ES2956851A1 - VISCOUS MASS DRIVE PUMP WITH SOLID ELEMENTS IN SUSPENSION (Machine-translation by Google Translate, not legally binding) - Google Patents

Abstract

Drive pump (1) of viscous mass with solid elements in suspension with a determined maximum size, comprising a driving wheel (2) and a driven wheel (3) housed in a pump body (4) with an inlet (4.1) and an outlet (4.2) of the viscous mass, in which when a tooth (2.1) of the driving wheel (2) is in contact with a tooth (3.1) of the driven wheel (3), the minimum distance (5) between the tooth (2.1) of the driving wheel (2) and the adjacent tooth (3.2) of the driven wheel (3) allows a loose accommodation of a solid element (12) in suspension of the viscous mass and in case be a metallic element, it will be blocked preventing it from coming out through its outlet (4.2). (Machine-translation by Google Translate, not legally binding)

Description

DESCRIPTION

VISCOUS MASS DRIVE PUMP WITH SOLID ELEMENTS IN

SUSPENSION

Technical sector

The present invention is related to the industry dedicated to the transfer of a viscous mass with elements in suspension, more specifically to the pump used to drive said viscous mass, for example, an olive paste with olive pits in suspension, which is It drives from a thermomixer to a decantation centrifuge to obtain the oil in the oil factories, also called oil mills.

State of the art

In oil mills, the process of extracting oil from the olive, after a crushing process carried out in a mill, is poured into a thermomixer where it is mixed with water to form an “olive mass” that is subsequently taken to a centrifuge for separation and extraction of the oil. For this, a drive system is necessary that carries the olive mass with a high stone content, from the thermomixer to the decanting centrifuge or decanter.

For this purpose, different types of delivery pumps are used, such as piston pumps, in which it is difficult for a blockage to occur. However, in this type of pump the flow is not constant, being a necessary requirement for the decanter does its job correctly. And therefore, not being optimal for this purpose.

Another pump used for the same purpose is the gear pump, which in this case does present a continuous flow, however, it presents continuous blockage problems at the inlet and between the teeth because the olive pits present in the viscous mass of olives cause clogging and blockage of this type of pumps, being rejected for this purpose and used exclusively for fluids of a certain viscosity, but without solid elements in suspension.

The use of lobe pumps is also known, which provide a constant flow to the decanter and do not allow metallic foreign bodies to pass through during transfer, such as screws or sheets of various kinds. However, in practice it has been proven that they present frequent internal jams due to the olive pits present in the viscous olive mass. This circumstance forces the production line to stop to solve the blockage, which normally requires disassembling the pump to eliminate said blockage and subsequent assembly to start it up again. These problems cause production to slow down, resulting in economic losses that make most oil mills reject them.

Another drive system usually used is helical screw pumps. This type of pumps have the advantage of driving viscous mass with a large amount of solids in suspension. However, this type of pumps show gradual wear of the stator, so over time they lose flow, and when this wear is very pronounced, they require a complete replacement of the stator, being a complicated and economically expensive task, requiring a periodic maintenance that increases economic costs. But they also present an even bigger problem, which is that they allow unwanted solids to pass through, such as the previously mentioned screws or sheets, which would pass into the decanter. These elements can damage the decanter and cause breakdowns that require very expensive repairs, and in the event of serious breakdowns, the decanter will be unusable for a long period of time as it requires very complex and laborious repairs.

In view of the described disadvantages or limitations presented by the currently existing solutions, a solution is necessary that allows a drive of viscous mass with elements in suspension without blockages and that prevents the entry of metallic foreign bodies, while at the same time provides a continuous flow.

Object of the invention

In order to meet this objective and solve the technical problems discussed so far, in addition to providing additional advantages that can be derived later, the present invention provides a viscous mass drive pump with solid elements in suspension with a determined maximum size. , comprising a driving wheel and a driven wheel housed in a pump body with an inlet and a outlet of the viscous mass, in which when a tooth of the driving wheel is in contact with a tooth of the driven wheel, the minimum distance between the tooth of the driving wheel and the tooth of the driven wheel allows a clearance of a solid element in suspension of the viscous mass.

The maximum size of the solid elements in suspension means the maximum size of the elements measured by taking a sample of the viscous mass. In oil mills, said maximum size would correspond to the average size of an olive pit split by the mill upstream of the entrance to the delivery pump, and an average dimension between 4 and 6mm, preferably 5mm, could be taken as said size of split olive. This is not a limiting example, and the delivery pump object of the present invention can be used to drive any viscous mass with suspended elements of known size.

