US2878139A - Automatic painting, wiping, and polishing machine - Google Patents

Description

. March 17, 1959 R. B. WAY ETAL 2,878,139

AUTOMATIC PAINTING, WIRING, AND POLISHING MACHINE Filed Oct. 10, 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS ROBERT E WAY CARL D. HERSEY March 17, 1959 B, WAY ET AL 2,878,139

AUTOMATIC PAINTING, WIPING, AND POLISHING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 10, 1956 INVEN ORS RMJW FIG- 4 R. B. WAY ET AL March 17, 1959 AUTOMATIC PAINTING, WIPING, AND POLISHING MACHINE Filed Odt. 10, 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 E XHMJST FIG."

FIG. 5

FIG; 1

INVENTORS ROBERT 6. WAY

CARL D. HE RS E Y CMbZizWM/LJ March 17, 1959 R. B. WAY ET AL 2,878,139

AUTOMATIC PAINTING', WIPING, AND POLISHING MACHINE Filed Oct. 10, 1956' 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 IN V EN TOR-S ROBERT B. WAY y CARL D. HERSEY WzW March 17, 1959 R. 5. WAY ETAL 2,878,139

AUTOMATIC PAINTING, WIPING, AND POLISHING MACHINE Filed Oct. 10, 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 FIG.

INVENTORS ROBERT B WAY BY CARL D HERSEY O MM United States AUTOMATIC PAINTING, WIPING, AND PGLISHING MACHINE Robert B. Way and (Iarl D. Hersey, Erie Pa.

Application October 10, 1956, Serial No. 615,093

18 Claims. (Cl. 117-44) atmosphere and because a thin consistency of paint must be used for spraying and a stencil or spray mask must be used to protect the part not to be coated. Further, such spraying results in an uneconomical use of paint since a majority of the sprayed paint goes into the adherent atmosphere. possible to wipe and polish partly dried paint on an article. The paint will smear when partly dry and will not wipe clean.

It has been discovered that by utilizing a paint applying means in the form of a paint gun having a special nozzle therein made of a resilient material and of proper design and controlled in a proper manner so that a metered amount of paint is dispensed by the nozzle for each application of paint, it is possible to spread the paint on articles of manufacture and, after a drying period, to wipe the excess paint from the article and, subsequently, after an additional drying period, to polish the thin residual film of paint from the article. It has also been discovered that if paint is supplied to the paint gun disclosed herein when it is moving in one direction, the gun will apply the paint to the article. Then if the nozzle of the gun is moved back over the paint applied, the paint will be spread in a uniform layer. No stencil ormask is used with the process herein disclosed.

Disclosed herein is a machine which accomplishes the above purposes and, further, accomplishes these purposes automatically; that is, the operator may load the articles being finished in suitable designed fixtures and the paint will be applied and spread on the article at one station and wiped at a subsequent station and subsequently polished at still another station.

It is, accordingly, an object of this invention to provide a machine which accomplishes the above results and it is a further object of this invention to provide a machine which is simple in construction, economical to manufacture, and simple and efficient in operation.

Another object of this invention is to provide a specific method of applying paint to articles of manufacture.

'A further object of the invention is to provide a machine which will apply paint 'at one stage, wipe the paint at another stage, and polish the painted article at still another stage.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an improved paint gun.

.A still further object of this invent-ion is to provide a machine which will apply paint to an article at one stage Furthermore, it is generally im- "atent O F 2,878,139 Patented Mar. 17, 1959 and provide a drying time following the painting followed by a stage at which excess paint is wiped from the article and, subsequently, a stage for polishing the article.

With the above and other objects in view, the present invention consists of the combination and arrangementzof parts hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that changes may be made in the form, size, proportions, and minor details of construction without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is an isometric" view of a painting machine ac cording to the invention;

Fig. 2 is a piping diagram of the operating circuit of the machine;

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view of a paint gun according to the invention;

Fig. 4 is an end view of the paint gun shown in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged view of a timer valve according to the invention;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged view of a cloth index valve which is similar to the gun actuating valve of the machine;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged view of a pilot control valve according to the invention;

Fig. 8 is an enlarged view of an article oscillating arrangement and article support with the hold-down pistons and poppet valves according to the invention;

Fig. 9 is an enlarged view of the gun actuatingv arrangement;

Fig. 10 is an enlarged view of the Geneva drive; and

Figs. 11 and 12 are enlarged views of the valves according to the invention.

