JPH06246200A - Color switching valve device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve working efficiency, etc., of the coating work by shortening the passages of the coating material to reduce the coating material loss and the consumption of the washing fluid, etc. CONSTITUTION:The color switching valve device is provided with the first passage of the coating material 13A and the second passage of the coating material 13B in the manifold, the inflow side switching valves 19A and 19B, each of which selectively links any one of the passages 13A and 13B to the air valve 17 and the thinner valve 18 through the inflow side common passage 14 at the time of performing the washing, and further the outflow side switching valves 20A and 20B, each of which selectively links any one of the passages 13A and 13B to the electrostatic coater 6 through the outflow side common passage 15 and the coating material pipe 8 at the time of performing the coating. Thus when the amount of the coating material passing through each of the coating material valves 16 is equal, the passage length L1 of each of the passages of the coating material 13A and 13B is shorter than those of the devices using conventional technologies and therefore the amounts of the residual coating material and the washing thinner can be reduced.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a color changing valve device suitable for use in a coating device for coating an object to be coated such as automobiles and household electric appliances.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 show a coating apparatus using a conventional color changing valve apparatus.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a color change valve device, and as shown in FIG. 7, the color change valve device 1 has a manifold 2 in which a single paint passage 2A is formed, and the manifold 2
And a plurality of paint valves 3 and 3 each having an outlet (not shown) connected to the paint passage 2A, and provided on the manifold 2 at the upstream side of each paint valve 3. The air valve 4 and the manifold 2 facing the air valve 4.
And a thinner valve 5 provided in the. Also,
Each paint valve 3 is connected to a circulation line which circulates paints of different colors such as a color, b color, ... Through paint pipes, and the air valves 4 and thinner valves 5 are air pipes and thinner pipes. Is connected to an air source and a thinner source (neither is shown).

The paint valve 3, the air valve 4, and the thinner valve 5 are, for example, spring return type air valves, and are driven by compressed air supplied by opening and closing a solenoid valve (not shown). It is a thing. The color changing valve device 1 supplies paint to an electrostatic coater 6 to be described later at the time of coating, and discharges air and thinner from the air valve 4 and thinner valve 5 when changing the coating color. It is to wash the paint.

Reference numeral 6 denotes a rotary atomizing type electrostatic coating machine. The electrostatic coating machine 6 has an atomizing head 6A located at the tip end side for atomizing the paint, and a predetermined amount of the paint of, for example, about -90 kV. The electrode (not shown) charged to a high voltage, the trigger valve 6B for supplying the paint from the color changing valve device 1 to the atomizing head 6A, and the residual paint, thinner, etc. at the time of cleaning are discharged to the waste liquid tank 7. Dump valve 6
C and are provided. Then, the electrostatic coating machine 6 atomizes the paint supplied from the color change valve device 1 via the trigger valve 6B and the like by the atomizing head 6A, and charges the paint particles by the electrodes, thereby ground potential. The object to be coated (not shown) such as the vehicle body held on the substrate is flown and adhered to perform coating.

Reference numeral 8 denotes a paint pipe. The paint pipe 8 has its tip end side connected to the atomizing head 6A via a trigger valve 6B, and its base end side to a paint passage 2A of the manifold 2 via a pump 9 described later. It is connected to the.

Reference numeral 9 denotes a gear type pump provided in the middle of the paint pipe 8, and the pump 9 pressure-feeds the paint toward the electrostatic coating machine 6 while adjusting the flow rate of the paint according to the number of revolutions. is there.

The conventional coating apparatus has the above-mentioned construction. When coating a color, the coating valve 3 to which the a color is supplied is opened and the coating passage 2A of the manifold 2 is coated. And the paint is supplied to the electrostatic coating machine 6 by the pump 9. When an object to be coated such as a vehicle body or a refrigerator reaches a predetermined position, the electrostatic coating machine 6 causes the trigger valve 6
B is intermittently opened, and the supplied paint is atomized by the atomizing head 6A and charged to a high voltage, so that the paint is flown toward the object to be grounded and the object to be coated To paint.

