Pump Pre-Cutter Catch Design for Chip Chopping
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing pumps used in machine tools for circulating lubricating coolant emulsions contaminated with metal chippings have inefficiencies in chopping coarse contaminants, leading to potential clogging and reduced operational effectiveness.
Innovation Solution
The pre-cutter design is enhanced with outwardly angled catches at the free end of each wing, which obstructs the movement of chippings along the convexly curved edge, ensuring they are entrained and chopped by the anvil blocks, thereby improving chopping efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the pre-cutter uses simple wings without catches, then the device complexity is low, but the chopping efficiency is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The pre-cutter is divided into multiple wings (typically 2-4) radially distributed around the shaft, with each wing independently equipped with catches. This segmentation allows the chopping action to be distributed across multiple elements, increasing overall chopping efficiency while keeping each individual wing relatively simple in structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The catches are positioned at the free ends of the wings to preliminarily capture and hold chippings before they reach the anvil blocks. This preliminary action ensures that chippings are reliably suspended and positioned for subsequent chopping, improving chopping efficiency without requiring complex control mechanisms.
2Productivity
If the catches are designed to fully obstruct chipping movement, then chopping efficiency increases, but the device complexity and manufacturing difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of making the entire wing complex, the catch feature is localized to the free end of each wing where it is most needed. The catch can be implemented as a simple protrusion, notch, or step feature that is easy to manufacture using standard machining operations, while the rest of the wing maintains a simple curved geometry for easy fabrication.
3Productivity
If the catches are positioned to maximize chipping suspension, then chopping efficiency improves, but the likelihood of clogging increases
Solution Approach 1:
The catches are designed to dynamically interact with chippings during rotation - capturing them when they slide along the wing edge, suspending them briefly, and then releasing them as the wing rotates past the anvil blocks. This dynamic action ensures efficient chopping while preventing permanent accumulation that would cause clogging.
Solution Approach 2:
The catches operate in a periodic manner during each rotation cycle: capturing chippings as they slide onto the wing, holding them suspended during the rotation, and releasing them at the anvil block interaction zone. This periodic capture-and-release mechanism maintains high chopping efficiency while preventing continuous accumulation that would lead to clogging.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The enhanced pre-cutter design significantly increases the likelihood of chippings being chopped effectively, reducing the risk of clogging and improving the overall efficiency of the pump by ensuring chippings are suspended and fragmented by the anvil blocks.
Implementation Method 1
their edge forming the leading edge in the direction of rotation is curved convexly and permits the chippings to slide radially outwardly along that edge
Implementation Method 2
an outwardly angled catch that obstructs the movement of chippings that slide along the convexly curved edge of the wing... the chippings that impinge on the convexly curved edge of the wing and slide radially outwardly along that edge may not slip off the wing unob-structedly but are held back by the catch and are consequently entrained with the rotation of the pre-cutter
Implementation Method 3
The chippings will then impinge onto the anvil block and will be crashed or chopped due the relative movement of the wing and the anvil block
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3~4
AI summary
A pump having a cutting wheel and a pre-cutter (26) for cutting chippings that are contained in the medium pumped by the pump, the pre-cutter being driven by a shaft portion that projects axially from the cutting wheel and having a plurality of wings (28) that 5 extend radially from the shaft portion and have, when seen in a projection onto the plane orthogonal to the axis of the shaft portion (24), a curved shape such that their edge forming the leading edge in the direction of rotation is curved convexly, the pre-cutter being surrounded by a crest of anvil blocks at which the free ends of the wings (28) move past in a little distance when the pre-cutter rotates, wherein each wing (28) has at its free end an outwardly angled catch (40) that obstructs the movement of chippings that slide along the convexly curved edge of the wing (28).