Gate slide level control

Abstract

The utility model discloses a sliding vane type material level adjusting device relates to the field of cooler, including cooler, door cover, mobile groove, material level ware subassembly, height scale and locking piece, the door cover detachable setting at the lateral wall opening of cooler, a plurality of mobile groove set up in the lateral wall of cooler, the mobile groove is vertical through groove, material level ware subassembly slidingly arranged in the inboard of mobile groove, material level ware subassembly includes slide rail, sliding seat and material level ware, the slide rail symmetry fixed in the lateral wall of cooler of mobile groove both sides, the sliding seat slidingly arranged in the inboard of slide rail, material level ware fixedly arranged in the outboard of sliding seat, height scale fixedly arranged in the outboard of door cover and located one side of mobile groove, the utility model discloses through multilayer sliding vane superposition structure and the locking piece of bare hands operable, need not stop machine to complete material level regulation, and the time consumption is less than or equal to 2 minutes every time, thoroughly solve the production interruption problem caused by traditional device shutdown regulation, and production efficiency improves 10% 15%.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This utility model belongs to the field of coolers, specifically a sliding vane type material level adjustment device. Background Technology

[0002] The cooler is a key piece of equipment for ensuring the quality of pelleted materials. Its core function is to precisely control the moisture and temperature by regulating the residence time and layer thickness of the pellets within the cooling chamber. The material level directly determines the contact efficiency between the pellets and the cooling air. If the material level is too high, it can lead to uneven cooling and excessive moisture residue; if the material level is too low, it can cause short-circuiting of the cooling air and waste energy. Therefore, the convenience and accuracy of the material level adjustment device directly affect the cooler's production efficiency and product quality.

[0003] Current mainstream cooler level adjustment devices have significant technical defects: most adopt a "stop disassembly - manual adjustment - reinstallation" operation mode. Adjustment requires stopping the cooler's feeding and operation, removing the fixing bolts or covers on the equipment's side wall, manually moving the level indicator, and then tightening it again—a process that is not only time-consuming but also leads to production interruptions. Especially in continuous production lines, frequent shutdowns for adjustment significantly reduce overall production efficiency. More importantly, traditional devices lack precise height positioning benchmarks, relying heavily on operator experience or rudimentary scale markings for adjustment. This makes it difficult to achieve millimeter-level precision control and easily leads to excessive level deviations. For small-sized, compression-sensitive granular materials (such as 2-5mm fine particles), even slight level deviations can cause significant fluctuations in cooling effect, resulting in uneven moisture loss, hardness deviations, and other quality problems, increasing the risk of product scrap. Utility Model Content

[0004] The purpose of this invention is to provide a sliding vane type material level adjustment device to solve the problems in the prior art where the material level adjustment of the cooler requires manual operation after the machine is stopped, which results in low precision and poor efficiency, easily leading to uneven cooling and quality fluctuations, and making it difficult to meet the needs of continuous production.

[0005] To achieve the above objectives, this utility model provides the following technical solution: a sliding vane type material level adjustment device, including a cooler, a door cover, a moving trough, a material level indicator assembly, a height scale, and a locking component;

[0006] The door cover is detachably installed at the side wall opening of the cooler;

[0007] Several movable slots are formed on the side wall of the cooler, and the movable slots are vertical through slots;

[0008] The material level sensor assembly is slidably disposed inside the moving trough. The material level sensor assembly includes a slide rail, a slide block, and a material level sensor. The slide rail is symmetrically fixed on the side walls of the coolers on both sides of the moving trough. The slide block is slidably disposed inside the slide rail. The material level sensor is fixedly disposed outside the slide block.

[0009] The height gauge is fixedly installed on the outside of the door cover and on one side of the moving trough, and is used to read the height of the material level device;

[0010] The locking element is mounted on the slide block to fix its position.

[0011] Preferably, the slide includes several layers of sliding plates, blocks, and guide grooves;

[0012] Several layers of the aforementioned sliding pieces are stacked in order of increasing length, and the sliding pieces are slidably disposed inside the slide rail;

[0013] The stop blocks are fixedly installed at the upper and lower ends of each slider to limit the sliding limit of the slider;

[0014] The guide groove is located in the middle of the slide plate.

[0015] Preferably, the slide rail is composed of two angle irons symmetrically arranged on both sides of the moving groove, and the length of the slide rail is greater than the maximum sliding stroke of the slide block.

[0016] Preferably, the locking element is a wing bolt, which is threadedly connected to the slide rail and abuts against the slide block.

[0017] Preferably, the height scale is made of stainless steel and the scale accuracy of the height scale is 1mm.

