Ultrasonic irradiation apparatus

The ultrasonic irradiation device simplifies the configuration of existing ultrasonic burr removal devices by using a compact, pressurized storage tank to achieve higher energy ultrasonic wave irradiation, enhancing burr removal and cleaning efficiency.

JP2025091100AActive Publication Date: 2025-06-18BLUE STAR R&D
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Patent Information

Application Number
JP2023206105
Authority / Receiving Office
JP · JP
Patent Type
Applications
Current Assignee / Owner
Filing Date
2023-12-06
Publication Date
2025-06-18
Estimated Expiration
2043-12-06

AI Technical Summary

Technical Problem

Existing ultrasonic burr removal devices with pressurizing mechanisms are complex and require additional components to achieve higher energy ultrasonic wave irradiation.

Method used

A compact ultrasonic irradiation device with a bottomed metal cylindrical storage tank that circulates and pressurizes degassed liquid medium, allowing for even pressure application and higher energy ultrasonic wave irradiation using multiple vibrators attached to the storage tank.

Benefits of technology

The device achieves efficient burr removal and cleaning by irradiating ultrasonic waves of higher energy, maintaining stability and effectiveness while simplifying the configuration compared to prior devices.

✦ Generated by Eureka AI based on patent content.

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Abstract

To provide a small-sized ultrasonic irradiation apparatus which allows irradiation of ultrasonic waves of higher energy.SOLUTION: An ultrasonic irradiation apparatus radiates ultrasonic waves into a liquid medium in a storage tank. The storage tank is a bottomed metal cylindrical container, and is provided with a freely detachable upper lid which allows the storage tank to be tightly sealed. The storage tank includes a circulation pipeline which fills a degassed liquid medium in the storage tank, takes out the liquid medium from the vicinity of the upper lid, and introduces the liquid medium to a bottom part of the storage tank. In the circulation pipeline, pressure circulation means for applying pressure to the liquid medium to circulate it in the storage tank and the circulation pipeline in a liquid-tight state, and a heat exchange part for controlling the liquid medium at a predetermined temperature are provided. The ultrasonic irradiation apparatus irradiates an internal part of the storage tank with ultrasonic waves from a plurality of vibrators mounted on the outer peripheral part of the storage tank, while circulating the liquid medium using the pressure circulation means.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1
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Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an ultrasonic irradiation device that irradiates ultrasonic waves into a liquid medium in a storage tank.

Background Art

[0002] Ultrasonic cleaners that irradiate ultrasonic waves into a liquid medium to clean a workpiece are widely known. Among such ultrasonic irradiation devices, there has also been proposed a device that irradiates ultrasonic waves with greater vibration energy into a liquid medium to generate cavitation with greater energy, and not only cleans the workpiece but also removes burrs from the workpiece.

[0003] For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an ultrasonic deburring device in which an ultrasonic vibrator is disposed on the bottom surface of an overflow-type storage tank that stores the liquid level height of a cleaning liquid for immersing a workpiece at a constant level, and ultrasonic waves are irradiated toward the liquid surface to form a standing wave in the liquid. To stably form a standing wave, it is necessary to keep the temperature of the deburring cleaning water constant so as not to cause a change in the wavelength of the ultrasonic waves, and to generate strong cavitation, sufficient degassing of the deburring cleaning water is required.

[0004] Also, in order to increase the impact force of cavitation, it is known that it is effective to increase the pressure (water pressure) of the cleaning liquid to increase the collapse speed of the cavity.

