Coolant system

Abstract

To provide a coolant device which prevents clogging of a hole of a screen and can reduce a filtration area.SOLUTION: A coolant device 10 has: a screen 37 which is arranged so as to divide a conveyor case 30 into upper and lower stages between a charge port 32 and a discharge port 36, and has a plurality of holes 38; and a conveyor driving mechanism 50 for circulating and moving a scraper 57 between the charge port 32 and the discharge port 36. The conveyor driving mechanism 50 includes a pair of endless chains 56, a scraper 57 bridged between the pair of endless chains 56, and a motor 51 as a driving device for rotating the pair of endless chains 56, and the scraper 57 can scrape the upper and lower surfaces of the screen 37.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a coolant device that separates foreign substances such as metals from a coolant and makes the coolant reusable.

Background Art

[0002] As a conventional coolant device, there is one described in Patent Document 1. According to this, coolant containing foreign substances from a machine tool is introduced into a conveyor case from an inlet of the conveyor case, and the foreign substances are lifted by a number of scrapers that circulate in the conveyor case, and are discharged from a discharge port provided at a position higher than the liquid level of the coolant in the conveyor case. And it was provided with a screen having a number of holes provided between the inlet and the discharge port so as to divide the conveyor case into upper and lower stages, and a conveyor drive mechanism that moves the scraper between the inlet and the discharge port while scraping on the screen.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] However, in the above coolant device, since the scraper only scrapes the upper surface of the screen, the holes in the screen are likely to be clogged, and it is necessary to increase the filtration area.

[0005] In view of the above circumstances, the present invention provides a coolant device that can prevent clogging of the holes in the screen and reduce the filtration area.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] The invention described in claim 1 is a coolant system that introduces coolant containing foreign matter from a machine tool into a conveyor case from an inlet, pulls up the foreign matter with a plurality of scrapers that circulate within the conveyor case, and discharges it from a discharge port provided at a position higher than the liquid level of the coolant in the conveyor case, Between the input port and the discharge port, a screen having multiple holes is installed so as to divide the conveyor case into upper and lower sections, A conveyor drive mechanism that circulates the scraper from the input port to the discharge port, It has, The conveyor drive mechanism comprises a pair of endless chains, a scraper stretched between the pair of endless chains, and a drive device for rotating the pair of endless chains. The scraper is capable of scraping the upper and lower surfaces of the screen.

[0007] According to this method, the scraper can prevent clogging of the screen's pores and reduce the filtration area by scraping the top and bottom surfaces of the screen.

[0008] Furthermore, the scraper is formed in a semi-cylindrical shape, with an external shape including a vertical surface portion located on the front side in the feeding direction and an arcuate surface portion located on the rear side of the vertical surface portion in the feeding direction.

[0009] According to this design, by making the scraper not a thin plate shape, but a semi-cylindrical shape with a thicker corner formed by a vertical surface and an arcuate surface, it becomes less likely for foreign objects such as chips to get caught, thus preventing malfunctions caused by foreign objects returning. Furthermore, even if the conveyor case is bent, the arcuate surface prevents interference with the conveyor case.

[0010] Furthermore, the diameter of the holes in the screen is formed to be larger than the thickness of the screen.

[0011] According to this method, when a foreign object approximately the same size as the hole diameter gets stuck in the hole, the foreign object will protrude from the screen, allowing it to be scraped off from either the top or bottom surface of the screen with a scraper, thus reducing the likelihood of clogging. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0012] [Figure 1] This is a partially fractured perspective view of a coolant device according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] This is a plan view of the same embodiment. [Figure 3] (A) of the same embodiment is a cross-sectional view taken along the line III-III in Figure 2, and (B) is a cross-sectional view taken along the line IIIB-IIIB in Figure 3(A). [Figure 4] This is a close-up diagram illustrating the scraper and screen. [Figure 5] This is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view of the rear of the same embodiment. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0013] An embodiment of the coolant device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the arrows in each drawing indicate the following: F for front, B for back, R for right, L for left, U for up, and D for down.

