Car giant Audi says it is expanding the spectrum of its painting methods with the addition of overspray free painting technology. The new system allows specific surfaces of a car body to be painted in different colours all in one spraying process, opening up the possibility of economical two tone paint jobs.

 
In a pilot paintshop at the plant in Ingolstadt, Audi is testing a method that it says is unique in the industry with car roofs in contrasting black. Time‑consuming and material intensive masking off is no longer necessary with the new method. For spraying a contrasting colour, employees previously had to mask off the relevant part of the car body and then paint it separately with a second spray process. With overspray free painting, a robot controlled high precision instrument now measures the laser brazed seam between the roof and the side panel frame before each car is painted. A special applicator then applies the black paint directly to the car body in individual strips with millimetre accuracy. The applicator places the strips of paint with sharp borders and without any spray mist.

Audi believes this method will save time and money, while the environment also benefits because of reduced paint consumption and dispensing with the need for masking materials. Audi plans to put the innovative process into series production next year. In this way customers can be offered more individual paint options.