[0005] In Patent Document 2, an ultrasonic burr removal device with an airtight storage tank is disclosed. The storage tank is partitioned and separated into a cleaning liquid storage space for storing the cleaning liquid and a vibrator-side space surrounding the ultrasonic vibrator, and each space is made airtight. A cleaning liquid circulation and degassing circuit for circulating the cleaning liquid filled inside to degas the gas in the cleaning liquid is connected to the cleaning liquid storage space. In addition, a pressurized air supply circuit is connected to the cleaning liquid storage space and the vibrator-side space so as to supply pressurized air at a constant pressure with respect to the atmospheric pressure. With such a configuration, it is said that the pressure of the cleaning liquid stored in the cleaning liquid storage space can be increased, and the burr removal and cleaning effects can be surely enhanced. Note that pressurized air is also sent to the vibrator-side space to prevent the diaphragm to which the ultrasonic vibrator is attached from being damaged by the pressure, and equal pressure is applied from both sides across the diaphragm to balance it.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0006]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0007] In an ultrasonic burr removal device including a mechanism for pressurizing the cleaning liquid as described above, the pressurizing mechanism becomes complicated, and while making it more compact and simpler in configuration, there is a demand for a device that can handle burr removal and enable irradiation with ultrasonic waves of higher energy.

[0008] The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a small ultrasonic irradiation device capable of irradiating ultrasonic waves of higher energy.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0009] The apparatus according to the present invention is an ultrasonic irradiation device that irradiates ultrasonic waves into a liquid medium in a storage tank. The storage tank is a bottomed metal cylindrical container provided with a detachable upper lid and can be sealed. The degassed liquid medium is filled into the storage tank, and the liquid medium is taken out from the vicinity of the upper lid and includes a circulation pipeline introduced into the bottom of the storage tank. Between the circulation pipelines, there are provided a pressurized circulation means for applying pressure to the liquid medium to circulate the storage tank and the circulation pipeline in a liquid-tight state, and a heat exchange section for controlling the liquid medium to a predetermined temperature. While circulating the liquid medium by the pressurized circulation means, ultrasonic waves are irradiated into the storage tank from a plurality of vibrators attached to the outer peripheral portion of the storage tank.

[0010] According to such a feature, there is no space in the storage tank filled with gas, and the cylindrical container can apply pressure to the liquid medium more evenly, enabling irradiation with ultrasonic waves of higher energy.

[0011] In the above-described invention, the pressurized circulation means may include a pressurizing device for applying pressure to the liquid medium and a circulation pump for circulating the liquid medium. According to such a feature, it is possible to apply pressure to the liquid medium more evenly by the cylindrical container with a simple configuration, enabling irradiation with ultrasonic waves of higher energy.

[0012] In the above-described invention, the storage tank has its central axis arranged vertically, and its bottom surface has a supply port for introducing the liquid medium upward along the central axis. Further, the upper lid or its vicinity has an outlet for taking out the liquid medium. A metal ring block is caulked and fixed to the outer surface of the storage tank so as to reduce the pipe diameter. On the outer periphery of the metal ring block, there is a vibrator mounting plane which is a plane parallel to the central axis and lies on each side of a regular n-sided polygon (where n is an integer of 3 or more) having the central axis as the centroid position when viewed along the central axis. A vibrator that vibrates toward the central axis is attached to each of the vibrator mounting planes. This may be a feature. According to such a feature, the energy from the vibrator can be guided to the liquid medium in the storage tank without loss, enabling irradiation with ultrasonic waves of higher energy.

[0013] In the above-described invention, it may be characterized in that a thermosetting resin is interposed and fixed between the vibrator and the vibrator mounting plane, and / or between the storage tank and the metal ring block. According to such a feature, the energy from the vibrator can be guided to the liquid medium in the storage tank without loss, enabling irradiation with ultrasonic waves of higher energy.

[0014] In the above-described invention, it may be characterized in that a second metal ring block is fixed along the central axis and arranged side by side with the metal ring block, and an additional vibrator is provided. According to such a feature, the energy from a plurality of vibrators can be guided to the liquid medium in the storage tank without loss, enabling irradiation with ultrasonic waves of higher energy.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0015]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7

Figure 8

Figure 9

Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0016] Hereinafter, an ultrasonic irradiation device that irradiates ultrasonic waves into a liquid medium in a storage tank, as one embodiment of the present invention, will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4.