Minimum separation distance between teeth can be understood as the minimum distance between opposing surfaces of a tooth of the drive wheel and an adjacent tooth of the driven wheel, at the moment in which contact occurs between a tooth of the drive wheel. and a tooth of the driven wheel, the adjacent tooth of the driven wheel being understood as the tooth following the first tooth of the driven wheel that contacts the driving wheel, so as to allow a loose passage of suspended elements, in this particular case of split olive pit.

As mentioned, a non-limiting example of application would be in an oil mill in which the viscous olive mass contained in the thermomixer, resulting from crushing and the addition of water, must be propelled towards a decanting centrifuge or decanter. Thanks to the configuration of this delivery pump, establishing said minimum separation distance between teeth, blockages of the pump are avoided since there is a housing with sufficient clearance so that the elements in suspension, in this case the maximum size of a split olive pit can circulate without blocking the rotation of the pump wheels.

This minimum separation distance also allows free movement of the driven wheel with respect to the driving wheel with which it is possible to advance the contact tooth of the driven wheel with respect to the tooth of the driving wheel. In this way, the loss of contact between teeth is possible due to the presence of some solid element in suspension housed between them, forcing the driven wheel to advance freely by the thrust produced by a solid element which in turn is driven by the tooth of the driving wheel. In this way, it is possible to adapt at all times to the size and quantity of elements present in that area of separation between teeth, thus avoiding blocking between wheels as could occur in gear or lobe pumps in which there is no such clearance between teeth. .

In this way, maintenance work and stops are reduced, and production is increased by avoiding stops that could occur due to blockages caused by the wheels blocking when the olive pits become wedged between the teeth or between a tooth and the entrance to the bomb. This in turn allows a continuous flow of the viscous olive mass necessary for the proper functioning of the decanter.

According to a characteristic of the invention, the pump body where both drive wheels are housed comprises inside, at the entrance to the pump, at least one edge-shaped protrusion that, when passing a cutting edge, also forms the edge of the tooth. driving and/or driven wheel, provides a cutting effect.

Thanks to this configuration, when an olive pit becomes trapped at the entrance to the pump between the body and the wheel, instead of blocking the pump causing it to stop, said pit breaks again and the wheel continues to rotate without jamming occurs, in addition to reducing the size of the broken stone, which avoids major problems in the transfer of the viscous olive mass through the pump. This avoids unnecessary stops that increase maintenance work and, consequently, production costs.

On the other hand, this configuration allows that when there are foreign elements in the viscous mass such as metal elements such as screws or plates, in their interaction between the projection of the pump and the edge of the wheel, a retention effect of said elements is provided. that become trapped, causing the pump to stop. This circumstance protects the decanter from breakdowns by preventing this type of elements from reaching its interior.

In order to be able to remove these foreign elements that would be retained at the inlet or for other maintenance tasks, it is planned that the pump understands, prior to entrance and in connection with it, a maintenance drawer with at least one access to its interior, preferably in the form of lids. This configuration allows access to the position of the pump where the foreign elements that need to be removed to solve the blockage would be retained. This way you avoid having to disassemble the pump, saving on downtime.

Preferably, it is planned that said maintenance drawer includes a tap for supplying water to the interior that will facilitate the cleaning tasks of the pump without disassembling it.

According to another characteristic of the invention, the pump body comprises a front cover that allows the extraction of the wheel axle, which allows easy assembly and maintenance.

Description of the figures

Figure 1 shows a schematic view of an oil mill installation with a drive pump that is the object of the present invention.

Figure 2 shows a perspective view of the pump object of the invention.

Figure 3 shows a schematic front view of the drive pump with a section for viewing the interior of the drive pump.

Figure 4a shows a detailed view of a state-of-the-art pump with the viscous mass with solid elements in suspension.

Figure 4b shows a detailed view like the previous one for the drive pump object of the invention.

Figures 5a, 5b and 5c show a detailed view of the pump in different embodiments of the invention to achieve the minimum clearance necessary to avoid clogging.

Figure 5d shows a detailed view in which a bone is interposed between a tooth of the driven wheel and a tooth of the driving wheel at the moment of contact.

Figure 6 shows a schematic perspective view of the delivery pump in which a partial cut has been made to visualize a situation of jamming of a metal element.

Figure 7 is a schematic view in enlarged detail of the interaction of an interior projection of the pump and the edge of a wheel tooth with an olive pit.

Figure 8 shows a perspective view of a detail of the pump where a front cover is visible that houses some seals for the pump wheel axles.

