To overcome the disadvantages described above and to provide a highly flexible control
system with capabilities not previously found in centralized powder coating control systems, the present invention eliminates the centralized control of all of the spray gun functions and provides a powder coating control system wherein control is distributed in a new and more efficient manner, thereby minimizing of wiring within the powder spray booth. The triggering and selection of spray parameters of each of the powder spray guns within the control system of the present invention is independently and individually controlled by its own gun control so that each gun is capable of more comprehensive powder coating process control. Therefore, the control system of the present invention has greater flexibility and reliability with less complex wiring. The control system of the present invention is particularly beneficial in being able to select different sets of powder dispensing parameters on-line and in real time to make the powder coating process more efficient and cost effective.
In a still further embodiment, the invention includes a method of operating a powder coating system in which the plurality of gun controls are automatically initialized and brought on-line in a fully operable state without any operator intervention. The control system has the capability of detecting when one gun control is replaced by another, or when a new gun control is added to the system. Consequently, the method provides a significant savings in system downtime and operator time that would be otherwise required to initialize the gun controls.
The above methods of operating a powder coating system permit a highly flexible powder coating process in which the operating parameters may be quickly changed on-line in real time with the advantage of providing a more uniform powder coating and a more efficient powder coating process. These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent during the following detailed description in conjunction with the drawings herein.