US2613635A - Apparatus for spraying rotating radial surfaces - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 14, 1952 w. MaCWlLLlAM APPARATUS FOR SPRAYING ROTATING RADIAL SURFACES ZSHEETS-SHEET 1 Filed Jan. 24, 1949 HNVENTOR,

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TELTE- Oct. 14, 1952 w. M wlLLlAM APPARATUS FOR SPRAYING ROTATING RADIAL SURFACES 2 SHEETSSHEET 2 Filed Jan. 24, 1949 INVENTOR. 11 Mwlfil/m BY KW a K1474 HTTU/P/VfVS Patented Oct. 14, 1952 APPARATUS FOR sPaAYiNo ROTATING RADIAL SURFACES Wallace lt'Ia cWilliain, Boonton,.N. .L, assignor to Eclipse Air Brush 00., Newark, N. 3., a corporation of New Jersey Application January 24, 1949, Serial No. 72,411

8 Claims. (Cl. 11s' 31'e) solvedheretofore either by using rnultiple guns f xed at each drum head or by using movable guns adapted to traverse the drum heads.

pne isst f he t ntiqei cs a rotating radial surfaces in a unif orm manner. Another object is to provide a spray painting machine \vhich spray paints such surfaces with eeni e im coating- 1 A iurt e ect i t provide subcombinations of elements adapted tor use in such a; machine and which contribute towards tta nm t .Qf. t foregoing detect i ma mee n c mer e ui ement i, r s e n nuggedness, economy, foolproofness, and the like. Still other objects may be inferred. v Us The presently preferred form of theinvention is illustrated by the accompanying drawings as embodied in an automatic drum head spray painting machine, the various figures being as follows: 7 it v 1v is a top view of a drive and countershaft assembly forming the top portion of the machine, certain lower elementsbeing eliminated in the interest of clarity; v

Fig; 2 is a side view of the complete machine showing the drive and countershaft assembly of Fig; land its location and all the other parts therebelow and including in broken lines a steel drum with its headsbeing spray painted;

Fig.3 is an end view of Fig; 2; s 7 1 V lis a cross section of the driveand countrshaft assembly taken from Fig. 2 as indicated by the line 4-4} and Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view taken from the line 5 -5 in Fig. 3 for the purpose of showing a spray angularity not adequately illustrated otherwise.

In these drawings the'drum D is shown by broken lines. The machine provides a cradle formed'by four rectangularly arranged wheels I which are generally shaped like railroad wheels so they provide inwardly tapered drum supporting surfaces 2 having flanges 3 for engaging the druzn'ends' and preventing axial drum motion. The drum is horizontally cradled by these wheels l. withthe latter appropriately positioned byhorizontally jcurnaled shafts l, of lwhichbothare rotatively poweredv by the sprocket wheel 5 connected by the sprocket chain 6 with the sprocket wheel 1 on the shaft of an electric rotary motor M. Those wheels ,I which are on the shaftsarfi keyed thereto. Therefore, operation of the motor M, which is an electrical motor whosezspeed is capable of good control, serves to rotate. the drum D about its axis. with this axis relatively fixed due to the form and arrangement of the wheels I whichcarry it.

, Levers 8 are each fulerurneclon an axis parallel to and radially offset from the rotary axis of the cradleddrum D by being keyed to the horizontal shafts}! of right angle gear drives Ii] having their vertical shafts l l connected to the vertical shafts lZ of other generally similar right angle, gear drives 13, by vertical shafts I4 provided with universal joints 55. The drives it! are elevated above the drum D when as supported by the wheels l and the drives l3 are above the drives It; with the shafts I l and the universal joints. l5 permitting horizontal movement of the drives Ill axially of the drumD. For this purpose the drives H] are slidably mounted on horizontal supports it and provided with releasable fastenings'ilfor fixing thepos'ition of the drive's l0 and henc'ethe'levers 8' relative, the drum heads. These horizontal supports it may be'supported by an adequate superstructure or suspended from the shop ceiling,, this applying also to the drives l3ja'nd any other elevated equipment. The particular arrangement used for this purpose is not illustrated in the interest of avoiding confusion in the drawings. f v

