CENTRIFUGE BASKET

Abstract

A centrifuge basket includes a support basket with a support base and a support wall circumferentially extending around a basket axis of the centrifuge basket. The support base and the support wall have a plurality of through openings with passage areas of at most 500 square millimeters, and a filter fabric which is arranged in the support basket and covers the support base and the support wall on the inside. The filter fabric includes, viewed in a cross-section through the centrifuge basket, a plurality of regions distributed over a circumference which are formed radially inwards with respect to a circular basic shape of the filter fabric.

Claims

1. Centrifuge basket comprising: a support basket with a support base and a support wall extending circumferentially around a basket axis of the centrifuge basket, wherein the support base and the support wall include a plurality of through openings with passage areas of at most 500 square millimeters, and a filter fabric arranged in the support basket and covering the support base and the support wall inside, wherein the filter fabric includes, viewed in a cross-section through the centrifuge basket, a plurality of raised regions distributed over a circumference of the centrifuge basket which are formed radially inwards with respect to an overall circular shape of the filter fabric.

2. The centrifuge basket according to claim 1, wherein the raised regions form ribs.

3. The centrifuge basket according to claim 1, wherein a thickness of the filter fabric is smaller than a radial extension of each raised region.

4. The centrifuge basket according to claim 1, wherein the raised regions extend in an axial direction of the support wall.

5. The centrifuge basket according to claim 4, wherein an axial extension of each raised region is greater than 0.5 times an axial extension of the support wall.

6. The centrifuge basket according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of structural elements are arranged circumferentially distributed on an inner side of the supporting wall, wherein the raised regions of the filter fabric are formed and supported by the structural elements.

7. The centrifuge basket according to claim 6, wherein the structural elements are arranged radially outside the filter fabric.

8. The centrifuge basket according to claim 6, wherein the structural elements are arranged radially between the filter fabric and the support wall.

9. The centrifuge basket according to claim 6, wherein the structural elements are configured as bar profiles.

10. The centrifuge basket according to claim 1, wherein the filter fabric is firmly connected to the support basket.

11. The centrifuge basket according to claim 1, wherein the filter fabric has a mesh size of 0.5 to 1.5 millimeters and a wire thickness of 0.125 to 1.4 millimeters.

12. The centrifuge basket according to claim 1, wherein the support wall and the support base are made from coarse meshed wire fabric with a mesh width of 8 millimeters to 16 millimeters.

13. The centrifuge basket according to claim 12, wherein the coarse meshed wire fabric is a punched mesh.

14. The centrifuge basket according to claim 12, wherein the coarse meshed wire fabric of the support wall includes first wires and second wires, with the first wires and the second wires enclosing angles of 30 to 60 degrees with respect to an axis parallel to the basket axis.

15. The centrifuge basket according to claim 1, wherein the support basket has a support ring connected to the support wall at a level of the support base, and wherein the centrifuge basket has a holding flange with an opening for loading and unloading the centrifuge basket with bulk parts.

Description

DRAWINGS

[0040] In order that the disclosure may be well understood, there will now be described various forms thereof, given by way of example, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0041] FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of three centrifuge baskets according to a first form of the teachings of the present disclosure, wherein the three centrifuge baskets are combined to form a centrifuge basket arrangement in accordance with the teachings of the present disclosure;

[0042] FIG. 2 is a bottom perspective view of the centrifuge baskets of FIG. 1;

[0043] FIG. 3 is a perspective sectional view of one of the centrifuge baskets of FIG. 1;

[0044] FIG. 4 is a side view of a portion of a support basket of the centrifuge basket of FIG. 3;

[0045] FIG. 5 is a side view of a portion of a filter fabric of the centrifuge basket of FIG. 3;

[0046] FIG. 6 is a top view of the centrifuge basket of FIG. 3;

[0047] FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the centrifuge basket of FIG. 6 taken along the line VII-VII shown in FIG. 6; and

[0048] FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the centrifuge basket arrangement of FIG. 1, illustrated with a portion of a handling system according to the teachings of the present disclosure.

[0049] The drawings described herein are for illustration purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure in any way.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0050] The following description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the present disclosure, application, or uses. It should be understood that throughout the drawings, corresponding reference numerals indicate like or corresponding parts and features.

[0051] FIGS. 1 and 2 show an example centrifuge basket arrangement or assembly 1 including three centrifuge baskets 2 according to one form of the present disclosure. In FIGS. 3 to 7, a centrifuge basket 2 according to the present disclosure is shown in detail. In FIG. 8, the centrifuge basket arrangement 1, with the three centrifuge baskets 2, is shown in a handling system 3 according to the teachings of the present disclosure for transporting the centrifuge basket arrangement 1 between stations of a coating device for treating bulk parts.

