FR2790417A1 - Method of splitting slate involves fixing block and applying high pressure water jet in set plane - Google Patents

Abstract

The method of splitting slate involves fixing the block to be split and applying a fine jet (301) of liquid at high pressure on a chosen plane of reference. The jet can be cylindrical or flat and can be of water with a pressure of between one thousand five hundred and three thousand bar. Claims include appliance for water jet cutting

Description

The present invention relates to a method and an installation for slitting

  slate shale blocks to form slates. It is known to split shale blocks to form slates, manually, according to the method

  traditional with or without the assistance of a cleaver or

  the same of this type. It is also known to split the blocks with compressed air. For this, it is necessary to make the seal around the block to be split and strike the edge of the block to form a starting point then inject air under pressure through the knife to open the block. This slitting with compressed air is relatively

  delicate because the blocks must be prepared to

  put to achieve a sufficient seal at the periphery of the block during slitting and prevent air from escaping without bursting the block. This therefore implies that the blocks are sawn regularly and that the sawn faces are well perpendicular to each other and to the fissile plane. This cutting into rectangular parallelepipeds (called repartons)

  makes lose a lot of material on the periphery of the blocks.

  Falls by cutting edges can reach 50%.

  This also supposes that the fissility planes are

  plans, which is rarely the case. They are often surfa-

these lefts.

  Finally, this process only allows the slitting of

  blocks of a certain dimension previously cut in re-

  let's go. In general we split the block in the vicinity of its mid

  place to obtain two substantially equal parts which

  resist substantially equal to the cleavage force.

  On the other hand, this process only makes it very difficult and with a lot of falls, to split small blocks (when there is not enough material left in the center of the block to cut out a piece). Such a split cannot be

do that by hand.

  This considerably reduces the interest of the process.

  due to the low material recovery.

  The present invention aims to develop a

  process and an automatic slitting installation,

  both a very advanced mechanization of the slitting going up to

  than slitting slates one by one. This slitting process is particularly interesting because it applies to even very small blocks of any shape. It makes it possible to dispense with the operation of cutting up into parts.

  To this end, the invention relates to a process of the type defined above, characterized in that - the block to be split is fixed, - a jet of liquid, impulse, very fine and

  high pressure at the location of the chosen slitting plane.

  The method according to the invention makes it possible to separate

  slates one by one from a block of even very irregular shape

  lière. The slates will then be "rounded" in the ap-

  property. The invention makes it possible to treat small blocks which are often abandoned in the waste rock of the quarries or the

  scrap large block cuts.

  This ripping does not require any precaution

  particular to achieve any seal since the quantity of liquid which is preferably water, projected into the cleavage plane to separate a slate, is extremely small. It is a drop of water, projected with considerable kinetic energy since it is supplied at a pressure of the order of 1,500 to 3,000 bars. This drop digs a hole primer like a drill, on a shallow depth on the side of the block then the liquid spreads

  in the cleavage plan and progresses inside it

  this by gradually lifting the slate. This very weak

  lifting does not risk in any case breaking the slate then-

  that unlike the uplift created by the injection of compressed air, only the front of liquid formed by the spread drop forms a very thin wedge which progresses

along the cleavage plane.

  After having thus separated a slate which is evacuated using a suction cup, the injection head is moved the thickness of a slate and a

new shot.

  According to an advantageous characteristic, the li-

  the one used for the pressure pulse is water.

  This water is preferably cleaned and filtered so as not to

  contain impurities. The pressure of the liquid forming the impulse jet is between 1500 and 3000 bars.

  The slitting according to the invention is done by peeling, that is to say by removing one slit after the other, which is

  particularly interesting for reducing the number of manipulations of blocks or parts of blocks. The coat allows the application of the pre-

  hension on top of the block and "pull" the fendi, which participates in the splitting operation by water.

  The "slits" (slates before resized to the finishing dimensions) are removed as and when.

  The invention also relates to an installation for slitting slate shale blocks for implementing the method, this installation being characterized in that it comprises - a support for receiving the block to be slit flat, - a source of high pressure liquid, - an injector with a jet nozzle, supplied by the source of high pressure liquid controlled by an automatic system to emit a pulsed jet, - an actuator of the injector to position the nozzle

  immediate proximity to the fissility plane chosen for the

slot,

- a control circuit.

  According to an advantageous characteristic,

  the actuator includes a block edge detection head.

  This means it is possible to treat very

  tagger irregular blocks and position automatic-

  the nozzle in the immediate vicinity of the place where it should be

do the slitting.

  The injector jet nozzle is preferably

  a sapphire, ruby or diamond nozzle.

