MX2007000455A - Automated spray gun fitted with a spray system mounted on supply base - Google Patents

Abstract

An automated spray gun comprising a spray/atomization body is mounted on a feed foundation. In the present invention, said spray gun comprises tensile locking means (50, 60) between said spray body (2) and said foundation (3).

Description

AUTOMATED SPRAY GUN EQUIPPED WITH A PULVERIZATION SYSTEM MOUNTED ON A POWER BASE FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an automated spray gun for spraying paints, lacquers, enamels or similar products.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION It is known that an automated spray gun comprises a generally two- or three-part body, and a chamber that receives a pressurized product that must be sprayed and communicates with a spray orifice of the front of the spray gun. This chamber of the product is crossed by a needle which is equipped at its front end with a tip capable of sealing said hole, said needle is driven by the pressurized In addition, the head of the spray gun can be equipped with vents that are placed on each side of the hole and is fed in parallel with the pressurized On the one hand these vents atomize the pressurized product that emits from the central orifice and on the other hand these form a spray jet in a flat or round layer. Several feed ducts pass through the body of the spray gun in order to move the product to be sprayed / atomized and also apply to several feeders pressurized Illustratively, the body of a spray gun may comprise five different feeders, namely a feeder for the product to be sprayed, a recycling return duct, a pressurized controlled feeder, a pressurized feeder passing through the atomization vents and a pressurized feeder for the jet forming vents. As far as known spray guns are concerned, the gun body is mounted on and fixed to a mounting base to feed the tubes in order to allow easy assembly and disassembly of the spray gun while preventing disconnection of all the pipes during the course of cleaning, maintenance or changing a spray gun. In order to reduce the time spent in said maintenance operations, the fast connecting / disconnecting means of the bayonet type have already been used so that the body of the spray gun is assembled in said base and then secured when it is rotated (by fraction). of a revolution). The support surface of the spray gun body that receives the holes of the feed conduit comprises a projection having side studs entering the housing with helical access ways that implements a quarter turn safety, said housing has been milled in the side of the settlement of said base, said side comprises the supply conduits which are complementary with those of the seals of the spray gun. The seals are installed between the respective feed conduits when the body of the spray gun is mounted on the base and are configured on the peripheries of the bore between the support side and the set side. The assembly is carried out by configuring the spray gun body transversely to the base to move the stump together with its studs into the housing and equalize the notches and then rotate the spray gun body about its axis until the distal portion of the spray gun must be blocked by a stop when the sides and the respective holes of the body and the base are coincidental It should be kept in mind that the seals inserted between the supporting and seating sides are subject to friction and shear stresses when the body of the spray gun is turned over and clamped to the base. These stresses very quickly degrade the seals by abrading their surface and the edges of the sharp hole that entail danger of pinching or cutting the sheared seals.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The object of the present invention is to remedy these drawbacks by creating a system for quick and improved closure of the spray gun body on a base to eliminate seal degradation and rule out any leakage of product or pressurized gas into the feed conduits . Therefore, in the present invention, the automated spray gun - for a product such as paint, lacquer, enamel or the like - comprises: - a spray gun body including several first conduits feeding a product to be sprayed and a pressurized gas, furthermore a support side in which the first supply conduits are derived in the form of first orifices; - a base that includes a settling side against which said support side is forced, in addition to several second supply conduits that are complementary to said first supply conduits and that terminate on the part in the connection elements to feed the product with pressurized sprayed gas and on the other hand in the second holes of the settling side, said first and second holes are configured in a way that each first orifice it must coincide with a second respective hole when said support side of the spray gun body is forced against the settling side of the base; - means that allow a rapid assembly and blocking of said body of the spray gun to said base, it is characteristic in that said rapid assembly and blocking means comprise: means for positioning said body of the spray gun on said side and are designed for protect perpendicularly from one of the sides and translate it orthogonally towards another of the sides in a way that said support side is positioned with respect to the side of the base in its plane; - a fixing stump projecting perpendicularly from one of said sides and which is orthogonally moved towards the other of the sides; and - rapid locking means that apply an axial tension to said fixing stump to maintain said support and seating side forced against each other. Therefore, the body of the spray gun will be assembled and by means of an orthogonal transfer it will press against the settling side of the base, while the positioning means and the protruding trunnion enter their respective receptacles due to the transfer orthogonal to said sides, as a result where the seals are free of both shear forces and frictional forces, instead of being simply compressed in a permissible manner between the supporting and seating sides. Upon the actuation of the quick connection means, they will push the fixing