Cleaning apparatus

Abstract

To provide a cleaning apparatus which uses a rotary basket that accommodates a workpiece, and is excellent in handleability of the workpiece.SOLUTION: A cleaning apparatus cleans a workpiece by rotating, in a cleaning liquid, a rotary basket that accommodates the workpiece. The rotary basket includes a cylindrical main body portion provided with through-holes through which the cleaning liquid flows, and side wall portions that close both side end portions of the cylindrical main body portion, and is rotatably arranged with a cylindrical central axis line of the cylindrical main body portion disposed substantially horizontally. A first side wall portion being one of the side wall portions has a taking-out hole for the workpiece. By tilting the cylindrical center axis line, the workpiece inside the rotary basket is dropped and taken out from the taking-out hole.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a cleaning device that cleans workpieces by rotating a rotating basket containing the workpieces in a cleaning liquid. [Background technology]

[0002] One known cleaning device that can clean many workpieces at once is one in which a cylindrical tumbling basket containing the workpieces is immersed in a cleaning solution in a tank and rotated approximately horizontally around the cylindrical central axis of the tumbling basket. The cleaning solution enters the inside of the tumbling basket, and the workpieces are tumbled around inside the tumbling basket, cleaning them.

[0003] For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a cleaning device in which a rotating basket is placed on rotating rollers, which are lowered into a cleaning solution from the top of a cleaning tank and immersed, and the rotating rollers are driven to rotate the rotating basket. The rotating basket has a barrel body formed into a cylindrical shape with a polygonal cross section and barrel side plates that close both openings of the barrel body, and are formed from punched plates. The rotating basket is also formed with an opening / closing door, and it is stated that multiple workpieces can be placed in and removed from the closed internal space of the rotating basket through this opening / closing door.

[0004] In the above-mentioned cleaning device, the rotating rollers and the rotating basket, which are the drive system, are separate, so the rotating basket can be separated from the device to perform operations such as storing and removing workpieces. However, the rotating basket placed on the rotating rollers tends to spin freely, which limits the control of rotational movement. Therefore, cleaning devices have been proposed that provide a gear mechanism between the rotating rollers and the rotating basket, or that attach a drive shaft directly to the rotating basket.

[0005] Patent Document 2 discloses a cleaning device in which a rotating (storage) basket with a hexagonal cross section and numerous through-holes formed in the outer wall surrounding the periphery is attached to a drive shaft, and the rotating basket is rotated around a horizontal axis by the drive shaft so that at least a portion of the rotating basket is immersed in a cleaning liquid in a cleaning tank.The device circulates and degasses the cleaning liquid in the cleaning tank, and multiple ultrasonic vibrators located on the underside of the cleaning tank radiate powerful ultrasonic waves into the cleaning liquid, thereby enabling deburring and polishing of workpieces in addition to cleaning. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0006] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 7-188960 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2019-42926 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] When automating a processing line by incorporating the above-described cleaning device, it is necessary to smoothly load and unload workpieces from the rotating basket. Generally, doors are provided around the rotating basket to allow workpieces to be loaded and unloaded. However, to unload a workpiece from the rotating basket elevated above the cleaning solution, the rotation angle must be adjusted to orient the doors in a specific direction. Furthermore, a robust mechanism must be provided to prevent the doors from opening during rotation during cleaning, but unlocking the robust mechanism is cumbersome when unloading workpieces after cleaning.

[0008] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and its object is to provide a cleaning device that uses a rotating basket to store workpieces and that is easy to handle the workpieces. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] The device according to the present invention is a cleaning device that rotates a rotating basket containing workpieces in a cleaning liquid to clean the workpieces, and the rotating basket has a cylindrical main body portion provided with through holes through which the cleaning liquid flows, and side wall portions that close both end portions of the cylindrical main body portion, and is rotatably arranged with the cylindrical central axis of the cylindrical main body portion positioned approximately horizontal, and one first side wall portion of the side wall portions has an extraction hole for the workpiece, and by tilting the cylindrical central axis, the workpiece inside the rotating basket is dropped and removed to the outside through the extraction hole.