  According to an advantageous characteristic, the block support means consists of a four-axis plate (XYZ

  and p) equipped with a block holding system by its side

lower.

  The present invention will be described below in more detail with the aid of the accompanying drawings.

  which: - Figure 1 is a diagram of an installation for implementing the method according to the invention, - Figure 2 is a schematic plan view showing the progression of cleavage in the fissility plane of a block, - Figure 3 is a schematic plan view of the slitting station with its feed, - Figure 4A shows in plan view an embodiment of a reel constituting the support of a block to be slit, - Figure 4B is a side view partially

cut from the drum of Figure 4A.

  According to FIG. 1, the invention relates to a process

  dice and a slate shale block slitting installation

  sier to form slates. According to the process, a

  block 100 to hold it in a manner which will be described later

  laughingly and in the chosen slitting plane a liquid jet is applied, brief, at high pressure, to inject a

  very small amount of liquid with very high energy.

  According to FIG. 2, this pulse of liquid first digs a hole 101 at the point of impact then the front of the liquid progresses along the curved lines 102 in the cleavage plane (represented by the plane of the sheet)

  to separate the two parts of the block. Because of the director-

  tion of the jet, the liquid front does not reach the upper corners 103, 104 in which the separation will be

uprooting.

  The small amount of liquid injected into the slitting plane develops in it a wedge of liquid

  very thin, sufficient to separate the two parts

  of the block without actually lifting one part of the block relative to the other and risking breaking. This allows peeling to a thickness of 5 mm (variable depending on the shales treated) without having to perform a

split by dichotomy.

  The liquid used to form the jet is preferably uncharged water to avoid any trace on the cleavage surfaces and ensure the longevity of the nozzles. According to Figure 1, the installation for implementing the method described above consists of a support

  receiving the block 100 to be slit, from an injector 300 with a nozzle to create the slit jet, a handling device

  400 to take the slits and evacuate them and a control circuit 500 managing the entire installation.10 The support 200 is formed by a plate 201 provided with a relatively flexible coating 202 on which the block rests 100 so that it is well held and above all to prevent it from slipping under the effect of the reaction to the jet emitted by the injector. In its central part, the plate comprises a cavity 203 fitted with a suction cup in which a vacuum is created to complete the holding of the block 100 during the

  slitting operations. The plate is carried by an actuator 204 which can control different movements and in particular translational movements along two axes

  dicular and a rotational movement.

  Finally, a vacuum source 205 is connected in a controlled manner to the cavity 203 to create the vacuum there.

used to hold block 100.

  The injector 300 includes a jet nozzle 301 for

  create a jet either cylindrical or flat, fan-shaped, according to the nature of the work to be carried out.

  The cylindrical jet is a versatile jet, suitable for

  suitable for any type of shale block to be split, i.e.

  say allowing to split blocks whose plane of cli-

  vage are not planar but left.

  The flat jet has the advantage of greater effi-

  cacity but its plan must correspond perfectly to the plan of cleavage. It must not be secant in this plane because otherwise the pressurized fluid is distributed between several planes of

  cleavage with an antagonistic and disruptive effect, does not allow

  so much a good split. Such a flat jet is not suitable for left cleavage planes since the plane of the jet

  then cuts several cleavage planes.

  The nozzle 301, which forms the jet, is a sapphire, ruby or industrial diamond nozzle.

  The movement of the injector 300 is controlled by an actuator 302. This movement takes place in the vertical direction, for example by increment, to pass from a cleavage plane to the next plane. This direction is parallel to

  the figure. The movement can also be horizontal, that is to say perpendicular to the plane of the figure, in order to position the injector and its nozzle 301 in the best position 10 relative to the block 100 which is necessarily irregular in its con-

  tower. In the latter case, the block is animated with a vertical movement. Finally, the injector 300 can be moved in the horizontal direction to bring the nozzle 301 as close

  as possible from the wall of block 100.

  The movement of the actuator, and consequently of the nozzle 300, is controlled by a detection head 303, solidly

  of the actuator 302, or at least in a determined geometric relationship with the injector 300. This sensor head 20 303 makes it possible to position the nozzle 301 as close as possible

  the uneven surface of the block to be split.

  The injector 300 is connected to a source of high pressure liquid (water) 304 which supplies pulses of high pressure fluid, at pressures of the order of 1500

at 3000 bars.

  The block 100 is placed flat on the plate 201, that is to say that the cleavage planes of the block 100 are

  horizontal when block 100 has regular cleavage planes

  liers. When the cleavage planes of block 100 are left,

  the main direction will nevertheless be the horizontal direction-

  tale. This means that the slitting of block 100 will be done in horizontal or near horizontal planes, starting at the top to separate one

first fendi 150.

