JPS6254625B2 - - Google Patents

Description

Claim 1: A low temperature deburring apparatus having a housing, means for introducing a cryogen gas into the housing, and means for flipping an article within the housing, the media transfer and squirt wheel mechanism thereof comprises a rotatable jet wheel having a plurality of radially extending vanes spaced apart from each other, said jet wheel being rotationally driven by a first driving means to dispense a predetermined amount of medium. a storage hopper; and a feed screw means coaxial with the ejection ring, the feed screw means rotationally driven by a second movement means, and having a medium suction port communicating with the ejection ring. a collar coaxially positioned adjacent one end of the lead screw means; and independently adjusting the rotational speed of the jet ring and the lead screw means to generate a vacuum at the inlet and to cause the medium to and means for changing the angular orientation of the inlet with respect to the jet ring during rotation of the jet ring, the means for changing the providing a variable pattern of media being ejected from the ejection ring, and providing an inlet portion and an outlet portion to the housing while preventing ambient air from entering the housing and preventing coolant from escaping from the housing; further comprising an access port for supplying said article and removing said article from said housing, said inlet and outlet portions each having an inner and outer sealing closure separated by an intermediate interior wall; Low temperature deburring equipment.

2. the means for varying comprises means for selectively rotating the collar between first and second positions selected to provide a uniform media pattern through the housing;
An apparatus according to claim 1.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that said rotation means continuously oscillates said collar between said first and second positions.

4. Said means for adjusting the rotational speed of said jet ring and said feed screw means allows the speed of the medium and the amount of medium being jetted from said jet ring to be adjusted independently during operation. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that:

5. said lead screw means is positioned within a tubular member extending between said hopper and said collar;
and the medium is compressed by the vacuum generated at the suction port by the predetermined amount of medium in the hopper, rotation of the lead screw in the tubular member, and rotation of the jet ring. 2. The device of claim 1, wherein the device is operated continuously during transport through the device.

RELATED APPLICATIONS This is a continuation-in-part of applicant's previous United States Patent Application Serial No. 918,707, filed June 26, 1978, entitled "Deburring Apparatus."

Background of the Invention This invention relates to deburring technology.
And more particularly, it relates to a low temperature deburring apparatus for removing burrs in a low temperature environment where the burrs are fragile because they are easily removed by bombardment with a stream of high velocity pellet media.

As is well known, many articles of manufacture are not only cast from metallic materials, but also molded from various elastomeric rubber or plastic materials. Such molding and casting processes often result in the formation of residual material or burrs on the article in areas adjacent to the faces of the mold facing the interface, which are both functionally and psychologically unpleasant. It is something. Typically, the practices used in the past to remove such burrs have been either manual defining or sanding.

Deburring by hand can be costly and often difficult, requiring a substantial period of time and effort to be expended to properly defin a particular item. Furthermore, it is often difficult, if not impossible, to achieve satisfactory results if the configuration of the part or component prevents manual access to the burr. Similarly, although rotation of articles of abrasive media has proven to be a useful alternative to manual fining, the rotation process requires substantial machine time and can be further affected by part morphology. SUBSTANTIALLY LIMITED.

In conclusion, it has recently been found that very satisfactory and economical deburring can be achieved by exposing the article to a high velocity flow of deburring media. Frequently, the medium remains a pellet of steel, rubber, or plastic, which is jetted by an impeller or injected by a nozzle onto the article that is typically rotated in the deburring equipment. Ru.

In the case of articles made from elastic elastomeric or plastic materials, it has been found that it is advantageous to carry out deburring operations in a low temperature generating environment utilizing a liquefied gas (e.g. nitrogen) located within the deburring chamber. I understand. Due to the relatively large thickness of the article compared to the burr, only the burr is susceptible to breakage in cold environments, thereby making it more susceptible to damage when impacted by high-speed deburring media without damaging the rest of the article. easily removed.

Many prior art deburring devices employ jet wheels or impellers that typically move along radially extending vanes while being supplied with media through an axial port. Accelerating the media to direct the flow or pattern of the media relative to the article. Although such prior art impellers have proven useful for their general application, there are substantial drawbacks associated with their use.

In particular, prior art jet wheels uniformly distribute media over a desired work surface within a deburring chamber, with multiple media flows concentrated in specific areas known in the art as "hot spots." It has been proven that it is not possible to distribute As has been recognized, such hot spots can cause inconsistent wear on the internal components of the deburring device as well as damage the parts within the chamber.
Uniform deburring of one or many parts is prohibited.

To a limited extent, prior art deburring equipment has recognized this particular converging drawback;
U.S. Patent No. 2,049,466, issued to Minich, discloses an ejector wheel with impeller blades of varying lengths to vary the point of ejecting media from the impeller and provide a more uniform ejection pattern. are doing. However, with such a design, the velocity of the ejected medium is substantially reduced for shorter length vanes such that the impact force of the medium on that part is intermittent and non-uniform. .