Detailed description of the invention

In view of the aforementioned figures, and in accordance with the numbering adopted, an example of a preferred embodiment of the invention can be observed, which includes the parts and elements indicated and described in detail below.

In Figure 1 you can see an example of a practical implementation of the drive pump (1) object of the present invention for an oil extraction mill. Thus, as can be seen in said figure 1, in a mill (14) the grinding is produced and sent to a thermomixer (9) where it is mixed with hot water to form a viscous mass that comprises solid elements in suspension with a determined maximum size, in this case the solid element (12) being a split olive pit, considering an average size of the split pit of 5mm.

Said viscous mass of olive paste must be taken to a decanting centrifuge or decanter (10) in which the olive stones (12), the water and the final oil are separated. For this purpose, a delivery pump (1) is provided that, through a conduit, sucks the olive paste contained in the thermomixer (9) and sends it through another conduit to the decanter (10) with a continuous flow.

This drive pump (1) consists of a pump body (4) preferably in the shape of an eight and inside which is housed a driving wheel (2) driven by a motor (11) and a driven wheel (3), reaching the olive mass from the thermomixer (9) to said drive wheels (2, 3) through an inlet (4.1), and exiting towards the decanter (10) through an outlet (4.2).

These gear-shaped wheels (2, 3) comprise teeth that drive the olive mass, however, in this transfer, as happens in gear pumps, the olive pits (12) can get stuck between the teeth and produce a pump stop. This situation can be visualized in Figure 4a of a state-of-the-art gear pump in which between the teeth (2.1, 3.1, 3.2, 2.2) you can see how the olive pits (12) get stuck. As can be seen in Figure 4b of a practical embodiment of the invention, due to the configuration of the drive pump (1), there is a separation between teeth (2.1, 3.2) that allows the passage of a bone with ease. of olive (12).

Said configuration is achieved by determining a minimum separation (5) between a first tooth (2.1) of the driving wheel (2) and an adjacent tooth or second tooth (3.2) of the driven wheel (3), at the moment in which during the rotation of the wheels (2, 3) the first tooth (2.1) is in contact with a first tooth (3.1) of the driven wheel (3). In the practical case represented in the figures, in addition to said contact between the first tooth (2.1) of the driving wheel (2) and the first tooth (3.1) of the driven wheel (3), a contact is simultaneously produced between the second tooth or tooth adjacent to the previous one (2.2) of the driving wheel (2) and a second tooth or tooth adjacent to the previous one (3.2) of the driven wheel, (figure 4b). Therefore establishing a separation between a first tooth (2.1) of the driving wheel (2) and an adjacent tooth (3.2) of the driven wheel.

As seen in Fig. 5d, if there was any bone between the teeth (2.1) and (3.1), the minimum distance (5) would be distributed between both sides of the tooth (2.1), due to the free movement it has. the driven wheel (3) with respect to the driving one (2), adapting at all times to the size and number of bones present, being, in this case, the bone itself (12) that transmits the movement to the tooth (3.1) of the driven wheel (3), this being pushed by the tooth (2.1) of the driving wheel (2), thus avoiding the locking of the wheels (2, 3).

To determine said minimum separation (5) according to a design option represented in Figure 5a, it is planned to reduce the number of teeth of the wheels (2, 3) with respect to a number of teeth of a usual gear pump of the same characteristics. Of In this way, there is a minimum separation (5) that allows the transfer of an olive pit (12) with sufficient clearance so that it does not get stuck between the teeth (2.1) and (3.2). According to an example of this embodiment, the minimum number of teeth has been considered five, as can be seen in Figure 3.

According to another design option, as can be seen in Figure 5b, to determine the minimum separation (5) between the first tooth (2.1) of the driving wheel and the second tooth or adjacent tooth of the driven wheel (3.2), it is It is planned to increase the distance of the axles (6) of both wheels (2, 3) with respect to the distance of a usual gear pump with the same characteristics. In this way, the minimum separation (5) is achieved that allows the passage of an olive pit (12) with ease, while ensuring continuous contact between teeth that guarantees a continuous flow of the olive mass.

As can be seen in Figure 5c, another design option to define the minimum separation (5) between teeth is to reduce the thickness of the teeth.

