Abstract
The invention relates to a rotary press comprising at least one compression roll station (1) that can be mounted on a support plate (2) as well as to methods for attaching and detaching the compression roll station. According to the invention, the at least one compression roll station comprises a retaining device (21), and the rotary press comprises a support plate (2) with at least one cavity (22) for accommodating the retaining device (21) of the compression roll station.
Claims
1. A rotary press, in particular for producing tablets, the rotary press comprising: at least one compression roll station configured to receive compression rolls, the compression roll station including a holding device located at least partially inside the compression roll station, wherein the compression roll station is detachable from the rotary press and has a columnar construction; and a carrier plate including recesses configured to receive the holding device of the compression roll station, the holding device being configured to fix the compression roll station in the recesses of the carrier plate; wherein the holding device comprises locking elements which form in their entirety an annular locking unit with a variable diameter.
2. The rotary press according to claim 1, wherein the locking unit is designed to be adjustable in height, the holding device including an actuating rod which is arranged in the middle of the annular locking unit, the actuating rod configured to adjust the height of the locking unit.
3. The rotary press according to claim 2, wherein the actuating rod has a diameter which tapers in the lower area of the actuating rod.
4. The rotary press according to claim 2, wherein the diameter of the locking unit is maximum in a first position and minimum in a second position, wherein the diameter can be varied by the actuating rod.
5. The rotary press according to claim 4, wherein the locking elements of the locking unit are pressed in the first position onto an inner wall of the recess of the carrier plate.
6. The rotary press according to claim 4, wherein the diameter of the locking unit in the second position is smaller than the diameter of the recess of the carrier plate.
7. The rotary press according to claim 4, wherein the holding device is located completely inside the compression roll station in a third position.
8. The rotary press according to claim 4, wherein the compression roll station is configured to be shifted as well as pivoted on the carrier plate of the rotary press in the third position.
9. The rotary press according to claim 2, wherein the actuating rod is movable hydraulically, pneumatically, mechanically and/or electromechanically.
Description
(1) The invention is described in detail using preferred exemplary embodiments and the following figures. In particular, the FIGS. 1 to 6 show a rotary press with a compression roll station comprising a holding device, wherein the movement of the actuating rod and the operation of the locking unit takes place a bipartite hydraulic cylinder in the lower area of the compression roll station and by a pneumatic cylinder in the recess of the carrier plate.
(2) FIG. 1 shows a side view of a preferred embodiment of a compression roll station with a holding device according to the invention,
(3) FIG. 2 shows an enlarged side view of a preferred embodiment of a holding device according to the invention,
(4) FIG. 3 shows a side view of a preferred embodiment of the holding device according to the invention with a representation of a first step for loosening a spread position of the locking elements,
(5) FIG. 4 shows a preferred embodiment of the holding device according to the invention in the loosened state,
(6) FIG. 5 shows a preferred embodiment of the holding device according to the invention in a rotor replacement position, and
(7) FIG. 6 shows a side view of a preferred embodiment of the pneumatic cylinder in the carrier plate in its rest position.
(8) FIG. 1 shows a side view of a compression roll station (1) as component of a rotary press with an upper (25) and a lower pressure roll (26) by which the pressing forces for manufacturing, for example, a tablet are transferred onto the pressing tools. Furthermore, FIG. 1 shows a carrier plate (2) of the rotary press on which the compression roll station (1) is arranged. The fastening of the compression roll station (1) to the carrier plate (2) takes place by a holding device (21) whose construction and functioning are shown in the other figures. In addition, FIG. 1 shows a central axis (35) in the central position in the interior of the compression roll station (1) of the rotary press.
(9) FIG. 2 shows an enlarged side view of a holding device (21) according to the invention which is arranged on a carrier plate (2) of a rotary press. FIG. 2 shows in particular a first position of the locking elements (10) which is preferably also designated as the spread position. The locking elements (10) lie in a piston bore (22) inside the carrier plate (2) of the rotary press in a clamped manner, wherein this piston bore (22) is also preferably designated in the sense of the invention as a recess. The locking elements (10) together form a locking unit (37). An inner piston (8) of a bipartite hydraulic cylinder (3) is pressed upward by a plate spring packet (7), as a result of which the locking elements (10) are pressed against the lower shoulder of a clamping collar (24) or projection inside the recess (22) of the carrier plate (2). The force of the plate spring packet (7) is preferably transferred by an actuating rod (13) to pressure pins (12) which cooperate with the locking elements (10) of the locking unit (37). The actuating rod (13) comprises an upper area (13 a) and a lower area (13 b), wherein the diameter of the upper area (13 a) corresponds to the diameter of the inner area of the compression roll station (1). The diameter of the upper area (13 a) is in particular greater than the diameter of the lower area (13 b) of the actuating rod (13). The lower area (13 b) of the actuating rod (13) is formed by a tapering area starting from the upper area (13 a) and by a lowest area with a constant diameter. In FIG. 2 the pressure pins (12) are in contact with the upper area (13 a) of the actuating rod (13). The pressure pins (12) are pressed outward as a result, which presses the locking elements (10) of the locking unit (37) against the inner wall (31) of the recess (22) in the carrier plate (2). In the exemplary embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 2 the movement of the actuating rod (13) takes place by a pneumatic piston (16) present in a bottom area of the piston bore (22). The pneumatic piston (16) comprises a pneumatic connection (19) and is surrounded by a pneumatic cylinder (14) and the compressed air chamber (23). This compressed air chamber (23) can be filled with compressed air when the pneumatic connection (19) is open. The pneumatic piston (16) is attached by fastening means to the bottom of the carrier plate (2) and furthermore comprises a sealing sleeve (15) which tightly closes the compressed air chamber (23).
