Continuous mechanical crushing device and related control method

Abstract

A continuous mechanical crushing apparatus is provided, the continuous mechanical crushing apparatus comprising: a first transport system (10) for an input material (710), a first data acquisition system (20) for the input material (710), a mechanical crushing system (30) for crushing the input material (710), a control system (40), a second transport system (50) for an output material (720), and a second data acquisition system (60) for the output material (720). The control system (40) receives at least one first dimension (810) of the input material (710) and at least one second dimension (820) of the output material (720). The control system (40) determines process parameters including a speed of the first transport system (10) for modifying a flow rate (910) of the input material, at least one dimensional parameter (930) of the adjustment device (35), and at least one rotational speed (920). The control system (40) optimizes the process parameters according to a goal regarding at least one second dimension (820) of the output material (720).A method for controlling a continuous mechanical crushing apparatus is provided.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a continuous mechanical crushing device.The present invention relates to a control method for a continuous mechanical crushing device.

[0002] The present invention applies to mechanical crushing equipment, in particular equipment incorporating a cyber-physical system for the control of machining processes. [Background technology]

[0003] Mechanical crushing processes are processes that can reduce the size of the starting material that is subjected to crushing. Thus, crushed material, reduced to dimensions of less than 1 mm, can serve as raw material for the production of manufactured articles.

[0004] Non-limiting examples of mechanical crushing equipment used to reduce the size of objects are sanders, chippers, granulators, and hammer mills.

[0005] Typically, but not exclusively, a mechanical shredding system includes a transport system that carries the material to be shredded to the mechanical shredding equipment, one or more mechanical shredders, and finally, an area designated for collection of the shredded material.

[0006] Typically, but not exclusively, mechanical crushing equipment has a designated inlet for the supply of material to be crushed, sharp tools attached to one or more rotors positioned within the crushing chamber, and a system for allowing the material to either free fall or eject the material through a grid to control the output size.

[0007] In mechanical crushing equipment, crushing is typically, but not exclusively, achieved by impact and / or shear forces caused by collision of the moving tool with the material in the chamber and compression of the material between the material and the walls of said chamber during movement due to the movement of the moving tool.

[0008] The publication, Diani M., Colledani M., Cyber-Physical Systems formalization in de- and remanufacturing and application to size reduction stage, Procedia CIRP Volume 91,2020, Pages 741-746, https: / / doi.org / 10.1016 / j.procir.2020.03.117, concerns an architecture aimed at, among other things, optimization and control of the crushing process. Summary of the Invention

[0009] SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to overcome the drawbacks of the prior art.

[0010] A more specific object of the present invention is to provide a more effective continuous mechanical crushing device.

[0011] A more specific object of the present invention is to provide an improved method for controlling continuous mechanical crushing equipment.

[0012] A more specific object of the present invention is to more accurately predict the dimensional characteristics of the crushed material discharged from a continuous mechanical crushing device.

[0013] A more specific object of the present invention is to provide a continuous mechanical crushing device which allows for lower energy consumption for the same quality of crushed output material.

[0014] These and other objects are achieved by a continuous mechanical crushing device and a corresponding control method according to the features of the appended claims, which form an integral part of this description.

[0015] The underlying idea of ​​the present invention is to provide for the control of process parameters of continuous mechanical crushing equipment. The proposed crushing system comprises one or more devices for obtaining dimensional data of objects, one or more mechanical crushers, and a control system, particularly software, for predicting the size distribution of material exiting the crushers. The mechanical crushing device optimizes the continuous mechanical crushing process using an approach based on material demand within the required specifications. In particular, the system for controlling the continuous mechanical crushing process has software including two modules for optimizing process parameters. The first module is designed for optimizing the output size distribution, while the second module is designed for cost minimization, particularly wear and energy costs. Control of the crushing process can be performed by changing the dimensional grid, changing the crushing tool, adjusting the rotation speed of the crushing tool, and changing the flow rate of material entering the crushing chamber.

[0016] The present invention provides a continuous mechanical crushing device, which comprises: a first transport system of input material for the material to be crushed; a first data acquisition system for the input material configured to analyze at least one first dimension of the input material; a mechanical crushing system comprising a moving tool for crushing an input material, the mechanical crushing system further comprising at least one adjustment device configured to adjust a size of output particles from the mechanical crushing system; a control system operatively associated with the elements of the mechanical crushing device; a second output material transport system for material crushed by the mechanical crushing system; a second data acquisition system for the output material configured to analyze at least one second dimension of the output material.

[0017] The control system is configured to receive at least one first dimension of the input material and at least one second dimension of the output material.

