Device for temporarily storing cooled material plates

Abstract

The invention relates to a device for temporarily storing cooled material plates, said device comprising the following: a cooling star-shaped turner having a cooling carousel rotatably mounted about an axis, the center of which comprises a tubular base body, around which a support structure is formed in the radial direction, said support structure being suitable for forming a plurality of grids, the invention relates to a device for cooling a material panel, comprising a grid in which at least material panels can be temporarily stored for the purpose of cooling, the grid being delimited at least in some regions by means of a carrier which is designed to at least partially support material panels to be received by the carrier for temporary storage. At least some of the carriers are at least partially made of a composite material. An improved device for temporary storage of cooled material panels is thus provided. For example, discoloration at the support region is avoided or reduced, otherwise discoloration often occurs after the material panel is stored in a device of the previously mentioned traditional structure type.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a device for temporarily storing cooled material boards as defined in the preamble of claim 1. Background Art

[0002] Material boards can be manufactured in different ways and using different materials. Material boards based on materials obtained from annual or perennial plants, i.e., especially materials obtained from wood, grass or straw, occupy a very special position among material boards due to their wide range of uses, their good properties and their good cost-benefit ratio. For the sake of simplicity, these material boards will hereinafter be referred to as wood material boards, even if they are partially or completely made of grass or straw, because the requirements relevant to the present invention are very similar for material boards made based on wood or based on grass or straw or based on mixtures of the materials mentioned. To further simplify the description, in some places, when referring to wood material boards in the sense just defined, the term "board" is also simply used.

[0003] Such wood material boards, or simply referred to as boards hereinafter, are usually manufactured as particle boards, MDF boards (medium density fiber boards) or OSB boards by mixing fibers obtained from plants with adhesives and then pressing them into wood material boards using a hot press.

[0004] If the wood material boards are pressed in a continuously operating press, the boards are then sawn into the desired length after exiting the press. The boards are then transported individually or in stacks of two or more boards to a device for temporarily storing cooled material boards, which device can be configured as a cooling unit, for example a cooling unit in the form of a cooling turner, especially in the form of a cooling star turner, and temporarily stored there. Thus, during the temporary storage phase, the boards are actively and / or passively cooled, and then the boards are stacked for further transportation and are usually also packaged. Before entering or after exiting the device for temporarily storing cooled material boards, the boards can still be trimmed, for example by trimming individual or all edge regions.

[0005] Various embodiments of a device for temporarily storing cooled material plates are known from the prior art. Thus, such a device can consist of a long track on which the plates to be cooled can be guided out of the output area of a press. In order for the plates, which also lose moisture during their cooling process, to thus "evaporate", it is preferred that these tracks are constructed as roller tracks. In order to prevent the still "soft" plates from bending, the spacing between successive rollers is chosen as narrow as possible here, and as wide as possible for the purpose of achieving as effective cooling and evaporation as possible, so that a compromise is mostly chosen with an axial spacing between 200 mm and 400 mm, for example an axial spacing of 300 mm, and the roller bars mostly have a diameter between 40 mm and 120 mm, usually between 60 mm and 80 mm. Of course, it is correspondingly preferred to use the same axial spacing and the same roller bar diameter in the same device.

[0006] Other embodiments of a device for temporarily storing cooled material plates can be formed by a cooling turner. A preferred embodiment of such a cooling turner is the so-called cooling star turner. Such a cooling star turner typically includes a rotating cooling turntable with a plurality of cells into which plates can be temporarily deposited, especially for cooling purposes, and the cooling turntable typically includes a cylindrical peripheral portion at one of its ends where holding teeth are fixed in the radial direction of the cooling turntable. In addition to the holding teeth, parts of the support of the cooling star turner also provide load-bearing surfaces for supporting the (weight) force of the plates.

[0007] The holding teeth are mostly arranged in tooth rows such that the holding teeth of each tooth row lie in the same plane in the direction of the axis of rotation of the cooling turntable. A conveyor is provided on the side of the cooling turntable, and there are intermediate spaces between the elements of the conveyor through which the holding teeth can move. First, a plate or a plurality of plates or a stack of plates to be temporarily deposited and cooled is brought to a standard position and onto the conveyor. Then, the cooling turntable of the cooling turner is rotated, and in this case, the turning teeth of the tooth rows lift the plates from the conveyor under the conveyor. The plate or stack of plates rotates through a predetermined angle of rotation, mostly an angle of rotation of 180 degrees, between the teeth of two adjacent tooth rows, usually in unobtrusive steps of a few degrees, such as 3 degrees or 6 degrees, and descends onto the conveyor at the second side of the cooling turner. Then, the plate or stack of plates is conveyed to a second cooling turner or transported to a stacking position.