Furthermore, prior art deburring devices typically suffer from serious problems in transferring media from the storage tank or hopper to the jet ring. These transfer problems have resulted in inconsistent amounts of media being fed to the jet ring and, in extreme cases, complete discontinuities in media flow due to failures within the transfer system.
With particular reference to low temperature deburring equipment, such transfer defects are acute. This is because discontinuities in the media pattern require parts to be removed from the cold blast chamber and prevent the entire part from becoming fragile in a super-chilled environment. Additionally, such equipment outage significantly harms the overall cost effectiveness of the equipment and raises safety/hazard issues for personnel exposed to low temperature, cryogenic environments. do.

Furthermore, prior art devices typically utilize large housings that completely enclose a cold deburring chamber that requires a person to enter into the chamber to load items into the chamber. and similar to a large refrigerated truck or refrigerator loaded and unloaded. Such manual entry into the deburring chamber is extremely dangerous and poses significant safety/hazards to cryogenic or cryogen gas poisoning and to persons exposed to extremely cold temperatures.

In this regard, such large prior art equipment typically admits large amounts of humid air into the deburring chamber during loading and unloading of articles. This moist air, while being cooled in the deburring chamber, forms ice on the internal components of the device which adversely affects the overall machine operation and in severe cases causes the machine to stop.
Accordingly, there is a substantial need in the art for a deburring device that eliminates the operational and safety deficiencies described above.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a deburring device and, in particular,
A low-temperature deburring device is provided that substantially eliminates the drawbacks of prior art devices.

In particular, the present invention provides a novel impeller or jet wheel mechanism in which a control chamber is axially positioned and rotatably mounted within the impeller to control the suction position of the medium onto the impeller blades. . The angular orientation of this control chamber is varied or vibrated during machine operation to continuously shift the area of media concentration across the deburring chamber. As such, a substantially uniform distribution of media across the deburring chamber is provided, eliminating inconsistencies in burr removal as well as concentration of wear on internal components of the equipment.

Additionally, the present invention increases this uniform distribution characteristic through an improved transfer mechanism that applies a constant amount of pellets to the jet ring and eliminates the tendency of the media to break down during transfer from the hopper. do.
These specific transport improvements include novel hydrostatic heads,
This is made possible by a spiral lead screw and a vacuum assisted transfer mechanism. In operation, the hydrostatic head is preset to the desired level, while the speed of the helical screw and the magnitude of vacuum assistance are adjusted during machine operation. Thus, with the particular transport and jet wheel mechanism of this invention, the density, intensity and pattern of the media flow can be varied to suit the particular requirements of the particular article to be deburred.

Additionally, the present invention provides a rather compact deburring device that does not require an enclosing refrigerator housing and facilitates the use of conveyor processing techniques while processing articles by the device. This overcomes the size drawbacks of the prior art. As such, the invention eliminates the refrigeration and specialized processing equipment previously used in the prior art.

Furthermore, the temperature exposure and freezing disadvantages of the prior art are substantially eliminated by the present invention which utilizes a sealed gas lock door, which is capable of generating low temperatures during loading and unloading of articles into the deburring chamber. Prohibiting interaction between the environment and the atmosphere. In this same regard, the present invention facilitates the automatic loading of articles into a deburring chamber by means of a conveyor belt, said conveyor belt without directly or indirectly exposing the operating personnel to the cold environment. The articles are fed from the inlet container to the cold deburring chamber.

Furthermore, once the articles or parts are placed in the deburring chamber of the present invention, they are exposed to the burr on the belt, which is maintained at the appropriate tension by a spring tensioning device that compensates for variable temperatures in the cold environment. It is rotated continuously under the flow of taking medium. Additionally, the entire device incorporates multiple gates, air locks, and openings that are all automatically activated. It is thus significant that an automated device for deburring is provided which is smaller, safer and more effective to use than prior art deburring devices. .

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS These and other features of the invention will become apparent from reference to the following drawings.

FIG. 1 is a front view of the deburring device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partial right side view depicting the entrance/exit structure of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a left side view of FIG. 1 showing the inlet interlock actuation means exploded for illustration.

FIG. 4 is a partial, unseen side or rear view of FIG. 1 showing the exhausted media transfer feed mechanism.

FIG. 5 is a front view of the exhausted media transfer feed system of FIG. 4 extending from the bottom to the top portion of the apparatus to provide a continuous flow of media to the storage hopper.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view of the transfer mechanism and ejection ring of the present invention.

FIG. 7 shows an alternative embodiment of the interlock system of the present invention.

FIG. 8 shows a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of the invention, depicting the device with an exposed interlock door.

9 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the jet ring and transfer feed mechanism of the present invention taken along line 9--9 of FIG. 8. FIG.

FIG. 9a is an enlarged perspective view of the medium transfer feed screw, control chamber, and control chamber vibration mechanism of the present invention.

