Briquetting Machine and Briquetting Method for Loose Metal Scraps

Abstract

The present disclosure is for a briquetting machine and method thereof to process loose metal scraps. The method comprises the steps of advancing a pre-extruding punch in a first pathway to push loose metal scraps towards a first entrance leading into a re-extruding cavity; advancing a re-extruding punch in a second pathway perpendicular to the first pathway to further push the loose metal scraps towards a second entrance leading to a final pressing cavity; advancing a final-extruding punch along a third pathway perpendicular to both the pre and re-extruding punches to compress loose metal scraps to form a metal cake in the final extruding cavity. Pressure and overflow release areas are configured adjacent to each entrance. Advancing and retracting sequences of the pre-, re-, and final-extruding punches are monitored and controlled via sensors and switches.

Claims

1. A method of briquetting loose metal scraps comprising the steps of: advancing a pre-extruding punch in a first pathway to push loose metal scraps towards a first entrance leading into a re-extruding cavity and to accommodate overflow of the loose metal scraps into a pre-extruding release area adjacent to the first entrance; advancing a re-extruding punch in a second pathway perpendicular to the first pathway to push the loose metal scraps towards a second entrance leading to a final pressing cavity and to accommodate overflow of the loose metal scraps into a re-extruding release area adjacent to the second entrance; advancing a final-extruding punch along a third pathway perpendicular to both the pre and re-extruding punches to compress loose metal scraps to form a metal cake in the final extruding cavity; and retracting the pre-, re-, and final-extruding punches to their corresponding resting positions.

2. The method of briquetting loose metal scraps as in claim 1, wherein the steps of advancing and retracting the pre-extruding punch, the re-extruding punch, and the final-extruding punch repeat and circulate in a predetermined sequence.

3. The method of briquetting loose metal scraps as in claim 1, wherein the first pathway further comprises a travel switch situated at an adjustable distance away from the first entrance, and when the pre-extruding punch comes into contact with the travel switch, the pre-extruding punch stops advancing towards the first entrance and retracts along the first pathway to a starting position to receive a subsequent load of loose metal scraps.

4. The method of briquetting loose metal scraps as in claim 1, wherein a pre-extruding top plate advances and retracts in synchrony immediately above the pre-extruding punch along the first pathway.

5. The method of briquetting loose metal scraps as in claim 1, wherein the step of advancing and retracting the final-extruding punch is monitored via a pressure sensing feedback loop.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES

Description of Figures

[0014] FIG. 1 is the loading step state diagram of the invention.

[0015] FIG. 2 is the pre-pressing step state diagram of the invention.

[0016] FIG. 3 is the left view of FIG. 2.

[0017] FIG. 4 is the re-extruding step state diagram of the invention.

[0018] FIG. 5 is the final pressing step state diagram of the invention.

[0019] FIG. 6 is the re-extruding punch space diagram of the invention.

[0020] FIG. 7 is the front view of FIG. 6.

[0021] FIG. 8 is the left view of FIG. 6.

[0022] In the figures, 11: pre-extruding hydraulic cylinder, 12: pre-extruding top plate, 13: pre-extruding punch, 14: pre-extruding cavity, 15: pre-extruding release area, 16: baffle plate, 17: material staging area, 18: loose metal scrap, 19: travel switch, 21: re-extruding hydraulic cylinder, 22: re-extruding top plate, 23: re-extruding punch, 24: re-extruding cavity, 25: re-extruding release area, 26: top gap, 27: top slope, 28: side gap, 29: side slope, 31: final pressing extruding cylinder, 32: final pressing punch, 33: final pressing cavity, 34: metal cake.

BEST MODE OF THE INVENTION

[0023] In combination of the descriptions in the figures, the best mode of carrying out the present invention is described as follows.

[0024] Through a large number of researches and practices, the applicant finds that the high-density and soft loose metal scraps similar to copper rice cannot be extruded densely during briquetting and a larger release space needs to be provided to hold the expansion after stress. According to the above principles, the invention is improved in the aspects of structure, control, etc. of the original briquetting machine.

[0025] As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the invention increases an upright-arranged baffle plate 16 in the hopper at the upper part of the pre-extruding cavity 14 to divide the hopper into the adjacent material staging area 17 and the pre-extruding release area 15 which is close to one side of the re-extruding cavity 24. The bottom surface of the front part of the pre-extruding cavity 14 is provided with the travel switch 19 which can be adjusted back and forth.

[0026] During actual operation, the loose metal scrap 18 is input from the opening of the material staging area 17 and enters the pre-extruding cavity 14. When the equipment carries out the pre-extrusion, the pre-extruding hydraulic cylinder 11 drives the pre-extruding punch 13 to move forwards so as to push the materials in the pre-extruding cavity 14 into the re-extruding cavity 24, and the pre-extruding top plate 12 gradually closes the bottom of the material staging area 17 so as to prevent the materials in the material staging area 17 from falling into the rear space of the pre-extruding punch 13 to damage the equipment. A shown in FIG. 2, when the re-extruding cavity 24 is filled with materials, the materials after compression at the front end of the pre-extruding punch 13 overflow and fill the pre-extruding release area 15 so as to avoid forming metal cakes due to the excessive extrusion in the limited space.

