Air knife

Abstract

The present invention relates to an air knife that is manufactured by an assembly method by excluding or minimizing a welding process and can precisely adjust the spacing of the nozzle openings, which are air discharge ports. The invention comprises: a housing (100) including a pair of powder bodies (110) that are extended forward and backward and arranged to face each other from left to right, and a nozzle opening (120) formed between the lower ends of each powder body (110); an inner frame (200) installed along the longitudinal direction of the housing (100) inside the housing (100) to support the upper ends of each powder body (110); a plurality of fastening members (300) that fix each powder body (110) to the inner frame (200); and a ventilation plate (400) installed inside the housing (100) to be positioned below the inner frame (200), having a plurality of ventilation holes (410) formed therein to equalize the air flow. An air knife is disclosed, characterized by including a pair of finishing members (500) that finish the front and rear ends of the housing (100).

Description

Technology Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an air knife, and more specifically, to an air knife that is manufactured by an assembly method by excluding or minimizing the welding process, can precisely adjust the spacing of the nozzle opening which is the air discharge port, and can be easily manufactured from various materials. Background Technology

[0003] Generally, an air knife is a device that sprays air supplied from a blower or compressor at high speed through a narrow opening (nozzle). This high-speed airflow is widely used in various industrial fields, such as semiconductors, displays, food processing, and printing, to dry moisture on the surface of objects or to effectively remove fine foreign substances and dust.

[0004] Conventional air knives typically manufactured housings by bending and welding metal plates. However, this welding method presented the problem of increased production costs due to the complex manufacturing process and the need for skilled welders. Furthermore, once the welding was completed, the interior could not be disassembled, resulting in poor maintainability as it was difficult to clean foreign substances or oil accumulated during long-term use.

[0005] In particular, when manufacturing long air knives reaching several meters in length, it is very difficult to maintain uniform spacing of the nozzle openings along the entire length. Thermal deformation during the welding process or variations in the material itself can easily cause the parallelism of the nozzle openings to become misaligned; this results in uneven air discharge pressure, which has become a major cause of reduced product performance.

[0006] In addition, when air introduced into the housing is discharged directly through the nozzle without a proper rectification structure, there were problems such as turbulence occurring inside or the flow being concentrated in specific areas, resulting in lower air discharge efficiency and deviation.

[0007] Furthermore, due to recent advancements in cleaning chemicals, corrosion and contamination of air knives in industrial settings have become severe, leading to a demand for air knives made of various materials with chemical resistance suitable for the operating environment. However, conventional welding manufacturing methods are difficult and costly to weld materials such as titanium or special alloy steel, in addition to specific materials like stainless steel, making it challenging to flexibly respond to these demands for diverse material changes. Prior art literature

[0009] [Reference 1] Republic of Korea Registered Patent Publication No. 10-1035271 (Registered on May 11, 2011) The problem to be solved

[0010] The present invention was devised to solve the above-mentioned problems and aims to provide an air knife that can reduce production costs and improve maintainability, such as internal inspection, by excluding or minimizing the welding process and adopting a prefabricated structure using fastening members.

[0011] In addition, the purpose is to provide an air knife that allows for precise adjustment of the nozzle spacing over the entire length and maintains uniform parallelism, even if the length of the air knife is increased.

[0012] In addition, the purpose is to provide an air knife that can be easily manufactured using various metal materials capable of bending, such as titanium, stainless steel, and brass, through an assembly design that eliminates the welding process.

[0013] The problems to be solved by the present invention are not limited to those mentioned. Other technical problems not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art to which the present invention belongs from the description below. means of solving the problem

[0015] To solve the above problem, an air knife according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises: a housing (100) including a pair of powder bodies (110) that are extended forward and backward and arranged to face each other left and right, and a nozzle opening (120) formed between the lower ends of each powder body (110); an inner frame (200) installed along the longitudinal direction of the housing (100) inside the housing (100) to support the upper ends of each powder body (110); a plurality of fastening members (300) that fix each powder body (110) to the inner frame (200); a ventilation plate (400) installed inside the housing (100) to be positioned below the inner frame (200) and having a plurality of ventilation holes (410) formed therein to equalize the air flow; and a pair of finishing members (500) that finish the front and rear ends of the housing (100).

