Abstract
A processing device for processing material to be processed includes a stationary housing with a feed opening for feeding material to be processed and a rotor which is arranged in the stationary housing so as to be rotatable about a vertically extending rotor axis. A plurality of bearing pins is fastened to a base element of the rotor adjacent to the outer circumference of the base element. A processing element is mounted on each of the bearing pins, and the radially outer ends of the processing elements form a processing gap with an inner circumferential wall of the stationary housing. The free ends of the bearing pins are connected to one another via a connecting disc.
Claims
1. Processing device for processing material to be processed, comprising a stationary housing having a feed opening for feeding material to be processed, and a rotor that is arranged in the stationary housing so as to be rotatable about a vertical rotor axis, a plurality of bearing pins being fastened to a base element so as to be adjacent to an outer circumference of the base element of the rotor, on each of which bearing pins a processing element is mounted, and radially outer ends of the processing elements, together with an inner circumferential wall of the stationary housing, forming a processing gap, wherein free ends of the bearing pins are interconnected by a connecting plate, wherein the inner circumferential wall of the stationary housing is protected at least in part by wall lining elements which, together with the radially outer ends of the processing elements, form the processing gap, and wherein at least one of the wall lining elements includes a first portion configured to extend over a height extension of the processing elements during operation of the processing device, and a second portion configured to extend beyond a height of the rotor during operation of the processing device.
2. Processing device according to claim 1, wherein the connecting plate is formed as a ring wheel.
3. Processing device according to claim 1, wherein the wall lining elements are immovably connected to the inner circumferential wall of the stationary housing.
4. Processing device according to claim 1, wherein the at least one wall lining element comprises a plurality of vertical ribs at least over a portion of the height extension of the processing elements.
5. Processing device according to claim 1, wherein the processing elements are U-shaped, free ends of the U-shape forming the radially outer ends of the processing elements, and an inside of a central portion of the U-shape of each of the processing elements being held, in the radial direction, on the corresponding bearing pin only by centrifugal forces occurring during operation.
6. Processing device according to claim 5, wherein a wedge-shaped projection is provided on the inside of the U-shape of each processing element, which projection engages in a wedge-shaped recess formed on each bearing pin.
7. Processing device according to claim 6, wherein an adapter elements is provided between each of the wedge-shaped recesses of the bearing pins and each of the wedge-shaped projections of the processing elements.
8. Processing device according to claim 1, wherein two portions of the processing element that are adjacent to the radially outer ends of the processing element extend so as to be mutually parallel.
9. Processing device according to claim 8, wherein inner surfaces of the mutually parallel portions are in contact with mutually parallel side faces of the bearing pin.
10. Processing device according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the processing elements is designed so as to be symmetrical with respect to a horizontal plane.
11. Processing device according to claim 1, wherein a conical distribution element is arranged on the base element of the rotor, which distribution element diverts material to be processed, which material is fed in vertically, in a radial direction relative to the vertical rotor axis.
12. Processing device according to claim 1, wherein the material to be processed that is fed in vertically is fed to the upper surface of the connecting plate or of an element connected thereto.
13. Processing device according to claim 1, wherein at least one vertical rib that is provided in the first portion extends into the second portion.
14. Processing device according to claim 1, wherein at least one vertical rib that is provided in the first portion ends at a position which, during operation of the processing device, is at least at a height of an upper edge of the processing elements but no higher than a height of an upper surface of the rotor.
15. Processing device according to claim 14, wherein the upper edge of the at least one rib is formed having a termination surface that extends obliquely away from the wall lining element and in the direction from the second portion to the first portion.
16. Processing device according to claim 1, wherein lateral edges of the wall lining elements comprise projections that mutually overlap in pairs.
17. Processing device according to claim 1, wherein at least one wear-protection element is arranged on an upper surface of the base element of the rotor.
18. Processing device according to claim 1, wherein at least one wear-protection element is arranged on a lower surface of the connecting plate and/or on an upper surface of the connecting plate.