[0018] Preferably, a sealing strip is fixedly provided on the inner edge of the movable groove, and the sealing strip is in close contact with the sliding plate of the slide block.

[0019] Preferably, a buffer pad is provided between the material leveler and the sliding plate of the slide block.

[0020] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0021] 1. This utility model uses a multi-layer sliding plate stacking structure and a locking component that can be operated by hand to complete the material level adjustment without stopping the machine. Each adjustment takes ≤2 minutes, which completely solves the production interruption problem caused by the machine stopping for adjustment in traditional equipment, and improves production efficiency by 10%-15%.

[0022] 2. This utility model, through the combination design of height scale and multi-layer sliding plate, achieves an adjustment accuracy of ±1mm, which is more than 50 times higher than the ±5cm error of traditional devices. It can accurately match the cooling requirements of granules with different particle sizes (2-5mm) and different compression ratios (1:10-1:20), reduce moisture loss rate by 60%-80%, increase yield by 2%-5%, and avoid product scrapping due to improper material level adjustment.

[0023] 2. This utility model improves the device by switching between single / dual level gauges and by enhancing protection against high humidity environments, making the device adaptable to different types of coolers and production environments. Attached Figure Description

[0024] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application or the prior art, the drawings used in the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments recorded in this utility model. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings.

[0025] Figure 1 This is a three-dimensional structural diagram provided for Embodiment 1 of the present utility model;

[0026] Figure 2 This is a first-view perspective three-dimensional structural diagram of Embodiment 2 of the present invention;

[0027] Figure 3 This is a second-view perspective three-dimensional structural diagram provided for Embodiment 2 of this utility model;

[0028] Figure 4 A three-dimensional structural diagram of the level indicator assembly provided in an embodiment of this utility model.

[0029] In the picture:

[0030] 1. Cooler; 2. Door cover; 3. Moving chute; 4. Material level indicator assembly; 401. Slide rail; 402. Slide block; 4021. Slide plate; 4022. Stop block; 4023. Guide chute; 403. Material level indicator; 5. Height gauge; 6. Locking device. Detailed Implementation

[0031] To enable those skilled in the art to better understand the technical solution of this utility model, the present utility model will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0032] As attached Figure 1 To be continued Figure 4 As shown:

[0033] Example 1: This utility model provides a sliding vane type material level adjustment device, including a cooler 1, a door cover 2, a moving groove 3, a material level device assembly 4, a height scale 5, and a locking member 6; the door cover 2 is detachably installed at the side wall opening of the cooler 1; several moving grooves 3 are opened on the side wall of the cooler 1, and the moving grooves 3 are vertical through grooves; the material level device assembly 4 is slidably installed inside the moving grooves 3, and the material level device assembly 4 includes a slide rail 401, a slide seat 402, and a material level device 403. The slide rail 401 is symmetrically fixed on the side walls of the cooler 1 on both sides of the moving groove 3, the slide seat 402 is slidably installed inside the slide rail 401, and the material level device 403 is fixedly installed outside the slide seat 402; the height scale 5 is fixedly installed outside the door cover 2 and located on one side of the moving groove 3, and is used to read the height of the material level device 403; the locking member 6 passes through the slide seat 402 and is used to fix the position of the slide seat 402.

[0034] Cooler 1 is a pellet cooling device (10m³). 3It is suitable for particles with a diameter of 2-5mm. The side wall opening size matches the door cover 2 (400mm×1300mm). The door cover 2 is made of Q235 steel plate (5mm thick) and is connected to the cooler 1 by 12 M16 bolts. The bolt holes are equipped with nitrile rubber sealing rings (temperature resistant to 120℃) to ensure a seal (dust leakage rate ≤0.1%). The moving groove 3 is a vertical through groove (length 1200mm, width 40mm). The inner edge is pasted with a 5mm thick silicone sealing strip (Shore hardness 60A) to fit tightly with the slide 402 to prevent dust from overflowing. The slide rail 401 of the level sensor assembly 4 is a 40×40mm Q235 angle iron (1300mm in length), which is fixed to both sides of the moving groove 3 by full welding. The welding points are treated with anti-rust treatment (sprayed with epoxy zinc-rich paint). The slide block 402 is composed of 4 layers of Q235 cold-rolled steel plate slide plates 4021 (thickness 3mm, lengths of 630mm, 920mm, 1210mm, and 1500mm respectively) stacked together. The spacing between adjacent slide plates 4021 is 210mm. Each layer of slide plates 4021 has a 50mm high stop block 4022 (thickness 3mm) welded to the upper and lower ends. The level sensor 403 is a capacitive level switch (detection distance 0-50mm, accuracy ±1mm), which is fixed to the outermost slide plate 4021 by M12 bolts. A 2mm thick nitrile rubber buffer pad is placed between the two. The height scale 5 is made of 304 stainless steel plate (1mm thick, 30mm wide), with a scale accuracy of 1mm (range 0-1200mm). It is fixed to the door cover 2 with double-sided tape and rivets, and the zero mark is flush with the bottom of the cooler 1. The locking part 6 is an M8 wing bolt (made of 304 stainless steel), which is threaded to the slide rail 401 (M8 threaded hole, 15mm deep), and the end abuts against the outermost slide plate 4021. Referring to the existing "material level adjustment device" with publication number CN215727433U, it requires machine stop adjustment (time ≥30 minutes) and accuracy ±50mm. This embodiment solves the above defects by using multi-layer slide plates and a real-time scale.

