Claims
- 1. An apparatus for applying a coating to an object comprising:
an application holding unit for holding an object to be coated; a spray chamber for applying a coating to said object by spraying while said object is held by said application holding unit; a solvent evaporation region after the spray chamber; an initial curing region after the solvent evaporation region; a final conveyor unit for conveying said object after said initial curing region; and a curing unit for curing said coating on said object while said object is being conveyed by said final conveyor unit.
- 2. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising, a secondary holding unit for holding said object in said initial curing region.
- 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the secondary holding unit holds said object in the solvent evaporation region.
- 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the application holding unit further comprises a grounding mechanism to allow for electro-spraying of said coating in said spray chamber.
- 5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the grounding mechanism is a grounding pin.
- 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the application holding unit further comprises a mechanism for rotating said object while in said spray chamber.
- 7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said application holding unit further comprises a positive registration mechanism.
- 8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said final conveying unit further comprises a positive registration mechanism.
- 9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said initial curing region comprises an infrared or UV radiation source.
- 10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the curing unit comprises a convection oven.
- 11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said curing unit comprises a UV or infrared radiation source.
- 12. A method for applying a coating to an object comprising:
holding an object to be coated on an application holding unit; transporting said object on said application holding unit into a spray chamber; applying a coating to said object by spraying in said spray chamber; allowing a solvent to evaporate from said coating; initial curing of said coating until said object can rest on a bearing surface of said object without loss of integrity of said coating; transfer of said object to a final conveying unit; and final curing of said coating in a curing unit.
- 13. The method of claim 14, further comprising transferring said object to a secondary holding unit before initial curing of said coating.
- 14. The method of claim 15, wherein said object is transferred to said secondary holding unit before solvent evaporation.
- 15. The method of claim 14, further comprising rotating said object while applying said coating.
- 16. The method of claim 14, wherein applying said coating comprises electro-spraying.
- 17. The method of claim 14, wherein initial curing of said coating comprises irradiating said coating with infrared or UV radiation.
- 18. The method of claim 14, wherein final curing of said coating comprises heating said coating or irradiating said coating with UV or infrared radiation.
- 19. The method of claim 14, further comprising cleaning said application holding unit after spraying said coating and before said application holding unit engages another of said objects.
- 20. The method of claim 14, wherein said object is a container.
- 21. The method of claim 22, wherein said container is formed by an injection blow molding process.
- 22. The method of claim 14, further comprising positively registering said object on wherein at least one of said application holding units or said final conveyor units.
Parent Case Info
[0001] This Application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/352,246, filed Jan. 29, 2002
Provisional Applications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60352246 |
Jan 2002 |
US |