Iwata Air Compressor Mfg. Co., Ltd.

Ikuya Shiraishi

Takeshi Mochizuki

Yoshio Matusita

Katsumasa Iwasawa

Kazuki Terafuji

Yukimitu Watanabe

A spraying method wherein the distance between a spray apparatus and an article is measured by a distance measuring means provided on the spray apparatus, and a spraying condition in which a substance is sprayed is varied in accordance with the measured distance. Also disclosed is a spray apparatus which is suitable for carrying out the above-described method. The apparatus has a supply passage for a substance which is to be sprayed, a nozzle for jetting out the spray substance, and a control valve means provided within the supply passage and adapted to control the flow rate of the spray substance flowing out through the nozzle. A distance measuring means is provided integral with the spray apparatus in one unit, the means being adapted to measure the distance between the spray apparatus and an article and output a signal corresponding to the measured distance. The degree of opening of the control valve means is determined on the basis of the signal output from the distance measuring means.

Spraying method and apparatus employed therefor

A spray gun with an automatic valve opening control means which enables remote and stepless control of a paint spraying operation has atomizing means provided at the front end thereof, a paint valve member which enables adjustment of the amount of paint jetted out from the atomizing means, and a spray pattern adjusting valve member adapted to adjust the spray pattern by controlling the amount of compressed air jetted out from the atomizing means. A threaded slider mechanism is provided on the proximal portion of a valve body of either the paint valve member or the spray pattern adjusting valve member (or both). A servo motor and an encoder are connected to a drive screw member of the threaded slider mechanism. The encoder is adapted to detect the rotational position of the servo motor and output a controlled variable of the motor, and the servo motor is controlled in response to an external signal.

Spray gun with automatic valve opening control means

An automatic spraying method wherein the amount of displacement of a valve member is calculated from data representing a particular spray distance by means of a microcomputer, and the valve member is activated on the basis of the displacement amount thus obtained. A curve which represents the relationship between the valve member displacement and the amount of a fluid which is to be jetted out is experimentally obtained in advance, and this curve is approximated by a plurality of straight lines or parabolas. The slopes or average slopes of these lines or curves are obtained, and the ratio between the respective slopes of the sections which are adjacent to each other is calculated. Trial spraying is carried out at two different spray distances within a range of valve member displacement amounts so as to provide a desired coating, and the relationship between the spray distance and the valve member displacement amount which provides similar coatings is obtained at two points. An equation in the section is determined by the microcomputer on the basis of data concerning the two points and data which determines whether the section is a straight line or a parabola. An equation in an adjacent section is determined from the equation already obtained and the slope ratio, and these equations are stored in a memory, whereby the valve member displacement for input data representing a particular spray distance can be calculated on the basis of the stored equations.

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Kanagawa, Japan

Ikuya Shiraishi