e he horizontal shaftsof the right angle gear drivesl3 are interconnected by a countershaft l8 to which a lever 19 is keyed with its swinging end connectedby a connecting rod 20 to a cranlgZl lr'ey'ed to a drive shaft Z2 power-ed byanelectric rotary motor 23' through a reduction gear drive 241 With this arrangement, as the; motor 23 slowly drives the shaft 22 through the gear drive 24, the crank 21 rotates therewith, and the connecting rod 20 oscillates the lever l9 to oscillate the shaft 18 and hence the levers 8 depending from the horizontal shafts 9 of the right angle gear drives 10} The lower ends of the levels 8 are thus caused to" traverse the heads-of the cradled drum D; and these lower ends mount automatic fan spray guns 25. These guns are of the type like a manual fan spray gun, excepting thatvthey are operated by a pilot plunger adapted to be remotely controlled by the admission of pilot air pressure. It should also be understood that a fan spray is a relatively fiat flaring spray ejected from a spray gun having a spray head designed to so shape the spray.

The fan spray guns 25 are mounted by the lower ends of the levers 8 so that the fan spray is ejected approximately in alignment with the levers 8 in each instance. The levers 8 are shown as having lengths approximately equaling the drum diameter, and their mounting shafts 9 are positioned high enough so that the lower ends of the fan sprays terminate about at th drum axis. The shafts 9 are positioned in radial alignment with drum axis and are vertically thereabove and when the levers 8 are swung in alignment with the drum axis and the axes of the shafts 9, the fan spray is oriented approximately radially respecting the drum head in each instance. When the levers 8 are swung outwardly so they are opposite the periphery of the drum or are close thereto the fan spray is oriented approximately tangentially respecting the drum head in each instance. the fan spray rotates so as to provide transitional orientations between the radial and tangential orientations at the inner and outer extremes of its swing in each instance. The spray guns 25 are each arranged to eject their fan sprays transversely towards the drum heads and in each instance at outwardly inclined angles as shown by Fig. 5.

Allof the right angle gear drives have 1 to 1 gear ratios and the upper drive and countershaft assembly is organized so that when the crank 2| is aligned with the link the arms 8 are opposite the periphery of the drum heads and when the crank 2| and connecting rod 20 are at right angles the levers 8 are at the axes of the drum heads. The organization is such that at this time the lever I9 is vertical. This lever l9 oscillates with rotation of the crank 2| as it is driven by the motor 23. late back and forth while completely traversing the drum heads.

The illustrated machine is designed for full automatic operation, the automatic spray guns having their pilot pressure connected with a pilot valve 26 worked by a cam 21 on the shaft 22. There is also a limit switch 28 worked by a cam 29 on the shaft 22. This limit switch 28 is connected by an electric circuit to control the motor 23 so that upon initial energization the crank 2| makes one complete rotation and then stops until the circuit is energized again, with a manually operated push button used to initiate each cycle. The cam 21 is arranged so that as the crank 2| starts to align with the connecting rod 20 while the levers 8 are at their outer swinging extremes where the fan spray guns 25 are pointing outwardly as shown by Fig. 5, pilot pressure is admitted to the guns 25 so that they start to eject their fan sprays, and this is continued until the levers 8 swing to positions where they are opposite the central portions of the drum heads with the fan sprays extending radially from the drum head axis, whereupon the pilot pressure is discontinued so the spray ceases.

In the above operation the drum D is, of course, rotating when the spray guns are pointing towards the peripheral portions of its drum heads. These drum heads receive at this time the maximum amount of spray peripherally for each revolution because of the tangential orientations of the fan sprays. The arrangements should be such that as spraying starts the fan sprays are pointingat their outward inclinations so that Thus the arms 8 oscil- At positions in between their spray ends just reach into the chines of the drum, the outward inclinations assuring that these chines are thoroughly sprayed.

As the crank 2| and link 20 begin to leave their aligned positions the mechanical advantage is so great that there is time for the drum heads to turn at least twice so as to positively avoid an unsprayed portion between the ends of the fan sprays. There is no chance for the side of the drum to be sprayed because of the outward inclinations of the spray guns, this being another important advantage of this angularity since it is frequently desired to paint the sides of the drum a different color from its heads.

