US1391388A - Apparatus for automatically painting articles in bulk - Google Patents

Description

1. E. KARL. APPAHATUS'FOR AUTOMATICALLY PAINTING ARTICLES IN BULK.

'APPLICATION FILED oct. 4. 1918.

Patented sept 20,1921.

NM. NM.

J. E. KARL. APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATICALLY PAINTING ARTICLES IN BULK.

`APPLICATION' man om. 4, 1918.

PILISBI'IISGSOPI?. 20, 1921.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

'1. E. KARL. y

`APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATICALLY PAINTING ARTICLES IN BULK.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 4, I\9I8 A i 1,391,388. Patentedsept. 20,1921,

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

TCI-IU' y painting articles or otherwisie UNITED STATES PATENT, oFFlcl-z.

.-:rUraUsnl KARL, or 'PnoRIAQiLLINoIs ArPARA'iUs Fon AUTOMATICALLY rAiN'rING ARTICLESIN BULK.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Sept', 20, 19'2] Application 1ed October 4, 1918. Serial No. 256;894.

T 0 all whom t may concern." l

Be it known that I, JULIUs E. KARL, citizen of the United States, residing atPeoria, in the county of Peoria and State of Illinois, 'have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Apparatus Jr'or Automatically Painting Articles in Bulk; and I do' hereby declare that the following is a full,

clear, and'eXact description of the invention, which wil-l enable others skilled in the art to which it appert'ains to make and use the same. 1 l

Y This invention relates to an apparatusfor covering them with a protecting material. The invention relates more particularly,"however, to the treatment of a bulk or quantity of manu-A factured materials, such as castings or parts made of wood or other material entering into the manufacture ofmachines. Y' l The main object of my invention is to coat in bulk, quantities of Vcastings or wooden parts entering'i'nto'the manufacture of machines, while piled on vtrucks or other carriers, 'which upon such trucks V'or carriers are -in most ca-ses'separatelyY dipped into the paint or other coating material. g

Another object is to submit to treatment of a protecting material, suchV as a paint, truck loads oi' castings or parts made otw-oodV or other material entering into the construe" tion of machines without removing'thesame from their trucks.

Another object is to truck loads of lthe materialsy to beV treated upon being placed within the zone occupied by the apparatus vwillbe automatically coated and drained and then removed from such zone. Y 'f Other objects and advantages'will appear in the following'spe'ciii'cation.

To the end that my invention may be--understood, I have provided the 'accompanying drawings, wherein, y

Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional' elevation of a struct-ure showing my apparatus; Fig. 2 is a plany of certain portions of the same', somewhatV enlarged; Figj Vis an elevation o a loadedltruck andl certain elements used` .for automatically movingthe same; y Fig. isliows, in perspective, certain operating'parts;l f'

castings or parts while piled' provide an apparatus which will be automatic in its action, that Fig. 5 is 'a transverse section'ofan inclosure 'or housing and a track and a truck mounted-y upon the latter;

f' Fig. 6 is a view similar to thatshown in Fig.5 as to said tracks, and truck, 'showing a different position of the latter;

M Fig. 7 shows, in perspective, a p'o'rtimoiv the tracksshown inl Figs. 5 and 6, and a guard' rail Fig. 8 is an elevation of a paint-distributing pipe-system showing two tilted positionsV of apair of trucks thereunder; v 'Fig'. 9 is an elevation of one of the wheels of a'truck, and a stop'y devicey therefor;

' Fig. 10' is a longitudinal sectional elevation, similar lto Fig. 1, of a modified `form of apparatus; v

Fig. ll is a plan'of certain track-'portions, a truck mounted thereon, and adrag device for the latter; l Fig.- 12 is an -elevatioinin ytransverse section, of part-of the apparatus shown in Fig. 10 fand, H

l Fig. '13 is an'elevationof a track vportion and a stop-device for a-rtruok-wheel.