FIG. 9b is a schematic diagram of a variable media pattern generated by the vibration control chamber of FIG. 9;

FIG. 10 is a partial view of the jet ring of the present invention taken about line 10--10 of FIG.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of the deburring apparatus of the present invention taken about line 11--11 of FIG.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the media and contamination separation means of the present invention interconnected with the entire deburring apparatus.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIGS. 1-6, there is shown a first embodiment of the cryogenic deburring apparatus of the present invention, which embodiment has a substantially rectangular configuration. It generally consists of a housing or casing C formed into a. Housing C is preferably constructed of stainless steel, it has a double wall configuration, and the void between the opposing walls is filled with suitable insulation, such as a polyethylene foam material (not shown). This particular insulated stainless steel construction has been shown to withstand wear caused by high velocity media flow and further prevents heat transfer from cold environments to the atmosphere.

The front wall of the housing or casing C has a door D supported on a hinge 10 which is firmly locked in the closed position by a fastening member 11 mounted around the periphery of the casing C. . A seal 12 (shown in FIG. 2) is attached to the front wall 19 and the opposing flange 1 of the door D, respectively.
3 and 14 to provide an airtight boundary between the interior of the casing C (ie, the deburring chamber) and the door D. Door D extends outwardly across from the front wall 19 to form an access area having an entry or loading section 15 and an exit section 16 oriented perpendicularly to each other.

As best shown in FIG. 2, the entry and exit loading sections 15 and 16 are separated by a horizontal wall 17 that extends through the width of door D and projects forwardly from the end of entry bay V. , in the vertical plane of the front wall 19 of the casing C. As recognized by such a design, both chambers 15 and 16 communicate with the interior of casing C (ie the deburring chamber), but are vertically separated from each other.

A pair of cover plates 20 and 23 are attached to the entrance V by hinges 21 and 24 to allow manual access to the chambers 15 and 16 while the door D is maintained against the front wall 19. Attached to the outside wall. Each of cover plates 20 and 23 preferably includes a sealing means 25 and 28 as well as latch members 27 and 28 (shown in FIG. 1) to seal and maintain the cover plates in their closed position. 26 (shown in FIG. 2). In this particular embodiment, the access area V forms a relatively airtight or open air lock, which is connected to the loading and unloading chamber 1.
5 and 16 and the atmosphere.

Between the loading and unloading chambers 15 and 16, in the area of communication with the deburring chamber, a pair of internal closing gates 29 and 33 are provided, which are pivoted about horizontal axes 30 and 34, respectively. be installed. As shown in FIG. 2, an upper closure gate 29 extends across the opening into the loading chamber 15 and optionally includes a peripherally framed seal attached to the upper wall 22 of the door D and the distal end of the partition 17. 32. Similarly, the lower closing gate 33 is connected to the loading and unloading chamber 1.
extending across the opening from 6 to the deburring chamber;
and sealingly engages barrier 36. Barrier 36 is preferably formed as part of the access bay V or fresh air lock and extends angularly into both the unloading chamber 16 and the deburring chamber.

As will be explained in more detail below, both of these gates 29 and 33 are located between a closed position (shown by the solid line in FIG. 2) and an open position (shown by the perspective line in FIG. 2). is movable in the loading and unloading chamber 15.
and 16 permitting selective communication with the deburring chamber. Furthermore, in the closed position, the gates 29 and 30 effectively separate the access area V from the deburring chamber and, in fact, form an internal gas lock, which allows the cold environment to be removed from the loading and unloading chambers 15 and 16. to prevent bordering.

The loading chamber 15 is further provided with a loading bin 37, which pin 37 is pivotally mounted adjacent one end about a horizontal pivot axis 38. Bin 37 is preferably formed with radially shaped side walls and an open top end adapted to receive a component or portion (not shown) through access cover 20 . . With the parts loaded into the bin 37, the bin is pivoted to the position indicated by the perspective line in FIG. 2 to insert or dump the parts into the deburring chamber.

Referring again to FIG. 2, the detailed structure of the deburring chamber defined within the casing C and its tumbler mechanism will be described. As shown, an endless conveyor or belt B extends through the interior of the deburring chamber in a generally L-shaped path having an upper track adapted to rotate parts within the chamber. In a preferred embodiment, the belt is formed from spaced apart stainless steel sections to permit passage of the media therethrough and is rigidly attached to the belt.
It is supported on both sides by a pair of chain members 41. These chain members 41 engage a pair of idler sprockets 48 and 49 on their lower tracks and further extend vertically upwardly to engage a drive sprocket assembly 43. The idler sprocket 48 includes threaded adjustment members 47 that can be mutually steered to adjust the tension in the chain member 41.

The upper path of belt B is guided by a pair of large sprockets 52 (shown in phantom in FIG. 2), which are carried by a pair of circular discs 53, each of which has a common shaft. 54 and pivoted to the side wall of the casing C. In this manner, the upper surface or path of belt B is maintained in a concave pocket-like configuration, which prevents the burr from moving during movement of belt B in the direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. A portion (not shown) disposed within the take-up chamber is turned over and rotated thereon.