  The handling device 400 consists of an actuator 401 schematically carrying a finished arm 402

by a suction cup 403.

  The assembly, formed by the actuator 401 and the arm

  402, can also be constituted by a robot.

  The suction cup 403 is connected to a pressure source, not shown.

  According to the invention, the suction cup 403 is applied to the top of the block 100 to be split. After the rip, the

  arm 402 lifts the fendi 150 to place it in a suitable place

  owned for further work on the fendi. In function-

  normally normal, before a new slitting, when the separate slit has been removed by the handling device 400, the device returns to the top of the block 100; the suction cup 403 is glued against the upper surface of the block and then a slight pull is exerted on the suction cup 403 via the arm 402. After this preparation, the injector 300 can fire. During this shot, the pull exerted by the suction cup on the top of the block, which

  will become the new fendi, participate in the separation of the window

di.

  The different operations of slitting and handling

  tention are controlled by a control circuit 500. This control circuit synchronizes the movements and runs the various operations. This control device acts on the source of pressurized fluid 304 to supply

  the injector 300. The circuit 500 also controls

  actuator 302 to position the injector 300 and

  its nozzle 301 according to the operations to be carried out and in particular

  detection of the edge of the block by the detection head

  303. The control circuit also controls the deactivation

  pressure of the cavity 203 by the vacuum source 205

  as well as the different rotation and lifting operations

  by the actuator 204 of the plate 201 and operations

  similar to handling device 400.

  Figure 3 is a schematic plan view of the support 200 and the accessory equipment. The support 200 is represented by its plate 201 mounted on a reel

  not appearing. Block 100 is placed on an auxiliary tray

  liaire 210 which was transferred to the tray 201 once

  loaded with block 100 from rails 211 on the right.

  While the injector 300 is performing the slitting operations described above, it is possible to place another

  block on the auxiliary tray 212 waiting on the rails 213 on the left side of the tray 201.

  By an alternating movement of loaded trays and empty trays, it is thus possible to feed the tray 201

  without loss of time since the loading of the auxiliary plates 210, 212 takes place in hidden time with respect to the working time of the injector 300.10 FIGS. 4A and 4B show an example of a reaction

  reading of supports constituted by a drum. This drum

  carries a base 220 provided with lifting and rotating members 221, under the plate 222. The assembly is surrounded by a skirt 223 which protects its members against dust and

water runoff.

  The top view of FIG. 4A shows the plate

  circular plate 222 and the arrows indicate the different

  translational movements in perpendicular directions

  res. These movements are necessary to position the block to be slit under the best possible conditions.

  of the injector 300, if the manipulator arm (402) has a long

  fixed cheer. In the case where the assembly 401-402 is a robot,

  the platform no longer needs the movements that are already

res by the robot.

Claims (6)

R E V E N D I C A T IONS   1) Slitting method of slate slate blocks to form slates, characterized in that - the block to be slit is fixed, - a jet of liquid, impulse, very fine and applied   high pressure at the location of the chosen slitting plane.   2) Method according to claim 1, characterized in that a very fine, cylindrical or flat impulse jet is applied. 3) Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the liquid is water.   4) Method according to claim 1, characterized in that   the jet pressure is from 1500 to 3000 bars.    ) Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the block is split by peeling.   6) Slitting method according to claim 1, characterized in that the slitting block is placed, flat, the cleavage planes   being substantially horizontal and the block is split by pe-   lage starting at the top to separate a fendi on top, remove the fendi and continue to separate the fendi directly below the one   has just been separated and we continue until the block is exhausted.   70) Slit shale block slitting installation for implementing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 6,   characterized in that it comprises - a support (200) for receiving the slitting block flat (100),   - a high pressure liquid source (304), - an injector with a jet nozzle (300), supplied in a controlled manner by the high pressure liquid source to emit a pulsed jet, - an actuator (302) of the injector for positioning the nozzle 301) in the immediate vicinity of the fissility plane chosen for the slitting, - a control circuit (500).   ) Installation according to claim 7, characterized in that the actuator (302) comprises a detection head (303) of the edge of the block.   9) Slitting installation according to claim 7, characterized in that the support (200) of the block (100) consists of a plate (201)   provided with a flexible coating (202) and a depression cavity   sion (203), the plate being carried by an actuator (204)   which ensures its height, translation and rotation adjustment   tion. 10) Installation according to claim 7, characterized in that the handling device (400) comprises an actuator (401) with an arm (402) provided with a suction cup (403) to come   on the top of the block (101) to be split, hold it for   during the slitting and, after this, remove the slit (150).