A natural rubber crepe machine

Abstract

The present application relates to natural rubber primary processing equipment technical field, specifically to a kind of natural rubber crepe machine, including rack, transmission system, first roller group and second roller group along vertical series connection, roller cooling system, doctor system and discharge separation system.The first driving roller shaft end of first roller group is equipped with sprocket, is driven connection with second roller group by chain, so that a motor synchronously drives four roller operation, material is sequentially completed rough dehydration and fine dehydration from top to bottom.Four rollers are all hollow structure with spiral flow guide groove inside, and two ends hollow shaft head are connected into cooling system by three-section rotary joint formed by external connector, connecting shaft and internal connector, to form forced circulation cooling loop to control roller surface temperature.The present application is compact in structure, and single machine can realize continuous twice dehydration and automatic solid-liquid separation, suitable for natural rubber forest and rubber collecting station primary operation.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of natural rubber primary processing equipment technology, specifically to a natural rubber crepe machine. Background Technology

[0002] In the initial processing of natural rubber, the coagulated rubber blocks that separate from the latex contain a large amount of water and whey. To facilitate subsequent drying, storage, and transportation, these coagulated rubber blocks must first be extruded and dehydrated, then pressed into natural rubber crepes with a certain thickness and surface characteristics. The crepe machine is the core equipment for this process. However, existing rubber crepe machines are mostly complex, bulky, and large-scale equipment, making it difficult to meet the initial processing needs of natural rubber forests and rubber collection stations in various terrains. To achieve higher dehydration rates, existing equipment often adopts a production line mode with multiple single-stage crepe machines connected in series. This not only occupies a large area but also often consumes a lot of electricity, making it extremely difficult to adapt to mobile field operations in natural rubber forests and rubber collection stations where there is a lack of industrial power grid support. This also highlights the technical bottleneck of existing technologies, which struggle to simultaneously achieve high integration and continuous, efficient extrusion dehydration on a single compact machine.

[0003] Furthermore, the rubber blocks generate significant frictional heat during the forceful extrusion and shearing process, and existing small portable or integrated crepe machines often lack targeted and efficient cooling methods. When the roller surface temperature rises due to frictional heat, it not only easily leads to thermo-oxidative aging of the raw rubber, affecting its quality, but also causes the rubber to become sticky and entangle the rollers, forcing the equipment to stop for cleaning and severely impacting continuous operation efficiency. Simultaneously, due to significant differences in thickness and hardness among different batches or processes of solidified rubber blocks, the roller spacing in some existing machines is usually fixed and rigid, resulting in poor adaptability to varying materials. In the discharge stage, existing crepe machines often discharge the extruded whey mixed with the pressed rubber sheets directly, lacking an integrated solid-liquid automatic separation and collection design. This not only easily causes secondary pollution of the work environment but also greatly increases the workload of subsequent manual sorting and processing. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop a new type of natural rubber crepe machine with high integration, low energy consumption, high dehydration efficiency, and a built-in cooling and automatic separation system, perfectly suited for harsh outdoor working environments. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The purpose of this invention is to provide a natural rubber crepe machine that achieves continuous two-stage extrusion dehydration through a vertically connected double-stage roller group. All four rollers are connected to a forced circulating water cooling system to prevent sticking. A sieve plate and a liquid collection hopper are provided at the bottom to achieve automatic separation of the rubber sheet and whey.