pin parallel to its axis so that it can hold the support side against said seating side, thus compressing in a permissible manner the seals perpendicular to said sides, as a result of which any leakage at the junction between the supply conduits is excluded. By combining the means of positioning and the projecting stump held in place through the locking means any rotation and any movement of the spray gun body with respect to the base is discarded. Preferably, the locking means are mounted rotatably on the shaft which is substantially perpendicular to the fixing pin and they can convert their rotation on their axis in an axial pulling movement of said fixing pin. In this way the body of the spray gun is easily locked without rotating it, without moving it with respect to the base, even without using tools, the locking means being driven by a rotating handle or the like. In an advantageous incorporation mode, the fixing stump projecting from one of the supporting / seating sides enters the housing on the other side and the blocking means is configured within a cavity that aims in a cooperative and substantially perpendicular to said housing penetrated by said protruding fixing pin. In this way, the block system can be fully integrated into the base or optionally inside the body of the spray gun. In an advantageous incorporation mode, the fixation stump comprises a rod and a protruding head wider than said rod. In this way said locking means are capable of holding and supporting against the base of the head to put said fixing stump. In another advantageous mode of incorporation which holds in place the stump protruding from the head, the locking means show a hollow barrel of geometry of revolution, said barrel being provided with a cavity parallel to the axis intersecting a radial cavity of a width greater than that of the width of the head of said fixing pin, said radial and axial cavities communicating through a transverse slot with said barrel, said slot exhibits a width greater than that of the fixing pin rod but smaller than the width of said head of the fixing pin . Accordingly, the stump provided with a head enters the wide radial cavity and, following the rotation of the barrel, said head is held in place within the narrow annular groove. In such embodiment, to ensure that the stump is pulled in a direction parallel to itself, the locking means of said fixing stump comprises at least one ramp capable of abutting against said base of the stump, said ramp being implemented by a variable thickness of said hollow barrel and allowing the traction of said fixing stump. Accordingly, the inclination or inclinations on each side of the slot may exhibit an increased thickness over a portion of the rotational path of the locking means, allowing the stump to pull against the base of this stump head. In another embodiment of the present invention, the positioning means comprise at least one centering pin configured in a manner for projecting orthogonally from one of said sides and allowing it to enter at least one housing provided in another of said sides by means of an orthogonal translation to them. In this way the body of the spray gun is coupled and assembled to the base only being translated orthogonally to support and seat the sides and said centering pin will fix the support side relative to the set side in the directions parallel to these . Any rotation is excluded, and therefore immobility is gained by combining the coupling of this centering pin with the fixing pin. In another advantageous embodiment of the present invention, at least one tubular sleeve is inserted into at least one joint between a first supply conduit of the spray gun and a corresponding feeder conduit of the base, the tubular sleeve comprises a portion which is inserted into said first feed conduit and a portion that is inserted into the second feed conduit. Said tubular sleeve also makes it possible to improve the sealing of the supply ducts of the base and the body of the spray gun at their junction. Furthermore, the tubular sleeve can advantageously act as positioning means replacing said centering pin because this allows an orthogonal coupling, by translation, of the spray gun body on the side of the base while fixing, in its plane, the side of support in relation to the settlement side.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The figures of the attached drawing clarify the present invention. The identical references shown in the different Figures denote identical elements. Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of the body of the spray gun mounted on a base of the invention, Figure 2 is a partial perspective view showing the separate parts of the spray gun body separated from the base and showing the seals, the positioning means and blocking means of the invention, Figure 3 is a detailed perspective of the blocking barrel of the invention, Figs. 4A, 4B, 4C are cross-sectional views of a locking sequence in the locking means of the invention. Figure 5 is a longitudinal section of the spray gun body assembled to the base with an inserted tubular sleeve, of a variation of one embodiment of the invention, and Figure 6 is a front view of the automated spray gun of Figure 5. and also shows a partial section of the lock barrel, key of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED MODALITIES Generally speaking, the automated spray gun 1 of the invention, which is shown in the schematic cross section in Figure 1, consists of the body of the spray gun 2 containing the means for spraying / atomizing a product using the pressurized gas and assembled in the base 3 that connects the feeders of the product to be sprayed and of pressurized gas (generally of compressed air). The body of the spray gun 2 is known and comprises several parts that are assembled in the planes of the transverse joints. Bearing in mind that said body comprises a front part holding a product chamber 5 preceded by a spray head 6 including a gas blower cover 7 and a nozzle 8 provided with a spray orifice 9. The spray head is illustrated. as described in the French patent documents FR-A-2,788, 231 and FR-A 2,839, 663.