Heretofore it has been customary,"espe cially "with regard toparts of wood'ente'ring into the'I-construction ofr` machinery, to

dip such parts `by ihand, .-such"ha'nd'treat' mentbeing thought 'necessary inf order to thoroughly coversuchpartsfwith the coating material -and from being'. no method devised 'forth'e purpose of dipping the'entire A'bu-lk. As the :hand anethod i'sexpensive inr that much 'time and labor is involved, I have devised the apparatus herein-which has been found-to yield satisfactoryresult's in the' treatment otrentire truck loadsV without handling the ymaterials in any way and that will' be -treated in an entirely automaticzmanner. f f

l zIn-the first nine'-igureslY represents the twolrails, of a ,'trackwhich, in the present instance, is shown'overhang-ing an excavation, vsuch zas 2 in which is stationed a suitable :trough 3v for V'containing ithe coating material over whichqtrough said track also extends', itbe'- g understood, however, that thezt'rough Ymay be built above.` ground and the .track extendedupgover it if desired, although the ymethod described and shown is preferablev since most convenient. l Covering said trough 3 is a housing 4 which is provided .merely as a protection v against fire being communicated to the paint the fact also of there ros ' 'wheels' 16 at each end, and in the the shaft 7 in in said trough, said housing being provided withV doors 5 at each end to automatically open and close in the `movement of the trucks, approaching and leaving said housing. The mechanism for operating the doors is not shown in Fig. 1 since to do so would unnecessarily complicate that figure and make itdifiicult to read. This mechanismis shown, however, in Figs. 2 and 4 wherein 6 and 7 indicate two rock shafts, one outside and the other inside the housing 4 beneath the rails 1. The shaft 6 which is outside has at each end an upturned arm -8 each of which is connectedwith one of the doors 5 by means of rods 9,V said shaft 6 having an upstanding arm 10. The shaft 7 also has' an upstanding arm 11 and at one end has a depending arm 12 connected by a rod 13 with an arm 14 which vuprises fromV the said shaft 6.

It will now J'be understood that by moving the arm 10 in the direction of the dart in Fig 4 that the rods 9 will operate to'open the doors 5 inward to the position shown in Fig. l allowing a truck to pass through and that a movement of the arm 11 in the same direction will operate to return the doors to the `closed position "since the movement of this direction will reverse the movement of the shaft 6.' v

Though not shown, the doors 5 at the oppositeendof the housing are operated in the same manner but necessarily are opened outward away from an approaching truck, as that truck after treatment is passing from said housing.

As shown in some of the figures, the truck indicated at 15 is provided with a pair of center or middle with awheel 17. The wheels 16 run upon the rails lwhile ythe said wheel 17 is .designed to travel in a grooved 4rail 18 located between the rails 1. VVBy this arrangement or any other preferred one it is designed that said'wheels 16 will be retained upon their' rails. v

,L ing between the rails or gelt 19, see Fig. 2, which -runs over sprocket wheels'20 and 21, Fig. 1, the upper stretch of said chain being guided over a supporting sprocket at '22,' whereby the said upper stretch willbe held up between the rails 1y for-a ypurpose-now to be described.`

At one orboth ends of the truck 15 there is a depending portion 23, for example, which hangs closek to the rails and kon said chain or belt. 19 is an uprising finger 24 which in itstravel with the chain is designed to engage said portion 23 for propelling said truck. Other wheels corresponding to 22 may, of course, be used where'desired.

25, Fig. 1, is a drive-chain driven from any suitable power source by which the 1 is a drag-chain chain 19 may be continuously driven.

l A loaded truck moved along upon they track 1 to the position shown at the right in `chain or belt and it is preferable after having placed the truckin this position to provide some meansl for preventing it moving out of the path of travel of the finger 24. This is accomplished by providing a trip device shown clearlyin *ig. 9. It may consist of a dog 26, for example, pivoted upon one of the rails l, and held by a spring 27, normally in the path of one of the wheels 16 through the aid of a stop` 28- on the said rail, for example. ovement of the wheel 16 in the direction of the dart in said Fig. 9 will carry the dog downward out of the way but after thewheel has passed said dog will be moved to its upright position by the spring whereupon the wheel in a retrograde movement which may be occasioned by a back-- ward slope of the rail, as shown in Fig. 1, will lodge against i It is preferred, as shown in saidF ig. 1, to thus incline the track lrupwardly toward and into the housing 4 and thence downwardly to a slightly lower level and thence vagain upwardlv toward the opposite end of therhousing. The purpose of this will be understood later herein. K

The'bottom of the trough3 preferably slopes downwardly from keach end toward a ymiddle lowermorst portion 29Kin which is mountedy an agitator 30 operated by a drivechain 31 vfrom any suitable source of power at 32, for example, while above said portion andsaid agitator, is apump 33 of the rotary type, for example, driven yfrom the agitatory 30 for instance, through a chain 34. 35 is a pipe uprising from the extending longitudinally throughout a portion of the housing 4 and terminating in a series of Vdependingnozzles 36, 37 and 38 out Vof which the painting or coating material issues in unbroken streams fromsaid pump 33.

