Patent ID: 6458424
Filing Date: 2002-10-01
Classification: B05B

Abstract:
An automatic coating method using a working mechanism located in a coating area, a coating apparatus mounted on said working mechanism and adapted to be replaceably loaded with paint cartridges of various colors, and a cartridge changer including a paint replenishing means for replenishing paint into said paint cartridges and a cartridge gripper means having a couple of gripper members for gripping paint cartridges separately thereon and adapted to hand over paint cartridges to and from said coating apparatus along three perpendicular axes to replace an empty paint cartridge on said coating apparatus by a replenished paint cartridge, characterized in that said method comprises:a coating step of coating an object by spraying paint onto the object using said coating apparatus loaded with a replenished paint cartridge and moved by said working mechanism; a replenished paint cartridge pick up step of picking up said replenished paint cartridge of a color to be used in a next coating operation from a paint replenisher means by the use of one of said gripper members of said cartridge gripper means; an empty paint cartridge unloading step of unloading said empty paint cartridge from said coating apparatus by the use of the other one of the gripper members of said cartridge gripper means, while said cartridge gripper means has said replenished paint cartridge still gripped in said one gripper member; a replenished paint cartridge loading step of loading said replenished paint cartridge on said coating apparatus by said one gripper member of said cartridge gripper means, with said cartridge gripper means having said empty paint cartridge still gripped on said other gripper member; and an unloading empty paint cartridge returning step of returning said unloaded empty paint cartridge to said paint replenishing means.