Coating apparatus and method for coating of cylindrical hollow bodies
10898919 ยท 2021-01-26
Assignee
Inventors
Cpc classification
B05C1/022
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B05D1/28
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B05C13/025
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B05C1/0808
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
International classification
B05C1/02
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B05D1/28
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B05C5/02
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
Abstract
Coating apparatus for coating cylindrical hollow bodies, having a machine frame and a workpiece rotary table which is equipped with a plurality of holding mandrels mounted rotatably on the workpiece rotary table, and having a coating station arranged on the machine frame, wherein the coating station includes a rotatably mounted coating roller, wherein axes of rotation of the holding mandrels and an axis of rotation of the coating roller are aligned parallel to one another, wherein the coating roller has a coating region and a free-wheeling region on a circumferential surface, the coating region being designed as a circular cylinder segment with a constant circular radius coaxial with the axis of rotation of the coating roller, and the free-wheeling region being formed from surface sections which each have a distance from the axis of rotation of the coating roller which is smaller than the circular radius.
Claims
1. A coating apparatus for coating cylindrical hollow bodies, having a machine frame and a workpiece rotary table which is mounted on the machine frame so as to be rotatable about an axis of rotation and which is equipped with a plurality of holding mandrels which are each rotatably mounted on the workpiece rotary table and which are configured to receive cylindrical hollow bodies, and with a coating station arranged on the machine frame for receiving the holding mandrels, wherein the coating station comprises a coating roller which is rotatably mounted on the coating station, wherein an axis of rotation of each of the holding mandrels received in the coating station and an axis of rotation of the coating roller are aligned parallel to one another, the coating roller having a coating region and a free-wheeling region on a circumferential surface, the coating region being a circular cylinder segment with a constant circular radius and is coaxial with the rotational axis of the coating roller and wherein the free-wheeling region is formed from surface sections which each have a distance from the rotational axis of the coating roller which is smaller than the circular radius so that the free-wheeling region of the coating roller does not contact the cylindrical hollow bodies upon rotation of the coating roller.
2. The coating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the axes of rotation of the holding mandrels and the axis of rotation of the coating roller are aligned transversely to the axis of rotation of the workpiece rotary table.
3. The coating apparatus according to claim 2, wherein holding mandrels arranged in pairs adjacent in each case on the workpiece rotary table are aligned parallel to one another, and wherein the coating station comprises two coating rollers aligned parallel to one another, each of the coating rollers being aligned opposite one of the two holding mandrels in a coating position of the workpiece rotary table.
4. The coating apparatus according to claim 3, wherein a distance between the axis of rotation of each of the holding mandrels arranged in pairs is smaller than a distance between the axis of rotation of the coating rollers aligned parallel to one another.
5. The coating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the coating region of the coating roller covers an angular region of less than 270 degrees of the coating roller.
6. The coating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the coating region of the coating roller defines a circular arc having a length, and wherein the length of the circular arc is bigger than a circumference of each of the holding mandrels.
7. The coating apparatus according claim 1, wherein the coating roller is mounted rotatably on the machine frame at a first end region and is coupled non-rotatably to a rotary drive at a second end region.
8. The coating apparatus according to claim 7, wherein a circular cylindrical receiving shaft is formed at the coating station, in which receiving shaft an eccentric sleeve is rotatably accommodated, the rotary drive being rotatably accommodated in the eccentric sleeve and being coupled non-rotatably to the coating station.
9. The coating apparatus according to claim 8, wherein an adjusting device is coupled to the eccentric sleeve and to the coating station and is designed for adjusting a rotational position of the eccentric sleeve with respect to the coating station.
10. The coating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, parallel to the coating roller, there is arranged a coating roller which is mounted rotatably movably on the coating station and has a circular cylindrical shape, which is designed for a rolling movement on the coating area of the coating roller, wherein a coating tank for a continuous coating application to the coating roller is assigned to the coating roller.
11. The coating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a further coating station is provided which comprises at least one ink jet print head which is configured for a freely predeterminable coating of a surface region of a cylindrical hollow body accommodated on each of the holding mandrels.
12. The coating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the coating roller has a dimensionally stable carrier shaft on the outer surface of which an elastic layer is applied, the circumferential surface of which determines the coating region and the free-wheeling region.
