liquid tank 29.

When the robot arm 1a is inserted into the cleaning liquid tank 29, the axis of the application roller 7 of the application jig 2 is set to the axis of the cleaning roller 30 as shown in FIG. On the other hand, the cleaning roller 30 is pressed against the cleaning roller 30 while being inclined by a predetermined angle θ.

Next, the operation of the coating apparatus will be described.

In FIG. 2, when the primer a is applied to the glass W, the application jig 2 at the tip of the robot arm 1a is moved by the operation of the robot arm 1a of the application robot apparatus 1 to the work station Sa (see FIG. 2). The coating roller 7 of the coating jig 2 is supported on the primer coating surface c by being moved above the primer coating surface c of the glass W held in (1). At this time, the application roller 7 is pressed against the primer application surface c by the urging force of the coil spring 13.

Next, the robot arm 1a is moved along the primer coating surface c of the glass W in the direction of arrow A in FIG. At the same time, the pump 20 of the primer supply device 4 is driven to move the primer a from the storage tank 19 to the outer peripheral surface of the application roller 7 via the fluid path 22, the on-off valve 21 and the primer supply pipe 23. The supplied primer a is attached to the soft material 15 forming the outer peripheral surface of the application roller 7. At this time, the application roller 7 rolls on the primer application surface c of the glass W with the movement of the robot arm 1a, and the primer a attached to the soft material 15 of the application roller 7 c, and a primer coating film b is sequentially formed on the coating surface c.

During the coating operation, the controller 5 controls the proximity switch 16, the rotation sensor 17 and the optical detector 18 provided on the coating jig 2, and the pressure sensor of the primer supply device 4. 25, the contact state between the glass W and the application roller 7, the rotation state of the application roller 7, whether or not the primer coating film b has been formed, and the supply amount of the primer a to the application roller 7 are detected.
Based on these detection data, it is determined whether or not the primer a has been properly applied.

When the application operation of the primer a is completed, the application robot apparatus 1 then moves the robot arm 1a
Together with the coating jig 2 from the work station Sa to the standby station Sb (see FIG. 1). At this time,
Referring to FIG. 6, the cleaning liquid tank 2 of the solidification preventing device 3
The opening and closing lids 42, 42 are opened by the opening and closing cylinder 43, and the robot arm 1a moved to the standby station Sb is inserted into the cleaning liquid tank 29 together with the coating jig 2 from above. By this insertion, the application roller 7 of the application jig 2 is pressed against the upper surface of the outer peripheral surface of the cleaning roller 30 with their axes inclined to each other as described above.

Next, the opening / closing lids 42, 42 are closed by the opening / closing cylinder 43, and in this state, the driving means 3
The cleaning roller 30 is rotationally driven by one motor 37.

At this time, since the cleaning roller 30 and the application roller 7 are in contact with each other in a state where their axes are inclined as shown in FIG. 6, the application roller 7 is rotated with the rotation of the cleaning roller 30. The thrust force causes the cleaning roller 30 to rotate while being rubbed against each other, whereby the respective portions in the circumferential direction of the soft material 15 of the application roller 7 are pressed against the cleaning roller 30 sequentially, and the soft material 15 The primer a adhering to the foamed portion oozes out. At this time, since the lower portion of the outer peripheral surface of the cleaning roller 30 is immersed in the cleaning liquid x in the cleaning liquid tank 29, the cleaning liquid x adheres to the outer peripheral surface of the cleaning roller 30.
Is supplied to the press contact point between the cleaning roller 30 and the application roller 7 according to the rotation of. As a result, the primer a adhered to the soft material 15 forming the outer peripheral surface of the application roller 7 is removed at the pressure contact portion between the application roller 7 and the cleaning roller 30, and the application roller 7 is cleaned.
In this case, as described above, the application roller 7 and the cleaning roller 30
Means, in addition to these pressure welding, the thrust force,
Since these portions are rubbed at these pressed portions, the application roller 7
Primer a attached to the outer peripheral surface (including the foamed portion) of
Is reliably removed.

In the cleaning of the application roller 7,
If the cleaning liquid x in the cleaning liquid tank 29 becomes insufficient due to evaporation or the like, the cleaning liquid x in the cleaning liquid tank 29 is circulated between the auxiliary tank 34 and the auxiliary tank 34 as described above. In the process, it is filtered as appropriate.

After the cleaning of the application roller 7, the robot arm 1a of the application robot device 1
9, the above operation is repeated to apply the primer a to the new glass W.

As described above, according to the coating apparatus of the present embodiment, in the process between the coating operation of the primer a and the coating operation,
When the robot arm 1a of the coating robot device 1 moves to the standby station Sb, the coating roller 7 of the coating jig 2
By actively removing the primer a adhered to the soft material 15 by the cleaning liquid x, the primer a adhered to the application roller 7 at the time of application of the primer a can be reliably prevented from being solidified. It is possible to reliably prevent adverse effects such as coating unevenness and blurring due to solidification.

In this embodiment, the case where the primer is applied has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and may be similarly applied to the case where a coating liquid such as an adhesive is applied to a work. Of course you can.