[0008] Without exception, all embodiments among the embodiments of such cooling star turners known to the applicant are made of painted structural steel.

[0009] However, in practice, this results in different drawbacks which have so far only been tolerated by equipment manufacturers and equipment operators. Thus, it mostly involves a very bulky structure because the flipper has to be stable enough to receive and flip a lower plate, which is mostly cut to a size of 2 meters by 6 meters or even 2.5 meters by 6 meters.

[0010] Depending on the plate thickness, which is mostly between 8 millimeters and 26 millimeters, but in exceptional cases between 4 millimeters and 120 millimeters and sometimes even significantly thicker, such large plates can have a very high weight. Thus, the paint layer on the steel support of the cooling star flipper should facilitate the sliding of the plate when depositing and when removing the plate. However, these paint layers mostly wear out quickly or are damaged during operation.

[0011] Since the cooling characteristics and / or evaporation characteristics in the regions where the plate abuts or rests on the bearing surface of the cooling star flipper are different from other regions, discoloration of the plate can occur at these locations, which reduces the sales value. Since the pressure also concentrates at these locations, it can also occur that the still-curing plate is compacted in these regions, which results in a different density compared to other regions of the plate and also reduces the overall quality of the plate or makes subsequent processes (such as gluing the usable surface of the plate, for example by paper, plastic layer or by a paint section) difficult. Summary of the Invention

[0012] Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide an improved device for temporarily storing cooled material plates. In particular, at least one of the above-mentioned drawbacks should be at least partially overcome or at least reduced.

[0013] The object of the present invention is at least partially solved by a device according to the independent device claims.

[0014] The device for temporarily storing cooled material plates according to the present invention comprises: a cooling star flipper having a cooling turntable rotatably supported about an axis, the center of the cooling turntable including a tubular base body, and a bearing structure being formed radially around the base body, the bearing structure being adapted to form a plurality of cells in which at least cooled material plates can be temporarily stored for cooling purposes, characterized in that the cells are at least partially delimited by bearing elements which are configured to at least partially support the material plates to be received by the bearing elements for temporary storage, and at least a portion of the bearing elements consists at least in part of a composite material having a carbon-made or carbon-containing fabric embedded in a matrix made of natural resin or synthetic resin.

[0015] The device implemented in this improved way offers several major advantages: First, the device can be constructed overall lighter, so that the device has a lower weight. The composite material has a woven fabric made of or containing carbon, which is embedded in a matrix made of natural resin or synthetic resin. This material has extremely high stiffness and in addition has a relatively low density. The stiffness of this material is significantly higher than that of (extruded) plastics and mostly also higher than that of most types of steel and yet it is very light. Since the cooling star turner, which can be used in connection with the manufacture and processing of large material plates, has a large diameter or a large circumference, weight plays a very large role in the energy consumption that is necessary to rotate the cooling star turner step by step or continuously. Since most of the cooling turners rotate further step by step, i.e., always one grid further, a "starting motion" that requires special energy consumption is needed each time. Therefore, the energy savings are particularly high.

[0016] However, independently of this, there is at least one other very major advantage:

[0017] The heat transfer coefficient of wood and the composite material is closer to that of wood and steel. If the cooling star turner of a traditional structural type receives the material plates to be temporarily stored and cooled, then the material plates are hotter than their surroundings, that is, also hotter than the carrier of the device, and the material plates come into contact with the carrier in the grids provided for them. The steel carrier quickly dissipates the absorbed heat and thus remains colder than the material plates, so that the moisture of the material plates accumulates there and condenses there. This can lead to unsightly discoloration. In some particularly unfavorably implemented devices of competitors, it can even happen that areas appear in the material plates here that are particularly prone to mildew later.

[0018] Since the inventor has recognized this, the present invention can eliminate or at least significantly reduce the disadvantages known from the prior art.

[0019] It is highly advantageous that at least half of all the carriers are at least partially composed of the composite material.

