Claims
- 1. Electrostatic powder coating apparatus comprising:
a housing having a coating area positioned generally between an inlet for receiving a workpiece and an outlet for allowing the workpiece to exit the coating area, the coating area further having a workpiece travel path extending between the inlet and the outlet, at least one vortex generator including an elongate tubular structure having an interior mounted around one of the inlet and the outlet, and a pressurized air inlet communicating generally tangentially with the interior of said tubular structure, the interior of said tubular structure opening around the workpiece travel path and configured to direct pressurized air from said pressurized air inlet in a swirling pattern around the workpiece travel path, and a charged powder introducer operatively connected with the coating area of the housing and operating to introduce powder into the swirling pattern of air to electrostatically coat the workpiece.
- 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the charged powder introducer further comprises a powder fluidizing bed communicating with the coating area of said housing and adapted to receive a supply of ionized air to form a cloud of charged powder, wherein said swirling pattern of air also swirls the charged powder generally around said workpiece travel path.
- 3. The apparatus of claim 2 further comprising a powder feeder connected to said housing for feeding powder to said powder fluidizing bed.
- 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said charged powder introducer further comprises a charged powder supplier connected with at least one of the pressurized air inputs for supplying charged powder into said swirling pattern of air.
- 5. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a pair of said vortex generators with each vortex generator comprising one of said tubular structures and a pressurized air inlet communicating with the interior of each tubular structure, wherein one of said vortex generators is mounted around said inlet and another of said vortex generators is mounted around said outlet.
- 6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein each vortex generator includes inner and outer tubular structures and said interior is defined by at least one annular space positioned between the inner and outer tubular structures, and further comprising two of said pressurized air inlets each respectively communicating with the annular spaces between said inner and outer tubular structures.
- 7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said vortex generator includes inner and outer tubular structures and said interior is defined by at least one annular space positioned between said inner and outer tubular structures, and said pressurized air inlet communicates with said annular space.
- 8. Electrostatic powder coating apparatus comprising:
a housing having a coating area positioned generally between an inlet for receiving a workpiece and an outlet for allowing the workpiece to exit the coating area, the coating area having a workpiece travel path extending between the inlet and the outlet, a charged powder introducer operatively connected with the coating area of the housing and operating to introduce powder into the coating area to electrostatically coat the workpiece. tubular structure having an interior disposed around at least one of said inlet and said outlet, and a source of vacuum connected generally tangentially to the interior of said tubular structure to draw air and powder out of the coating area using a swirling air flow pattern, thereby promoting uniform coating of the workpiece and preventing the escape of powder from the housing.
Parent Case Info
[0001] This application is a divisional of application Ser. No. 10/431,122, filed May 7, 2003 (pending) which is a divisional of application Ser. No. 10/223,386, filed Aug. 19, 2003 (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,582,521) which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/802,622, filed Mar. 9, 2001 (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,458,427), which is a divisional of application Ser. No. 09/196,677, filed Nov. 20, 1998 (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,240,873), the disclosures of which are fully incorporated herein by reference.
Divisions (3)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
10431122 |
May 2003 |
US |
Child |
10830635 |
Apr 2004 |
US |
Parent |
10223386 |
Aug 2002 |
US |
Child |
10431122 |
May 2003 |
US |
Parent |
09196677 |
Nov 1998 |
US |
Child |
09802622 |
Mar 2001 |
US |
Continuations (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09802622 |
Mar 2001 |
US |
Child |
10223386 |
Aug 2002 |
US |