As best shown in FIG. 1, the sprocket drive mechanism 43 is driven by a chain drive mechanism 56 which includes an external sprocket 57 attached to the drive sprocket 43 and an external shaft 59 of the gear box 60. It extends between the sprocket 58 and the sprocket 58 attached to the sprocket. Gear box 60 may be driven by a conventional motor 61 and timing belt arrangement 62, which engages an input pulley of gear box 60. In a preferred embodiment, motor 61 may be of a variable speed type or alternatively gear box 60 may be used to achieve the speed at which belt B is driven. In this manner, the reversing action of portions (not shown) within the deburring chamber can be adjusted to provide the most effective reversing action for a particular operation. Additionally, in the preferred embodiment, gear box 60 provides reversible rotation so that once the deburring operation is complete, belt B is
proceeding in the direction opposite to the arrow shown in the figure, whereby articles (not shown) disposed on belt B are moved away from belt B through gate 33 and into entry/exit V.
is moved to the loading and unloading chamber 16.

The deburring chamber further includes means for admitting a cryogenic gas or liquid, which, as previously described, is used to facilitate deburring of articles placed within the apparatus. Figures 1 and 2
As best shown in the figures, this means includes an input fitting 65 and tubing 67 and 68, which preferably connect downwardly through a deburring chamber to a storage layer (not shown). It extends through the upper wall of casing C to direct the stored cryogen liquid. A regulating valve 66 is further provided to regulate the amount of gas into the chamber as well as the temperature therein.

In FIG. 6, a detailed configuration of a first embodiment of the ejection ring and medium transfer mechanism of the present invention is shown. This mechanism typically includes a jet ring assembly 7
0, a helical lead screw 89, and a drive assembly 71, all of which are connected to the casing C
It is removably attached to the top wall of the As shown, the jet ring assembly 70 is aligned with an aperture 60 that extends through the top of the casing C to form the discharge throat of the device.

The jet ring assembly 70 is a jet ring or impeller 9
3. Consists of a housing 82 and a skirt or shroud extending downwardly into the discharge throat 69. ring 9
3 is formed with a pair of opposing circular plates 94 with a plurality of symmetrically spaced fins or vanes 96 extending radially therebetween forming a plurality of radial slots 95. plate 94
and vanes 96 are preferably maintained in position by fasteners 97 extending through the vanes and interconnecting plates 94.

The ejection ring 93 includes a drive portion 87 and a coupling portion 85.
Main drive shaft 7 of drive assembly 71 by
6, said drive part 87 and coupling part 85 are respectively attached to a wheel 93 and keyed to the shaft 76 by means of a plurality of fastening parts 98. Shaft 76 is bearing 77
and is pivoted at its distal end 73. Shaft 7 on which pulley 78 receives belt 79
6 and is powered by a drive motor 80, as shown in FIG. Drive motor 80
The speed of the pulley 78 may be variable via conventional motor control (not shown) or alternatively may be a pulley adjuster 81 that changes the spacing and thus the effective half diameter of the pulley 78. . In this way, the drive shaft 76 allows the ejection wheel 93 to
is rotated at a variable speed to propel media (not shown) through the discharge throat 69 and into the deburring chamber.

A helical feed screw 89 is provided to transfer media (not shown) axially to the jet shaft 93 . As shown, the shaft 88 of the lead screw 89 is connected at one end to the drive shaft 76 and journalled at the other end in a bearing 92 supported by an upright bracket 91. Lead screw 89 is enclosed within a tubular member 90 that is preferably formed from two aligned sections 90a and 90e. Part 90a
includes an aperture 90b that allows entry of deburring media into the tube 90 from the hopper 116 (shown in FIG. 5) and is maintained stationary by a flange 90c and a fixture 90d secured to the angle bracket 91. . The tube section 90e further includes an opening 90f and is connected to a helical lead screw 89 by a collar 90g.
is rotatably mounted for angular movement about a shaft 88 of. Figures 9, 9a and 9b
As will be explained in more detail with respect to the figures, the rotatable tube section 90e forms a control cage for the suction of medium into the jet ring 93, which is adjusted during operation to eject the medium from the jet ring 93. Manually or automatically change the pattern of the printed media.

In operation, media is transferred from the hopper 116 to the tube section 9
0a to fill the area surrounding the helical feed screw 89. During this medium supply, the feed screw 89 and the spout ring 93 cause the medium (not shown) to move laterally to the feed screw 89 in the direction of the spout ring 93.
9 and rotated by a drive shaft 76. Shaft 8 of spiral screw 89
An internal impeller portion 99 rigidly attached to one end of the impeller 8 propels the medium upwardly into the jet ring 93 , and rotation of the jet ring 93 causes the medium to pass through the impeller 96 .
is accelerated across the surface of the deburring chamber and discharged through discharge throat 69 to bombard the articles within the deburring chamber.

Following the impact of the media on the section, it is desirable to recirculate the spent media back to the helical lead screw 89 and jet ring 93 assembly. To achieve this result, the lower part of the deburring chamber includes a V-shaped hopper or trough 100 formed by a pair of walls 101 extending downwardly at an angle from the sides of the casing C. As seen in FIGS. 1-4, trough 100 is provided with a transfer screw 103 adjacent its top that is mounted on a shaft 104 supported by bearings 105. As seen in FIGS. This screw 103 extends through the rear wall of the case C to form an insulated container 106.
communicate with. A motor or other means 107 is used to rotate the shaft 104, thereby transferring the media accumulating in the trough 100 to the container 106.

