DEVICE FOR LACQUER TRANSFER

Abstract

A device for lacquer transfer with a frame, transfer roller with a circumferential lateral wall, and nozzle for dispensing lacquer, the nozzle connected to the frame, wherein an outside contact surface of the lateral wall includes depressions. The transfer roller is mounted rotatably about an axis of rotation to the frame, the nozzle arranged for dispensing lacquer into depressions while the transfer roller is rotated. The transfer roller is configured to roll with the outside contact surface on a work surface of a work piece for transferring lacquer from the depressions to the work surface, the depressions formed and distributed over the outside contact surface in a predefined pattern having a main orientation direction. Efficiency of lacquer transfer can be increased as the pattern is arranged such that the main orientation direction extends other than perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the transfer roller.

Claims

1. A device for lacquer transfer, comprising: a frame; a transfer roller with a circumferential lateral wall; and a nozzle for dispensing lacquer; wherein the nozzle is connected to the frame, wherein an outside contact surface of the lateral wall comprises a plurality of depressions, wherein the transfer roller is mounted rotatably about an axis of rotation to the frame, wherein the nozzle is arranged contactless to or in direct contact with the outside contact surface of the lateral wall for dispensing lacquer into respective depressions in the lateral wall while the transfer roller is rotated about the axis of rotation, wherein the transfer roller is configured to roll with the outside contact surface of the lateral wall on a work surface of a work piece for transferring the lacquer from the depressions to the work surface of the work piece, wherein the depressions are formed and distributed over the outside contact surface of the lateral wall according to a predefined pattern, wherein the pattern has a main orientation direction, and wherein the pattern is arranged such that the main orientation direction extends other than perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the transfer roller.

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the pattern is such that along the main orientation direction the depressions are in a repetitive manner or have a repetitively varying form.

3. The device according to claim 1, wherein the pattern is such that along the main orientation direction the depressions have a constant form.

4. The device according to claim 1, wherein the pattern is such that the depressions are grooves extending in the main orientation direction.

5. The device according to claim 1, wherein the pattern is such that along the main orientation direction the depressions are in a streamlined manner.

6. The device according to claim 1, wherein the pattern is such that along the main orientation direction the depressions are arranged to cause a minimum drag and/or maximum efficient flow when the lacquer has been transferred to an aircraft component.

7. The device according to claim 1, wherein the pattern is such that the main orientation direction extends in parallel to the axis of rotation of the transfer roller.

8. The device according to claim 1, wherein the pattern is such that the main orientation direction extends angled relative to both the axis of rotation of the transfer roller and a circumferential direction of the transfer roller.

9. A method for producing an aircraft component, comprising: providing an aircraft component having a longitudinal axis and a work surface at its outer surface, to which lacquer is to be transferred; providing a device for lacquer transfer comprising: a frame; a transfer roller with a circumferential lateral wall; and a nozzle for dispensing lacquer; wherein the nozzle is connected to the frame, wherein an outside contact surface of the lateral wall comprises a plurality of depressions, wherein the transfer roller is mounted rotatably about an axis of rotation to the frame, wherein the nozzle is arranged contactless to or in direct contact with the outside contact surface of the lateral wall for dispensing lacquer into respective depressions in the lateral wall while the transfer roller is rotated about the axis of rotation, wherein the transfer roller is configured to roll with the outside contact surface of the lateral wall on a work surface of a work piece for transferring the lacquer from the depressions to the work surface of the work piece, wherein the depressions are formed and distributed over the outside contact surface of the lateral wall according to a predefined pattern, wherein the pattern has a main orientation direction, and wherein the pattern is arranged such that the main orientation direction extends other than perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the transfer roller; and transferring lacquer to the work surface by moving the device for lacquer transfer such that the transfer roller rolls over the work surface in a direction transverse to the longitudinal axis of the aircraft component.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein lacquer is transferred to the work surface by rolling the transfer roller in a direction of greatest extension of the aircraft component.

