A device for separating solid particles from a liquid.
The conical funnel base and flushing device in the apparatus ensure continuous operation by automatically directing solid particles to the liquid discharge, preventing clogging and maintaining machine tool efficiency.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- JP · JP
- Patent Type
- Applications
- Current Assignee / Owner
- INTERLIT FILTRATION GMBH
- Filing Date
- 2024-02-15
- Publication Date
- 2026-04-21
AI Technical Summary
Existing apparatuses for separating solid particles from liquids in machine tool coolant and lubricating liquids require frequent manual intervention to remove clogging solids, leading to production interruptions.
A conical funnel base with a circular cross-section and an inclination of 30° or more is used to direct solid particles to a liquid drain, combined with a flushing device to ensure continuous operation and prevent clogging, and an additional filter for pre-filtration.
The design effectively prevents solid particle accumulation in the collection container, ensuring continuous operation by automatically directing particles to the liquid discharge, enhancing the efficiency of coolant and lubricant effectiveness.
Smart Images
Figure 2026512847000001_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] The present invention has a filter device capable of supplying a liquid and also has a collection container for the liquid to be treated by the filter device. In particular, it relates to an apparatus for separating solid particles from a liquid for cleaning a coolant and / or lubricating liquid of a machine tool conveyed within a circuit, and at least one sedimentation region is associated with the collection container.
Background Art
[0002] This type of apparatus is known from German Patent No. 10 2004 015 779. In this known apparatus, three sedimentation containers equipped with conveying devices are provided for discharging sediments. The liquid is conveyed by a pump from the first sedimentation container to the second sedimentation container or the third sedimentation container. A separator separates the solids conveyed with the liquid by the pump and supplies them to the second sedimentation container. The liquid to be filtered is supplied to the first sedimentation container, where larger and heavier solid particles settle to the bottom to form sediments, which are discharged by the conveying device. Thus, sedimentation of coarse impurities occurs in the first sedimentation container. The pump conveys the liquid from which the coarse impurities have been removed to the separator, and the separator separates the solids from the liquid and supplies them to the second sedimentation container. The separated solids can enter the second sedimentation container together with a part of the conveyed liquid volume. Such solids, which can be described as medium-sized impurities, settle there and are discharged by the conveying device. Despite passing through the separator, the solids still contained in the liquid can be described as fine impurities, enter from the separator into the third sedimentation container, settle there, and are discharged by the conveying device. The cleaned liquid from the third sedimentation container can be returned for use, particularly to the machine tool associated with the filter device.
[0003] This known apparatus has a complex structure. Multi-stage sedimentation using a total of three sedimentation vessels supplied with solid-containing liquid by pumps requires the system to be stopped at regular intervals to "manually" remove solid particles that are not removed from the system by the pumps and separators, but accumulate in areas such as the corners of the sedimentation vessels, further clogging them. This results in periodic interruptions to the production of the associated machine tools, which is undesirable. [Overview of the project] [Problems that the invention aims to solve]
[0004] The object of the present invention is to provide the type of apparatus described above that can effectively, and at least as completely as possible, remove solid particles contained in a liquid from the liquid circuit, and the apparatus can operate essentially without interruption for cleaning purposes.
[0005] This objective is addressed by the present invention in which the settling region is formed by a substantially conical funnel base located at the bottom of a collection container having a liquid drain positioned in the region of the conical tip located at the bottom. [Means for solving the problem]
[0006] The design according to the present invention, which has a settling region demarcated toward the bottom by a funnel base, has the advantage that solid particles in the funnel base essentially automatically reach the lowest point of the inclined base, i.e., the conical tip where the liquid drain is located. Unlike settling containers known in the prior art, which have a flat base and hard-to-reach corner areas from which solids can accumulate and clog the container, the present invention ensures that any solids that remain in the liquid circuit after passing through the apparatus are directed specifically toward the point in the liquid circuit where the liquid is discharged again from the container. This ensures that solid particles that are not captured by the apparatus's filtering device and are discharged from the liquid circuit leave the container with the liquid and therefore the container cannot clog. These solid particles are generally fine or ultrafine parts of chips generated in the machining process and, if returned to the machine tool in manageable amounts in the circuit, do not further impair the effectiveness of the liquid as a coolant and lubricant.
[0007] A design in which the funnel base has a substantially circular cross-section has proven particularly advantageous. The funnel shape of the base with a circular cross-section does not have edges or corners where solid deposits can accumulate.
[0008] The funnel base of the settling region is preferably formed with an inclination angle of 30° or more, preferably 40° or more, and particularly 45° or more relative to the horizontal plane. The greater the inclination of the funnel base toward the liquid drain, the lower the risk of solid particles remaining at the base. When the funnel shape has an inclination of 45° or more, it can usually be assumed that solid particles will not remain at the inclined funnel base above the liquid drain, even under unfavorable conditions such as very low flow velocity / low liquid flow rate. With a base inclination of 60°, particle accumulation at the base is generally no longer a concern, even under unfavorable conditions.