39 isa chain'or belt-similar to de i scribed, which runs over wheels 40, 41, one of" which may be driven from the (power source atk 32, for example, by means of belts 42 and 43. l

44 is a supporting wheelV or upper stretch of this chain or belt to Vhold that stretch-in line withthe track 1 ashas been previously described with reference to said Vbelt-chain or belt 19, and this member 39 is provided with ka finger 45corresponding to 24.

It is observed in Fig. chains or belts 19 and'39 beyond one another at the supporting wheels orpulleys 21, 40. By this arrangement, in the movement of thechain 19, a truck shown at the left of Fig. 1 will vbe carried to a 2 that -these two Vextend somewhat point where the finger 24 willr pass ofi of the depending portion 23 of said truck asin pump and 'l pulley for the .every surface thereof Fig.y 3, the nger'45 lof the belt or chainv39 being in position to engage said depending portion and carry the truck outside the housing. v v

At this point of the track also is a dog already described'r inl connection with Fig. 9. The chain or belt 19 isdesigned to travel at a definite rate of speed to move the truck in the direction'of the arrow, Fig.'1, into the housing beneath thel depending nozzles 38 from'which thepaint or other material'is deposited upon the articles carried by the truck, the doors vbeing vopened and closed automatically as some part of the truck meetsy the parts 10'and11.V

' ln a further travel of the truck isIpasses successively under the other'no'zzles ofthe pipe until having arrived at the far end of the housing and having passed from beneath the last of the nozzlesheld bythe dog 26 onv the inclined track.

`The belt-chain for' belt 39 is preferably given a slower rate of travel than the chain or belt 19 so that 'the"truck, which it is to remove from the housing, will have had ample time to properly drain.

As it passes beneath the nozzles theload of y articles is so drenched that 'every portion thereof becomes thoroughly covered with the painting material. The length of time the articles are permitted to vdrain depends, ofcourse, upon the fluidity and character of the material used.

'1n assisting the liquid to search throughout the materialupon thetruck and reach erably tippedsidewise asV shown in Fig. 5, while traveling upon the downwardly inf clined track, Fig. 1, the deposited material from the nozzles flowing over and between the articles, being discharged into thel trough 3. VVThis tipping is done by making one rail higher-than the other, as shown.

In order that Vthe vtruck'willl not be permitted to turn overl provide. a guard-rail 46, clearly shown in Fig. 7. This is at a higher level than the rails and is spaced outward from one of themand lies parallel to it, being supportedin any suitable -man- On some portion of the truck, suchas one I of the-,wheel journals,-is afprojection 47 which, in the position shownm said Fig. 5, A, engages beneath '-'5'5- saidl guard-rail.v .In this manner any' degree Vof tip may be' imparted to the truck without that member tipping over.` Y A In passing froml the' guard-railthe truck then assumes its normal upright position until having reached vthe far end or. delivery end of the housing, 1t 1s tipped in the 'oppof site direction being sustained in that position by a similar guard-rail 48 at the opposite side of the truck, the rail atthat side being raisedhigher than the other.

the truck isv thevsaid truck is preftiming of the' movement of the 'trucks through the chains or belts being-such that each load will be carried into the housing, drenched, and then thoroughly drained before being delivered at the far end ready for the assembling depart-ment ofk the plant. Other means of mani] aulating the trucks and other'mea'ns of carrying them may be'readily adopted and any other means lmay be used'than that described fortilting them for draining purposes.

' The housing 4 is merely provided as a safety measure as has been'stated herein but, in practice, it may not be used.

