Air knife lip cleaning device

Abstract

The invention discloses an air knife lip cleaning device which comprises a rodless air cylinder, a connecting arm, a lip cleaning blade set, a buffering mechanism, a guide rail, a protective cover shell and a cooling mechanism. The air knife lip cleaning device is arranged on air knife equipment. The rodless cylinder comprises a movable end; the guide rail comprises a sliding block, and the movable end, the sliding block and the lip cleaning blade set are fixedly connected through a connecting arm. According to the air knife lip cleaning device, high-speed and stable surface cleaning operation is achieved through cooperation of the air cylinder, the guide rail and the buffering mechanism, the working adaptability of the device at the high environment temperature is improved through the protective cover shell and the cooling mechanism, the service life of the air knife lip cleaning device and air knife equipment is prolonged, and the product quality is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of steel strip hot-dip coating equipment, and particularly relates to an air knife lip cleaning device. Background Art

[0002] At present, hot-dip galvanized steel sheets and hot-dip aluminized steel sheets have good corrosion resistance and beautiful surface quality, and are inexpensive and of good quality, and have been widely used in various industries around the world. When producing hot-dip galvanized / aluminized steel sheets, during the process of the steel strip rising from the metal hot liquid pot through the air knife equipment, the metal hot liquid scraped by the air knife is likely to splash back and form metal slag after cooling on the air knife equipment. Especially when metal slag accumulates at the horizontal air outlet, on the one hand, it will affect the uniformity of the air knife and cause streak defects on the product, and on the other hand, it may also block the horizontal air outlet and cause equipment failures.

[0003] Therefore, how to quickly scrape off the metal slag generated by the splash-back of the metal hot liquid at a relatively high ambient temperature is an urgent problem to be solved. Summary of the Invention

[0004] In view of this, the purpose of the present invention is to provide an air knife lip cleaning device, which can quickly scrape off the metal slag generated by the splash-back of the metal hot liquid at a relatively high ambient temperature, and try to improve its own working stability and service life, so as to extend the service life of the air knife equipment.

[0005] Based on the above purpose, the present invention provides an air knife lip cleaning device, which is characterized in that it includes a rodless cylinder, a connecting arm, a lip cleaning blade group, a buffer mechanism, a guide rail, a protective housing and a cooling mechanism;

[0006] The air knife lip cleaning device is arranged on an air knife equipment; the air knife equipment includes an upper lip and a lower lip, and there is a horizontal air outlet between the upper lip and the lower lip;

[0007] The protective housing is arranged above the air knife equipment, the rodless cylinder is arranged at the rear of the space between the protective housing and the air knife equipment, the guide rail is arranged at the front of the space between the protective housing and the air knife equipment, and the rodless cylinder, the guide rail and the horizontal air outlet are arranged in parallel;

[0008] The rodless cylinder includes a movable end; the guide rail includes a slider, and the movable end, the slider and the lip cleaning blade group are fixedly connected through a connecting arm; the rodless cylinder is used to drive the lip cleaning blade group to reciprocate along the horizontal air outlet through the connecting arm;

[0009] The lip cleaning blade group is arranged at the horizontal air outlet, and the lip cleaning blade group is used for surface cleaning operations of the upper lip and the lower lip;

[0010] The buffer mechanism is arranged on both sides of the air knife device, and is used to apply a buffer reaction force to the connecting arm when the connecting arm drives the lip cleaning blade group to reciprocate along the transverse air outlet; the cooling mechanism is arranged on the protective housing.

[0011] Preferably, the lip cleaning blade group includes a first blade, a second blade and a third blade;

[0012] The first blade includes a first horizontal end and a first vertical end. The first vertical end is arranged in front of the upper lip, and the first horizontal end extends into the transverse air outlet. The first horizontal end is used for surface cleaning of the inner surface of the air outlet of the upper lip;

[0013] The second blade includes a second horizontal end and a second vertical end. The second vertical end is arranged in front of the upper lip, and the second horizontal end extends into the transverse air outlet. The second horizontal end is used for surface cleaning of the inner surface of the air outlet of the lower lip;

[0014] The third blade is arranged in front of the upper lip and the lower lip, and is used for surface cleaning of the outer surface of the air outlets of the upper lip and the lower lip.

[0015] Preferably, the air knife lip cleaning device further includes a guide rail fine-tuning mechanism, which is arranged between the rodless cylinder and the guide rail. The guide rail fine-tuning mechanism is used to fine-tune the position of the guide rail to ensure that the movement direction of the lip cleaning blade group is parallel to the transverse air outlet.

[0016] Preferably, the guide rail fine-tuning mechanism includes a plurality of fine-tuning bolts and a corresponding number of fixing blocks. The fine-tuning bolts adjust the position of the guide rail by adjusting the distance between the guide rail and the fixing blocks.