Next, when coating color b, the trigger valve 6
B is closed, the dump valve 6C is opened, and air is discharged from the air valve 4 into the paint passage 2A of the manifold 2 to force the a-color paint such as the paint pipe 8 into the waste liquid tank 7. It is extruded, and then the thinner from the thinner valve 5 is used to wash away the a-color paint adhering to the pipe wall and the like. In this cleaning step, the paint pipe 8 is cleaned by alternately sending air and thinner a plurality of times, and the atomizing head 6A of the electrostatic coating machine 6 is also cleaned by temporarily opening the trigger valve 6B. It

After the cleaning of the paint pipe 8 etc.,
In the same manner as in the case of a color coating, b color filling (color filling) is performed and the object to be coated is coated.

[0011]

By the way, in the color changing valve device 1 according to the above-mentioned conventional technique, the paint passages 2A of the manifold 2 are connected with the paint valves 3 of a plurality of colors, the air valve 4 and the like. Color painting can be performed. However, since the paint passage 2A of the manifold 2 is single, regardless of which paint valve 3 is used, the interior of the paint passage 2A must be washed from the upstream side to the downstream side at the time of color change.

Therefore, according to the above-mentioned conventional technique, when the color of one paint is changed to another color of the paint, the residual paint in the long paint passage 2A is discharged to the outside as a waste liquid, and the paint is discharged. Since the inside of the passage 2A is cleaned, the amount of paint is wasted, a large amount of cleaning thinner is consumed, the cleaning time and cleaning cost are greatly increased, and the surrounding environment is deteriorated due to the increased consumption of thinner. is there.

In particular, in recent years, the diversification of colors and designs has been remarkable, and for example, a large number of paint valves of about 10 to 30 are provided.
Since the manifold 2 must be provided, the length of the manifold 2 is easily increased, and waste of paint and thinner consumption increase.

Further, since the paint passage 2A of the manifold 2 is a delay element in the paint supply system, the paint passage 2A
There is a problem that the delay time increases as the passage length L increases, the controllability decreases, and the paint supply time and the cleaning time increase, which significantly reduces the work efficiency of the painting work.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art. The paint passage can be shortened to reduce the waste of paint, the consumption of cleaning fluid, etc., and the work efficiency of painting work can be greatly improved. It is an object of the present invention to provide a color change valve device configured as described above.

[0016]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a structure adopted by the present invention is a manifold and a plurality of paints provided in the manifold and connected to a coating machine through paint pipes. A plurality of paint valves provided in the passage and the manifold to discharge the paint into the paint passages; and a washing fluid provided in the manifold located upstream of the paint valves in the paint passages. Is provided between the cleaning fluid valve and the paint valve, and is provided on the inflow side of each of the paint passages, and one of the paint passages serves as a cleaning fluid valve. It comprises an inflow side switching valve that is selectively connected and an outflow side switching valve that is provided on the outflow side of each of the paint passages and that selectively connects one of the paint passages to the coating machine.

[0017]

[Function] When one of the paint passages of each paint passage is connected to the painting machine by the outflow side switching valve, the paint from the paint valve connected to the paint passage is supplied to the painting machine through the paint passage and the paint pipe. It Further, at the time of color change cleaning, by connecting the paint passage through which the paint has flowed by the inflow side switching valve to the cleaning fluid valve, only the paint passage is cleaned by the cleaning fluid from the cleaning fluid valve.

[0018]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. In the embodiment, the same components as those of the prior art shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 described above are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.

First, FIGS. 1 to 3 show a first embodiment of the present invention, in which 11 is a color change valve applied to this embodiment in place of the color change valve device 1 described in the prior art. Reference numerals 12 and 15 denote manifolds forming a part of the color change valve device 11, and the manifold 12 is, as shown in FIG. 2, a thick cleaning base 12A located at an end portion of the flat base 1
2B, 12B, ... Are connected by a plurality of bolts (not shown) or the like.