[0016] In an embodiment of the present invention, the inner frame (200) comprises: a frame body (210) that supports the inner upper surface of each powder (110); and a frame bending part (220) that extends downwardly at an angle from both ends of the frame body (210) to support the upper inner surface of each powder (110); and the ventilation plate (400) comprises: a ventilation plate body (420) in which each ventilation hole (410) is formed; and a ventilation plate bending part (430) that extends upwardly at an angle from both ends of the ventilation plate body (420) to support the lower inner surface of each powder (110).

[0017] In an embodiment of the present invention, a pair of support members (600) are further included, each coupled to each of the finishing members (500) to support the front and rear ends of the inner frame (200) and the ventilation plate (400).

[0018] In an embodiment of the present invention, a frame coupling projection (230) protruding further from the front and rear ends of the frame body (210) is formed at the front and rear ends of the frame bending portion (220), and a ventilation plate coupling projection (440) protruding further from the front and rear ends of the ventilation plate body (420) is formed at the front and rear ends of the ventilation plate bending portion (430), and a coupling groove (610) into which the frame coupling projection (230) and the ventilation plate coupling projection (440) are inserted is formed in each support member (600).

[0019] In an embodiment of the present invention, the apparatus further comprises a plurality of nozzle spacing adjustment units (700) installed along the longitudinal direction at the bottom of the housing (100) to adjust the spacing of the nozzle openings (120), wherein the nozzle spacing adjustment units (700) include a spacing maintenance unit (711) disposed between the bottom portions of each powder (110), a male screw portion (712) formed protruding from one side of the spacing maintenance unit (711) and penetrating the powder (110) to protrude outward, and a female screw portion (713) formed in a recess on the other side of the spacing maintenance unit (711); and an adjustment nut (720) fastened to the male screw portion (712) of the standoff (710) so as to be disposed on the outside of the powder (110). It includes an adjustment bolt (730) in which the head is positioned on the outside of the other side of the powder (110), and the body penetrates the other side of the powder (110) and is fastened to the female screw portion (713) of the standoff (710). Effects of the invention

[0021] According to the air knife of the embodiment of the present invention, since a pair of powders constituting the housing are fixed to the inner frame by fastening members such as rivets or bolts, a welding process is unnecessary, thereby improving productivity and reducing manufacturing costs.

[0022] In addition, the frame bend of the inner frame and the ventilation plate bend of the ventilation plate support the upper and lower inner surfaces of the powder, respectively, and since both ends of the frame bend and the ventilation plate bend are inserted into the coupling groove of the support member and firmly fixed, the shape of the housing can be stably maintained and the structural rigidity of the air knife is improved.

[0023] In addition, by individually fine-tuning multiple nozzle spacing adjustment parts, it is possible to precisely set and maintain the spacing and parallelism of the entire nozzle opening.

[0024] In addition, by having an assembly structure based on the bending of sheet metal and fastening with rivets or bolts, it has the effect of easily applying and manufacturing materials such as titanium, stainless steel, and brass, which are difficult to weld. Brief explanation of the drawing

[0026] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an air knife according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of an air knife according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of an air knife according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing the combined structure of the inner frame and ventilation plate of an air knife, the front side finishing member, and the support member according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view showing the combined structure of the inner frame and ventilation plate of an air knife, the rear end finishing member, and the support member according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing the combined structure of the inner frame, the ventilation plate, and the support member of an air knife according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view showing the nozzle gap adjustment part of an air knife according to an embodiment of the present invention. Specific details for implementing the invention

[0027] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings.