[0017] Preferably, the buffer mechanism includes a nitrogen cylinder body, a piston rod and a limit bushing. The nitrogen cylinder body is filled with high-pressure nitrogen. One end of the piston rod is hermetically connected to the nitrogen cylinder body, and a buffer pad is arranged at the other end. The limit bushing is fixedly connected to the nitrogen cylinder body; two buffer mechanisms are symmetrically arranged.

[0018] Preferably, the cooling mechanism includes a vortex tube, an air cooling channel and a hot air flow channel. The protective housing is provided with an air cooling groove at the corresponding position of the rodless cylinder, and the air cooling groove is communicated with the air cooling channel.

[0019] Preferably, an insulating asbestos layer is arranged on the lower surface of the protective housing.

[0020] Preferably, the air knife lip cleaning device further includes a booster pump system, which includes a water separator and air filter. The booster pump system is used to provide clean and low moisture content high-pressure air to the rodless cylinder.

[0021] Preferably, the air knife lip cleaning device further includes an electric control system, which is used to receive control instructions issued from the operation room to control the air supply of the booster pump system.

[0022] In summary, the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0023] 1. The present invention realizes high-speed and stable surface cleaning operations through the cooperation of cylinders, guide rails and buffer mechanisms, improves the working adaptability of the device at relatively high ambient temperatures through the protective housing and cooling mechanism, extends the service life of the air knife lip cleaning device and the air knife equipment, and improves product quality;

[0024] 2. The present invention avoids the inconvenience and safety risks of manual lip cleaning through online automated operations under remote control. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0025] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art, the following will briefly introduce the drawings required for use in the description of the embodiments or the prior art. Obviously, the following drawings are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those of ordinary skill in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative efforts.

[0026] Figure 1 Structural schematic diagram of the air knife equipment and the air knife lip cleaning device according to the embodiment of the present invention;

[0027] Figure 2 Partial structural schematic diagram of the air knife lip cleaning device according to the embodiment of the present invention;

[0028] Figure 3 Structural schematic diagram of the guide rail fine adjustment mechanism according to the embodiment of the present invention;

[0029] Figure 4 and Figure 5 Structural schematic diagram of the lip cleaning blade group according to the embodiment of the present invention;

[0030] Figure 6 Cross-sectional structural schematic diagram of the buffer mechanism according to the embodiment of the present invention;

[0031] Figure 7 Structural schematic diagram of the cooling mechanism according to the embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0032] The following will clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some of the embodiments of the present invention, rather than all of them. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative efforts fall within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0033] Figure 1 This is the overall appearance of the air knife device 1 and the air knife lip cleaning device according to the embodiments of the present invention. The air knife lip cleaning device includes a rodless cylinder 2, a connecting arm 3, a lip cleaning blade group 4, a buffer mechanism 5, a guide rail 6, a protective housing 7, and a cooling mechanism 8;

[0034] The rodless cylinder 2 is used to drive the surface cleaning operation of the lip cleaning blade group 4. Since the speed of the moving end 21 of the rodless cylinder 2 can reach 2 m / s and the entire stroke is completed in no more than 1 second. If there is shaking and deflection during the high-speed operation of the surface cleaning operation, it will not only affect the cleaning effect but also cause damage to the inside of the rodless cylinder 2. Therefore, in the embodiments of the present invention, a linear guide rail 6 is further provided between the moving end 21 and the lip cleaning blade group 4 to ensure the stability of the cylinder during high-speed operation. The protective housing 7 is arranged above the air knife cavity 11 of the air knife device 1 to protect the area from the rodless cylinder 2 to the guide rail 6 and prevent metal hot liquid from splashing onto this area and hindering the operation of the device; in a preferred embodiment, an asbestos cloth layer is pasted on the inner wall (i.e., the lower surface) of the protective housing 7 to further insulate heat. Figure 2 The structure of the device with the protective housing 7 hidden is shown. The rodless cylinder 2 is arranged at the rear position, and the guide rail 6 is arranged at the front position, and the two are arranged in parallel; the moving end 21 of the rodless cylinder 2 and the slider 61 on the guide rail 6 are fixedly connected through the connecting arm 3. When the moving end 21 reciprocates horizontally along the rodless cylinder 1, the connecting arm 3 can drive the slider 61 to slide synchronously on the guide rail 6. The connecting arm 3 further extends in a direction perpendicular to the guide rail 6 to the front of the air knife device 1 and is fixedly connected to the lip cleaning blade group 4. Through the transmission of the connecting arm 3, the lip cleaning blade group 4 can reciprocate quickly horizontally along the transverse air outlet to perform the surface cleaning operation of the air knife lip, scraping off the metal slag accumulated on the upper lip 12 and the lower lip 13.