In Fig. 10, and following, is shown'a form of apparatus for immersing the truck and its contents, the housing being indicated at 4. The track 49 for the truck being indicatedv at 50 is inclinedY a trough 51deep enough to submerge the contents on the truck.V 1f these articles are of wood they may beprevented from floating by caging themfor by tying them upon the truck. j

52 is a chain orf belt corresponding to 19 of the earlier figures, the upper stretch of w'hichlies'between the rails as before and carries the' upstanding finger or. fingers -53 `to engage the depending portion 492, yfor example, on the truck. Y 54 indicates suitable wheels to support said upper stretch and 55 indicates the grooved rail for -the truck corresponding to 18 inthe other figures.

At 156. isa dog -to` engage one of the wheels 49 ofthe truck, forvthe purpose be# forey describedfandthis dog is pivoted to the rail at 57. 58 is a limiting stop and 59 is a spring to hold the'y dog in its normal or raised -position tol receive the Vvtruck wheel, Vit being-observed that in Fig. 10 the truck after`- having-been immersed is lodgedupon the inclined rail near the exit end of the housing where 1t may drain fora proper length" of time; Y

'On the truck yis a projection 6() corresponding to 47. of the earlier figures, and 61 is a chainl or belt running'over suitable wheels, one of vvwhich is shown at62, provided with a finger' to engage said finger 60;VA As before, Ythe chain or'belt 52 delivers the truck ,behind the stop upon ythe in cline'd track-and rthe chain or belt 61,which is designedito travel at a slowerspeed than the chain or belt 52, removes the truck after having vbeen properly drained. l

It is understood, of course, that the trucks are placed in position to be engaged by the finger 53 only as required. That is to say,

depending upon the speed of travel through the truck being A quickly the" one being drained unless' indeed iso provision is made upon the inclined' track for storing several of the trucks during the Y draining period.

In addition to the saidV inclined track ywhere the draining takes place, as shown in F ig. 12, one of the rails 50 may be higher than the other so that the fluid can drain in two directions.

In lieu of tilting the truckbodily I may merely tilt its platform for, draining purposes, or I may so mount the load upon the platform that it may be tilted irrespective ofthe truck and its platform thereby meaning to make clear thefact that it is my desireand intent to provide any means by which the: articles to be treated can be handled in any way so that their thorough coating with the paint and theirv proper drainage will be assured.

s angeXample, the larticles may be suspended in a basket from an overhead track arranged in a manner similar to the tracks I' 1 .and 50 so that the tilting of thev articles is accomplished.

The trucks may be moved along the track byy hand, if desired, but the automatic feature is, of course, preferable. i :j

Having thus described my invention, I claim z-y y 1. In an apparatus for the purposes de scribed, fin combination, a wheeled carriage for containing articles to be treated, la track arranged whereb the said carriage in passing over it Vwill lie tipped in all directions, and means for conveying aftreating material and discharging it upon ysaid articles.

2. In anapparatus Afor the purposes described, in combination, a track, a carriage arranged tok travel uponthe same andgtilted thereby tovarious' positions in its passage over it, saidcarrying articles to be treated, means to move the carriage, `and means for conveying a treating material alongy above the track and for dischargingit upon the Varticlesin the various tilted positions of 3. In an apparatus for the purposes described,vin combination, a support,a. carriagearranged to travel thereon for carrying articles to be treated, said support being arranged whereby to tilt the carriage and itsvcontents. and meansfor carrying a treating material `and discharging itupon said articles. i

4. In :an apparatus for the purposes def scribed, a support, a carriage arranged to travel thereon, said support being arranged whereby to .tilt the carriage and its contents, means for carrying a material and discharging it upon the articles, and means vfor moving thecarriage along said support.

5 In an apparatus for the purposesdescribed, in combination, a track and a carriage to travel thereon for containing arti,T cles to be treated, said track having its rails .liquid material includnig a series of nozinclined upwardly' and downwardly wherebyvinits travel the carriage willbe inclined endwise rstin onedirection and then in the other, said rails also being higher and lower with respect to one another whereby the carriage will be tilted sidewise first in one direction and then in the other, and means to convey a treating material, the same having discharge nozzles disposed at various positions along the track adapted to discharge the material upon said articles.