19. Processing device according to claim 1, wherein at least one wear-protection element is arranged on an outer circumferential surface of the connecting plate and/or on an inner circumferential surface of the connecting plate.
20. Processing device according to claim 1, wherein at least one wear-protection element is arranged on a radially outer surface of the bearing pins.
Description
(1) The invention will be explained in greater detail in the following, with reference to the accompanying drawings and on the basis of two embodiments. In the drawings:
(2) FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the processing device according to the invention;
(3) FIG. 2 is a perspective cross-sectional view of a tower unit of the processing device from FIG. 1;
(4) FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a rotor of the processing device according to the invention, without processing and wear-protection elements attached thereto;
(5) FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the rotor from FIG. 3, comprising attached processing and wear-protection elements;
(6) FIG. 5 is a perspective cross-sectional view of the rotor from FIG. 4;
(7) FIG. 6 is a perspective cross-sectional view of a detail of the rotor from FIG. 4, the rotor being shown in a horizontal cross section;
(8) FIG. 7 is a plan view of a portion of the detail of the rotor from FIG. 6;
(9) FIG. 8 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the wall lining element according to the invention;
(10) FIG. 9 is a perspective rear view of the wall lining element from FIG. 8;
(11) FIG. 10 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a bearing-pin wear-protection element;
(12) FIG. 11 shows an embodiment of a wear-protection element of the outer circumferential surface of the connecting plate;
(13) FIG. 12 is a perspective cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 2 of the tower unit of a second embodiment comprising an upper wear-protection plate.
(14) FIG. 1 shows the processing device 10 according to the invention, which device comprises a tower unit 12 and a drive unit 14 that are arranged on a vibration isolator 16. The vibration isolator 16 is in turn supported by a base 18 that can be connected to the foundations of a factory building or to further components of a processing facility for example.
(15) The tower unit 12 comprises a stationary housing 20 which, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, is substantially cylindrical and comprises a feed opening 22 at the upper end thereof in order to be able to introduce material to be processed into the processing device 10. The material processed by the processing device 10 according to the invention can subsequently leave the processing device 10 through the base 18 for example, which base thus also functions as a material discharge point 24 in the embodiment of the processing device 10 according to the invention shown in FIG. 1.
(16) FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view from the side of the tower unit 12 from FIG. 1, the cutting plane extending through a central axis formed by the cylindrical shape of the housing 20. In this case, it can be seen in FIG. 2 that the stationary housing 20 defines an inner cavity into which the feed opening 22 leads. A rotor 26 is received in the cavity of the stationary housing 20, the underside of which rotor is connected, using reinforcement elements 28, to an upper end of a drive shaft 30 that is rotatably mounted by means of a bearing 32, an oil grease bearing in the embodiment shown in FIG. 2. A sheave 34 is provided at a lower end of the drive shaft 30, which sheave is connected to the drive shaft 30 for conjoint rotation and is connected to a corresponding output shaft of the drive unit 14 by means of a belt, for example a V-belt. In the embodiment shown here, the unit that drives the output shaft of the drive unit 14 is formed as an electric motor.
(17) The stationary housing 20 of the tower unit 12 is divided into a cover unit 36 and a pot unit 38, the cover unit 36 being able to be raised off the pot unit 38 by means of a pivot device 40 and pivoted away from the pot unit 38 and/or pivoted towards the pot unit 38 and lowered onto said unit.
(18) FIGS. 3 to 5 show the rotor 26 without the rest of the components of the processing device 10. As can be seen in FIG. 3, the rotor 26 comprises a base element 44 on which bearing pins 46 are arranged, which bearing pins extend upwards, substantially vertically, from a substantially horizontal upper surface of the base element 44. The bearing pins 46 are interconnected, at the upper surface thereof, by an annular connecting plate 48. On account of the bearing pins 46 being connected both by the connecting plate 48 and by the base element 44, forces acting on an individual bearing pin 46 are also distributed over the rest of the bearing pins 46.