[0020] Thereby, a particularly large amount of energy is saved, and the quality of the material plates is negatively affected to a particularly small extent at particularly many sites.

[0021] It is completely particularly advantageous here that at least 80% of all the carriers are at least partially composed of the composite material.

[0022] This achieves a completely particularly high energy savings and the possibility of manufacturing and selling material plates that only experience minimal disadvantages during the cooling process and thus achieve a particularly high sales quality, so that a good turnover can also be achieved.

[0023] Also advantageous is that at least 80% of the load-bearing part, which is at least partially composed of a composite material, consists of a composite material.

[0024] Although it is to be expected that it is advantageous for each individual load-bearing part to be made of steel in its root region, i.e., at the location where the load-bearing part is connected to the tubular base, in order to achieve a large weight reduction, but especially also in order to reduce the storage damage that has hitherto mostly been compulsorily caused at the temporarily stored material plates, as high a share as possible of the load-bearing part, more than 80%, consists of a composite material. It can be highly advantageous for the load-bearing part to even consist entirely of a composite material.

[0025] In most cases, it is preferred to use a multi-layer composite material.

[0026] Such a composite material has higher rigidity, especially higher bending strength. For this purpose, it can be preferred that the composite material forming the load-bearing part or the load-bearing part section has a resin matrix together with 2 to 40 carbon (carbon-containing) woven fabrics. A quantity of 2 to 25 is particularly advantageous here. For this purpose, it is preferred that the load-bearing part section formed of the composite material is configured in its connection area for establishing a form-fitting connection and, for this purpose, is deformed in particular away from its substantially visible shape. Therefore, in the connection area, the cutting forming method should be minimized or the cutting forming method should be avoided. This enables a particularly stable connection with other components, such as with steel pins, which can play an important role in connection with the present invention, since the connection structure of the load-bearing part and the tubular base is subjected to particularly high loads during operation.

[0027] Independently of this, it is advantageous that the composite material has a coefficient of friction between 0.1 and 0.6 at the surface of the composite material.

[0028] Thereby, either the deposit and extraction can be facilitated by a low coefficient of friction of 0.1 to 0.34, or, for example, when the coefficient of friction is selected between 0.35 and 0.6, it is advantageous for good contact adhesion between the material plate and the load-bearing part during deposition.

[0029] In most cases, additional advantages can be expected if at least some of the load-bearing parts are at least partially configured as hollow profiles.

[0030] The carrier, which is designed as a hollow profile, has high rigidity at a low weight. However, since the thermal conductivity of the composite material is significantly lower than that of the structural steel used hitherto, an additional surface for carrying away the heat is obtained in this way. As a result, a heat-dissipating and moisture-dissipating profile adapted to the free areas of the material plate, i.e., not directly supported by the support on the carrier, can be provided particularly well. As a result, both the areas of the material plate supported by the carrier and also the free areas exhibit very similar properties, and unsightly inhomogeneities that reduce the quality and price of the material plate are greatly reduced.

[0031] It may therefore also be advantageous if the profile is designed to be at least substantially open at one end face edge or at both end face edges.

[0032] Furthermore, great advantages may result if the hollow profile consists of a composite material, forms an interior space, and a stabilizing element is arranged in the interior space.

[0033] This development of the invention certainly reduces the free volume of the interior, but brings the great advantage of additional stability and can thereby help to produce a (measurable) curvature in a material panel that has not yet (completely) solidified, which would otherwise reduce the sales value of the material panel.

[0034] In some cases, it can be advantageous if the individual carriers have a width of between 25 mm and 225 mm and a depth of between 40 mm and 300 mm, wherein the width of the carrier provides a support surface for the material panels to be temporarily stored and the depth constitutes the thickness of the carrier. The length of the carrier depends on the size of the material panels to be accommodated and should be slightly larger than the size to be accommodated. If it is planned to accommodate material panels (sheets) with a size of 2000 mm by 6000 mm, then a length of slightly more than 2000 mm should be adopted, while 6000 mm is formed by a suitable number of carriers and intermediate spacings, for example, 16 carriers and 15 intermediate spaces (air) can be provided for this purpose. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0035] The invention will be described in more detail below based on an embodiment with reference to the attached figures of the drawings, in which:

[0036] Figure 1 A schematic side view showing an apparatus for temporarily storing cooled material panels;