The body of the spray gun 2 comprises a pneumatic drive compartment 12 having a piston 11 received inside a chamber 12 of the propulsion compartment in the rear part 13 of the spray gun and is sealed in the rear vessel 14 provided with a button of spray control. The driving chamber drives a needle 15 that hermetically crosses the two chambers and is provided at its front end with a tip capable of sealing said hole 9. The body of the spray gun 2 can also include a middle part that optionally has a omitted propellant gas chamber communicating with the vents 17, 19 of the gas blower cover 7 by means of the ducts 16, 18 passing through the front of the spray gun 4 and the edges of said blower cover gas 7. Several supply conduits 22, 24, 26, 28 pass through the body of the spray gun 2 feed the product chamber 5 with a pressurized spray product and pressurized gas feed the displacement chamber 12 as well as the vents of spray and formation 17, 19 or the optional propellant gas chamber. In the embodiment shown in Figure 1, the product chamber 5 on the front of the spray gun communicates with a spray / spray product feeder conduit 22 and with a product return duct used to recycle said product. These two product feeding ducts (only one, mainly 22 is shown in the dashed lines of Figure 1) are generally symmetrically configured towards a longitudinal, vertical plane and are derived through two side holes 21 and 23 to the side of support 20 of the spray gun body 2 as shown in Figure 2. A pressurized gas supply line (compressed air) 24 which the said driving chamber 12 passes through the body of the spray gun and connects the driving chamber to a hole 25 of the support side 20 (in this example the middle position is shown). Two pressurized gas supply conduits 26, 28 run through the body 2 and connect two holes 27, 29 on the support side 20 of the ducts 16, 18 respectively guiding them to the vents 17, 19 which pulverize and form the product stream. atomized. The support side 20 of the spray gun 2 shown in perspective in FIG. 2 is therefore provided with a plurality of holes 21, 23, 25, 27, 29 of the feeder ducts of the spray gun feeding the spray product. atomization and pressurized gas, being several, from 2 to 5, even more, and being denoted in the present invention as "first orifices". Preferably, the support side 20 of the body of the spray gun 2 should be flat and be forced on the base 3 against the seating side 30 which is also flat. The base 3 is provided with supply ducts 32, 34, 36 which are complementary to the feed passages 22, 24, 26 of the spray gun 2, and which pass between the set side 30 and a connecting side 40, which in this example, is the side back of the base. The connection holes 42, 44, 46 of the feeder conduits 32, 34, 36 are provided by the connector elements 48 for spraying the product and the pressurized gas supply tubes, such as the connector elements that are illustratively threaded. , quick-connect parts, female connectors and other equivalent elements. The orifices of the feeder conduit derive on the set side 30 of the base where they are denoted as "secondary holes" and are configured as "secondary holes".

