Dispersing device

Abstract

To simplify the handling of a dispersing device (1) and for the unique identification of dispersing tools (5) that are connectable to a drive unit (3) of the dispersing device (1), it is provided that the dispersing tool (5) has a transponder (10) and the dispersing device has a transmitter-receiver unit (11) for reading out the transponder (10).

Claims

1. A dispersing device (1) having a drive unit (3) which has a drive (2), and having a dispersing tool (5) which has a shaft tube (4) and at the free end (6) of which, averted from the drive (2), there is provided a dispersing rotor (7) which can be driven by means of a rotor shaft (8) which is connectable or connected to the drive (2) and which is arranged in the shaft tube (4), wherein, the dispersing tool (5) has a transponder (10) and the dispersing device (1) has a transmitter-receiver unit (11) for reading out the transponder (10), wherein, the transponder (10) is configured for wirelessly transmitting data to the transmitter-receiver unit (11).

2. The dispersing device (1) as claimed in claim 1, wherein, the transmitter-receiver unit (11) of the drive unit (3) is configured for identification of the dispersing tool (5) by means of data storable or stored on the transponder (10).

3. The dispersing device (1) as claimed in claim 1, wherein, the transponder (10) is arranged on an outer side (12) of the shaft tube (4).

4. The dispersing device (1) as claimed in claim 1, wherein, the dispersing tool (5) has a coupling (14) on a drive-side end (13), the drive unit (3) has a counterpart coupling (15), designed to fit with said coupling (14), for the transmission of torques from the drive (2) to the rotor shaft (8).

5. The dispersing device (1) as claimed in claim 1, wherein, the transponder (10) is arranged such that, in the use position of the dispersing tool (5), said transponder is arranged on the dispersing tool (5) outside a medium for processing by the dispersing device (1).

6. The dispersing device (1) as claimed in claim 1, wherein, the transponder (10) is writable with the transmitter-receiver unit (11) being configured for writing to the transponder (10).

7. The dispersing device (1) as claimed in claim 1, wherein, at least one sensor (18) is arranged on the dispersing tool (5).

8. The dispersing device (1) as claimed in claim 7, wherein, the at least one sensor (18) is, for the transmission of measurement data, connectable to the transponder (10) by means of a sensor connection (19).

9. The dispersing device (1) as claimed in claim 8, wherein, the sensor connection (19) is arranged in a groove (21) formed into the shaft tube (4).

10. The dispersing device (1) as claimed in claim 8, wherein, the sensor connector (19) includes a sensor cable (23) which runs through a sensor tube (22).

11. The dispersing device (1) as claimed in claim 7, wherein, the at least one sensor (18) is of liquid-tight form.

12. The dispersing device (1) as claimed in claim 7, wherein, the at least one sensor (18) of the dispersing tool (5) is arranged in an open depression (24) on the shaft tube (4).

13. The dispersing device (1) as claimed in claim 7, wherein, the at least one sensor (18) includes one or more from a group consisting of: temperature sensor, pH value sensor, and pressure sensor.

14. The dispersing device (1) as claimed in claim 7, wherein, the at least one sensor (18) is located on or adjacent to the free end (6) of the shaft tube (4).

15. The dispersing device (1) as claimed in claim 1, wherein, the drive unit (3) has a control and/or regulation unit (25) which is connected, for exchange of data, to the drive (2) and to the transmitter-receiver unit (11) and by means of which the drive (2) is controllable and/or regulable in a manner dependent on data transmitted from the transmitter-receiver unit (11) to the control and/or regulation unit (25).

16. The dispersing device (1) as claimed in claim 15, wherein, the dispersing device (1) is connectable to, in the use position, a temperature-control device for controlling a temperature of medium for dispersal, wherein, the temperature-control device is controllable or regulable, by means of the control unit (25) of the dispersing device (1), in a manner dependent on data transmitted from the transponder (10).

17. The dispersing device (1) as claimed in claim 1, wherein, the transponder (10) has a data memory (26) on which dispersing-tool-specific data are storable.

18. The dispersing device (1) as claimed in claim 1, wherein, the transmitter-receiving unit (11) is formed in or on the drive unit (3).

19. The dispersing device (1) as claimed in claim 1, wherein, the dispersing tool (5) is detachably couplable to the drive (2) and/or to the drive unit (3).

20. The dispersing device (1) as claimed in claim 1, wherein, in the use position of the dispersing tool (5), said transponder (10) is arranged within a dispersing tool receptacle (17) provided on the drive unit (3).