(19) In this case, the bearing pins 46 are connected both to the base element 44 and to the connecting plate 48 by means of fastening screws 50 (only two of which have been provided with reference signs in FIG. 3). In order to prevent the fastening screws 50 from being subjected to forces acting transversely to a screw longitudinal extension direction of the fastening screws 50 in addition to the retaining force applied by said screws between the connecting plate 48 and the bearing pin 46 and/or between the bearing pin 46 and the base element 44, the bearing pins 46 are furthermore connected to the base element 44 and to the connecting plate 48 by means of fastening bolts 52, the fits of the fastening bolts 52 in the corresponding recesses compared with the fits of the fastening screws 50 in the corresponding recesses thereof always being selected such that forces, apart from the above-mentioned retaining forces, acting on one bearing pin 46 are distributed to the connecting plate 48 and/or to the base element 44, and thus to the rest of the bearing pins 46, via the bolts 52 and not via the fastening screws 50.
(20) On the radially inner side thereof relative to the base element 44, the bearing pins 46 comprise a V-shaped depression 54. On the side thereof opposite the V-shaped depression 54, the bearing pins 46 comprise receptacles 42 for bearing-pin wear-protection elements 56, as shown in FIGS. 3 to 5. It can furthermore be seen from FIG. 4 that the base element 44 is provided with a wear-protection plate 58 on the upper surface thereof and with first wear-protection elements 60 on the outer circumference thereof. The substantially discoid base element 44 is connected, on the upper surface thereof and in the region of the centre thereof, to an annular wear-protection plate 62, as can be seen in FIG. 5 for example, the central opening of which wear-protection plate in turn receives a wear-protection element comprising a conical mandrel 64. In the embodiment shown, the conical mandrel of the corresponding wear-protection element 64 comprises a central through-opening, via which at least the wear-protection element comprising the conical mandrel 64 can be connected to the drive shaft 30 by means of a fastening screw 66. As a result, the rotor 46 can be fastened to the drive shaft 30 at least in a direction that is axial thereto.
(21) It can furthermore be seen in FIGS. 4 and 5 that the connecting plate 48 comprises on the lower surface thereof a plurality of second wear-protection elements 68, connected to said plate, and comprises on the outer circumference thereof a plurality of third wear-protection elements 70, connected to said plate. The upper surface of the connecting plate 48 comprises an upper wear-protection plate 72, a first embodiment of said upper wear-protection plate 72 being shown in FIGS. 2 to 5. Similarly to the connection between the connecting plate 48 and/or the base element 44 and the bearing pins 46, at least the upper wear-protection plate 72, and optionally also the remaining wear-protection elements, is/are connected to the connecting plate 48 by means of bolts 74 and by means of fastening screws 76, the bolts 74 being designed to absorb the horizontal component of the forces acting on the upper wear-protection plate 72. The embodiment of the upper wear-protection plate 72 shown in FIGS. 2 to 5 comprises a central through-opening 78 having substantially the same diameter as the central opening of the annular connecting plate 48.
(22) Furthermore, processing elements 80 can be seen in FIGS. 4 and 5 which, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, are substantially U-shaped. A central portion of the U-shape that connects the two free legs of the U-shape is spaced apart from the associated bearing pin 46, optionally using adapter elements 82, in a direction radial to the base element 44. On the radially inner face thereof relative to the base element 44, the adapter elements 82 comprise a V-shaped recess which corresponds to a V-shaped projection on a side of the central portion of the U-shape of the processing element 80 facing the free legs of the U-shape, such that, when assembled, the V-shaped projection of one processing element 80 engages in the V-shaped recess of an adapter element 82 associated therewith. The adapter elements 82 comprise V-shaped projections on the radially outer side thereof, which projections can engage in the V-shaped depressions 54 on the bearing pins 46.
