Patent ID: 8500040

Claim:
A painting system for painting a plurality of colors, comprising: a plurality of paint supply networks and a plurality of paint return networks, with one of each paint supply network and paint return network being designated for a given paint color; a plurality of paint delivery stations, each paint delivery station including a plurality of drop lines, each drop line in fluid communication with a corresponding paint supply network for delivering a paint of a given paint color, each drop line including a downstream end coupling, each paint delivery station including a plurality of paint return nodes, each paint return node in communication with a corresponding paint return network, each of the downstream end couplings being configured to be connected with a common paint gun unit in a paint delivery mode, each of the downstream end couplings being arranged, in a paint recirculation mode, to connect to only its corresponding paint return node, so as to recirculate the paint of the given paint color; and a pair of first guide portions, each associated with a first downstream end coupling and a first return node for a first color, the first guide portions arranged to engage one another either before or during connection of the first downstream end coupling with the first return node; and a pair of second guide portions, each associated with a second downstream end coupling and a second return node for a second color, the second guide portions arranged to engage one another either before or during connection of the second downstream end coupling with the second return node.