[0018] The control system is configured to automatically determine a process parameter, the process parameter comprising: an operating speed of the first transport system to modify the flow rate of the input material; at least one dimensional parameter of the at least one adjustment device; and at least one rotational speed of the translation tool.

[0019] The control system is configured to optimize the process parameters according to a goal related to at least one second dimension of the output material.

[0020] The present invention provides a method for controlling a continuous mechanical crushing device, a first transport system of input material for the material to be crushed; a first data acquisition system for the input material; a mechanical crushing system comprising a moving tool for crushing an input material, the mechanical crushing system further comprising at least one adjustment device configured to adjust a size of output particles from the mechanical crushing system; a second output material transport system for material crushed by the mechanical crushing system; and a second data acquisition system for the output material.

[0021] The control method is analyzing at least one first dimension of the input material with a first data acquisition system; analyzing at least one second dimension of the output material with a second data acquisition system; determining process parameters, the process parameters including an operating speed of the first transport system for modifying the flow rate of the input material, a dimensional parameter of the at least one adjustment device, and a rotational speed of at least one of the moving tools.

[0022] The control method provides for optimization of process parameters according to a goal related to at least one second dimension of the output material.

[0023] Generally, the control method according to the invention is adapted to be provided to a continuous mechanical crushing device according to the invention, in particular by at least a corresponding control system, so that the features described in relation to the first one are also applicable to the second one and vice versa.

[0024] As an advantage, the present invention allows the size distribution of the crushed output material to be predicted and optimized. As an advantage, the present invention allows for more precise control of the size distribution of the crushed output material.

[0025] As an advantage, the present invention makes it possible to minimize the energy consumption of continuous mechanical crushing equipment.

[0026] As an advantage, the invention makes it possible to minimize wear on the crushing tools of the continuous mechanical crushing device.

[0027] Preferably, the control system determines the process parameters according to real-time training that takes into account at least one first dimension of the input material and at least one second dimension of the output material.

[0028] Preferably, the control system includes a database for storing previously acquired historical data, and includes a data processing module for creating trained data processing algorithms using the historical data.

[0029] Preferably, the control system comprises a feedback control module for further training the processing algorithm according to data collected in real time by the first data acquisition system and the second data acquisition system.

[0030] Preferably, the control system comprises an optimization module for optimizing the second dimension of the output material and further minimizing the energy requirements of the mechanical crushing system and wear on the moving tools.

[0031] Preferably, the control system regulates the speed of the first transport system, i.e. the flow rate of the input material. Preferably, the control system adjusts at least one dimensional parameter of at least one adjustment device that affects the output dimension of the output material. Preferably, the control system adjusts the rotational speed of at least one of the transfer tools.

[0032] Preferably, the first data acquisition system and the second data acquisition system comprise at least one image acquisition system, which is capable of determining, via a suitable algorithm, at least the dimensional distribution of the material framed in each acquired image.

[0033] Preferably, the first and second data acquisition systems are further capable of analyzing further morphological properties of the input and output materials, respectively, preferably including shape and / or sphericity and / or symmetry of the material.

[0034] Preferably, the first and second data acquisition systems are configured to operate on and analyze samples of the input and output material, respectively, i.e., the first and second data acquisition systems do not need to analyze all fragments, but only a significant subset of the output / input material.

[0035] Preferably, the mechanical crushing system comprises at least one rotor or a plurality of rotors having a plurality of tools configured to crush the material within a crushing chamber.

[0036] Preferably, the adjustment device of the mechanical crushing system configured to adjust the size of the output particles is mechanically and automatically adjustable or has at least one manually replaceable element. In other words, the control method of the present invention allows for the optimization of at least one dimensional parameter of the adjustment device that influences the size of the output particles. For example, actual mechanized changes to the distance between the sharp tools or replacement of grid elements with different spacings are conceivable.

[0037] Preferably, at least one of the first transport system and the second transport system comprises at least one conveyor belt, this representing a preferred but non-limiting embodiment.

[0038] Further features and advantages will become more apparent from the detailed description set forth herein below of preferred, non-limiting embodiments of the invention, and from the dependent claims which outline preferred and particularly advantageous embodiments of the invention. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0039] The invention will now be illustrated with reference to the following figures, which are provided as non-limiting examples.

[0040] [Figure 1] In addition to feedforward control, a continuous mechanical crushing device using feedback control is shown. [Figure 2] In particular, a flowchart showing a control method for a feedforward type continuous mechanical crushing device equipped with feedback control is shown.