[0017] As shown in FIG. 1, the ultrasonic irradiation device 10 includes a storage tank 1 that is a container for irradiating ultrasonic waves to a liquid medium, and can circulate the liquid medium that has been degassed and pressurized in the storage tank 1. Specifically, the ultrasonic irradiation device 10 further includes a degassing tank 31 for degassing the liquid medium, a circulation pump 34 for circulating the liquid medium, a cooler 35 that is a heat exchange unit for controlling the liquid medium to a predetermined temperature, a pressurizing device 36 for pressurizing the liquid medium, and a tank 37 for holding the liquid medium.

[0018] The degassing tank 31 is not particularly limited as long as it can degas the liquid medium. For example, a general one using hollow fibers may be used, but it preferably has a high degassing capacity. For example, the degassing tank 31 can be of a type that performs vacuum pumping and ultrasonic irradiation. In this case, it includes a substantially cylindrical container, and forms a liquid phase by the liquid medium and a gas phase for vacuum pumping in the internal closed space. A vacuum pump 33 is attached to the upper side of the cylindrical container so as to communicate with the gas phase, and an ultrasonic vibrator 32 is provided below the side surface so as to irradiate the liquid phase with ultrasonic waves. Thereby, ultrasonic waves can be irradiated to the liquid medium while performing vacuum pumping in the degassing tank 31. And by causing cavitation in the liquid medium, the discharge of the gas dissolved in the liquid medium to the gas phase can be promoted. With such a configuration, the degassing tank 31 has a high degassing capacity. Note that a discharge port 39 for discharging the liquid medium to the outside of the ultrasonic irradiation device 10 is provided in the pipeline for discharging the liquid medium from the degassing tank 31.

[0019] The circulation pump 34 circulates the inside of the ultrasonic irradiation device 10 by sending the liquid medium degassed in the degassing tank 31 to the cooler 35. Note that, as will be described later, the circulation pump 34 may also perform circulation such that the liquid medium discharged from the storage tank 1 is sent to the cooler 35.

[0020] The cooler 35 can control the temperature of the liquid medium supplied to the storage tank 1 to a predetermined temperature. By stabilizing the temperature of the liquid medium at a low level, the energy of the cavities generated by ultrasonic waves in the storage tank 1 can be stabilized at a high level. It is also preferable to improve the heat exchange rate by performing heat exchange between the introduction path and the discharge path of the liquid medium to the cooler 35.

[0021] The pressurizing device 36 is connected to the pipeline between the cooler 35 and the storage tank 1 and can apply a predetermined pressure to the liquid medium circulating in a liquid-tight state. As the pressurizing device 36, for example, a pneumatic-hydraulic converter that includes an air-water pressure conversion cylinder having a gas phase and a liquid phase and converts air pressure into water pressure can be used. The air-water pressure conversion cylinder is a vertically placed cylinder with a diameter of φ50 to 100 mm and a length of about 200 to 300 mm, and relatively easily available compressed air in a factory or the like can be used, and pressure adjustment is also easy. In this case, it is preferable to make the connection path from the pressurizing device 36 to the pipeline thin and long, so as to prevent the liquid medium in which air is dissolved in the air-water pressure conversion cylinder from flowing into the storage tank 1. Note that it is also possible to use a pump as the pressurizing device, but a pressure regulator such as a pressure reducing valve is required.

[0022] The tank 37 stores the liquid medium circulated in the ultrasonic irradiation device 10 under atmospheric pressure. The tank 37 is piped so as to be able to receive the liquid medium from the storage tank 1 or the cooler 35 and supply the liquid medium to the degassing tank 31, and is connected to a liquid supply port 38 that receives the supply of the liquid medium from the outside of the ultrasonic irradiation device 10.

[0023] As shown in FIG. 2, the storage tank 1 is a bottomed metal container in a round tube shape with its central axis L arranged vertically, and a metal ring block 2 is fixed to the outer surface. A plurality of vibrators 3 are attached to the metal ring block 2 so that ultrasonic waves can be irradiated to the liquid medium inside the storage tank 1. Further, the storage tank 1 has an upper opening 13 on its upper surface, and the opening 13 can be sealed by a detachable upper lid 4. The ultrasonic irradiation device 10 irradiates ultrasonic waves to a liquid medium such as water stored in the storage tank 1, and irradiates ultrasonic waves to an object immersed in the liquid medium inside the storage tank 1 to perform, for example, deburring and cleaning.