13. The coating apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the carrier shaft is penetrated by a longitudinal bore which in each case has a conical section-shaped widening at the end.
14. The coating apparatus according to claim 12, wherein, on the carrier shaft, there is formed a positioning equipment in the form of a projection or a depression for a rotationally fixed coupling with a drive shaft of a rotary drive.
15. A method for coating cylindrical hollow bodies comprising the steps of: providing a coating apparatus having a machine frame and a workpiece rotary table which is mounted on the machine frame so as to be rotatable about an axis of rotation and which is equipped with a plurality of holding mandrels which are each mounted on the workpiece rotary table so as to be rotatable and are configured to receive cylindrical hollow bodies, and with a coating station arranged on the machine frame for receiving the holding mandrels, wherein the coating station comprises a coating roller mounted so as to be rotatable, wherein an axis of rotation of each of the holding mandrels received in the coating station and an axis of rotation of the coating roller are aligned parallel to one another, the coating roller having a coating region and a free-wheeling region on a circumferential surface, the coating region being a circular cylinder segment with a constant circular radius is coaxial with the rotational axis of the coating roller and wherein the free-wheeling region is formed from surface sections which each have a distance from the rotational axis of the coating roller which is smaller than the circular radius so that the free-wheeling region of the coating roller does not contact the cylindrical hollow bodies upon rotation of the coating roller, wherein the method comprises: performing a rotary step movement of the workpiece rotary table relative to the machine frame to provide at least one of the hollow bodies received on a holding mandrel in a coating position opposite the coating roller; maintaining the coating position for a predeterminable holding period; and performing a rolling movement of the coating region of the coating roller relative to the at least one of the rotating hollow bodies during the holding period, wherein the rolling movement of the coating region of the coating roller relative to the at least one of the rotating hollow bodies takes place during a coating period occurring during the holding period.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
(1) An advantageous form of the invention is shown in the drawing. Here shows:
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
(7) A coating apparatus 1 shown schematically in
(8) As an example, it is provided that adjacent workpiece holders 4 are arranged in pairs in parallel so that two hollow bodies 6 can be provided and removed at work stations 8 and 18 respectively by a linear movement of a transport device 19 and 20 respectively. It is intended that the rotary axes 5 of the workpiece holders 4 should be at a distance of 22 from each other.
(9) As an example, it is assumed that each of the workpiece holders 4 is assigned its own separately electrically controllable drive motor which is not shown and which enables the respective workpiece holder 4 to rotate about the respective axis of rotation 5. This possibility for, in particular, controlled rotation of the respective workpiece holder 4 is used in particular for carrying out the coating process and the coating process described in more detail below.
(10) In an annular section-shaped region which is swept by the workpiece holders 4 during a rotary movement of the workpiece rotary table 3 about the axis of rotation 87, which can be named as movement path 7 and which extends in the circumferential direction around the workpiece rotary table 3, a plurality of work stations 8 to 18 are arranged which are designed for machining and/or inspecting the transported hollow bodies 6. Since the view shown in
(11) The work station 8 is a loading station also referred to as a feed station, at which the cylindrical hollow bodies 6 are pushed in pairs onto the workpiece holders 4 by a suitable transport device 19, which is coupled with a conveyor system for the cylindrical objects 6 which is not shown in detail.
(12) At workstation 9, a purely exemplary neutralization of electrical charges is planned, which may be present at an outer surface 25 of the hollow body 6. Such a neutralization is particularly advantageous for hollow bodies 6 made of plastic and may be omitted for hollow bodies 6 made of metal. For the electrical (electrostatic) neutralisation of the hollow bodies 6, the work station 9 comprises a neutralisation arrangement which is not described in detail and with which the discharge of the hollow body 6 can be carried out. As an example, the neutralisation arrangement comprises two electrodes arranged at a distance from one another, to each of which an alternating electric field is applied by a control device which is also not shown in detail. An electric voltage and a frequency of the electric alternating field are matched to the distance between the electrodes in such a way that gas, in particular air, present in the vicinity of the electrodes can be ionised. With the help of the released ions, a charge balance can take place with the electrical charges present on the outer surface 25 of the hollow body 6. The now electrically neutral hollow body 6 is then conveyed along the movement path 7 to the following work station 10.