In this application, the'word paint is used interchangeably with the generic term coating and is meant to cover all similar coating materials. Also, cloth as used is intended to cover all similar fabric and sheet materials.

General description of the machine Now with more specific reference to the drawings, an automatic painting machine 10 is shown having a frame 11 with a cover 12 thereon. A painting station 13 and a wiping station 14 with a polishing station 15 are provided. The painting station 13 has a paint gun 16 of special design which will later be described. The paint gun 16 is enclosed in a cover 17 with an access door 18a hingedly connected thereto. The paint gun 16 has an actuating air hose 18 attached thereto and a paint supply hose 19. The paint gun 16 itself is supported on brackets 20 which are fixedly connected to supports 21, the supports 21 being swingably connected to the fixed frame 11 at 22. An air cylinder 23 shown in the schematic diagram in Fig. 2 is fixed to the frame 11 and has. its piston rod 24 connected to the bracket 20 to cause the gun 16 to swing around the pivot 22 to bring the nozzle of the gun 16 into engagement with the article to be painted.

The wiping and polishing stations 14 and 15, respectively, have back-up members 25 and 26, respectively, which are supported on piston rods 28 and 27, respectively. The piston rods 27 and 28 are disposed in cylinders shown schematically in Fig. 2 and are urged toward the articles by a regulated air supply in the cylinders. The wiping back-up members 25 and polishing back-up members 26 may have rubber towel engaging members 30 and 31 with corrugated towel engaging surfaces which have been discovered do a morev desirable job of polishing than smooth metal towel engaging back-up members. A towel 32 is supported on spools 33 and 34 with dexed 'by means of a cylinder 37 having a piston 38 .vancethe towel 32 when the piston 38 is reciprocated.

A .table 45 is supported on a central axis 46 which 'is driven by a suitable Geneva drive 47 having a one revolution clutch 48 which isactuated when a pin 49 is pulled by a piston rod 50 which is in turn actuated by air supplied to a cylinder ,51. Theoperation of the circuit will be described hereinafter.

Table and article supportstFig. 1)

table 45 has six spaced article supportstations 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, and 57 radially movable thereon.

.Eacharticle support station has an article receiving cavity shaped as a counterpart of the particular article being finished. Each article support is carried by one of the carrier plates 60 which have ways on the bottom thereof and are slidable one base 61 and may 'be freely slidable inwardly and outwardly when not opposed by an opposing force.

Six spaced, horizontally disposed cylinders 64 are fixed 'tothe table 45 and have pistons 65 operable therein.

the articles supported in the article supports canbe maintained-constantly and ,at .a. predetermined pressure at all times. This makes more aecu ra t e control thereof. Operating cylinders 71, 72, and 73 oscillate the article supports as they are indexed to the wiping station, the polishing station, and the painting station, respectively; that is, the cylinders 71, 72, and 73 have pistons operable therein attached to piston rods 74, 75, and 76, respectively. The inner ends of each piston rod engage the outer edge of one of the article carriers as it is indexed to reposition adjacent the piston rod and the piston rod forces the article carrier in toward the center of the table 45. against the force of the air in the cylinder 64. Therefore, when air is applied through the pipe 68, the article carriers are all held in the outermost position. As the table 45 indexes, the article carrier comes to the painting, wiping, and polishing stations, respectively. When each article carrier reaches one of these stations, it is pushed inwardly; in the case of the painting station, under the gun, and in the case of the wiping and polishing stations, under the towel 32. e

The article support plates 60 as aforesaid are held out in the outward position by the pistons 65 in the cylinders 64 which are connected to the main air supply 70 through the regulator 41:: which applies a constant pressure to the pistons 65. This pressure can be preset by adjusting a regulator member 120 on. the regulator 41a. By using the air cylinders 64 to hold the article supports in the outward position instead of using springs, a much longer stroke of the piston is possible for a given length of cylinder because a spring can only be deflected a percentage of entire length whereas the air in air cylinders can be caused to move almost throughout their entire length.