21. The dispersing device (1) as claimed in claim 1, wherein, the transponder (10) is formed as a RFID chip.

Description

(1) Below, two exemplary embodiments of the dispersing device according to the invention will be described in more detail on the basis of the drawing. In the drawing, in part in a schematic illustration:

(2) FIG. 1 shows a perspective side view of a dispersing device according to the invention, wherein a drive unit of the dispersing device and a dispersing tool according to the invention connected to said drive unit can be seen,

(3) FIG. 2 shows a side view of the dispersing tool according to the invention illustrated in FIG. 1, with a tool coupling, formed as a bayonet-type tool coupling, at a drive-side end of the dispersing tool and with a stator at the free end, situated opposite the drive-side end, of the dispersing tool, wherein the dispersing tool is equipped, at its drive-side end, with a transponder formed as an RFID tag,

(4) FIG. 3 shows the dispersing tool according to the invention illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, wherein the dispersing rotor of the dispersing tool is illustrated in a cleaning position displaced forward out of the shaft tube of the dispersing tool,

(5) FIG. 4 shows a sectional side view of the dispersing tool according to the invention illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 3,

(6) FIG. 5 shows a sectional partial view of the dispersing device illustrated in FIG. 1, wherein a transponder on the shaft tube of the dispersing tool can be seen,

(7) FIG. 6 shows a perspective side view of the dispersing device illustrated in FIG. 1, with a further dispersing tool according to the invention, on the outer side of which there is arranged a temperature sensor,

(8) FIG. 7 shows a side view of the dispersing tool according to the invention illustrated in FIG. 6, wherein a dispersing rotor of the dispersing tool is illustrated in an arrangement in its working position in the interior of the shaft tube of the dispersing tool, and a temperature sensor which is arranged in an external depression of the shaft tube and which is connected by means of a sensor connection to the transponder of the dispersing tool can be seen,

(9) FIG. 8 shows the dispersing tool illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7 with its dispersing rotor in a cleaning position displaced forward out of the shaft tube,

(10) FIG. 9 shows a sectional side view of the dispersing tool according to the invention illustrated in FIGS. 6 to 8 with its dispersing rotor situated in a cleaning position, and

(11) FIG. 10 shows a sectional side view of the dispersing device according to the invention illustrated in FIG. 6 with a dispersing tool which has a temperature sensor and on whose end facing toward the drive the transponder can be seen.

(12) FIGS. 1 and 6 show a dispersing device denoted as a whole by 1, having a drive unit 3 which has a drive 2, and having a dispersing tool 5 which has a shaft tube 4. On a free end 6, averted from the drive 2, of the shaft tube 4 and thus also of the dispersing tool 5, there is provided a dispersing rotor 7 which can be driven by means of a rotor shaft 8 which is connectable, and in a use position is connected, to the drive 2 and which is arranged in the shaft tube 4.

(13) On the free end 6, averted from the drive 2, of the shaft tube 4 there is formed a stator 9, relative to which, during the operation of the dispersing device 1, the dispersing rotor 7 rotates and thus thoroughly mixes the medium for dispersal, which is not illustrated in the figures.

(14) The dispersing tool 5 has a transponder 10, and the dispersing device 1 has a transmitter-receiver unit 11 for reading out the transponder 10.

(15) The drive unit 3 is, by means of its transmitter-receiver unit 11, configured for identifying the dispersing tool 5 with the aid of data stored or stored on the transponder 10.

(16) All of the figures show that the transponder 10 is arranged on an outer side 12 of the shaft tube 4 of the dispersing tool 5. In the case of the dispersing device 1 illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 6, the transmitter-receiver unit 11 is formed within the drive unit 3.

(17) The dispersing tool 5 has a coupling 14 on its drive-side end 13 facing toward the drive unit 3 in the use position, and the drive unit 3 has a counterpart coupling 15, designed to fit with said coupling, for the transmission of torques from the drive 2 to the rotor shaft 8. Furthermore, on the dispersing device 1, there is provided a tool coupling 16 which is formed as a bayonet-type tool coupling and by means of which the dispersing tool 5 can be fixedly connected to the drive unit 3 of the dispersing device 1. In this way, it is possible for the dispersing tool 5 to be detachably connected to the drive 2 of the drive unit 3 of the dispersing device 1.

(18) All of the figures furthermore show that the transponder 10 is arranged adjacent to the drive-side end 13 of the shaft tube 4 and adjacent to the coupling 14 of the dispersing tool 5 and also adjacent to the tool coupling 16. This makes it possible for the transponder 10, in the use position of the dispersing tool 5, to be arranged on the dispersing tool 5 outside a medium for processing.

(19) In particular, the exemplary embodiment of the dispersing device 1 according to the invention as per FIG. 5 shows here that the transponder 10 is arranged so closely adjacent to the tool coupling, formed as a bayonet-type tool coupling 16, of the dispersing tool 5 that said transponder is arranged within a dispersing tool receptacle 17 of the drive unit 3 of the dispersing device and is thus protected by the latter against the influence of the medium for dispersal. The transponders 10 illustrated in the figures are writable, and the transmitter-receiver unit 11 of the drive unit 3 is configured for writing to the transponder 11.

