Abstract: Chromium nitride coating of machine components such as reciprocating pump plungers for continuous sliding contact with non-metallic packing and gasket materials greatly increases the performance life of fluid seals. In an air driven reciprocating constant pressure pump, exterior surfaces of the pump plunger are coated with chromium nitride to a thickness of seven to ten microns. The coating resists failure from repeated sliding contact against non-metallic packing and gasket materials for at least four million pump cycles, with no evidence of cracking or release of metallic particles which would embed in the packing or gasket material and score the plunger. In lower pressure pumps, interior walls of a housing against which a sliding gasket bears, when coated with chromium nitride, greatly increase the seal life of the sliding gasket.

Abstract: An electrostatic, liquid spray, rotary atomizer has an atomizer housing, a power supply within the housing and an atomizer cup at a front end of the housing. The atomizer cup, which is formed of a non-conductive material, has several elongate conductive pathways embedded in the body of the cup. Each conductive pathway has one end exiting an outer surface at a rear end of the cup for receiving the charge from the power supply and another end exiting an inner surface at a front end of the cup for conveying an electrical charge from the power supply to the liquid (paint) particles passing through the atomizer cup. An electrode is provided for maintaining a small voltage at the access hole.