(23) It can furthermore be seen in FIG. 7 that the inner surfaces of the free legs of the U-shape of the processing elements 80 extend so as to be substantially mutually parallel, in the embodiment shown here said legs being slidably mounted on two lateral surfaces of an associated bearing-pin wear-protection element 56.
(24) The processing elements 80 are designed to be able to be produced by means of a casting process.
(25) FIGS. 6 and 7 show that an inner circumferential wall of the stationary housing 20 of the tower unit 12, in particular of the pot unit 38, is provided with wall lining elements 84. The wall lining elements 84 are shown in greater detail in FIGS. 8 and 9. In this case, the wall lining elements 84 are curved such that they can be attached in the circumferential direction along the inner circumferential surface of the stationary housing 20, so as to adjoin one another. In the embodiment shown here, one wall lining element 84 in each case comprises four parallel ribs 86 on the radially inner surface thereof, the two outer ribs 86 extending only over a first region 88, while the two inner ribs 86 extend both over the first region 88 and in part over a second region 90. In this case, the end faces of the two outer ribs 86 facing the second region 90 are inclined so as to extend radially inwards, towards the first region 88. In each case, a recess 92 for a fastening screw 94 is provided in the first region 88, between the outer rib 86 and the central rib 86 adjacent thereto (as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7). A further recess 92 for a fastening screw 94 is provided in the central region 90, between the two central ribs 86. The end faces of the wall lining elements 84 extending perpendicularly to the circumferential direction are provided with projections 95 such that, when the wall lining elements 84 are assembled, two adjacent wall lining elements 84 mutually overlap in each case (see FIGS. 6 to 9).
(26) FIG. 9 is a rear view of the wall lining element 84, in which three recesses 92 for the fastening screws 94 can be seen. Each recess 92 is surrounded by a projection 96. In this case, the projections 96 function as spacers from the inner circumferential surface of the stationary housing 20. A defined contact region is thus formed between the inner circumferential surface of the stationary housing 20 and the projections 96 of the wall lining elements 84. If the inner circumferential surface of the stationary housing 20 is provided with recesses corresponding to the projections 96, the projections 96 of the wall lining elements 84 can also be used for positioning the wall lining elements 84 on the inner circumferential surface of the stationary housing 20.
(27) In the following, the mode of operation of the processing device 10 will be described.
(28) Material to be processed that is introduced into the stationary housing 20 of the tower unit 12 via the feed opening 22 falls onto the base element 44 and/or onto the wear-protection elements and wear-protection plates fastened thereto. Due to the rotation of the rotor 26, which rotor is driven by the drive unit 14, a V-belt (not shown) and the drive shaft 30, the material to be processed that strikes the rotor is accelerated radially outwards such that it impacts against either a wall lining element 84 or a processing element 80 and can be crushed there. Material rebounding from the wall lining elements 84 is captured by the outer surfaces of the free legs of the U-shape of the processing element 80 and crushed further. Material that is present in the region of the wall lining elements 84 can be captured by the tips of the free ends of the U-shape of the processing elements 80, the spacing of which from the wall lining elements 84 defines a processing gap 98 (see FIGS. 6 and 7) in which the material to be processed is furthermore subjected to shearing stress and can thus be crushed further. Sufficiently crushed material subsequently falls through an outlet gap 100 between the wall lining elements 84 and the wear-protection elements attached to the base element 44, in particular the lower wear-protection plate 58, into a region below the base element 44, from where the processed material can be removed from the processing device 10 via the material discharge point 24.
(29) All the elements used for wear protection can be replaced if necessary. In particular, in the event of wear of the tips of the U-shape of the processing elements 80, and an associated widening of the processing gap 98, the processing gap 98 can be adjusted by radially displacing the processing elements 80. In order to achieve a radial displacement of the processing elements 80, the adapter elements 82 can be replaced by adapter elements 82 of an almost identical construction, of which only the spacing between the V-shaped recess and the V-shaped projection differs from the adapter elements 82. Selecting an adapter element having a suitable spacing between the V-shaped recess and the V-shaped projection makes it possible for the relevant processing element 80 to be radially positioned such that a desired processing gap 98 can be maintained.