[0037] Figure 2 A carrier profile is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0038] Figure 1 and Figure 2 The material plates W1 to W1 for temporary storage of cooling according to the present invention are shown.N Device 1, wherein device 1 comprises the following: a cooling star turner 2 having a cooling turntable 4 rotatably supported about an axis 3 - at least along the rotational direction D - the center 5 of the cooling turntable including a tubular base body 6, a load-bearing structure 7 being formed radially around the base body, the load-bearing structure being adapted to form a plurality of cells 8 in which material plates W1 to W can be stored at least temporarily N for cooling purposes, characterized in that the cells 8 are delimited at least partially by load-bearing members 9, the load-bearing members being configured to at least partially support the material plates W1 to W to be received by the load-bearing members for temporary storage N and device 1 or cooling star turner 2 is further characterized in that at least a portion of the load-bearing members 9 consists at least in part of a composite material

[0039] During operation, the material plates W1 to W N are supplied to the cooling star turner 2 of device 1 via a transport mechanism and are led out again by the cooling star turner. As shown here, such a transport mechanism suitably consists respectively of at least one conveyor belt 13 and at least one guiding element 14

[0040] Here, the two guiding elements 14 are each configured in a comb-like manner and have a free space in the direction of the image plane in the illustrated embodiment, the free space enabling: during rotation of the cooling star turner, the load-bearing members 9 of the cooling star turner 2 can move unhindered. If a material plate is located on the guiding element 14 on the input side of the cooling star turner 2, as shown here by material plate W2, the material plate is taken off by the next row of load-bearing members 9 and is deposited therein in the associated cell 8 of the cooling star turner for temporary storage. During the storage of the material plate in the cell 8, the corresponding material plates W1 to W N are at least partially cooled and usually also at least partially evaporated

[0041] The input side and the output side of device 1 are defined by the transport direction of the material plates W1 to W N which transport direction is here visibly from the left side of the image to the right side of the image in the rotational direction D in the illustration shown in Figure 1 the illustration

[0042] In Figure 1 the illustrated and preferred embodiment, at least half of all the load-bearing members 9 consist at least in part of a composite material

[0043] Among those, at least 80% of all the carrier elements 9 have at least a partial share made of composite material. Thus, the shown device 1 and its cooling star turner 2 each have a row of carrier elements in each grid, the row of carrier elements having 17 successively arranged carrier elements 9, the carrier elements having a width of approximately 30 millimeters to approximately 80 millimeters respectively for the material plates W1 to W temporarily stored in each grid, and being arranged at a spacing of approximately 200 millimeters to approximately 400 millimeters, for example 300 millimeters, entering the image plane. Of course, here the row of carrier elements can fluctuate according to the specifications of the material plates W1 to W to be processed, the dimensions of the carrier elements 9, and the free space left between the carrier elements 9 and can have, for example, a numerical value between 12 and 24. N For those, they respectively have a width of approximately 30 millimeters to approximately 80 millimeters, and are arranged at a spacing of approximately 200 millimeters to approximately 400 millimeters, for example 300 millimeters, entering the image plane. N The carrier elements 9 of which at least a partial share is made of composite material as shown in

[0044] Here, at least 80% of the carrier elements 9 having at least a partial share made of composite material as shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2 are made of composite material. Thus, the carrier elements 9 can be entirely made of steel especially in their basic region (root region) facing the tubular body, but the vast majority of the carrier elements consists of composite material.

[0045] For this purpose, in the embodiments according to Figure 1 and Figure 2 a multi-layer composite material is used, which gives the carrier elements 9 and thus also the device 1 special stability.

[0046] To ensure good loading and unloading of the material plates W1 to W temporarily stored in the device 1, but at the same time to prevent the material plates W1 to W in the grid 8 from slipping when the cooling star turner 2 rotates slowly, the composite material has a coefficient of friction between 0.1 and 0.6 at its surface. N To ensure good loading and unloading of the material plates W1 to W temporarily stored in the device 1, but at the same time to prevent the material plates W1 to W in the grid 8 from slipping when the cooling star turner 2 rotates slowly, N the composite material has a coefficient of friction between 0.1 and 0.6 at its surface.

