Dürr has developed EcoPaintJet, a new technique that allows paint application over large areas or in simple patterns with high edge definition and no overspray. The technology is now available for the general industry in an easily integrated set.
To provide a solution that allows to paint diverse components with greater efficiency without waste, Dürr has developed EcoPaintJet, which allows the application of paints over large areas or in simple patterns with high edge definition and without overspray. The new applicator, which has won this year's innovation award "Deutscher Innovationspreis", is part of the new overspray-free application set from Dürr.
EcoPaintJet is already used in automotive series production and has made it possible to paint car roofs in contrasting colours with no masking. Now, it is also available for other industry sectors, such as woodworking, shipbuilding, electronics manufacturing, and many others.
More options for painting
The EcoPaintJet applicator delivers precise coating with no overspray. This increases coating efficiency and offers companies more options when it comes to product design and the transportation of goods. Instead of adhesive film, decorative surfaces can be protected for transport through the targeted application of a spray film. This can be simply pulled off again at the destination. The technology also enables new options for the function and design of products. "The overspray-free application set enables application with high edge definition, fast color changes, and a custom surface design," says Holger Beiersdorfer, Vice President Industrial Products at Dürr, in summarizing the benefits.
Overspray-free application
The most important component in the overspray-free application set is the paint supply, combined with the cleaning and pre-painting process. The EcoPaintJet controls this using three valves. The beating heart of the applicator itself is a nozzle plate that produces several dozen parallel paint jets depending on the design. These can be activated or deactivated at any given moment to start or interrupt the coating process. Unlike painting processes involving spray guns or high-speed rotary atomizers, this process does not require any atomizer air. The overspray that must be filtered from the booth air in a complex process when using conventional methods therefore does not occur.
The width of the painting path can be adjusted by means of the applicator's angle of application. The desired coating thickness is controlled via the applicator speed and solid content of the paint.
The new Dürr technology makes painting faster, more cost-efficient, and more environmentally friendly in all industry sectors.
"This makes our technology attractive even in scenarios where an automated painting method was not previously conceivable," says Holger Beiersdorfer.
The Austrian paint manufacturer Adler is promoting the new application technology together with Dürr, coming up with colourless and pigmented coating solutions that, in addition to the usual paint requirements, are precisely tailored to the special features of this technology.
"For this visionary application technology, we developed innovative and environmentally friendly, water-based products that deliver maximum durability and at the same time visual individuality for more than just sheet material," says Albert Rössler, CTO at Adler.