The United States of America as Represented by the Administrator of the

Ernest E Porter

Marnell Smith

Victor W Katvala

A spray coating apparatus is provided for rotating a workpiece relative to a spray station to obtain a uniform coating of the workpiece. In a typical example, the workpiece comprises a ceramic tile which is to be coated with a ceramic coating and the tile is to be used as a reusable component of the thermal protection system for a space shuttle. The apparatus for rotating the workpiece includes a base support having a first rotatable stage for rotation in the horizontal plane and a second rotatable stage for rotation in a second plane inclined at an angle, such as 45 degrees, to the horizontal plane and the workpiece is supported on this second stage. Thus the workpiece is rotatable in both of two planes of rotation. The workpiece support is detachable from the first rotatable stage and the workpiece is readily detachable from the workpiece support to facilitate off loading of the spray coated workpiece. The workpiece holder includes a spray guard extending around the periphery of the workpiece to shield that surface of the workpiece where no coating is desired. The two degrees of freedom provided in the rotation of the workpiece relative to the spray station permits the various facets of the tile to be sequentially rotated into an orthogonal relationship to the spray station for uniform coating of the workpiece.

Growing community of inventors

Saratoga, CA, United States of America

Ernest E Porter