JP2023094619A - Removal mechanism and removal method - Google Patents

Abstract

To remove residues remaining at a groove part of a trough without needing manpower.SOLUTION: A removal mechanism (1) removes residues (R) of molten metal existing in a groove part (11) formed at a trough (10) which guides the molten metal into a cast from the groove part (11). The removal mechanism (1) includes: a holding part (30) which may be inserted into the groove part (11) and holds the residues (R); and a moving part (40) which moves the residues (R) remaining at the groove part (11) to a holding position (P1) where the holding part (30) may hold the residues (R).SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present invention relates to removal mechanisms and removal methods.

Patent Literature 1 discloses a pouring trough for pouring molten metal into a mold. The pouring trough has a lifting device that lifts and lowers a chute into which the molten metal is poured, and a trough body that guides the molten metal that has been poured into the chute into the rotating mold while moving in the mold. and a trough positioning device that locks the trough body and aligns it with the chute.

After casting, the trough body is reversed by a reversing device to discharge the jam (surplus iron) remaining in the trough body.

Japanese Patent No. 2967692

However, when casting a large-diameter pipe, the trough body becomes large, and it is difficult to provide a rotating mechanism for rotating the trough body. That is, it has been difficult to automate the rotation of the trough body.

Therefore, in the case of a large-sized trough, an operator directly collects and removes the jammies remaining in the trough body. In this case, the jam after casting is hot and the work is dangerous.

An object of one aspect of the present invention is to remove the residue remaining in the groove of the trough without human intervention.

In order to solve the above problems, a removal mechanism according to one aspect of the present invention is a removal mechanism that removes a residue of molten metal present in a groove formed in a trough for guiding molten metal into a mold from the groove. a gripping portion that can be inserted into the groove and grips the residue; and a moving portion that moves the residue remaining in the groove to a gripping position where the grip can grip the residue. and.

With this configuration, the removal mechanism can remove the residue from the groove. That is, the residue remaining in the groove of the trough can be removed without human intervention.

The gripping portion has a first portion and a second portion spaced apart from each other, and grips the residue by moving the first portion and the second portion toward each other. and the moving part is preferably arranged outside the space between the first part and the second part. With this configuration, even if the first portion and the second portion move closer to each other, the first portion and the second portion do not come into contact with the moving portion. can be reduced.

It is preferable that the removal mechanism further includes a cooling section that cools the residue remaining in the groove. By cooling the residue with the cooling section, the temperature of the residue can be quickly lowered. As a result, the time to start recovery can be shortened, and the residue recovery efficiency can be improved.

It is preferable that the removal mechanism further includes a dividing section that divides the residue remaining in the groove. By providing the dividing portion, the residue can be divided. This makes it possible to reduce the size of a piece of residue and facilitates recovery of the residue.

The groove has two side surfaces that incline toward each other as it goes downward from the opening of the groove, and lower ends of the two side surfaces on a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the groove. and a bottom surface continuous with the groove, wherein the moving part moves the residue remaining on the bottom surface of the groove to the gripping position.

With this configuration, even if the gripping portion does not reach the bottom surface of the groove, the moving portion moves the residue to the gripping position of the gripping portion, so that the gripping portion can grip the residue. That is, even if the trough has a shape that makes it difficult for a device for gripping the residue to remove the residue, the residue remaining in the groove can be removed without manual intervention.

It is preferable that the moving part can move up and down with respect to the holding part, and attract the residue remaining in the groove part by magnetic force. With this configuration, the residue can be attracted by the magnetic force, so that the residue can be attracted even if the surface of the residue has unevenness.

A removal method according to an aspect of the present invention is a removal method for removing a residue of molten metal existing in a groove formed in a trough for guiding molten metal into a mold, wherein the residue is gripped. an arrangement step of arranging a gripping portion at a predetermined position in the groove; and moving the residue remaining in the groove to a gripping position where the gripping portion placed at the predetermined position can grip the residue. and a gripping step of gripping the residue moved from the groove to the gripping position by the gripping portion. With this configuration, the residue can be removed from the groove by the removal method according to one aspect of the present invention. That is, the residue remaining in the groove of the trough can be removed without human intervention.