[0005] To achieve the above-mentioned technical objectives and effects, the present invention is implemented through the following technical solution: A natural rubber crepe machine includes a frame, a motor connected to the first active roller head of a primary roller group via a transmission system, the primary roller group also includes a second active roller, the first active roller and the second active roller are connected by a pair of meshing transmission gears to achieve synchronous reverse rotation, so as to coarsely dehydrate the natural rubber raw material and push it downward. The first active roller has a sprocket on the shaft end of the side with the transmission gear. The sprocket is connected to the shaft end of the second-stage roller group located directly below the first-stage roller group via a chain, which is located on the same side as the first active roller, so that the motor can drive the four rollers to rotate synchronously. The secondary roller assembly includes a front roller and a rear roller arranged opposite to each other. The front roller is fixedly mounted on the frame. The bearing seats at both ends of the rear roller are mounted on a horizontally arranged linear guide rail and connected to a trapezoidal lead screw. A handwheel is provided at the end of the trapezoidal lead screw. By rotating the handwheel, the trapezoidal lead screw is driven to slide the rear roller in the horizontal direction to adjust the roller gap between the rear roller and the front roller. The four rollers in the first-stage roller group and the second-stage roller group are all hollow structures with spiral guide grooves on the inner wall. The shaft ends of each roller are hollow shaft ends. The hollow shaft ends are connected to the roller cooling system through a rotary joint to force cooling by circulating cooling water into the four rollers. A scraper system is provided below the front roller. The blades of the scraper system are attached to the lower working surface of the front roller to peel off the film adhering to the roller surface after fine dehydration. A discharge separation system is provided below the secondary roller group. The discharge separation system includes a separation screen plate arranged at an incline and having square holes, and a liquid collection hopper directly below the separation screen plate. The lower end of the separation screen plate extends to form a film outlet, and the bottom of the liquid collection hopper is connected to a whey collection tank via a pipe.

[0006] Furthermore, the rotary joint in the roller cooling system consists of an outer joint, a connecting shaft, and an inner joint. The outer joint has a hole for connecting to an external cooling water passage and is fitted onto one end of the connecting shaft. The outer circumferential surface of the connecting shaft has four guide grooves along the axial direction. The inner joint is fitted onto the other end of the connecting shaft and has a hole every 90 degrees along the circumferential direction, for a total of four holes. Cooling water flows into the four grooves of the connecting shaft through the holes of the outer joint, then flows evenly into the spiral guide grooves inside the roller through the four holes of the inner joint, and finally flows out through the rotary joint at the other end of the roller in the same manner, realizing the recycling of cooling water.

[0007] Furthermore, all rollers in the primary roller group and the secondary roller group have an electroplated hard chrome layer on their working surfaces and are machined with a diamond pattern.

[0008] Furthermore, the thickness of the electroplated hard chrome layer is 0.05~0.15mm, and the depth of the diamond pattern is 2~4mm.

[0009] Furthermore, the adjustment range of the gap between the front roller and the rear roller is 2~12mm.

[0010] Furthermore, the scraper blade of the scraper system rests against the lower working surface of the front roller, and the peeled film falls onto the separation screen plate of the discharge separation system.

[0011] Furthermore, the square holes on the separation screen plate of the discharge separation system are 10mm×2mm in size, which are used to trap solid film and allow whey liquid to pass through and fall into the collection hopper below.

[0012] Furthermore, the bottom of the liquid collection hopper is connected to a whey collection tank via a pipe, so that the collected whey can be centrally recycled for secondary use in the field.

[0013] Furthermore, the transmission system includes a gear set located at the head of the first drive roller and a sprocket located at the shaft end of the first drive roller on the side with the transmission gear. The sprocket is connected to the sprocket at the corresponding head of the secondary roller in the secondary roller group via a chain, so as to synchronously distribute the single power of the motor to the primary roller group and the secondary roller group, thereby realizing the synchronous operation of the four rollers.

[0014] The beneficial effects of this invention are: This invention arranges a primary roller group and a secondary roller group in series vertically, with a sprocket mounted on the shaft end of the first driving roller, which has a transmission gear. The sprocket is connected via a chain to the corresponding roller shaft end of the secondary roller group, allowing one motor to synchronously drive all four rollers. After coarse dewatering in the primary roller group, the material directly enters the secondary roller group below for fine dewatering under the combined action of gravity and the roller's pushing force. Both dewatering processes are completed continuously within a single unit. This vertical series structure minimizes the material flow path, avoiding the material transfer steps required for multiple single-stage units. Furthermore, compared to a system where each unit has its own independent motor, the single-motor-driven four-roller configuration significantly reduces the total installed power and operating energy consumption, and also significantly reduces the equipment's footprint.

