Exemplary embodiments of the invention relate to a centrifuge assembly.
German patent document DE 10 2006 011 895 A1 disclose a generic centrifuge assembly as a separator arrangement.
According to a known embodiment, the centrifuge feet for the vibration-damped installation of the machine stand, in which the drive spindle is mounted rotatably, have in each case a circular bearing covered by a cover pot. The circular bearing has a damping action upon the vibrations of the machine in the horizontal and the vertical direction. The damping properties and the spring properties of the rubber material of the circular bearing are characteristic of this. The mass of the separator arrangements and the spring properties of the circular bearings (horizontally and vertically) result in a resonant frequency of the system, and the damping properties of the elastic material (elastomeric/rubber material) influence the degree of amplitude in the resonant frequency range.
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention are directed to a centrifuge assembly having an improved supporting foot construction.
According to the invention, it is possible to vary the spring rigidity, particularly in the horizontal direction. In this way, depending on the type of construction and the respective intended use, the centrifuge foot can be optimally tuned and set to the resonant properties of the system which are given in each case or the resonant properties of the overall system can be influenced in a simple way by the possibility of setting the centrifuge foot.
The separation into a first, adjustable elastic element for varying the spring properties and the damping properties of the second elastic element present and into a second, nonadjustable elastic element having fixed spring and damping properties is especially advantageous.
The centrifuge foot preferably has a foot carrier for introducing the forces of the supported centrifuge, in particular of the separator, into the centrifuge foot.
In this case, according to a preferred, but not mandatory variant of the invention, the adjustable first elastic element is arranged above a foot carrier and the at least one second elastic element, preferably a circular bearing or a circular bearing arrangement, is arranged below the foot carrier, the rigidity of the arrangement being adjustable by means of the upper first elastic element in terms of the characteristic resonant frequencies of installation of the rotating system, and the lower second elastic element serving for sprung installation.
In this case, additionally, the adjustment of the pressure force in the horizontal direction also has an adjusting action upon the springing in the vertical direction. In particular, the advantage is afforded that a relatively high rigidity can be set in the horizontal direction in order to shift the resonant frequencies upward.
The invention is described in more detail below by means of an exemplary embodiment, with reference to the drawing in which:
The drum has a drive (for example, an electric motor; cannot be seen here), see in this respect, for example, one disclosed in German patent document DE 10 2006 011 895 A1). In particular, the drive is arranged in the axial extension of the rotatable drive spindle directly below the drum.
According to
The entire separator, that is to say the machine stand 3 with the hood 2 and with the drum together with the drive, is installed, via at least one or more supporting feet 4 which are elastic or have damping properties, on a base, such as a foundation 5, or is supported there.
According to a first variant, the supporting feet 4 have the construction of
At least one screw bolt 6 (designed to be appropriately stable) serves here, per supporting foot, for fastening the supporting foot 4 to the machine stand 3 and is inserted (see in this respect for example
The term “axial” refers below to the vertical direction and the term “radial” to the horizontal direction.
According to
The ring 7 has vertically a first lower portion 8 and an upper second portion 9 having a smaller diameter than the first portion 8. In this way, a ring-shaped bearing surface 10 is formed on the ring 7 in the region in which the lower portion 8 has a larger radius than the upper portion 9. At least one first, adjustable elastic element 11 is arranged, here laid, on the bearing surface 10. A plurality of first adjustable elements 11 may also be provided. The ring 11 could thus be subdivided here into segments.
The first elastic element 11, here an elastic ring 11 in an advantageous and simple refinement, is covered, in turn, from above completely or in any event partially by a pressure means 12, preferably a ring-shaped cover disk 12.
The pressure means 12, the elastic element 11 and the ring 7 have, according to
The stepped ring 7 is supported vertically downward on a circular bearing arrangement 18 having circular bearings 19, which are arranged so as to be distributed circumferentially on a circle and which have in each case an elastomer 20 between an upper and a lower plate 21, 22. The circular bearing arrangement 18 is placed, in turn, onto a lower baseplate 23.
Furthermore, an outer ring 24 is arranged/formed as an abutment for the elastic element 11 on the baseplate 23, the height of which ring corresponds here to the overall height of the circular bearing arrangement, of the inner ring 7, of the elastic element 11 and of the pressure means 12 and of a gap S4. The ring 24 is arranged on the outside concentrically to the inner ring 7, but has with respect to the latter a continuous gap S2, S3 or does not bear against this.
