Paint Robot Nozzle Holder
A robotic paint gun used to coat track idlers tended to drift slowly away from its intended position. I designed a holder to keep the nozzle rigid and holding its aim.
- Application
- Robotic paint gun coating track idlers
- Issue
- Nozzle gradually moving off its intended position
- My role
- Design and CAD modeling of the holder
Problem
The paint nozzle position could drift over time, so its aim did not stay where it was set.
Design
A custom holder that grips the nozzle and constrains it rigidly.
Goal
Reduce movement and improve positioning repeatability in an existing automated process.
A small part fixing a process problem
Track idlers are wheels used in tracked equipment such as bulldozers, and they were painted by a robot. The gun mounted on that robot had a tendency to move slowly out of position, which meant the nozzle was no longer pointed where the program assumed it was.
The fix was mechanical rather than programmatic. I designed a nozzle holder to keep the nozzle steady, improve rigidity at the mount, reduce that gradual movement, and maintain consistent aim through the cycle.
This is a small project, but it is the kind that comes up constantly in a production environment: an automated process that works in principle is being undermined by one component that will not stay where it is put.