Abstract: An air conditioner for a coating booth is constructed so as to intake the air through a filter for eliminating dust, to heat the air by a plate fin coil heater to the extent that it is not excessively saturated, to atomize the steam directly into the air via a steam atomizing tube, to contact the air including the atomized steam with water flowing down on the surfaces of the wet walls, to make the recirculating water absorb the steam for giving energy for humidifying to the water, to humidify the air by contacting the flowing water and to feed the humidified air through an eliminator to a coating booth at a temperature controlled by another plate fin coil heater.

Abstract: A paint spray booth enclosure has separate zones defined by air curtains, one zone being polluted differently than another. A separate flow of ventilating air is passed through each zone. Each zone has its own separator for cleaning exiting air of its pollutant. In the illustrated embodiments, the outer zones have dry separators and the central zone has wet separator. Suitable conduits permit total or partial recirculation of the cleaned air, or total exhaust of the air to the atmosphere. Fresh outside air may be supplied to the ventilating flows along with spent ventilating air from the plant. Suitable controls for the air are provided.

Abstract: A painting booth is formed from three panels for the roof, side walls and back wall of the booth, the bottom or floor of the booth being open, there being hinged doors for closing the front of the booth and providing access thereto. Means are provided for pivotally joining the rear wall of the booth to the back end of a trailer bed. Hydraulic cylinders are mounted on trailer and bed and are employed to pivotally drive the booth between a first position whereat the booth is supported on the trailer bed and a second position whereat the booth surrounds an object to be painted which is located on the ground to the rear of the trailer bed. A blower and filter are provided in a wall of the booth to ventilate the booth.

Abstract: A spray booth has a front movable wall composed of two layers of movable, flexible filter material supplied from a single continuous supply roll located adjacent the floor of the booth. The layers of filter material are composed of a mat of closely-spaced non-woven extruded polypropylene fibers forming a multiplicity of cells and randomly positioned non-woven polypropylene fibers extending from the mat into each said cell to provide sub-cells of sub-micron size openings.

Abstract: A multi-stage air scrubbing apparatus for removing particulate matter from contaminated air is located beneath the perforate floor of a chamber from which the contaminated air flows in order to allow light to enter the chamber and to permit visual observation of its interior. The apparatus includes a sub-floor flooded with a flowing scrubbing fluid and a scrubbing fluid spray source and conduit means having baffle members that cause the air and the fluid spray to flow in a direction-reversing serpentine path. The contaminated air passes through the scrubbing fluid spray at least twice, and preferably three or more times, in order to remove the particulate matter therefrom.

Abstract: A spraybooth for use, for example, in spray painting motor vehicles has an air supply duct 11 which extends centrally along the length of the top 5 of the booth and has an air supply opening 12 fitted with a cloth filter 16 in its underside. The opening 12 extends from near one end 1 of the booth right up to the outer end 2 and is supplied with air by a fan 9 from the one end of the booth. A single air outlet opening 17 is provided at the middle of the bottom of the one end 1 of the booth and is connected to an air extraction fan 21. The velocity head of the air flow from the air supply fan 9 decreases along the length of the air supply opening 12 from the one end 1 to the other 2 and accordingly the pressure head increases so that the downward air flow from the filter cloth 16 per unit length of the air supply opening decreases from the one end 1 to the other end of the booth 2.

Abstract: There is provided a powder spray chamber for coating the surface of workpes disposed in a coating space having a rotationally symmetrical filter carrier carrying a filter element on its mantle, the filter carrier being rotatingly mounted in an opening in a wall separating the coating space from a clean air space and having its free end sealingly projecting into said coating space, a vacuum source in said clean air space for creating a vacuum interiorly of said filter carrier, and cleaning means for cleaning said filter element.

Abstract: A powder spray booth wherein the workpieces are moved through a coating se and coated by powder coming from an electrostatic spray gun at a spray opening. An aspiration blower is used for forcing the air coming in through the spray opening through a cyclone unit with a battery of cyclone separators and through a filter unit with a filter bag. The air is moved upwards along upwards sloping lines of flow to the aspiration duct, and the powder is moved downwardly under the effect of gravity. Only a part of the powder reaches the cyclone separators and is removed from them through airlocks. The part of the powder not separated in this way deposits in the filter space, a part of it only after cleaning the filter. This part of the powder is removed on opening an outlet door and is taken up on the screen of the powder car and then mixed with the powder from the cyclone separators or, by opening the outlet door, run into a space, where a second powder car may be placed.

