The present invention relates to a system and methodology for finishing parts or components that are manufactured.
After manufacture, many parts and components require additional finishing work to further enhance the surface finish of the parts. Examples of this include removing imperfections from a subtractive manufacturing process, (e.g. CNC or other machine burrs and imperfections, caused by a variety of cutting methods; parting line and other flash from molding or forming, etc.). The industry uses a number of generally accepted techniques for polishing or finishing these parts, to remove burrs and mold flash, etc. that include vibratory bowls, tumbling operations, blasting with different types of traditional media (e.g. plastic pellet, steel, shot, soda ash, abrasives, etc.). Further desirable finishing attributes may include surface finish, surface color, surface texture, surface cleanliness, etc. Consequently, the finishing work can be applicable to parts that are manufactured using additive techniques (e.g. 3D printing.)
One known technique used in this finishing work involves the processing of a batch of parts with traditional media that is recovered and reused (for continual blasting in an automated fashion) while the parts are in a frozen state in a chamber that is cooled with liquid nitrogen. This is generally referred to “Cryogenic Deflashing and/or Deburring”. The parts may be placed in a perforated drum which itself is rotated about an axis. The parts to be treated and the traditional media which will treat these parts may be placed in the rotating drum. The interaction of the traditional media and the parts will act to remove burrs, flash, etc. The traditional media may be of a type that can be recycled and reused during the process, but a problem with this technique is that the parts, once processed, will likely need to be “cleaned” to remove all traces of the traditional media which may be harmful to the parts after processing. Since the traditional media itself may be very much smaller than the parts, traces may remain after the process has been completed. A number of companies produce such devices, including in no special order of presentation: C.D.S. Inc, C S P Cryomatic and Leonard Enterprises, Inc.
Another technique that is occasionally used involves the manual blasting of individual parts with a stream of dry ice particles to remove undesired characteristics of the part, such as burrs or flash, as mentioned above. In this technique, the part and the dry ice delivery systems are manipulated so that the spray pattern of dry ice is presented to the areas of the part that require the finishing process. This is generally referred to as “Dry Ice Blasting/Blast Cleaning or CO2 Cleaning/Blasting”. Machines are commercially available which will present dry ice particles that are generally propelled by compressed air and are then “blasted” against a part. A similar technique shoots CO2 liquid (or gas) through a suitable nozzle system to cause the CO2 to change state and solidify so that it is projected (or shot) at the parts to be treated. One downside of this technique is that it is not suitable for large scale (or batch) processing of parts. A number of companies already manufacture and distribute such “ice blasting” devices, including Cold Jet, LLC which utilizes dry ice as the delivery medium and Cool Clean Technologies, LLC which utilizes a tank of liquid CO2 as the delivery medium.
There are “pros” and “cons” to each of the foregoing methods. These include, in connection with the cryogenic deflashing technique:
Pros
Cons
In an aspect, an apparatus for treating parts to remove imperfections in the parts includes a chamber; a rotatable basket within the chamber; a source of liquified cold fluid; a source of dry ice particles; a programmed controller to control rotation of the basket, activation of the liquified cold fluid, and activation of the dry ice particles. The controller is programmed to activate rotation of the rotatable basket, activate the source of liquified cold fluid and activate the dry ice particles to treat parts in the rotatable basket.
In another aspect, the source of liquified cold fluid is selected from one or more of: liquid nitrogen or liquid CO2 and the source of dry ice particles is one or more of: dry ice blocks or liquified CO2.
In a further aspect, the programmable controller first activates the rotatable basket, then activates the source of liquified cold fluid to deliver the cold fluid into the chamber and then activates the source of dry ice particles to cause the dry ice particles to impinge on and treat the parts within the basket. The impingement of dry ice particles on the parts causes the removal of one or more of: flash or burrs on the parts.
In yet another aspect, the apparatus further includes one or more nozzles operatively connected to the source of dry ice particles; the one or more nozzles are positioned to direct the dry ice particles into the interior volume of the basket. The one or more nozzles may be mounted into a wall of the chamber. The rotatable basket may be open in at least one end thereof, rotates about an axis of rotation, and the one or more nozzles are positioned to direct dry ice particles into the open end of the basket substantially along the axis of rotation.