It is preferable to further include a cooling step of cooling the residue remaining in the groove. The cooling step solidifies the residue and facilitates subsequent removal operations. In addition, since the magnetism of the residue is restored by cooling, it is possible to recover the residue using magnetic force.

It is preferable to further include a dividing step of dividing the residue remaining in the groove before cooling the residue. By including the dividing step, the residue can be divided. This reduces the size of a piece of residue and facilitates recovery of the residue. Also, by performing the dividing step before cooling the residue, the residue can be easily divided before it cools and hardens.

According to one aspect of the present invention, the residue remaining in the groove of the trough can be removed without manual intervention.

1 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of an exemplary casting machine for casting; FIG. It is a figure which shows schematic structure of a removal mechanism. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line XX of FIG. 2, and is a schematic diagram when the residue is drawn. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line XX of FIG. 2, and is a schematic view when the residue is gripped. FIG. 5 is a schematic view of the state of FIG. 4 when viewed from the negative direction of the X-axis, and simply shows the internal configuration of the housing. It is a top view when a trough is seen from above.

[Embodiment]
First, a scene in which the removing mechanism 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention is applied will be described. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of an exemplary casting machine 100 for casting.

Casting machine 100 shown in FIG. there is In this specification, the direction perpendicular to the installation surface (ground) of the casting machine 100 is the Z-axis direction, the extending direction of the trough 10 is the Y-axis direction, and the direction orthogonal to both the Y-axis direction and the Z-axis direction is the X-axis direction. and The positive direction of the Z-axis is the upward direction. The definitions of the X-axis direction, the Y-axis direction, and the Z-axis direction described here are also applied to other drawings.

Molten metal 102 supplied from a stationary ladle 101 is supplied to the trough 10 from a pouring port 110 of an arc ladle 103 via a chute 105 that horizontally guides the molten metal 102 . The trough 10 is a path through which the molten metal 102 passes and has a groove 11 (see FIG. 3). In the example shown in FIG. 1, casting station 107 comprises a rotatable mold 108 . Molten metal 102 is fed into mold 108 from the end of trough 10 . Further, the trough 10 is placed on a carriage 106b, and the terminal end of the trough 10 can be moved by moving in the direction of the white arrow in FIG. 1 or in the opposite direction.

The removal mechanism 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention is a device for removing residues remaining in the trough 10 after the injection of the molten metal 102 into the mold 108 is completed. In an embodiment of the invention, the residue is surplus iron, for example called jami.

<Structure of Removal Mechanism 1>
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of the removing mechanism 1. As shown in FIG. FIG. 2 shows how the housing 20 of the removal mechanism 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention has been conveyed above the trough 10 after the injection of molten metal into the mold is completed. The housing 20 of the removal mechanism 1 is connected to, for example, a robot arm 200 and transported above the trough 10 by the robot arm 200 .

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line XX of FIG. 2, and is a schematic diagram when the residue is drawn. FIG. 3 shows a state in which the magnet 41 of the moving part 40 provided in the removing mechanism 1 approaches the residue R. As shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line XX of FIG. 2, and is a schematic view when the residue is gripped. FIG. 4 shows a state in which the residue R moved upward by the moving part 40 is gripped by the first part 321 and the second part 322 of the gripping part 30 . 3 and 4, the structure inside the housing 20 is omitted. FIG. 5 is a schematic view of the state of FIG. 4 when viewed from the negative direction of the X-axis, and simply shows the internal configuration of the housing 20. As shown in FIG. In FIG. 5, the trough 10 is omitted. FIG. 6 is a plan view of the trough 10 viewed from above.

As shown in the drawing, the removal mechanism 1 includes a housing 20 and a dividing section 60 . The housing 20 includes a grip portion 30 , a moving portion 40 and a cooling portion 50 . The dividing portion 60 is arranged to extend along the trough 10 . Each component of the removing mechanism 1 will be described in detail below.

