Device and method for painting curved outer surfaces of an aircraft

Abstract

A device for painting a curved outer surface of an aircraft includes a paint applicator having a plurality of spray painting heads each assigned to one of a plurality of different base color supply units containing one of polyurethane aircraft paint and ink. The device further includes a spatially adjustable positioning device configured to move the paint applicator relative to the curved outer surface and at least one sensor device configured to determine a three-dimensional geometry of the curved outer surface. The device also includes a control unit configured to coordinate a movement of the positioning device with a paint output of the paint applicator, wherein the control unit is configured to alternately activate each of the plurality of spray painting heads so as to produce a picture motif so as to derive a two-dimensional driving geometry based on the three-dimensional geometry.

1 . A method for painting a curved outer surface of an aircraft, comprising:
 moving a paint applicator relative to the curved outer surface using a spatially adjustable positioning device, the paint applicator including a plurality of spray painting heads each assigned to one of a plurality of different base color supply units containing one of polyurethane aircraft paint and aircraft ink;   determining a three-dimensional geometry of the outer surface of the aircraft using a sensor device;   deriving a two-dimensional driving geometry based on the three-dimensional geometry; and   coordinating a movement of the positioning device with a paint output of the paint applicator and alternately activating the plurality of spray painting heads using a control unit according to the two-dimensional driving geometry so as to produce a picture motif painted on the curved outer surface of the aircraft.   
     
     
         2 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the deriving includes calculating the two-dimensional geometry using a mathematical development of the three-dimensional geometry. 
     
     
         3 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of spray painting heads includes a minimum aperture and the polyurethane aircraft paint includes particles having a predetermined maximum particle size, and wherein each of the plurality of spray painting heads is configured to eject the particles in a flowing fashion. 
     
     
         4 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of base color supply units includes a paint tank having a metallic supply line leading to the respective spray painting head. 
     
     
         5 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of base color supply units is disposed adjacently in a row and contains a base color, the base color including one of cyan, magenta, and yellow. 
     
     
         6 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the sensor device includes a laser measuring head disposed on the paint applicator. 
     
     
         7 . The method as recited in  claim 6 , wherein the laser measuring head is connected to an input side of the control unit and specifies current distance values to be used by the control unit as actual values in order to coordinate the movement of the positioning device with respect to a nominal distance from the outer surface of the aircraft that lies within the range of a desired paint application quality. 
     
     
         8 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the positioning device includes one of a multi-axis articulated robot and a gantry robot configured to map a Cartesian coordinate system. 
     
     
         9 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the positioning device is configured to move the paint applicator over the curved outer surface in a line-by-line motion. 
     
     
         10 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the control unit includes a software-controlled computer having at least one microprocessor with at least one assigned memory unit and operable via a user interface. 
     
     
         11 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of spray painting heads has an aperture of 0.5 to 1.2 mm and the polyurethane aircraft paint ejected from the apertures has a maximum particle size of 0.1 mm, each of the plurality of spray painting heads being configured to eject the particles in a flowing fashion. 
     
     
         12 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the control unit coordinates movement the movement of the positioning device using feed pressure for the spray painting heads, a nozzle cross section of the spray painting heads, and the viscosity of the polyurethane aircraft paint.