Coating apparatus and method
AssigneeAutomatic Coating Limited
InventorBrad Bamford
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A component such as a door is coated by immersion in a fluidized bed. The component is supported by a hook assembly that moves the component within the fluidized bed during coating. The movement is cyclical and inhibits bridging of the coating material when applied to intricate articles.
Claims19
A method of applying a coating to a component comprising the steps of moving said component along a primary conveyor to a coating station including a fluid bed, transferring said component from said primary conveyor to a hook assembly of a mast assembly movably supported on a secondary conveyor extending from said primary conveyor to said fluid bed, moving said mast assembly along said secondary conveyor and rotating said hook assembly and thereby said component about a vertical axis relative to said secondary conveyor to orient and position said component over said fluid bed, displacing said hook assembly vertically along said mast assembly to lower said component in to said fluid bed to apply said coating thereto, utilising a drive operable upon the component to move said component within said fluid bed to displace said component vertically relative to said secondary conveyor, operating said drive to reverse periodically the direction of movement of said component to produce cyclic bodily translation of said component in a vertical direction within said fluid bed during application of said coating, operating said mast assembly to move said hook assembly vertically to lift said component and remove the component from said fluid bed, moving said mast assembly along said secondary conveyor and rotating said component about a vertical axis to move said component away from said fluid bed and toward said primary conveyor and depositing said component on to said primary conveyor.
A coating apparatus to apply a coating to a component, said coating apparatus including a primary conveyor to convey said component to a coating station including a fluid bed, a secondary conveyor extending from said primary conveyor to said fluid bed, a mast assembly movably supported on said secondary conveyor and moveable along said secondary conveyor between said primary conveyor and said fluid bed, said mast assembly including a hook assembly to engage and support said component, said hook assembly being rotatable relative to said secondary conveyor to rotate said component about a vertical axis to orient and position said component over said fluid bed, said hook assembly being vertically displaceable along said mast assembly to lower said component in to said fluid bed to apply said coating thereto and to raise said component from said fluid bed, and a drive operable upon the component to move said component within said fluid bed and displace said component vertically relative to said secondary conveyor, said drive periodically reversing the direction of movement of said component to produce cyclic bodily translation of said component in a vertical direction within said fluid bed during application of said coating.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.