Abstract: Apparatus for filtering air for a powder spray booth. A fan plenum is fixed in an elevated position and has a lower edge lying in an inclined plane. The filter module has an upper edge lying in an inclined plane and has an elastomeric compressible gasket around its edge. The filter module is mounted on wheels so that it can be rolled into edge-to-edge engagement with the plenum and clamped in that position.

Abstract: A paint spray filter for use in a paint spray booth. The filter comprises a grid having a plurality of vertical and horizontal members, attachment means secured to the grid extending upwardly and outwardly therefrom, and a sheet of fiberglass filter material. The fiberglass filter material has a first face substantially covering the grid and being secured thereto by the attachment means, and a fully exposed second face. Support means extending from the edges of the grid are adapted to cooperate with the frame members of the paint spray booth for maintaining the paint spray filter in the booth.

Abstract: A spray booth is provided with an air cleaning system to remove airborne particles for use in heavy production applications where large amounts of paint are sprayed and in which large quantities of airborne particles are collected without a substantial reduction in air flow through the booth as would fall below desired minimum standard of air flow through the booth. Air flows through an open front face of the spray booth and across the piece being sprayed to a first water cascade means which has vertical water covered surfaces offset in the fore and aft direction to trap paint particles and which define vertical extending slots through which the air may pass. The air is deflected downwardly from the first water means across the top surface of a water reservoir at the bottom of a spray booth at which surface further paint particles are trapped. The air then directed upwardly through a downwardly directed water spray wash which traps more airborne paint particles.

Abstract: Apparatus for washing paint mist from exhaust air from a spray-painting operation draws the exhaust air, paint mist, and a washing liquid down a funnel inlet into an open ended cylindrical mixing chamber. In the mixing chamber, they turbulently spiral outwardly to exit said chamber through the open ends thereof. An elongated blocking structure is centrally disposed in said mixing chamber to block access of exhaust air to the central portion of the mixing chamber which has low spiral turbulence and thus low mixing efficiency. The inlet to the mixing chamber and the open end outlets therefrom preferably form venturies to further increase the mixing efficiency.

Abstract: An improved water-wash spray booth of the type in which exhaust air lifts liquid from a reservoir to a trough and such lifted liquid flows from the trough over a floodsheet back to the reservoir. An open top chamber is positioned immediately below the liquid surface within the reservoir and is connected at its bottom to a conduit which discharges into the reservoir at a location spaced from the chamber. A flow of liquid from the trough above the floodsheet induces a turbulent flow of liquid from the surface of the reservoir downwardly through the chamber and out the conduit for breaking up paint particles into smaller particles.

Abstract: In a plant for purifying contaminated air, the contaminants are transferred from the air to a liquid flowing through a spray booth through which the contaminated air also flows in intimate contact with the liquid. The liquid is then collected in a container, from which it is recirculated to the spray booth. The closed liquid circulation circuit in flow communication with the spray booth is connected to a biological cleaning step in which the contaminants dissolved and/or suspended in the liquid are decomposed and then separated. The biological cleaning step comprises a bioreactor in which the main portion of the bio-degradation occurs, and a separator, for separation of the biosludge coming from the reactor. At least part of the contaminated liquid passing through the spray booth is continuously transferred to the biological cleaning stage from which substantially the same quantity of the cleaned liquid is recirculated to the spray booth circulation circuit.

Abstract: A paint spray booth including water wash means for removing airborne paint particles from air flowing through the booth. A holding tank at the bottom of the booth collects the water from the water wash means and a pump recirculates the water from the holding tank to the water wash means near the top of the booth. A filtering tank is connected to the holding tank and is located outside the booth. A pair of filters are disposed in series in the filtering tank and filter the water as it passes from the holding tank to the pump. The filters are individually removable from the filter tank for cleaning and/or replacement so that when one filter becomes clogged, it can be removed and cleaned while the other filter continues the filtering process so that there is no interruption in use of the spray booth.

Abstract: The invention relates to a process and an apparatus for extracting droplets of paint from the fine spray or mist in spray booths when sheet metal members or the like are sprayed, without the paint droplets adhering. A calcium chloride solution of 0.01 to 0.5% by weight and having a pH value of 8 to 9.5 serves as washing fluid. To perform this process, the spray booth and the like is followed by a settling or separating vessel in which the coagulated paint droplets floating up with air are separated from the thus regenerated wash solution which can be recycled.