The back-up members 25 and 26 are urged downwardly by means of pistons attached to the piston rods 27 and 28 actuatable in the cylinders 73 and 174. The cylinders 73 and 174 receive air through pipes 751 and 761, respectively, which areconnected through valves 73a and 74a to regulators 73c and 74c, respectively. Therefore, when air is applied to timers T and T, it isalso applied to the cylinders 73 and 174 and thebackup members are forced down against the towel 32. The piston attached to the back-up member holds the towel 32 in firm engagement with the article in the article support and the pistons attached to the rods 74 and 75 force the article supports inwardly and the back-up member holds the towel 32 in engagement with the article, thereby causing a wiping action as the article support directs the article therearound.

Since a short time elapses between the time a particular article is wiped at the wiping station 14 and polished at the polishingstation 15, the paint left by the wiping operation dries and becomes chalky. By the time the article wiped has reached the polishing station 15, the paint thereon is dry and the article can be polished.

Paint or coating gun (Figs. 1, 3, 4 and 9) For use with the machine disclosed herein, a special paint gun is used. The paint gun is made up of the gun body 16 having a needle valve axially movable therein and actuated by means of a piston 81 which is slidable in a cylinder 82. The space between a seal 83 and the piston 81 is connected to an air supply 137 and when air is applied through the pipe 137, it pulls the needle valve 80 out of engagement with its seat 86, thereby allowing paint from a pipe 87 to be forced through a nozzleopening 88 which communicates through a resilient nozzle 89 and applies paint to the article.

The gun 16, as aforesaid, is mounted on the bracket 20 swingable to the frame 11 at 22 and the cylinder 23 piston rod 76, the piston rod 76 will force the article carrier 60 inwardly. Also, since the nozzle of the gun 16 has been forced down into engagement with the article support therein, the article will be moved under the gun 16 and the paint from the gun 16 will be allowed to flow onto this article as the article is slid forward, un-.

der and in engagement with the nozzle of the gun 16 by the piston rod 76.

A pilot piston 147 of a valve is pushed toward the pipe 70 when a timer valve T opens. This admits air behind the piston on the rod 24 and pushes the piston 147 against the force of a spring 23a until the opening through the piston 147 aligns with the pipe 70 and the interior of the cylinder 23. This aligns the opening through the member 24a of the valve 130 with the pipe 70 and allows air at line pressure to flow behind the piston attached to the rod 24 and thus operate the rod 24 to move the gun 16 'down into engagement with the article. The gun 16 will thus be held down in engagement with the article while the oscillating piston attached to the rod 76 is moving inwardly and outwardly. The gun 16 will be held down until the timer valve T closes. This will stop the flow of air through the pipe 92 and the spring 2311 will force the piston 147 to the right and stop the flow of air through the piston 147. A spring 128 will return the piston rod 24 and lift the paint gun 16.

Detailed operation of cloth index (Figs. 2 and 8) The cloth index cylinder is shown in Fig. 6. Between cycles of operation, pressure from the pipe 70 builds up in chambers 37a and 37b at the ends of the piston 24a through small passages 37c and 37d so that each said chamber is at substantially equal pressure. Then when the table 45 indexes and a cam 23 trips a poppet valve 23g, the pressure in the chamber 37:: will be released through a pipe 23j and the chamber 37!; will force the .valve piston 24:; to the position shown in Fig. 6. This will-align the reduced size portion of the piston with the pipe 70 and an orifice 142a and allow air from the pipe 70 to drive a piston37f outward, carrying with it the pawl carrying member 40.

The cam 23 holds the valve 23g open only momentarily as it passes the cam 23 upon each movement of the table45 and as soon as the valve 23g closes, air begins to flow to the passage 37c and pressure begins to build up in the chamber 37a. Then when the pawl carrier is brought into engagement with a poppet valve 4% as it reaches ,the end of its stroke, it will open the valve 401) and allow pressure in the chamber 37b to reduce. The pressurein the chamber 37a, having now built up, will return the piston 24a to the dotted line position to align the reduced size portion of the cylinder with the pipe 70 and with a pipe 37k. This will cause the piston 37 to be driven back to its original position, carrying with it the pawl carrier 40 and causing the pawl 41 to rotate the ratchet wheel 44. 1

Timer valve components (Fig. 5)

The circuit which operates the machine contains three timer valves T T and T These valves are identical and one only will be shown by way of example in Fig. 5.