[0010] According to this feature, the workpiece can be removed from the rotating basket simply by tilting the cylindrical central axis, which makes the workpiece easier to handle and is particularly advantageous when incorporated into a production line for automation.

[0011] In the above-described invention, the removal hole may be provided at the intersection of the first side wall portion and the cylindrical central axis. The first side wall portion may be conical and have the removal hole at its apex. This feature allows the workpiece to be more easily removed from the rotating basket simply by tilting the cylindrical central axis, resulting in excellent workpiece handling.

[0012] In the above-described invention, a rotary gear may be attached to the first side wall portion and the second side wall portion on the other side of the side wall portion so as to be coaxial with the cylindrical central axis, and a drive gear may move to mesh with the rotary gear and rotate it. The second side wall portion may also be conical, with the rotary gear at its apex. This feature allows the cylindrical central axis to be easily tilted, providing excellent workpiece handling.

[0013] In the above-described invention, the liquid tank storing the cleaning liquid may have a placement section for placing the rotating basket, and the drive gear may move toward the placement section. The rotating basket may be housed in a rack and moved to the placement section. Furthermore, the rotating basket may tilt the cylindrical central axis together with the rack to remove the workpieces from the removal hole. This feature allows the cylindrical central axis to be easily tilted while ensuring rotation of the rotating basket, resulting in excellent workpiece handling.

[0014] In the above invention, the liquid tank may be an ultrasonic cleaning tank. The liquid tank may also be characterized in that ultrasonic waves are emitted toward the water surface from an ultrasonic oscillator attached to the bottom. This feature ensures the rotation of the tumbling basket, and the cylindrical central axis can be easily tilted, even in an ultrasonic cleaning tank, providing excellent workpiece handling. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0015] [Figure 1] 1 is a side cross-sectional view of a cleaning device according to an example of the present invention. [Figure 2] 1A and 1B are a top view and a side cross-sectional view, respectively, of a rotating basket and a rack used in a cleaning device. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a rotating basket and a rack. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a front view of the rotating basket and rack. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is a side view illustrating removal of the rotating basket from the rack. [Figure 6] FIG. 10 is a side view showing a state in which the cylindrical central axis L of the rotating basket is inclined. [Figure 7] FIG. 10 is a side view showing a state in which the cylindrical central axis L of the rotating basket is tilted while the rotating basket is housed in the rack. [Figure 8] FIG. 10 is a front view of a rack and a rotating basket in which an opening for removal is provided in the plate-shaped portion of the hook. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0016] A cleaning device according to one embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 8. FIG.

[0017] As shown in FIG. 1 , in a cleaning device 10, a tumbling basket 1 and a rack 2 rotatably housing the tumbling basket 1 are arranged inside a liquid vat 3, and can be immersed in a cleaning solution 4 stored in the liquid vat 3. In particular, the rack 2 is suspended from above the liquid vat 3 by a hanging jig 5 so as to be positioned at a predetermined location within the liquid vat 3. At this predetermined position, the tumbling basket 1 housed in the rack 2 is placed in a placement section, which is the position where the tumbling basket 1 should be placed. The tumbling basket 1 placed in this placement section is positioned so that the cylindrical central axis L of the cylindrical main body 13 of the tumbling basket 1 is substantially horizontal. In the figure, the cylindrical central axis L is located at the liquid surface of the cleaning solution 4, and half of the tumbling basket 1 is immersed in the cleaning solution 4. However, the entire tumbling basket 1 may also be immersed in the cleaning solution 4. In this manner, the tumbling basket 1 rotates in the cleaning solution 4, thereby cleaning workpieces. Furthermore, the hanging jig 5 is equipped with a drive mechanism (not shown) that allows the rack 2 to move vertically and horizontally, and the rack 2 can be moved and removed outside the liquid tank 3 while still containing the rotating basket 1.

