Granted Patent B2

US 12,623,246 · App. 18/010,173 · Granted May 12, 2026

Inventors: Tobias Jäger (Karlsruhe, DE); Michael Lauer (Bietigheim-Bissingen, DE); Marek Downar (Ditzingen, DE); Klaus Heinsohn (Weil der Stadt, DE); Oliver Seyboth (Hemmingen, DE)

B05C3/109B05C11/1013B05C11/1026B08B3/048B08B3/14B08B9/093C23C22/07C23G5/04C25D13/22B08B2209/08

Abstract

Claims (25)

1 . Treatment station for treating workpieces,

the treatment station comprising:

a treatment container surrounding a treatment chamber for accommodating the workpieces,

a fluid tank for receiving a fluid, which is a liquid, and

a fluid guide, by which the fluid can be guided

a) from the fluid tank into the treatment container to flood the treatment chamber; and/or

b) from the treatment container into the fluid tank to empty the treatment chamber, wherein the fluid tank is arranged above the treatment container in relation to a direction of gravity,

wherein the treatment station has a counter-tank which is arranged below the treatment chamber and to which the fluid to be discharged from the treatment chamber can be fed, and

wherein the treatment chamber is configured to be filled with the liquid during flooding to a maximum filling-height selected according to a workpiece geometry and/or position.

2 . Treatment station according to claim 1 , wherein the fluid guide includes a pumping device by which the fluid can be pumped from the treatment chamber into the fluid tank.

3 . Treatment station according to claim 1 , wherein the fluid guide includes a fluid line designed as a supply line, by which the fluid can be fed to the treatment chamber, wherein the supply line opens into the treatment container in a base region of the treatment container.

4 . Treatment station according to claim 3 , wherein the treatment container includes an inflow region, which inflow region is filled with fluid even when the treatment container provided for replacing a workpiece is in an emptied state, and wherein the supply line opens into the inflow region.

5 . Treatment station according to claim 1 , wherein the fluid guide includes a cleaning device for cleaning the fluid, wherein the cleaning device is arranged in the fluid guide for returning the fluid into the fluid tank.

6 . Treatment station according to claim 1 , wherein the treatment station includes a control device by which a flooding process in the treatment chamber can be controlled and/or regulated.

7 . Treatment station according to claim 6 , wherein for controlling and/or regulating the flooding process, one or more workpiece parameters are taken into account, in particular a geometry, and/or size, and/or position of the respective workpiece within the treatment chamber.

8 . Treatment station according to claim 6 , wherein the flooding process can be controlled by the control device in such a way that a rate of filling and/or a rate of change in a fill level of the fluid in the treatment chamber is varied during the flooding.

9 . Treatment station according to claim 6 , wherein the treatment station includes one or more measuring devices by which a volume flow of the fluid flowing into the treatment chamber and/or a fullness or fill level within the treatment chamber and/or a fullness or fill level in the fluid tank can be determined, wherein one or more measured values of the one or more measuring devices are taken into account for controlling and/or regulating the flooding process.

10 . Treatment station according to claim 1 , wherein the fluid flows from the fluid tank into the treatment chamber and/or from a cleaning chamber into the counter-tank by gravity.

11 . Treatment station according to claim 1 , wherein the treatment station includes two or more than two treatment chambers, each having a treatment chamber, wherein a common fluid tank is provided for supplying the fluid to the two or more than two treatment chambers.

12 . Treatment station according to claim 1 , wherein the treatment station includes a flushing device for flushing and/or cleaning the treatment chamber, wherein a flushing medium can be introduced into the treatment chamber and removed from the latter independently of the fluid, independently of the fluid tank, and/or independently of a counter-tank.

13 . Method for treating workpieces using the treatment station of claim 1 , the method comprising:

introducing the workpiece into the treatment chamber of the treatment container; and

flooding the treatment chamber with the fluid for performing a workpiece treatment, wherein the fluid is guided:

a) from the fluid tank into the treatment container to flood the treatment chamber; and/or

b) from the treatment container into the fluid tank to empty the treatment chamber.

Priority Claims (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (95)