As the crank 2| continues to rotate and gradually approach right angularity with the connecting rod 20, the traversing speeds of the arms 8 correspondingly increase in accordance with the laws of mechanics involved. Since the spray guns are rigidly fixed to the ends of the arms 8 and the latter are swung about the axis formed by the shafts 9, the fan sprays gradually leave their tangential orientations and rotate, in effect, about their own axes relative the drum heads and as they begin to approach their radial orientations they are swinging faster. The drum head portions that are sprayed are, of course, moving slower since they are closer and closer the drum axis. By proper relation of these various effects the drum heads may be sprayed in a completely uniform manner.

The rotating speed of the drum must be correlated to the swinging speeds of the levers 8 to prevent the fan sprays from forming spiral patterns on the drum heads. This is particularly important while the arms are opposite the peripheral portions of the drum heads with the fan sprays oriented tangentially respecting the drum heads.

Knowing the fan sprays dimensions, the dimensions of the various levers and of the crank 2|, and the latters rotating speed, it is possible to mathematically compute the proper drum rotating speed required. With the motor I capable of good speed control it is also possible to vary it as required to visually produce the desired uniform results.

In the case of the specific example illustrated, the drum heads are 23 /4 inches in diameter and the motor I is set to rotate the drum at R. P. M. The fan spray pattern is 6 inches long and /2 inch wide or thick, and the levers 8 are about 24 inches long. The right angle gear drives all have 1 to 1 gear ratios, and the crank 2| and lever H) are dimensioned as required to fully swing the levers 8 from the drum heads periphery to the center while the crank 2| turns from alignment with the connecting rod 28 to the right angular association therewith. With this arrangement a crank speed of 8.24 R. P. M. produces the desired results. The fan sprays are set to automatically start as the crank 2| reaches dead center and before it can break its toggle linkage with the lever [9 the drum heads have time to turn enough to avoid uncoated peripheral portions. The cam 21 is set to cut off the pilot pressure, to the automatic spray gun, just as the fan sprays become aligned with the drum heads axis. This means that the levers 8 swing a little beyond the axis of the'drum, it being remembered that the fan spray guns are set to eject their fan sprays at the outward inclinations required to paint the chines and avoid painting of the drum sides.

Some difficulty may be experienced in properly obtained by this machine. This as races spray-painting the bung hole, so themachine is provided with a fixed automatic spray gun 3|] -which may eject an ordinary round spray in alignment with the bung hole, it may be used 'whenrequired-for this special purpose.

It is to be'noted that a manual fan 'spraygun may be manipulated to imitate the motions involves a method phase that is believed novel. Although apparently more complicated, the various orientati'ons and traverse of the fan spray might be imitated more or less by using a true linear traverse with rotation of the fan spray effected by ham-action or the like. Various other ways may be'sug gested-by thoseskilled in the art for doing substantially the same thing in substantially the same manner as disclosed by the description of this 'specific form of the present invention.

The fan spray has been described as oriented approximately tangentially respecting the drum header-disk. With the lever 8 arranged so that when itis at thedrum heads center it is truly radial therewith, as illustrated, better results may be obtained by orienting the fan spray, by arranging the gun, so the spray is at a angle withthelever. It may be given an angle as large as-4s with the lever and still provide some of't'he described advantages. But the fan spray should in each instance be substantiallyor approximately tangential to the rotating disk being a coated. it l'alimr- Apparatus for spraying a radial surface rotating about a fixed axis, said apparatus including means for rotating said surface about a fixedaxis, a lever,a pivotal support positioned at a location offset radially from said axis and mounting said lever by one end so that the other *l'everend swingingly traverses said surface, in front thereof 'andsubstantially parallel thereto, and a fan spray gun mounted on said swinging 'lever end to swing therewith and directed to eject its fan spray ina plane aligned radially with said pivotal support and aimed towards said surface to'spray the latter, whereby said spray is radially 'orientedfrespecting said rotating surf aces axis when'j'said lever is swung to position said spray 'gunopp'osite to said axis, the distancebetween said spray gun and said pivotal "support being proportioned to cause thejp'lane ors aid'ranspray to be oriented substantially tangentially to the rotation of said rotating "radial "surface when said lever is swung to .po'sitionsaid spray gun c'ipposi'tetothe peripheral portion "of saidsurface. 72. Apparatus for,- spraying a radial surface i'otatingabout a fixed axis, said "apparatus includingflmean's for rotatingfsaid surface about a fixed'axi's, a lever, a pivotal support positioned at' a location offset radially from said axis and mountingsaid lever by one end-so that theother lever end swin'gingly traverses said-surface in front thereof and substantially parallel thereto, andaifan spray gun mounted on said swinging lever end to swing therewith and directed to eject its fan sprayin a planealigned radially with saidpivotal support and aimed towards said surface'to' spray the latter, whereby said spray is radially oriented respecting said rotating surfaces axis whensaid lever is swung to position said spray gun opposite to said axis, the distance between said spraygun and saidpivotal support being proportioned to cause the plane of said fan spray to be oriented substantially tangentially to the rotation of said rotatingradial surface when said lever is swung to position said spray gun 6 opposite to the peripheral portion of said surface, said distance approximatelyequalling thediameter of said sur-face s peripheryand said pivotal support b'eing offset from said surface s axis a "distance causing the end of said fan spray "most remote fromsa'id support to terminate about at said 'axis. I