Container 106 preferably includes a screen 10 sized to separate or filter the media from burr particles released during the deburring process.
8 is provided and positioned in overlying relationship with the screw conveyor entrance 111, indicated generally by the numeral 110. As best shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the screw conveyor 110 is
It consists of an outer flexible tube 113 extending from the container 106 to a hopper 116 positioned on the top wall of the casing C.

A helical screw 112 with a flexible shaft 114 is disposed within the tube 113 and connected to the motor 1.
15. As recognized, motor 1
15 and flexible shaft 114 , helical screw 112 transports the medium entering through opening 111 through tube 113 and discharges the medium into hopper 116 for entry into transport and ejection wheel mechanism 93 . Additionally, a top closure 106a is provided on the container 106 to facilitate adding supplemental media to the system.

With the structure defined, the first aspect of the present invention
The operation of the deburring device shown in FIGS. 6 to 6 will be explained. It will be appreciated that the deburring chamber is first brought down to operating temperature by introducing cryogen gas through piping arrangements 67 and 68. At operating temperature, the particles or parts to be deburred are placed in the loading bin 37 of the entry/exit V by opening the cover plate 20.
During loading, both internal gates 29 and 33 of entry/exit V are in close proximity to prevent transfer or interaction of the cryogen gas contained within the deburring chamber with the atmosphere.

Subsequently, the cover 20 is closed, sealing the gas out of the entry/exit V, and the internal gate 29 is opened (by removing the vial 120 shown in FIG. (by releasing the retaining means) into the perspective line position shown in FIG. In this position, the bin 37 containing the articles to be deburred (not shown) is pivoted about its axis 38 to the position indicated by the perspective line in FIG.
The article is dumped onto conveyor belt B.
Subsequently, the bin 37 and the gate 29 are returned to their initial positions, thereby once again opening the access point V.
Deburr and seal from the chamber.

Conveyor belt B, traveling in the direction indicated by the arrow in FIG.
incidentally from the concave surface being urged back onto it by the angularly inclined walls 29a and 29b of. By timing the period during which the article is maintained in the deburring chamber, the burrs on the article are made more fragile compared to the rest of the article or the main body, so that the blower wheel 93 allows the burrs to be removed from the deburring chamber. The medium being expelled through effectively removes burrs from the article without damaging the rest of the article.

After the deburring operation is completed, the lower gate 33 of the entry/exit V is opened (as by crank 123) to the perspective view position of FIG.
is reversed so that the articles supported by belt B are transferred to unloading chamber 16. The gate 33 is then returned to its original position to prevent the escape of cryogen gas, and the lower closure panel 23 is manually opened to remove the article from the apparatus.

As recognized by the devices disclosed in FIGS. 1-6, the freezing and hazards associated with prior art devices are significantly eliminated, and the entry/exit V is free from cryogen/atmosphere interaction and working. Prevent people from being exposed to cryogens.

In FIG. 7, a modified entry/exit or gas lock arrangement is shown and is used to replace entry/exit V of FIGS. 1-6. By this particular variant, the stowage bin 237 has a peripheral extension or flange 2 adjacent one end that engages a sealing member 232 formed on the interior surface of the door D.
Contains 25. Similarly, a lower seal 232a is mounted on one side of the threshold 17, which in combination with the seal 232 provides a substantially hermetic seal between the loading chamber 15 and the deburring chamber. Form. This particular configuration provides separate internal gates 29 (shown in FIG. 1).
The need to have a rear wall 2 of the bin 237 is eliminated.
29 performs a comparable function.

This variation further provides a deflector plate depending downwardly from the top surface of the case C to deflect the article being flipped back into the deburring operation back onto the concave upper path of the belt B. . This baffle plate is preferably pivotally connected to the middle of its length so that while pivoting the bin 237 to place the part into the deburring chamber (in the manner described above) the baffle plate is connected to the seventh Extends to the unconstrained position indicated by the perspective line in the figure.

Additionally, the modified entryway structure is pivotally mounted about an axis 234 for movement between an open position and a closed position shown by complete lines and perspective lines, respectively, in FIG. Ru. As shown in its closed position, gate 233 includes top and side seals 235 and 23 to inhibit interaction and heat transfer between the cryogen gas and the atmosphere.
It meshes with 5a. Additionally, gate 233 serves to redirect any articles back onto belt B that are accidentally jetted off the belt during the deburring process.

8 to 12, a second embodiment of the deburring device of the invention is disclosed, which is particularly suitable for fully automated operation.
As shown, this device typically includes a casing 3
00, which includes an inner and outer spaced wall 30 preferably filled with an insulating material.
2 and 304, respectively. The illustrated apparatus is similar to the previous embodiment and further includes a modified gas lock or entry/exit 308, automatic parts conveyor 312, belt tensioning means 370a, burr/media separator 454, and modified media transfer and ejection. wheel assembly 510.