The outer ring 24 outwardly surrounds the circular bearing arrangement 18 and also the foot carrier 7 and the elastic element 11. The metal baseplate 23 can be pierced by screw bolts 26, which secure the circular bearings 19 and the inner ring 7 and, if appropriate, the outer ring 24 to the baseplate 23. Not all of these screw bolts are illustrated here. In the configuration according to
The baseplate 23 may, in turn, be firmly screwed (not depicted here) to a base, such as a foundation, directly or via further intermediate elements.
The circular bearing or circular bearings 19 of the circular bearing arrangement 18 ensures or ensure sprung support. They constitute a design variant of the nonadjustable second elastic element.
An air gap S1, S2, S3 is preferably formed in each case between the outer ring 24 and the inner ring 7 and between the outer ring and the circular bearing or circular bearings, so that sufficient relative movement between these elements is possible during operation.
A cover element 25 fastened on the ring 24 (for example by means of screws) and projecting radially inward from the ring 24, here screwed down in the region of the line 25′, prevents the foot carrier 7 and also the pressure means 12 and elastic element 11 from creeping or being pulled apart vertically upward. The cover element here engages over the pressure means 12.
In this case, the inner ring 7, as the foot carrier, can move vertically to a limited extent as a function of the setting of the at least one elastic element 11 (gap S4 relative to the cover element, here a cover ring 25).
The supporting foot described may also be covered by a cover pot, not illustrated here, in particular as dust protection.
The at least one elastic element 11 (as a design variant of the adjustable first elastic element of claim 1) is dimensioned and arranged in such a way that it can be pressed directly onto the inner and the outer ring 7, 24 horizontally, here radially inward and radially outward with respect to the screw bolt 6, the pressure force being adjustable.
The pressure force may be set in various ways.
According to the variants of
As a result, the pressure force or pressing force between the elastic element 11 and the inner or the outer abutment—foot carrier 7, outer ring 24—and consequently the spring force are varied. The inner abutment is the foot carrier, in particular the ring 7, here, and the outer abutment is the outer ring 24 which can be coupled, unsprung, to the foundation directly or via intermediate elements (plate 23).
The pressure means 12 (preferably a circumferentially closed or segmental ring) and the screw bolts 17 form in a simple way, in their interaction, a first variant of a device for varying the horizontal spring and consequently the rigidity of the centrifuge foot arrangement or centrifuge foot 4, and also its damping action.
In such setting, however, the vertical spring properties are also varied within a certain range. This is because the pressure force between the spring element 11 and the outer ring 24 is increased, and, for example, vertical springing/support also varies due to the increased friction.
According to
The invention is not restricted to the arrangements of
Thus, instead of a single elastic element 11, a plurality of elastic elements 11, designed, for example, as circumferentially distributed ring segment portions, can also be arranged so as to be distributed circumferentially. It would then be advantageous to assign to each of these elastic elements 11 a screw or another device for varying the radial pressure force against the outer ring 24.
Moreover, the device for varying the rigidity could also be designed differently.
According to the exemplary embodiments illustrated in
Such a wedge element arrangement is preferably formed by contradirectionally arranged wedge elements 29, 31 (see
At least one or both of the wedge elements 29, 31 is or are preferably designed, as is evident from
An abutment element 35 is placed (for example screwed) here onto the foot carrier 7 and forms an upper abutment for the wedge element arrangement composed of the wedge elements 29, 30.
However, the abutment may also be formed by the foot itself. In this case, the abutment element 35 is dispensed with.
If, then, in
The particular advantage of simple horizontal adjustability is also afforded in the further exemplary embodiment of
This is implemented here in that one or more circumferentially distributed screws 36 pass through threaded bores 37, level with the one elastic element 11 or the plurality of elastic elements 11, in the ring 24 and act directly or in each case via a pressure disk 12′ as pressure means within the ring 24 upon the one elastic element 11 or the plurality of elastic elements 11. The screw heads 39 may project out of the ring 24 or be arranged so as to be countersunk in portions 38 of these bores 37.
The foregoing disclosure has been set forth merely to illustrate the invention and is not intended to be limiting. Since modifications of the disclosed embodiments incorporating the spirit and substance of the invention may occur to persons skilled in the art, the invention should be construed to include everything within the scope of the appended claims and equivalents thereof.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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20 2011 052 458.2 | Dec 2011 | DE | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/EP2012/075162 | 12/12/2012 | WO | 00 |