'3. Apparatus for spraying a radial surface .ro

tating about afixed axis, said apparatus including means f'or'rotating said sur'face about a fixed ax-is, a lever, a pivotal su-pport positioned at a location oifset ra'diallyfrom said axis andmcunting said lever by one end "so that the other lever end swingingly traverses-said surface in front thereof and substantially parallel "thereto, and-"a fan spray gun mounted on said swinging lever end to swing therewith and directed to eject its ran spray in a plane aligned radially with said pivotal support and aimed towards said surface te -spray the latter whereby said spray is radially forient'ed respecting said rotating surfaces axis when said lever is swung to position said "spray gun opposite to said axis, the distance between said spray gun and said pivotal support being proportionedto cause thepla'ne of said fan spray to be orientedsubst'antially tangentially to the rotation of said rotating radial surface when said lever is swung to position said spraygun opposite 'to the peripheral portion of said surface, said 'apparatus including a rotating crank and connecting rod therefor and means connecting saidrod with said lever to swing the latter betweensa'id positions, said crank and rod being mutually aligned substantiallywhen said lever is swungto apc'sition wheresaid spray gunis positioned opposite to said 'surfaces periphery.

.4. Apparatus for spraying a radial surface rotating about a fixed axis, said apparatus including means for rotatingsaid surface about a fixed axis, a lever, a-pivo'tal support positioned at a location oirset radially from said axis and mounting said lever-by one end so that the other lever end swingingly traverses said surface in front thereof and substantially parallel thereto, anda fan spray gun mounted cnsaidswinging lever-end to swing therewith and directed to eject its fan sprayin a plane aligned radially with said pivotal support and aimed towards said surface to spray the latter, whereby said spray is radially oriented respecting said rotating surfaces axis when said lever is swung to position said spray gun opposite to said axis, the distance between said spray gun and saidpivotal support being proportioned to cause the plane of said fans'pray to be oriented substantially tangentially to the rotation of said rotating radial surface when said lever is swung to position said spray gun opposite to the peripheral portion of said surface, the position of said pivotal support being adjustable in the axial di rection of said surface to adjust the distance between-said spray gun and said surface, and said apparatus including a fixedly positioned rotating crank and connecting rod therefor, and flexible means interconnecting said crank and said lever toswingthelatter regardless of the adjusted position of said support, said crank and rod being mutually aligned substantially when said lever is swung to a position where said spray gun is positioned opposite to said surfaces periphery.

5. A-drum head spraying'machi'ne including a plurality of rotary-elements arranged to cradle a drum with its axis horizontal, means for rotating at least-one of'said elements to rotate said drum aboutits axis, a lever for each head of said drum, pivotal supports positioned at a level'above each of said drum heads and mounting said levers by one end in each instance so that their other ends depend in front of the respective drum heads and swing substantially parallel thereto so as to traverse said drum heads, a fan spray gun in each instance mounted on said swinging lever ends and each directed to eject its fan spray in a plane aligned radially with the adjacent one of said pivotal supports and aimed towards the adjacent one of said drum heads to spray the latter, whereby said sprays are radially oriented respecting said drum heads when said levers are swung to position said spray guns opposite to said drums axis, the distance between said spray guns and said pivotal supports being proportioned so that when said levers are swung to position said spray heads opposite to the peripheral portions of said drum heads the planes of said sprays are oriented substantially tangentially to the rotation of said portions, whereby said fan sprays rotate to provide transitional orientations between said named orientations when said levers swing between said lever positions.

