The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 26, 1998
Filed:
May. 30, 1996
Richard J Klein, II, Waterloo, IA (US);
Douglas L Sevey, Waterloo, IA (US);
Ricky Jay Bauer, Cedar Falls, IA (US);
Other;
Abstract
An optical spray coating monitoring system uses a laser displacement sensor and a data acquisition system to monitor a spray gun operator's technique, and display information relating to coating conditions and/or technique. The system includes a laser displacement sensor having a sensor head that is removably attached to a hand held spray gun. The laser displacement sensor measures the distance from the spray nozzle to the surface being coated. The laser displacement sensor also preferably measures the angle of orientation of the spray gun with respect to the surface being coated. The sensor head can also include an infrared temperature sensor. Another embodiment of the invention also uses a second laser displacement sensor. The first sensor measures the distance from the spray gun nozzle to the surface being coated before the coating has been applied to the surface and the second sensor measures the distance after the coating has been applied to the surface, thus allowing determination of the thickness of the wet film on the surface being coated. The measured information is transmitted to the data acquisition system. The data acquisition system provides low level calculations, displays raw data or statistical information, and stores data in memory so that the data can be later downloaded to a computer for further analysis at a later time.