Abstract: The disclosure relates to a new apparatus for fluid dispersion for use in removing particulate matter from air. A spray head or other fluid spray-producing means comprises a rigid spray plate bent to a predetermined configuration with two spray head side plates attached to said spray plate, and two spray head side guide bars attached to said side plates. A pressurized fluid, such as water, is delivered at the bottom of the spray plate whereupon impact with the surfaces of the spray plate, side plates and guide bars causes the fluid to be dispersed in spray form. Through this spray is passed contaminated air containing undesirable particulate matter such as paint overspray, whereupon the air is scrubbed to remove substantially all of the particulate matter.

Abstract: A system for precipitating vapors from a continuous coater and retrieving suspended matter therefrom. The entrance and exit passages communicating with a spray coating booth are vented to a scrubbing chamber where a precipitant spray drives the vapors through a precipitant baffle. Suspended matter in the vapor is thus precipitated and drained into a recovery tank. The scrubbed vapors are then exhausted up a stack. In one embodiment of the invention, the vapors are vented through openings in the top of the entrance and exit passages, in which embodiment there is also provided an input chamber for receiving the vapors and transferring the same to the scrubbing chamber. In a second embodiment, the vapors are vented through openings in the side walls of the entrance and exit passages, in which case they are vented directly to the scrubbing chamber.

Abstract: The invention relates to a process and an apparatus for extracting droplets of paint from the fine spray or mist in spray booths when sheet metal members or the like are sprayed, without the paint droplets adhering. A calcium chloride solution of 0.01 to 0.5% by weight and having a pH value of 8 to 9.5 serves as washing fluid. To perform this process, the spray booth and the like is followed by a settling or separating vessel in which the coagulated paint droplets floating up with air are separated from the thus regenerated wash solution which can be recycled.

Abstract: A method for converting conventional paint spray booths to booths for accommodating either liquid or powder spray paints comprising removing the conventional waterfall or cloth filter back and substituting therefore an exhaust system, velocity stacks, and a roll away filter cart having replaceable and interchangeable filter elements for filtering liquid or powder paints. The rollaway filter cart may also have a vibrating sheet for directing recovered powder toward the bottom of the filter cart.

Abstract: Air or other gases containing contaminants or requiring treatment are moved into at least one substantially continuous sheet of treating liquid at the entrance to a streamline flow passage having a smoothly curved convex interior surface progressively decreasing in cross-sectional area in direction of flow. A nozzle mounted adjacent the entrance end of the flow passage generates one or more substantially continuous sheets of treating liquid covering the entrance to the passage. The passage has a convex throat and an exit smaller than the entrance so that the gas and treating liquid entrained therein move through the passage at an accelerating velocity with smooth, substantially unidirectional flow, and are discharged therefrom with no discernible turbulence or splashing. The gas and the treating liquid are discharged from the flow passage into an eliminator chamber of large volume, whereupon the treating liquid and any entrained contaminants drop out of and are separated from the gas.

Abstract: A coating booth for the electrostatic application of powdery materials onto workpieces. The coating booth has a generally tubular configuration which when viewed in side elevation is generally oval but with a spiral curved bottom front wall which melds into a flat bottom surface extending toward an outlet at the bottom of the rear wall of the booth. On the rear of the booth there is a fixed fan module to which a removable filter module may be attached so as to interconnect the booth air outlet with the suction fan module. This construction facilitates quick color changes of the powdery material by maintaining a minimum deposit of powder on the interior of the booth and by enabling the filters to be interchanged without the necessity of first cleaning the filters or of interchanging individual filter media before restarting the booth with a new color.

Abstract: The invention relates to a method of and apparatus for separating liquid from solids entrained therein, which solids, preferably paint particles emanating from a paint spray booth are capable of floating on the liquid. The liquid and solids are entrained in a collector which is open to atmosphere and in which a Coanda - type flow prevails so that the solids are collected as a skin on the surface of the liquid. In one embodiment the level of the liquid is raised so that the skin slips over a lip and out of the collector, leaving the liquid behind; in another embodiment the skin is collected behind a restraining device which is moved to allow the skin to flow through an outlet therefor, again leaving the liquid behind.

Abstract: A washing device comprises an upper chamber containing a washing liquid and communicating with an enamel-spraying device and a lower under-pressure chamber. A nozzle is installed between those two chambers which has an inlet to receive the washing liquid and a gaseous mixture to be washed and an outlet communicating with the under-pressure chamber. The particle-containing gaseous mixture is drawn through the washing liquid atomized in the nozzle and is washed thereby. The nozzle has a cross-section of a bell-like configuration and is provided with edges at the outlet of the nozzle. These edges face toward the central axis of the casing and are provided with teeth whereby the surface of contact of the particles with the atomized washing liquid at the outlet of the nozzle is substantially increased and the distribution of the washing liquid at the outlet of the nozzle is improved.