[0009] Preferably, the collection container has a collection area formed above the sedimentation area of the liquid supplied by the filtering device. The filtered liquid is then collected in the collection area, passes through the filtering device, and enters the collection container. The filtering device is preferably a belt filter device, such as a paper filter belt, around which a filter belt extends, and is preferably positioned above the collection container, particularly in a cover that covers it at the top.
[0010] In an advantageous further embodiment of the present invention, a liquid drain is connected to a liquid discharge line through which the liquid containing solid particles (still) can be directly and / or indirectly transported by a pumping device to a filter device. Thus, the solid particles discharged with the liquid in the liquid drain are supplied (again) to the filter device and can therefore be finally separated from the liquid circuit by the filter means after passing through the device once or several times.
[0011] In terms of its arrangement, the liquid discharge line is, - Liquid supply unit to filter device, and / or - The device is connected to the liquid supply section of a machine tool associated with the apparatus, and the machine tool may be provided with a liquid drain that can supply the liquid accumulated in the machine tool to the filter device.
[0012] The arrangement may preferably involve an additional filter positioned upstream of the filtration device, the settling region and / or the collection region, such that at least a portion of the liquid present in the liquid drain may be supplied along with any solid particles present therein. The additional filter provides (pre)filtration of the coolant and / or lubricating fluid discharged in the liquid drain and transported in the circuit, and as a result, solid particles discharged in liquid at the lower end of the funnel-shaped settling region may be separated from the liquid circuit by the additional filter before the (pre)filtered liquid is returned to the collection container.
[0013] Preferably, a flushing device having at least one flushing nozzle aligned with the funnel base is assigned to the settling region, so that solid particles remaining at the funnel base due to, for example, a slight slope at the bottom of the hopper can be easily flushed away for liquid removal at the lowest point. Preferably, the flushing nozzle is aligned substantially tangentially with respect to the circumferential direction of the funnel base.
[0014] Further features and advantages of the present invention are derived from the following description and drawings, and preferred embodiments of the present invention are shown and described by example. [Brief explanation of the drawing]
[0015] [Figure 1] This is a perspective view of an embodiment of the apparatus according to the present invention. [Figure 2] This is a side view of the object in Figure 1. [Figure 3] This is a block diagram illustrating the processing of liquids and sludge in a machine tool system incorporating the apparatus according to the present invention. [Modes for carrying out the invention]
[0016] Figures 1 and 2 show an apparatus according to the present invention, which is shown as 10 in whole, and is used to handle the coolant / lubricant of cutting machine tools, such as milling machines or lathes, which is shown schematicly only in Figure 3, 11.
[0017] The apparatus 10 according to the present invention, which functions to process the liquid 12 used in a machine tool 11, has a circular collection container 13 in the illustrated embodiment, and the cooling and lubricating liquid 12 used in the machine tool 11 is collected and discharged again in 14 via a line 15. A cover 16 is provided on top of the collection container 13, and a filter device 17 is placed thereon. The liquid 12 is supplied to the filter device 17, which is transported through the line 15 by a pump device P and supplied to the filter device 17 after passing through the machine tool 11 as needed. The liquid filtered by the filter device 17 flows out at the bottom of the filter device 17 into the upper collection area 18 of the container 13, as indicated by the arrows. In this case, the filter device 17 is a belt filter device with a continuous filter belt 19 made of a suitable filter material such as filter paper, so that solid particles generated in the machine tool, such as turning, milling, or grinding chips, can be easily separated from the lubricating and cooling liquids and discharged into a chip collection box 20, which is known and will not be described in further detail here.
[0018] As illustrated, the bottom of the collection container 13 is provided with a substantially conical funnel base 21, also with a circular cross-section, which forms a settling region 22 for solid particles that have not yet been separated from the liquid by the filter device 17. The funnel base 21 has a liquid drain 24 at its lowest point 14 of the conical tip 23 located therein. The liquid drain 24 can be positioned inward or outward, as shown by the dashed line in Figure 3. The liquid drain 24 joins the liquid discharge line 15, through which the liquid 12, still present in it along with any solid particles and not yet separated by the filter device 17, is removed from the device 10 by the pump device P.
[0019] The lower part of the container 13, having a funnel base 21 that functions as a sedimentation area 22, forms an inclined, edgeless, and cornerless discharge surface for liquid and solid particles contained therein after passing through the filter device 17, which, after settling into the base, slide downwards down the inclined base by gravity and thus reliably reach the lower conical tip 23 and liquid drain 24 located therein. The funnel base 21 has a sufficiently large inclination thereto, which is about 45° in the preferred exemplary embodiments shown in Figures 1 and 2. In Figure 3, the inclination of the base is not shown in proportion to the actual size. The special arrangement of the sedimentation area of the apparatus according to the present invention, particularly with the inclined discharge surface of the round funnel base 21, ensures that all chip / solid particles that have not (yet) been separated by the filter device 17 after the contaminated liquid has passed through are actually removed again from the container of the apparatus via the liquid drain 24, and do not settle in corner areas, thus preventing the container from clogging over time as sediment sludge that is difficult to remove.