11. An aircraft or aircraft component having an outer surface coated with structured lacquer produced using the method according to claim 9.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0030] Further features, advantages and application possibilities of the disclosure herein may be derived from the following description of example embodiments and/or the figures. Thereby, all described and/or visually depicted features for themselves and/or in any combination may form an advantageous subject matter and/or features of the disclosure herein independent of their combination in the individual claims or their dependencies. Furthermore, in the figures, same reference signs may indicate same or similar objects.

[0031] FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a part of an aircraft wherein a device arranged for transferring lacquer on an upper wing surface.

[0032] FIG. 2 schematically illustrates an embodiment of the device in a cross-sectional view with a perspective detailed view of the muzzle end of the slit nozzle.

[0033] FIG. 3 schematically illustrates a part of the lateral wall of the transfer roller in a cross-sectional view.

[0034] FIG. 4 schematically illustrates a further embodiment of the lateral wall of the transfer roller in a top view.

[0035] FIG. 5 schematically illustrates a transfer roller as known in the art having depressions in the outside contact surface formed as circumferential grooves.

[0036] FIG. 6 schematically illustrates a transfer roller according to the disclosure herein having depressions in the outside contact surface formed as axial grooves.

[0037] FIG. 7 schematically illustrates an aircraft component to which lacquer has been transferred by the known roller as shown in FIG. 5.

[0038] FIG. 8 schematically illustrates an aircraft component to which lacquer has been transferred by the roller according to the disclosure herein as shown in FIG. 6.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0039] FIG. 1 schematically illustrates an aircraft 42, which comprises a fuselage 44 and a wing 46. The air resistance of the aircraft 42 can be reduced, if the upper wing surface 48 of the wing 46 comprises a profile structure. It has been found of advantage if this profile structure is a microstructure.

[0040] FIG. 1 also schematically shows a robot 50, which is seated on a rack 54. The robot 50 comprises a movable robot arm 52. A device 2 is mounted at an end of the robot arm 52, such that the device 2 can be moved by the robot 50.

[0041] The device 2 is configured for transferring a lacquer onto a work surface 32 of a workpiece 34. According to the example shown in FIG. 1, the workpiece 34 can be formed by the wing 46 of the aircraft 42. Thus, the upper wing surface 48 can form the work surface 32.

[0042] A first embodiment of the device 2 is schematically illustrated in FIG. 2 in a cross-sectional view. The device 2 comprises a frame 4, a transfer roller 6 with a circumferential lateral wall 8, a drive unit 10, a slit nozzle 12 with a muzzle end 14 for dispensing lacquer, and a deformation unit 16. The transfer roller 6 may also be referred to as a transfer tire. The device 2 can be attached via the frame 4 to the robot arm 52. However, instead of a robot 50 any other handling device may also be used, which is configured to move the device 2 in space. The frame 4 may be adapted to be releasably connected to a handling device, such as the robot 50.

[0043] The transfer roller 6 is mounted rotatably, in particular by at least one bearing, about an axis of rotation 22 at the frame 4. An outside contact surface 18 of the lateral wall 8 comprises several depressions 20 (better evident in FIG. 3). The depressions 20 may be evenly or stochastically distributed about the circumference of the lateral wall 8. The FIGS. 3 and 4 show a part of the transfer roller 6 in a cross-section view and a top view, respectively.

[0044] As schematically indicated in FIG. 3, the depressions 20 can be formed by recesses arranged at the outside surface 18 of the lateral wall 8 of the transfer roller 6. The depressions 20 can have a predefined size and/or structure. A mean structure size of the depressions 20 can be in the range of 0.1 micrometer to 100 micrometer. In other words, each of the depressions 20 may have a microstructure.

[0045] FIG. 4 shows as an example the depressions 20 of a part of the lateral wall 8 of the transfer roller 6 in a top view. Each of the depressions 20 may comprise an elongated extension, in the present embodiment extending perpendicular to a circumferential direction U of the lateral wall 8 of the transfer roller 6.

[0046] Each of the depressions 20 is configured to receive lacquer and to transfer this received lacquer to a work surface 32 of a work piece 34, such as the upper wing surface 48 of a wing 26. Therefore, the several depressions 20 at the outside contact surface 18 of the lateral wall 8 may be arranged and/or formed according to a predefined structure, in particular a microstructure. The lateral wall 8 is preferably made of silicone, such that a damage of the wing surface 48 can be prevented.