[0047]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the method for preventing the solidification of the coating roller of the present invention, the coating roller is moved above the cleaning roller when the coating operation of the coating liquid such as the primer is stopped. While pressing the outer peripheral surface of the application roller against the upper surface of the outer peripheral surface of the cleaning roller from above, the cleaning roller is rotationally driven to rotate the application roller together with the cleaning roller. Since the cleaning liquid of the application liquid is supplied to the pressure contact portion, the application liquid adhering to and penetrating the soft material forming the outer peripheral surface of the application roller can be reliably removed, and the application roller can be cleaned. Thereby, solidification of the application liquid adhered to the application roller can be reliably prevented, and thus, it is possible to prevent the application liquid from being unevenly applied or frayed during the application operation. Further, when cleaning the application roller, the cleaning liquid is supplied to the press-contact portion while the outer peripheral surface of the application roller is pressed against the upper surface of the outer peripheral surface of the cleaning roller from above, so that the cleaning liquid is applied to the outer peripheral surface of the application roller. Is also prevented from being adhered, which can also prevent the application liquid from being unevenly applied or frayed during the application operation.

According to the apparatus for preventing solidification of the application roller of the present invention, when the application jig is moved to the standby station by the moving means between the application operation of the application liquid at the work station and the application operation. The outer peripheral surface of the application roller is pressed against the upper surface of the outer peripheral surface of the cleaning roller from above,
In this state, the cleaning roller is rotationally driven by the driving means to rotate the application roller together with the cleaning roller, and the cleaning liquid is supplied to the press-contact portion between the cleaning roller and the application roller. The coating liquid adhering / permeating to the material can be efficiently removed in a short time when the coating operation is stopped, and the coating liquid adhering / permeating to the soft material on the outer peripheral surface of the applying roller can be reliably removed. After removal, the application roller can be washed. By removing the application liquid, solidification of the application liquid adhering to the application roller can be reliably prevented, and thus, application unevenness and blurring of the application liquid during the application operation can be prevented. Further, when supplying the cleaning liquid, the cleaning liquid is supplied to the press-contact portion while the outer peripheral surface of the application roller is pressed against the upper surface of the outer peripheral surface of the cleaning roller from above, so that the cleaning liquid is applied to the outer peripheral surface of the application roller. Adhesion is also prevented, which can also prevent application unevenness and blurring of the application liquid during the application operation.

Then, a part of the outer peripheral surface of the cleaning roller is immersed in the cleaning liquid in the cleaning liquid tank, and the supply of the cleaning liquid to the pressure contact portion between the cleaning roller and the application roller is performed by rotating the cleaning roller. The structure of the supply means for the cleaning liquid can be made extremely simple.

Further, the axial center of the cleaning roller and the axial center of the application roller are inclined with each other so that the outer peripheral surfaces of the both rollers are in contact with each other. Can be rotated,
The coating liquid adhering to the soft material on the outer peripheral surface of the coating roller can be reliably removed over the entire circumference.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory plan view showing the overall configuration of a primer coating apparatus to which an example of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a side view of a main part of the coating apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line III-III of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is an explanatory perspective view of a cleaning device for a coating tool of the coating device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a view taken in the direction of arrow VI in FIG. 5;

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Coating robot device (moving means), 2 ... Coating jig, 3
... solidification prevention device, 7 ... coating roller, 15 ... soft material, 29
... cleaning liquid tank, 30 ... cleaning roller, 31 ... driving means,
W: window glass (work) of an automobile, a: primer, c: primer coated surface, x: cleaning liquid.

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] An application roller formed of a soft material capable of adhering an application liquid such as a primer is brought into contact with an application surface of a work such as a window glass of an automobile, and the application roller is moved along the application surface. A method of applying a coating liquid to the outer peripheral surface of the coating roller while supplying the coating liquid to the outer peripheral surface of the coating roller while preventing the coating liquid adhered to the outer peripheral surface of the coating roller from solidifying. When the application operation of the application liquid is stopped, the application roller is
Moved upward La, the cleaning the outer circumferential surface of the coating roller B
While it pressed from above the upper surface portion of the outer peripheral surface of the over La said wash
The cleaning roller is driven to rotate, and at this time, the coating roller and the cleaning roller are rotated .
Anticaking method for coating roller, characterized by washing the coating roller by supplying a cleaning liquid of the coating liquid to the pressure contact portion between the over la. And a work station for applying a coating liquid such as a primer to a work such as a window glass of an automobile and a standby station, wherein the outer peripheral surface is made of a soft material capable of adhering the coating liquid. An application jig rotatably supporting an application roller formed of a material; moving the application jig from the standby station to a work station during application work of the application liquid; and operating the application roller at the work station. Moving means for rolling the application roller along the application surface while being in contact with the application surface of the work held in a station, and further returning from the work station to the standby station after the application of the application liquid; A coating liquid supply means for supplying the coating liquid to the outer peripheral surface of the coating roller during the coating operation. In the cloth unit, rotatably provided in the waiting station, a cleaning roller for the coating jig when it is returned to the waiting station, the outer peripheral surface of the application roller is pressed against from above by the moving means, Driving means for rotating the cleaning roller in a state where the application roller is pressed against the upper surface of the outer peripheral surface of the cleaning roller by the moving means ; and An apparatus for preventing solidification of an application roller, comprising: a cleaning liquid supply unit configured to supply a cleaning liquid of an application liquid to a pressure contact portion with the application roller. 3. The cleaning liquid supply means includes a cleaning liquid tank in which a part of an outer peripheral surface of the cleaning roller is immersed in the cleaning liquid to store the cleaning liquid, and the cleaning liquid is rotated by the driving means by the driving means. 3. The apparatus for preventing solidification of an application roller according to claim 2, wherein the cleaning liquid in the tank is supplied to a pressure contact portion between the cleaning roller and the application roller. 4. The cleaning roller according to claim 1, wherein an axis of the cleaning roller is inclined with respect to an axis of the application roller moved to the standby station, and is disposed at a position where the cleaning roller is pressed against an outer peripheral surface of the application roller. 3. The apparatus for preventing solidification of an application roller according to claim 2.