Tinting machine for coating compositions, especially paints

Details Tinting machine for coating compositions, especially paints Tinting machine for coating compositions, especially paints

2001-12-19

2004-03-09

Huson, Gregory L. (Department: 3751)

Fluent material handling, with receiver or receiver coacting mea

With testing or weighing receiver content

C141S009000, C141S104000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06701977

ABSTRACT:

This invention relates to tinting machines for coating compositions, especially paints.
Paint is used by both the skilled professional decorator and the relatively unskilled do-it-yourself painter for a variety of reasons. Typically, these are to brighten up the surroundings and/or to match the colour of a particular item of furniture, floor or wall covering. As consumers have become increasingly sophisticated and individual in their choice of colours, the demand for a wider range of colours has also increased. This presents a problem to the paint manufacturer and the retailer as the former has to produce many colours in small amounts, thus losing the economies of scale and, of course the retailer has to provide additional space to store and display this plurality of coloured paints.
Some paint suppliers have addressed this problem by developing tinting machines. These operate on the basis that a variety of colours can be made by adding to a factory produced base paint further colorant, at the retailer's premises. A small number of different coloured base paints, comprising three or four spanning the range of light to deep shades, is provided by the supplier to the retailer, in cans. Such a base paint is unfinished from the point of view of the final colour.
The further colorant to be added is usually in the form of pigment concentrates, tinters or dyes. Usually, about twenty such colorants are required to produce the full colour range of paints, although only three or four are normally required to produce any given colour. The colorants are added to the base paint according to a predetermined recipe, being one of many, stored in a computer. The recipe also indicates which of the base paints should be selected for tinting in order to produce the required colour.
Such tinting machines typically comprise a number of storage vessels containing the colorants, a means of delivering the colorant to the can of base paint, for example by one or more manual or automated pumps, storage means for the collection of recipes and control means (manual and/or computerised) for controlling the delivery of colorant in accordance with the selected recipe. The control means may for example control the addition of colorant by governing the traverse of pistons in pumps or by activating the pumps for a predetermined time period so that a predetermined volume of colorant is delivered in accordance with the recipe for the selected colour. In this way varying amounts of each colorant may be added to the selected base paint enabling paints of a variety of alternative colours to be produced. Finally, the base paint and added colorant are subjected to mixing, usually by intense shaking, to obtain a homogeneous mixture of base paint and colorant with even colour.
The problem with such tinting machines, however is that the actual colour of the final paint depends critically on the amount of each of the colorants added to the base paint. For example, where a colorant is added using a pump driven by a motor the number of turns or steps of the motor relates to a quantity of colorant to be added. This relationship is determined by measurements taken at the time of assembly of the machine and is used to calibrate the pumps. However, for various reasons, this calibration can change over time. For example, because pigments are generally very hard materials, the pump mechanism will wear with use, resulting in additions being made which are not in accordance with the recipe. Even when the pumps are operating correctly the incorrect amount of colorants may be added, if, for example the nozzles through which the colorants exit into the can of base paint are partially or fully blocked. This results in a mis-tint causing the resulting paint to be other than the specified colour and consequently discarded. Even worse is when the variation from the recipe is small and the mis-tint passes unnoticed until the paint has been applied. This inevitably requires a surface to be repainted with the intended colour causing additional expense and inconvenience. Other causes of mistinting are many and include defective pumps, leaky pipework and empty tinter vessels.
Since the tinting machines are designed to produce many different colours, it is very difficult for the operator to recognise simply by looking at the most recently mixed paint when a particular colour has been incorrectly tinted. Consequently, many colours may be mis-tinted before it comes to the operator's attention.
It is an object of this invention to provide an improved tinting machine system that automatically detects mis-tints and alerts the operator.
Accordingly, this invention provides a tinting machine system for tinting base paints supplied in containers which paints are suitable for use in coating compositions, which system has
a) storage capacity for colorant
b) accommodation for the container of base paint
c) at least one colorant dispenser and
d) a collection of colour recipes
wherein the system also has
e) weighing means for weighing the container of tinted coating compositions
f) signalling means for signalling the weight of a container of tinted coating composition from the weighing means to the processing means
g) processing means able to compare a correct weight stored in the collection of colour recipes with a signalled weight and
h) means for signalling if the weight of the container of tinted coating composition matches, alternatively fails to match, the corresponding weight stored in the collection of colour recipes.
Suitable examples of weighing means for weighing the container of tinted coating composition include mechanical balances and load cells. A load cell is a device which produces an output signal proportional to the applied weight or force, when that weight or force is within the range of operation of the device. Load cells are preferred as they are better able to register a wide range of weights accurately. This is important in detecting mis-tints of colours, such colours ranging from light colours, requiring a small addition of colorant to the base paint, to deep colours, typically requiring significantly more colorant to be added.
The signalling means for signalling the weight of the container adapts the input from the weighing means to a signal that is readable by the processing means. This signal provided to the processing means by the signalling means may be of various types, including electrical, optical or radio wave. Such signals may be in analogue or digital format. The digital format is preferred as the processing means' conveniently available usually operate in digital format themselves, and therefore suitable signalling means may include an analogue to digital converter.
Depending on the nature of the signal provided by the signalling means, the signal may be transmitted through electrically conducting wires, fibre-optic wires or air. Transmission through electrically conducting wire is preferred. More preferably the signal is transmitted through fibre-optic wire as it is less likely to suffer interference from extraneous sources.
The processing means may be a device comprising in combination, storage means capable of storing the collection of colour recipes and comparitor means for comparing the signalled weight to the recipe of the selected colour. The processing means may be provided by a personal computer, be it a desk top or lap top version, a hand held computer or a server. The processing means may communicate with the associated parts of the tinting machine system via the internet, direct telephone, cable or other connection. The processing means may be remote from or local to the said parts.
The means for signalling may be activated when the weight of the container of tinted coating composition does not agree with the corresponding weight in the collection of stored colour recipes. Alternatively and additionally, it may be activated when the weight is in accordance with the corresponding weight in the colour recipe. In either case a signal is provided to alert the operator indicating whether or not the

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