Cartridge type coating system

A cartridge type coating system, including a sprayer unit, a plural number of paint cartridges each detachably connectable to said sprayer unit to supply paint thereto from an internal paint source, and a paint replenisher detachably connectable to an empty paint cartridge for replenishing paint thereinto, characterized in that:

• said paint cartridges are each constituted by a casing having a container and a feed tube extended forward from a fore end portion of said container, a movable partition wall provided in said container and dividing same into a paint chamber in communication with said feed tube and a paint-extruding liquid chamber, a normally closed paint valve provided in said casing and adapted to be opened at the time of supplying paint from said paint chamber to said sprayer unit through a paint passage in said feed tube or at the time of replenishing paint into said paint chamber, a common inlet port opened in an outer peripheral portion of said container, an extruding liquid passage connecting said common inlet port with said extruding liquid chamber, a wash fluid passage connecting said common inlet port with said paint chamber, and a change-over valve adapted to switch said common inlet port either to said extruding liquid passage or to said wash fluid passage;
• and
• said paint replenisher is constituted by a replenishing stool on which said paint cartridge is set at the time of replenishing paint into said paint chamber, a replenishing valve connected to said replenishing stool and adapted to replenish paint into said paint chamber of said paint cartridge through said paint passage in said feed tube while said paint valve is in an open state, an extruding liquid feed/discharge valve connected to said replenishing stool and adapted to feed or discharge said extruding liquid to or from said extruding liquid chamber of said paint cartridge or to supply said extruding liquid to said paint chamber of said cartridge as a wash liquid, a wash air supply valve adapted to supply wash air to said paint chamber of said cartridge, and a selector valve having the inlet side thereof connected to said extruding liquid feed/discharge valve and wash air supply valve and the outlet side thereof connected to said replenishing stool and adapted to connect either said extruding liquid feed/discharge valve or said wash air supply valve selectively to said common inlet port of said cartridge.

A cartridge type coating system, including a sprayer unit, a plural number of paint cartridges each detachably connectable to said sprayer unit to supply paint thereto from an internal paint source, a paint replenisher detachably connectable to an empty paint cartridge for replenishing paint thereinto, and a cartridge gripper mechanism for gripping and transferring a paint cartridge to and from said paint replenisher and said sprayer unit, characterized in that:

• said paint cartridges are each constituted by a casing having a container and a feed tube extended forward from a fore end portion of said container, a movable partition wall provided in said container and dividing same into a paint chamber in communication with said feed tube and a paint-extruding liquid chamber, a normally closed paint valve provided in said casing and adapted to be opened at the time of supplying paint from said paint chamber to said sprayer unit through a paint passage in said feed tube and at the time of replenishing paint into said paint chamber, an extruding liquid passage for circulating said extruding liquid to and from said extruding liquid chamber, a wash fluid passage for supplying a wash fluid to said paint chamber, and a normally closed wash fluid valve provided in said wash fluid passage and adapted to be opened at the time of supplying said wash fluid to said paint chamber;
• and
• said paint replenisher is constituted by a replenishing stool on which said paint cartridge is set at the time of replenishing paint into said paint chamber, a replenishing valve connected to said replenishing stool and adapted to replenish paint into said paint chamber of said paint cartridge through said paint passage in said feed tube while said paint valve is in an open state, an extruding liquid feed/discharge valve connected to said replenishing stool and adapted to feed or discharge said extruding liquid to or from said extruding liquid chamber of said paint cartridge through said extruding liquid passage while said paint valve is in an open state;
• and
• said cartridge gripper mechanism is provided with a gripper for gripping said paint cartridge, and a wash fluid passage formed in said gripper and adapted to be connected to said wash fluid passage on the side of said cartridge when the latter is gripped on said gripper, an upstream end of said wash fluid passage in said gripper being connected to a wash fluid supply valve which supplies a wash fluid to said paint chamber of said cartridge.