Chip discharge conveyor system

Details Chip discharge conveyor system Chip discharge conveyor system

2001-12-19

2003-01-28

Lithgow, Thomas M. (Department: 1724)

Liquid purification or separation

Diverse distinct separators

Including a filter

C210S523000, C210S526000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06511597

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a chip discharge conveyor system of the type wherein a used coolant containing therein chips of different sizes including cutting tips or grinding chips of iron-, aluminum- or copper-based metal that have been discharged from the machine tools during a metal working process such as cutting or grinding is charged into a used coolant treatment tank from the above, and the chips of different sizes contained in the used coolant are conveyed by a single conveyor system and subsequently discharged outside the used coolant treatment tank.
2. Description of the Related Art
When a metal working process, such as cutting or grinding, is effected on a metallic material with a machine tool, a coolant such as water containing a cutting oil or a lubricant dissolved therein is used for cooling a cutting tool, a grinding tool and/or a workpiece. Conventionally, as a chip discharge conveyor system for catching and removing chips from a used coolant discharged from the machine tool, a conveyor system comprised of a hinged belt is used.
One example of such conventional chip discharge conveyor systems is shown here in
FIGS. 14
to
16
. The conventional conveyor system
51
is equipped with an endless hinged belt
53
disposed inside a used coolant treatment tank
52
, a driving sprocket
54
around which a side chain
53
c
mounted on the hinged belt
53
is wound, and a driven tail disk
55
for slide contact with the side chain
53
c
at a conveyor tail portion T. In these figures, reference character
52
a
denotes a horizontal bottom plate of the used coolant tank
52
,
52
b
denotes a sloped bottom plate extending obliquely upward from the horizontal bottom plate
52
a
,
56
denotes outer cleats attached to an outer circumferential surface of the hinged belt
53
, and C denotes an advancing direction of the hinged belt.
In the chip discharge conveyor system
51
, a coolant containing therein chips of different size is charged into the used coolant treatment tank
52
from above (in the direction indicated by the arrow A in FIG.
14
), chips of larger size (hereinafter referred to as “large chips”) are caught on discharge belt run
53
a
on an upper side of the hinged belt
53
. The discharge belt run
53
a
travels continuously along a horizontal path and an upwardly sloped path extending parallel to the sloped bottom plate
52
b
. As the discharge belt run
53
a
travels along the sloped path, the large chips are held by the outer cleats
56
. Then, at the top of the used coolant treatment tank
52
, the large chips are discharged from a discharge opening
57
to the outside of the used coolant treatment tank
52
(in the direction indicated by the arrow B in FIG.
14
). Chips of smaller size (hereinafter referred to as “small chips”) which have not been caught by the discharge belt run
53
a
sediment onto a return belt run
53
b
(of an inner circumferential surface of the belt
53
) and the horizontal bottom plate
52
a.
In the conventional chain discharging conveyor system
51
previously described, large chips (such as curled chips, ball-like chips formed by curled chips entangled together, or long chips) contained in a used coolant together with small chips are caught on the discharge belt run
53
a
on an upper side of the hinged belt
53
. However, the small chips fall by gravity down through a clearance between adjacent two hinged plates of the discharge belt run
53
a
, a clearance between each longitudinal edge of the hinged belt and the corresponding sidewall of the used coolant treatment tank
52
and a clearance in the side chain. A part of such small chips sediments onto the inner circumferential surface of the return belt run
53
b
on the lower side of the hinged belt
53
. The remainder of the small chips, that have not been caught on the return belt run
53
b
, sediments onto the bottom plate of the used coolant treatment tank
52
(see chips noted by K
2
FIG.
4
).
The small chips deposited on the inner circumferential surface of the return belt run
53
b
are then conveyed toward the conveyor tail portion T. As the return belt run
53
b
makes an upward turn at the conveyor tail portion T, deposits of small chips on the return belt run
53
b
drop one after another and pile up or accumulate into a rod-like mass at the upturned position of the hinged belt
53
. Such piling-up of the small chips also occurs even when two sprockets connected by a shaft are used in place of the tail disk
55
. The mass of small chips piled up inside the upturned belt portion gradually forces the hinged belt
53
toward vertically upward and downward directions. This may result in an accidental stop of the conveyor system
51
. When such stop occurs, the hinged belt
53
must be removed so that the inside of the used coolant treatment tank
52
can be cleaned. The foregoing problem is caused due to the absence of a mechanism or a structure for enabling positive discharge of small chips adhering by sedimentation to the return belt run.
It appears clear from the foregoing description that the conventional chip discharge conveyor system composed of a hinged belt is per se unable to treat a used coolant containing chips of different sizes. To deal with this problem, a separate drum filter is disposed adjacent to the conveyor system, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,992,642, granted Nov. 30, 1999. This arrangement, however, requires a large occupied space. In another improved conventional arrangement, a scraper type conveyor (for discharging small chips) and a hinged belt type conveyor (for discharging large chips) are disposed side by side or one above another. This arrangement requires a large space for installation and two separate power sources, which deteriorate the power consumption and cost efficiency. An additional drawback associated with the two-story arrangement is a considerable deterioration in the maintainability of the lower conveyor.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is accordingly a general object of the present invention to overcome the foregoing drawbacks of the prior art.
A more specific object of the present invention is to provide a chip discharge conveyor system using a hinged belt, which is capable of catching and discharging large chips by means of a discharge run of the circulating endless hinged belt, and at the same time, catching small chips on a return run of the hinged belt and subsequently discharging the small chips outside the conveyor system without involving formation of a large mass of small chips at an upwardly turned portion of the return belt run, thereby ensuring that a used coolant containing chips of different sizes can be treated only by using a single chip discharge conveyor system without requiring a large space for installation and involving an accidental stop of the conveyor system caused due to jamming of the chips.
To achieve the foregoing object, according to the present invention, there is provided a chip discharge conveyor system including an endless hinged belt disposed in a used coolant treatment tank in such a manner that the endless hinged belt travels to circulate while making a turn at a conveyor tail end and a chip discharge end, wherein a used coolant containing chips of different sizes is charged into the used coolant treatment tank from the above, the chips of different sizes contained in the used coolant are caught and then conveyed to the chip discharge end where the chips are discharged outside the used coolant treatment tank. The outer cleats are attached to an outer circumferential surface of the hinged belt. The chip discharge conveyor system further includes a partition plate disposed below a discharge run of the hinged belt in confronted relation to the discharged belt run along the length thereof, and a cylindrical member disposed inside the conveyor tail end where a return run of the hinged belt makes an upward turn. The cylindrical member extends in the width direction of the conveyor tail end so that small chips caught on the return belt

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