(20) Adjacent to the free end 6 of the shaft tube 4, the dispersing tool 5 illustrated in FIGS. 6 to 10 has a sensor 18 which, in the present exemplary embodiment of the dispersing tool 5, is formed as a temperature sensor. In an exemplary embodiment of the dispersing device according to the invention which is not illustrated in the figures, said sensor 18 is formed as a pH value sensor and/or as a pressure sensor. The use of further sensors with other functionality is not ruled out. It is furthermore conceivable for a dispersing tool 5 to be equipped with multiple, preferably different sensors 18.

(21) The sensor 18 is connected to the transponder 10, for transmission of measurement data, by means of a sensor connection 19 which, in the exemplary embodiment illustrated in the figures, is of line-based or cable-based form. The transponder 10 illustrated in FIGS. 6 to 10 furthermore has evaluation electronics 20 for processing measurement data received from the sensor 18. Furthermore, the transponder 10 with the evaluation electronics 20 is also configured for wirelessly transmitting measurement data to the transmitter-receiver unit 11 of the drive unit 3.

(22) FIGS. 6 to 10 furthermore show that the sensor connection 19, the transponder 10 and the sensor 18 are of liquid-tight and dishwasher-safe form and are sealed.

(23) The sensor connection 19 is arranged in a groove 21 formed into the shaft tube 4, and in the present case is welded or brazed in the groove 21. To be able to protect the cable-based sensor connection 19 against external influences, the sensor connection 19 has a sensor cable 23 which runs in a sensor tube 22, wherein the sensor tube 22 is, in the use position, arranged, in this case welded or brazed, in the groove 21 in the shaft tube 4. The shaft tube 4 and the sensor connection 19 which, in the use position, is arranged in the groove 21, that is to say in this case the sensor tube 22 with the sensor cable 23 of the sensor connection 19 running therein, are ground such that the sensor tube 4 has, along the sensor connection 19, an externally closed, smooth and rounded outer contour without projections or an offset.

(24) While the sensor connection 19 is arranged on the dispersing tool 5 so as to be protected, by the sensor cable 23 running in the sensor tube 22, against possible damaging influences of the medium for dispersal, the sensor 18 of the dispersing tool 5 is arranged in an open depression 24 on the shaft tube 4. The sensor 18 of the dispersing tool 5 can thus come into contact with the medium for dispersal, in order to be able to reliably and as accurately as possible determine a corresponding parameter of the medium, generally the temperature thereof. It is pointed out that the sensor 18 is arranged in the depression 24 such that it does not protrude beyond the outer diameter of the shaft tube 4. It is thus possible to prevent the sensor 18 from posing an obstruction during cleaning of the dispersing tool 5 or during an insertion of the dispersing tool 5 into a passage, for example of a laboratory reactor vessel or the like.

(25) The drive unit 3 of the dispersing device 1 has a control and/or regulation unit 25 which is connected to the drive 2 and to the transmitter-receiver unit 11. By means of the control and/or regulation unit 25, the drive 2 can be controllable and/or regulable, or controlled or regulated, in a manner dependent on data transmitted from the transmitter-receiver unit 11 to the control and/or regulation unit 25. For this purpose, use may be made inter alia of the measurement values of the sensor 18, which are transmitted to the transmitter-receiver unit 11.

(26) It is however also conceivable for operating data of the dispersing tool 5, which are stored in the transponder 10 of the dispersing tool 5, to be transmitted to the transmitter-receiver unit 11 of the dispersing tool 5, and for the dispersing process to be performed by means of the control and/or regulation unit 25 in accordance with the read-out parameters and data.

(27) The transponders 10 illustrated in the figures are formed as RFID chips, and have a data memory 26 on which dispersing-tool-specific data, in particular operating data of the dispersing tool 5, and data received from the sensor 18 of the dispersing tool 5 and data transmitted from the transmitter-receiver unit 11 to the transponder 10, are storable and/or stored.

(28) The dispersing tool 5 illustrated in FIGS. 6 to 10 has an encircling collar 27 close to its drive-side end 13. The transponder 10 with the evaluation electronics 20 is arranged in a well-protected manner in said collar 27. In the use position of the dispersing tool 5, the collar 27 closes off the dispersing tool receptacle 17 and limits the depth to which the dispersing tool 5 is inserted into the dispersing tool receptacle.

(29) In an exemplary embodiment of the dispersing device 1 according to the invention which is not illustrated in the figures, said dispersing device has a temperature-control device for controlling the temperature of medium for dispersal, or is connected to such a temperature-control device in the use position. Here, said temperature-control device may preferably be controlled or regulated, in particular by means of the control and/or regulation unit 25 of the dispersing device 1, in a manner dependent on data transmitted from the sensor 18 and from the transponder 10.

(30) To make the dispersing device 1 easier to handle, and for unique identification of dispersing tools 5 that are connectable to the dispersing device 1, in particular to the drive unit 3 of the dispersing device 1, it is provided that the dispersing tool 5 has a transponder 10, and the dispersing device has a transmitter-receiver unit 11 for reading out the transponder 10.