(10) As FIG. 2 shows, there is a contact between the lower area (13 b) of the actuating rod (13) and the upper area of the pneumatic piston (16). It can also be clearly seen that in this arrangement between the lower closure (32) of the holding device (21) and the upper area of the pneumatic piston (16) there is a free space (30) inside the recess (22) of the carrier plate (2). In the position of the pneumatic piston (16) shown in FIG. 2 the pneumatic connection (19) is not loaded with compressed air.
(11) The locking elements (10) are provided with a circumferential annular spring (11) which exerts a spring force on the locking elements (10). This spring force is directed in particular inward, that is, for example in the direction of the actuating rod (13) centrally arranged inside the compression roll station (1). The spring force has the result that the locking elements (10) move inward, as a result of which the diameter of the locking unit (37) is reduced when the pressure pins (12) are not pressed outward by an actuating rod (13). FIG. 2 shows in particular the locking unit (37) which has its maximum diameter in the spread position. This maximum diameter is in particular greater than the inside diameter of a clamping collar (24) which is also designated as a projection or clamping flange and forms the upper area of the recess (22) of the carrier plate (2).
(12) The upper closure of the holding device (21) is formed by a cylinder bottom (5). The upper area of the holding device (21), which is not designed to be movable and is in the lower area of a compression roll station (1), comprises hydraulic connections (17, 18) which cooperate with different hydraulic pistons (8, 9). These two hydraulic pistons (8, 9) form an inner (8) and an outer piston (9) of a bipartite hydraulic cylinder (3). Pressure springs (6) are arranged in the transition area between the hydraulic pistons (8, 9). The hydraulic pistons (8, 9) can be moved by the hydraulic connections (17 and 18). The hydraulic cylinder (3) comprises a cylinder cover (4) as the lower closure of the compression roll station (1) and comprises a cylinder bottom (5) as the upper closure of the holding device. Seals (20) close the various work areas inside the hydraulic cylinder (3) against each other.
(13) FIG. 3 shows a side view of the holding device (21) of the invention, in particular a first step for loosening the spread position of the locking elements (10), with which the fastening of the compression roll station (1) inside the recess (22) of the carrier plate (2) of the rotary press is ensured. In order to loosen the spread position, the compressed air connection (19) is loaded with compressed air, as a result of which the pneumatic piston (16) is moved upward, that is, in the direction of the compression roll station (1). As a result of this upward movement of the pneumatic piston (16) the actuating rod (13) is pushed into the inner piston (8) of the holding device (21). The top of the pneumatic cylinder (33) makes contact here with the bottom (32) of the holding device (21). As a result of the upward movement of the pneumatic cylinder (16) and the shifting of the actuating rod (13) which this brings about into the inner piston (8) of the hydraulic cylinder (3), the free space (26) in the upper area of the holding device is reduced. As a result of the upward movement of the actuating rod (13), the lower area (13 b) of the actuating rod (13) is now at the level of the pressure pins (12). This lower area (13 b) has a smaller diameter than the upper area (13 a) of the actuating rod (13), as a result of which there is now no more contact between the pressure pins (12) and the actuating rod (13). The pressure pins (12) are therefore now free in their movement; however, the circumferential spring (11) cannot yet press the locking elements (10) inward and therefore reduce the diameter of the locking unit (37) since the locking elements (10) are still firmly pressed against the clamping collar (24) by the plate spring packet (7). The plate spring packet (7) draws the locking unit (37) here against the bottom of the compression roll station (1) and also draws the locking elements (10) against the clamping collar (24).