[0047] If the depressions 20 are filled with a lacquer and if the outside contact surface 18 comes into contact with the work surface 32, in particular the upper wing surface 48, the lacquer previously received in the depressions 20 is transferred to the work surface 32, in particular the upper outside surface 48 of the aircraft 42. This transferred lacquer has a structure, in particular microstructure, corresponding to a structure defined by depressions 20. Thus, the outside contact surface 18 with its depressions 20 is configured for embossing a lacquer-structure, in particular a lacquer-microstructure, on the work surface 32, in particular the upper wing surface 48.

[0048] As schematically illustrated in FIG. 2, the slit nozzle 12 is directly or indirectly connected to the frame 4. Thus, the slit nozzle 12 may be mounted to the frame 4. Furthermore, the deformation unit 16 is directly or indirectly connected to the frame 4. For instance, the deformation unit 16 may be mounted on the frame 4. According to an example not illustrated in FIG. 2, the slit nozzle 12 and the deformation unit 16 may be formed by an integrated unit. But the slit nozzle 12 may also be directly connected to the deformation unit 16, or vice versa. Thus, the slit nozzle 12 and the deformation unit 16 may be mounted in series to the frame 4.

[0049] The device 2 also comprises the drive unit 10. The drive unit 10 is configured to drive the transfer roller 6 in a rotation direction K about the axis of rotation 22.

[0050] The lateral wall 8 of the transfer roller 6 is elastically deformable in a radial direction R of the transfer roller 6. The lateral wall 8 of the transfer roller 6 can be made of an elastomer plastic, a silicone or any other elastically deformable plastic material. Preferably, the lateral wall 8 of the transfer roller 6 is made of a synthetic, elastically deformable silicone. As a result, the lateral wall 8 can be at least section-wise deformed in positive or negative radial direction R. The deformation unit 16 is configured to deform the lateral wall 8 in the radial direction R of the transfer roller 6 upstream from the slit nozzle 12 to provide a stable distance of the lateral wall 8 to the muzzle end 14 of the slit nozzle 12 for a defined application of lacquer to the outside contact surface 18 of the lateral wall 8. If references made to the radial direction R, this may refer to the positive radial direction R or an opposite negative radial direction.

[0051] The device 2 further comprises a hardening unit 60. The hardening unit 60 is configured for hardening the lacquer in a contactless way. The hardening unit 60 is formed by an UV-light unit. The hardening unit 60 is directly or indirectly connected to the frame 4. Moreover, the hardening unit 60 is arranged within the interior space 36 formed by the transfer roller 6. The lateral wall 8 of the transfer roller 6 is configured to transmit UV-light-waves. Thus, the lateral wall 8 is transparent for UV-light. The hardening unit 60 is arranged, such that UV-light is emitted towards the work surface 32 upon which the lateral wall 8 of the transfer roller 6 rolls. The lacquer is hardenable via UV-light. Therefore, the device is configured to control the drive unit 10 and/or the hardening unit 60 such that lacquer transferred to the work surface 32 is immediately hardened via UV-light emitted by the hardening unit 60.

[0052] As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the depressions 20 are formed and distributed over the outside contact surface 18 according to a predefined pattern. The pattern has a main orientation direction 62 that is intended to be aligned with a longitudinal axis 64 and flight direction of the aircraft 42 or aircraft component 66 to which the lacquer is transferred, in order to benefit from the aerodynamic advantages of the depressions 20. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the pattern is formed such that the depressions 20 are formed and arranged as parallel grooves 68 extending in the main orientation direction 62 and having cross sections that are constant along the main orientation direction 62. In such a way, the pattern is formed such that along the main orientation direction 62 the depressions 20 are formed and arranged in a streamlined manner with respect to a fluid streaming in the main orientation direction 62, and are formed and arranged to cause a minimum drag and a maximum efficient flow, compared to other directions, when the lacquer has been transferred to an aircraft component 66 and the depressions are passed by ambient flow.