[0024] Referring also to Fig. 3, the storage tank 1 has a supply port 12 at the center of the bottom surface 11 for supplying a liquid medium upward along the central axis L. Further, the storage tank 1 is configured such that the upper lid 4 can be fixed by a flange 15 provided on the outer peripheral side of the upper opening 13. As will be described later, since the liquid medium flowing through the storage tank 1 is pressurized, the upper lid 4 is fixed so as to withstand this pressure and maintain a sealed state. The storage tank 1 further includes a discharge port 16 through which the liquid medium can be taken out in the vicinity of the upper lid 4. The storage tank 1 is supplied with the liquid medium from the supply port 12, guides the upward flow thereof, and guides it to the outside through the upper opening 13. Thus, in the storage tank 1, by circulating the liquid medium, heat generation of the liquid medium in the storage tank 1 can be suppressed. Note that the upper lid 4 may be configured to seal the storage tank 1 by being pressed from above by an air cylinder or the like. For example, when the inner diameter of the storage tank is 100 mm and the pressure of the liquid medium is 0.5 MPa, the force for pressing the upper lid 4 by the air cylinder is set to 50 to 100 kg.

[0025] Note that the discharge port 16 is arranged such that when the liquid medium is supplied from below in this way, all the gas in the gas phase portion formed above the liquid medium by the flow thereof can be discharged. For example, the upper lid 4 is provided with a bulging portion 4a that bulges downward, and is inserted so as to close the opening 13 when the storage tank 1 is sealed. The bulging portion 4a bulges so as to cover a part of the upper end of the flow path of the discharge port 16 in a horizontal view within the sealed storage tank 1, and the internal space of the discharge port 16 is arranged higher than the lower surface of the bulging portion 4a. Thereby, all the gas in the gas phase can be discharged, and the internal space of the storage tank 1 can be made liquid-tight.

[0026] Referring also to FIG. 4, the metal ring block 2 has a substantially C-ring shape provided with a slit 21 extending in the radial direction so as to cut a part of the ring in a top view along the central axis L. On both sides sandwiching the slit 21, a pair of plate-like portions 22 extending in the outer peripheral direction are provided. The plate-like portions 22 are provided with through holes 23 penetrating both of them, and by screwing a nut onto a bolt inserted through the through hole 23 and fastening the two plate-like portions 22 in a direction to bring them closer, the interval of the slit 21 can be narrowed. That is, by fastening such a bolt, the metal ring block 2 is caulked and fixed to the outer surface of the storage tank 1 so as to reduce the diameter of its pipe diameter. The metal ring block 2 also has an attachment plane 24 to which the vibrator 3 is attached on its outer periphery. The attachment plane 24 has a screw hole 25 for fastening and fixing the horn at the tip of the vibrator 3 substantially at the center. That is, a plurality of vibrators 3 are arranged on the side portion of the storage tank 1.

[0027] Particularly, referring to FIG. (b), each of the attachment planes 24 is on each side of an equilateral triangle P having the central axis L as the centroid position and is a plane parallel to the central axis L. And the three vibrators 3 attached to each of the attachment planes 24 are arranged such that the direction in which they vibrate is directed toward the central axis L.

[0028] In this embodiment, the number of the vibrators 3 is three, but it can also be more than this. In such a case, instead of the equilateral triangle P, the attachment planes are arranged on each side of a regular n-gon (n is an integer of 3 or more) having the central axis L as the centroid in a top view. Also, the metal block may be fitted and fixed to the storage tank 1 instead of being fixed with screws.

[0029] The piping provided in the ultrasonic irradiation device 10 is appropriately provided with valves (not shown) so as to form a circulation path as described later. It is also preferable to provide a filter (not shown) for removing dirt such as burrs. The filter can be installed, for example, between the pipe line from the tank 37 to the degassing tank 31 or in the pipe line from the storage tank 1 to the circulation pump 34.

