This is a national stage of PCT/EP07/007285 filed Aug. 15, 2007 and published in German, which has a priority of Germany no. 10 2006 039 563.8 filed Aug. 23, 2006, hereby incorporated by reference.
1. Field of Invention
The invention concerns a blown film extrusion device with a blow head and an external cooling ring mountable on its top, having an annular support surface on its bottom and centerable relative to the blow head via centering devices.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Such a device is known from DE 33 36 181 A1. The so-called blow head has an annular nozzle gap from which plastic melt emerges. Air is blown into the center of the annular nozzle. At the same time air is fed from the outside by means of an external cooling ring against the film tube emerging at the annular nozzle. The external cooling ring is then mounted with an annular surface on its bottom on an annular surface on the top of the blow head so that the external cooling ring can be slightly raised in order to facilitate access to the annular nozzle during maintenance. A problem here is that the already slight eccentricities or oblique positions of the mounted external cooling ring mean that the bubble taken off from the annular nozzle is slanted, which can lead to nonuniform thickness distribution in the film and to problems during further processing.
The centering devices proposed in the known blown film extrusion device are screws, which are aligned on the bottom of the external cooling ring in the radial direction and mounted in a threaded hole. They can be set with their tip against the outer periphery of a circular section in the upper area of the blow head.
Centering occurs in a blown film extrusion device according to DE 92 14 647 U1 through a shoulder with the shape of a truncated cone on the blow head, on which the outer cooling ring is mounted with a conical hole.
It is also known to form centering devices by hook-like angles. The upper edge of the blow head can be enclosed by at least three angles on the bottom of the outer cooling ring so that the centering ring is centered relative to the blow head.
All known blown film extrusion devices have the common feature that their centering devices do not permit temperature-independent centering. Centering of the cooling ring and blow head free of play performed at room temperature is not effective in operation, since the stronger heating of the blow head leads to relatively greater elongation than in the cooling ring. Significant pressure forces would therefore act on the centering devices that are supported on the outer periphery of parts of the blow head. For this reason, centering must be conducted separately at each operating point in the known blown film extrusion devices.
The task of the invention is therefore to permit temperature-independent centering of the outer cooling ring and blow head.
This task is solved in a blown film die of the type just mentioned in that the centering devices are formed by at least three radially arranged linear guides, each of which includes a radically extending recess and at least one guide element engaging in it.
Because of the radial extent of the linear guides, a different temperature elongation of the two centering parts in the peripheral direction is possible relative to each other. The temperature elongation only leads to a relative shift of the guide elements within the groove in the radial direction.
Owing to the fact that at least three linear guides are formed, forced centering is present regardless of whether the guide elements are arranged on the bottom of the outer cooling ring or on the top of the blow head, so that both arrangements are possible.
A design with four grooves, two each lying on a common diameter line, i.e., flush with each other, simplifies manufacture and increases the accuracy.
To facilitate mounting of the cooling ring on the blow head, self-centering is caused by the fact that the feather key elements are beveled on their radially aligned side edges.
In addition or as an alternative, it is possible to bevel the grooves on their radially aligned side edges so that the feather key elements slide easily into the grooves when mounted.
Instead of feather key elements, pins with a circular cross section can also be provided as guide elements. The advantage of pins is that only linear contact on both flanks of the groove occurs and that heat transfer from the blow head into the corresponding guide element is therefore reduced.
In the blown film extrusion device according to the invention the groove and guide element can be designed with their side dimensions for loose fit, in which the fit is chosen so that even on maximal heating of the blow head during operation as well as simultaneous maximal cooling of the blow head, sliding of the guide elements within the groove is possible in each case and jamming is prevented.
To further improve accuracy of centering in all operating states the following measures are proposed:
The invention is further explained below with reference to the drawings.
The figures show in detail:
Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.
Four guide elements in the form of feather keys 22.1, . . . , 22.4 are arranged on the upward facing and horizontally aligned annular surface 21 on blow head 20, which are aligned exactly radially, as indicated by the dash-dot diameter lines. The center points 13, 23 of the outer cooling ring 10 and blow head 20 to be centered relative to each other lie at the intersection point of the diameter lines.
A circular support surface 11 is present on the bottom of the outer cooling ring 10, in which four grooves 12.1, . . . 12.4 are made, which extend precisely radially. Both the guide elements 22.1, . . . , 22.4 as well as the grooves 12.1, . . . , 12.4 are offset by exactly 90° relative to each other in the depicted practical example.
In order to be able to compensate for manufacturing tolerances, the feather keys (i.e., guide elements) 22.1, . . . , 22.4 are initially joined by a screw to the annular surface 21 and then, after exact alignment relative to grooves 12.1, . . . , 12.4 by alignment pins are finally fastened in their position relative to annular surface 21.
The invention being thus described, it will be apparent that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be recognized by one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10 2006 039 563 | Aug 2006 | DE | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/EP2007/007285 | 8/15/2007 | WO | 00 | 2/23/2009 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
WO2008/022749 | 2/28/2008 | WO | A |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
4145177 | Schott, Jr. | Mar 1979 | A |
4678417 | Upmeier | Jul 1987 | A |
6783344 | Rudolf | Aug 2004 | B1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
78 368 | Dec 1970 | DE |
33 36 181 | Apr 1985 | DE |
92 14 647 | Mar 1993 | DE |
0 595 037 | May 1994 | EP |
01 024725 | Jan 1989 | JP |
Entry |
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Transalation of DE 3336181, USPTO/P/OPIM/STIC/EIC-Division/Translations Branch, Mar. 30, 2012. |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20090252819 A1 | Oct 2009 | US |