In the three previous examples, said minimum separation (5) has been considered as that defined by the chord length of the arc formed by the extreme edge (2.3) of the tooth (2.1) of the drive wheel (2) in its path to the adjacent tooth (3.2) of the driven wheel (3). This separation (5) will be necessary to adapt to the needs of each type of mass to be driven, choosing in each case the number of teeth on the rotors, their length, the distance between axles and the section of each tooth, the alternatives being previously exposed combinable to determine the appropriate separation (5), said minimum distance (5) being able to be increased to a greater separation to allow the passage of a large amount of olive pit (12). The option of practical implementation is also contemplated in which only the simultaneous contact of a single tooth of the driving wheel (2) and a single tooth of the driven wheel (3) occurs without simultaneous contact of four teeth occurring. two by two, so that the minimum separation (5) will be defined as the minimum distance marked from the perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the first tooth of the driving wheel (2) to the adjacent tooth (3.2) of the driven wheel (3). .

According to the practical embodiments represented, the teeth of the wheels (2, 3) will preferably be in the form of blades with a rectangular section, without being a limiting configuration, and may, for example, be with a rectangular section with a posterior chamfer. that better guarantees that there is always contact between the edge of one wheel and the surface of another, that provides a continuous flow without knocking, or a rounded rear edge that minimizes friction. Any type of tooth geometry can be used as long as the requirements of the invention of a constant flow and minimum clearance between teeth are met.

According to an alternative embodiment of the invention, it is provided that the pump body (4) comprises inside a protrusion (4.3) in the form of an edge that passes through a cutting edge (2.4, 3.4) of the tooth (2.1, 3.1). , produces a cutting effect that, if it coincides with an olive pit (12), breaks it and prevents jamming, producing a mill effect, (fig.

7).

Said projection can be formed in the pump body itself (4), or be an annex such as a plate with a cutting edge at its end (4.3) fixed to the pump body (4). This last design alternative allows its replacement in case of deterioration.

This configuration of protrusion (4.3) is advantageous to prevent the entry of foreign elements into the pump that could reach the decanter (10), since in the event that, for example, a screw (13) as can be seen in figure 6, this would be retained between the projection (4.3) and the tooth (2.1), intentionally blocking the pump (1) since by not being able to break it, the wheels would be blocked, stopping the engine, so that said screw (13) does not enter inside, which would be removed manually.

According to an alternative of the invention, for maintenance work and especially for the removal of foreign elements that block the pump (1) such as the previously mentioned screw (13), it is planned that the delivery pump (1) comprises a maintenance drawer (7) that has access to its interior. Preferably, said access will be through at least one cover (7.1). Thanks to this configuration, it will not be necessary to disassemble the delivery pump (1), it is only necessary to remove the corresponding cover (7.1) from the maintenance drawer (7).

Additionally, said maintenance drawer (7) will have a cleaning tap (8), or water inlet that will facilitate the cleaning of the pump (1) without having to disassemble it.

According to a design option, as can be seen in Figures 2 and 8, the pump body (4) comprises a front cover (4.4), which allows the extraction of the axles (6) of the wheels ( 2. 3). The pump body (4) will be closed by said front cover (4.3) using screws, said cover comprising two retainers (4.5) with a corresponding gasket to ensure its tightness. In this way, the exit of the axles (6) is allowed, anchoring the axles (6) to the front cover (4.4) using bearings (4.6). The configuration of both this front cover (4.4) and the pump body (4) may be in the shape of an eight as represented in figures 2 and 8, or with any other geometry such as the rectangular one represented in figures 3 and 6.

Claims (5)

1.- Drive pump (1) of viscous mass with solid elements in suspension with a determined maximum size, comprising a driving wheel (2) and a driven wheel (3) housed in a pump body (4) with an inlet (4.1) and an outlet (4.2) of the viscous mass, characterized in that when a tooth (2.1) of the driving wheel (2) is in contact with a tooth (3.1) of the driven wheel (3), the minimum distance (5) between the tooth (2.1) of the driving wheel (2) and the adjacent tooth (3.2) of the driven wheel (3) allows a loose accommodation of a solid element (12) in suspension of the viscous mass. 2.- Drive pump (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the pump body (4) comprises inside, at the inlet of the pump (1), at least one protrusion (4.3) in the shape edge that, when a cutting edge (2.4, 3.4) passes along the edge of the wheel tooth (2, 3), provides a cutting effect. 3.- Drive pump (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that upstream of the inlet (4.1) to the pump it comprises a maintenance box (7) in connection with the inlet (4.1) to the pump, with at least one access to its interior. 4.- Drive pump (1) according to the previous claim, characterized in that the maintenance drawer (7) comprises a cleaning tap (8). 5.- Drive pump (1) according to any one of the previous claims, characterized in that the pump body (4) comprises a front cover (4.4) that allows the extraction of the axles (6) of the wheels (2. 3).