Classifications

• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F26—DRYING
  • F26B—DRYING SOLID MATERIALS OR OBJECTS BY REMOVING LIQUID THEREFROM
  • F26B13/00—Machines and apparatus for drying fabrics, fibres, yarns, or other materials in long lengths, with progressive movement
  • F26B13/10—Arrangements for feeding, heating or supporting materials; Controlling movement, tension or position of materials
  • F26B13/108—Arrangements for feeding, heating or supporting materials; Controlling movement, tension or position of materials using one or more blowing devices, e.g. nozzle bar, the effective area of which is adjustable to the width of the material
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F26—DRYING
  • F26B—DRYING SOLID MATERIALS OR OBJECTS BY REMOVING LIQUID THEREFROM
  • F26B21/00—Arrangements or duct systems, e.g. in combination with pallet boxes, for supplying and controlling air or gases for drying solid materials or objects
  • F26B21/004—Nozzle assemblies; Air knives; Air distributors; Blow boxes

Definitions

• the present invention relates to an air-knife dryer, particularly for glass sheets and the like.
• Machines for industrial washing of glass sheets and the like are currently known which are typically divided into a washing area and a drying area.
• Such machines which can have a horizontal or vertical working position, can have several dimensions, which are determined by the maximum size of the sheet to be worked and can vary from less than 500mm to more than 4000 mm; the washing machines in practice can process any size of the sheet up to their maximum width.
• sheet drying is performed by means of rectilinear air-knife blowers, which are supplied with air under pressure along their entire length.
• an air stream equal to the stream that exits from the knives must reach the inside of the blowers, maintaining an adequate internal pressure in order to sustain the drying air jet.
• the aim of the present invention is to provide a dryer, particularly for glass sheets or the like, that makes it possible to save energy in comparison to the background art if the processed sheet is smaller than the maximum acceptable dimensions.
• an object of the present invention is to provide a dryer that is structurally simple and economically competitive with respect to the background art.
• an air-knife dryer particularly for glass sheets and the like, comprising air blower means for generating at least one pair of mutually opposite air knives which are directed toward at least one sheet to be dried, characterized in that it comprises means for throttling said blower means to adjust the useful width of said at least one pair of air knives.
• Figure 1 is a front elevation view of a first embodiment of an air-knife dryer, particularly for glass sheets and the like, according to the invention
• Figure 2 is a transverse sectional view of the dryer shown in Figure 1, taken along the line H-II;
• Figure 3 is a front elevation view of a second embodiment of an air- knife dryer, particularly for glass sheets and the like, according to the invention.
• Figure 4 is a transverse sectional view of the dryer shown in Figure 3, taken along the line IV-IV;
• Figure 5 is a front elevation view of a third embodiment of an air- knife dryer, particularly for glass sheets and the like, according to the invention.
• Figure 6 is a transverse sectional view of the dryer shown in Figure 5, taken along the line VI-VI;
• Figure 7 is a transverse sectional view of the dryer shown in Figure 5, taken along the line VII-VII;
• Figure 8 is a front elevation view of a fourth embodiment of an air- knife dryer, particularly for glass sheets and the like, according to the invention;
• Figure 9 is a transverse sectional view of the dryer shown in Figure 8, taken along the line IX-IX. Ways of carrying out the Invention
• the air-knife dryer particularly for glass sheets and the like, generally designated by the reference numerals Ia, Ib, Ic and Id respectively in its four illustrated embodiments, comprises air blower means 2 for generating at least one pair of mutually opposite air knives 3 which are directed toward at least one sheet 4 made of glass, or other material, to be dried.
• the dryer Ia, Ib, Ic and Id comprises means 5 for throttling the blowers 2 to adjust the width of the pair of air knives 3.
• the air knives 3 have an air stream speed and a pressure of impact with the sheet 4 that are substantially equal to predefined values.