[0041] In the various drawings, like elements are identified by like reference numerals. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0042] Generally, a cyber-physical system is an integrated system that includes hardware and software parts that continuously exchange information and operations. The hardware parts collect information through sensors and send it to the software parts, which can process it through models, metamodels, and optimization models. The results are then delivered to the hardware parts in the form of optimized commands to be executed.

[0043] Therefore, the present invention provides a cyber-physical system for mechanical crushing provided by a continuous mechanical crushing device and by a corresponding control method.

[0044] A general description of cyber-physical systems is given here.

[0045] A transport system carries the crushed material, in the form of pieces typically less than 10 cm in size, to a particle size analyzer, which provides a size description of the crushed material.

[0046] The material to be crushed is then fed into the mechanical crushing equipment through an inlet designated for material supply, again using a transport system.

[0047] The data collected by the particle size analyzer, along with data entered by the operator about the dimensional characteristics of the resulting output material, is fed into software designed to optimize the crushing process. The software uses algorithms to generate information for setting the crushing process parameters, such as sizing dimensions, rotational speed, and amount of input material per unit time.

[0048] The material is then sent to a crushing chamber where it undergoes a process of physical crushing with designated crushing tools.

[0049] The crushing equipment and software exchange information in real time, so that process parameters such as rotation speed and amount of input material per unit time are modified in real time.

[0050] The output material is then analyzed in a particle size analyzer to obtain a dimensional description of the output material. These data are analyzed by software, which sends information in real time to correct the process parameters mentioned above.

[0051] Finally, the crushed material is collected in a designated area.

[0052] FIG. 1 shows a schematic and exemplary embodiment of a continuous mechanical crushing device, and FIG. 2 shows a flow chart illustrating a method for controlling a continuous mechanical crushing device.

[0053] The continuous mechanical crushing device 1 includes the following subsystems: Input material transport system 1 ·Data acquisition system for input materials 20 Crushing system 30 ·Software Systems 40 Output material transport system 50 ·Data acquisition system for output materials 60

[0054] An input material transport system 10, which may be a conveyor belt, serves to transport the material to be crushed from a collection point 12 for the material to be crushed first to an input material dimensional analysis device 20 and then to a crushing system 30.

[0055] By modifying the operating speed at which the material is transported, the flow rate 910 and therefore the amount of material occupying the crushing chamber can be modified, which affects energy consumption and tool wear.

[0056] An output material transport system 60, which may also be a conveyor belt, then carries the shredded material from the shredding system 30 to an output material dimensional analyzer 60 and finally to an area 52 designated for collection of the shredded material.

[0057] The data acquisition system for the input material 20 and the data acquisition system for the output material 60 include a particle size analyzer that acquires, via a camera system, pictures of particles passing through it, thereby providing information about the particle size distribution and other morphological characteristics, including particle sphericity and symmetry.

[0058] The crushing system 30 shown schematically in FIG. 1 comprises a mechanical crusher 300 having an opening 31 for material supply, a crushing chamber 32, at least one rotor 33, a plurality of tools 34 suitable for crushing arranged on the at least one rotor 33, a grid 35 and a collection box 36.

[0059] The crushing system 30 comprises, inter alia, a mechanical crusher 300, which may be, for example, a cutting mill, which may communicate with the software control system 40 via a machine-software communication system. Variable parameters of the mill 300 are the size of the grid 35, which affects the size of the output particles, and the rotation speed 920, which affects the energy consumption and tool wear.

[0060] The control system 40 includes a database 400 containing data obtained in previous crushing sessions, input material type data, and all historical information regarding the target material.

[0061] The control system 40 comprises a data processing module 420 that predicts, via models and meta-models, the size distribution of the output material with the various grids. The algorithms of the data processing model 420 are trained using data from the database 400 and using data received in real time during the fracturing session.

[0062] The control system 40 includes a feedback control module 430 that is capable of retraining the model in real time.

[0063] The control system 40 comprises an optimization module 440, which is divided into two sub-modules 442 and 444 that continuously exchange information and cooperate bidirectionally. Module 442 is designated to optimize the size distribution of the output particles. Module 444 is designated to minimize energy consumption and wear of the cutting tools in real time. Figure 2 is a flow chart illustrating the functionality of the continuous mechanical crushing device of the present invention according to the corresponding control method.