Abstract: A process for the separation of paint mists from the exhaust gases of lacquer painting plants includes a step wherein the exhaust gases containing paint particles comprising the mists are conducted through a microwave field which cures and dries the paint particles to convert the paint particles into a nonsticky dust and a step wherein the thus-produced paint dust is separated from the exhaust gases by a filter device such as a fabric filter.

Abstract: A paint-spray chamber having a grate-like floor with an outlet for particle-laden air below said floor, said outlet comprising water reservoirs along the periphery of the spray chamber and a venturi outlet disposed centrally of said chamber between the water reservoirs. Water is continuously supplied to said reservoirs to fill the reservoirs to overflowing and cause the water to flow into said venturi so as to provide a body of water underlying the floor. The venturi is formed by opposed venturi sides converging toward the central axis of the venturi outlet in the direction of the gas flow to a venturi throat. A pair or a series of pairs of guide plates extend inwardly from said opposite venturi sides adjacent said reservoir means and converge toward one another in the direction of air flow with a greater angle of convergence than said venturi sides and terminate in one or more noise-muffling zones along said venturi axis above said throat.

Abstract: A filter comprising a flat sheet, a corrugated sheet adhered in faced relationship to said flat sheet, a first array of parallel spaced orifices formed in said flat sheet, and a second array of parallel spaced orifices formed in said corrugated sheet, orifices in said first array being disposed laterally in spaced relationship from orifices in said second array, orifices in said first array communicating with orifices in said second array through corrugations in said corrugated sheet.A process for separating suspended particles from a fluid using the foregoing filter is disclosed. Use of the foregoing filter in a spray booth is also disclosed.

Abstract: A washing device is provided which comprises at least one inclined wall or floor defining at least one orifice therein, means for causing a washing liquid to flow over the upper side of this wall, means for causing the polluted gas to flow from top to bottom of the device, at least one transverse wall situated below the orifice, and a flow channel having a vertical (or substantially vertical) axis surrounding the transverse wall. This device further comprises a connecting channel whose upper end terminates at the orifice, which has a downwardly divergent shape, and whose lower end is connected to the flow channel.

Abstract: A system for removing paint from the paint-laden air extracted from a paint spray booth includes an endless paint receiving member formed from a plurality of linked channel members. Each channel member has air inlet apertures in the top surface thereof and an elongate plank arranged beneath said apertures such that air flowing through said apertures is diverted by the plank and deposits its paint thereon. The paint receiving member is circumgyrated so that each portion thereof on which paint has been deposited is subsequently moved through a series of washing baths containing solvents to remove the paint and aqueous solutions to rinse off the solvents.

Abstract: The invention provides a paint spray booth of the kind having an enclosed chamber defining a working area with a perforate working floor. A sub-floor located beneath the working floor has an opening, or a series of openings, through which air from the working area is extracted together with a scrubbing liquid with which the sub-floor is continuously flooded. According to the invention, sound-deadening means for reducing noise within the working area is located beneath the working floor, and these means comprise, generally, a sound-reflecting baffle plate fitted on one surface with an acoustic material. In a particular form of the invention, the openings comprise tubular outlet structures having downwardly-depending wall members, and the baffle plate surrounds the wall members in the form of a jacket, the acoustic material being disposed within the space formed between the wall members and the jacket. The wall members are perforated to allow sound to pass through into the acoustic material.

Abstract: The invention relates to a ventilated enclosure for the treatment of workpieces, particularly an elongated enclosure for painting workpieces, comprising a treatment space situated between a ceiling through which the supply of new air takes place and a floor, said ceiling comprising, particularly from upstream to downstream following the path of the air, a filter and a diffuser, said enclosure being furthermore equipped with air injectors. These injectors are arranged and disposed so as to deliver jets or sheets of air in one or more free spaces situated in the ceiling between the filter and the diffuser.

Abstract: A system and process is disclosed for eliminating paint solvents released during paint spraying operations into the circulated air including a liquid spray solvent stripper over which the exhaust air is passed, and a heating and cooling arrangement for regenerating the solvent absorber liquid. A heat exchanger recovering heat from an incinerator vaporizes the solvent and the absorber is recovered by being passed over cooling coils in a condensing chamber. The exhaust air is treated with a water circulation system to remove paint solids, a proportion of the solvent vapors passing into solution with the treatment water. A solvent stripper is provided consisting of an arrangement for applying a vacuum to the water circulated from a paint solid removal unit, causing the solvent to be vaporized out of solution, with the vapors condensed by being passed over cooling coils in a condensing chamber.