[0035] During operation, with cooler 1 running (granular material continuously fed and cooled), if the material level needs to be adjusted from 500mm to 600mm, the locking component 6 is loosened by hand (the wing bolt requires no tools). Next, the outermost sliding piece 4021 of the slide block 402 is pushed upwards along the slide rail 401, and the height scale 5 is observed to align the material level sensor 403 with the 600mm mark. Then, the locking component 6 is tightened so that the bolt end tightly abuts against the sliding piece 4021, fixing the position of the slide block 402. The material level sensor 403 monitors the granular material height in real time and feeds back to the control system, adjusting the feeding speed to stabilize the material level at 600mm. This process reduces adjustment time to ≤2 minutes, eliminates the need for machine downtime, increases production efficiency by 15%, improves material level accuracy by ±1mm, reduces granular material moisture loss from 10% to 2%, and increases yield by 5%.

[0036] As attached Figure 4As shown: In one embodiment of this utility model, the slide block 402 includes several layers of slide plates 4021, stop blocks 4022 and guide grooves 4023; the several layers of slide plates 4021 are stacked in order of increasing length, and the slide plates 4021 are slidably disposed inside the slide rail 401; the stop blocks 4022 are fixedly disposed at the upper and lower ends of each slide plate 4021 to limit the sliding limit of the slide plate 4021; the guide grooves 4023 are formed in the middle of the slide plates 4021.

[0037] The sliding plate 4021 is made of Q235 cold-rolled steel plate (3mm thick) and galvanized (zinc layer thickness ≥8μm), with a salt spray corrosion resistance of ≥500 hours. The four layers of sliding plates 4021 have a length gradient design (630mm, 920mm, 1210mm, 1500mm), and the maximum adjustment stroke after stacking is 1200mm, with a minimum adjustment unit of 1mm. A guide groove 4023 (60% of the length of the sliding plate 4021 and 15mm in width) is opened in the middle of each layer of sliding plate 4021 to avoid the connection line of the level indicator 403 and prevent the line from being pulled and broken during sliding. The stop block 4022 is made of Q235 steel plate (3mm thick × 50mm high) and is fixed to the slider 4021 by fillet weld (weld leg height 3mm). When the slider 4021 slides to the limit position, the stop block 4022 contacts the end of the slide rail 401 to prevent the slider 4021 from slipping off (slipping force ≥ 500N).

[0038] During operation, the operator first pushes the outermost sliding plate 4021, and the inner sliding plates 4021 follow suit. The stop block 4022 ensures that each layer of sliding plates 4021 does not detach from the slide rail 401. The guide groove 4023 provides movement space for the signal line of the level indicator 403, preventing the line from getting tangled. After adjusting to the target height, the locking member 6 presses against the outermost sliding plate 4021, fixing all layers of sliding plates 4021 through friction. Through the multi-layer sliding plate structure, a balance is achieved between a large stroke (1200mm) and high precision (±1mm). Compared with a single-layer long sliding plate (which is easily deformed), the sliding stability is improved by 80%, and the adjustment accuracy is improved by 50 times.

[0039] As attached Figure 1 As shown: In one embodiment of this utility model, the slide rail 401 is composed of two angle irons symmetrically arranged on both sides of the moving groove 3, and the length of the slide rail 401 is greater than the maximum sliding stroke of the slide block 402.

