An adjustable nozzle for abrasive waterjet polishing

Abstract

This invention belongs to the field of precision machining technology, specifically an adjustable abrasive waterjet polishing nozzle. It includes a nozzle cover; the nozzle cover includes a nozzle cover body and a waterjet cylindrical tube; the front end of the nozzle cover body extends forward with a curved surface, on which several sets of spray holes are arranged. Each spray hole communicates with an adjustment hole on the rear opening surface of the nozzle cover body, and the adjustment holes are distributed on a concentric circle at different radial distances; the waterjet cylindrical tube is located at the rear of the nozzle cover body, and a rotatable hole positioning plate, a fan-shaped hole fixing plate, a fan-shaped hole rotating plate, and a ring motor are assembled inside the waterjet cylindrical tube. This invention allows the nozzle to achieve adjustable spray angle and spray pressure under motor drive control, and to form different polishing removal functions through different combinations of spray streams. Compared with traditional single-head abrasive waterjet nozzles, it has higher polishing efficiency and a more flexible way to adjust the polishing removal function.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention belongs to the field of precision machining technology, specifically relating to an adjustable nozzle for abrasive waterjet polishing. Background Technology

[0002] With the development of modern processing technology and high-end precision manufacturing equipment, the requirements for processing accuracy are becoming increasingly stringent. Polishing is a finishing process whose main purpose is to achieve the desired surface roughness. It not only increases the smoothness of the polished surface but also improves surface quality and mitigates localized stress concentration. Polishing can be used not only as the final process for parts but also as a surface pretreatment before coating, and it is widely applied in electronic equipment, precision machinery, instruments, optical components, and medical devices. The quality of polishing directly affects the performance of the workpiece, and selecting appropriate polishing methods and processes is crucial for improving product quality.

[0003] Abrasive waterjet polishing is a non-contact polishing method. It involves accelerating a polishing slurry mixed with abrasive particles using a high-pressure pump, then ejecting it from a nozzle at extremely high speeds towards the workpiece, cutting its surface. Due to the rapid relative motion between the abrasive particles and the workpiece, the workpiece surface is subjected to significant impact and shear forces, thus removing material. Researchers subsequently proposed incorporating abrasive particles into water to enhance its cutting ability. This method utilizes a high-pressure water jet as a carrier to accelerate and eject abrasive particles of a certain hardness, forming a high-speed abrasive jet. This transforms the static pressure destructive effect of pure high-pressure water jets on the material into high-frequency erosion and grinding effects of abrasive particles, significantly enhancing the cutting or crushing capability. Under the same jet pressure, abrasive particles possess higher kinetic energy than pure water, allowing for a significant reduction in the working pressure required to reach the material's strength limit. Subsequently, the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research analyzed the effects of process parameters such as nozzle shape, jet angle, and jet velocity on the processing effect, indicating that the removal rate of polishing materials mainly depends on the sharpness of the abrasive and the magnitude of the erosion kinetic energy, and is suitable for brittle materials.

[0004] Compared to other polishing methods, abrasive jet polishing is relatively easy to implement, not limited by the shape and position of the workpiece, and can polish workpieces of any complex shape. The processing heat is carried away by the fluid, without altering the mechanical and physical properties of the material, resulting in no subsurface damage. The polishing fluid is recyclable, the cost is low, and it can process a wide range of materials, making it a polishing method worthy of promotion with broad development prospects. Furthermore, high-precision polishing can be achieved by changing the abrasive particle size, abrasive concentration, jet pressure, and angle. The jet pressure and angle should be selected based on the material's properties and hardness to achieve the optimal polishing quality. Summary of the Invention

[0005] To address the problem of the current uniformity in polishing nozzle design, this invention provides an adjustable abrasive waterjet polishing nozzle that can adjust the spray angle, spray pressure, and multiple nozzle combinations. The invention features a simple and ingenious structural design, enabling adjustment of the nozzle's spray angle, spray pressure, and different nozzle combinations to meet the diverse polishing requirements of different materials and structures, effectively improving polishing efficiency and allowing for flexible adjustment of the polishing removal function.

[0006] The technical solution of the present invention is described in detail below.