Such a way that each secondary hole 31, 33, 35, 37, 39 must coincide with the position of the corresponding first hole 21, 23, 25, 27, 29 on the support side 20 of the spray gun 2. In the illustrative embodiment of Figure 2, the peripheral edges of the first holes 25 are designed so that each receives an O-ring 45. The pressurized gas supply orifices 25, 27, 29 are each provided with the countersink in that the geometry is equal to or slightly less than that of the seals 45, 47, 49. Each feed orifice of the pulverized product 21, 23 is enclosed by an annular groove that is concentric with the bore and designed to receive a type O ring. 41, 43 but does NOT communicate with the holes 21, 23 in order to discard the contact between the O-ring and the potentially corrosive sprayed product, for example enamel. The base comprises an attachment fitting 38 to allow assembly in an oriented manner on the support arm of the work station. In the present invention, the automated spray gun is provided with the positioning means 51, in addition to a fixing stump 50 protruding and the means 60 for securing said stump. As shown in the embodiment of Figures 1 and 2, the positioning means is implemented by a central pin 51. The pin 51 comprises a portion that must enter the receptacle 52 in the body of the spray gun in a manner that orthogonally project from the support side 20 and the other portion should enter another complementary receptacle 53 on the seating side 30 of the base 3. Thus a pin 51 allows the placement of the spray gun body to the rest of the surface 20 against the settlement side of the base 30, so a connection is formed to eliminate two degrees of space in the directions of translation parallel to said sides while conserving the space mounting the body of the spray gun 2 in the base 3 by means of the translation which is perpendicular to said sides 20 and 30. As shown in FIGS. Figures, the fixing stump 50 is fixed to the body of the spray gun 2 in a manner to project perpendicularly from the bearing surface 20. The fixing stump 50 of the embodiment of Figure 2 comprises a threaded cylindrical rod 54 provided with the protruding stops and with the projection head 57 at least approximately in the form of a truncated cone. The head 57 and the collar 55 shows a diameter longer than that of the rod 54, wherein the space between the head and the collar comprising a nip 56. Near the nip 56, the projecting head 57 is rounded to comprise at least approximately a spherical surface 58. The stump 50 is fixed in the threaded core 59 to the rest of the surface of the spray gun body in such a way that the head 57 has to project from said supporting surface 20. A receptacle 61 in where the dimensions are longer than the diameter of the trunnion head 57 is present on the settling side 30 of the base 3 in a position that engages the projection fixing stump 54. Said receptacle 61 perpendicular to the set side 30 is communicates with a hole 62 provided in a manner parallel to said seating side towards the base 3. Preferably, the hole 62 is cylindrical and acts as a housing for the lock barrel 60. As shown in detail in Figure 3, barrel 60 shows a cylindrical overall revolution surface having an L-L axis and comprising a cylindrical cavity 63 having a K-K axis parallel to the L-L axis but spaced therefrom as is elucidated below. A radial cavity 64 presented in the axial cavity 63 is present in the barrel 60 at the level and site of the projecting stump 50. Furthermore a transverse slot 65 runs from the radial cavity 64 to a diametrically opposed area 66 in a transverse plane P which is preferably perpendicular to the barrel axis LL. The groove 65 running from the radial cavity 64 to the opposite diametrically 66 in a plane P which is preferably perpendicular to the axis of the barrel L-L. The groove 65 comprises an arc of the circle of the barrel of the barrel (for example a half circle or an arc of approximately 160 to 200 °, including a quarter or three quarters of a circle. The straight slot 35 and the radial cavity 64 communicate with one another in the radial cavity 63. The diameters of the shaft and the radial cavities 63 and 64 are longer than the dimensions and the diameter of the head 57 of the projecting stump 50 where the width of the groove 65 is smaller than the diameter of the head 57 and longer than the diameter or the rod 54 or the narrowing 56 of the stump 50. The length of the safety barrel 50 exceeds that of its hole 62 in the housing, as result wherein one end of the barrel 60 projects out of the base when the barrel of the barrel 60 is inserted into the hole 62 of the base 3. The projection end of the barrel 60 is provided with a small rotary safety handle 67. In In the course of the assembly process, the body of the spray gun 2 is mounted in a translational manner in the direction of the base 3 perpendicularly to the support and to the settling sides 20 and 30 respectively, with which the centering pin 51 and the fixing stump 50 enter their respective receptacles 53 and 61 until this support side 20 is to be pressed against the seating side 30 of the base 3. As shown in detail in the safety sequence illustrated by Figures 4A and 4B and 4C, the lock barrel 60 initially it is moved towards the angular starting position where its radial cavity 64 coincides with the receptacle 61 of the base 3 which is incorporated by the projection fixing stump 50. The head of the trunnion 57 is drifted towards the axial cavity 63 of the barrel 60. In this position, which is shown by Figure 4A, the support side of the spray gun body 20 is supported by means of the non-compressed seals 41, 43 against the settling side 30. By means of the small handle of FIG. rotary security 67, the barrel 60 is illustrated rotatably clockwise and the narrowing 56 of the trunnion thus enters the groove of the barrel 65. The head of the trunnion 57 is now reduced in the cavity axial barrel 63, the base of the head 57 is attached by two cylindrical wall portions 68 of the barrel 60. In this intermediate angular safety position of approximately a quarter of a turn (Figure 4B), the body of the spray gun 2 is simply retained in place on the base 3, the seals 41, 43 are slightly compressed between the support and the seating surfaces 20 and 30. Since the axis KK of the axial cavity 63 of the barrel 60 is offset to run parallel to the LL longitudinal axis of the barrel, the cylindrical walls 68 of barrel 60 will exhibit a varying thickness of thickness. The axial cavity 63 is eccentric to move even closer to the radial cavity 64. As a result, the thickness of the walls 68 of the barrel varies between a minimum thickness in the region of the radial cavity 64 and the maximum thickness in a diametrically opposed region. As a result and in this way, the two portions of barrel walls 68 attached to the base of the trunnion head 57 comprises two ramps 68 of increased thickness in the direction of the securing. Accordingly, during the safety procedure, said two ramps 68 of the barrel cooperate with the spherical surface of the head 57 by applying an increased pull on the head 57 of the projecting stump 57 in a direction parallel to this stump, that is, perpendicular to the side Accordingly, and in an advantageous manner of the present invention, the support side 20 of the spray gun body 2 is pulled in a manner orthogonally to itself until it is forced against it. the settling side 30 of the base 3 and until the seals are fully compressed (Figure 4C). All the entire assembly and the safety procedure, the seals 41, 43 are compressed in a permissible manner between the settling and supporting sides 20 and 30 without being subject to shear stress or friction. Therefore, when the final safety position has been reached, the body of the spray gun 2 should be fixed in total confinement and in a compressed manner against the base 3. In that position, the lock barrel 60 itself is retained without rotation by the subject fastener. In addition, the barrel cover 60 will no longer be available to move axially. On the other hand, to discard the barrel 60 from being released from the base 3 when the body of the spray gun 2 is apart from the base 3, advantageously, and as shown in Figures 5 and 6, the cylindrical barrel 60 should be kept in the bore of the cylindrical housing 62 by means of the longitudinal fasteners 70.