[0028] However, the attached drawings may be exaggerated, omitted, or depicted schematically for the convenience of explaining key parts, and terms and names used in the description may be implicitly determined by the shape, function, or role of the components rather than their dictionary meanings; descriptions regarding direction are determined based on the direction first presented in the first drawing, and descriptions regarding position are determined as inside or outside based on the center of each component or the center of the circle.

[0029] Furthermore, specific descriptions of previously registered known technologies and conventional technologies may obscure the essentials and are therefore omitted or replaced with simple symbols or names. Additionally, specific structures, shapes, forms, arrangements, sizes, etc., of components identifiable through the drawings, as well as the operation of components and their resulting effects inferred from the drawings, may also be omitted in detail as they may obscure the essentials. Moreover, bolts, welds, holes, etc., applied for joining components may be omitted from the drawings as they may obscure the essentials.

[0031] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an air knife according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view.

[0032] As illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 3, the air knife of the present invention is largely composed of a housing (100), an inner frame (200), a ventilation plate (400), a finishing member (500), a support member (600), and a nozzle spacing adjustment part (700).

[0033] The above housing (100) forms the exterior of the air knife and provides an internal space. The housing (100) includes a pair of powder bodies (110) extending in the front-to-back longitudinal direction. The pair of powder bodies (110) are arranged facing each other from left to right, and a nozzle opening (120) is formed between the lower ends of each powder body (110) through which air supplied into the interior of the housing (100) is discharged at high speed.

[0034] The inner frame (200) is installed along the longitudinal direction of the housing (100) on the inner upper side of the housing (100). The inner frame (200) supports the upper part of the housing (100) and serves as a skeleton to which a pair of powder bodies (110) are joined.

[0035] The above-mentioned ventilation plate (400) is installed on the inner side of the housing (100) so as to be positioned on the lower side of the inner frame (200). A plurality of ventilation holes (410) are formed in the ventilation plate (400) to distribute air flow evenly. The ventilation holes (410) may be in the shape of slots as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, but are not limited thereto and may be formed as holes of various shapes such as circles or polygons. The ventilation plate (400) guides air introduced through the front end finishing member (500) of the housing (100) to pass through the ventilation holes (410) before heading toward the nozzle opening (120), thereby suppressing internal vortices and performing the function of uniformly rectifying the air flow.

[0036] In order to eliminate the welding process, the present invention fixes each powder (110) to an inner frame (200) using a plurality of fastening members (300). As shown in FIG. 3, the fastening members (300) penetrate the upper part of the powder (110) and the inner frame (200) to fix them to each other. To this end, a plurality of fastening holes (111) are formed in the powder (110), and a plurality of fastening holes (240) are formed in the inner frame (200) at corresponding positions.

[0037] The above fastening member (300) may preferably use a rivet. Using a rivet allows for a strong connection while eliminating the need for a welding process, thereby significantly improving productivity. In another embodiment, if disassembly and reassembly of the housing (100) is required for maintenance of the air knife, a bolt may be used as the fastening member (300). In this case, a female thread (tap) may be formed in the fastening hole (240) of the inner frame (200).

[0038] As illustrated in FIGS. 3 to 5, the inner frame (200) includes a frame body (210) that is formed flat and supports the inner upper surface of each powder (110), and a pair of frame bending parts (220) that are extended downward at an angle from both left and right ends of the frame body (210) and support the upper inner surface of each powder (110).

[0039] Additionally, the above-mentioned ventilation plate (400) includes a ventilation plate body (420) in which a plurality of ventilation holes (410) are formed, and a pair of ventilation plate bending parts (430) that extend upwardly at an angle from both left and right ends of the ventilation plate body (420) to support the lower part of the inner surface of each powder (110).

[0040] In this way, the inner frame (200) and the ventilation plate (400) support the upper and lower parts of the inner surface of the powder (110) through their respective bending portions (220, 430), thereby preventing the outer housing (100) from being deformed and improving the structural rigidity of the air knife.