[0030] Next, the method of using the ultrasonic irradiation device 10 will be described.

[0031] [Operation Preparation: Degassing and Cooling of the Liquid Medium] As shown in FIG. 5, first, while degassing the liquid medium in the tank 37 and the pipeline, it is controlled to a predetermined temperature. As the path of the liquid medium, it moves from the tank 37 to the degassing tank 31 for degassing, is guided to the cooler 35 through the circulation pump 34 for temperature control, and then returns to the tank 37. Through such circulation, degassing and temperature control of the liquid medium are performed. By this degassing and temperature control, the liquid medium is controlled to have, for example, a dissolved oxygen content of 2.5 mg / L or less and a temperature of 12°C or less. In the drawings, for the path indicated by the dotted line, it is not used, and the opening and closing of the valve that prevents the liquid medium from flowing in are not shown. Also, the pressurizing device 36 is not operated. Also, during this period, the object to be irradiated with ultrasonic waves is loaded into the storage tank 1 and sealed with the upper lid 4.

[0032] [Pressurization Preparation: Sealing of the Storage Tank and Ensuring a Liquid-Tight State] As shown in FIG. 6, the liquid medium is circulated and filled in the storage tank 1 and the circulation pipeline W (see FIG. 7). The path of the liquid medium is the same as above from the tank 37 to the degassing tank 31, the circulation pump 34, and the cooler 35. Then, the liquid medium is guided from the cooler 35 to the storage tank 1, fills the inside of the storage tank 1 and is discharged, and returns to the tank 37. Regarding the pipeline 41 that directly guides the liquid medium discharged from the storage tank 1 to the circulation pump, it is opened at least once by this time and filled with the liquid medium. Also, since air may be mixed in when closing the upper lid 4 of the storage tank 1, it is preferable to circulate the liquid medium for a while (for example, about 1 minute) while degassing to remove it. In this way, the inside of the storage tank 1 and the circulation pipeline W are filled with the liquid medium.

[0033] [Pressurization Operation: Pressurization and Ultrasonic Irradiation] As shown in Fig. 7, a circulation pipeline W is formed to circulate the liquid medium taken out from the discharge port 16 near the upper lid 4 of the storage tank 1 to the supply port 12 at the bottom of the storage tank 1 via the cooler 35 by the circulation pump 34. A three-way valve may be arranged at the part where the pipeline leading from the storage tank 1 to the tank 37 is switched to the pipeline 41 and is switched. Then, with the storage tank 1 and the circulation pipeline W filled with the liquid medium, the pressurizing device 36 and the circulation pump 34 as the pressurizing circulation means are operated to circulate the liquid medium in a liquid-tight state while applying a predetermined pressure to the liquid medium. Here, as the pressure applied to the liquid medium, for example, a pressure up to about 0.5 MPa can be assumed. And, inside the storage tank 1 and the circulation pipeline W, while circulating the pressurized liquid medium in a liquid-tight state, ultrasonic waves are irradiated into the storage tank 1 by the vibrator 3. Note that the pressurizing pressure is adjusted in consideration of the fact that it is proportional to the impact force of the cavity generated by the irradiated ultrasonic waves.

[0034] Here, the liquid medium is degassed, temperature-controlled by the cooler 35, and further pressurized. By degassing, bubbles such as microbubbles that are likely to become generation nuclei of cavities by the irradiation of ultrasonic waves are removed, and furthermore, with a low temperature and high pressure, the liquid medium becomes less likely to generate cavitation. That is, if the vibration energy of the ultrasonic waves irradiated into the storage tank 1 is low, cavitation cannot be generated. In other words, in such cavitation occurring in the liquid medium, cavities with high collapse energy are generated, and the impact force due to the collapse of the cavities can also be increased.