Referring to FIG. 8, casing 300 is provided with a door 306 that preferably extends across the entire front face of the device. Door 306 includes outer locks or access bays 308 that form substantially airtight loading and unloading chambers 310 and 400, respectively (shown in FIG. 11). Manually accessing the chamber 300 is accomplished by accessing the hinge 33.
entry into the chamber 400 is facilitated by an outer hatch 330 pivoted to the top surface of the access bay 308 by a pair of hatches 404, whereas entry into the chamber 400 is facilitated by a pair of pivoted hatches 404 It will be done.

Chambers 310 and 400 are separated from each other by an automatic partial conveyor 312 and selectively separated from deburring chamber 322 by a pair of gates 324 and 390. Conveyor 312 is provided with a series of receiving plates 314 extending around its periphery to grip and carry parts along conveyor 312. As shown, conveyor 3
12 is driven in the direction of arrow 318 so that the part carried thereon is removed from the deburring chamber 32.
automatically placed onto the belt 320 which turns around within 2. As will be appreciated, while transferring portions from the conveyor 312 onto the belt 320, the internal gate 324, which extends from the upper portion of the chamber 310 in its closed position to just below the uppermost pulley 422 of the conveyor 312, is , arrow 32 as in the position indicated by the perspective line in FIG.
Pivotally supported in direction 6. so gate 324
forms an internal gas lock that can limit the interaction of the cryogen environment of the deburring chamber 322 with the atmospheric environment of the loading chamber 310 only during loading of articles into the deburring chamber. can.

The unloading chamber 400 is further provided with an internal gate 390 formed with upper and lower portions 392 and 394, respectively, and is pivotally mounted about an axis 396. Regarding gate 324, gate 3
90, this gate 390 sealingly connects the chamber 4.
Loading/unloading chamber 400 by engaging the lower wall of 00
in the closed position (shown as a complete line in FIG. 11) separating the gate 390 from the deburring chamber.
is pivoted in the direction of arrow 398 and has an open position in the position indicated by the perspective line in FIG. In this open position, the belt 320 is driven in the opposite direction to dump the portion carried thereon into the unloading chamber 400 in the manner described above. Thus, from the above description, this second embodiment also eliminates the hazards of the prior art by providing an entry/exit chamber 308, said chamber 308 being directly connected to the cold gaseous environment within the deburring chamber. Allows items to be loaded and unloaded on equipment without exposure.

As in the previous embodiment, the deburring chamber 322 includes a plurality of mandrels 350, 352 and 3.
54, and these mandrels each contain 356,3
Belt 320 is supported on sprockets numbered 58 and 360. These sprockets permit belt 320 to advance in a substantially L-shaped configuration whereby a portion (not shown) is coupled to belt 32 by a pair of discs 342.
It is turned over in a concave pocket formed above the upper course of the 0.

However, in this embodiment, the belt 320 is tensioned by a roller 364 that is mounted about an axis 366 to a support arm 368. Arm 368 is formed in the form of a dog's leg and its upper portion is connected to a rod 370 which is in turn attached to a spring 373 and cylinder 374 arrangement. Spring 372 biases rod 370 and belt 320
gives continuous tension to. In this manner, the belt 3
As 20 expands or contracts in response to the introduction or removal of cryogen gas within the deburring chamber, this belt achieves an automatic degree of tension due to the biasing force of spring 372. Thus, the substantial heat shrinkage of the belt during operation, which often caused premature failure of the belt 320 in the prior art, is compensated for in the present invention.

A baffle plate 378 is additionally provided to ensure that the articles are continuously turned over on the belt 320 to
8 and the deburring chamber 322. The baffle plate 378 preferably includes an upper portion 380 and a lower portion 382 connected at a hinge point 384. The upper portion 380 further includes an arrow 38 to the position indicated by the perspective line in FIG.
It is connected by a hinge 386 for pivotal movement upward in the direction 8. When disposed in its closed position, the leg 380 is angled angularly toward the belt 320, thereby biasing the portion accidentally ejected thereon back onto the belt; In the open position, legs 380 extend outwardly away from belt 320;
The article deburred thereby is placed on the deflector plate 38
Loading and unloading chamber 400 without interference from 0
can be dropped into.

9, 9a, 9b and 10, the detailed construction of a second embodiment of an alternative lead screw and spout ring assembly of the present invention will now be described. As shown, the assembly is mounted to the top surface of casing 300 in a manner similar to that described above, with jet ring 510 aligned with a discharge opening extending into deburring chamber 322. However, in this embodiment, although the helical lead screw 504 and impeller 510 are axially aligned, they are driven by separate motor drive mechanisms so that their rotational speeds can be varied independently. As will become clearer below, this independent drive feature allows the device to be finely tuned to specifically adapt to the performance requirements required by the configuration of the individual parts.