A main line of air is connected from the pipe 70 to their respective outlets through normally closed valves which are each operated by a piston 135; that is, when a piston 141 of a drive operated valve 117 is momentarily moved by a cam 139 on the shaft of the drive unit 47, air is compressed in the chamber 142a and trapped therein by a check valve 342. The piston 135 of each timer valve is driven downwardly and a valve 142 in each timer valve is .held open, thus allowing air to flow from the pipe '70 to an outlet T Immediately, the air begins to bleed out through a needle valve 242 at apredetermined rate determined by the setting thereof. As the air bleeds out, a spring 1421) forces the piston 135 and the valve member 142 toward a closed position. The time during which air flows from pipe 70 to the outlet T is determined by the 'time the valve 142 is held open by the pistons 135. The time the valve 142 is held open is determined by the time required for air trapped in the chamber 142a, after air .has been admitted thereto, to escape through the valve 242 and during the time that the air in the chamber 142a -is under pressure, it will exert a pressure on the pistons 135 at the time that the pressure in the chamber 142a diminishes to a pressure of less value than that exerted by the spring 1421;. The spring 1421) Will force the valve 142 closed. The time for the air to escape the chamber 142a and, therefore, the time of flow of air from the pipe 70 to the outlet T can be adjusted by means of --the valve 242.

Article oscillating means (Figs. 2 and 8) As mentioned supra, the articles supported in the supports 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, and 57 are urged radially outwardly by a constant pressure exerted by the pistons 65 from a regulated air supply through the regulator 41a.

In Fig. 8, a portion of the air circuit for accomplishing this is shown in an enlarged view. The pusher circuits for the painting station, the wiping station, and the polishing station have similar valve pistons 106). The wiper station pusher cylinder and associated parts are shown in Fig. 8. The piston rod 75 has a cam arm 75a integrally connected thereto. The cam arm 75a engages poppet valves 75b and 75c to hold them open when the cylinder 72 is in the deactuated position. The poppet valve 750 is connected to the main air supply through pilot valves P and R The pilot valve P is normally closed by its spring .7011 and ,is held closed when the timer valve T is =actuated. The pilot valve P is held closed by air from the pipe T when the-timer valve T is actuated.

Machine index ordeoforthe machine to index,.-air must flow from ;a pipe-106; the pilot valve 1 poppet valve 75c,- n1embers poppet valves 75c, 74c, and'76c are held open byth'e cam arms 75a, 74a, and 76a, respectively, and the painting timer T must be timed out so that the pressure :will be relieved on the pistons actuating the pilot valve P so that the pilot valve P will be opened. Then'it will appear that a complete circuit will be open :from thepipe to the piston in the cylinder 51. v

3) If anyof the cam arms. corresponding to :the cam arm 76a are olf of their respective poppet valves, the machine cannot index.

(4) The painting, wiping, and polishing cycles :must have been thoroughly completed in order for the machine to index as appears supra.

The poppet valve is connected to the timer T through the pipe T Another poppet valve 75d is connected to the main air supply 70 and to the other side of the cylinder housingthe piston through a pipe 72a. Therefore, when the table 45 indexes and the cam 139 on the main machine table drive shaft actuates the pilot piston 141 to charge the timer T the'valve .142 will open and air will flow through the pipe T In addition, since the cam arm 76:: is resting on and holding the poppet valve 75b open, air will flow through the'valve 75b and drive the piston wit-to the left, thus allowing air to flow from the pipe 7% against an end 100!) of the piston 100, driving thepiston 100 from thepositionshown in Fig. 8 and aligning the piston 100 with the pipe 70 and "an orifice Hide. The piston 72a will drive the piston rod 75 toward the article carrier 60, forcing the article carrier 60 radially toward the center of the table-15 against the force of air in the cylinder 64 on the piston 65.

