Adaptive robotic thermal spray coating cell
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsGerhart HANSON, Matthias HOEBEL, Martin Lewis SMITH
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of coating a component using a robotic spray system is provided. The robotic spray system includes a scanning apparatus operable to measure and store surface characteristics before and after coating; a robotic arm operable to move the robotic spray system relative to a surface of a component, the component including one or more reference features which remains uncoated during the coating; a spray nozzle operable to deposit a sprayed coating onto the surface; and a device driver module including circuitry configured to operate the scanning apparatus, the robotic arm, and the spray nozzle.
Claims20
A method of coating a component using a robotic spray system including a scanning apparatus operable to measure and store surface characteristics, a robotic arm operable to move the robotic spray system relative to a surface of the component, and a spray nozzle operable to deposit a sprayed coating onto the surface, the method comprising:
- measuring and storing the surface characteristics of the component with the scanning apparatus and generating a three-dimensional pre-coat coating profile;
- coating the component with the spray nozzle to form a coated component;
- measuring and storing the surface characteristics of the coated component with the scanning apparatus and generating a three-dimensional post-coat coating profile;
- generating a three-dimensional coating thickness map in response to the pre-coat coating profile, the post-coat coating profile and a deformation compensation factor, the coating thickness map displaying a coating thickness across the component;
- determining a three-dimensional recoat profile in response to the coating thickness map and a reference deposition profile, the recoat profile including a recoat area and an additional coating thickness;
- and
- coating a portion of the component with the spray nozzle based on the recoat profile,
- wherein the component includes one or more reference features which remain uncoated during the coating, and
- wherein the deformation compensation factor is determined by adding internal deformations and external deformations, wherein the internal deformations are determined by comparing the post-coating profile in a hot condition after the coating has finished and in a cold condition after the component has cooled to ambient temperature and the external deformations are determined by comparing the reference features before and after the coating with the scanning apparatus.
A robotic spray system comprising:
- a scanning apparatus operable to measure and store surface characteristics before and after coating;
- a robotic arm operable to move the robotic spray system relative to a surface of a component, the component including one or more reference features which remain uncoated during the coating;
- a spray nozzle operable to deposit a sprayed coating onto the surface;
- and
- a device driver module including circuitry configured to operate the robotic arm and the spray nozzle.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.