Device for the surface coating of pieces

Abstract

A device for performing a surface coating of pieces is disclosed. The device comprises a housing including one leak-tight cavity containing a drum, heating means, at least one water inlet conduit and one dyeing agent inlet conduit, and a recovery tank and a fluid recirculation circuit from said recovery tank to said leak-tight cavity and drum. The leak-tight cavity includes a first level sensor connected to a control device, such that the entry of water to the leak-tight cavity is interrupted when a specific level is reached inside the cavity, and the recovery tank includes at least a second level sensor connected to the control device, such that the entry of water and dyeing agent to the leak-tight cavity is interrupted if a specific level is exceeded inside the recovery tank.

Claims

1. A device (1) for performing a surface coating of pieces, wherein said device (1) comprises a housing (2) including at least: one leak-tight cavity (3) containing a drum (4) where the pieces to be coated are introduced, heating means (5), at least one water inlet conduit (6a) and one dyeing agent inlet conduit (6b) for entry to said leak-tight cavity (3) and drum (4), and a recovery tank (7) in communication with said leak-tight cavity (3) and a fluid recirculation circuit (7a) from said recovery tank (7) to said leak-tight cavity (3) and drum (4), wherein said at least one water inlet conduit (6a) and dyeing agent inlet conduit (6b) are operated by a control unit (8) by means of a control device (9a, 9b), wherein said leak-tight cavity (3) includes a first level sensor (30) which is directly or indirectly connected to said control device (9a) of the at least one water inlet conduit (6a), such that the entry of water to the leak-tight cavity (3) is interrupted when a specific level, compatible with its capacity, is reached inside the cavity (3), and wherein the recovery tank (7) includes at least a second level sensor (70) directly or indirectly connected to the control device (9a, 9b) of the at least one water inlet conduit (6a) and of the at least one dyeing agent inlet conduit (6b), such that the entry of water and dyeing agent to the leak-tight cavity (3) is interrupted if a specific level, compatible with its capacity, is exceeded inside the recovery tank (7).

2. The device (1) for the surface coating of pieces according to claim 1, furthermore including a discharge system (10) of the leak-tight cavity (3) comprising at least one outlet (10a) of said cavity (3), each outlet (10a) being controlled by a discharge pump (10b), wherein each outlet (10a) of the discharge system (10) is connected to one or more water treatment tanks (10.

3. The device (1) for the surface coating of pieces according to claim 2, wherein each discharge pump (10b) is automatically activated by said control unit (8) once the mixture of water and dyeing agent has performed a number of predetermined recirculation cycles.

4. The device (1) for the surface coating of pieces according to claim 2, wherein each discharge pump (10b) is controlled by a level sensor (12) integrated in the one or more water treatment tanks (11).

5. The device (1) for the surface coating of pieces according to claim 1, wherein the level sensor (30) of the leak-tight cavity (3) is an analog transducer.

6. The device (1) for the surface coating of pieces according to claim 1, wherein the drum (4) has a cylindrical geometry.

7. The device (1) for the surface coating of pieces according to claim 1, wherein the drum (4) performs an oscillating movement or a rotational movement about a drive shaft operated by an actuator.

8. The device (1) for the surface coating of pieces according to claim 7, wherein said drive shaft is horizontal and coaxial to a central axis defined by the geometry of the drum (4).

9. The device (1) for the surface coating of pieces according to claim 1, wherein said heating means (5) are formed by heating coils with two thermal contacts, controlled by a programmable safety relay.

10. The device (1) for the surface coating of pieces according to claim 1, wherein the heating means (5) are: included inside the drum (4).

11. The device (1) for the surface coating of pieces according to claim 1, wherein the control device (9a) of the at least one water inlet conduit (6a) is a solenoid gate valve and wherein the control device (9b) of the at least one dyeing agent inlet conduit (6b) is a pump.

12. The device (1) for the surface coating of pieces according to claim 3, wherein each discharge pump (10b) is controlled by level sensor (12) integrated in the one or more water treatment tanks (11).

13. The device (1) for the surface coating of pieces according to claim 6, wherein the drum (4) performs an oscillating movement or a rotational movement about a drive shaft operated by an actuator.

14. The device (1) for the surface coating of pieces according to claim 9, wherein the heating means (5) are included inside the drum (4).

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The foregoing and other advantages and features will be better understood based on the following detailed description of an embodiment in reference to the attached drawing which must be interpreted in an illustrative and non-limiting manner, in which:

(2) FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic design of an embodiment of the device and the elements making up the device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF AN EMBODIMENT

(3) The attached drawings show illustrative non-limiting embodiments of the present invention.