[0040] The slide rail 401 is made of 40×40mm Q235 angle iron (1300mm in length), symmetrically distributed on both sides of the moving groove 3 (40mm spacing, matching the width of the slide plate 4021). The vertical edge of the angle iron faces the moving groove 3, forming a "U"-shaped sliding track. The length of the slide rail 401 is 100mm longer than the maximum sliding stroke (1200mm) of the slide block 402, with 50mm buffer sections reserved at both ends to prevent the slide block 402 from directly impacting the side wall of the cooler 1 when it slides to its limit. The slide rail 401 is fully welded to the side wall of the cooler 1 (weld length 1300mm, weld leg height 5mm). After welding, stress relief treatment is performed (heating at 200℃ for 2 hours) to prevent deformation. The surface is sprayed with epoxy zinc-rich paint (dry film thickness ≥80μm) to improve corrosion resistance.

[0041] During operation, the operator first pushes the slide block 402, and the sliding piece 4021 slides within the "U"-shaped track of the slide rail 401. Angle irons on both sides of the track restrict the left and right deviation of the sliding piece 4021 (deviation ≤ 0.5mm). The buffer section design prevents the slide block 402 from impacting the cooler 1, reducing noise (impact noise reduced from 80dB to 50dB). The fully welded structure ensures that the slide rail 401 can withstand the clamping force (≥1000N) of the slide block 402 without deformation. Through the angle iron slide rail 401, the smoothness of the slide block 402's movement is improved by 60%, and the track lifespan is extended from 1 year to 3 years.

[0042] As attached Figure 1 As shown: In one embodiment of this utility model, the locking member 6 is a wing bolt, which is threadedly connected to the slide rail 401 and abuts against the slide block 402.

[0043] Locking component 6 is an M8×30mm 304 stainless steel wing bolt (wing width 25mm, thickness 5mm). The wing surface has anti-slip texture (depth 0.5mm) for easy hand tightening (tightening torque ≤5N·m). The bolt shank is machined with a full thread (pitch 1.25mm) to mate with the M8 threaded hole on the slide rail 401 (thread accuracy 6H). The end is chamfered (30°) to avoid scratching the surface of the slide plate 4021. When the bolt is tightened, the end abuts tightly against the slide plate 4021, fixing the slide block 402 through friction (fixing force ≥200N), ensuring that the slide block 402 does not shift when the cooler 1 vibrates (amplitude ≤2mm).

[0044] During operation, the operator does not need tools. Simply hold the wing of the wing bolt with both hands and rotate it counterclockwise to loosen it (3-5 turns). After adjusting the slide block 402 to the target position, rotate the wing clockwise to tighten it until a noticeable increase in resistance is felt. If fine adjustments are needed, slightly loosen the bolt, gently push the slide block 4021, and then tighten it again. Using the wing bolt, the tightening / loosening operation takes ≤10 seconds, which is 80% more efficient than traditional wrench operation, and eliminates the risk of tool loss.

[0045] As attached Figure 1 As shown: In one embodiment of this utility model, the height scale 5 is made of stainless steel and the scale accuracy of the height scale 5 is 1mm.

[0046] The height scale 5 is made of 304 stainless steel plate (1mm thick, 30mm wide, 1250mm long). The surface is laser-engraved with graduations (0.2mm line width, 0.1mm depth), ranging from 0-1200mm. Numbers are marked every 10mm (e.g., 10, 20…1200), with a 5mm height. Black enamel filling ensures clear graduations (visible distance ≥5m). The scale is fixed to the door cover 2 with three M4 rivets (400mm apart). The rivet heads are countersunk to prevent scratching. The scale surface is coated with a PTFE anti-scratch coating (0.1mm thick, coefficient of friction ≤0.1), withstanding ≥1000 scratches to ensure the graduations do not wear over long-term use.

[0047] During operation, when adjusting the slide 402, the operator first aligns the center line of the level sensor 403 with the scale line of the height scale 5. With a scale accuracy of 1mm, the height deviation of the level sensor 403 can be precisely controlled to ≤1mm. The black enamel numbers are clearly visible in both strong and weak light environments, avoiding adjustment errors caused by blurry scales. Through the stainless steel scale, the scale lifespan is extended from 6 months to 5 years, and the adjustment accuracy is improved from ±50mm to ±1mm, meeting the precise cooling requirements of fine-grained materials (2-5mm).

[0048] In one embodiment of the present invention, a sealing strip is fixedly provided on the inner edge of the movable groove 3, and the sealing strip is in close contact with the sliding piece 4021 of the slide block 402.

[0049] The sealing strip is made of silicone (Shore hardness 60A, thickness 5mm, width 40mm) and is fixed to the inner edge of the moving groove 3 with food-grade double-sided adhesive (temperature resistance 150℃), forming a closed sealing ring around the moving groove 3. The contact surface between the sealing strip and the sliding plate 4021 is roughened (roughness Ra1.6) to increase the contact area and sealing performance. When the slide 402 slides, the sealing strip and the sliding plate 4021 are dynamically fitted together, with a sealing gap ≤0.1mm, which can prevent dust (particle size ≥0.1mm) inside the cooler 1 from overflowing, while preventing external impurities from entering the slide rail 401.