[0014] The coolant system 10, as outlined in Figures 1-5, comprises a chip conveyor 20 and a coolant tank 90. ​​Coolant containing foreign matter from the machine tool is introduced into the conveyor case 30 from the inlet 32, and the foreign matter is pulled up by multiple scrapers 57 that circulate within the conveyor case 30. The scraped-off mechanism 70 is then discharged from the outlet 36, which is located higher than the coolant level in the conveyor case 30. Note that internal structures such as the screen 37, endless chain 56, and scrapers 57 are omitted in Figures 1 and 2. Also, the scraping mechanism 70 is omitted in Figure 3.

[0015] The chip conveyor 20 comprises a conveyor case 30, a conveyor drive mechanism 50, and a scraping mechanism 70.

[0016] The conveyor case 30 is made of metal and is formed in a box shape having a horizontal portion 31 extending in the front-rear direction and an inclined portion 35 extending rearward and upward from the horizontal portion 31.

[0017] An inlet 32 through which coolant containing foreign matter discharged from a machine tool can flow is provided at the upper front side of the horizontal portion 31.

[0018] An outlet 33 formed as a through hole penetrating in the left-right direction is disposed at the lower rear side of the side surface of the horizontal portion 31. The outlet 33 enables the filtered coolant to be sent into the coolant tank 90.

[0019] An outlet 36 opening downward is provided at the rear end portion of the inclined portion 35.

[0020] In the chip conveyor 20, as shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, a screen 37 is disposed between the inlet 32 and the outlet 36 so as to divide the conveyor case 30 into upper and lower stages.

[0021] The screen 37 is formed of a steel plate, is arranged so as to surround a driven shaft 54 described later, and is arranged up to the vicinity of a drive shaft 52 described later. The screen 37 is fixed to the inner surface of the side wall of the conveyor case 30. A plurality of holes 38 penetrating in the vertical direction are disposed in a region from the central portion in the front-rear direction of the horizontal portion 31 of the screen 37 to the rear side of the driven shaft 54 described later.

[0022] In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the diameter r of the holes 38 formed in the screen 37 is formed larger than the plate thickness t of the screen 37.

[0023] The conveyor drive mechanism 50 includes a motor 51 as a drive device, a drive shaft 52, a driven shaft 54, a pair of endless chains 56, and a scraper 57.

[0024] The motor 51 is located on the outside of the left side wall of the inclined section 35, and a rotating shaft (not shown) is connected to the left end of the drive shaft 52.

[0025] The drive shaft 52 is rotatably mounted at its left end to the left side wall of the inclined section 35 via a bearing (not shown), and at its right end to the right side wall of the inclined section 35 via a bearing (not shown).

[0026] A pair of rear sprockets 53 are mounted on the drive shaft 52 so as to be parallel in the left-right direction.

[0027] The driven shaft 54 ​​is rotatably mounted at its left end to the left side wall of the inclined portion 35 via a bearing (not shown), and at its right end to the right side wall of the inclined portion 35 via a bearing (not shown).

[0028] A pair of front sprockets 55 are mounted on the driven shaft 54 ​​so as to be parallel in the left-right direction.

[0029] The endless chain 56 is positioned to span the rear sprocket 53 and the front sprocket 55. The pair of endless chains 56 are mounted parallel to each other in the left-right direction.

[0030] The scraper 57 has a rectangular vertical surface portion 58 positioned on the front side in the feeding direction, an arc-shaped surface portion 59 positioned behind the vertical surface portion 58 in the feeding direction and having a circular arc cross-section, and semicircular disc-shaped side portions 60 covering the left and right ends, and is hollow inside, with an external shape formed in a semi-cylindrical form.

[0031] The scraper 57 is mounted so as to span between a pair of endless chains 56.

[0032] More specifically, a plate-shaped attachment 56b, which extends from the plate 56a that constitutes the endless chain 56, and the side portion 60 of the scraper 57 are positioned opposite each other and attached by fastening with bolts and nuts at two points.

[0033] The scraper 57 is designed to scrape the top and bottom surfaces of the screen 37.

[0034] Based on the above, the conveyor drive mechanism 50 will circulate the scraper 57 between the input port 32 and the discharge port 36.