[0018] The liquid tank 3 may be, for example, an ultrasonic cleaning tank. In this case, an ultrasonic oscillator 32 is attached to a vibration plate 31 at the bottom of the liquid tank 3, and ultrasonic waves can be emitted toward the surface of the cleaning liquid 4 by vibrating the ultrasonic oscillator 32. Furthermore, one of the four surrounding sides of the liquid tank 3 is lower than the others, and the cleaning liquid 4 overflows from the top of the lowered side, maintaining a constant liquid level of the cleaning liquid 4 in the liquid tank 3 and forming ultrasonic standing waves. The overflowing cleaning liquid 4 passes through an inclined surface 33 and is guided to an overflow tank 34, where sand and other particles are separated and circulated. The liquid tank 3 is not limited to an ultrasonic cleaning tank, and may be any other cleaning tank used for cleaning using a rotating basket.

[0019] 2, the rotating basket 1 includes a cylindrical main body 13 and side walls that close both ends of the cylindrical main body 13. Of the side walls, the one on the right side of the drawing is the first side wall 11, and the other side is the second side wall 12. The cylindrical main body 13 is made of a combination of plate-like elements such as punched metal having through-holes 13a through which the cleaning liquid 4 flows, and here has a substantially regular hexagonal cylindrical shape with a cylindrical central axis L. In other words, the cylindrical main body 13 has a substantially regular hexagonal outer shape in a cross section perpendicular to the cylindrical central axis L.

[0020] The first side wall 11 and the second side wall 12 are both conical in shape and include a tubular body 11a and a shaft 12a at their tops, respectively, extending along the cylindrical central axis L. The tubular body 11a and the shaft 12a are rotatably supported on the rack 2, allowing the tumbling basket 1 to rotate about the cylindrical central axis L relative to the rack 2. The tubular body 11a on the first side wall 11 side is hollow, and thus defines an outlet hole 11b that connects the inside and outside of the tumbling basket 1. In other words, the tubular body 11a serves as the axis of rotation for the tumbling basket 1, and also defines the outlet hole 11b that allows media to be placed in the tumbling basket 1 and workpieces to be cleaned to be inserted and removed. In this way, the outlet hole 11b is located at the intersection of the first side wall 11 and the cylindrical central axis L. A maintenance cover (not shown) may be provided around the periphery of the tumbling basket 1's cylindrical main body 13.

[0021] Meanwhile, a rotary gear 16 is attached to the base side of the shaft 12a provided at the top of the second side wall portion 12, and is coaxial with the cylindrical central axis L. The rotary gear 16 is fixed to the rotary basket 1 to transmit a driving force for rotating the rotary basket 1. When the rotary basket 1 is placed in the placement section, the rotary gear 16 is connectable to a drive mechanism 40 provided above the liquid vat 3. The drive mechanism 40 includes a drive gear 41 that meshes with the rotary gear 16, a chain 42 that transmits a driving force to the drive gear 41, a gearbox 43 that meshes with the chain 42, and a motor 44. In other words, the driving force from the motor 44 is transmitted to the drive gear 41 via the gearbox 43 and the chain 42, and further transmitted to the rotary gear 16 that meshes with the drive gear 41, thereby rotating the rotary basket 1.

[0022] The drive mechanism 40 can also move the drive gear 41 while avoiding the rotary gear 16 so as not to interfere when moving the tumbling basket 1 together with the rack 2. For example, the drive mechanism 40 is movable vertically by a hydraulic cylinder 45, and is further movable horizontally in the front-to-back direction of the page together with the hydraulic cylinder 45 by a movement mechanism (not shown). This allows the tumbling basket 1, together with the rack 2, to be moved from the placement section to outside the liquid vat 3. On the other hand, when the tumbling basket 1, together with the rack 2, is moved from outside the liquid vat 3 and placed in the placement section within the liquid vat 3, the drive gear 41 is moved toward the placement section and engages with the rotary gear 16.

[0023] Referring also to FIG. 3, the rack 2 is a frame-like body with frames arranged on each of the 12 sides of a roughly rectangular parallelepiped, so as not to impede the flow of the cleaning solution 4 to the rotating basket 1 housed therein. The rack 2 is made of a frame structure in which plates with a hollowed-out center are arranged and connected on five sides of the rectangular parallelepiped except for the top. In other words, the rack 2 has frames arranged in such a way that plates are arranged on the top four sides and L-shaped plates are arranged on the other eight sides. The rack 2 also has hooks 21 that can engage with the hanging jig 5 at the top of both ends along the cylindrical central axis L of the rotating basket 1 housed therein. The hooks 21 are plates bent to have a roughly U-shaped cross section and are provided so as to protrude outward in the direction along the cylindrical central axis L.