[0007] An adjustable nozzle for abrasive waterjet polishing includes a nozzle cover, a rotatable orifice plate, a fan-shaped orifice fixing plate, a fan-shaped orifice rotating plate, a first annular motor, a second annular motor, a first fixing plate, and a second fixing plate. The nozzle cover includes a nozzle cover body and a waterjet cylindrical tube. The front end of the nozzle cover body extends forward and has a curved surface with several sets of spray holes. Each spray hole communicates with an adjustment hole on the rear opening surface of the nozzle cover body. The adjustment holes are distributed on a concentric circle at different radial distances. The waterjet cylindrical tube is located behind the nozzle cover body and has a hollow structure. The rotatable orifice plate, fan-shaped orifice fixing plate, fan-shaped orifice rotating plate, first annular motor, and second fixing plate are also included. A shaped motor, a first fixed plate, and a second fixed plate are assembled inside a water jet cylindrical tube. A rotatable orifice plate has several sets of orifices. After the rotatable orifice plate rotates at different angles, different sets of orifices and different adjustment holes on the tail opening surface of the nozzle cover body connect to form a through hole. The rotatable orifice plate is driven by a first annular motor, which is fixed to the first fixed plate. A fan-shaped hole fixing plate is set on the outer side of the first fixed plate, and a fan-shaped hole rotating disk is set on the outer side of the fan-shaped hole fixing plate. The fan-shaped hole rotating disk is driven by a second annular motor, which is fixed to the second fixed plate. The first and second fixed plates are annular, and fan-shaped holes are respectively set on the fan-shaped hole fixing plate and the fan-shaped hole rotating disk.

[0008] In this invention, an outer shell is provided on the outside of the nozzle cover body.

[0009] In this invention, the curved surface extending forward from the front end of the nozzle cover body is an arc surface, a conical surface, or a trapezoidal platform.

[0010] In this invention, when the adjustment holes on the tail opening surface of the nozzle cover body are distributed on a concentric circle according to different radial distances, the adjustment holes are divided into 5 to 10 groups.

[0011] In this invention, the nozzles formed between the various spray holes of the same spray hole group on the nozzle cover body and the corresponding adjustment holes of the same through adjustment group have the same tilt angle.

[0012] In this invention, the central angles of the fan-shaped holes on the fan-shaped hole fixing plate and the fan-shaped hole rotating disk are independently between 60 and 240 degrees.

[0013] In this invention, a first waterproof rubber ring is provided between the rotatable hole plate and the first fixed plate, and a second waterproof rubber ring is provided between the fan-shaped hole rotating plate and the second fixed plate.

[0014] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects of the present invention are as follows:

[0015] 1. This invention allows for the opening of different sets of spray holes and adjustment holes on the nozzle cover by rotating the rotatable orifice plate, thereby adjusting the spray angle of the nozzle; it also allows for the adjustment of the opening area inside the cylindrical tube of the water jet surface by rotating the fan-shaped orifice disc, thereby adjusting the spray pressure of the nozzle; and it enables flexible adjustment of the polishing removal function through different nozzle combinations.

[0016] 2. This invention can rotate the rotatable hole positioning disk and the fan-shaped hole rotating disk to different angles by driving a ring motor, which is convenient and labor-saving;

[0017] 3. The curved surface at the front end of the nozzle cover of this invention can be an arc surface, a conical surface, or a trapezoidal platform, etc. Its diverse designs can meet the requirements of different polishing removal function designs for nozzle tilt angle, nozzle structure, etc. Attached Figure Description

[0018] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of the adjustable nozzle structure for abrasive waterjet polishing in this invention.

[0019] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of the holes on the nozzle cover in this invention.

[0020] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of the rotatable hole plate in this invention.

[0021] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of an example of a fan-shaped hole rotating disk in this invention.

[0022] As shown in the figure:

[0023] 1- Nozzle cover, 2- Rotatable hole plate, 3- First ring motor, 4- First waterproof rubber ring, 5- First fixing plate, 6- Fan-shaped hole fixing plate, 7- Fan-shaped hole rotating plate, 8- Second ring motor, 9- Second waterproof rubber ring, 10- Second fixing plate;

[0024] 11-First group of injection holes, 12-Second group of injection holes, 13-Third group of injection holes, 14-Fourth group of injection holes, 15-Fifth group of injection holes;

[0025] 21 - First set of adjustment holes, 22 - Second set of adjustment holes, 23 - Third set of adjustment holes, 24 - Fourth set of adjustment holes, 25 - Fifth set of adjustment holes;

[0026] 71-Fan-shaped hole. Detailed Implementation

[0027] The technical solution of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

[0028] Example 1

[0029] like Figure 1 As shown, an adjustable nozzle for abrasive waterjet polishing includes a nozzle cover 1, a rotatable orifice plate 2, a first annular motor 3, a first waterproof rubber ring 4, a first fixing plate 5, a fan-shaped hole fixing plate 6, a fan-shaped hole rotating plate 7, a second annular motor 8, a second waterproof rubber ring 9, and a second fixing plate 10.