With particular reference to FIGS. 9 and 9A, the distal end of the tube 521 surrounding the lead screw 504 is provided with a cover 516 having a small opening 520 which allows the medium to pass through the jet ring or impeller 51.
0 to the radially oriented spaces 524 formed between the vanes 526. As in the previous embodiment, this collar 516 is rotated about its central axis to rotate the jet ring or impeller 510.
The angular orientation of the aperture 520 is varied with respect to.

It is understood that there is a relationship between the point of introduction of the medium into the jet ring and the point of ejection of the medium from the jet ring vanes (i.e. the direction of the medium entering the jet ring is (depending on the angular orientation of the point of introduction of the medium into the ejection ring). Furthermore, as previously discussed, in an ejection ring with vanes 526 of uniform length, the ejection of media from the ring is not uniformly distributed, but rather as hot spots, within localized regions of the ejection pattern typically exhibited. are collected in.

In order to properly direct the flow of media and substantially eliminate the centralization problems associated with prior art jet wheel devices, the present invention continuously changes or oscillates the angular orientation of the apertures 520 with respect to the impeller 510. A control cage 516 is used that is rotated during machine operation to cause the machine to move. In such embodiments, the hot spots are continuously shifted across the area of the deburring chamber 322, thereby promoting uniform and consistent deburring operations.

Referring to FIG. 9a, in a second embodiment,
It can be seen that the cover 516 includes a flange 517 adjacent the open end from the opening 520. This flange 517 is fitted with a lever arm 518 extending radially therefrom. Lever arm 518 includes an aperture 519 that
is a mnemonic or hydraulic cylinder 525 (not shown) pivotally attached to the casing 300.
The actuator rod 523 is dimensioned to receive one end of the actuator rod 523. Rod 523 is attached to lever arm 518 by a pair of fasteners 527 threaded onto rod 523 and positioned on either side of handle 518. As is well known,
With this fixed configuration, the location of handle 518 can be adjusted along the length of rod 523.

In operation, cylinder 525 is energized by selective pressurization and depressurization from a controlled external mnematic or hydraulic actuator (not shown) to reciprocate rod 523, thereby causing cover 516 to move into the deburring chamber. 322 through a predetermined angular rotation (in the direction indicated by the arrow shown in Figure 9a). This rotation changes the angular orientation of opening 520 with respect to jet ring 510, thereby shifting the area of media concentration across the width of deburring chamber 322.

In Figure 9b, a schematic representation of the media pattern achieved by the apparatus of Figure 9a is depicted.
Control cage or cover 51 located at position A
At opening 520 at 6, the medium ejected from impeller 510, although typically distributed through deburring chamber 322, is concentrated in a localized area designated by number MA. Subsequently, with the aperture 520 angularly rotated to position B, the media is concentrated from area MA to area MB located to the right (as seen in Figure 9b). Similarly, the concentration of the medium ejected from the impeller 510 due to the positions C and D of the openings 520 is indicated by the reference numbers MC and MD, which are located to the right of the previous medium concentration area. .

In a preferred embodiment, cylinder 525 is continuously pressurized and depressurized to cause aperture 520 in collar 516 to oscillate through the range of positions AD shown in FIG. 9b. In this manner, media concentration areas or hot spots are continuously shifted through the length of deburring chamber 322. In this manner, the portion or article P being flipped over on the belt 320 is uniformly deburred during operation with component wear inconsistencies further eliminated.

To augment the improved uniform media pattern produced by the vibrating control cage or collar 516, the present invention further includes an improved transport mechanism 506 that is independent of the jet ring 510. is driven to deliver a consistent amount of pellets to the jetting wheel 510 and eliminate the tendency of media (not shown) to interfere during transfer from the hopper. As shown in FIG. 9, the helical lead screw 504 is coaxially positioned, the jet ring 510 is connected at one end to the motor by a suitable flange arrangement, and the control cage or collar 516
terminating at the other end adjacent an opening 520 of.

Lead screw 504 is enclosed within a tubing member that includes a media inlet adjacent its top surface, as in the previously described embodiments. A media hopper 502 is positioned above the media opening to store the predetermined amount of media. In a preferred embodiment, hopper 502 includes a level indicator and valve arrangement (not shown) that adjusts the amount of media admitted to hopper 502 to provide a constant hydrostatic head.

In operation, the lead screw 504 is connected to the hopper 502.
The media (not shown) rotates under the power of a separate motor drive mechanism to engage the lead screw 504 and travel first downwardly and then laterally through the collar 504.
Go in 16 directions. Due to the constant hydrostatic head maintained within hopper 502, the amount of media entering lead screw 504 is uniform. Furthermore, during this operation, the jet wheel 510 powered by its separate motor drive mechanism is typically rotated at a substantially higher RPM value than the rotation of the lead screw 504.
This rotation acts through collar 516 and feeds the tube surrounding lead screw 504.
A vacuum is generated at the opening or port 520 of 6. As such, the media being transported laterally by the lead screw 504 is vacuum assisted in its path and forced through the port 520 onto the jet ring 510.