6. A drum head spraying machine including a plurality of rotary elements arranged to cradle a drum with its axis horizontal, means for rotating at least one of said elements to rotate said drum about its axis, a lever for each head of said drum, pivotal supports positioned ata level above each of said drum heads and mounting said levers by one-end in each instance so that their other ends depend in front of the respective drum heads and swing substantially parallel thereto so as to traverse said drum heads, a fan spray gun in each instance mounted on said swinging lever ends and each directed to eject its fan spray in a plane aligned radially with the adjacent one of said pivotal supports and aimed towards the adjacent one of said drum heads to spray the latter, where? by said sprays are radially oriented respecting said drum heads when said levers are swung to position said spray guns opposite to said drums axis, the distance between said spray guns and said pivotal supports being proportioned so that when said levers are swung to position said spray heads opposite to the peripheral portions of said drum heads the planes of said sprays are oriented substantially tangentially to the rotation of said portions, whereby said fan sprays rotate to provide transitional orientations between said named orientations when said levers swing between said lever positions, said spray heads in each instance being positioned on said levers to eject their sprays at a slight angle so as to spray into the drum chines and away from the drum side when said levers are swung to position said spray guns at the drum head peripheries.

7. A drum head spraying machine including a plurality of rotary elements arranged to cradle a drum with its axis horizontal, means for rotating at least one of said elements to rotate said drum about its axis, a lever for each head of said drum, pivotal supports positioned at a level above each of said drum heads and mounting said levers by one end in each instance so that their other ends depend in front of the respective drum heads and swing substantially parallel thereto so as to traverse said drum heads, a fan spray gun in each instance mounted on said swinging lever ends and each directed to eject its fan spray in a plane aligned radially withthe adjacent one of said pivotal supports and aimed towards the adjacent one of said drum heads to spray the latter, whereby said sprays are rad ially oriented respecting said drum heads when saidlevers are swung to position said spray guns opposite to said drums axis, the distance between said spray guns and said pivotal supports being proportioned so that when said levers are swung to position said spray heads opposite to the peripheral portions of said drum heads the planes of said sprays are oriented substantially tangentially to the rotation of said portions, whereby said fan sprays rotate to provide transitional orientations between said named orientations when said levers swing between said lever positions, said machine including a crank and connecting rod therefor for each of said levers, and means connecting said connecting rod with said levers in each instance so that said crank and said connecting rod are mutually aligned when itsconnected one of said levers is swung to position its spray gun opposite to the periphery of the adjacent one of said drum heads.

8. A drum head spraying machine including a plurality of rotary elements arranged to cradle a drum with its axis horizontal, means for rotating at least one of said elements to rotate said drum aboutits axis, a lever for each head of said drum, pivotal supports positioned at a level above each of said drum heads and mounting said levers by one end in each instance so that their other ends depend in front of the respective drum heads and swing substantially parallel thereto so as to traverse said drum heads, a fan spray gun in each instance mounted on said swinging lever ends and each directed to eject its fan spray in a plane aligned radially with the adjacent one of said pivotal supports and aimed towards the adjacent one of said drum heads to spray the latter, whereby said sprays are radially oriented respecting said drum heads when said levers are swung to position said spray guns opposite to said drums axis, the distance between said spray guns and said pivotal supports being proportioned so that when said levers are swung to position said spray heads opposite to the peripheral portions of said drum heads the planes of said sprays are oriented substantially tangentially to the rotation of said portions, whereby said fan sprays rotate to provide transitional orientations between said named orientations when said levers swing between said lever positions, said machine including a crank and connecting rod therefor for each of said levers, and means connecting said connecting rod with said levers in each instance so that said crank and said connecting rod are mutually aligned when its connected one of said levers is swung to position its spray gun opposite to the periphery of the adjacent one of said drum heads, the positions of said pivotal supports being axially adjustable respecting said drum and said crank and connecting rod being fixed in position, said connecting means including flexible connecting elements permitting said adjustment of the positions of said supports.

WALLACE MAcWl'LlLIAMu REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Date

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