In another aspect, a method for treating parts to remove imperfections in the parts includes:
providing a chamber; providing a rotatable basket within the chamber; providing parts whose imperfections are to be removed in the basket; providing a source of liquified cold fluid; providing a source of dry ice particles; providing a programmed controller to control rotation of the basket, activation of the liquified cold fluid, and activation of the dry ice particles; the method further includes the controller activating rotation of the rotatable basket, activating the source of liquified cold fluid and activating the dry ice particles to treat parts in the rotatable basket.
In a further aspect, the sequence of activation is: rotation of the basket, activation of the source of liquified cold fluid and activation of the dry ice particles. In addition, the sequence of activation is: rotation of the basket, activation of the source of dry ice particles and activation of the liquified cold fluid.
In yet a further aspect, the dry ice particles impinge on the parts and remove one or more of: flash, burrs or other imperfections. Also, the dry ice particles sublimate after impinging on the parts and the method is performed without the presence of traditional media.
The present invention combines elements of both the “Cryogenic Deflashing and Deburring” method and the “Dry Ice Blasting” method by combining the beneficial elements of both into a new machine and technique that brings significant advantages over either prior method independently. By combining the two techniques, batch processing of large amounts of parts may be achieved, while at the same time the traditional media is eliminated. The stream of dry ice particles, once they impact on the part or parts, sublimate and turn to gas (vapor), thus leaving no residue as is the case with the types of traditional media discussed herein.
The present invention provides that the parts that require finishing may be placed into an insulated chamber (or compartment) that is equipped with a mechanized method for tumbling or otherwise presenting the parts to a blast stream of dry ice and that said chamber (or cabinet) be capable of achieving and maintaining a preprogrammed temperature in a closed and contained environment.
Temperature may be controlled and maintained by closed loop automated monitoring. The blasting stream may be in a permanent, semi-permanent (e.g. adjustable) or variable (over a random or preprogrammed pattern) location and may involve more than one source of dry ice delivery (e.g. opposite sides, multiple spray patterns, fixed and variable, etc.).
The pattern of dry ice may be adjustable as to the quantity of ice delivered, the size of the dry ice particles, the source of the dry ice, (e.g. liquid CO2 or solid CO2), as well as in its density of coverage and the pressure of application.
In certain applications, control of other factors (beside temperature) in the chamber may be incorporated, such as the air pressure, air flow direction and volume, air input, air input temperature, exhaust flow, exhaust location, etc.
Turning now to the drawing figures,
An exhaust system 16 removes gases after processing within the chamber 10. A programmable controller 17 may be incorporated to control such parameters as rates of turn of the perforated rotating drum (described above and below in greater detail in reference to
Turning now to
Further, in
The nozzle 29 is shown in
Thus, in operation, parts to be treated may be placed into the chamber 10 and the drum/basket 18, and the basket rotated under the control of the programmable controller 17. Then, the source of liquid nitrogen 12 may be activated so that a flow of liquid nitrogen (which will morph to a very cold gas) will envelope the parts 27 rotating in the basket 18. After that the dry ice supply 14 may be activated, again under the control of the programmable controller 17, so that dry ice particles will impinge on the parts 27 and thus remove burrs, flash or other imperfections from the parts. The burrs, flash or other imperfections will be expected to fall through openings in the basket and all to the bottom of the chamber to be removed at some juncture, thus leaving the parts free of burrs, flash or other imperfections but also the traditional media of the prior art devices. It is to be understood that the sequence of activating rotation of the basket, activating the liquid nitrogen source and activating the dry ice source may be sequenced in any suitable manner or order of activation.
Once the operation has been completed, the parts are removed. No cleaning of media from the parts is required with the present invention. While
The present application relates to and claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/329,618, filed Apr. 29, 2016, the entire contents of which is herein incorporated by reference.
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102005012377 | Sep 2006 | DE |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20170312885 A1 | Nov 2017 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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62329618 | Apr 2016 | US |