[0024] Referring also to FIG. 4, the hook 21 includes a plate-like portion 21a that hangs down from the lower side of its inner portion. Two sets of rail members 22a and 22b extending up and down are provided inside the plate-like portion 21a, one on each side, and are arranged to sandwich the tubular body 11a and the shaft body 12a, respectively. The rail members 22a and 22b are arranged so that their lower ends are approximately aligned with the lower end of the plate-like portion 21a. A bearing portion 21b (see also FIG. 2(b) in particular) that extends horizontally inward is provided in the center of the lower end of the plate-like portion 21a and is arranged to close the gap between the lower ends of the rail members 22a and 22b. The bearing portion 21b rotatably supports the tubular body 11a and the shaft body 12a from below. That is, the tubular body 11a and the shaft body 12a are rotatably supported while their positions are determined by being sandwiched on three sides by the bearing portion 21b and the rail bodies 22a and 22b. Note that the plate-like portion 21a is disposed near the end of the tubular body 11a and covers the opening of the extraction hole 11b. That is, the plate-like portion 21a acts as a lid disposed with a gap relative to the opening of the extraction hole 11b.

[0025] 5, the tubular body 11a and the shaft body 12a are sandwiched from three sides as described above, but the upper side is open and can be moved upward. In other words, by moving the tubular body 11a and the shaft body 12a upward between the rail bodies 22a and 22b, the rotating basket 1 can be removed by moving it upward as if pulling it out from the rack 2.

[0026] 6, by tilting the cylindrical central axis L, the workpieces inside the rotating basket 1 can be dropped and removed to the outside through the removal hole 11b. At this time, it is preferable to tilt the cylindrical central axis L so that the top of the cone shape of the first side wall portion 11 is at the lowest position, because this allows all of the workpieces inside the rotating basket 1 to be guided by gravity from the first side wall portion 11 to the removal hole 11b.

[0027] On the other hand, when workpieces are to be stored inside the rotating basket 1 from the outside, the cylindrical central axis L can be tilted so that the opening of the removal hole 11b faces upward. When storing workpieces, the loaded workpieces simply pass through the removal hole 11b and fall inside along the conical first side wall portion 11. Therefore, the cylindrical central axis L can be tilted to an extent that allows the workpieces to pass through the removal hole 11b by gravity. For example, it may be sufficient to tilt the cylindrical central axis L slightly from the horizontal in a direction that makes the removal hole 11b higher.

[0028] In this way, with the cleaning device 10, the tumbling basket 1 together with the rack 2 can be removed from the liquid tank 3, and the cylindrical central axis L can be tilted to allow the workpieces to drop and be removed through the removal hole 11b. At this time, as long as the tilt of the central axis L is controlled, there is no need to control the rotational direction of the tumbling basket 1. Therefore, compared to a case where the rotational direction of the tumbling basket needs to be controlled, such as when a door is provided around the rotating periphery of the tumbling basket to allow workpieces to be inserted and removed, this provides excellent workpiece handling and is significantly advantageous when automating the workpiece cleaning process and incorporating the cleaning device 10 into a series of processing lines for automation.

[0029] Furthermore, when the rotating basket 1 is housed in the rack 2, a rotation mechanism is formed by the bearing portion 21b and the rail members 22a and 22b. In other words, the entire rack 2 can be moved while the rotation mechanism is formed. Therefore, even when the rotating basket 1 is moved to be placed in the placement section, the rotation mechanism is maintained, allowing for stable rotation. Furthermore, by meshing the drive-side gear 41 with the rotating gear 16, rotation can be reliably imparted. Furthermore, the drive-side gear 41 meshes with the rotating gear 16 by moving, and the meshing can be released by moving. Then, when the meshing is released, there is no need to tilt the drive-side gear 41 when tilting the cylindrical central axis L of the rotating basket 1. Therefore, the mechanism for tilting the cylindrical central axis L can be relatively simple. These factors also provide advantages in automating the workpiece cleaning process.

