We use cookies, similar technologies and tracking services

This website uses cookies, similar technologies and tracking services (hereinafter referred to as “Cookies”). We need your consent for Cookies, which not only serve to technically display our website, but also to enable the best possible use of our website and to improve it based on your user behavior, or to present content and marketing aligned with your interests. For these purposes, we cooperate with third-party providers (e.g. Salesforce, LinkedIn, Google, Microsoft, Piwik PRO). Through these partners you can also receive advertisements on other websites.
If you consent, you also accept certain subsequent processing of your personal data (e.g. storage of your IP address in profiles) and that our partners may transfer your data to the United States and, if applicable, to further countries. Such transfer involves the risk that authorities may access the data and that your rights may not be enforceable. Please select which Cookies we may use under ”Settings”. More information, particularly about your rights, e.g. to withdraw consent, is available in our Privacy Policy .

Settings

Only technically necessary Cookies

Accept everything

Below, you can activate/deactivate the individual technologies that are used on this website.

Accept All

Essential

These Cookies make a website usable by providing basic functions such as page navigation, language settings, Cookie preferences and access to protected areas of the website. Cookies in this category additionally ensure that the website complies with the applicable legal requirements and security standards. Owing to the essential nature of these Cookies, you cannot prevent their use on our website. Details about these Cookies are available under 'More information'.

Functionality and personalization

These Cookies collect information about your habits when using our web pages and help us to enhance your user experience by tailoring the functions and attractiveness of our web pages based on your previous visits, location and browser settings. They also enable access to integrated third-party tools on our website (e.g., Microsoft Azure for single sign-on authentication). This can involve transferring your data to the United States (for information on the risks involved read Clause 1.5 of our Privacy Policy). If you refuse these Cookies, you might not be able to access the full functionality of the website. Details about the tools we use are available under 'More information'.

Analysis

These Cookies are used to compile basic usage and user statistics based on how our web pages are used (e.g. via Google Tag Manager, Piwik PRO). If you accept these Cookies, you simultaneously consent to your data being processed and transmitted to the United States by services such as Salesforce Pardot (for information on the risks involved read Clause 1.5 of our Privacy Policy). Details about the tools we use are available under 'More information'.

Marketing and social media

These Cookies help third-party sources collect information about how you share content from our website on social media or provide analytical data about your user behavior when you move between social media platforms or between our social media campaigns and our web pages (e.g., LinkedIn Insights). Marketing Cookies from third-party sources also help us measure the effectiveness of our advertising on other websites (e.g. Google Ads, Microsoft Advertising). We use these Cookies to optimize how we deliver our content to you. The third-party sources and social media platforms we use can transfer your data to the United States (for information on the risks involved read Clause 1.5 of our Privacy Policy). If you accept these Cookies, you simultaneously consent to your data being transferred and processed as described above. Details about the tools we use and our social media presence are available under 'More information'.

More information

Save Settings

  • EcoPaintJet
  • EcoPaintJet

Product customization: Dürr enables fully automated painting of cars in two colors for the first time

- A quantum leap in two-tone painting

- Easier product customization

- Also suitable for electric car production

 

Bietigheim-Bissingen, May 9, 2019 – The more customized, the better – this motto governs more and more purchasing decisions. When it comes to the color of cars, the trend toward customization is also on the rise. Buyers of small cars, in particular, are increasingly ordering contrasting and accent colors, 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, the 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. Dürr introduces the solution at the 11th Open House, which will take place from May 13 to 17, 2019 at the company's headquarters in Bietigheim-Bissingen.

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 customized 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 color, 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 color, which has then dried and cooled, masking tape must be applied by hand – except for the areas due to be painted in a different color. Then the car body goes back to the painting line, where the second color 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-color 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 color 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 color 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 atomizers, 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 hardly visible holes with a diameter of approx. one tenth of a millimeter. They are used to apply paint to the car body surface in parallel jets from a distance of 30 millimeters.

The applicator is the centerpiece of the perfectly designed EcoPaintJet system. This also includes the EcoRPL 133i painting robot, which moves the applicator without any vibration. A measuring system, equipped with sensors, provides maximum precision. It takes a 3D measurement of the area to be painted and sends the data to the control software. This continuously calculates along which path the applicator must be moved over the surface to achieve an optimum paint finish – this is called automatic path generation. It also determines how the applicator must turn plus the speed required to apply exactly the right amount of paint.

According to Dr. Lars Friedrich, responsible for Application Technology on the Dürr Systems AG Board of Management: “This high-tech process enables the automotive industry to fulfill customers’ specific requirements faster while ensuring top quality. There is great interest in the market, as we are offering real added value with this new technology.”

The EcoPaintJet is currently being tested at several carmakers’ sites. In the meantime, Dürr is already working on a further development of the technology, which can also paint more complex geometries. This enhanced version, known as EcoPaintJet Pro, enables each hole in the nozzle plate to be opened and closed individually. This offers even more possibilities for product customization. In the future, the automatic application of lettering and logos should also be possible – similar to a digital printer.

 

  • EcoPaintJet