[0035] As Figure 3 shown, since the space at the transverse air outlet is narrow, if the translation direction of the lip cleaning blade group 4 deviates slightly from the transverse direction, it may get stuck halfway. Therefore, a guide rail fine-tuning mechanism is also provided at the rear side of the guide rail 6, that is, at the position between the guide rail 6 and the rodless cylinder 2. The guide rail fine-tuning mechanism includes 3 fixing blocks 62 and 3 fine-tuning bolts. The fixing blocks 62 are fixed on the air knife cavity 11, and vertical plates 63a / b / c are arranged on the side close to the guide rail 6. Corresponding vertical plates 63d / e / f extend from the corresponding positions of the guide rail 6. Mounting holes are provided on the vertical plates 63a / b / c / d / e / f for mounting the fine-tuning bolts. Those skilled in the art can adjust the distance between the vertical plates 63a / b / c and the corresponding vertical plates 63d / e / f through the fine-tuning bolts, thereby fine-tuning the position of the guide rail 6 so that the reciprocating movement of the lip cleaning blade group 4 can smoothly scrape off the metal slag at the air knife lip without getting stuck halfway.

[0036] Figure 4 andFigure 5 The structure of the lip cleaning blade group 4 is shown. The lip cleaning blade group 4 includes a first blade 41, a second blade 42 and a third blade 43. The first blade 41 and the second blade 42 form a right angle, and respectively have a vertical end and a horizontal end. The vertical ends are arranged in front of the knife lip for fixed connection. The horizontal end of the first blade 41 fits the inner surface of the air outlet of the upper knife lip 12 for scraping the metal slag in this area. The horizontal end of the second blade 42 fits the inner surface of the air outlet of the lower knife lip 13 for scraping the metal slag in this area. The third blade 43 is arranged in front of the upper knife lip 12 and the lower knife lip 13 for scraping the metal slag on the outer surface of their air outlets.

[0037] Generally, the rodless cylinder 2 comes with end-of-stroke buffering. However, in order to avoid factors such as the skew of the connecting arm 3 caused by the inertia when switching the movement direction during the reciprocating movement of the lip cleaning blade group 4 and affecting the service life of the rodless cylinder 2, a buffering mechanism 5 is provided on both sides of the air knife device 1 in the embodiment of the present invention. Figure 6 The sectional structure of the buffering mechanism 5 is shown. The buffering mechanism 5 includes a nitrogen cylinder body 51, a piston rod 52 and a limit bushing 53. The nitrogen cylinder body 51 is filled with high-pressure nitrogen. One end of the piston rod 52 is hermetically connected to the nitrogen cylinder body 51, and a buffer pad 54 is provided at the other end. The limit bushing 53 and the nitrogen cylinder body 51 are fixedly connected by threads, and the lateral position of the buffer pad 54 can be controlled by adjusting the distance between the two. When the connecting arm 3 moves to one side of the air knife device 1, the connecting arm 3 impacts the buffer pad 54, compresses the gas in the nitrogen cylinder body 51 through the piston rod 52. At the same time, the gas pressure generates a reaction force, so that the connecting arm 3 receives a reaction moment relative to the movable end 21 of the rodless cylinder 2, which offsets the inertia moment of the lip cleaning blade group 4. The buffering mechanism 5 is arranged at a position closer to the lip cleaning blade group 4 than the guide rail 6, which can increase the size of the force arm.

[0038] Figure 7 The structure of the cooling mechanism 8 in the embodiment of the present invention is shown. The cooling mechanism 8 adopts the cooling principle of a vortex tube. Compressed air is sent into the vortex tube 81, and energy conversion is carried out inside the vortex tube 81, and is divided into a cold air stream and a hot air stream and sent out from both ends of the vortex tube 81. Among them, the cold air stream passes through the air cooling channel 83 and the air cooling groove 71 opened on the protective cover shell and is sent to the periphery of the rodless cylinder 2 to cool the rodless cylinder 2 and extend its service life. The hot air stream is sent away from the device through the hot air stream channel 82.

[0039] In a preferred embodiment, since the operating pressure of the rodless cylinder 2 is about 0.8 MPa, which is higher than the operating air pressure required by the air knife device 1 itself, the device is also provided with a booster pump system to compress the air to more than 1 MPa and then reduce the pressure to the required pressure through a pressure reducing valve. The storage capacity of the air storage tank during compression should ensure that the gas pressure input to the rodless cylinder is stable and can meet continuous operation for more than ten times. On the other hand, since the compressed air driving the rodless cylinder 2 must be kept clean and have a low moisture content, the booster pump system also includes a water separator filter.