(13) Downstream along the movement path 7, the work station 10 is provided subsequent to the work station 9, which is purely exemplarily a cleaning arrangement. As an example, the cleaning station is designed as a suction device which is designed for contactless suction of the outer surface 25 of the hollow body 6.
(14) An optical scanning of the cylindrical hollow bodies 6 takes place purely exemplarily at the work station 11 arranged downstream along the movement path 7 to the work station 10 in order to determine a rotational position of the cylindrical hollow bodies 6, for example in order to ensure a correct rotational alignment of the cylindrical hollow bodies 6 for a coating process taking place at the work station 12, in particular a printing process, i.e. a local coating of the hollow body 6 with a predetermined decoration and/or a predetermined inscription. This is particularly important if the outer surface of the hollow body 6 to be coated is provided with features which are to fit in a predetermined manner with a printed image to be applied during this coating. These features may be, for example, a local embossing and/or an embossing into and/or from the outer surface of the hollow body 6 and/or pre-printed areas which in turn are to serve as a primer for the subsequent coating.
(15) The hollow body 6 is now moved in the course of a further rotary step movement of the workpiece rotary table 3 around the rotation axis 87 one after the other to the work stations 12, 13 and 14, which are each designed purely exemplarily as coating stations in order to be coated, in particular printed, there with the aid of coating apparatuses 51, as they are exemplarily shown in
(16) The work station 15 arranged downstream of the work station 14 along the movement path 7 is exemplarily designed as an inspection device and makes it possible to determine the coating quality of the printed image applied by the coating station 21 to the circumferential surface of the hollow body 6.
(17) The further work station 16 serves for the further processing of the cylindrical hollow bodies 6 by applying a protective coating to the coating at least on partial surfaces of the hollow body 6. Preferably it is intended that an entire, circular cylindrical outer surface of the respective hollow body 6 is provided with a protective coating.
(18) The following work station 17 has a radiation source (not shown) which is designed for curing the protective coating applied at the work station 16. Preferably, this is a radiation source for ultraviolet radiation.
(19) At work station 18, an unloading process takes place during which the cylindrical hollow bodies 6 are removed from the mandrel-shaped workpiece holders 4 by means of a transport device 20 and fed to a further transport system which is not described in detail.
(20) The workpiece rotary table 4 carries out a rotary step movement around the angle W for the stepwise machining of the cylindrical hollow bodies 6 at the respective work stations 8 to 18, in which the workpiece holders 4 arranged in pairs are transported from a position opposite the respective work stations 8 to 18 to a position opposite the respective subsequent work stations 8 to 18. The rotary step movement takes place as a sequence of acceleration from a standstill, deceleration from the target speed reached and a subsequent holding period. Preferably, an drive (not shown) for the workpiece rotary table 3 is designed in such a way that the acceleration and deceleration of the workpiece rotary table 3 can be freely adjusted over a wide range and the holding time can be adapted to the requirements of the machining of the respective cylindrical hollow bodies 6 at the work stations 8 to 18.
(21)
(22) As can be seen from
(23) The coating rollers 47 and 48 each have a circumferential surface 73, 74, which is drawn in dashed form in the illustration of
(24) The two coating rollers 47, 48 are arranged on the carrier frame 40 in such a way that their axes of rotation 59, 60 each have an identical distance 83 to a plane of movement 84. The movement plane 84 is determined by the outer surfaces 85, 86 of the hollow body 6 by its pivoting movement about the axis of rotation 87 of the workpiece rotary table shown in
(25) The distance 83 is dimensioned in such a way that the two coating rollers 47, 48 do not intersect the plane of movement 84 at least over a partial area of their respective free-wheeling regions 79, 80, so that the pivoting movement of the hollow bodies 6 about the axis of rotation 87 can be carried out in the plane of movement 84 without contact taking place with the respective coating rollers 47, 48 in this case.
(26) On the other hand, in the rest position of the workpiece rotary table, which corresponds to a coating position for the hollow bodies 6 opposite the coating rollers 47, 48 which is not shown in more detail, a contact between the respective coating area 75, 76 and the outer surface 85, 86 of the respective hollow body is possible by a respective counter-rotating rotational movement of the hollow body 6 and the associated coating roller 47, 48. With this contact, which takes place during a rolling movement that is as slip-free as possible (synonymous with identical and uniform circumferential speeds for the hollow bodies 6 and the respective coating rollers 47, 48), a coating is applied to the outer surface 85, 86 of the respective hollow body 6.