As the piston 72a moves its cam arm 76ainwardly, its cam 75:: finally strikes an actuating member 7511 on the poppet valve 75d. This will open the valve 75d and air will fiow from the pipe 70 through apipe 72k to the space on the left side of the piston100. The piston 100 will be driven to the position shown in Fig. 8 and air will be shut oil from the pipe 70 through the piston 100 to the cylinder 72 and air from the cylinder 72 will be exhausted through a pipe We and a valve 72] at a predetermined rate. ,This will allow the air in the cylinder 64 to force the article carrier 60 and the piston rod 75 radially outwardly, thereby moving the piston 72a to the position shown in Fig.8. The rate at which the piston'72o will be moved outwardly will be controlled by the setting of the throttling valve 72 As soon as the piston 72a has returned to the position shown in Fig. 8, the article supported on the article carrier '60 will have made one complete inward and outward oscillation or cycle of movement in contact with the bight portion 35 of the towel 32. Then if the valve 142 of the timer valve T is still open when the piston 72o has returned to the position shown in Fig; 8 and the cam arm 76a is in engagement with the poppet valve 75b, air will again flow through thepipe T and the valve 75b into a space 100 driving the piston 100 to the left and allowing air to fiow from the pipe 70 through the reduced size portion of the piston to the space behind the piston 72a. The piston will again move the article support radially in and it will again be pushed out by the piston rod'75 "as previously described. It will continue to repeat these in and out reciprocations until the valve 142 of the timer valve T has closed; that is, until all the air from behind the piston has bled out through a throttle valve 143. The time for the air to bleed out will be determined by the setting of the throttle valve 143. Therefore, the number "=0f strokes of the wiping cylinder-and, likewise, 'thenurn her of strokes of the polishing cylinder can be controlled by adjusting the throttle valve 143 to make one stroke for two or more strokes.

The operation of paint cylinder 173 is similar to that of the wiping and polishing cylinders described; however, the timing of the paint cylinder 173 is controlled by the timer valve T Back-up clamping member when the timer 'I is charged by the table 45 indexing asdescribed above, air is sent through the pipe '1 into a valve 174a and pressure below a piston 174b forces the piston 17% up against the-force of a spring 174d to align the opening thereto with the pipe 761 and allows air to --flow from the pipe 70 through a regulator 17 4c to a piston 174, forcing the piston rod 28' down and bringing the 'member 30 into engagement with the bight portion of -the towel 32 and'urgingit into engagement with the article supported thereunder. The valve 174a will stay open as long as the orifice 14a of the timer valve T is charged and when the timer valve T closes, the spring 174d will close the valve 174a, thereby stopping the flow of air to the piston 174 and allowing the piston to move out of engagement with the article.

Timer valves The timer valves accomplish the following:

T (1) Controls the time that the wiping and .polishing back-up members are engaged with the towel. '(2) Controls the number of strokes of wiping and polishing the-article oscillating piston. 1(3) .Determines the time in which. the towel indexes. fj controls the amount of paint deposited on an article. T (1) Prevents the table from indexing until the paint cycle is complete. p

(2) Determines the number of oscillations of the paint cylinder. Operation of the machine The operator will preferably stand in front of the machine shown in Fig. 1 and load parts on the article support 57 and remove articles from the article support 56 after they have been carried past the painting station, 'wiping station, and polishing station and have been painted, wiped, and polished. A source of compressed air will be connected to the pipe 70. When the operator has placed an article on an article support 59 of the station '57, he will step on the foot switch F to allow air to flow through the pilot valve P Since the wiping, painting, and polishing stations will all be in their retracted positions with their cam arms holding the poppet valves 75c, 74c, and 76c, air will flow through the poppet valves 75c, 74c, and 76:: and through the pilot control valves P 'and P to the cylinder 51 and the piston thereon will be actuated. I

As the table indexes, its shaft will rotate with it, rotating the cam 139 thereon. The cam 139 will momentarily engage a poppet valve 70a which will reduce 'the pressure in the pipe 23 and cause the valve connected to the cylinder 37 of the towel index mechanism to actuate it in the manner described in connection with the *towel 32 and the paint valve and, therefore, bring a fresh piece of cloth into operative position over the painting and wiping stations. As the table d5 driven by the shaft with the cam 139 thereon continues to rotate and the cam 139 moves on around, a cam 140 of the valve 142 will be engaged and a piston 141a will move to line up its opening through piston 117 with a pipe 170 and pipe 134.