[0041] As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, a pair of finishing members (500) are provided and installed to finish the front and rear ends of the housing (100). At least one of the finishing members (500) may have an air inlet formed therein for supplying air into the interior of the housing (100).

[0042] As shown in FIG. 2, a pair of support members (600) are provided and are coupled to the inside of each finishing member (500) to support the front and rear ends of the inner frame (200) and the ventilation plate (400), respectively.

[0043] As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the finishing member (500) and the supporting member (600) can be firmly joined by a plurality of connecting bolts (800) that penetrate the finishing member (500) and are fastened to the supporting member (600).

[0044] Additionally, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a frame coupling projection (230) is formed protrudingly at the front and rear ends of the frame bending portion (220) of the inner frame (200). Likewise, a ventilation plate coupling projection (440) is formed protrudingly at the front and rear ends of the ventilation plate bending portion (430) of the ventilation plate (400). As shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, a plurality of coupling grooves (610) are formed in the support member (600) so that the frame coupling projection (230) and the ventilation plate coupling projection (440) can each be inserted and fixed. When assembled, the connecting protrusions (230, 440) formed at both ends of the inner frame (200) and the ventilation plate (400) are inserted into the connecting groove (610) of the support member (600), thereby stably supporting the inner frame (200) and the ventilation plate (400) without them detaching from the support member (600). If necessary, the connecting portion of the connecting protrusions (230, 440) and the connecting groove (610) can be more firmly connected through tack welding.

[0045] As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3, the nozzle spacing adjustment unit (700) is installed at the lower end of the housing (100), that is, at the location where the nozzle opening (120) is formed. As illustrated in FIG. 1, a plurality of nozzle spacing adjustment units (700) are spaced apart at predetermined intervals along the longitudinal direction of the housing (100). Through this, even with a long air knife, the spacing of the nozzle opening (120) can be finely adjusted for each section to precisely ensure overall parallelism.

[0046] As illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 7, the nozzle gap adjustment unit (700) includes a standoff (710), an adjustment nut (720), and an adjustment bolt (730). The standoff (710) includes a gap maintaining unit (711) located in the center to maintain a basic gap between the lower portions of a pair of powders (110). A male screw portion (712) is formed protrudingly on one side of the gap maintaining unit (711), and a female screw portion (713) is formed indentedly on the other side. The adjustment nut (720) is fastened to the male screw portion (712) of the standoff (710) and may preferably be in the form of a cap nut. The adjustment bolt (730) is fastened to the female screw portion (713) of the standoff (710) and may preferably be in the form of a wrench bolt that can be tightened or loosened with a hex wrench, etc.

[0047] Referring to FIG. 3, the spacing portion (711) of the standoff (710) is positioned between the lower portions of a pair of powder bodies (110). The male screw portion (712) of the standoff (710) penetrates one powder body (110) and protrudes outward, and the adjusting nut (720) is fastened to this male screw portion (712) to press or support the outer surface of the one powder body (110). The head of the adjusting bolt (730) is positioned on the outside of the other powder body (110), and the body of the adjusting bolt (730) penetrates the other powder body (110) and is fastened to the female screw portion (713) of the standoff (710). With this structure, the operator can adjust the position of one side powder (110) by tightening or loosening the adjustment nut (720), and simultaneously adjust the position of the other side powder (110) by adjusting the tightening depth of the adjustment bolt (730). That is, by manipulating the relative tightening state of the adjustment nut (720) and the adjustment bolt (730), the gap between the bottoms of both sides powder (110), i.e., the gap of the nozzle opening (120), can be precisely finely adjusted based on the gap maintaining part (711) of the standoff (710).

[0048] The air knife of the present invention configured as described above has the advantage of having a very wide range of material selections by excluding the welding process and adopting an assembly method using a bending and fastening member (300).