(30) FIGS. 10 and 11 show two wear-protection elements by way of example, FIG. 10 showing a bearing-pin wear-protection element 56 and FIG. 11 showing a third wear-protection element 70 that is used to protect the outer circumferential surface of the connecting plate 48. The wear-protection elements 56 and 70 each comprise a support 56a and 70a, respectively, which is produced from metal, for example, and to which a hard-weld coating 56b and 70b, respectively, is applied, which coating functions as an impact layer for impacting material.
(31) FIG. 12 shows a second embodiment of a processing device according to the invention, or of the tower unit of said device, comprising a rotor, said device substantially corresponding to the processing device 10 according to FIGS. 1 to 11 and differing from the processing device 10 described above mainly in the embodiment of the upper wear-protection plate. Therefore, in FIG. 12, similar parts are provided with the same reference signs as in FIGS. 1 to 11 but increased by 100. The processing device 110 according to FIG. 12 will be described in the following only insofar as it differs from the embodiment according to FIGS. 1 to 11, reference hereby otherwise being explicitly made to the description of the embodiment according to FIGS. 1 to 11.
(32) The tower unit 112 shown in FIG. 12 comprises a stationary housing 120 in which a rotor 126 is received, said element being analogous to the embodiment described above. An annular connecting plate 148 that connects a plurality of bearing pins 146 is arranged on said plurality of bearing pins, on which plate an upper wear-protection plate 172 is in turn arranged.
(33) In comparison with the annular upper wear-protection plate 72 of the processing device 10, the upper wear-protection plate 172 of the processing device 110 is substantially discoid. This means that material to be processed that is introduced into the stationary housing 120 of the tower unit 112 through a feed opening 122 does not fall directly onto a base element 144 or onto wear-protection elements attached thereto, but instead first falls onto the upper wear-protection plate 172. From there, the material to be processed is accelerated radially outwards due to a rotation of the rotor 126, similarly to the material to be processed described above which strikes the base element 44 of the processing device 10 and is accelerated. On an outer circumferential wall of the stationary housing 120, the material to be processed strikes wall lining elements 184 which are identical to the wall lining elements 84 described above. The wall lining elements 184 are in particular arranged relative to the upper wear-protection plate 172 in such a way that a first region 188 (see reference sign 88 in FIG. 8) of the wall lining elements 184 is arranged below the upper surface of the upper wear-protection plate 172, such that material to be processed impacts the wall lining elements 184 in a second region 190 (see reference sign 90 in FIG. 8) of the wall lining elements 184, and ideally undergoes a first material crushing process there. The material to be processed can then fall from the second region 190 of the wall lining elements 184 into the first region 188 of the wall lining elements 184, and this is promoted by the above-described different embodiment of the second region 190 compared with the first region 188 of the wall lining elements 184, in order to be correspondingly processed in said first region in the manner described above.
(34) It can further be seen in FIG. 12 that a dog device 173 is arranged on the upper wear-protection plate 172, which dog device is cross-shaped in the embodiment shown here. The dog device 173 is connected to the upper wear-protection plate 172 by means of projections and/or fastening screws and associated recesses. In this case, the dog device 173 prevents the upper wear-protection plate 172 from moving through, below the material to be processed, without providing said material with a sufficient radial acceleration component.
(35) Since material to be processed that is introduced into the stationary housing 120 cannot fall centrally on the base element 144, there is no need to provide the radially innermost wear-protection element on the base element 144 with a conical mandrel, such as the wear-protection element comprising the conical mandrel 64 in the processing device 10, in order to distribute the material to be processed, striking said element, radially outwards from the centre.
(36) It should also be added that the connecting plate 148 which, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 12 is identical to the connecting plate 48, can also be discoid, for example, when using a discoid upper wear-protection plate 172.