(27) In particular, it is provided that a length of a circular arc 88, 89 determined by the respective coating area 75, 76 is bigger than a circumference of the respective outer surface 85, 86 of the hollow body 6, so that complete wetting of the outer surface 85, 86 of the hollow body 6 with the coating can take place, which coating can be provided by the respective coating roller 47, 48 in the respective coating area 75, 76.
(28) For the supply of the coating with the help of the respective coating rollers 47, 48, each of the coating rollers 47, 48 is assigned a coating transfer roller 90, 91, which is also referred to as an anilox roller and which is accommodated in a coating tank 92, 93, which is filled with liquid coating in an unspecified manner, in each case area and in rotation. The task of the coating transfer roller 90, 91 is to apply the liquid coating present in the coating tank 92, 93 to the coating area 75, 76 of the respective coating roller 47, 48. For this purpose, blade-like doctor blades are arranged in the coating tank 92, 93, which are not shown in detail, which wipe off the excess coating from the surface of the respective coating transfer roller 90, 91 and thus ensure a transfer of an exactly predeterminable coating quantity from the respective coating transfer roller 90, 91 to the assigned coating roller 47, 48.
(29) In order to prevent the coating transfer rollers 90, 91 and the associated coating rollers 47, 48 from drying out, it is preferably provided that the coating transfer rollers 90, 91 and the coating rollers 47, 48 rotate permanently, in particular at constant circumferential speeds, in deviation from the intermittent rotary step movement of the workpiece rotary table. A synchronization of these rotary movements for the coating rollers 47, 48 with the hollow bodies 6 provided in the course of the rotary step movement of the workpiece rotary table in the coating position not described in more detail below, described in more detail, enables the desired coating application to the outer surface 85, 86 of the hollow bodies 6.
(30) As an example, it is provided that a holding period for the rotary step movement of the workpiece rotary table about the axis of rotation 87 is so dimensioned that during this rest phase of the workpiece rotary table a complete and in particular slip-free rolling movement of the respective coating areas 75, 76 on the outer surfaces 85, 86 of the hollow body 6 can take place. Accordingly, a coating time span for the contact between the coating areas 75, 76 and the outer surfaces 85, 86 is smaller than the holding time span and is completely included in the holding time span.
(31) It is preferably provided that during a rotary step movement for the workpiece rotary table 3, within each of which two hollow bodies 6 are conveyed into the sphere of influence of the coating station 16 and removed again from the sphere of influence of the coating station 16, the rotary step movement of the workpiece rotary table comes to a standstill and this period of the standstill is referred to as the holding period. During this holding period, the outer surfaces 85, 86 of the hollow bodies 6 are coated.
(32) With respect to the preferably constant rotation of the respective coating rollers 47, 48 about the rotation axes 59, 60, the coating time span can be represented by the angle 94 and the holding time span by the angle 95, while the angles 96 and 97 represent the feed of the hollow bodies 6 during the rotary step movement before the holding time span and the removal of the hollow bodies 6 during the rotary step movement after the holding time span, respectively.
(33) Accordingly,
(34) As soon as the hollow bodies 6 have reached the coating position which is not shown closer, symmetrically to the axis of rotation 87, the holding period represented by the angle 95 begins, within which the coating period represented by the angle 94 is then included, the contact between the coating areas 75 and 76 with respect to the hollow bodies 6 taking place exclusively during the coating period.
(35) The structure and geometry of the coating roller 47 (and in the same way the coating roller 48) are shown in
(36) The carrier shaft 100 is interspersed with a rotationally symmetrical longitudinal bore 103, which has a first diameter of 104 in a central area and a second diameter of 105 adjacent and stepped to it at the ends, each of which defines a cylinder bore section 106. The cylinder bore section 106 is adjoined at each end by a conical section-shaped widening 109, 110 which extends to an end face 107, 108. In the widening 109 two oppositely arranged recesses 111 and 112 are formed as examples, which have a different width according to the illustration in
(37) The widening 110 arranged at the opposite end face 108 is preferably exclusively cone-shaped and is intended for planar contact with a bearing cone 116, which is mounted on the carrier frame 40 in a rotationally movable manner and is shown only schematically in