As shown in Figure 3, the barrel 60 is provided with an annular inlet 69 recessed within the total circumference or preferably within the arc of the barrel circle of the barrel 60, for example a half turn. A retaining screw 70 is screwed through of the base 3 to engage the inlet 69 and longitudinally fix the barrel 60 in the hole 62 while allowing it to rotate over a fraction of a revolution. Figure 5 shows a variation of an embodiment where the tubular sleeve 71 is inserted into the joint between the first feeder conduit 24 of the spray gun body 2 and a second complementary feeder conduit 34 of the base 3. The tubular sleeve comprises a portion which enters the first conduit 24 and a portion that enters the second conduit 34. The internal diameter of the tubular connectors 71 is preferably substantially the same as the internal diameter of said conduits 24 and 34. The periphery of said orifices of the conduits is made to be engaged using a countersink having a diameter corresponding to the outer diameter of the tubular sleeve 71 at a depth corresponding to the depth of insertion of each portion of the connector 71. An annular groove 72 is provided within the outer walls of the connector 71 in its central position to receive the O-type ring 45. Accordingly the seal it is retained in place when the body of the spray gun 2 is mounted on the base 3 and this can not be saved or misplaced between the two seating and support sides. Furthermore, said tubular sleeve 71 itself can be used as a means for positioning the support side 20 of the spray gun body with respect to the settling side of the base 30.said tubular fitting replaces the studs 51. It should be kept in mind that in general the other positioning means may be replaced by the cylindrical positioning element or the tubular sleeve, for example to contact or link the elements by eliminating only a degree of translation of the parallel movement of said sides, such as the grooved and reed system or the complementary elements of wrappings provided on the settling and support sides.

