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US 6,190,727 B1Granted
Liquid coating spray applicator and method providing automatic spread rate control
AssigneeGeorgia-Pacific Corporation
InventorCharles E. Thaggard
Life of this patent
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AssigneeGeorgia-Pacific Corporation
InventorCharles E. Thaggard
Estimating the term…
A spray application apparatus and method, well suited for use in a plywood production resin spray line, provides automatic control of the spread rate of resin applied to the veneer layers built-up to form plywood panels. In lieu of the conventional trial and error method of manually adjusting the height of a spray nozzle to adjust the spread rate, a controller, actuator, and various sensors are utilized in conjunction with a novel control algorithm to achieve continuous automatic spread rate control. The control effectively compensates for variations in process parameters (e.g., resin flow rate, conveyor line speed and veneer temperature) during a production run, whereby product quality is increased with reduced resin consumption. The controller is easily and effectively calibrated without the need to obtain accurate initial values of the variable process parameters.
A spray coating apparatus providing automatic spread rate control, comprising:
A method of controlling a spray coating apparatus including a spray nozzle that produces a diverging spray pattern having a generally flat triangular shape, a supply line connected to said spray nozzle for supplying a liquid coating material under pressure thereto, a conveyor including a moving surface arranged to carry articles past said spray nozzle and through said diverging spray pattern such that a coating of said liquid coating material is applied to a surface thereof, and an actuator having a movable member connected to said spray nozzle for moving the spray nozzle toward and away from the moving surface of the conveyor, said method comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.