Robot Painting
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New technology from Dürr enables VOC-free color changes with 2-component clear coats
Dürr’s latest development enables mixed 2-component paint systems to be fed directly in the return system within the atomizer for the first time. This eliminates VOC emissions in the paint booth during flushing processes and color changes. The new solution has been successfully deployed in two top coat lines for over a year.
Until now, significant amounts of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were released into the paint booth during flushing and color changes with mixed two-component (2C) paint systems. In conventional processes, residual paint is flushed forward into a funnel or directly into the washout, leading to VOC pollution in over 70 percent of the booth air. The EcoBell PurgeBox collecting system with special filter mats already reduces VOC emissions by up to 60 percent.
Dürr’s new development further reduces VOC load by enabling a return system for 2C clear coats, similar to the classic 1C process. Previously, this was unthinkable for mixed clear coat systems consisting of hardener and stock paint. Using a patented process sequence with precisely coordinated parameters, mixed 2C materials can be flushed back via a return system integrated in the atomizer without curing. This technology includes up to two main needles in the atomizer and the established diaphragm valve technology, which ensures high mixing quality with minimal mixing volume. Low VOC emissions of only 5 percent occur solely during the bell disk cleaning in the EcoBell Cleaner D2, with no VOC release during flushing or color changes.
FANUC’s New CRX-10iA/L Paint: World’s First Global Ex-Proof Collaborative Paint Robot
Global automation leader FANUC America unveils the new CRX-10iA/L Paint collaborative robot at Automate 2024. As the first explosion-proof collaborative paint robot for use and sale globally, FANUC’s CRX-10iA/L Paint cobot will unlock the benefits of automation for more companies in the painting, powder and/or gel coating with fiberglass reinforcement industries. The new FANUC cobot not only will help boost all types of paint operations including high-mix, low-volume applications, but also is designed to comply with the stringent explosion-proof safety standards required in the United States.
The CRX-10iA/L Paint cobot has a payload of 10 kg as well as the longest reach in its class at 1,418mm, allowing the cobot to access large workpieces in even the most difficult of places that can pose ergonomic challenges for humans to manually reach. Featuring the same smooth and rounded design of the CRX series, the CRX-10iA/L Paint cobot is lightweight at 45 kg and has a small footprint, which can be further enhanced by stacking the control unit onto a light and compact R-30iB Mini Plus controller. Along with the other CRX cobots, the CRX-10iA/L Paint is maintenance-free for 8 years adding to ownership savings and boosting operations.