This will charge the timer valves T T and T Air 1 from the timer valve T will: a. Clost pilot valve P b. Move the pilot piston 147 of the valve 130 so that -;;air may flow from the pipe 70 to the piston to cause the .valve 13010 be actuated which will,'in turn, cause the 8 paint gun cylinder 23 to extend its piston and piston rod 24, bringing the paint gun 16 into engagement with the article which has been moved thereunder; and 1 c. Move the pilot piston of'a paint oscillating cylinder 101 so that the article will be moved in and out to apply paint thereto.

The setting of the needle valve on the timer T will determine how many strokes the piston rod 76 makes. Air from the timer valve T will open the valve in the gun 16 and cause it to apply a predetermined amount of paint to the nozzzle 89 which will, in turn, apply it to the article.

The timer valve T will allow air to flow through the pipe T which will move the pilot piston on the valves 73a and 17411 to their open positionand air from regulators 172a and 730 will cause the hold-down cylinders 73 and 174 to clamp the articles. The pilot valve P will close so that the table 45 cannot be indexed againuntil the timer valve T has timed out. This will prevent indexing until the painting, wiping, and polishing cycle is complete. In addition, the cylinder 72 will push the article on the support toward the table center and since the article supported on the carrier is urged radially outwardly, the piston rod will oscillate the article in and out. The same will occur at the polishing station 15.

As soon as the articles have moved to their extreme inward radial positions by the oscillating cylinder 71 at reverse the pistons on the oscillating valve control cylinders and cause the part oscillating pistons to move outwardly, urged by the article positioning pistons 65. The poppet valves, being all three way valves, will exhaust all air in the line ahead of them as soon as they close. T hen, if the timer valves T T and '1 still have pressure holding the valve members thereon open at this time, air pressure will still be provided on the pipes T and 123 and the member 137. Also, as soon as the poppet valves 121 and 76b are struck by the cams carried by the rods of the oscillating pistons, the part oscillating pistons will again move the articles supported on the article carrier 60 inwardly against the force of the piston 65. If the timers have closed by this time, no air pressure will be present on the pipes T and 123 and, therefore, the particular operation will not be repeated. When the timer valves T T and T have timed out and the article supports have moved to their extreme radial outward positions, the table 45 will be ready to again index.

It will be noted that the cloth index takes place when a roller 92a on a clutch 192 strikes the valve 23g. Then, as the clutch 192 continues to rotate approximately one hundred eighty degrees, it strikes an actuating member a. Therefore, the towel is indexing as the table clutch rotates. If the timer valves T T and T are set for short time intervals, the clutch 192 may rotate continuously since the table 45 will only be driven during about one half revolution of the clutch 192; that is, while the roller 92a is in engagement with a Geneva wheel 292.

The foregoing specification sets forth the invention in its preferred practical forms but the structure shown is capable of modification within a range of equivalents without departing from the invention which is to be understood is broadly novel as is commensurate with the appended claims.

painting station to 'is'aid wiping station "and "then =;m-- said .ipolis'hing station, means to "apply paint to articles sup ported on said article supporting members atsaid .paint ing station, means to wipe excess paint applied at said I painting station from said articles, means to polish said articles at said polishing station, said machine having means to cause said article supporting members todwell between said painting station and :said wiping station whereby paint thereon dries slightly beforereaching said wipingstation, said machine having means -to causesaid article supportingmembers to dwell between said wiping station and said polishing station whereby said paint residue left by said wiping means on articles supported 'on said article supportingmembers further dries before being'polished by saidpolishing station.

2. The machine recited in claim 1 wherein 'said means to apply paint to said articles comprises-apaint gun supported on said frame at's'aid paint station.