[0015] This invention features four hollow rollers with internal spiral guide grooves. The hollow shaft ends of each roller connect to the roller cooling system via a rotary joint consisting of an external connector, a connecting shaft, and an internal connector. Cooling water enters the four channels on the outer circumference of the connecting shaft through the inlet hole of the external connector, and is then evenly distributed to the spiral guide grooves inside the roller through four through-holes spaced 90 degrees apart along the circumference of the internal connector. After absorbing the frictional heat conducted by the roller wall, the water is discharged through the isomorphic rotary joint at the other end of the roller. The spiral guide grooves extend the flow path and heat exchange time of the cooling water within the roller, keeping the roller surface temperature below the critical temperature for rubber sticking. This prevents rubber from sticking to the roller and forcing shutdowns due to frictional heat generation, while also inhibiting thermo-oxidative aging of the raw rubber caused by overheating, ensuring continuous dehydration efficiency and product quality.

[0016] This invention features a scraper system located below the front roller, with its blades elastically resting against the lower working surface of the front roller. A separating screen plate, arranged at an angle, is positioned directly below the secondary roller assembly. The screen plate has square holes measuring 10mm × 2mm, with a film outlet at its lower end. A collection hopper is located directly below the screen plate and connected to a whey collection tank via a pipe. After dehydration, the film is peeled off by the scraper as the front roller rotates downwards and falls onto the separating screen plate. The film slides along the inclined surface of the screen plate to the outlet for discharge, while the whey passes through the square holes and falls into the collection hopper for centralized recovery. This structure automatically connects film peeling and solid-liquid separation, eliminating the need for manual sorting and preventing whey waste from spilling onto the ground, thus achieving continuous and clean operation.

[0017] Of course, any product implementing this invention does not necessarily need to achieve all of the advantages described above at the same time. Attached Figure Description

[0018] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, the accompanying drawings used in the description of the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0019] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of the natural rubber crepe machine of the present invention on the left side; Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the overall structure on the right side of the natural rubber crepe machine of the present invention; Figure 3 This is an assembly diagram of the rotary joint used in the roller cooling system of the natural rubber crepe machine of the present invention; Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the internal structure of the rollers in the natural rubber crepe machine of the present invention; Figure 5 This is a bottom view of the discharge separation system in the natural rubber crepe machine of the present invention; In the picture: 1. Frame, 2. Transmission system, 3. Primary roller assembly, 4. Secondary roller assembly, 5. Roller cooling system, 6. Scraper system, 7. Discharge separation system, 8. Base, 9. Front roller, 10. Rear roller, 11. Trapezoidal lead screw, 12. Hollow shaft head, 13. First drive roller, 14. Second drive roller, 15. Handwheel, 16. Separation screen plate, 17. Liquid collection hopper, 18. External connector, 19. Connecting shaft, 20. Internal connector. Detailed Implementation

[0020] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0021] Example 1

[0022] like Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, this embodiment provides a natural rubber crepe machine, which includes a base 8 and a frame 1 fixedly mounted on the base 8. On the frame 1, a transmission system 2, a primary roller group 3, a secondary roller group 4, a roller cooling system 5, a scraper system 6, and a discharge separation system 7 are arranged vertically from top to bottom on the frame 1.