Reference numerals 13A and 13B denote a first paint passage and a second paint passage provided in the manifold 12 so as to be separated from each other in the width direction, and the inflow sides of the paint passages 13A and 13B are connected to each other. The inflow side common passage 14 is formed, and the outflow sides thereof are also connected to each other to form the outflow side common passage 15. Further, the paint passages 13A and 13B are connected to the air valve 17 and the thinner valve 1 which will be described later via the common passage 14 on the inflow side.
8 and is connected to the electrostatic coating machine 6 via the common passage 15 on the outflow side and the paint pipe 8.

, 16 are paint passages 13A, 13
A plurality of paint valves are provided in the middle of B, and each paint valve 16 is composed of a spring return type air valve like the paint valve 3 described in the prior art, and a circulation line (any (Not shown)
It is connected to the.

Reference numeral 17 denotes an air valve which is located on the upstream side of each paint valve 16 and is connected to the inflow side common passage 14, and 18 is provided on the manifold 12 so as to face the air valve 17 and is cleaned together with the air valve 17. Each of the thinner valves constituting the fluid valve is shown. The air valve 17 and the thinner valve 18 are spring return type air valves like the air valve 4 and the thinner valve 5 described in the related art. Connected to an air source and a thinner source (neither shown).

19A and 19B are located between the inflow side common passage 14 and each paint valve 16, and each paint passage 13A and 13B.
The first inflow-side switching valve and the second inflow-side switching valve provided on the upstream side of the above are shown. Each of the inflow-side switching valves 19A and 19B is composed of, for example, a spring return type air valve. Each of the inflow side switching valves 19A and 19B selectively connects the paint passage, through which the paint has flowed, of the paint passages 13A and 13B to the inflow side common passage 14 during color change cleaning. When the side switching valve opens, the other inflow side switching valve is closed.

20A and 20B are located between the common passage 15 on the outflow side and each paint valve 16 and each paint passage 13A and 13B.
The first outflow-side switching valve and the second outflow-side switching valve provided on the downstream side of each of the outflow-side switching valves 20A and 20B are also spring-return type like the inflow-side switching valves 19A and 19B. It consists of an air valve. The outflow-side switching valves 20A and 20B are provided with paint valves 16 of a desired paint color in the paint passages 13A and 13B when the paint is supplied.
Is selectively connected to the electrostatic coating machine 6 via the paint pipe 8, and when one of the outflow-side switching valves is opened, the other outflow-side switching valve is closed. There is.

The color change valve device according to this embodiment has the above-mentioned structure, and its operation will be described below with reference to FIG.

First, for example, when the a-color paint of the paint valve 16 connected to the first paint passage 13A is supplied to the electrostatic coater 6, the inflow side switching valves 19A and 19B are closed and at the same time, The first outflow side switching valve 20A is opened, the second outflow side switching valve 20B is closed, and only the first paint passage 13A is passed through the outflow common passage 15 and the paint pipe 8 to the electrostatic coating machine. 6 and the paint from the paint valve 16 is supplied to the electrostatic coating machine 6. As a result, the a-color coating material is atomized and charged by the electrostatic coating machine 6 and flies to the object to be coated and applied.

Next, when the b color paint of the paint valve 16 connected to the second paint passage 13B is supplied to the electrostatic coater 6, the residual a in the common passage 15 on the outflow side, the paint pipe 8 and the like.
Color paint needs to be washed.

Therefore, the trigger valve 6B is closed, the dump valve 6C is opened, and the first outflow side switching valve 20 is further opened.
A is opened and the second outflow-side switching valve 20B is closed, and by opening only the first inflow-side switching valve 19A, the first paint passage 13A and the inflow-side common passage 14 are connected. Connect. Then, in this state, the air valve 17 and the thinner valve 1
When air and thinner are alternately discharged from 8,
The thinner is the inflow side common passage 14, the first paint passage 13A,
It flows to the electrostatic coating machine 6 through the common passage 15 on the outflow side and the paint pipe 8, and the paint inside these is washed out into the waste liquid tank 7. Although not shown in the time chart, the atomizing head 6A is also cleaned by opening the trigger valve 6B and supplying thinner to the atomizing head 6A.