<Dividing part 60>
The dividing portion 60 divides the residue R remaining in the groove portion 11 of the trough 10 after the injection of the molten metal 102 is completed. In this embodiment, the dividing section 60 is provided at one side edge of the trough 10 and has a path 62 through which gas such as air flows and a nozzle 61 for injecting the gas. The nozzle 61 is positioned near the opening of the trough 10 and is configured to spray gas toward the bottom surface 14 of the trough 10 .

The gas injected from the nozzle 61 flows along the side surface 13A, the bottom surface 14, and the side surface 13B of the groove 11 (see FIG. 3). As a result, the residue R can be divided at approximately equal intervals. In other words, the dividing unit 60 can divide the residue R by injecting gas such as air into the dissolved or semi-dissolved residue R remaining in the trough 10 . In addition, the dividing part 60 is not limited to the structure which implement|achieves a dividing by injecting gas. For example, it may be cut by physical cutting means such as moving a cutting tool from above toward the residue R.

The removal mechanism 1 can divide the residue R by providing the dividing section 60 . As a result, the size of one piece of the residue R can be reduced, and the recovery of the residue R becomes easier.

The dividing section 60 has a plurality of nozzles 61 . The number of the plurality of nozzles 61 and the intervals between the nozzles 61 are not particularly limited. For example, a plurality of nozzles 61 may be arranged at regular intervals. With this configuration, the lengths of the divided residues R can be made equal, and the recovery efficiency of the residues R can be improved.

<Case 20>
The housing 20 is a main body portion including a grasping portion 30 , a moving portion 40 and a cooling portion 50 among the constituent elements of the removing mechanism 1 .

<Cooling unit 50>
The cooling part 50 cools the residue R remaining in the groove part 11 . In this embodiment, the cooling unit 50 is a mist spray device. The cooling unit 50 is provided at the end of the housing 20 . The cooling unit 50 cools the residue R by spraying a mist of a mixture of water and air onto the residue R remaining in the trough 10 after the injection of the molten metal 102 into the mold 108 is completed. When the removing mechanism 1 includes the dividing section 60 , the cooling section 50 may cool the residue R after being divided by the dividing section 60 .

By cooling the residue R with the cooling unit 50, the temperature of the residue R can be rapidly lowered. As a result, it is possible to shorten the time until the process of collecting the residue R by the moving part 40 and the gripping part 30, which will be described later, is started. That is, the recovery efficiency of the residue R by the removal mechanism 1 can be improved.

Further, the temperature of the residue R immediately after the injection of the molten metal 102 into the mold 108 is completed is about 1000° C., and the magnetism is lost. When a magnet is used as a means for moving the residue R in the moving part 40, which will be described later, the temperature of the residue R must be lowered to 770° C. or less at which the magnetism returns. By cooling the residue with the cooling unit 50, the time required for the residue R to regain its magnetism can be shortened. As a result, the time until the process of collecting the residue R by the moving part 40 and the gripping part 30 is started can be shortened.

<Configuration of Moving Unit 40>
The moving unit 40 moves the residue R remaining in the groove 11 to a gripping position P1 (see FIG. 3) where the gripping unit 30 can grip the residue R. The moving part 40 is configured to be able to move up and down with respect to the grip part 30 .

More specifically, the moving part 40 moves the residue R positioned at the bottom of the trough 10 upward ( Z-axis positive direction). For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the gripping position P1 may be defined based on the upper end of a protruding portion 330 of the gripping portion 30, which will be described later.

As shown in FIG. 5 , the moving section 40 has a body section 42 and a pulling mechanism provided on the body section 42 . In this embodiment, the attracting mechanism is the magnet 41 . Note that the pulling mechanism is not particularly limited as long as it is configured to pull the residue toward the main body 42 . The attracting mechanism may be, for example, a magnet that attracts the residue R to the body portion 42 by magnetic force, or may be an adsorption mechanism that attracts the residue R to the body portion 42 by suction. The moving part 40 may move the body part 42 upward to move the residue R drawn by the drawing mechanism upward. Thereby, the gripping part 30 can grip the residue R. As shown in FIG.