Therefore, with this particular configuration, the medium is constantly acted upon during transfer from hopper 502 to impeller 510 (i.e., firstly, downwardly by the force of the hydrostatic head within hopper 502). secondly, laterally by the rotation of the lead screw 504, and thirdly laterally and upwardly through the opening 520 by the vacuum generated in the spout ring 510). In this way, the disturbance problems associated with the prior art as well as the inconsistent amount of media being delivered to the impeller are substantially eliminated.

Additionally, this particular transfer jet ring configuration allows
This device can be fine-tuned for specific deburring operations. As recognized, the ejection ring 5
The amount of vacuum assistance as well as the velocity of the media from 10 is related to the velocity of the jet ring 510, which is independently controlled and varied during operation. Furthermore, the amount of medium being fed at the jet ring 510 depends on the speed of the helical feed screw 504, which is further independent and variable. Thus, according to the invention, the density, intensity and pattern of the media flow can all be varied to suit a particular deburring operation.

8 and 12, the media reclamation and media/burr separation mechanism of the present invention is illustrated.
With particular reference to FIG.
The lower portion of 2 is provided with an angled member 440 terminating in the hopper area. As shown, the hopper is connected to a storage container 444, as in the previous embodiment.
a transfer screw 44 driven to feed the medium to
Contains 2. Containers 444 are sequentially conveyed by flexible conveyor means 446 having a spiral feed means rotated by data 448 (this is shown in FIGS. 4 and 5).
(similar to the conveyor described above with respect to the figures) to lift the medium conveyed upwardly in the direction of arrow 452 by screw 442 and deposit it onto the separator device.

The separator device of the present invention basically includes a plurality of vibration chambers 454, 456, 458 and 4.
60, each of which is provided with a respective screen whose size changes gradually from the upper chamber to the lower chamber.

In operation, media transported via the helical feed tube 452 enters the upper chamber 454 and passes through the respective screens to the lower chamber 45.
6 and 458. Lower chamber 456
and 458 are each connected to a conical hopper 484 as by conduits 464 and 462. With hopper 484 maintained under vacuum, the media in chambers 456 and 458 is forced into tube 4.
64 and 462 to hopper 484.

Top and bottom chambers 454 and 4
60 are connected by conduits 466 and 457, respectively, to a flash residue container 470, which is also maintained under vacuum.
In this way, relatively large burr particles that did not pass through the larger mesh screen of the first chamber 454 are drawn directly out of the chamber 454, whereas relatively small particles that progressed to the lowermost chamber 460 Burr particles accumulate and are removed from chamber 460 in the same manner.

From the above description, it can be seen that the screen graduation can be used in any suitable manner to allow the most advantageous separation of burrs and media. However, the order of size of the chambers and their respective screens is preferably such that the gauge of the screen opening decreases from the upper chamber to the lower chamber of the separator to remove the smallest burr particles in its lowest chamber, while It is maintained to draw media from at least one or two of the chambers above it. In this manner, adequate separation between the media and burrs of this system is achieved.

Following the separation process, the media passes through the conical hopper 4 supported by legs 480 and 482.
Fall to 84. Hopper 484 is frozen to a feed screw and conveyor assembly 490 having the previously described helical thread type 446 for conveying media upwardly to feed hopper 502 of jet wheel assembly 510.

Applicants note that when the medium reaches this hopper 482, its temperature is raised to an intermediate level, ie, a level intermediate between the temperature of the cryogen and the temperature of the atmosphere, which often attracts moisture and creates freezing conditions. discovered. As a result, it is advantageous that the medium should be heated to evaporate any moisture contained therein, or alternatively should be maintained at cryogen temperature throughout the entire deburring process to avoid freezing. It is. Thus, in the preferred embodiment, hopper 444
is provided with a rod 494, and this rod 494
is coupled to a power source, such as by an electrical lead 496, to heat the media to a temperature above the dew point. Alternatively, the entire conduit 446 leading to the separator device can be maintained at a temperature that reaches cryogen temperature, thereby inhibiting ice formation. Thus, the separator apparatus of the present invention substantially separates the media from the burrs released during the deburring process and prevents the formation of ice on the media being transferred to the jet wheel assembly 210.

From the foregoing it will be appreciated that the embodiment of FIGS. 8-12 is particularly suited for fully automatic operation.

In this regard, the opening in the outer hatch 330 of the entryway structure 308 can be easily accommodated by pneumatic or hydraulic means, such as a hydraulic actuator 410 extending therefrom and interconnected to the door by a pivot point 414. Ru.

The aforementioned pneumatic or hydraulic cylinder 41
0 plus side walls 302 and 30 of casing 300 to drive internal gates 324, 380 and 392 between open and closed positions.
There may be various other means such as a back pinion or a high voltage motor drive mechanism (not shown) used in conjunction with the motor. Similarly, the operation of the control cage 516 as well as the speed of the motor may be controlled by a variety of electrical or electromechanical linkages. In this manner, all elements of the apparatus are advantageously automated and coupled to a digital control system (not shown) to provide timed processing of materials or articles through the apparatus.

In this way, the system can naturally function with automatic control to the point of loading and unloading the conveyor. As a result, the present invention provides a substantial improvement over prior art deburring devices.