3. A painting machine for decorating articles of manufacture comprising a table, means to intermittently rotate said table, said table having six spaced article supports carried thereon, a painting station-supported at a fixed location on said table, a wiping station supported at a location generally diametrically opposite said painting station, a polishing station located at a location spaced from said wiping station, means at said painting station to move a paint'gun'into engagement with an article adapted to be supported on said article supports, means to oscillate said article supports in a generally horizontalplane with said articles thereon whereby said articles are moved relative to said paint gun when in engagement therewith, cloth means'at said wiping-station and said polishing station, means to oscillate said articles adapted to be-supported on said article supports at said wiping station and said polishing station, and means to hold said cloth means in engagement with said articles at said wiping station and said polishing station.

4. The machine recited in claim 3 wherein said means to oscillate said article supports comprises air cylinders having pistons thereon having means engaging said article supports urging said article supports radially outwardly, and a regulated air supply providing air pressure to said cylinders.

5. The machine recited in claim 4 wherein an air cylinder having a piston is fixed to said table above said painting station and said wiping station, back-up members are attached to said piston, and air means provides compressed air between said cylinder and said piston to urge said back-up members into engagement with said cloth means, said air in said cylinder being supplied thereto by means of a regulated air supply.

6. A painting machine for decorating articles of manufacture comprising a table, indexing means provided for moving said table intermittently, article supports radially slidable on said table, each said article support having the piston rod of a piston engaging said article support, said pistons each being disposed in a cylinder disposed radially on said table in a plane, and a painting station, a wiping station, and a polishing station disposed at spaced locations around said table, each of said painting, wiping, and polishing stations having an article oscillating cylinder having a piston rod in general alignment with said piston rod of said article support engaging piston and in the same plane therewith, said article oscillating cylinders at said painting, wiping, and polishing stations being selectively attached to a supply of compressed air whereby said pistons push articles on said article supports in against the force of said pistons on said table whereby said articles supported on said article supports are oscillated.

7. The machine recited in claim 6 wherein said painting station has a paint gun having a nozzle made of resilient material thereon, means to move said gun down to bring said nozzle into engagement with said articles adapted to be supported in said article supports when each said article support is moved into said painting station, and'tneansto hold said nozzle in en'gagerne'nt-there with while said articles are being oscillated bysaid pistons 'wherehy :paint from said nozzle is deposited-on each said article in turn on the outward stroke of said article support and said paint is spread on the inward strol e thereof.

8. The machine recited'in claim 7 wherein a clamping cylinder having a piston therein is supported on said machine above said wiping station and anotherpiston-is supported above said polishing station, the pistons being disposed in a plane perpendicular to the plane of said table and said oscillating cylinders and adapted to move down into engagement with a cloth to hold said cloth in engagement with said articles while theyare being oscillated by said oscillating cylinders, and aregulatedzair supply is connected to said clamping cylinder.

9. A painting machine comprising a rotatable .tabl'e having a plurality of spaced article support urging cylinders supported thereon and extending radially from the center thereof, article supports 'slidably supported on said table, said article support cylinders each having a piston rod engaging said article supports, a regulated air supply connected to said article urging cylinders whereby said article supports are urged outwardly at aconstant force, means to move said article supports under a paint station, and means to oscillate'said article supports while articles thereon are inengagernent with a paint gun.

10. A painting machine comprising a painting station, a wiping station, and a polishing station disposed at spaced points around said machine, a table on said ,ma-

chine Withspaced article supports thereon, said painting vstation having a paint gun supported on a swingable arm on said machine and adapted to swing down into engagement with an article supported in one said article support, means to index said article support to a position under said painting station, a towel having a bight portion supported above'saidwipingstation-and-said polishing station, a back-up member supported above said wiping station and said polishing station, said back-up member having a piston connected thereto disposed in a cylinder thereon connected to a regulated air supply, said backup member being adapted to be forced down by said regulated air supply into engagement with said towel whereby said towel engages said article in said article support, a cylinder having a piston therein with a piston rod disposed radially to said table, one said piston being disposed at each said painting, wiping, and polishing station, said piston rod on said piston being adapted to engage one of said article supports disposed under a particular station whereby said article support is oscillated inwardly against the force of said regulated air supply and moved outwardly by said pistons in said cylinders connected to said air supply, and timer means for controlling the amount of paint supplied to said paint an by a paint supply.