(4) FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic design of an embodiment of a device 1 for performing the surface coating of parts and the elements making up the device. Said device 1 is formed by an electronic control unit 8, a housing 2 inside which there is arranged a leak-tight cavity 3, a water inlet conduit 6a, and a dyeing agent inlet conduit 6b, wherein the water is preferably hot water and the dyeing agent is a water-based liquid dye, said conduit 6a being regulated by a first control device 9a, preferably a solenoid valve, and said conduit 6b being regulated by a second control device 9b, preferably a regulating/drive pump, both control devices 9a, 9b being controlled by said control unit 8 depending on signals captured by level sensors 30, 70, and 12.

(5) There is arranged inside the leak-tight cavity 3 a drum 4 in which the parts to be coated are arranged through a gate (not illustrated in FIG. 1) which provides access to the inside of the drum 4. To simplify the diagram of the device 1 illustrated in FIG. 1, neither the drive shaft of the drum 4, or the actuator thereof, nor the imaginary geometric axis of the drum 4 are shown.

(6) The cavity 3 includes a first level sensor 30 which is directly or indirectly connected to the solenoid valve regulating the flow of water to the inside of the cavity 3 through the water inlet conduit 6a.

(7) There is installed below the housing 2 of the device a recovery tank 7 connected with the cavity 3 of the device through a recirculation circuit 7a formed by multiple conduits, which allows recirculating the dye solution in the device by means of a drive pump 7b installed in the recirculation circuit 7a. Furthermore, the recovery tank 7 has a second level sensor 70, the function of which is safety related to preventing possible leaks or spillage, said sensor 70 being configured for detecting if the level of dye solution or fluid inside the tank 7 exceeds a predetermined maximum level, and if said maximum level is exceeded, closing or locking the control devices 9a, 9b to prevent the entry of more water or dyeing agent to the device 1, as it is directly or indirectly connected to the control devices 9a, 9b controlled by the control unit 8.

(8) The device 1 furthermore includes a discharge system 10 to enable discharging the dye solution once a predetermined number of work cycles has been performed or a period of service life of said dye solution has been exceeded, said system having at least one outlet conduit 10a from the leak-tight cavity 3 including the drum 4, wherein each outlet 10a has a discharge pump 10b and a non-return valve 10c arranged at the outlet of said discharge pump 10b. As indicated above, there can be multiple outlet conduits 10a (not illustrated), wherein each outlet 10a directs the dye solution to a single water treatment tank 11 or to a water treatment tank 11 associated with each outlet conduit 10a, to enable suitably treating the dye solution.

(9) In a preferred embodiment as illustrated in FIG. 1, the discharge system 10 includes a single outlet conduit 10a from the leak-tight cavity 3, which splits into at least two branched conduits, each of said branched conduits being equipped with a discharge pump 10b and an associated non-return valve 10c, regulating the flow of the dye solution to a single water treatment tank 11 or preferably different water treatment tanks 11 each independently connected to one of the at least two branched conduits, the water treatment tanks 11 being arranged remotely with respect to the device 1.

(10) Regardless of the number of water treatment tanks 11, each tank 11 has a level sensor 12 for regulating the flow of dye solution from the device 1 to the tank 11 through the at least one outlet conduit 10a to prevent possible spillage, said level sensor 12 being independently connected, in a direct or indirect manner, to each discharge pump 10b of each outlet conduit 10a, determining if it must activate or deactivate said discharge pump 10b depending on the signal emitted by the level sensor 12 which indicates if a maximum safety level has been reached and/or exceeded, in which case the discharge pump 10b will be deactivated, preventing the passage of the dye solution through the outlet conduit 10a to the water treatment tank 11 until the level inside the tank 11 has gone down.

(11) It must be pointed out that any other possible configuration of the discharge system 10 not contemplated above, whether in terms of the number of outlet conduits 10a, the amount of water treatment tanks 11, or the final distribution between the outlet conduits 10a and the water treatment tanks 11, must be considered equivalent to the described configurations, in addition to being obvious for one skilled in the art.

(12) In this particular embodiment, the water inlet conduit 6a, the dyeing agent inlet conduit 6b, the recirculation circuit 7a, and the outlet conduit 10a are directly connected to the leak-tight cavity 3 inside the device 1 which contains the drum 3 therein.

(13) It will be understood that the different parts making up the invention described in one embodiment can be freely combined with parts described in other different embodiments even though said combination has not been explicitly described, provided that the combination does not entail any drawback.