[0035] The drive shaft 52 is made movable by an existing tension adjustment mechanism (not shown). A cylindrical cover member 61 is positioned on the outside of the drive shaft 52, and a rectangular flat slide plate 62 extends diagonally downward and forward from the cover member 61.

[0036] The sliding plate 62 is sandwiched between the screen 37 and guide members 63, which are formed in the shape of a long rectangular column and attached to the left and right side walls of the inclined section 35, and is made slidable as the drive shaft 52 moves.

[0037] The scraping mechanism 70 includes an inner scraping section 71 and an outer scraping section 72.

[0038] The internal scraping section 71 is made up of an elastically deformable rectangular flat plate and extends diagonally downward and rearward from the cover member 61. The internal scraping section 71 is designed to scrape off foreign matter from the inner part when the scraper 57 rotates.

[0039] The outer scraping portion 72 has a contact portion 73 and a weight portion 74, and is bent in a V-shape when viewed from the left and right directions.

[0040] The contact portion 73 is formed in the shape of a rectangular flat plate, and the weight portion 74 is also formed in the shape of a rectangular flat plate with a weight attached to its lower end.

[0041] A shaft portion 75 extending in the left-right direction is provided at the boundary between the contact portion 73 and the weight portion 74, and the shaft portion 75 is pivotally supported on the left and right sides of the inclined portion 35 so as to be rotatable with respect to the left-right axis.

[0042] When the contact portion 73 comes into contact with the scraper 57, it rotates counterclockwise as shown in Figure 5, and the weight portion 74 also rotates counterclockwise accordingly. When the contact portion 73 and the scraper 57 are no longer in contact, the weight portion 74 returns to its original position due to its own weight.

[0043] The outer scraping section 72 is designed to scrape off foreign matter from the outer part when the scraper 57 rotates.

[0044] The coolant tank 90 is an existing coolant tank, and is designed to allow coolant to flow in as it is pushed out from the outlet 33. A high-precision filtration device (not shown) is installed inside the coolant tank 90, and the coolant can be further processed.

[0045] A pump 91 is installed in the coolant tank 90, and the pump 91 sends coolant to the machine tool, making the coolant reusable.

[0046] The operation of the coolant device 10 will now be described. Coolant containing foreign matter sent from the machine tool is introduced into the conveyor case 30 through the inlet 32. Driven by the motor 51, the endless chains 56, 56 rotate, and consequently, the scraper 57 also moves in a circulating manner with its vertical surface 58 facing forward in the feeding direction.

[0047] At this time, foreign objects smaller than the diameter of the holes 38 in the screen 37 pass through the holes 38 and settle.

[0048] Foreign objects larger than the diameter of the holes 38 in the screen 37 cannot pass through the holes 38 in the screen 37 and remain on the screen 37, and are then sent to the discharge port 36 by the scraper 57.

[0049] Foreign matter that is approximately the same size as the diameter of the hole 38 in the screen 37 will protrude from the hole 38, as shown in Figure 4, because the diameter r of the hole 38 formed in the screen 37 is larger than the thickness t of the screen 37. The foreign matter that protrudes from the hole 38 can be scraped off with the scraper 57, whether it is on the upper or lower surface of the screen 37.

[0050] The filtered coolant is sent from the outlet 33 into the coolant tank 90.

[0051] Furthermore, by giving the scraper 57 a semi-cylindrical outer shape with a thickness at the corner formed by the vertical surface portion 58 and the arcuate surface portion 59, foreign matter such as chips is less likely to get caught.

[0052] Even if foreign matter gets caught in the scraper 57, it will be scraped off by the inner scraping section 71 and the outer scraping section 72.

[0053] Furthermore, at the bent portion of the boundary between the horizontal portion 31 and the inclined portion 35 of the conveyor case 30, the arcuate surface portion 59 prevents interference with the inner surface of the conveyor case 30.