The body portion 42 is connected to a support mechanism 43 fixed to the housing 20 . The support mechanism 43 is a member extending in the Z-axis direction, and includes a rod-shaped core portion 434 extending in the Z-axis direction, a spring 433 arranged with the core portion 434 as a longitudinal axis, a moving member 430B, and a fixed member. 430A. The moving member 430B is movable with respect to the core portion 434 and is positioned at the lower end of the spring 433. As shown in FIG. The spring 433 expands and contracts with the vertical movement of the moving member 430B. Since the support mechanism 43 has the spring 433, even if the residual substance R has a variation in size (height in the Z-axis direction), the variation can be absorbed. As a result, it is possible to reduce the possibility of damage to the trough due to excessive pushing by the moving part 40 when the residue R is drawn.

The fixing member 430A is positioned at the upper end of the spring 433 and fixed to the core portion 434 . A part of the fixing member 430A is formed parallel to the wall surface of the housing 20. For example, the housing 20 is sandwiched between the fixing member 430A and the first connection member 431 and screwed. By doing so, the support mechanism 43 can be fixed to the housing 20 . The moving member 430B is connected to the body portion 42 via the second connecting member 432 .

The body portion 42 can be moved vertically (in the Z-axis direction) by an arbitrary moving mechanism (not shown). The movement mechanism may be provided, for example, by the robot arm 200 shown in FIG. An example of the operation of the moving unit 40 is as follows. Under normal conditions, the spring 433 is stretched by the weight of the main body 42 and the magnet 41 . When the housing 20 is transported above the trough 10 by the robot arm 200 and moves toward the trough 10 , the magnet 41 draws the residue R toward the main body 42 . By moving the main body 42 in the housing 20 upward by the moving mechanism, the moving member 430B moves upward and the spring 433 contracts. As the body portion 42 moves upward, the residue R moves upward.

As described above, the attracting mechanism is the magnet 41 in this embodiment. In other words, the moving part 40 has a magnet 41 and attracts the residue R by magnetic force. With this configuration, the residue R can be attracted by the magnetic force, so even if the surface shape of the residue R is uneven, the residue R can be attracted. In addition, since the magnet 41 is made of a heat-resistant material, it is possible to reduce the possibility of deterioration of the attracting mechanism even if the surface temperature of the residue R is high.

A lifting magnet, for example, can be used as the magnet 41 . The lifting magnet may be of a permanent magnet type or an electromagnetic type.

<Grip part 30>
The removal mechanism 1 has a gripper 30 . The gripping part 30 can be inserted into the groove part 11 and is for gripping the residue R. As shown in FIG. More specifically, the gripping portion 30 has at least a portion thereof inserted into the groove portion 11 to grip the residue R. As shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 5 , the grasping portion 30 includes a body portion 31 and an air hand 32 . 3 and 4, the air hand 32 has a first portion 321 and a second portion 322 spaced apart from each other in the X-axis direction. The gripper 30 physically grips the residue R by moving the first portion 321 and the second portion 322 closer to each other.

The first portion 321 and the second portion 322 are plate-shaped members each having a predetermined length in the Y-axis direction. Thereby, grasping of the residue R can be facilitated. Also, the first portion 321 and the second portion 322 each have a protrusion 330 to facilitate gripping of the residue R. The protrusion 330 may be provided at the lower ends of the first portion 321 and the second portion 322 . This makes it possible to more reliably grip the residue R and reduce the possibility that the gripped residue R will fall.

As shown in FIG. 5, the body portion 31 and the air hand 32 are connected. A moving mechanism for moving the first portion 321 and the second portion 322 of the air hand 32 is provided inside the main body. The body portion 31 is connected to a support mechanism 33 fixed to the housing 20 . The support mechanism 33 is a member extending in the Z-axis direction, and includes a core portion 334, a spring 333 arranged with the core portion 334 as a longitudinal axis, a moving member 330B, and a fixed member 330A. The moving member 330B is movable with respect to the core portion 334 and is positioned at the lower end of the spring 333. As shown in FIG. The spring 333 expands and contracts with the vertical movement of the moving member 330B.

