Patent ID: 8757087

Claim:
A device for coating an exterior of an elongate object, comprising: a housing structure including an elongate coating chamber having first and second opposite ends, a port communicating with said first end for receiving the elongate object into the coating chamber and an outlet at said second end, said elongate coating chamber having at least first and second sections, said first section located closer to said outlet than said second section and said first section having a greater cross sectional area than said second section, the housing structure further including an air supply passage and a coating material supply passage communicating with said elongate coating chamber; and a ring shaped structure communicating between said air supply passage and said elongate coating chamber, said ring shaped structure configured to cause a swirling motion of the pressurized air; wherein pressurized air and coating material are adapted to enter said elongate coating chamber through said air supply passage and said coating material supply passage, respectively, to form a mist of the air and coating material that is directed into said elongate coating chamber and generally toward said outlet while coating the exterior of the elongate object inserted into said elongate coating chamber through said port; and wherein said ring shaped structure further includes a central passage through which the coating material is adapted to be directed into the air moving with the swirling motion to thereby form the mist.