[0020] In particular, if it is not possible to achieve the maximum possible incline of the funnel base 21 of 40° or more, for example, because such an incline is not permitted due to the height of the available structure, the settling region 22 can be further associated with a flushing device 25, which comprises at least one flushing nozzle 26 aligned with the funnel base 21, and in the example shown in Figure 3, there are several flushing nozzles 26. The flushing nozzles 26 can then be used to continuously or intermittently guide a jet of liquid flowing closely over the funnel base, which, in addition to the incline of the base 21, prevents solid particles from settling on it or flushes any solid particles that remain on it. The flow generated by the flushing device 25 ensures that any solids remaining in the liquid after passing through the filter device are kept suspended and thus reliably discharged from the container along with the liquid via the drain 24. In the illustrated exemplary embodiment, the flushing nozzle 26 is positioned substantially vertically downward on the funnel base, thereby allowing the flushing device to have a rotatable flushing arm (not shown) on which the flushing nozzle is positioned and can move around the entire circumference of the base. It is also possible to position the flushing nozzle tangentially to the base, thereby generating a downward spiral flow across the entire surface of the base. It is understood that several flushing nozzles positioned offset from each other with respect to circumference and / or height can also be used, particularly in larger vessels.
[0021] As can be seen in Figure 3, the discharge line 15 through which the liquid 12 is extracted from the container 13 of the apparatus 10 at the liquid drain 24 can be connected to the liquid supply unit 27 of the machine tool 11 associated with the apparatus 10. In this configuration, solid particles that are not captured and discharged by the filter unit 10 during the preparation of the coolant and / or lubricant by the apparatus according to the present invention are returned to the machine tool 11 in a suspended state along with the filtered liquid. The machine tool 11 itself is provided with a liquid drain 28 through which the liquid collected in the machine tool 11, i.e., the liquid after use at the machining position of each machine tool, is supplied to be returned to the filter unit 17 of the apparatus along with the chips transported thereby. For this purpose, it is also possible to return at least a portion of the flow of liquid discharged from the sedimentation container directly to the filter unit 17 at the liquid outlet 24, and to connect a bypass line 29 (preferably a separate bypass pump, not shown) to the liquid supply unit 30 and the filter unit 17. Alternatively, or in addition to this, an additional filter 31 may be provided located upstream of the filter unit 17 and / or the sedimentation area. Next, an additional filter is supplied with either a partial flow of liquid present in the liquid drain, or the entire volume of liquid being discharged with solid particles present in it, thereby filtering the solid particles from the liquid. As can also be seen in Figure 3, the flushing device 25 is supplied by a flushing line 32 branching off from line 15, and a three-way valve 33 installed at the branch allows for the intermittent or permanent supply of a partial flow of liquid extracted through line 15 to the flushing device.
Claims
1. The apparatus comprises a filter device (17) capable of supplying liquid and a collection container (13) for the liquid (12) processed using the filter device (17), wherein the collection container (13) is for separating solid particles from a cooling and / or lubricating liquid (12) of a cutting machine tool (11) associated with at least one sedimentation region (22), the sedimentation region (22) being formed by a substantially conical funnel base (21) located at the bottom of the collection container (13), with a liquid drain (24) located in the region of the conical tip (23) being located at the bottom.
2. The apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the funnel base (21) has a substantially circular cross-section.
3. The apparatus according to claim 1 or claim 2, characterized in that the funnel base (21) of the sedimentation region (22) is formed at an inclination angle with respect to the horizontal plane of 30° or more, preferably 40° or more, and particularly 45° or more.
4. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the collection container (13) has a collection region (18) formed above the sedimentation region (22) for the liquid (12) supplied by the filter device (17).
5. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the filter device (17) is positioned above the collection container (13), particularly on the cover (16) that covers it.
6. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the liquid drain (24) is connected to a discharge line (15; 29), and through therethe the liquid (12) in which any solid particles are present can be directly and / or indirectly transported to the filter device (17) by a pump device (P).
7. The aforementioned discharge lines (15; 29) - Liquid supply unit (30) to the filter device (17), and / or - The apparatus according to claim 6, characterized in that it is connected to a liquid supply unit (27) of a machine tool (11) related to the apparatus (10), and the machine tool (11) is provided with a liquid drain (28) that can supply the liquid accumulated in the machine tool (11) to the filter device (17).
8. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, further comprising an additional filter (31) upstream of the filter device (17), the sedimentation region (22), and / or the collection region (18), which can supply the liquid present in the liquid drain (24) together with the solid particles present therein.
9. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the settling region (22) is associated with a flushing device (25) having at least one flushing nozzle (26) aligned with the funnel base (21).
10. The apparatus according to claim 9, characterized in that the flushing nozzle (26) is aligned substantially tangentially with respect to the circumferential direction of the funnel base (21).