Next, in the case of applying the b color paint, the trigger valve 6B is opened, the dump valve 6C is closed, and the inflow side switching valves 19A and 19B are kept closed.
Only the outflow side switching valve 20B of the second paint passage 1
3B and the electrostatic coating machine 6 are connected through the common passage 15 on the outflow side, the coating pipe 8 and the like, and the b color coating material from the coating valve 16 is supplied to the electrostatic coating machine 6.

On the other hand, after this b color coating is completed, the trigger valve 6B is closed and the dump valve 6C is opened, as in the case of the a color cleaning, and the second inflow side switching valve 19B is also used.
The second paint passage 13B is connected to the air valve 17 and the thinner valve 18 through the common passage 14 on the inflow side, and is cleaned by air and thinner.

Thus, according to this embodiment, the manifold 12 is provided with the first and second paint passages 13A and 13B, and at the time of cleaning, one of the paint passages 13A and 13B is connected to the air valve. Inflow side switching valves 19A and 19B selectively connected to the valve 17 and thinner valve 18,
At the time of coating, one of the paint passages 13A, 13B is selectively connected to the electrostatic coating machine 6 via the paint pipe 8 or the like, and each of the outflow side switching valves 20A, 20B.
When the number of paint valves 16 is equal, the path length L1 of each paint path 13A, 13B can be made significantly shorter than the path length L of the paint path 2A according to the prior art. , 13B, it is possible to clean only the paint passage through which the paint has actually flowed.

As a result, the amount of paint remaining in the paint passages 13A and 13B can be effectively reduced when the color of one paint is changed to another paint color, and the amount of thinner used during cleaning can be greatly reduced. As a result, the cleaning time can be shortened and the deterioration of the surrounding environment can be prevented.

Further, since the passage length L1 of each paint passage 13A, 13B can be shortened, the delay time can be shortened to improve the controllability, and the paint supply time etc. can be shortened to greatly improve the work efficiency of the painting work. can do.

Next, FIGS. 4 and 5 show a second embodiment of the present invention. The feature of this embodiment is that three paint passages are provided.

In the figure, 21 is a color changing valve device according to this embodiment,
Reference numerals 22 respectively denote manifolds forming a part of the color change valve device 21. As shown in FIG. 5, the manifold 22 is for cleaning a thick wall for cleaning in the same manner as the manifold 12 described in the first embodiment. Flat base 2 on base 22A
A plurality of 2B, 22B, ... Are connected.

23A, 23B and 23C are manifolds 2
2 shows a first paint passage, a second paint passage, and a third paint passage, respectively, which are provided in FIG.
Similar to the paint passages 13A and 13B described in the first embodiment, 3B and 23C have their inflow sides connected to each other through an inflow side common passage 24 and their outflow sides to an outflow side common passage 25. Are connected to each other via.

26, 26, ... Are paint passages 23A, 23, respectively.
Paint valves 27, 28 provided in the middle of B, 23C are provided with paint passages 23A, 23B,
An air valve and a thinner valve, which are connected to 23C as a cleaning fluid valve, are shown respectively. The paint valve 26, the air valve 27, and the thinner valve 28 are connected to a circulation line through a pipe,
It is connected to an air source and a thinner source (neither is shown).

29A, 29B, and 29C are located between the paint valves 26 and the inflow side common passage 24, and the paint passages 23 are provided.
A first inflow side switching valve, a second inflow side switching valve, and a third inflow side switching valve provided on the upstream side of A, 23B, and 23C are shown, and the respective inflow side switching valves 29A, 29B, and 29C are shown. Similarly to each of the inflow side switching valves 19A and 19B described in the first embodiment, any one of the paint passages 23A, 23B and 23C is opened by opening one of them and closing the other during cleaning. One of the paint passages is connected to the air valve 27 and the thinner valve 28 via the inflow side common passage 24.