6. In an apparatus for-the purposes described, asupporting track, ,a carriage arranged to travel thereonfor containing articles to be treated, means to automatically engage and move the carriage along the track and` 4automatically disengage therefrom leaving said carriage at a predetermined point, a conduit containing the coating Vmaterial and for discharging it upon the articles, andothermeans to engage and move the carriage from said predetermined point. i l .i

7. In van apparatus for the purposes 1described, a carriage` for-containing articles to be treated,` a supporting track therefor y, whose rails are arranged to v'cause said carriage in its travel to tilt yin each of several directionsV -at diil'erent places along said track, means to engage yand propel the carriage and deposit itat a givenposition in its travel, other meansto engage and propel it from that position, and a conduit for carrying and, for discharging acoating material upon the (articles.y l.

8. In anapparatus forv the purposes described, a' ysupporting trackv a carriage 4arranged to travel upon said track for carryingvarticles to loe' treated, 4a conduit for a ico zles .suspended abo-ve zthe path Vof travel of thetiuck-andfits contents, means to continuously supplyr said :conduit withagflow of said material, means .to lengage and move the Vcarriage part of its travel along its track and discharge it, and other meanstov engage the carriageandrontinue its movement. .i

. 9. In an Vapparatus for thepurposes describedfagsupportingtrack, a carriage arranged to travel upon the same for contain- ,11.5

ing articles to be treated.,I saidtrack being inclined longitudinally throughoutA a' part of its lengthpkzwherebyftotilt the carriage,` and means .carrying a coating materialand discharging upon said articles. 12.0 10. In an apparatus forvthe-purposes de- A scribed, asupporting track, a carriagearranged `to travel upon the same for con-` taining articles to be treated, said track being. incline-d longitudinally; throughout a V V partof its length, and one of its rails being higher than the otherthroughout a part of its length whereby to'tilt the'carriage, a container forV a coating material and means for causing its discharge upon said articles,

ios Y and means to move the carriage along its and a part Jfor containing a material for track. Y depositing it upon said articles.

11. In an apparatus for the purposes de- 14. An apparatus for the purposes described, a supporting track, a receiver bescribed, including in its construction, a neath the same for a liquid coating matetra-ck, a carriage supported thereon for con-y rial, a carriage supported upon the track taining articles to be treated, a dog in the and movable along the same, a conduit inpath of the carriage, a traveling member cluding a series'of discharge nozzles overto engage and move the carriage along the i hanging the path of travel of the carriage, track into engagement with said dog, a sec- -means to supply the conduit with a steady ond traveling member moving at a slower low of material from said receiver, the speed than the rst adapted to engage and said supporting track being inclined longiF move the carriage and move it away from tudinally throughout a portion of its length said dog, and means containing a liquid mafor tilting the carriage, a portion of one of terial and for depositing it upon the arits rails being higher'than the other. ticles during their travel.

12. In an apparatus'for the purposes de- 15. An apparatus for the purposes described, a supporting track, a receiver bescribed including in its construction a track, v

neath the same for a liquid coating material, a carriage to travel thereon for containing a carriage supported upon and movable articles to be coated, said track being conalong the track, means to move the car structed thereby to tilt the carriage in any riage, a conduit including a series of disone of several directions, means lying adjacharge nozzles overhanging the path ot cent the track for preventing the carriage travel of the carriage, and means to supoverturning while in its tilted positions, the ply the conduit with a steady flow of matesame lying inv position to be engaged by rial from said receiver, the said track besaid carriage, a receptacle for containing a ing inclined longitudinally throughout porcoating material and for depositing such tions of its length for tilting the carriage, material upon the articles, means to autosections of one rail being alternately higher matically engage and propel the carriage to and lower than the corresponding sections a predetermined position along the track of the other rail for tilting. the carriage in and then release it, a dog to automatically its passage over it. v engage and hold the carriage when released,

13. In an apparatus for the purposes deand a second means to automatically enscribed including a supporting track, a cargage and move the carriage to a new posiriage for containing articles to be treated tion upon the track.

Varranged to move along upon said track, In testimony whereor` I aliX my signature means to automatically engage and propel in presence of two witnesses.

the carriage a predetermined distance, a' stop to automatically engageand hold the JUIJIUS E. KARL. carriage after the travel imparted to it,` Witnesses: Y other means forautomatically engaging and kRoscoe HERGET, withdrawing the carriage from said stop, L. M. THURLow.

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