Cleaning and liquid contact with solids – Apparatus – With plural means for supplying or applying different fluids...
Reexamination Certificate
1999-12-28
2001-10-16
Coe, Philip R. (Department: 1746)
Cleaning and liquid contact with solids
Apparatus
With plural means for supplying or applying different fluids...
C068S004000, C068S208000, C134S096100, C134S11500R, C134S183000, C137S579000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06302123
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to liquid handling systems for automated washers and liquid-based treating equipment.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In the industrial machine and equipment manufacturing industries, parts and castings which are subject to machining must be cleaned to remove cuttings, oils, chips and other contaminants. In a like manner, in other industries, including the maintenance industry, items such as vehicle parts must be cleaned to remove tars, oils, chips and metallic particles as well as other debris before the parts can be reused or replaced.
Parts washing machines generally include a wash chamber where parts are contacted in stages first by a wash liquid and a then by rinse liquid. The washing and rinse stages typically include one or more forms of agitation, such as high-pressure liquid or vapor spray, parts rotation, and ultrasonics. The washing and rinse cycles of a parts washing machine may entail both a spraying step, where liquid is sprayed onto parts in an air environment, and an overflow step, where parts are fully submerged in liquid and then agitated by combinations of turbolators, rotation, ultrasonics, spraying, and the like.
Automated parts washers typically include a liquid recycle system for cost reduction and environmental protection. In a conventional design, the associated drainage system for recycling liquid includes separate wash liquid and rinse liquid tanks, each coupled to the wash chamber by separate drainage passageways and control valves. This configuration allows a machine control system to drain liquid from the wash chamber to either holding tank as needed. This conventional approach has several significant drawbacks, however. First, such drainage systems require complicated valve setups and elaborate piping to provide the separate drainage passageways. Second, such systems suffer from limited drainage rates, which are insufficient to effectively flush debris from the wash chamber into the drainage system. Third, liquid treatment chambers linked to conventional drainage systems require separate means to prevent or control wash chamber overflow. Also, the parts washers of conventional design require a relatively large “footprint” on the factory floor.
Accordingly, there remains a need for a drainage system in a parts washing machine that overcomes one or more of these drawbacks.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The rotary liquid diverter of the present invention permits parts washing machines having liquid recycle systems to be both cost-effective and highly compact. The present liquid diverter reduces cycle times as well as the total volume of liquid required for washing and rinsing because piping volume is considerably reduced. Moreover, a truly overflowing rinse cycle can be implemented in a parts washing machine.
The liquid diverter is mountable to a drain port of a parts wash chamber situated above a wash liquid holding tank and a rinse liquid holding tank. The diverter includes a spout having an outlet end and an inlet end rotatably mounted to the drain port such that the spout is rotatable in a substantially vertical plane while in fluid communication with the wash chamber. Specifically, the spout is controllably rotatable about the drain port between an overflow position in which the outlet end is situated above the drain port and a drainage position in which the outlet is situated to dispense liquid contained in the parts wash chamber.
For washing parts where the wash chamber is to be substantially liquid full or overflowing, the spout can be rotated to an overflow position, which is preferably substantially upright or at a predetermined angle from the vertical. While the rotatable spout is in an overflow position, the wash chamber can be filled with liquid for parts submersion to the same level as the vertical position of the outlet end of the spout. In addition, the wash chamber can be controllably overflowed through the spout without a separate overflow outlet in the wash chamber. When the rotatable spout is in a drainage position, liquid from the wash chamber is directed to a liquid tank for recycle.
Liquid diverters according to the present invention can serve as general liquid overflow control devices for liquid holding tanks having a drain port. In this regard, the overflow control device comprises a spout having an outlet end and an inlet end. The spout of the overflow control device is mounted at its inlet end to the drain port for rotation in a substantially vertical plane so as to position the outlet end of the spout at an overflow station which is at a predetermined height above the drain port.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a parts washing system is provided with an elevated wash chamber equipped with a rotary liquid diverter and a pair of liquid recycle tanks (or reservoirs). In particular, the parts washing system comprises a wash liquid holding tank having a return opening, a rinse liquid holding tank also having a return opening, a wash chamber with drain port situated above both the wash liquid holding tank and the rinse liquid holding tank, a parts carrier movable from a loading position outside the wash chamber to a position inside the wash chamber, a liquid spray nozzle adapted to direct liquid into the wash chamber, at least one pump for transferring wash liquid and rinse liquid from the wash liquid holding tank and the rinse liquid holding tank, respectively, to the spray nozzle, and a substantially L-shaped liquid diverter. The L-shaped liquid diverter is rotatably mounted at the drain port for rotation in a substantially vertical plane and has an outlet end for dispensing liquid from the wash chamber to one of the wash liquid holding tank and the rinse liquid holding tank.
The L-shaped diverter is rotatable to assume an array of functional positions, including four rotational positions which are particularly valuable for the operation of the parts washing machine. In a first position (or set of positions), the diverter outlet is situated over the return opening of the wash liquid tank at a level equal to or below the wash chamber drain port so that liquid in the wash chamber can drain into the wash liquid holding tank. In a second position, the diverter outlet is situated over the return opening of the wash liquid tank but at a level higher than the wash chamber drain port so that the wash chamber does not drain into the wash liquid tank but can instead overflow into the wash liquid tank.
While the first and second rotational positions noted above will direct fluid to the wash liquid holding tank, the diverter can rotate as well to corresponding positions for directing liquid to the rinse liquid holding tank. In a third position for example, the diverter outlet is situated over the return opening of the rinse liquid holding tank at a level equal to or below the wash chamber drain port so that liquid in the wash chamber drains into the rinse liquid tank. To provide overflow from the wash chamber to the rinse holding tank, a fourth position is also available where the outlet of the diverter is situated over the return opening of the rinse liquid holding tank but at a level higher than the drain port.
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CAE Ransohoff Inc.
Coe Philip R.
Olson & Hierl Ltd.
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