[0052] The centrifuge basket arrangement 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 has a holding flange 4 which is configured to be rotatable about an axis of rotation A. The holding flange 4 is located in a plane spanned by a spatial direction X and a spatial direction Y. The axis of rotation A runs parallel to a spatial direction Z. The spatial directions X, Y, Z are defined in terms of a Cartesian coordinate system associated with the holding flange 4 and are indicated by respective arrows in FIG. 1.

[0053] Three centrifuge baskets 2 according to the teachings of the present disclosure for holding bulk parts are arranged at the holding flange 4. For each centrifuge basket 2, the holding flange 4 has an opening 5 for the bulk parts for filling and emptying the centrifuge baskets 2. The centrifuge baskets 2 are open at their upper sides facing the holding flange 4 and are fastened, e.g., welded, at their upper ends to the holding flange 4.

[0054] Three clamping bolts 6 are arranged on the holding flange 4 for reversibly releasably fastening the centrifuge basket arrangement 1 to a basket carrier of a centrifuge system (not shown), which can be one of several stations of the coating device. The clamping bolts 6 are insertable into clamping modules of the basket carrier (not shown) and clampable therein. In one example, the clamping modules can be pneumatically actuated centering clamps, also called zero point clamps.

[0055] The configuration of the centrifuge baskets 2 attached to the holding flange 4 is described in more detail below. The centrifuge baskets 2 are identical to one another and are each rotationally symmetrical with respect to their respective basket axis K. The basket axes K run parallel to and radially spaced from the central axis of rotation A of the centrifuge basket arrangement 1, about which the centrifuge basket arrangement 1 is rotatingly drivable. FIGS. 3 to 7 show a centrifuge basket 2 according to the disclosure in greater detail, respectively individual details thereof in enlarged partial representation.

[0056] The centrifuge basket 2 includes a cylindrical basket wall 7 running in the circumferential direction around the basket axis K and a basket base 8 at an end of the basket opposite to the opening 5. The basket wall 7 and the basket base 8 have a sandwich-like structure and are configured to be permeable to liquids. Specifically, the centrifuge basket 2 includes a support basket 9 with a support wall 10 extending in circumferential direction about the basket axis K and a support base 11. Furthermore, the centrifuge basket 2 includes a filter fabric 12 with a wall-side fabric portion 13 extending circumferentially around the basket axis K and a base-side fabric portion 14. The filter fabric 12 is arranged in the support basket 9, with the wall-side fabric portion 13 covering the support wall 10 and the base-side fabric portion 14 covering the support base 11 on the inside.

[0057] The support or stabilizing basket 9 has a plurality of through openings 15 formed in the support wall 10 and in the support base 11. In FIG. 3, for the sake of simplicity, only some of the through openings are provided with the reference sign 15. The through openings 15 each have a passage area of at most 500 square millimeters, which includes that the passage area of the through openings is 500 square millimeters or less on average. Specifically, the support wall 10 and the support base 11 may be made of a coarse-mesh wire mesh. The coarse-mesh wire mesh may have a mesh size M9 and in one form can be of at least 8 millimeters and at most 16 millimeters. In an exemplary form, a wire mesh made of metal can be used in which the mesh size M9 may be approximately 12 millimeters. The wire mesh can be a punched mesh with square meshes, which has first wires 16 and second wires 17. As can be seen in particular in FIG. 4, the wires 16, 17 are woven at cross points 18, pressed and not welded. However, it is also generally possible that the wires 16, 17 are welded together at the cross points 18. The wires 16, 17 have equal wire thicknesses S9, which can be in a range from 2.5 to 6.3 millimeters and, may be approximately 4 millimeters for example.

[0058] FIGS. 1 to 3 show that the coarse mesh wire fabric of the support wall 10 is oriented diagonally. In other words, the first wires 16 and the second wires 17 include angles α of between 30 to 60 degrees with respect to a parallel to the basket axis K. For example, the angle may be approximately 45 degrees.

[0059] It can be seen that, at an axial end of the support wall remote from the base, the ends of the first wires 16 and the second wires 17 are connected to a ring-shaped metal sheet 19, e.g., by welding. The metal sheet 19 is inserted in the opening 5 of the holding flange 4 and may be welded to the holding flange 4. Additionally or alternatively, the wires 16, 17 may be welded to the holding flange 4. For stiffening the support basket 9, the bottom end of the support wall 10 is embraced by a support ring 20, which is tacked, e.g., welded, to the support wall 10 from radially outside. The support base 11 may be embraced by an annular metal sheet 21 or plate, which may be arranged radially between the support base 11 and the support wall 10 and has a stabilizing effect. The base-side ends of the wires 16, 17 of the support wall 10 and the peripheral ends of the wires of the support base 11 can be connected to the metal sheet 21, e.g., welded. However, it is also possible that the wires 16, 17 of the support wall 10 and the wires of the support base are directly welded to each other, in which case the ring metal sheet 21 could be omitted.

