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Mist-On™ Basic
operation
Savy could be considered as a robotic paint booth designed for whole-body automated painting of humans. A vertical column containing several atomizing nozzles moves from side to side, producing a moving plane of atomized solution (mist). A dedicated PLC controls the motion of the column and the firing of air and liquid solenoids. A high efficiency ventilation system removes and filters the mist residue.
The two most important factors in the design and construction
of this system are safety and quality of the coating. These factors
are critical, especially the safety of the system user. Many precautions
have been taken to assure the safe and effective operation of
the Savy system.
The basic concept is that an air-driven arm moves a vertical column
containing multiple atomizing nozzles from side to side four times,
with a programmed firing of the nozzles with each pass. The person
being coated stands in the center of a spray area, and rotates
90° with each pass. The firing of the nozzles is programmed to
take into consideration human anatomy, assuming that the user
is in certain positions on each pass.
The system could be used to atomize a host of types of solutions.
The current primary use of the system is for coating sunless tanning
solution on the user. Because of the high cosmetic visibility
of the resulting coating, the quality of the coating is critical
in this application. The design of the unit reflects this need
for quality.
The system is also designed for easy use by the operator (staff
personnel) and tanner (user). To start a session, the operator
activates the unit. This requires the closing of PLC circuit,
which can be accomplished one of several ways. The way it is done
depends on the design selected, but typically consist of pushing
a button or turning a key switch. The “not ready” light on the
user panel in the spray area then goes off, and the “checklist
review” and “start” switches (lighted) start blinking. The checklist
button directs the user to review a brief checklist prior to proceeding.
Pushing that button ceasing the blinking of its light, but leaves
the start button blinking.
The user’s pressing of the start button activates the coating
process. After a two second delay intended to give the user time
to resume his selected stance, the cycle begins. The user assumes
a forward-position stance on the first pass, and then performs
a clockwise 90° rotation with each pass, and assumes an appropriate
stance in each position. The nozzles are arranged in two sets,
and upper set and lower set. The PLC fires the air and liquid
solenoids of the two sets of nozzles in a predetermined pattern
for each pass. Each pass takes about 12 seconds, so the entire
session is about 48 seconds.
The blowers in the air ventilation system evacuate the residue
mist almost immediately. The aiming of the nozzles and the ventilation
patterns are designed to minimize the time the user might have
to breathe the mist (it is recommended that the user hold his
breathe each 2-3 seconds the mist is in the vicinity of his face)
and the amount of mist hitting the spray area side walls, floor,
or roof.
After the end of the fourth pass, an exit light begins blinking.
The user is directed to exit to unit and proceed with a towel
buffing process.
The operator inspects the unit, then rinses residual mist off the unit floor. The unit is now ready for reactivation for the next user. |
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Savy
is an acronym for “self-contained, automated ventilated misting
system”. It is an automated system designed to coat the human
body with a thin film of an atomized solution in a matter
of seconds at the touch of a button.
