Spray urethane tool and system
View Patent ↗A method of forming a part with a solid urethane elastomer skin is provided, wherein the mold is moved by a mold manipulation tool to present differently oriented surfaces of the mold in a horizontal orientation when the urethane elastomer is sprayed on each of the differently oriented surfaces. A multi-axis robot is provided with a spray head that sprays the urethane elastomer onto a mold surface. A mold manipulator moves the mold that has a plurality of differently oriented mold surfaces so that the surface to be sprayed is held in a horizontal orientation as they are coated with the urethane elastomer and for a predetermined time period after spray coating until the urethane elastomer sets up.
1. An apparatus for forming a part having a urethane elastomer skin, comprising:
a mold defining a mold cavity having a mold surface;
a mold manipulator supporting the mold for movement;
a multi-axis robot having an arm;
a spray head supported by the arm that sprays the urethane elastomer on the mold surface;
wherein the mold manipulator moves the mold so that the surface of the mold that receives the urethane is held in a horizontal orientation when the spray head sprays urethane on the mold surface.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the mold manipulator includes a platform and a platen that are pivotally secured together along a side of the platform nearest the robot, and are also linked by a tilting link that is driven by a linear motion drive that tilts the mold manipulator.
3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the linear motion drive is a ball screw drive.
4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the apparatus further comprises a booth that encloses the mold, mold manipulator, and robot.
5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the mold manipulator includes a platform and the mold is indexed into and out of the booth on the platform.