Patent ID: 11934211
Assignee: GRACO MINNESOTA INC.
Field: Chemical engineering (Chemistry)
Classification: CPC G  B  F  H | IPC B  G  H

Claim 10:
11. A method of operating a spray system, the method comprising:
spraying paint with a hand portable paint sprayer, the hand portable paint sprayer comprising:
a spray gun configured to spray paint as an atomized spray fan;
a hose that connects to the spray gun;
a frame that permits the hand portable paint sprayer to be moved by hand to job sites;
a pump supported by the frame, the pump having a reciprocating piston that outputs paint under pressure to the spray gun via the hose;
a motor supported by the frame, the motor configured to drive the pump;
sprayer control circuitry supported by the frame; and
a wireless module supported by the frame, the wireless module configured to wirelessly send and receive information;

wirelessly connecting a handheld computer device to the wireless module, the handheld computer device remote from the hand portable paint sprayer;
wirelessly connecting the handheld computer device to a network server;
generating spray data with the sprayer control circuitry;
operating in an accessible mode in which the handheld computer device permits connectivity, via a continuous or near continuous communication path, to both of the hand portable paint sprayer and to the network server, and when operating in the accessible mode, the handheld computer device relays the spray data from the hand portable paint sprayer to the network server, and
operating in an inaccessible mode in which the handheld computer device is not in the location that permits connectivity, via the continuous or near continuous communication path, to relay the spray data between the hand portable paint sprayer to the network server, and when operating in the inaccessible mode, the spray data that is generated by the hand portable paint sprayer is stored in a memory until the spray system can relay the spray data to the network server that was generated and stored while the spray system was operating in the inaccessible mode.