[0023] The motor is driven by the shaft of the first drive roller 13 of the first-stage roller group 3 through the transmission system 2, forming the power input path of the entire machine. The transmission system 2 includes a gear set located at the shaft of the first drive roller 13 and a sprocket located at the shaft end of the first drive roller 13 on the side with the transmission gear. The first-stage roller group 3 also includes a second drive roller 14. The shafts of the first drive roller 13 and the second drive roller 14 rotate synchronously in opposite directions through a pair of meshing transmission gears, thereby biting in the natural rubber raw material and performing the first stage of extrusion and dehydration, while generating a downward pushing force to force the material into the second-stage roller group 4. The sprocket at the shaft end of the first drive roller 13 on the side with the transmission gear is connected to the shaft end of the corresponding roller in the second-stage roller group 4 through a chain. Thus, the single power of the motor is synchronously distributed to the first-stage roller group 3 and the second-stage roller group 4, realizing the complete synchronous operation of the four rollers under the same drive source.

[0024] The secondary roller assembly 4 is located directly below the primary roller assembly 3 and is used for a second stage of high-pressure fine dewatering of the coarsely dewatered rubber compound. The secondary roller assembly 4 includes a front roller 9 and a rear roller 10 arranged opposite each other. The front roller 9 is fixedly mounted on the frame 1; the bearing seats at both ends of the rear roller 10 are supported on horizontally arranged linear guides and connected to a trapezoidal lead screw 11, the end of which is equipped with a handwheel 15. The operator drives the trapezoidal lead screw 11 to rotate by rotating the handwheel 15, causing the bearing seats and the rear roller 10 to slide horizontally along the linear guides, thereby adjusting the roller gap between the front roller 9 and the rear roller 10 to accommodate thickness differences and dewatering requirements of different batches of rubber compound. The adjustment range of this roller gap is configured to be 2–12 mm.

[0025] All four rollers in the primary roller group 3 and the secondary roller group 4 are hollow structures, with spiral guide grooves on the inner wall of each roller, and hollow shaft ends 12 at both ends of each roller. The hollow shaft ends 12 are connected to the roller cooling system 5 through rotary joints, thereby constructing a forced circulation cooling loop from the external cooling water source, through the spiral guide grooves inside each roller, and back to the cooling water source, to synchronously and forcibly cool all four rollers, so as to remove the large amount of frictional heat generated during the high-pressure extrusion process and prevent the rubber material from overheating and becoming sticky.

[0026] The specific structure of the rotary joint is as follows: Figure 3 and Figure 4 As shown, the rotary joint is a three-section detachable structure, including an outer connector 18, a connecting shaft 19, and an inner connector 20. The outer connector 18 has an inlet hole for connecting to an external cooling water passage and is fitted over one end of the connecting shaft 19. The outer circumferential surface of the connecting shaft 19 has four channels machined axially for cooling water flow. The inner connector 20 is fitted over the other end of the connecting shaft 19 and has four through holes spaced 90 degrees apart along its circumference. Cooling water enters the four channels of the connecting shaft 19 through the inlet hole of the outer connector 18, and is then evenly distributed into the spiral guide grooves inside the roller through the four through holes of the inner connector 20. After flowing through the entire inner cavity of the roller, it is discharged through the isomorphic rotary joint at the other end of the roller, completing the circulation of the cooling water.

[0027] The scraper system 6 is located below the front roller 9, and the blade of the scraper elastically abuts against the lower working surface of the front roller 9 with constant pressure. When the pressed film rotates to the lower part of the front roller 9, the scraper precisely peels it off from the roller surface, and the peeled film falls directly onto the separation screen plate 16 of the discharge separation system 7 under the action of gravity.

[0028] like Figure 5As shown, the discharge separation system 7 is located below the secondary roller assembly 4, including an inclined separation screen plate 16 and a collection hopper 17 directly below the separation screen plate 16. The separation screen plate 16 has multiple evenly arranged square holes for the extruded whey liquid to pass through. The lower end of the separation screen plate 16 extends to form a solid film outlet. The bottom of the collection hopper 17 is connected to an external whey collection tank via a pipe. The preferred size of the square holes on the separation screen plate 16 is 10mm × 2mm. This size has been proven in practice to effectively trap solid film while ensuring rapid passage of whey liquid, achieving efficient automatic solid-liquid separation. The whey collected in the whey collection tank can be centrally recycled for secondary use in the field.

