Surface World June 2019 Surface World June 2019 | Page 60

PAINT ROBOTS & AUTOMATION
Product customization:
Dürr enables fully automated painting
of cars in two colours for the fi rst time
A quantum leap in
two-tone painting
Easier product
customization
With its EcoPaintJet
system, Dürr presents an
automated application
solution that ensures an
unprecedented level of
precision in applying
sharp paint lines.
Also suitable for electric
car production
The more customized, the better – this
motto governs more and more purchasing
decisions. When it comes to the colour of
cars, the trend toward customization is also
on the rise. Buyers of small cars, in particular,
are increasingly ordering contrasting and
accent colours, for example for the roof,
to stand out from the crowd. For the
automotive industry, two-tone painting
means considerably more cost and effort.
Not only does it require more time and
energy, it also creates a lot of wastage.
Thanks to a pioneering innovation offered
by Dürr, this is now changing. With its
EcoPaintJet system, a world market leader
in automotive painting technology presents
an automated application solution that
ensures an unprecedented level of precision
in applying sharp paint lines. The EcoPaintJet
also offers important benefits in the painting
of electric cars.
Dr. Jochen Weyrauch, CEO of Dürr Systems
AG, says: “The EcoPaintJet is a quantum
leap in the journey toward the efficient,
two-tone painting of cars. It is the first system
to efficiently combine customised product
design with automated production.”
When only one type of paint is applied, the
efficiency of modern automotive paint shops
is unrivaled. Thanks to their highly automated
processes, large plants paint 300,000 car
bodies per year while maintaining a
consistently high level of quality. However,
adding a contrasting or accent colour, for
example on the roof or as a design strip,
means a considerable amount of extra work:
Once the entire car body has been painted
in the basic colour, which has then dried and
cooled, masking tape must be applied by
hand – except for the areas due to be
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painted in a different colour. Then the car
body goes back to the painting line, where
the second colour is applied. After more
cooling and drying, the tape must be
removed, once again by hand. This is not
only associated with high labor costs, but the
energy consumption for the curing of paint
increases by at least 25 % compared to
single-colour painting. In addition, 6 to 15
square meters of masking tape must be
disposed of per car body. Moreover, the
painting line is blocked by the second paint
application, which wastes valuable time.
No masking tape required
Dürr’s new process, known as EcoPaintJet,
is much more efficient, as it dispenses
altogether with the need for masking the
car body. This is thanks to a totally new
applicator. Fixed to a robot arm, it moves
over the target area and applies paint with
razor sharp lines. The paint lands exactly on
the intended areas and nowhere else – not
even the tiniest amounts. As a result, the rest
of the car body no longer has to be masked.
It only takes a cycle time of 120 seconds to
apply a contrasting colour to a car body
roof. By comparison: when using masking
tape, the time required to put on and remove
the masking tape alone is about 50 minutes.
Electric cars seem flatter
EcoPaintJet helps electric car manufacturers
to fulfill an important customer requirement.
Some e-cars are built slightly higher than
conventional models, since the battery is
installed in the floor assembly, under the
passenger compartment. Many buyers,
however, would like their cars to look
low-slung and sporty. To get this effect,
a dark contrasting colour is used to paint a
strip between the roof and side wall as well
as on the rocker panel, which makes the
car look flatter. The EcoPaintJet is perfectly
suited to this purpose, as it applies the
strip precisely without compromising
the existing finish.
No more overspray
The EcoPaintJet achieves its high level of
precision because the applicator does not
generate any overspray at all. Overspray
refers to fine droplets of paint, which are
produced by other atomisers, and land
outside the target area. The EcoPaintJet
has an intricately machined nozzle plate,
measuring only a few square centimeters,
which prevents the formation of overspray.
The nozzle plate, which forms the underside
of the rectangular applicator, has around 50
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