Claims (9)

1. An automated spray gun (1) for spraying / atomising a product such as paint, lacquer, enamel or the like, comprising: - the body of a spray gun (2) including several first conduits feeding a product to be sprayed and a pressurized gas, in addition to a support side in which said first conduits derive in the form of first holes; - a base that includes a settling side against which said support side is forced, in addition to several second feeder conduits that are complementary to the first feeder conduits and terminate, on the one hand, in the connection elements for spraying the feeder feedings. product and pressurized gas and, on the other hand, in the second holes in said settling side, the first and second holes are configured in such a way that each first hole of the support must coincide with a respective second hole when said body supporting side of the spray gun is forced against said settling side of the base; - seals to be inserted between said support and seating sides and which are peripherally located at each joint between a first and a second hole respectively; and - means allow rapid assembly and locking of said spray gun body to said base, characterized in that the quick-assembly and locking means comprise: means for positioning said spray gun body on said side and designed to project perpendicularly from one of said sides and to translate orthogonally to the other side in a manner to place the support side in relation to the side of the base in its plane; - a fixing stump that projects perpendicularly from one of the sides and translates orthogonally towards the other of the sides; and - rapid locking means that apply an axial traction on the fixing stump to keep the supporting and seating sides forced against each other.

2. The automated spray gun according to claim 1, further characterized in that the locking means for the fixing stump are mounted rotatably on an axis which is substantially perpendicular to the stump and are capable of converting their rotation on their axes in a axial traction movement of said fixing stump.

3. The automated spray gun according to any of claims 1 and 2, further characterized in that the fixing stump is provided with a rod and a protruding head of which the width exceeds that of the rod.

4. The automated spray gun according to any of claims 2 and 3, further characterized in that the locking means are configured in a recess that is substantially perpendicular to and converging with the receptacle penetrated by the protruding fixing pin.

5. The automated spray gun according to any of claims 2, 3, and 4, further characterized in that the locking means include a geometric barrel of revolution provided with a cavity running parallel to its axis and intersecting with a radial cavity that exhibits a width greater than that of the head of the fixing stump, said axial and radial cavities communicate with a groove which is transverse to said barrel and which exhibits a width greater than that of the rod of said fixation stump but smaller than the head of said fixing stump.

6. The automated spray gun according to any of claims 5 and 6, further characterized in that said locking means of the fixing stump comprise at least one ramp capable of abutting against the base of said stump head and created by a variation of the thickness in said hollow barrel and allowing the traction of said fixing stump.

7. The automated spray gun according to any of claims 5 and 6, characterized in that the cylindrical barrel is provided with anti-translational master means. The automated spray gun according to one of claims 1 to 7, further characterized in that said positioning means at least comprise a centering pin configured in a manner to project perpendicularly from one of the sides and allow it to enter at minus one receptacle provided on the other side when moving perpendicularly to the sides. 9. The automated spray gun according to one of claims 1 to 8, further characterized in that it comprises at least one tubular sleeve capable of entering a connection between the first feeder conduit of the spray gun body and a second one. complementary duct feeder of the base, said tubular sleeve comprises a first portion capable of entering the first hole and the second portion capable of entering the second corresponding hole.