• the blower means 2 and the throttling means 5 comprise respectively a pair of rectilinear blowers 6, which are arranged opposite each other, and fixed partitions 7, which are arranged inside the rectilinear blowers 2 and at preset distances along the direction of extension of said rectilinear blowers 6 for delimiting two distinct chambers, which can be supplied selectively or simultaneously. More precisely, in this first embodiment the chambers delimited by the partitions 7 are fed independently of each other by the first and second compressed air inlets 8 and 9 arranged at the ends of the rectilinear blowers 6.
• the blower means 2 and the throttling means 5 comprise respectively the pair of rectilinear blowers 6, which are arranged opposite each other, and movable partitions 11, which can be arranged inside the rectilinear blowers 10 along straight guides 12 which are substantially parallel to the direction of extension of said rectilinear blowers 6 for isolation of at least one sector thereof from the inner air flow.
• the movement of the movable partitions 11 can, for example, be achieved manually or automatically.
• motor means 13 for moving the partitions 11 which comprise, for example, electric motors which are associated with belt transmission means 14, which are connected to the movable partitions 11 and unwind continuously on a driving pulley 10, which is associated with the motor means 13 at a first end of the rectilinear blowers 6, and on a return pulley 16 at a second end of the rectilinear blowers 6, which is opposite to the first end.
• the rectilinear blowers 6 can be supplied through a single pair of inlets 15 of compressed air, arranged on one side of the rectilinear blowers 6.
• the blower means 2 and the throttling means 5 comprise, respectively, the pair of rectilinear blowers 6 arranged opposite each other and flow control elements 17 arranged below the rectilinear blowers 6 at at least one sector of their outlets.
• the movement of the flow control elements 17 can be provided, for example, manually or automatically by way of actuation and selection means 18 for at least partially blocking the discharge ports of the rectilinear blowers 6.
• the flow control elements 17 comprise substantially L-shaped vanes which are hinged laterally to the rectilinear blowers 6 at the end of the stem of the L-shape for the selective positioning of the foot of the L-shape at the discharge ports of the sector to be blocked.
• actuation and selection means 18 which can comprise, for example, hydraulic pistons which are operatively connected to the vanes for their rotation and the consequent blocking of the discharge ports of the sector to be blocked by means of linkages 19, which are hinged both to the vanes and to the hydraulic pistons.
• the rectilinear blowers 6 can be fed merely by means of the pair of compressed air inlets 15 arranged on one side of the rectilinear blowers 6.
• the blower means 2 can comprise a plurality of pairs of rectilinear blowers
• Such chambers can in fact be fed independently of each other through the first and second independent compressed air inlets 8 and 9 arranged at the ends of the rectilinear blowers 20.
• the blowers 2 and the throttling means 5 can comprise respectively the pair of rectilinear blowers 6 and partitions that can be deactivated. Such partitions can be arranged inside the pair of rectilinear blowers 6 to isolate at least one sector of each one of the rectilinear blowers 6 from the internal air stream originating from individual supply inlets 15, one for each one of the rectilinear blowers 6.
• these partitions which can be deactivated can consist for example of shutters or vanes that can be actuated manually or automatically so as to provide a two-stage valve, which is either fully open or fully closed, inside the rectilinear blowers 6.
• the partitions can in fact be inserted or extracted within the rectilinear blowers 6 at right angles to the longitudinal direction of the rectilinear blowers 6, so as to block or free the inner air flow.
• the rectilinear blowers 6 can be supplied by means of a single pair of compressed air inlets 15 arranged on one side of the rectilinear blowers 6.
• the materials used may be any according to requirements and to the state of the art.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Textile Engineering (AREA)
• Drying Of Solid Materials (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

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Country Status (3)

Cited By (6)

Families Citing this family (21)

Family Cites Families (10)

• 2009
  • 2009-02-03 IT ITMI2009A000128A patent/IT1400687B1/it active
  • 2009-11-11 EP EP09760131A patent/EP2394123A1/en not_active Withdrawn
  • 2009-11-11 WO PCT/EP2009/065010 patent/WO2010088975A1/en active Application Filing

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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