That is, the vertical position of the air hand 32 can be adjusted by expanding and contracting the spring 333 . Thereby, the position of the air hand 32 can be adjusted so that the air hand 32 can grip the residue R at the position where the moving part 40 moves (pulls) the residue R. In addition, since the support mechanism 33 is provided with the spring 333, it is possible to absorb vibration when the residue R is transported after being gripped by the air hand 32. FIG. As a result, it is possible to reduce the possibility of the residue R falling from the moving part 40 and the gripping part 30 during transportation.

The fixing member 330A is positioned at the upper end of the spring 333 and fixed to the core portion 334 . The support mechanism 33 can be fixed to the housing 20 by joining a part of the fixing member 330A to the first connection member 331 fixed to the housing 20, for example. The moving member 330B is connected to the body portion 42 via the second connecting member 332 .

The body portion 31 can be moved vertically (in the Z-axis direction) by an arbitrary moving mechanism (not shown). The movement mechanism may be provided, for example, by the robot arm 200 shown in FIG.

In addition, the moving part 40 described above is arranged at a position not overlapping the grip part 30 in the X-axis direction. In other words, the moving part 40 is arranged outside the space between the first portion 321 and the second portion 322 . With this configuration, even if the first portion 321 and the second portion 322 move closer to each other, the first portion 321 and the second portion 322 do not contact the moving portion 40 . Possibility of disturbing gripping motion can be reduced.

As described above, the removal mechanism 1 of the present embodiment removes the molten metal residue R present in the groove 11 formed in the trough 10 that guides the molten metal into the mold from the groove 11. The removing mechanism 1 can be inserted into the groove 11, and moves the residue R remaining in the groove 11 to a gripping portion 30 that grips the residue and a gripping position where the grip 30 can grip the residue R. and a moving unit 40 .

With this configuration, the removing mechanism 1 can remove the residue from the groove 11 . That is, the residue R remaining in the groove portion 11 of the trough 10 can be removed without manual intervention.

Further, the groove 11 of the trough 10 has two side surfaces 13A and 13B that are inclined so as to approach each other downward from the opening of the groove 11 on a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the groove 11. and a bottom surface 14 connected to the lower ends of the two side surfaces 13A and 13B. Accordingly, the width of the bottom surface 14 of the groove portion 11 or the distance between the side surfaces 13A and 13B at the height of the upper surface of the residue R positioned on the bottom surface 14 is equal to that of the first portion 321 of the gripping portion 30 before the gripping operation is performed. and the second portion 322. In the removing mechanism 1, the moving part 40 moves the residue R remaining on the bottom surface 14 of the groove part 11 to the gripping position P1.

(Whetstone 13)
With this configuration, even when the air hand 32 of the gripping portion 30 hits the two side surfaces 13A and 13B of the groove portion 11 and the gripping portion 30 does not reach the bottom surface 14 of the groove portion 11, the gripping portion 30 can grip the residue R. can be done. That is, even if a device for gripping the residue R to remove the residue R has a trough having a shape that is difficult to penetrate, the residue R remaining in the groove portion 11 can be removed without manual intervention.

<Method for Removing Residue R>
A method for removing the residue R of the molten metal existing in the groove portion 11 from the groove portion 11 will be described below. The following method is an example of the removal method, and is not limited to the following flow.

First, when the pouring of the molten metal 102 into the mold 108 is completed, the gripping portion 30 for gripping the residue R is placed at a predetermined position in the groove portion 11 (placement step). The placement step can be realized, for example, by transporting the housing 20 of the removal mechanism 1 to a predetermined position in the groove 11 of the trough 10 by the robot arm 200 . As a result, the gripping portion 30 that grips the residue R provided in the housing 20 is arranged at a predetermined position in the groove portion 11 .

In addition, before the arrangement step, in parallel with the arrangement step, or after the arrangement step, the residue R remaining in the groove portion 11 may be divided (dividing step). The dividing step can be performed by the dividing section 60 of the removing mechanism 1, for example. The dividing step is not an essential process. By including the dividing step, the residue R can be divided. This reduces the size of one piece of the residue R and facilitates the recovery of the residue R. Further, by performing the dividing step before the cooling step, which will be described later, the residue R can be easily divided before it is cooled and hardened.