[0054] In the coolant system 10 with the above configuration, coolant containing foreign matter from a machine tool is introduced into the conveyor case 30 from the inlet 32, the foreign matter is pulled up by a plurality of scrapers 57 that circulate within the conveyor case 30, and discharged from the outlet 36 which is located at a position higher than the liquid level of the coolant in the conveyor case 30. Between the input port 32 and the discharge port 36, a screen 37 having multiple holes 38 is arranged to divide the conveyor case 30 into upper and lower sections, A conveyor drive mechanism 50 circulates the scraper 57 from the input port 32 to the discharge port 36, It has, The conveyor drive mechanism 50 comprises a pair of endless chains 56, 56, a scraper 57 stretched between the pair of endless chains 56, 56, and a motor 51 as a drive device for rotating the pair of endless chains 56, 56. The scraper 57 is designed to scrape the top and bottom surfaces of the screen 37.

[0055] According to this, the scraper 57 scrapes the upper and lower surfaces of the screen 37, preventing clogging of the holes 38 in the screen 37 and reducing the filtration area.

[0056] Furthermore, the scraper 57 is formed in a semi-cylindrical shape, including a vertical surface portion 58 located on the front side in the feeding direction and an arcuate surface portion 59 located on the rear side of the vertical surface portion 58 in the feeding direction.

[0057] According to this, by making the scraper 57 not a thin plate shape, but a semi-cylindrical shape with thickness at the corners composed of a vertical surface portion 58 and an arcuate surface portion 59, it is possible to prevent foreign objects such as chips from getting caught and to prevent malfunctions caused by foreign objects returning. Furthermore, even if the conveyor case 30 is configured to bend, the arcuate surface portion 59 can prevent interference with the conveyor case 30.

[0058] Furthermore, the diameter r of the holes 38 in the screen 37 is formed to be larger than the thickness t of the screen 37.

[0059] According to this, when a foreign object approximately the same size as the hole diameter gets stuck in the hole 38, the foreign object will protrude from the screen 37, and can be scraped off by the scraper 57 on either the upper or lower surface of the screen 37, thus making clogging less likely to occur.

[0060] The coolant system of the present invention is not limited to the configuration described herein. In other words, various design modifications are possible as long as they do not depart from the spirit of the present invention.

[0061] For example, the scraper 57 can be attached to the endless chain 56 using an existing mounting structure.

[0062] Furthermore, if the discharge of foreign matter is to be considered, the weight portion 74 of the outer scraping portion 72 can also be positioned on the outside of the inclined portion 35 of the conveyor case 30. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0063] 10 Coolant System 30 conveyor cases 32 Inlet 36 Outlet 37 screens 38 holes 50 Conveyor drive mechanism 56 Endless chain 57 Scraper 58 Vertical section 59. Circular arc surface r diameter t Plate thickness

Claims

1. A coolant system that introduces coolant containing foreign matter from a machine tool into a conveyor case through an inlet, removes the foreign matter using multiple scrapers that circulate within the conveyor case, and discharges it from an outlet located at a position higher than the coolant level in the conveyor case, Between the input port and the discharge port, a screen having multiple holes is installed so as to divide the conveyor case into upper and lower sections, A conveyor drive mechanism that circulates the scraper from the input port to the discharge port, It has, The conveyor drive mechanism comprises a pair of endless chains, a scraper stretched between the pair of endless chains, and a drive device for rotating the pair of endless chains. The coolant device is characterized in that the scraper has an external shape that includes a vertical surface portion located on the front side in the feeding direction and an arcuate surface portion located on the rear side of the vertical surface portion in the feeding direction, and is capable of scraping the upper and lower surfaces of the screen.

2. A coolant system that introduces coolant containing foreign matter from a machine tool into a conveyor case through an inlet, removes the foreign matter using multiple scrapers that circulate within the conveyor case, and discharges it from an outlet located at a position higher than the coolant level in the conveyor case, Between the input port and the discharge port, a screen having multiple holes is installed so as to divide the conveyor case into upper and lower sections, A conveyor drive mechanism that circulates the scraper from the input port to the discharge port, It has, The conveyor drive mechanism comprises a pair of endless chains, a scraper stretched between the pair of endless chains, and a drive device for rotating the pair of endless chains. The scraper is capable of scraping the upper and lower surfaces of the screen. A coolant device characterized in that the diameter of the holes in the screen is formed to be larger than the thickness of the screen.

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