GB2202774A

GB2202774A - Scrap press

Info

Publication number: GB2202774A
Application number: GB08804690A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Winfried Kohler; Felix Luttmerding
Original assignee: Thyssen Industrie AG
Current assignee: ThyssenKrupp Technologies AG
Priority date: 1987-03-12
Filing date: 1988-02-29
Publication date: 1988-10-05
Anticipated expiration: 2008-02-29
Also published as: DE3707995C1; FR2612119A1; GB2202774B; GB8804690D0; FR2612119B1

Abstract

A scrap press comprises a compression chamber 2 and three orthogonally disposed rams 4, 8, and 12 (Fig. 2, not shown) to compact scrap in the chamber. Pourable metal scrap is introduced into the chamber 2 through a first opening 1. Long items of scrap which cannot easily be handled through the opening 1 can instead be inserted through a second chamber opening 16 so as to be cut into lengths by means of cooperating blades 19, 20 on ram 4 and in the chamber 2. <IMAGE>

Description

SCRAP PRESS DESCRIPTION The invention relates to a scrap press.

A known scrap press consists of a compression chamber which is filled with scrap through an opening, and a ram moves through the chamber to compress the scrap toward one end of the chamber where further transversely disposed rams act on the scrap to compress it. The filling opening is disposed on the top of the compression chamber and any projecting material is sheared off when the press is closed, i.e. when the top is clapped down or the pressure rams are advanced.

Difficulties arise during the processing of scrap in the form of relatively long pipes or sections due to the necessity of feeding these unwieldy items into the filling opening from above. There is no guarantee that the part which has been sheared off the long item which is fed in from above will take up the best position in the compression chamber for the compression operation, i.e. as parallel as possible to the axis of the resulting pressed article.

If particularly long items, such as rail sections or similar, are in a favourable position, there is a risk of the pressing process being greatly hampered and, in some cases, not being completed. It is dangerous and time-consuming to remedy disorder of this kind manually.

An object of the invention is to provide a scrap press wherein particularly long items, such as rail sections, pipes or similar, can be cut up into suitable lengths in a simple operation before the actual pressing process is carried out.

According to the present invention there is provided a scrap press including a compression chamber, a ram for movement longitudinally within the chamber to compress scrap therein, a first filling opening to the chamber to receive relatively short lengths of scrap, and a second filling opening to the chamber to receive a relatively long length of scrap such that said long length is cut by passage of the ram relative to the second opening.

Preferably clamping means are provided to clamp the long length of scrap in the second opening. Also, the ram may conveniently be provided with an adjustable blade to cut the long length of scrap.

In order to avoid unnecessary and therefore time-consuming movements of the ram during different operating modes, the ram is preferably provided with a partial stroke control means by which its movement can be set either to a shearing stroke in the area of the first opening without uncovering the second opening or a complete pressure stroke, which includes uncovering the second opening.

The advantage provided by the invention lies in the fact that both common pourable scrap and unwieldy, particularly long items, such as rail sections or similar formed into pressed articles by means of a single scrap press.

In order that the invention may be more fully understood an embodiment thereof will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein: Figure 1 is a longitudinal section through a scrap press according to the invention, and Figure 2 is a horizontal section through the scrap press.

Pourable scrap which is to be compressed is introduced through a first funnel-like opening 1 into a compression chamber 2. After the filling operation a precompression ram 3 (lust compression) is driven by hydraulic cylinder 4 from the position shown in solid outline in Figure 1 into the position shown in hatched outline so as to compress the scrap material. Extra large material which projects out of the compression chamber 2 through the first opening 1 at the top is sheared off by blades 6 and 7. A second pressure ram 8 (2nd compression) is then driven by hydraulic cylinder 9 into position 10 shown in hatched outline and compresses the material to the cross section 11.A third pressure ram 12 driven by hydraulic cylinder 13 (3rd compression) then compresses the material in the direction of the axis 14 of the pressed article and, once the preselected pressing power has been reached, a chamber door 22 is opened, and the third ram pushes the finished pressed article 15 out of the press. The pressed article 15 generally has a square cross section, although other cross-sectional shapes for special applications can be formed.

Particularly long scrap material, e.g. rails pipes or similar, which cannot easily be handled through the first opening 1, is fed to the press via a second opening 18. When the pre-compression ram 3 is advanced, this material, which is retained in a receiving channel 17 by means of the clamping device 18, is sheared off between a blade 19 arranged on the precompression ram 3, and a blade 20, which is disposed on the chamber 2 and can be adjusted in order to obtain an optimum cutting clearance S. The piece of material which is sheared off is disposed in an optimum position in the chamber 2 for subsequent compaction i.e.

approximately parallel with axis 14 of the pressed article 15 which is to be produced. It is also possible, by means of a partial stroke between the drawn position of the precompression ram 3 and an indicated position 21, firstly to shear off several pieces of material, to collect these pieces in the sliding box 2 and then compress them together in a complete working cycle.

If only scrap which can be introduced through the first, upper opening is to be compressed, it is advisable to limit the working stroke of the precompression ram 3 to the path between the positions 21 and 5 by an appropriate control device, so that the second opening 16 remains covered by the precompression ram 3 to prevent the unintentional discharge of -scrap.

Claims

1. A scrap press including a compression chamber, a ram for movement longitudinally within the chamber to compress scrap therein, a first filling opening to the chamber to receive relatively short lengths of scrap, and a second filling opening to the chamber to receive a relatively long length of scrap such that said long length is cut by passage of the ram relative to the second opening.

2. A scrap press according to claim 1 wherein the first opening is in the form of a funnel on the top of the chamber.

3. A scrap press according to claim 1 or 2 including clamping means for clamping said relatively long lengths of scrap in the second opening.

4. A scrap press according to any proceeding claim wherein said ram is provided with an adjustable blade to cut the long length of scrap as the ram moves past the second opening.

5. A scrap press according to any preceding claim including control means for controlling the stroke of the ram to move on a relatively short pressure stroke past said first opening but not said second opening or on a relatively long pressure stroke past both said first and said second openings.

6. A scrap press according to any preceding claim including at least one further ram operable transversely of the stroke of the first mentioned ram.

7. A scrap press substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.