Coating processes – With post-treatment of coating or coating material – Heating or drying
Reexamination Certificate
1999-11-15
2001-09-18
Beck, Shrive P. (Department: 1762)
Coating processes
With post-treatment of coating or coating material
Heating or drying
C427S379000, C427S388100, C427S388400, C427S402000, C427S407100, C427S409000, C427S421100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06291018
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to drying of liquid basecoat and/or clearcoat layers for automotive coating applications and, more particularly, to a multi-step process for applying and drying a first liquid basecoat and/or clearcoat layer before application of a second basecoat and/or clearcoat layer thereon.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Today's automobile bodies are treated with multiple layers of coatings which not only enhance the appearance of the automobile, but also provide protection from corrosion, chipping, ultraviolet light, acid rain and other environmental conditions which can deteriorate the coating appearance and underlying car body.
Waterborne coatings are a preferred basecoat and/or clearcoat technology because of their low organic content. The formulations of these coatings can vary widely. However, a major challenge that faces all automotive manufacturers is how to dry, set and/or cure these coatings with minimal capital investment and floor space, which is valued at a premium in manufacturing plants.
The broad use of waterborne coatings in the automotive coating industry has been impeded by a perceived need by automakers for significant investment in environmentally controlled spray booths for coating applications. The use of these environmentally controlled spray booths increases the cost involved in coating the substrate.
A controlled climate during spraying of the waterborne coating has been believed necessary to regulate the evaporation of water and other volatiles as the coating material is sprayed onto the substrate. While controlling the evaporation rate of water is important to the overall performance of the coating in terms of appearance and color, traditional coating processes focus almost exclusively on controlling the water evaporation rate as the waterborne coating material is being sprayed onto the substrate. To that end, expensive environmental controls have been used during the spraying of a coating material onto the substrate to control the evaporation rate at spray. However, the importance of controlling water and/or volatiles evaporation from the deposited waterborne coating material has not been appreciated.
As will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the automotive coating art, it would be advantageous to provide a coating method and/or device which reduce or eliminate the need for costly environmentally controlled spray booths for applying a basecoat and/or clearcoat onto an automotive substrate.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A coating system is provided having at least one first basecoat applicator for applying a first basecoat layer over at least a portion of a surface of a substrate, at least one second basecoat applicator for applying a second basecoat layer over the first basecoat layer, and a first drying chamber located between the first and second basecoat applicators, the interior of the first drying chamber having a temperature of about 50° F. (10.0° C.) to about 90° F. (32.5° C.), a relative humidity of about 40% to about 80% and an air velocity of about 20 FPM (0.10 m/s) to about 150 FPM (0.76 m/s) at the surface of the first basecoat layer.
A method of coating a substrate is provided in which a first liquid basecoat material is applied over the substrate. The first basecoat material is exposed to air having a temperature of about 50° F. (10.0° C.) to about 90° F. (32.5° C.), a relative humidity of about 40% to about 80% and an air velocity of about 20 FPM (0.10 m/s) to about 150 FPM (0.76 m/s) at the surface of the first basecoat material for a period of about 10 to about 180 seconds. A second liquid basecoat material is then applied over the first basecoat material.
A complete understanding of the invention will be obtained from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing figures wherein like reference characters identify like parts throughout.
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Altman Deborah M.
Beck Shrive P.
Calcagni Jennifer
PPG Industries Ohio Inc.
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