[0040] In a preferred embodiment, the electric control system of the air knife lip cleaning device is centrally controlled in the PLC of the side baffle system (not shown) of the air knife device 1. The staff can operate in the central control room. Just press the operation button on the remote HMI before and after the weld, and the air knife lip cleaning device can run in the preset direction, complete one or more reciprocating motions, scrape off the excess metal slag and then return to the standby position.

[0041] The above description of the disclosed embodiments enables those skilled in the art to implement or use the present invention. Various modifications to these embodiments will be obvious to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein can be implemented in other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. Therefore, the present invention will not be limited to these embodiments shown herein, but rather to the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

1. An air knife lip cleaning device, characterized in that, It includes a rodless cylinder, a connecting arm, a lip cleaning blade group, a buffer mechanism, a guide rail, a protective housing, and a cooling mechanism; The air knife lip cleaning device is arranged on an air knife equipment; the air knife equipment includes an upper lip and a lower lip, and there is a horizontal air outlet between the upper lip and the lower lip; The protective housing is arranged above the air knife equipment, the rodless cylinder is arranged at the rear of the space between the protective housing and the air knife equipment, the guide rail is arranged at the front of the space between the protective housing and the air knife equipment, and the rodless cylinder, the guide rail, and the horizontal air outlet are arranged in parallel; The rodless cylinder includes a movable end; the guide rail includes a slider, and the movable end, the slider, and the lip cleaning blade group are fixedly connected through a connecting arm; the rodless cylinder is used to drive the lip cleaning blade group to reciprocate along the horizontal air outlet through the connecting arm; The lip cleaning blade group is arranged at the horizontal air outlet, and the lip cleaning blade group is used for the surface cleaning operation of the surfaces of the upper lip and the lower lip; The buffer mechanism is arranged on both sides of the air knife equipment, and the buffer mechanism is used to apply a buffer reaction force to the connecting arm when the connecting arm drives the lip cleaning blade group to reciprocate along the horizontal air outlet; the cooling mechanism is arranged on the protective housing.

2. The air knife lip cleaning device according to claim 1, characterized in that The lip cleaning blade group includes a first blade, a second blade, and a third blade; The first blade includes a first horizontal end and a first vertical end, the first vertical end is arranged in front of the upper lip, the first horizontal end extends into the horizontal air outlet, and the first horizontal end is used for the surface cleaning operation of the inner surface of the air outlet of the upper lip; The second blade includes a second horizontal end and a second vertical end, the second vertical end is arranged in front of the upper lip, the second horizontal end extends into the horizontal air outlet, and the second horizontal end is used for the surface cleaning operation of the inner surface of the air outlet of the lower lip; The third blade is arranged in front of the upper lip and the lower lip, and the third blade is used for the surface cleaning operation of the outer surfaces of the air outlets of the upper lip and the lower lip.

3. The air knife lip cleaning device according to claim 1, characterized in that, It further includes a guide rail fine-tuning mechanism, and the guide rail fine-tuning mechanism is arranged between the rodless cylinder and the guide rail. The guide rail fine-tuning mechanism is used to finely adjust the position of the guide rail to ensure that the moving direction of the lip cleaning blade group is parallel to the horizontal air outlet.

4. The air knife lip cleaning device according to claim 3, wherein, The guide rail fine-tuning mechanism includes a plurality of fine-tuning bolts and corresponding fixed blocks, and the fine-tuning bolts fine-tune the position of the guide rail by adjusting the distance between the guide rail and the fixed blocks.

5. The air knife lip cleaning device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The buffer mechanism includes a nitrogen cylinder body, a piston rod, and a limit bushing. The nitrogen cylinder body is filled with high-pressure nitrogen, one end of the piston rod is hermetically connected to the nitrogen cylinder body, the other end is provided with a buffer pad, and the limit bushing is fixedly connected to the nitrogen cylinder body; two buffer mechanisms are symmetrically arranged.

6. The air knife lip cleaning device according to claim 1, characterized in that The cooling mechanism includes a vortex tube, an air cooling channel, and a hot air flow channel. The protective housing is provided with an air cooling groove at the corresponding position of the rodless cylinder, and the air cooling groove is communicated with the air cooling channel.

7. The air knife lip cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein The lower surface of the protective housing is provided with a heat insulating asbestos layer.

8. The air knife lip cleaning device according to claim 1, characterized in that, It further includes a booster pump system, and the booster pump system includes a water separator and air filter. The booster pump system is used to supply clean and low-moisture-content high-pressure air to the rodless cylinder.

9. The air knife lip cleaning device according to claim 8, characterized in that, It further includes an electric control system, and the electric control system is used to receive control instructions sent from the operation room to control the air supply of the booster pump system.

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