[0053] FIG. 5 shows a transfer roller 6′ known in the art and FIG. 6 shows a transfer roller 6 according to the disclosure herein. While the known transfer roller 6′ shown in FIG. 5 has a pattern of depressions 20′ formed by grooves 68′ with a main orientation direction 62′ in parallel to the circumferential direction U′, the transfer roller 6 according to the disclosure herein, as shown in FIG. 6, has a pattern of groove-shaped depressions 20 arranged such that the main orientation direction 62 extends perpendicular to the circumferential direction U and, thus, in parallel to the axis of rotation 22 of the transfer roller 6.

[0054] In such a way, lacquer might be transferred to aircraft 42 or aircraft component 66 with the transfer roller 6 rolling in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis 64 of the aircraft 42 or aircraft component 66 while the main orientation direction 62 of the pattern is still aligned with the longitudinal axis 64. This is particularly advantageous for lacquer transfer to aircraft components 66 having a direction of the greatest extension 70 perpendicular to the longitudinal direction 64, as shown for example in FIG. 8, since rolling the transfer roller 6 in the direction of the greatest extension 70 of the aircraft component 66 is usually most effective due to a minimum number of roller tracks 72 required to cover the entire aircraft component 66 and thus a minimum repositioning effort for the device 2.

[0055] This is illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8, where in FIG. 7 an aircraft component 66 is shown to which lacquer has been transferred by the transfer roller 6′ shown in FIG. 5, and where in FIG. 8 an aircraft component 66 with the same dimensions as the one from FIG. 7 is shown, to which lacquer has been transferred by the transfer roller 6 shown in FIG. 6. While in FIG. 7 five roller tracks 72 are required to cover the entire aircraft component 66 with lacquer, in FIG. 8 only one roller track 72 is required to cover the entire aircraft component 66 with lacquer. This greatly reduces repositioning effort and increases efficiency of the process.

[0056] The aircraft component 66 shown in FIG. 8 might be produced by the device 2 for lacquer transfer as described above having the transfer roller 6 shown in FIG. 6, by the following steps: The aircraft component 66 is provided having the longitudinal axis 64, which is intended to be in parallel to the flight direction of the associated aircraft 42, and having a work surface 32 at its outer surface, to which lacquer is to be transferred. The device 2 for lacquer transfer as described above is provided and lacquer is transferred to the work surface 32 by moving the device 2 such that the transfer roller 6 rolls over the work surface 32 in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis 64 to have the main orientation direction 62 of the pattern of depressions 20 in parallel to the longitudinal axis 64. At the same time, the transfer roller 6 is rolled in the direction of the greatest extension 70 of the aircraft component 66, which provides that only one roller track 72 is required to cover the aircraft component 66 with lacquer.

[0057] By the device 2 for lacquer transferred according to the disclosure herein, as described above, the direction in which the transfer roller 6 is rolled and lacquer is transferred on the work surface 32 of an aircraft component 66, can be aligned with the direction of the greatest extension 70 of the aircraft component 66, while the main orientation direction 62 of the pattern of depressions 20 can still be aligned with the longitudinal axis 64 of the aircraft 42 or aircraft component 66 to which lacquer is transferred and with the normal flight direction of the aircraft 42, respectively.

[0058] It is additionally pointed out that “comprising” does not rule out other elements, and “a” or “an” does not rule out a multiplicity. It is also pointed out that features that have been described with reference to one of the above example embodiments may also be disclosed as in combination with other features of other example embodiments described above. Reference signs in the claims are not to be regarded as restrictive.

[0059] While at least one example embodiment of the present invention(s) is disclosed herein, it should be understood that modifications, substitutions and alternatives may be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art and can be made without departing from the scope of this disclosure. This disclosure is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the example embodiment(s). In addition, in this disclosure, the terms “comprise” or “comprising” do not exclude other elements or steps, the terms “a”, “an” or “one” do not exclude a plural number, and the term “or” means either or both. Furthermore, characteristics or steps which have been described may also be used in combination with other characteristics or steps and in any order unless the disclosure or context suggests otherwise. This disclosure hereby incorporates by reference the complete disclosure of any patent or application from which it claims benefit or priority.