[0049] That is, the materials for the housing (100), inner frame (200), ventilation plate (400), finishing member (500), support member (600), etc., can be manufactured not only with general stainless steel or aluminum for lightweighting, but also by selectively applying various metal materials capable of bending, such as titanium, STS316, and brass, to respond to environments requiring strong chemical resistance (e.g., environments using specific cleaning chemicals).

[0051] Although the present invention has been described above with reference to limited embodiments and drawings, this is illustrative and it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various modifications are possible within the scope of the technical concept of the present invention. Accordingly, the scope of protection of the present invention should be determined by the description of the claims and their equivalents. Explanation of the symbols

[0053] 100 : Housing 110 : Powder 111 : Fastening hole 120 : Nozzle opening 200 : Inner frame 210 : Frame body 220 : Frame bending part 230 : Frame joining protrusion 240 : Fastening hole 300 : Fastening member 400 : Ventilation plate 410 : Ventilation hole 420 : Ventilation plate main body 430 : Ventilation plate folded part 440 : Ventilation plate coupling protrusion 500 : Finishing member 600 : Support member 610 : Connecting groove 700 : Nozzle gap adjuster 710 : Standoff 711: Spacing part 712: Male thread part 713 : Female thread 720 : Adjusting nut 730 : Adjustment bolt 800 : Connecting bolt

Claims

Claim 1 A housing (100) comprising a pair of powder bodies (110) that are extended forward and backward and arranged to face each other from left to right, and a nozzle opening (120) formed between the lower ends of each powder body (110); an inner frame (200) installed along the longitudinal direction of the housing (100) on the inner side of the housing (100) to support the upper ends of each powder body (110); a plurality of fastening members (300) that fix each powder body (110) to the inner frame (200); a ventilation plate (400) installed on the inner side of the housing (100) to be positioned on the lower side of the inner frame (200) and having a plurality of ventilation holes (410) formed therein to equalize the airflow; and a pair of finishing members (500) that finish the front and rear ends of the housing (100). and further include a pair of support members (600) each coupled to each of the above-mentioned finishing members (500) to support the front and rear ends of the inner frame (200) and the ventilation plate (400), wherein the inner frame (200) includes a frame body (210) that supports the inner upper surface of each powder (110); and a frame bending part (220) that extends downwardly at an angle from both ends of the frame body (210) to support the upper inner surface of each powder (110), and the ventilation plate (400) includes a ventilation plate body (420) in which each ventilation hole (410) is formed; The air knife is characterized by comprising: a ventilation plate bending portion (430) that extends upwardly at both ends of the ventilation plate body (420) and supports the lower inner surface of each powder (110); wherein a frame coupling projection (230) protruding further from the front and rear ends of the frame body (210) is formed at the front and rear ends of the frame bending portion (220), and a ventilation plate coupling projection (440) protruding further from the front and rear ends of the ventilation plate body (420) is formed at the front and rear ends of the ventilation plate bending portion (430); and wherein a coupling groove (610) into which the frame coupling projection (230) and the ventilation plate coupling projection (440) are inserted is formed in each support member (600). Claim 2 In claim 1, the apparatus further comprises a plurality of nozzle spacing adjustment units (700) installed along the longitudinal direction at the bottom of the housing (100) to adjust the spacing of the nozzle openings (120), wherein the nozzle spacing adjustment units (700) include a spacing maintenance unit (711) disposed between the bottom portions of each powder (110), a male screw portion (712) formed protruding from one side of the spacing maintenance unit (711) and penetrating the powder (110) to protrude outward, and a female screw portion (713) formed indented on the other side of the spacing maintenance unit (711); and an adjustment nut (720) fastened to the male screw portion (712) of the standoff (710) so as to be disposed on the outside of the powder (110). An air knife comprising: a head positioned on the outside of the other side powder (110), and a adjusting bolt (730) in which the body penetrates the other side powder (110) and is fastened to the female threaded portion (713) of the standoff (710). Claim 3 delete Claim 4 delete Claim 5 delete

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