30A, 30B and 30C are located between each paint valve 26 and the common passage 25 on the outflow side, and each paint passage 23
A first outflow-side switching valve, a second outflow-side switching valve, and a third outflow-side switching valve provided on the downstream side of A, 23B, and 23C are shown, and each of the outflow-side switching valves 30A, 30B, and 30C is shown. Similarly to each of the outflow side switching valves 20A and 20B described in the first embodiment, one of the paint passages 23A, 23B and 23C is opened by opening one of them and closing the other at the time of painting. One of the paint passages is connected to the electrostatic coating machine 6 via the common passage 25 on the outflow side, the paint pipe 8 and the like.

Thus, also in this embodiment having such a configuration, the passage length L2 of each paint passage 23A, 23B, 23C
Can be shortened, and substantially the same operation and effect as those of the first embodiment described above can be obtained.

In each of the above-mentioned embodiments, there are two paint passages.
Although the case where the number of the paint passages is three and three is described as an example, the present invention is not limited to this, and four or more paint passages may be provided.

Further, in each of the above-mentioned embodiments, the rotary atomizing type electrostatic coating machine 6 has been exemplified, but the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, various air atomizing type and hydraulic atomizing type coating machines. It can also be applied to non-electrostatic coating machines.

Further, in each of the above-mentioned embodiments, the air valve and the thinner valve have been described as examples of the cleaning fluid valve, but instead of this, a cleaning water valve may be used in the case of water-based paint.

[0044]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, a manifold is provided with a plurality of paint passages, and one of the paint passages is connected to a wash fluid valve, and an inflow side switching valve is provided. Since one of the paint passages is provided with an outflow-side switching valve that connects the paint passage to the coating machine, if the number of paint valves is the same, the length of the paint passage is longer than that of the conventional technology. Can be effectively shortened, and only the paint passage used for painting can be washed with the washing fluid.

As a result, when the color is changed, the amount of the paint remaining in the paint passage and the amount of the cleaning fluid used at the time of cleaning are effectively reduced, the cleaning time is shortened, and the work efficiency of the coating work is improved. can do.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a color change valve device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

2 is an enlarged perspective view showing a manifold and the like in FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 3 is a time chart of a coating process.

FIG. 4 is an overall configuration diagram of a color change valve device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

5 is an enlarged perspective view showing a manifold and the like in FIG. 4. FIG.

FIG. 6 is an overall configuration diagram of a conventional color change valve device.

7 is an enlarged perspective view showing a manifold and the like in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 6 Electrostatic coating machine (coating machine) 11,21 Color change valve device 12,22 Manifold 13A, 13B Paint passage 16,26 Paint valve 17,27 Air valve (cleaning fluid valve) 18,28 Thinner valve (cleaning fluid valve) 19A, 19B Inflow side switching valve 20A, 20B Outflow side switching valve 23A, 23B, 23C Paint passage 29A, 29B, 29C Inflow side switching valve 30A, 30B, 30C Outflow side switching valve

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A manifold, a plurality of paint passages provided in the manifold and connected to a painting machine via paint pipes, and a plurality of paint passages provided in the manifold for discharging paint into the respective paint passages. A paint valve, a cleaning fluid valve that is located on the upstream side of each paint valve and is provided in the manifold, and discharges a cleaning fluid into each paint passage, and between the cleaning fluid valve and each paint valve. Located on the inflow side of each of the paint passages, and an inflow-side switching valve that selectively connects one of the paint passages to the cleaning fluid valve, and an outflow side of each of the paint passages. A color change valve device comprising an outflow side switching valve for selectively connecting one of the paint passages to a coating machine.