[0060] Compared to the coarse-mesh wire fabric of the support basket 9, the filter fabric 12 has a finer mesh. In contrast to the support basket 9, the mesh filter fabric 12 does not assume a support function, but serves for filtration so that the bulk parts received in the centrifuge basket 2 are retained therein during centrifuging and the excess treatment liquid can be removed away to the outside.

[0061] The filter fabric 12 can have sieve openings, or meshes 28, each with a mesh size M12 of 0.5 to 1.5 millimeters, for example. According to one example, the mesh size M12 of the filter fabric 12 may be approximately 1.0 millimeter. The filter fabric 12 can be a wire fabric, which can be produced, for example, in twill weave, as shown in enlarged partial representation in FIG. 5. The fine-mesh wire fabric has first wires 22 and second wires 23, each having a wire thickness S12 of at least 0.125 millimeter and at most 1.4 millimeter. The wire gauge S12 of the first wires 22 and the second wires 23, can be approximately 1.0 millimeter. The filter fabric 12 is firmly connected to the support basket 9, e.g., welded, and is supported on the latter in a planar manner. For the sake of simplicity, only some of the reference signs 22, 23, 28, S12 are shown in FIG. 5.

[0062] In FIG. 6, it can be seen that the filter fabric 12 has, distributed over the circumference, a plurality of regions 24 projecting radially inwards relative to a circular basic shape, if viewed in a plan view respectively cross-section through the basket 2. The circular basis shape of the filter fabric 12 results from the cylindrical support basket 9, against which the filter fabric 12 rests from the inside and is supported towards the outside. The projecting regions 24 serve as entrainment and/or movement means which entrain and/or move the bulk parts to be treated when the centrifuge basket 2 is rotated. The circular basic shape is defined by an imaginary first circle C1, whose center is on the basket axis K and which has a first radius R1. The filter fabric 12 projects with the regions 24 further into the interior of the basket, wherein the projecting regions 24 end on an imaginary second circle C2, the center of which lies on the basket axis K and which has a second radius R2. The second radius R2 is thus smaller than the first radius R1. The difference between the first radius R1 and the second radius R2 corresponds to the radial extent D24 of the respective protruding region 24. The radial extent D24 can be at least 3 millimeters and at most 50 millimeters, for example.

[0063] The projecting regions 24 of the filter fabric 12 may be spaced at regular angular intervals β around the circumference. For example, the angular spacing β between two adjacent projecting regions 24 may be between 10 and 180 degrees. It can be seen in FIG. 6 that the filter fabric 12 has nine projecting regions 24 in this example, with the angular spacing β between two adjacent projecting regions 24 thus being 40 degrees.

[0064] The protruding regions 24 are formed in a bead-like or rib-like manner, wherein a thickness D12 of the filter fabric 12 is smaller than the radial extension D24 of the respective protruding region 24. The protruding regions 24 extend in the axial direction and have a length in axial direction which corresponds at least approximately to the height of the supporting wall 10.

[0065] A plurality of circumferentially distributed structural elements 26 are arranged on an inner side 25 of the support basket 9, in particular of the support wall 10, to support the protruding regions 24. The protruding regions 24 of the wall-side fabric portion 13 of the filter fabric 12 are supported on the structural elements 26. In the circumferential direction between the structural elements 26, the wall-side fabric portion 13 of the filter fabric 12 is supported on the curved inner side 25 of the support wall 10. Accordingly, the structural elements 26 are arranged radially outside the filter fabric 12, respectively radially between the filter fabric 12 and the support wall 10. Thus, the structural elements 26 lie in the basket wall 7 of the centrifuge basket 2.

[0066] The structural elements 26 can be configured as bar profiles. In particular, it can be seen in FIG. 6 that the structural elements 26 can be round profiles. The structural elements 26 can be made of a solid metallic material. The structural elements 26 can be connected to the support wall 10 and the support base 11 at their axial ends, e.g., by welding.

[0067] Further, the centrifuge basket arrangement 1 may include support struts 27 that support the bottom ends of the centrifuge baskets 2 against each other.

[0068] Unless otherwise expressly indicated herein, all numerical values indicating mechanical/thermal properties, compositional percentages, dimensions and/or tolerances, or other characteristics are to be understood as modified by the word “about” or “approximately” in describing the scope of the present disclosure. This modification is desired for various reasons including industrial practice, material, manufacturing, and assembly tolerances, and testing capability.

[0069] As used herein, the phrase at least one of A, B, and C should be construed to mean a logical (A OR B OR C), using a non-exclusive logical OR, and should not be construed to mean “at least one of A, at least one of B, and at least one of C.”

[0070] The description of the disclosure is merely exemplary in nature and, thus, variations that do not depart from the substance of the disclosure are intended to be within the scope of the disclosure. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.