[0035] On the other hand, in order to generate cavitation in such a liquid medium, it is necessary to irradiate ultrasonic waves having high vibration energy. According to the above-described embodiment, since the plurality of vibrators 3 are arranged toward the central axis L at the side portion of the storage tank 1, ultrasonic waves can be superimposed inside the storage tank 1 to irradiate ultrasonic waves having a large vibration energy. Further, since the vibration direction is orthogonal to the flow direction of the liquid medium, it is possible to suppress the vibration and the flow from affecting each other. By these, excellent operation stability can be provided, and after downsizing the apparatus, it has become possible to generate cavitation in the pressurized liquid medium.

[0036] By the way, the ultrasonic irradiation device 10 can superimpose ultrasonic waves from the plurality of vibrators 3 and can apply a large vibration energy at a predetermined position. In particular, when the plurality of vibrators 3 are vibrated synchronously, it is preferable because a particularly large vibration energy can be applied in the vicinity of the central axis L. For example, compared with the case of trying to obtain a large vibration energy by superimposing reflected waves using a standing wave in a conventional ultrasonic irradiation device used for cleaning or deburring, a very large vibration energy can be obtained in order to superimpose a large vibration energy with less attenuation. In particular, in order to superimpose the vibration energy without attenuation, it is convenient that the storage tank 1 is relatively small. For example, it is preferable that the inner diameter of the storage tank 1 is about 70 mm to 150 mm. When the number of vibrators 3 is three with an inner diameter of about 70 mm, a very high value of 600 W / L can be obtained for the watt density of the irradiated ultrasonic wave.

[0037] As described above, since it is not necessary to form a standing wave, the inner diameter of the storage tank 1 can be designed relatively freely. Further, since it is not necessary to form a standing wave, even if the storage tank 1 is used by replacing it with a plurality of liquid media having different sound velocities, the same high vibration energy can be obtained.

[0038] As shown in Fig. 8, according to the analysis results of the stress generated in the water used as the liquid medium inside the storage tank 1, the stress generated in the water in the case (b) where three vibrators are arranged as described above is higher overall than in the case (a) where two vibrators are arranged facing each other. In particular, the maximum value of this stress is 63 MPa in the case of two vibrators, while it is a very large value of 900 MPa in the case of three vibrators. Also, in the horizontal cross-section (the circular figures at the lower right of each), compared to the case of two vibrators 3 the high-stress parts in the case of three vibrators were more concentrated near the central axis L. It should be noted that all the vibrators were vibrated synchronously.

[0039] In the case of two vibrators, it is considered that high vibration energy can be obtained by superimposing in-phase vibrations at positions equidistant from each of the two vibrators. That is, higher vibration energy can be obtained in the belt-shaped region including the central axis line than in the surroundings, which is consistent with the above analysis results. This can be said to be a method similar to the attempt to obtain higher vibration energy by forming a standing wave by superimposing in-phase vibrations using reflected waves.

[0040] On the other hand, in the case of three vibrators, it is also considered that large vibration energy can be obtained by similarly superimposing in-phase vibrations at positions equidistant from the three vibrators. In this case, in-phase vibrations are superimposed in a very narrow region near the central axis line L to obtain high vibration energy, which is consistent with the above analysis results. That is, it is considered that higher vibration energy can be obtained by concentrating the vibration energy in a narrower region than in the case of two vibrators. In these analyses, although pressurizing the liquid medium is not considered, although pressurization affects the speed of sound of ultrasonic waves, there is no change in the fact that high vibration energy can be obtained as described above. Also, in fact, it has been confirmed that high cleaning effects can be imparted to the objects in the storage tank 1 by pressurization.

[0041] For example, as shown in FIG. 9, depending on the conditions, erosion could also be caused on the surface of a thin aluminum plate (aluminum sheet). As shown in FIG. (a) of the same figure, the amount of erosion was measured as the decrease in weight before and after irradiating an aluminum plate made of pure aluminum A1050 with ultrasonic waves for 30 minutes. The amount of erosion increased as the thickness of the aluminum plate increased to 1 mm, 3 mm, and 5 mm. Furthermore, the amount of erosion increased almost proportionally to the pressure. Note that when there was no pressure, the amount of erosion was below the measurement limit (0.01 g). Also, as shown in FIG. (b) of the same figure, it was found that erosion occurred intensively almost at the center of the aluminum plate located near the central axis L of the storage tank 1.

