Agitating – By vibration – Of stirrer
Reexamination Certificate
2000-04-19
2001-11-27
Soohoo, Tony G. (Department: 1723)
Agitating
By vibration
Of stirrer
C366S256000, C366S332000, C366S347000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06322240
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vibrationally fluidly stirring apparatus having a vibration vane which is vibrated in fluid such as liquid to generate vibrational flow in the fluid.
2. Description of the Related Art
The inventor has proposed a method of stirring fluid with high efficiency in which vibration generated by a vibration motor disposed at the outside of a tank to be charged with the fluid is transmitted to a vibration motor mount member, then to a vibration vane disposed in the fluid via a vibrating bar so as to vibrate the vibrating vane at an amplitude of 8 to 20 mm and at a vibrational frequency of 200 to 600 times per minute, as shown in JP3-275130(A), for example.
In the above method, as shown in
FIGS. 9A and 9B
, the vibration motor mount plate
40
is supported on support members
18
attached to the upper edge of the tank
13
via four coiled springs
21
, within each of which is received upper guide rod
23
fixed to the vibration motor mount plate
40
and lower guide rod
24
fixed to the support member
18
. Therefore, when the apparatus is operated, the load excerted on each coiled spring
21
becomes great and the noise occurring due to the mechanism of coiled spring and the neighborhood thereof is considerable. In addition, when the apparatus is moved or transported, the upper portion of the coiled spring
21
and the lower portion thereof tends to become in disalignment with each other as shown in
FIGS. 10B
,
10
C from the ordinary state shown in
FIG. 10A
, and furthermore the upper guide rod
23
often falls off the lower guide rod
24
. It is difficult to recover the alignment of the upper and lower portions of the coiled spring
21
of
FIGS. 10B
,
10
C.
It would be considered that a tubular rubber member having the same shape is used instead of the coiled spring
21
, however, the tubular rubber member is insufficient to substitute for the coiled spring because the tubular rubber member cannot maintain its shape in a vertical direction when the vibration in the vertical direction is excerted on the tubular rubber member. If the tubular metallic member is attached to the outer surface of the tubular rubber member in order to maintain its shape in the vertical direction, the heat generation occurs due to the friction between the tubular metallic member and the tubular rubber member.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide a vibrationally fluidly stirring apparatus having a vibration absorbing member which is constituted without coiled spring made of metal.
According to the present invention, in order to attain the above object, there is provided a vibrationally fluidly stirring apparatus comprising a tank for accommodating fluid; a vibration generating portion containing a vibrator; a vibration absorbing member disposed between the tank and the vibration generating portion; a vibrating bar operationally connected to the vibration generating portion and extended in the tank; and a vibration vane attached to the vibrating bar, wherein the vibration absorbing member comprises a rubber plate or a laminate of rubber plate and metal plate.
The vibrator may be a vibration motor. The vibration generating portion and the vibrating bar may be attached to the vibration absorbing member. At least one rubber plate may comprise a sponge rubber layer and a solid rubber layer. The vibration absorbing member may be positioned on a portion of the upper edge of the tank. The vibration absorbing member may be positioned on the entirety of the upper edge of the tank. The vibration absorbing member may be positioned so as to seal the upper opening of the tank. The vibrating bar may pass through a hole formed in the vibration absorbing member in such a manner that the outer surface of the vibrating bar is in contact with the inner face of a hole formed in the rubber plate. The vibrationally fluidly stirring apparatus of the present invention may further comprise an inverter for controlling the vibrator to generate any frequency in the range from 10 to 500 Hz.
The fluid to be stirred by the apparatus of the present invention is typically a liquid, but is not restricted thereto and may be powder.
The rubber plate or the laminate of the rubber and metal plate as the vibration absorbing member functions in such a manner that the rubber plate absorbs the vibration generated by the vibration generating portion containing the vibrator, the rubber plate or both the rubber plate and the metal plate hold the weight of the vibration generating portion, and the vibration is transmitted efficiently to the vibrating bar. The rubber plate and the metal plate in the laminate may be adhered to each other by adhesive or may be merely stacked to form the laminate.
The thickness of the laminate is so determined as to be capable of holding the weight of the vibration generating portion and absorbing the vibration appropriately so as to be efficiently transmitted to the vibrating bar and the vibration vane.
As compared with the conventional vibrationally fluidly stirring apparatus having coiled spring type vibration absorbing member, the apparatus according to the present invention has the following advantages:
There is no trouble explained with reference to
FIGS. 10B
to
10
C in moving or transporting the apparatus, because the vibration absorbing member does not use coiled springs, but uses a rubber plate or a laminate of rubber plate and metal plate.
Furthermore, it is possible to seal the tank with the vibration absorbing member and therefore,
even if flammable gas is generated from the fluid in the tank when stirring, the danger of explosion is very low without costs for employing the explosion-proof type vibrator;
it is possible to suppress the vaporization of volatile solvent such as lacquer, methyl ethyl ketone, methyl isobutyl ketone, ethers, esters such as ethyl acetate in the fluid, and to prevent leakage of odorous vapor from the tank to the outside;
it is possible to prevent inflow of contaminant with air into the tank and therefore it is suitable to use the apparatus in treatment of food and drink;
it is possible to charge the tank fully with the fluid so that the treatment performance becomes higher, because the fluid was not scattered to the outside of the tank even if the high vibrational frequency or high vibrational force is used; and
it is possible to lower the noise level even if the high vibrational frequency or high vibrational force is used.
REFERENCES:
patent: 1265187 (1918-05-01), Fleming
patent: 2281094 (1942-04-01), Chambers
patent: 2417372 (1947-03-01), Morris
patent: 2508950 (1950-05-01), Kaplan
patent: 2615692 (1952-10-01), Muller
patent: 3384354 (1968-05-01), Migule et al.
patent: 3567185 (1971-03-01), Ross et al.
patent: 3861653 (1975-01-01), Becheiraz
patent: 4259021 (1981-03-01), Goudy, Jr.
patent: 5375926 (1994-12-01), Omasa
patent: 5730856 (1998-03-01), Omasa
patent: 6007237 (1999-12-01), Latto
patent: 3628012 A1 (1988-02-01), None
patent: 8-173785 (1996-07-01), None
Patent Abstracts of Japan, vol. 1996, No. 11, (11/96) & JP 08 173785 (Nippon Techno KK), 7/96, Agitating Device, Abstract in English.
European Search Report listing references, EP 00 10 9545.
Japan Techo Co., LTD
Pitney Hardin Kipp & Szuch LLP
Soohoo Tony G.
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