[0064] In FIG. 2, the reference numerals indicate the following: 710 Input Materials 720 Output Materials 810 Information about input materials 820 Printing Material Information 830 Information on Target Materials 840 Information about the type of input material 850 Size Distribution Prediction 860 Energy consumption of equipment 870 Feedback 910 Flow optimization 920 Rotor Speed ​​Optimization 930 Grid Optimization 10. Input material transport system 12 Collection point for material to be crushed 20. Dimensional analysis device for input materials 30 Crushing System 40 Control System 400 databases 420 Processing Module 430 Feedback Control Module 440 Optimization Module 442 Size Optimization Module 444 Consumption Optimization Module 50 Output material transport system 52 Collection point for crushed material 60 Output material dimension analyzer

[0065] Input material 710, consisting of unbroken objects or coarsely crushed particles, is removed from the collection point 12 for the material to be crushed, transported by the transport system 10, and a portion is passed through the input material dimensional analysis device 20 to obtain information 810 regarding the dimensional and morphological characteristics of the input particles, which information is sent to the processing module 420 of the software system 40.

[0066] Information 840 regarding the type of input material is provided as an input to the database 400, or if said information already exists, is selected from available information. This information is then passed to the processing module 420 along with information 810 regarding the dimensional characteristics of the input particles, which can provide the optimization module 440 with predictions 850 of the size distribution of the output material for various grids.

[0067] The optimization module 440 receives as input a prediction 850 regarding the size distribution of the output material and information about the target material to be obtained 830. This information is processed by a sub-module 442 designated for size optimization, which selects the most appropriate grid 930 that must be modified before the start of fracturing.

[0068] Once the grid is selected, the module 444 designated for consumption optimization obtains through an algorithm: Mechanical crushing system with 30-920 rotation speeds to optimize energy consumption and tool wear Flow rate 910, i.e., the rate at which the input material transport system 10 should operate

[0069] The optimized settings are transmitted by the machine software communication system to the transport system 10 and the machine crushing system 30, where they can be modified in real time.

[0070] Material passing through input dimensional analyzer 20 rejoins input material 710 via input material transport system 10 and is then crushed by mechanical crushing system 30 .

[0071] During the crushing process, the mechanical crushing system 30 provides information 860 about the machine's energy consumption to the consumption optimization module 444 in real time, allowing the model to continuously train and improve the settings 920. The crushed output material 720 is transported, in part, by the transport system 50 to the output material dimensional analyzer 60. The dimensional analyzer 60 obtains information 820 about the size distribution of the output material and sends this information to the feedback control module 430 for comparison with information 830 about the target material. If the difference between the size distribution of the output material 720 and the size distribution 830 of the target material is less than a selected value, the crushed output material 720 is transported to the collection area 52. If the difference between the size distribution of the output material 720 and the target size distribution 830 is greater than a selected value, feedback control information 870 is sent to the processing module 420. The processing module 420 uses this information to retrain the algorithm, making new predictions regarding the distribution of output material via the size optimization module 442 and issuing commands to modify the grid 930 . [Industrial Applicability]

[0072] The continuous mechanical crushing device and the corresponding control method according to the invention make it possible to obtain better performance than when using general guidelines for material crushing.

[0073] An example of shredding would be fiberglass manufacturing waste from a company that manufactures bathroom fixtures.

[0074] Under typical process conditions, a typical guideline for obtaining material within specifications (1.5-2.5 mm dimensions) is a grid size of 2 mm and a rotation speed of 3000 rpm. This yields a quantity of material with a specific dimension that can be reused for the target object, and this quantity depends on the amount of input material.

[0075] Under optimized conditions, a 4 mm grid size and a 1200 rpm rotation speed can be achieved to obtain the same material within specifications. In this case, the amount of material with a specific size that can be reused on the target object is three times greater than the amount obtained without the present invention, given the same amount of input material.

[0076] It should be noted that the present invention increases the amount of reusable material by a factor of three, thus significantly reducing waste (and associated costs).

[0077] The present invention may be applied non-exclusively in the field of thermosetting polymer matrix glass fibers.

[0078] In view of the description reported herein, those skilled in the art may devise further modifications and variations aimed at meeting their particular requirements.

[0079] For example, various crushing techniques and typical crushing plant configurations may be provided.

[0080] It is also possible to apply control methods to existing mechanical crushing equipment that at least partially assign some regulation of the process to a human operator, for example by means of specific sensors and processing means for the control system.

[0081] Therefore, the embodiments described herein should be understood as non-limiting examples of the present invention.