[0029] To further improve the dewatering effect and extend the service life of the rollers, all rollers in the primary roller group 3 and the secondary roller group 4 have an electroplated hard chrome layer on their working surfaces, and a diamond pattern is machined on this electroplated hard chrome layer. The diamond pattern increases the gripping friction of the rollers on the rubber material during extrusion, preventing slippage and ensuring that the material is effectively bitten and pushed. The electroplated hard chrome layer improves the wear resistance and release properties of the roller surface. In some embodiments, the thickness of the electroplated hard chrome layer is controlled between 0.05 and 0.15 mm, and the depth of the diamond pattern is controlled between 2 and 4 mm to achieve an optimal balance between gripping force and roller surface strength.

[0030] The complete working process of the natural rubber crepe machine provided in this embodiment will be described below in conjunction with the above structure.

[0031] After startup, the roller cooling system 5 first circulates cooling water, then the motor starts, driving the first drive roller 13 and second drive roller 14 of the primary roller group 3, as well as the front roller 9 and rear roller 10 of the secondary roller group 4, to rotate synchronously via the transmission system 2. The solidified natural rubber block enters the primary roller group 3 from above, where it is gripped and strongly squeezed by the opposing rotation of the first drive roller 13 and second drive roller 14, completing the first stage of coarse dewatering. The dewatered rubber material then flows downwards into the roller gap of the secondary roller group 4 under the pushing action of the rollers, where it undergoes a second stage of fine dewatering by the front roller 9 and rear roller 10, being pressed into a crepe sheet of uniform thickness with a patterned surface. As the pressed sheet rotates below the front roller 9, it is peeled off the roller surface by the scraper system 6 and falls onto the separation screen plate 16 of the discharge separation system 7. The sheet slides along the inclined separation screen plate 16 and is discharged from the sheet outlet at its lower end, falling into an external collection container. Meanwhile, the whey waste liquid generated during the extrusion process passes through the square holes on the separation screen plate 16, leaks into the collection hopper 17 below, and then collects into the whey collection tank through the pipeline, completing the integrated operation of continuous extrusion and automatic solid-liquid separation.

[0032] In summary, this invention proposes a natural rubber crepe machine, comprising a frame, a transmission system, a primary and secondary roller assembly connected vertically in series, a roller cooling system, a scraper system, and a discharge separation system. The first drive roller of the primary roller assembly is equipped with a sprocket at its end, which is connected to the secondary roller assembly via a chain drive, enabling one motor to synchronously drive all four rollers. The material undergoes coarse dewatering and fine dewatering sequentially from top to bottom. All four rollers are hollow structures with internal spiral guide grooves. The hollow shaft ends at both ends are connected to the cooling system through a three-section rotary joint consisting of an external connector, a connecting shaft, and an internal connector, forming a forced circulation cooling loop to control the roller surface temperature. A scraper system is located below the front roller of the secondary roller assembly, with an inclined separation screen and a collection hopper directly below. After the rubber sheets are peeled off by the scraper, they are discharged along the screen, while the whey passes through the square holes in the screen and flows into the collection hopper for centralized recovery. This invention has a compact structure, and a single machine can achieve continuous two-stage dewatering and automatic solid-liquid separation, making it suitable for primary processing operations in natural rubber plantations and rubber collection stations.

[0033] The preferred embodiments of the present invention disclosed above are merely illustrative of the invention. These preferred embodiments do not exhaustively describe all details, nor do they limit the invention to the specific implementations described. Clearly, many modifications and variations can be made based on the content of this specification. This specification selects and specifically describes these embodiments to better explain the principles and practical applications of the invention, thereby enabling those skilled in the art to better understand and utilize the invention. The invention is limited only by the claims and their full scope and equivalents.

