
New paint atomizer with over 95% coating efficiency - clouddrover
https://global.toyota/en/newsroom/corporate/31587468.html
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morninglight
I worked on a research project at Toyota in Toyota City. We were trying to
improve the dynamic control of the rotational speed of their paint bells.
There is a great deal of information about electrostatic paint bell systems on
the internet. The overall process was very similar to the one described here:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotational_bell_painting](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotational_bell_painting)

During the last 20 years, the quality of Toyota's paint application has never
been equalled, and they know it. I am not familiar with this new process, but
it wouldn't surprise me if it were primarily based on small improvements to
existing methods. After many years of working with Toyota, I can tell you that
the superiority of their products is seldom due to new technology, but rather
their dedication to perfection.

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kazinator
Note that electrostatic coating _per se_ is ancient. That part is certainly
not what is new here.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrostatic_coating](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrostatic_coating)

I suspect the "electrostatic atomization" is just a consequence of the
rotating cone head flinging particles of paint off its edge, which then end up
pulled into the electrostatic field that is already there for the sake of
electrostatic coating; i.e. that the main invention is the rotating head.

~~~
semi-extrinsic
Nope, the way it's described I'm certain this is electrohydrodynamic jetting.
It's been well researched since first discovered in the 60s by G.I. Taylor
(IIRC). And it's already used in inkjet systems.

From the description here, sounds like they have 600 of these droplet spray
generators mounted in a conical assembly, which they rotate to keep feeding in
paint via centrifugal force.

Here is a slow motion video of a system similar to one drop generator. Lots of
parameters that Toyota could play with here, like geometry, field
configuration, field strength, pressure etc.

[https://youtube.com/watch?v=egi0t94wdcc](https://youtube.com/watch?v=egi0t94wdcc)

~~~
baybal2
That's not a Taylor cone they have.

They have something in between true electropaint, and rotary atomizer.

What is the exact advantage over plain electropainting is unclear to me

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forkexec
This seems like an "emperor's new clothes" press release. How is this
"revolutionary" compared to regular electrostatic coating processes that are
already as efficient?

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrostatic_coating#Process_...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrostatic_coating#Process_characteristics)

~~~
hinkley
I think there's some imprecision in language going on here.

Yes, that page claims that the system efficiency of current state-of-the-art
electrostatic coating booths is 95%, through a combination of electrostatic
attraction and paint recovery equipment.

I think Toyota is saying that 95% of the paint ends up on the piece on the
first pass.

But just to make things extra confusing, the source material for the Wikipedia
page already has a section on rotary nozzles:

> Rotary atomizers are one of the possible methods of atomization used with
> electrostatic coating processes. Instead of air or fluid pressure, rotary
> atomizers use centrifugal force to atomize coating material. As a general
> rule of thumb, the faster the rotational speed, the greater the centrifugal
> force and the finer the atomization.

So I still have no idea what it is they're claiming.

~~~
swsh
Seems novel in that they are combining the best of current rotary atomizers
and electrostatic guns, and removing the need for compressed air.

If you look at current electrostatic guns, they mostly seem to use compressed
air to atomize the paint. Rotary atomizers still use air to direct the paint
to the surface.

So they get better transfer efficiency through electrostatics, and the rotary
atomizer part probably allows them to use paints with lower VOCs further
reducing emissions.

That said it does look like there already exists rotary atomizers that also
use electrostatics. But also still use air.

[https://www.graco.com/us/en/in-plant-
manufacturing/solutions...](https://www.graco.com/us/en/in-plant-
manufacturing/solutions/articles/how-a-rotary-bell-atomizer-works.html)

~~~
himinlomax
My dad worked for a company that manufactures electrostatic painting devices.
They had high speed rotating atomizers in the 80s, possibly earlier. In the
early 90s they started using air bearings, wherein the rotating parts are
magnetically coupled with strong permanent magnets and separated by compressed
air.

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godzillabrennus
Am I the only one who is just learning there is a dot Toyota TLD now?

~~~
nathanwh
[http://data.iana.org/TLD/tlds-alpha-by-
domain.txt](http://data.iana.org/TLD/tlds-alpha-by-domain.txt) List of TLDs,
large enough companies usually have one, I’m not aware of what the utility of
having a TLD is to a non tech company

~~~
wincy
Maybe their cars updates are only allowed to go to .toyota domain names?
That’d make it easier to not have your domain name expire on some URL your car
is hitting and it gets taken over by squatters or something. At least that’s
what I’d do.

~~~
RL_Quine
Ah yes, why worry about forgetting to renew a $10 domain name when you can
forget to renew a $100,000+ top level domain!

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tragiclos
This is a bit misleading. The efficiency measure refers to the percentage of
paint that adheres to the car body. While a higher percentage of paint is
“wasted” in the conventional painting process, almost all of it is reclaimed
and used to paint other cars.

~~~
kxyvr
Wait. How does this work? I have an small spray gun that I use for small metal
and wood projects that I hook to an air compressor. It can be used for smaller
detail work on cars. Is there a way to reclaim my paint or is this just for
larger industrial processes?

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guidedlight
They are comparing this new method to an Air Paint Atomizer.

The vast majority of spray painting today is with airless paint atomizers,
where the paint itself is compressed and sprayed without the use of air.

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derefr
Not precisely relevant to the “innovation” in the article, but is there any
smaller-scale application of electrostatic paint deposition in the form of
some kind of hand tool?

I.e. is there an electrostatic version of an airbrush, that doesn’t require a
compressor, but rather (presumably) a voltage source alligator-clipped to the
paint tank and the work surface?

I can’t picture quite how such a thing would work, because I feel like the
paint wouldn’t really have enough energy to jump out of the nozzle on its own.

~~~
bradyd
What you are talking about would be a powder coating gun. They use compressed
air to spray the powder.

[https://www.powdercoatguide.com/2012/11/getting-into-
powder-...](https://www.powdercoatguide.com/2012/11/getting-into-powder-
coating-equipment.html)

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londons_explore
Claiming that Toyota Group produces 7 percent less CO2 emissions just because
of a change to the way paint is applied...? I don't believe it...

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colordrops
Reminds me of this:
[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oDrYkwG6Tuo](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oDrYkwG6Tuo)

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gbronner
Guess we won't get any more fordite

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amelius
Can they use this to paint custom graphics on a car's surface? How many DPI
can they get?

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giarc
.Toyota? they have their own TLD?

~~~
abhorrence
It’s a so called “dot brand” tld. Google, Apple and many others have them as
well.

~~~
sho
And for a mere USD$185k, you can have one too!

~~~
zests
That feels like a bargain. Before I knew how software worked I thought TLDs
were sacred.

~~~
dehrmann
They used to be, then ICANN lowered their standards.

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throwawaysea
I recall touring plants where paint is sprayed onto charged bodies to help
them stick rather than scatter onto other surfaces. What makes this any
better?

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tus88
Elon Musk shrugs.

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sunstone
Why do I care about this?

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lowdose
Isn't this a bit ironic that Tesla decided they offer the cybertruck in
sheetmetal. As in every color you like as long as it's sheetmetal. Toyota has
its own peak innovator dilemma moment here and they even brag about it.