[0030] As shown in Figure 7, when removing the workpieces, it is also preferable to tilt the rotating basket 1 together with the rack 2 so that the cylindrical central axis L is inclined. Tilting the rotating basket 1 together with the rack 2 to remove the workpieces from the removal hole 11b is preferable because it eliminates the need to remove the rotating basket 1 from the rack 2. However, as described above, the plate-like portion 21a of the hook 21 covers the opening of the removal hole 11b, making it impossible to remove the workpieces in this state.

[0031] Therefore, as shown in Figure 8, an extraction opening 23 is provided in the portion of the plate-shaped portion 21a directly facing the extraction hole 11b. This allows the workpiece to be extracted from the extraction hole 11b even if the rotating basket 1 is tilted together with the rack 2.

[0032] In this case, when the rotating basket 1 is placed in the placement section of the liquid vat 3, there is no lid on the opening of the removal hole 11b. However, because the first side wall 11 is conical, the rotation of the rotating basket 1 can cause the workpieces inside to be reflected away from the top of the cone, preventing them from being guided to the removal hole 11b at the top. If there is a concern that the workpieces may leak from the removal hole 11b of the rotating basket 1 during rotation, such as when more than half of the capacity of the rotating basket 1 is loaded with workpieces and media, a lid may be provided inside the liquid vat 3. In other words, a lid is placed in the liquid vat 3 at a position that closes the removal hole 11b of the rotating basket 1 placed in the placement section and the removal opening 23 of the rack 2.

[0033] Although the embodiments of the present invention and modifications based thereon have been described above, the present invention is not necessarily limited to these examples. Furthermore, those skilled in the art will be able to find various alternative embodiments and modifications without departing from the spirit of the present invention or the scope of the appended claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0034] 1. Rotating basket 2 racks 3 Liquid tank 4. Cleaning solution 5 Hanging jig 10 Cleaning equipment 11 First side wall portion 11b Ejection hole 12 Second side wall 13 Cylindrical main body L Cylindrical central axis

Claims

1. A cleaning device that cleans workpieces by rotating a rotating basket containing the workpieces in a cleaning liquid, the rotating basket has a cylindrical main body portion provided with through holes through which the cleaning liquid flows and side wall portions closing both side ends of the cylindrical main body portion, and is rotatably disposed with a cylindrical central axis of the cylindrical main body portion disposed substantially horizontally; A cleaning device characterized in that one of the side wall portions, a first side wall portion, has an extraction hole for the workpiece, and by tilting the cylindrical central axis, the workpiece inside the rotating basket falls and is removed to the outside through the extraction hole.

2. 2. The cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein the outlet hole is provided at an intersection of the first side wall portion and the cylindrical central axis.

3. 3. The cleaning device according to claim 2, wherein the first sidewall portion is conical and has the outlet hole at its top.

4. The cleaning device according to claim 1, characterized in that a rotary gear is attached to the first side wall portion and the second side wall portion on the other side of the side wall portion coaxially with the cylindrical central axis, and a drive side gear moves to mesh with the rotary gear and rotate it.

5. 5. The cleaning device according to claim 4, wherein the second side wall portion is conical and has the rotary gear at its apex.

6. 5. The cleaning device according to claim 4, wherein the liquid tank storing the cleaning liquid has a placement section for placing the rotating basket, and the drive gear moves toward the placement section.

7. 7. The cleaning apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the rotating basket is housed in a rack and moved to the arrangement section.

8. 8. The cleaning apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the rotating basket tilts the cylindrical central axis together with the rack to remove the workpieces from the removal hole to the outside.

9. 7. The cleaning device according to claim 6, wherein the liquid tank is an ultrasonic cleaning tank.

10. 10. The cleaning device according to claim 9, wherein the liquid tank emits ultrasonic waves toward the water surface from an ultrasonic oscillator attached to the bottom.

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