Moreover, the residue R remaining in the groove portion 11 may be cooled (cooling step). The cooling method in the cooling step is not particularly limited, and may be performed quickly by the cooling unit 50 provided in the housing 20, or may be cooling by natural cooling. By performing the cooling step, the residue R solidifies and facilitates subsequent removal operations. In addition, since the magnetism of the residue R is restored by cooling, it is possible to recover the residue using a magnetic force.

When the cooling step is performed by the cooling unit 50, the robot arm 200 transports the housing 20 above the trough 10 and then moves it along the Y-axis direction, thereby removing the entire residue R remaining in the groove 11. Allow to cool. By cooling the residue R with the cooling unit 50, the temperature of the residue R can be rapidly lowered. As a result, it is possible to shorten the time until the moving unit 40 and the gripping unit 30, which will be described later, start collecting the residue R, or the time until the residue R regains its magnetism. That is, the recovery efficiency of the residue R by the removal mechanism 1 can be improved.

Next, the residue R remaining in the groove portion 11 is moved to the gripping position P1 where the gripping portion 30 can grip the residue R (moving step). The moving step can be performed, for example, by the moving part 40 of the removing mechanism 1 .

After the moving step, the gripping portion 30 grips the residue R moved from the groove portion 11 to the gripping position P1 (gripping step). After that, the gripping part 30 gripping the residue R may be moved, and the residue R may be recovered by releasing the grip on the residue R recovery box.

As described above, the removal method according to the embodiment of the present invention is a removal method for removing the molten metal residue R present in the groove 11 formed in the trough 10 for guiding the molten metal into the mold from the groove 11. . The removal method includes an arrangement step of arranging the gripping portion 30 that grips the residue R at a predetermined position in the groove portion 11, and a gripping position P1 at which the gripping portion 30 disposed at the predetermined position can grip the residue R. and a gripping step of gripping the residue R moved from the groove 11 to the gripping position P1 by the gripping portion 30 .

With this configuration, the removing mechanism 1 can remove the residue from the groove 11 . That is, the residue R remaining in the groove portion 11 of the trough 10 can be removed without manual intervention.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but can be modified in various ways within the scope of the claims, and can be obtained by appropriately combining technical means disclosed in different embodiments. is also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

1 removal mechanism 10 trough 11 grooves 13A, 13B side surface 14 bottom surface 30 gripping portion 321 first portion 322 second portion 40 moving portion 50 cooling portion 60 dividing portion P1 gripping position

Claims (9)

A removal mechanism for removing molten metal residue present in a groove formed in a trough for guiding molten metal into a mold from the groove,
a gripping portion that is insertable into the groove and grips the residue;
and a moving section that moves the residue remaining in the groove to a gripping position where the gripping section can grip the residue. The gripping portion has a first portion and a second portion spaced apart from each other, and grips the residue by moving the first portion and the second portion toward each other. and
2. The removing mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the moving part is arranged outside the space between the first part and the second part. 3. The removing mechanism according to claim 1, further comprising a cooling section that cools the residue remaining in the groove. 4. The removing mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a dividing portion that divides the residue remaining in the groove. The groove is
Two side surfaces that are inclined toward each other downward from the opening of the groove on a cut surface obtained by cutting the trough along a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the groove;
a bottom surface continuous with the lower ends of the two side surfaces;
5. The removing mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the moving part moves the residue remaining on the bottom surface of the groove to the holding position. The removal mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the moving part can move up and down with respect to the gripping part, and attracts the residue remaining in the groove part by magnetic force. A removal method for removing molten metal residue existing in a groove formed in a trough for guiding molten metal into a mold from the groove,
an arrangement step of arranging a gripping portion for gripping the residue at a predetermined position in the groove;
a moving step of moving the residue remaining in the groove to a gripping position where the gripping portion arranged at the predetermined position can grip the residue;
and a gripping step of gripping the residue moved from the groove to the gripping position by the gripping portion. 8. The removal method of claim 7, further comprising a cooling step of cooling the residue remaining in the groove. 9. The removing method according to claim 8, further comprising a dividing step of dividing the residue remaining in the groove before cooling the residue.

Images