The present disclosure generally relates to vibratory process equipment and, more particularly, to vibratory conveyors for transporting work pieces in a curved path.
Vibratory spiral conveyors are generally known in the art. Such apparatus typically includes a spiral deck, formed in the shape of a helix, and a source of vibration operatively coupled to the deck. The spiral conveyor may be a brute force system, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,927,683 to Carrier, or a two-mass system, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,024,320 to Musschoot.
Spiral conveyors are often used to heat or cool work pieces or granular material. With foundry castings, for example, red hot castings (which may have a temperature of approximately 1000 degrees F. or more) are fed into the spiral conveyor. Cool air is directed over the castings as the castings travel up the spiral, thereby to reduce the temperature of the castings. Conventional spiral conveyors direct air from a center axis of the conveyor outwardly, with or without nozzles for directing the air toward the castings. The air is exhausted out an exterior of the spiral conveyor.
In one conventional design, air is generally directed radially across the spiral conveyor from the center core inlets to the outer periphery outlets. As a result, the inner facing side of the castings (or the inner row, should more than one row of castings be fed into the conveyor) will receive a lower temperature air than the outer facing side (or outer row).
In another conventional design, both the air inlet and air outlet are positioned at the outer periphery of the spiral conveyor. As the air enters the spiral conveyor area, it passes about the center core in at least two separate sub-streams. The air then exhausts from the spiral conveyor through a common outlet.
The castings can include foundry sand that may become entrained in the cooling air stream. Typically very light particles, such as small grains of sand or sprue, are picked up by the air stream. Consequently, a filter house is typically connected to the outlet air stream to collect the particles before the air is exhausted to atmosphere. The filter house is typically provided as a separate unit, and is located outside of the spiral conveyor, thereby requiring additional space for the conveying equipment.
Referring to
A housing 15 is provided for enclosing the spiral deck 16 and defining a conveyor chamber 17. As best shown with reference to
In the illustrated embodiment, the spiral deck 16 is oriented to vertically elevate work pieces, such as hot castings, from the inlet 24 to the outlet 26. The work pieces may be transferred from an origination point, such as a molding line, to the inlet 24 by any conveying means, such as by a linear vibratory or other type of conveyor (not shown). The spiral deck 16 is formed in a helical pattern so that, as the work pieces move circumferentially around the deck, they are also elevated in the vertical direction. At the outlet 26, the work piece may be deposited onto an outlet transport (not shown), which may also be a conveyor. While the conveyor 10 is described herein as conveying the work pieces vertically upward, the inlet and outlet may be reversed so that the work pieces are conveyed vertically downward along the spiral deck 16.
When viewed in elevational cross-section, as shown in
The vibration generators 22 may be controlled in any known fashion to produce the desired vibrational motion of the trough frame 12 and coupled spiral deck 16 to advance the work pieces along the deck 16. For example, the motors may be rotated in opposite directions (i.e., counter-rotated) and controlled to maintain a desired phase angle between the eccentric weights. While the illustrated embodiment is a two mass system, it will be appreciated that the conveyor 10 may be provided as a single mass or brute force system.
An air distribution system is provided for directing air over the work pieces as they travel along the spiral deck 16. As best shown in
A plurality of air distribution chambers 42 is attached to a bottom side of the spiral deck 16 and communicates with each vertical air conduit 36. The air distribution chambers may be oriented to extend generally horizontally and, as best shown in
Each air distribution chamber 42 includes a plurality of spaced nozzles 44 oriented to direct air flow downwardly toward the next lower tier. The nozzles 44 may be apertures formed in a bottom of the air distribution chambers 42. The apertures are arranged across at least a portion of a lateral width “W” of the spiral deck 16 to form an air distribution pattern. In the illustrated embodiment, the apertures are generally equally spaced across the entire lateral width “W” of the spiral deck 16.
The vertical air conduits 36 and horizontal air chambers 42 may be formed of structural steel members, such as channels and angles, to provide structural support to the spiral conveyor 10. In this case, the conduits 36 and chambers 42 provide the dual functions of air distribution and structural support.