[0030] The nozzle cover 1 includes a nozzle cover body and a water jet cylindrical tube. The outer side of the nozzle cover body is fitted with a square protective shell with chamfers. The front end of the nozzle cover body extends forward with an arc surface. The water jet cylindrical tube is a hollow structure with a water jet cylindrical surface on its inner side. The water jet cylindrical tube is located at the rear of the nozzle cover body.

[0031] In this embodiment, the hole design involves dividing 360° into multiple sectors. First, the pre-drilled holes on the rear opening surface of the nozzle cover 1 are determined. These pre-drilled holes should be on a concentric circle centered at the apex of the arc along the water jet direction. Different radial holes are designed on this concentric circle, and after rotation, these different radial holes fall into different sectors. Then, the holes before and after rotation are verified at their corresponding rotation angles; that is, only the through holes corresponding to the target rotation angle are retained, and overlapping holes in non-corresponding sectors are eliminated. The verified pre-rotation hole design is applied to the rear opening surface of the nozzle cover 1, and the post-rotation hole design is applied to the rotatable hole plate 2.

[0032] In this embodiment, the first set of injection holes (0°, vertical nozzle) is located at the edge of the arc surface. For the entire arc surface, combined with... Figure 2 Different radial positions centered on the first set of spray holes 11 correspond to different spray angles, and different tangential positions correspond to different nozzle lengths. Thus, different opening positions and their combinations can correspond to different polishing removal functions, including the design of the nozzle tilt angle, nozzle structure, and hole arrangement in the nozzle cover 1. The example shown in the figure is that the five sets of spray holes 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15 correspond to different nozzle tilt angles, different nozzle lengths, and different hole arrangements.

[0033] The rotatable hole plate 2 can encode different hole arrangements at different rotation angles through different hole designs. When the corresponding hole positions on the nozzle cover 1 are opened, through holes are formed. The edge of the rotatable hole plate 2 is a slot, which can be embedded in the slot on the edge of the first ring motor 3. The first ring motor 3 drives the rotatable hole plate 2 to rotate. Different through hole combinations are formed at different rotation angles, thereby forming different final polishing removal functions. Figure 2The example shown has 5 sets of adjustment holes 21, 22, 23, 24, and 25, which correspond individually to different sets of spray holes 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15 on the nozzle cover 1 at different rotation angles. That is, the spray angles corresponding to the counterclockwise rotation angles of 0°, 60°, 120°, 240°, and 300° are 0°, 7.08°, 18.75°, 22.50°, and 24.87°, respectively.

[0034] The non-rotating surface of the first annular motor 3 is fixed on the first fixed plate 5, which is fixed on the water jet column surface inside the nozzle cover 1. A first waterproof rubber ring 4 is provided between the first fixed plate 5 and the rotatable hole plate 2 to prevent the water jet from contacting the first annular motor 3 and causing abnormalities when the motor drives rotation.

[0035] The fan-shaped hole fixing plate 6 can be fixed on the first fixing plate 5 or fixed on the water jet column surface inside the nozzle cover 1, and its fan-shaped hole position is fixed.

[0036] like Figure 4 As shown, the fan-shaped hole rotating disk 7 forms through holes of different areas with the fan-shaped hole 71 and the fan-shaped hole fixed disk 6 at different rotation angles. Different opening areas correspond to different spray pressures. Its edge is a slot that can be embedded in the slot of the edge of the second ring motor 8. Driving the second ring motor 8 can drive the fan-shaped hole rotating disk 7 to rotate. Different rotation angles result in different through hole areas, which can form different final polishing removal functions. That is, by controlling the rotation angle through the motor, the spray pressure is controlled, thereby achieving the purpose of controlling the final polishing removal function.