[0050] During operation, the operator first pushes the slide 402. Due to the elastic deformation of the silicone, the sealing strip remains firmly attached to the surface of the slide plate 4021, with no significant frictional resistance (sliding resistance ≤10N). After long-term use, if the sealing strip wears (wear ≥2mm), it can be directly removed and replaced, with a replacement time ≤5 minutes. Through the sealing strip, the dust leakage rate of cooler 1 is reduced from 5% to 0.1%, improving the working environment. At the same time, the dust blockage rate of slide rail 401 is reduced from 30% to 1%, and the maintenance cycle of slide 402 is extended by 3 times.

[0051] In one embodiment of the present invention, a buffer pad is provided between the material leveler 403 and the sliding plate 4021 of the slide block 402.

[0052] The buffer gasket is made of nitrile rubber (2mm thickness, Shore hardness 50±5, temperature resistance 120℃), and its dimensions match the mounting flange of the level sensor 403 (50mm diameter). A φ12mm hole is opened in the center for bolts to pass through. The gasket has good elasticity (compression 20%-30%), which can absorb the vibration of the cooler 1 during operation (amplitude ≤2mm), preventing the level sensor 403 from drifting due to long-term vibration (drift amount reduced from ±5mm to ±0.5mm). At the same time, the gasket can fill the installation gap (≤1mm) between the level sensor 403 and the sliding plate 4021, ensuring that the detection direction of the level sensor 403 is perpendicular to the surface of the granular material, thus improving the detection accuracy.

[0053] During operation, when installing the level sensor 403, the operator first places the buffer shim on the bolt and then tightens the bolt to secure it. The vibration generated by the operation of the cooler 1 is attenuated by the shim before being transmitted to the level sensor 403, ensuring a stable sensor output signal (fluctuation ≤0.1V). If the shim ages (≥1 year of use), it can be replaced during the maintenance of the level sensor 403. By using the buffer shim, the detection accuracy of the level sensor 403 is improved by 90%, its service life is extended from 1 year to 2 years, and maintenance costs are reduced by 50%.

[0054] Example 2: As shown in the attached document Figure 2 To be continued Figure 3 As shown, this embodiment is basically the same as embodiment one, except that: two moving slots 3 are symmetrically opened on both sides of the door cover 2 of the cooler 1, and a set of material level sensor components 4 are set inside each moving slot 3 to form a dual material level control structure; the parallelism error of the slide rails 401 of the two sets of material level sensor components 4 is ≤0.5mm / m to ensure that the upper and lower material level sensors 403 are adjusted synchronously; the upper material level sensor 403 is used to control the highest material level (e.g., 800mm), and the lower material level sensor 403 is used to control the lowest material level (e.g., 300mm), which is suitable for large coolers 1 (volume ≥20m³). 3 The dual-material requirement.

[0055] During operation, the operator first sets the upper level gauge 403 to 800mm and the lower level gauge to 300mm according to the cooling process requirements. During adjustment, both sets of locking components 6 are loosened simultaneously, and the upper and lower sliding seats 402 are pushed to the target scale, then the locking components 6 are tightened. During operation, when the upper level gauge 403 detects a material level exceeding 800mm, the control system reduces the feed; when the lower level gauge 403 detects a material level below 300mm, the feed is increased, achieving material level range control. Through this dual-level structure, the residence time fluctuation of granular material in cooler 1 is ≤5%, cooling uniformity is improved by 20%, and quality problems caused by localized overheating are avoided.

[0056] Working principle: After the granules enter the cooler 1, the level sensor 403 detects the height of the granules and feeds it back to the control system. When the level needs to be adjusted, the operator (or the automatic control system) loosens the locking piece 6, pushes the slide 402 to slide along the slide rail 401, positions it to the target height according to the height scale 5, and tightens the locking piece 6 to complete the fixation. After adjustment, the residence time of the granules in the cooler 1 and the contact efficiency with the cooling air change, thereby achieving precise control of temperature and moisture, and achieving the purpose of improving product quality and yield.

[0057] The foregoing description only illustrates certain exemplary embodiments of the present invention. Undoubtedly, those skilled in the art can modify the described embodiments in various ways without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, the above drawings and descriptions are illustrative in nature and should not be construed as limiting the scope of protection of the claims of the present invention.

Images