11. The painting machine recited in claim 10 wherein said oscillating pistons for said wiping station and for said polishing station are supplied air by means of a timing valve, said timing valve being adapted to be preset to supply air to said oscillating pistons over a predetermined time interval to provide a predetermined number of oscillations with each said article in engagement with said towel.

12. The painting machine recited in claim 11 wherein said table is connected to an index mechanism and an air supply is provided for said index mechanism, said index mechanism moving said table intermittently to bring said article supports to said stations, said air supply flowing through'poppet valves connected in series one each at said painting, wiping, and polishing stations, said valves being held open when said oscillating pistons are in their unactuated position, said air supply being further controlled through said timing valve in series with said poppet valves, said valves preventing said table from indexing until said -oscillating pistons are at rest and the preset time of said .timer valve has expired.

13. A painting machine comprising a table rotatable -in a horizontal plane, article supports supported on said .table and spaced around the periphery thereof, radially disposed first cylinders attached to said table and having pistons movable in a plane parallel to said table and urging said article supports to slide outwardly to an ex- ;treme outward position, a wiping station and a polishing station on said machine, wiping means disposed above said article supports, said wiping means comprising two spaced spools rotatably supported on axles disposed in :a plane parallel to the plane of said table and having a continuous piece of cloth wrapped thereon and extending therebetween, back-up members supported above said cloth and having cylinders attached to said table with pistons thereon attached to back-up means engaging said cloth and moving said cloth down into engagement with articles supported on said article supports, and a part oscillating cylinder disposed in a painting station and in said wiping station, said oscillating cylinder having a pis- 'ton engaging said article supports and urging said article supports intermittently inwardly against the force of said pistons supported on said table.

14. A process of applying coating comprisingproviding an article to be coated, moving a device having a resilient nozzle thereon relative to said article and into engagement withsaid article, supplying a predetermined amountof coating to said nozzle, moving said nozzle and said device relative to said article in a first direction, applying saidcoating to the engaged surface of said article, and moving said device back over said engaged surface of said article in asecond direction with said nozzle in engagement therewith whereby said coating is spread.

15. The process recited in claim 14 wherein means is provided to bring a part of the coated surface of said article into engagement with a piece of cloth after said coating is applied to'said article and means is provided to slide said article into engagement with said cloth relative thereto whereby the excess coating applied is removed.

16. The process recited in claim 15 wherein said article is allowed to dry a predetermined time after said coating is applied before said excess coating is removed.

17. The process recited in claim 16 wherein said article is brought into engagement with another material surface aftcr a predetermined time following its engagement with said cloth and moved relative to said cloth in engagement therewith whereby residual coating is polished .from said article.

18. A process of painting and polishing articles of manufacture comprising depositing a predetermined amount of paint on an article, allowing said article to dry a predetermined time, bringing said article into engagement with astrip of polishing material, moving said article into engagementwith said material whereby excess paint is removed from said article, allowing said article to drya predetermined time whereby said residual paint not removed by wiping is allowed to dry, bringing said article into engagement with another said material, and moving said article relative thereto whereby said residual paint is removed from said article and said article is polished.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

Claims (1)

18. A PROCESS OF PAINTING AND POLISHING ARTICLES OF MANUFACTURE COMPRISING DEPOSITING A PREDETERMINED AMOUNT OF PAINT ON AN ARTICLE, ALLOWING SAID ARTICLE TO DRY A PREDETERMINED TIME, BRINGING SAID ARTICLE INTO ENGAGEMENT WITH A STRIP OF POLISHING MATERIAL, MOVING SAID ARTICLE INTO ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID MATERIAL WHEREBY EXCESS PAINT IS REMOVED FROM SAID ARTICLE, ALLOWING SAID ARTICLE TO DRY A PREDETERMINED TIME WHEREBY SAID RESIDUAL PAINT NOT REMOVED BY WIPING IS ALLOWED TO DRY, BRINGING SAID ARTICLE INTO ENGAGEMENT WITH ANOTHER SAID MATERIAL, AND MOVING ARTICLE RELATIVE THERETO WHEREBY SAID

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