Liquid purification or separation – Magnetic – With additional separator
Reexamination Certificate
2000-02-11
2001-08-21
Reifsnyder, David A. (Department: 1723)
Liquid purification or separation
Magnetic
With additional separator
C210S222000, C210S396000, C210S400000, C210S416100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06277276
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention concerns industrial filters of a type designed to filter cutting fluids. These fluids are used in the machining of metal parts, such as engine blocks, manifolds, cylinder heads, etc. to cool and lubricate, and to carry off chips, etc. The cutting fluids are directed at the parts during machining, and in mass production installations are collected for filtration and reuse.
Large quantities of metal particles along with grit from grinding and other material, are typically generated which must be removed by the filter apparatus. In some operations such as honing, very fine metal particles are generated which tend to quickly clog the filter media, requiring increased filter capacity and/or reduced filter flow rates. The larger metal turnings sometimes cause tearing of the media. A type of filter apparatus widely used for this application comprises a tank into which the contaminated liquid is introduced and within which a media sheet material is advanced over a vacuum box. Liquid is drawn through the media sheet section overlying the vacuum box to be filtered.
The media and conveyor are indexed periodically to bring a fresh media section over the vacuum box.
A flight conveyor extending over the media is driven to assist in moving large quantities of filtered solids out of the tank.
Applicant has previously patented a method using such apparatus featuring a combination of a permanent and disposable sheet material filter media. See U.S. Pat. No. 5,624,579, issued on Apr. 29, 1997, which describes this filter.
If the metal particles could be removed from the liquid, the filter load could be greatly reduced, such that flow to the filter could be increased and, a smaller filter therefor used, and/or the indexing rate reduced.
This is particularly true where fine metal particles are present, such as with honing machines. These very fine particles are accompanied with oils which tend to be drawn to the metal particles, the oils tend to clog the filter media.
Magnetic separators have previously been devised which use permanently magnetized elements which attract ferromagnetic particles to remove the same from suspension in the liquid in a tank. Such separators have heretofore been separate from the primary filter, increasing the floor space required.
Magnetic separator elements have typically comprise an array of elongated permanently magnetized bars arranged side by side in a tank with intervening spaces through which the liquid is circulated. The metal particles are attracted to the magnetized bars, which are periodically scraped off, the scrapings collected by a conveyor removing the same from the tank.
Uniform circulation of liquid over the bars have been difficult to achieve, as the liquid tends to flow directly to a tank outlet, creating localized regions of higher and lower flow rates. Higher flow velocities tend to allow metal particles to escape the magnetic attraction of the bars and pass out of the separator.
Furthermore, scraping mechanisms heretofore employed have been bulky, using long power cylinders projecting to one side of the tank, and have not provided a particularly effective scraping action.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a filter method and apparatus of the type described which incorporates a magnetic separator to simplify and reduce the size of the combined apparatus.
It is a further object to provide a magnetic separator of improved performance.
It is yet another object to provide an improved scraper mechanism for a magnetic separator.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
These and other objects which will become apparent upon a reading of the following specification and claims are achieved by a combined vacuum filter and magnetic separator provided by interconnecting a series of magnetized bars to form a train of bars able to be advanced over the vacuum box so that the distributed liquid flow to the vacuum box uniformly flows over the array of magnetized bars at a relatively low flow rate. The uniform dispersed flow of liquid to the vacuum box insures distributed low velocity flow across the magnetized bars extending over the vacuum box, such that there is very effective pickup of metal particles by the bars.
The liquid then passes through a permanent media belt and, optionally, also through a disposable media sheet both driven through the tank by a flight conveyor.
The magnetized bar array is recirculated through the tank to the discharge end of the tank where a scraper mechanism successively engages the magnetized bars to scrape off the accumulated metal particles from each bar in the series.
According to another feature of the invention, the magnetic bars are either mounted to a flight conveyor to be recirculated back around the tank by the conveyor drive, or by a separate guide and drive arrangement.
The invention also features an improved scraper mechanism, comprising a series of polymeric scraper blocks, each mounted on respective magnetized bars in the series. A slot in each block receives a pusher arm of the scraper mechanism as the bars are successively indexed into a scraper station, the pusher arm comprised of a flat bar fit into the rectangular slot, to hold the scraper block square to the bar axis for true traversing movement when driven back and forth by an index cylinder. The cylinder is preferably an internal band cylinder which may be mounted coextensively with the bars so as to be able to be confined entirely within the tank.
The scraper mechanism is located at the discharge end of the filter tank so that when the scraper blocks scrape the accumulated particles onto an unmagnetized region at a far end of each bar, the scrapings fall through the discharge chute and are collected together with the material discharged by the flight conveyor and media.
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patent: 5624579 (1997-04-01), Bratten
patent: 6056879 (2000-05-01), Schaaf et al.
patent: 6059535 (2000-05-01), Wichmann et al.
patent: 41 30 421 C2 (1993-06-01), None
Benefiel John R.
Reifsnyder David A.
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