Claims

1. A natural rubber crepe machine, comprising a frame (1), and a motor connected via a transmission system (2) to the shaft head of the first drive roller (13) of a primary roller assembly (3), characterized in that: The first-stage roller group (3) also includes a second active roller (14). The shaft ends of the first active roller (13) and the second active roller (14) are connected by a pair of meshing transmission gears to achieve synchronous reverse rotation, so as to coarsely dehydrate the natural rubber raw material and push it downward. The first active roller (13) has a sprocket on the shaft end of the side with the transmission gear. The sprocket is connected to the shaft end of the second-level roller group (4) located directly below the first-level roller group (3) via a chain, which is located on the same side as the first active roller, so that the motor can drive the four rollers to rotate synchronously. The secondary roller group (4) includes a front roller (9) and a rear roller (10) arranged opposite to each other. The front roller (9) is fixedly installed on the frame (1). The bearing seats at both ends of the rear roller (10) are installed on a horizontally arranged linear guide and connected to a trapezoidal screw (11). The trapezoidal screw (11) is provided with a handwheel (15) at its end. By rotating the handwheel (15), the trapezoidal screw (11) is driven to drive the rear roller (10) to slide in the horizontal direction, so as to adjust the roller gap between the rear roller (9) and the front roller (9). The four rollers in the first-stage roller group (3) and the second-stage roller group (4) are all hollow structures with spiral guide grooves on the inner wall. The shaft ends of each roller are hollow shaft ends (12). The hollow shaft ends (12) are connected to the roller cooling system (5) through a rotary joint to force cooling by circulating cooling water into the four rollers. A scraper system (6) is provided below the front roller (9). The blade of the scraper system (6) is attached to the lower working surface of the front roller (9) to peel off the film that adheres to the roller surface after dehydration. Below the secondary roller assembly (4) is a discharge separation system (7). The discharge separation system (7) includes a separation screen plate (16) arranged at an incline and having square holes, and a liquid collection hopper (17) located directly below the separation screen plate (16). The lower end of the separation screen plate (16) extends to form a film outlet, and the bottom of the liquid collection hopper (17) is connected to the whey collection tank via a pipe.

2. The natural rubber sheeting machine of claim 1, wherein The rotary joint in the roller cooling system (5) consists of an outer joint (18), a connecting shaft (19), and an inner joint (20). The outer joint (18) has a hole for connecting to the external cooling water passage, and the outer joint (18) is sleeved on one end of the connecting shaft (19). The outer circumferential surface of the connecting shaft (19) has four guide grooves along the axial direction. The inner joint (20) is sleeved on the other end of the connecting shaft (19), and the inner joint (20) has a hole every 90 degrees along the circumferential direction, for a total of four holes. Cooling water flows into the four grooves of the connecting shaft (19) through the hole of the outer joint (18), and then flows evenly into the spiral guide groove inside the roller through the four holes of the inner joint (20). Finally, it flows out through the rotary joint at the other end of the roller in the same way, realizing the recycling of cooling water.

3. The natural rubber sheeting machine of claim 1, wherein All rollers in the primary roller group (3) and the secondary roller group (4) have an electroplated hard chrome layer on their working surfaces and are machined with diamond patterns.

4. The natural rubber sheeting machine of claim 3, wherein The thickness of the electroplated hard chrome layer is 0.05~0.15mm, and the depth of the diamond pattern is 2~4mm.

5. The natural rubber crepe machine as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The adjustment range of the gap between the front roller (9) and the rear roller (10) is 2~12mm.

6. The natural rubber crepe machine as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The scraper blade of the scraper system (6) is attached to the lower working surface of the front roller (9), and the peeled film falls onto the separation screen plate (16) of the discharge separation system (7).

7. The natural rubber crepe machine as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The square holes on the separation sieve plate (16) of the discharge separation system (7) are 10mm×2mm in size, which are used to trap solid film and allow whey liquid to pass through and fall into the collection hopper (17) below.

8. The natural rubber crepe machine as described in claim 1 or 7, characterized in that, The bottom of the liquid collection hopper (17) is connected to the whey collection tank via a pipe.

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