[0047] The device 1 shown in these two figures can be manufactured, operated, and maintained particularly cost-effectively because at least some of the support elements 9 are additionally at least partially configured as hollow profiles 10. Thus, the drive power to be applied to rotate the cooling star turner 2 in the rotational direction D is low. In addition, the carrier elements can be manufactured inexpensively, and due to their low weight, they can also be easily replaced by one or two skilled workers without a significant risk of accident. In addition, the carrier elements are only slightly prone to wear due to their high rigidity and stability. On the contrary, the service life of the carrier elements is even very long.

[0048] In order to minimize the deflection of the load-bearing member 9 or even completely prevent the deflection of the load-bearing member under load even when the profile of the load-bearing member 9 is thin-walled, due to its practical importance, the hollow profile 10 shown in cross-section in Figure 2 shows an internal space 11 and a stabilizing element 12, which stabilizing element is arranged within the internal space 11.

[0049] In Figure 2 the load-bearing member 9 is shown in cross-section, in which the stabilizing elements 12 are respectively introduced into the internal space 11 of the hollow profile 10. In Figure 2 the case shown, one stabilizing element 12 or a plurality of stabilizing elements 12 can also be made of other materials, for example made of metal, such as aluminum or even steel, and aluminum is preferred here for weight reasons. For example, the load-bearing member 9 of the device 1 can also be alternately equipped with profiles, the stabilizing elements of which are made in this or other ways (steel / aluminum). Of course, the form of the stabilizing element 12 shown is only exemplary and can also be designed differently. According to Figure 2 The stabilizing element introduced as a separate component into the hollow profile 10 - especially when a uniform heat capacity is important - can also advantageously be made of a composite material or plastic. Of course, forms different from the form shown in Figure 2 can be considered, for example in such a way that it has other basic forms and / or has other dimensions.

[0050] For the stabilizing element 12, in the embodiment shown, in at least one of 17 successively arranged load-bearing members 9, glass fiber-reinforced polyamide is used.

[0051] Without departing from the scope of the invention, the shown embodiment can be deviated from in various ways. In particular, the claim features and other combinations thereof mentioned in the text, which are different from the preferred embodiments illustrated in the drawings, as well as the value ranges mentioned in connection therewith, are also within the scope of the invention.

[0052] List of reference numerals

[0053] 1 Device

[0054] 2 Cooling star turner

[0055] 3 Axis

[0056] 4 Cooling turntable

[0057] 5 Center

[0058] 6 Substrate

[0059] 7 Load-bearing structure

[0060] 8 Lattice

[0061] 9 Carrying element

[0062] 10 Hollow profile

[0063] 11 Internal space

[0064] 12 Stabilizing element

[0065] 13 Conveyor belt

[0066] 14 Guiding element

[0067] W1 to W N (One or more) material plates

[0068] D Rotation direction

[0069] X Width

[0070] Y Depth

[0071] Z Length

Claims

1. Device (1) for temporarily storing cooled material plates (W1 to W N ), wherein, The device (1) comprises the following: Cooling star turner (2), said cooling star turner having a cooling turntable (4) rotatably supported about an axis (3), the center (5) of said cooling turntable comprising a tubular base body (6), a bearing structure (7) being formed radially around said base body, said bearing structure being adapted to form a plurality of cells (8) in which material plates (W1 to W N ) can be deposited at least temporarily for cooling purposes, It is characterized in that the grid (8) is delimited at least locally by a carrier (9), which is configured to at least partially support the material plates (W1 to W N ) to be received by the carrier for temporary storage At least a portion of the load-bearing members (9) is at least partially composed of a composite material, and the composite material has a woven fabric made of or containing carbon, which is embedded in a matrix made of a natural resin or a synthetic resin.

2. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that At least half of all the load-bearing members (9) is at least partially composed of a composite material.

3. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that At least 80% of all the load-bearing members (9) is at least partially composed of a composite material.

4. The device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that At least 80% of the load-bearing members that are at least partially composed of a composite material is composed of a composite material.

5. The device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that A multi-layer composite material is used.

6. The device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that The composite material has a coefficient of friction between 0.1 and 0.6 at the surface of the composite material.

7. The device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that At least a portion of the load-bearing members (9) is at least partially configured as a hollow profile (10).

8. The device according to claim 7, characterized in that The hollow profile (10) is composed of a composite material, forming an internal space (11), and a stabilizing element (12) is provided in the internal space (11).

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