The vibratory conveyor 10 further provides for exhaust of air out of the conveyor chamber. As best shown in
In operation, the air vacuum source pulls air through the inlet ducts 32 to the inlet air plenum 30. The air stream flows from the plenum through the air conduits 36 and air distribution chambers 42 for discharge through the nozzles 44, which evenly distribute air across the entire lateral width “W” of the spiral deck 16. The air vacuum source is preferably sized so that the air stream discharged from each nozzle 44 has a velocity sufficiently high to create non-laminar flow around the work pieces. By creating a non-laminar air flow, the heat transfer coefficient for the system is increased, thereby increasing heat transfer, which is beneficial for both heating and cooling applications. The air exits the conveyor chamber 17 through the outlet openings 54 and into the central chamber 56, where it is discharged through the exhaust outlet 58.
The conveyor 10 may include a fines collection system for collecting any fines entrained in the air stream passing through the conveyor chamber 17. The objects or work pieces loaded into the conveyor 10 may include unwanted debris, such as sand, sprue, or other fines material. To remove this debris from the air stream, the fines collection system may include a catch floor 70 extending across a bottom of the central chamber 56 and coupled to the housing 15 below the lowest outlet opening 54. In the illustrated embodiment, the catch floor includes a conical center portion 72 attached to a frusto-conical outer portion 74. A fines discharge opening 76 is formed at an outer periphery of the outer portion 74 and communicates with a fines discharge chute 78 (
In operation, air is discharged from the nozzles 44 at a relatively high velocity, so that fines may become dislodged from the work pieces and entrained in the air stream. The air stream then passes through the outlet openings 54, which causes a pressure drop and associated reduction in velocity of the air stream as it enters the central chamber 56. The reduced velocity causes the fines entrained in the air stream to drop to the catch floor 70. The vibratory motion of the spiral deck 16 and attached catch floor 70 moves the particles toward an outer periphery of the catch floor outer portion 74. The circular component of the vibratory motion conveys the particles circumferentially about the floor periphery until the particles reach the discharge opening 76, at which point they travel down the discharge chute 78 and into the air lock 80. The air lock 80 may be operated to periodically interrupt fluid communication between the chute 78 and the central chamber 56, thereby to allow a batch of fines to be discharged from the chute 78 for collection.
The fines collection system utilizes the existing internal structure of the spiral conveyor to collect and discharge particles entrained in the air stream. As a result, separate filter houses are not required and the space required for spiral conveyor apparatus is reduced.
Although certain apparatus constructed in accordance with the teachings of the disclosure have been described herein, the scope of coverage of this patent is not limited thereto. On the contrary, this patent covers all embodiments of the teachings of the disclosure fairly falling within the scope of the appended claims either literally or under the doctrine of equivalents.
This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/745,228, filed Dec. 23, 2003 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,037,048, which claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/436,352, filed Dec. 23, 2002, both of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
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2927683 | Carrier, Jr. | Mar 1960 | A |
3664487 | Ballenger | May 1972 | A |
3789977 | Musschoot | Feb 1974 | A |
3848343 | Musschoot | Nov 1974 | A |
3850288 | Musschoot | Nov 1974 | A |
4140215 | Musschoot | Feb 1979 | A |
4775284 | Musschoot | Oct 1988 | A |
4875343 | Jeppsson | Oct 1989 | A |
4953365 | Lang et al. | Sep 1990 | A |
5024320 | Musschoot | Jun 1991 | A |
5413213 | Golz et al. | May 1995 | A |
6827201 | Markowski et al. | Dec 2004 | B1 |
6948611 | Dumbaugh | Sep 2005 | B2 |
7037048 | Markowski et al. | May 2006 | B2 |
20060054465 | Kraus et al. | Mar 2006 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
4106712 | Jun 1992 | DE |
4228543 | Nov 1993 | DE |
2235756 | Mar 1991 | GB |
10-339571 | Dec 1998 | JP |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20060147277 A1 | Jul 2006 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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60436352 | Dec 2002 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 10745228 | Dec 2003 | US |
Child | 11365362 | US |