Claims

1. A continuous mechanical crushing device (1), comprising: a first transport system (10) for input material (710) for the material to be crushed; a first data acquisition system (20) for the input material (710) configured to analyze at least one first dimension (810) of the input material (710); a mechanical crushing system (30) comprising moving tools (33, 34) for crushing the input material (710), and further comprising at least one adjusting device (35) configured to adjust the size of output particles from the mechanical crushing system (30); a control system (40) operatively associated with the elements of the mechanical crushing device (1); a second transport system (50) of output material (720) for material crushed by said mechanical crushing system (30); a second data acquisition system (60) for the output material (720) configured to analyze at least one second dimension (820) of the output material (720); the control system (40) is configured to receive the at least one first dimension (810) of the input material (710) and the at least one second dimension (820) of the output material (720); The control system (40) an operating speed of the first transport system (10) to modify the flow rate (910) of the input material; at least one dimensional parameter (930) of said at least one adjustment device (35); and at least one rotation speed (920) of said moving tools (33, 34), The continuous mechanical crushing apparatus (1), wherein the control system (40) is configured to optimize the process parameters according to a target for the at least one second dimension (820) of the output material (720).

2. 2. The continuous mechanical crushing device (1) of claim 1, wherein the control system (40) is configured to determine the process parameters according to real-time training that takes into account the at least one first dimension (810) of the input material (710) and the at least one second dimension (820) of the output material (720).

3. 3. The continuous mechanical crushing device (1) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the control system (40) comprises a database (400) configured to store previously acquired historical data and a data processing module (420) for creating a trained data processing algorithm (420) using the historical data.

4. 4. The continuous mechanical crushing device (1) according to claim 3, wherein the control system (40) further comprises a feedback control module (430) configured to verify dimensional compatibility between the at least one second dimension (820) and a target dimension (830) and to further train a processing algorithm according to data collected in real time by the first data acquisition system (20) and the second data acquisition system (60).

5. 5. The continuous mechanical crushing device (1) according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the control system (40) further comprises an optimization module (440; 442, 444) configured to optimize (442) the second dimension of the output material and further configured to minimize (444) the energy demand of the mechanical crushing system (30) and wear on the moving tools (33, 34).

6. 6. The continuous mechanical crushing device (1) according to claim 1, wherein the control system (40) is further configured to automatically adjust the operating speed of the first transport system (10), the at least one dimensional parameter of the at least one adjusting device (35), and the at least one rotation speed of the moving tools (33, 34).

7. 7. The continuous mechanical crushing device (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the first data acquisition system (20) and the second data acquisition system (60) comprise at least one image acquisition system, the image acquisition system being configured to determine at least a size distribution of material framed in an image.

8. 8. The continuous mechanical comminution device (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the first data acquisition system (20) and the second data acquisition system (60) are further configured to analyze further morphological properties of the input material (710) and the output material (720), respectively, wherein the morphological properties comprise shape and / or sphericity and / or symmetry.

9. 9. The continuous mechanical comminution device (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the first data acquisition system (20) and the second data acquisition system (60) are further configured to analyze at least a sample of each of the input material (710) and the output material (720).

10. 10. The continuous mechanical crushing device (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the mechanical crushing system (30) comprises at least one rotor (33) in a crushing chamber (32), the at least one rotor (33) being associated with a plurality of tools (34) suitable for crushing.

11. 11. The continuous mechanical crushing device (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the adjustment device (35) comprises grid elements with adjustable spacing and / or at least one manually replaceable element.

12. A continuous mechanical crushing device (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the adjusting device is mechanically and automatically adjustable to adjust the distance between the moving tools (33, 34).

13. 13. The continuous mechanical crushing device (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the first transport system (10) and / or the second transport system (20) comprise at least one conveyor belt.

14. A method for controlling a continuous mechanical crushing device (1), comprising: a first transport system (10) for input material (710) for the material to be crushed; a first data acquisition system (20) for said input material (710); a mechanical crushing system (30) comprising moving tools (33, 34) for crushing the input material (710), and further comprising at least one adjusting device (35) configured to adjust the size of output particles from the mechanical crushing system (30); a second transport system (50) of output material (720) for material crushed by said mechanical crushing system (30); a second data acquisition system (60) for the output material (720); The control method comprises: analyzing at least one first dimension (810) of the input material (710) with the first data acquisition system (20); analyzing at least one second dimension (820) of the output material (820) with the second data acquisition system (60); determining process parameters, the process parameters including an operating speed of the first transport system (10) for modifying a flow rate (910) of the input material, a dimensional parameter (930) of the at least one adjusting device (35), and a rotation speed (920) of at least one of the moving tools (33, 34); A method of control wherein the process parameters are optimized according to a goal regarding the at least one second dimension (820) of the output material (720).

15. A control method according to claim 14, adapted to be provided in a continuous mechanical crushing device (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 13.

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