Solid material comminution or disintegration – Apparatus – Including means applying fluid to material
Reexamination Certificate
1999-07-23
2002-01-22
Tolan, Ed (Department: 3725)
Solid material comminution or disintegration
Apparatus
Including means applying fluid to material
C241S278100, C241S282100, C241S292100, C241S300100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06340125
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for breaking chips produced by cutting metallic workpieces, into small fragments, and a system for treating the chips.
2. Related Art Statement
When a machine tool such as a lathe, a drilling machine, a milling machine, or a planing machine cuts metallic workpieces or blanks, a large amount of chips are produced. In many cases, those chips are so sharp and are very difficult to treat. Elongate noodle-like chips are particularly difficult to treat. Hence, there have been known two sorts of apparatuses each for breaking chips into small fragments that are easy to treat. One known apparatus includes two rotary cutters which are rotated in opposite directions, respectively, to shear chips and thereby break the same into fragments. The other known apparatus includes a fixed cutter and a rotary cutter which is rotated relative to the fixed cutter to shear chips.
However, the above-indicated two known apparatuses have the problem that it is difficult for the two cutters to bite noodle-like chips which are entangled with one another or break those chips into fragments. In addition, since the known apparatuses break chips primarily by shearing, the broken chips or the fragments are so sharp and are very difficult to treat. For example, the sharp fragments may hurt the hands of workers, or may engage one another so strongly that they are difficult to separate. Meanwhile, it has been practiced that broken chips or fragments are conveyed by utilizing an air flow. In this case, sharp fragments hurt or damage the inner surface of a tube member that forms a chip-convey passage, thereby lowering the life expectancy of the tube member. In a particular case where the tube member is provided by a hose formed of an organic material, for the purpose of giving some flexibility to the chip-convey passage, sharp fragments largely lower the life expectancy of the hose.
The present invention has been developed in the above-described background.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a chip breaking apparatus and a chip treating system which have one or more of the technical features that are described below in respective paragraphs given parenthesized sequential numbers (1) to (35). Any technical feature which includes another technical feature shall do so by referring, at the beginning, to the parenthesized sequential number given to that technical feature. Thus, two or more of the following technical features may be combined, if appropriate. Each technical feature may be accompanied by a supplemental explanation, as needed. However, the following technical features and the appropriate combinations thereof are just examples to which the scope and spirit of the present invention are by no means limited.
(1) According to a first feature of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for breaking chips into fragments, comprising an outer structure which is fixedly provided such that a center line of the outer structure is parallel to a reference direction having a vertical component; an inner structure which is provided inside the outer structure such that the inner structure is concentric with the outer structure; a rotary drive device which rotates, in a rotating direction, the inner structure about the center line; and the inner structure including a central portion which is concentric with the outer structure, and a plurality of blades which extend radially outwardly from an outer circumferential surface of the central portion and each of which is inclined relative to the rotating direction such that a lower surface of the each blade can be seen as viewed from a downstream side of the each blade in the rotating direction. When the inner structure is rotated, respective leading edges of the blades (i.e., respective downstream-side ends of the blades in the rotating direction) strike and break respective portions of elongate noodle-like chips entangled with one another, or engage and draw the same, thereby separating the same from the respective remaining portions of the chips into considerably small fragments. In addition, since each of the blades is inclined relative to the rotating direction such that the lower surface of the each blade can be seen as viewed from the downstream side of the each blade in the rotating direction, the each blade being rotated functions to draw the chips downward. Moreover, an air flow generated by the rotation of the blades contributes to drawing the chips downward and separating the same from one another. In the case where the chip breaking apparatus in accordance with the first feature (1) is provided on an upstream side of a chip breaking apparatus in accordance with the tenth feature (10) described later, the former chip breaking apparatus supplies, to the latter or downstream-side chip breaking apparatus, elongate noodle-like chips entangled with one another, while separating or breaking those chips into considerably small fragments.
(2) According to a second feature of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for breaking chips into fragments, comprising an outer structure which is fixedly provided such that a center line of the outer structure is parallel to a first direction having a vertical component; an inner structure which is provided inside the outer structure such that the inner structure is concentric with the outer structure; a rotary drive device which rotates the inner structure about the center line; and the inner structure including a central portion which is concentric with the outer structure, a plurality of blades which extend radially outwardly from an outer circumferential surface of the central portion, and a plurality of separating portions which extend from the plurality of blades, respectively, in a second direction having a vertically upward component. In the case where the outer and inner structures are provided such that the common center line thereof is vertical, the separating portions extend upward from the respective upper surfaces of the blades, and are rotated about the common center line as the blades are rotated. When noodle-like chips entangled with one another are cast downward onto the separating portions, the separating portions engage respective portions of the chips and draw the same around, thereby separating the same from the remaining portions of the chips. Simultaneously, respective leading edges of the blades engage respective portions of the noodle-like chips entangled with one another, and draw the same around, thereby separating the same from the remaining portions of the chips. The shape of each of the blades of the chip breaking apparatus in accordance with the second feature (2) is not limited to that of each of the blades of the chip breaking apparatus in accordance with the first feature (1). However, it is desirable that the blades of the apparatus in accordance with the second feature (2) have the same shape as that of the blades of the apparatus in accordance with the first feature (1). In the latter case, the chip breaking apparatus in accordance with the second feature (2) enjoys the same advantages of the chip breaking apparatus in accordance with the first feature (1). The above description relates to the case where the common center line of the outer and inner structures is vertical. Even if the common center line of the outer and inner structures may be inclined relative to the vertical direction, the chip breaking apparatus can enjoy similar advantages, so long as the separating portions extend from the blades in a direction having a vertically upward component and the chips are cast downward onto the separating portions. Basically, the separating portions extend from the blades in a direction parallel to the center line of the inner structure. However, the separating portions may extend in a direction inclined relative to the center line of the inner structure.
(3) According to a third feature of the present invention that includes the second feature (2), each o
Honda Tatsuyuki
Kamimura Teruki
Kondo Toshihiro
Murata Shintaro
Fuji Machine Mfg. Co. Ltd.
Oliff & Berridge
Tolan Ed
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