Nordson Corporation

Eric Coulibaly

Gene L Todd

Cynthia A Skelton-Becker

John Faetanini

A system and method for controlling triggering of spray guns in an automatic spray coating system, includes a hand-held pendant having input controls for entering spray gun &ldquo;on&rdquo; and spray gun &ldquo;off&rdquo; control parameters based upon observation of parts as they are conveyed past the spray guns by a conveyor. Gun triggering controls for optimized spray patterns, including extended and restricted spray patterns and combinations thereof, are entered and saved in a gun triggering controller according to an operator's inputs which include START SPRAY, STOP SPRAY, SAVE and SET PICKOFF controls. Multiple gun control parameters are stored as unique part coating recipes in the controller and are executable in look-ahead sequence based upon part identification as parts are conveyed toward the spray guns. The multiple gun control parameters are calculated by the controller from a fixed Pickoff distance from a part identification sensor to the spray guns.

Method and systems for setting automatic gun triggering parameters in automated spray coating systems

A method for controlling triggering of spray guns in an automatic spray coating system, includes a hand-held pendant having input controls for entering spray gun &ldquo;on&rdquo; and spray gun &ldquo;off&rdquo; control parameters based upon observation of parts as they are conveyed past the spray guns by a conveyor. Gun triggering controls for optimized spray patterns, including extended and restricted spray patterns and combinations thereof, are entered and saved in a gun triggering controller according to an operator's inputs which include START SPRAY, STOP SPRAY, SAVE and SET PICKOFF controls. Multiple gun control parameters are stored as unique part coating recipes in the controller and are executable in look-ahead sequence based upon part identification as parts are conveyed toward the spray guns. The multiple gun control parameters are calculated by the controller from a fixed Pickoff distance from a part identification sensor to the spray guns.

Method for setting automatic gun triggering parameters in automated spray coating systems

Systems for setting automatic gun triggering parameters in automated spray coating systems

Parts to be treated in a powder spray coating system are identified by moving the parts relative to an array of sensors. A plurality of sensor readings is created by sensing the presence or absence of a portion of one of the parts proximate to each of the sensors for a plurality of incremental distances that the parts have moved relative to the sensors. The sensor readings are compressed according to a computational procedure to generate compressed data for each of the parts, the compressed data representing the sensor readings for all of the sensors during each incremental distance, and the compressed data representing the sensor readings for all of the incremental distances of each of the sensors. The compressed data is compared with corresponding data for an identified part to determine if the part matches the identified part. The system provides for more detailed parts identification than light curtains, but avoids the expense and memory requirements of sophisticated vision systems.

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Elyria, OH, United States of America

Eric Coulibaly