[0037] The non-rotating surface of the second annular motor 8 is fixed on the second fixed plate 10, which is fixed on the water jet column surface inside the nozzle cover 1. A waterproof rubber ring 9 is provided between the second fixed plate 10 and the fan-shaped hole rotating disk 7 to prevent the water jet from contacting the second annular motor 8 and causing abnormalities when the motor drives the rotation.

[0038] This invention enables adjustable polishing removal functions. The adjustment can be achieved by modifying the nozzle structure, spray angle, spray pressure, and different nozzle combinations. Compared to traditional single-head abrasive waterjet nozzles, this effectively improves polishing efficiency and allows for more flexible adjustment of the polishing removal function. Furthermore, the polishing removal function can be customized through the design of the nozzle cover and the holes on the orifice plate. Different polishing removal functions can be adjusted simply by controlling the drive ring motor, facilitating the practical application of the final product.

Claims

1. An adjustable nozzle for abrasive waterjet polishing, characterized in that, It includes a nozzle cover, a rotatable orifice plate, a sector-shaped orifice fixing plate, a sector-shaped orifice rotating plate, a first annular motor, a second annular motor, a first fixing plate, and a second fixing plate. The nozzle cover includes a nozzle cover body and a water jet cylindrical tube. The front end of the nozzle cover body extends forward and has a curved surface with several sets of spray holes. Each spray hole is connected to an adjustment hole on the rear opening surface of the nozzle cover body. The adjustment holes are distributed on a concentric circle at different radial distances. The water jet cylindrical tube is located behind the nozzle cover body and has a hollow structure. The rotatable orifice plate, sector-shaped orifice fixing plate, sector-shaped orifice rotating plate, first annular motor, second annular motor, and first fixing plate are also included. The second fixed plate is assembled inside the water jet cylindrical tube; wherein, a rotatable orifice plate is provided with several sets of orifices, and after the rotatable orifice plate rotates at different angles, different sets of orifices and different adjustment holes on the tail opening surface of the nozzle cover body are connected to form a through hole; the rotatable orifice plate is driven by a first ring motor, the first ring motor is fixed on the first fixed plate, a fan-shaped hole fixed plate is provided on the outside of the first fixed plate, a fan-shaped hole rotating plate is provided on the outside of the fan-shaped hole fixed plate, the fan-shaped hole rotating plate is driven by a second ring motor, the second ring motor is fixed on the second fixed plate, the first fixed plate and the second fixed plate are annular, and fan-shaped holes are respectively provided on the fan-shaped hole fixed plate and the fan-shaped hole rotating plate; wherein: The front end of the nozzle cover body extends forward and is curved; when the adjustment holes on the rear opening surface of the nozzle cover body are distributed on a concentric circle according to different radial distances, the adjustment holes are divided into 5 to 10 groups; the nozzles formed between each spray hole in the same spray hole group of the nozzle cover body and the corresponding adjustment holes in the same through adjustment hole group have the same inclination angle. The hole design method is as follows: Divide 360° into multiple sectors. First, determine the pre-opening hole positions on the tail opening surface of the nozzle cover body. The pre-opening hole positions are on a concentric circle centered on the apex of the arc surface along the water jet direction. Different radial hole positions are designed on this concentric circle. After rotation, the different radial hole positions fall into different sectors. Then, the hole positions before and after rotation are verified at their corresponding rotation angles. That is, only the through holes in the corresponding sector at the target rotation angle are retained, and the overlapping hole positions in non-corresponding sectors are eliminated. The verified hole position design before rotation is applied to the tail opening surface of the nozzle cover body, and the hole position design after rotation is applied to the rotatable hole position plate. The first group of spray holes is located at the edge of the arc surface. For the entire arc surface, different radial positions centered on the first group of spray holes correspond to different spray angle spray hole groups.

2. The adjustable nozzle for abrasive waterjet polishing according to claim 1, characterized in that, An outer shell is installed on the outside of the nozzle cover body.

3. The adjustable nozzle for abrasive waterjet polishing according to claim 1, characterized in that, The central angles of the fan-shaped holes on the fan-shaped hole fixing plate and the fan-shaped hole rotating disk are independently between 60 and 240 degrees.

4. The adjustable nozzle for abrasive waterjet polishing according to claim 1, characterized in that, A first waterproof rubber ring is provided between the rotatable hole plate and the first fixed plate, and a second waterproof rubber ring is provided between the fan-shaped hole rotating plate and the second fixed plate.

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