(14) FIG. 4 shows the side view of a preferred embodiment of the holding device (21) of the invention in the so-called loosened state. In order to loosen the locking elements (10), the chamber (25) is loaded with oil pressure via the hydraulic connection (18) for activating the outer piston (9). As a result of this oil pressure the plate spring packet (7) is pressed downward by the outer piston (9), wherein this compact state of the plate spring packet (7) is designated as on block. The compression of the plate spring packet (7) creates a free space (34) above the outer piston (9). The inner piston (8) follows the movement of the outer piston (9) due to the oil pressure parallel to the loading of the chamber (25) with oil pressure by the hydraulic connection (18), as a result of which the pneumatic piston (16) is simultaneously pressed down by the same amount since the pneumatic pressure is less than the hydraulic pressure. As a result of the slight downward movement of the inner piston (8) the locking elements (10) of the locking unit (37) are loosened from the clamping collar (24). As a consequence, the locking elements (10) can be drawn in by the tightened, circumferential ring spring (11) inward into the groove (27). The holding device (21) of the compression roll column (1) is now no longer tightened, that is, it is no longer in a spread position but rather in a loosened position. The compression roll station (1) can be rotated in this loosened position, for example, about its own axis (35) but cannot be shifted laterally manually since parts of the holding device (21) are still present inside the recess (22) of the carrier plate (2) of the rotary press. These components of the holding device (21) located in the recess and/or the piston bore (22) oppose the ability of the compression roll station (1) to be shifted manually.
(15) FIG. 5 shows the side view of a preferred embodiment of the holding device (21) according to the invention in a rotor replacement position of the holding device (21). This is characterized in that now all components of the holding device (21) are located inside the compression roll station (1), as a result of which a decoupling of the compression roll station (1) from the carrier plate (2) becomes possible. To this end, at first the oil pressure on the hydraulic connection (18) is turned off. At the same time the air pressure on the pneumatic connection (19) is elevated, wherein the pneumatic piston (16) is moved upward and as a result the inner piston (8) of the hydraulic cylinder (3) is pushed with the support of the pressure spring (6) completely into the hydraulic cylinder (3). In the highest position of the pneumatic piston (16) inside the piston bore (22) there is an offset with an O-ring as seal (20). This offset moves in the highest position into the clamping collar (24) and therefore reliably closes the opening in the top of the carrier plate (2). The holding device (21) uses no energy in this rest position. The pneumatic piston (16) in the carrier plate (2) can remain loaded with a slight air pressure in order that the piston (16) does not drop down and the sealing function of the O-ring remains preserved.
(16) FIG. 6 shows the pneumatic cylinder (16) in the carrier plate (2) in a rest position. The pneumatic connection (19) is loaded by a slight excess pressure so that the pneumatic piston (16) does not drop down so that the sealing function of the O-ring (36) remains preserved. The fastening of the compression roll station (1) takes place practically in the inverse sequence to the one just described. After the compression roll station (1) has been precisely placed over a clamping position above a recess (22) of a carrier plate (2), the hydraulic connection (18) is loaded with pressure. As a result, the inner piston (8) drops down against the pressure of the pressure spring (6), wherein the pneumatic piston (16) is pressed downward in parallel until the inner piston (8) is seated by its stop on the outer piston (9). Subsequently, the oil pressure is raised in such a manner that the spring packet (7) is compressed, wherein a free space (34) is created and the inner piston (8) can move somewhat deeper into the bore (22) of the carrier plate (2). Then, the additional hydraulic connection (17) is loaded with oil pressure, as a result of which the actuating rod (13) is moved downward in the cylinder bottom (5) down to its stop. As a result of the tapering of the actuating rod (13) in a transitional area between an upper area (13 a) and a lower area (13 b) of the actuating rod (13), the latter presses the pressure pins (12,) and the locking elements (10) connected to them outward during the downward movement until the locking movement (37) has reached its maximum diameter and the locking elements (10) rest on the inner wall (31) of the recess (22). The oil pressure on the hydraulic connections (17, 18) is now turned off. As a consequence, the plate spring packet (7) is relaxed and draws the locking elements (10) by the inner piston (8) against the shoulder of the clamping collar (24). This achieves a stable fastening of the compression roll station (1) inside the recess (22) of the carrier plate (2).
LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS
(17) 1 compression roll station 2 carrier plate 3 hydraulic cylinder 4 cylinder top 5 cylinder bottom 6 pressure spring 7 plate spring packet 8 inner piston 9 outer piston 10 locking elements 11 circumferential ring spring 12 pressure pins 13 actuating rod 13a upper area of the actuating rod 13b lower area of the actuating rod 14 pneumatic cylinder 15 sealing sleeve 16 pneumatic piston 17 hydraulic connection P1 18 hydraulic connection P2 19 Pneumatic connection P3 20 seals 21 holding device 22 piston bore or recess 23 compressed air chamber 24 clamping collar 25 hydraulic chamber for outer piston (9) 26 hydraulic chamber for outer piston (9) or for actuating rod (13) 27 groove 28 upper pressure roll 29 lower pressure roll 30 free space inside the recess (22) between holding device (21) and Pneumatic piston (16) 31 inner wall of recess (22) 32 lower closure of the holding device (21) 33 top of the pneumatic piston (16) 34 free space produced by compressing the plate spring packet (7) 35 central axis of the holding device (21) 36 O-ring 37 locking unit