[0042] In addition, in order to keep the temperature of the liquid medium constant, in addition to controlling the liquid medium to a predetermined temperature as described above, it is also preferable to supply the liquid medium to the supply port 12 at a flow rate corresponding to the temperature change in the storage tank 1. For example, a sensor for measuring the temperature of the liquid medium inside or near the storage tank 1 is provided, and the flow rate is increased when the temperature of the liquid medium measured by such a sensor rises, and the flow rate is decreased when the measured temperature drops.

[0043] Note that it is also preferable to interpose a thermosetting resin between the vibrator 3 and the mounting plane 24 and between the storage tank 1 and the metal ring block, and heat-cure and fix them respectively. By this, the loss of vibration energy propagated from the vibrator 3 can be reduced, and as a result, ultrasonic waves with large vibration energy can be irradiated.

[0044] Also, the range where ultrasonic waves can be irradiated can be expanded in the direction along the central axis L by increasing the metal ring block 2. That is, a second metal ring block is fixed above or below the metal ring block 2 along the central axis L in parallel. Then, an additional vibrator 3 is similarly attached to the second metal ring block. By this, the range enabling cleaning and deburring can be expanded in the vertical direction.

[0045] Since the ultrasonic waves are irradiated through the metal ring block 2, the height position where a large vibration energy can be obtained is determined by the height of the metal ring block 2. Therefore, it is preferable that an object to be cleaned or deburred is appropriately positioned in the storage tank 1 using a jig or the like.

[0046] So far, the embodiments of the present invention and the modified examples based thereon have been described. However, the present invention is not necessarily limited to these examples. Also, those skilled in the art will be able to find various alternative embodiments and modified examples without departing from the gist of the present invention or the scope of the appended claims.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0047] 1 Storage tank 2 Metal ring block 3 Vibrator 4 Upper lid 10 Ultrasonic irradiation device 34 Circulation pump 36 Pressurizing device L Central axis W Circulation pipeline

Claims

1. An ultrasonic irradiation device for irradiating ultrasonic waves into a liquid medium in a storage tank, wherein the storage tank is a bottomed metal cylindrical container provided with a detachable upper lid and can be sealed, includes a circulation pipeline for filling the degassed liquid medium into the storage tank, taking out the liquid medium from the vicinity of the upper lid, and introducing it into the bottom of the storage tank, between the circulation pipelines, there are provided a pressurized circulation means for applying pressure to the liquid medium to circulate the storage tank and the circulation pipelines in a liquid-tight state, and a heat exchange section for controlling the liquid medium to a predetermined temperature, The ultrasonic irradiation device is characterized in that ultrasonic waves are irradiated into the storage tank from a plurality of vibrators attached to the outer peripheral portion of the storage tank while circulating the liquid medium by the pressurized circulation means.

2. The ultrasonic irradiation device according to claim 1, wherein the pressurized circulation means includes a pressurizing device for applying pressure to the liquid medium and a circulation pump for circulating the liquid medium.

3. The storage tank is arranged with its central axis vertical, has a supply port on the bottom surface for introducing the liquid medium upward along the central axis, and has an outlet for taking out the liquid medium in the upper lid or its vicinity, A metal ring block is caulked and fixed to the outer surface of the storage tank so as to reduce the pipe diameter, and on the outer periphery of the metal ring block, there is a vibrator mounting plane which is a plane parallel to the central axis and on each side of a regular n-sided polygon (n is an integer of 3 or more) with the central axis as the centroid position when viewed along the central axis, and vibrators vibrating toward the central axis are attached to each of the vibrator mounting planes. The ultrasonic irradiation device according to claim 1 is characterized in that.

4. The ultrasonic irradiation device according to claim 3, wherein a thermosetting resin is interposed and fixed between the vibrator and the vibrator mounting plane and / or between the storage tank and the metal ring block.

5. The ultrasonic irradiation device according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that a second metal ring block is fixed along the central axis and arranged side by side with the metal ring block, and an additional vibrator is provided.

Citation Information

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