[0027] For the existing briquetting machine equipment, basically the pre-extruding punch 13 immediately returns to the original position after the one-time thorough pre-extrusion so as to carry out the next-time feeding, namely that each time of pre-extrusion coordinates with the one-time re-extrusion and final pressure. In practice, it is found that if this pre-extrusion mode is also used for loose metal scraps, the materials in the material staging area 17 at the upper part are supplemented rapidly after the pre-extruding punch 13 returns to the original position, which results in that the materials in the pre-extruding cavity 14 are more and more and gradually pressurized so as to form the dense metal cakes. Therefore, in the invention, the front part of the pre-extruding cavity 14 is provided with the travel switch 19 which can be adjusted back and forth. In practice, the commissioning is first carried out according to the materials to be extruded so as to determine the cylinder stretching time of the pre-extruding hydraulic cylinder 11 and the front and back positions of the travel switch 19. Before the pre-extruding punch 13 comes into contact with the travel switch 19, it is stipulated that the hydraulic cylinder can only be gradually pushed into the pre-extruding punch 13 according to the predetermined cylinder stretching time and kept at the current position, and then the briquetting machine carries out the re-extruding and final pressing actions. The pre-extruding hydraulic cylinder 11 can be shrunk only after the pre-extruding punch 13 triggers the travel switch 19, which can make the pre-extruding punch 13 fully return to the original position so as to realize the next-time loading of the pre-extruding cavity 14; that is to say, according to the difference of the materials to be extruded, the one-time loading of the pre-extruding cavity 14 can meet the filling requirements of multi-time re-extruding and final pressing actions step by step. Certainly, the above method can carry out the cylinder stretching control through the time, travel distance or pressure feedback, but the method of time control is relatively simple and effective. The method of feeding step by step and triggering reset can ensure that there are a moderate number of proper-density materials in the re-extruding cavity 24 during each time of re-extruding operation. When the re-extruding punch 23 returns to the original position after the re-extruding and final pressing actions are completed, the materials overflowing in the pre-extruding release area 15 at the previous step also fall into the re-extruding cavity 24 so as to coordinate with the feeding action of the pre-extruding punch 13 at the next step to fill the re-extruding cavity 24. In this way, the materials overflowing in the pre-extruding release area 15 can also be consumed timely.

[0028] In Sum, through arranging the pre-extruding release area 15 at the upper part of the junction between the pre-extruding cavity and the re-extruding cavity and adopting the method of carrying out the feeding step by step and triggering the reset loading by the pre-extruding punch 13, the stress of loose metal scraps can be released timely under the complex stress condition, and simultaneously it is ensured that loose metal scraps are fed into the re-extruding cavity at a proper density and quantity so as to avoid forming the metal cakes in the case of overpressure.

[0029] As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, in the invention, the upper part of the re-extruding cavity is provided with the re-extruding release area 25, and the top surface of the re-extruding punch 23 is provided with the re-extruding top plate 22 to divide the re-extruding release area 25 and the re-extruding cavity 24 during propulsion. As shown in FIG. 6 to FIG. 8, in the invention, the front end top of the re-extruding punch 23 is provided with the top gap 26, one side close to the pre-extruding cavity 14 is provided with the side gap 28, the section of the side gap is a right trapezoid, the top gap 26 is provided with the top slope 27, and the side gap 28 is provided with the side slope 29. After the gap is arranged, the actual pushing area of the front part of the re-extruding punch is about to of the original punch area.

[0030] In actual operation, the pre-extruding punch 13 feed the materials into the re-extruding cavity 24. As shown in FIG. 4, the re-extruding hydraulic cylinder 21 carries out the cylinder stretching action to feed forwards the re-extruding punch, which not only recompresses the materials in the re-extruding cavity 24 but also feeds the materials into the final pressing cavity 33. In this process, some materials between the top gap 26 and the side gap 28 of the re-extruding punch 23 are not extruded largely but guided and transferred by the top slope 27 to the re-extruding release area 25 at the top or guided and transferred by the side slope 29 to the pre-extruding cavity 14; the upper part of the pre-extruding cavity 14 is also provided with the pre-extruding release area 15 which can overflow and hold these materials so as to avoid producing the extrusion force with the original materials in the pre-extruding cavity 14. The punch structure provided with the gap not only is provided with the reasonable release space but also makes the materials have the transferable space after receiving overpressure so as to timely relieve pressure, which prevents the existing briquetting machine from causing the shearing at the small gap of the junction. The pressure from the top and one side can make the bottom and the other side of the re-extruding punch 23 tightly close to the cavity wall of the re-extruding cavity so as to prevent the scraps or particles from being sandwiched during propulsion to improve the equipment reliability. When the re-extruding punch 23 returns to the original position, the materials in the re-extruding release area 25 and the pre-extruding cavity 14 are re-supplemented to the re-extruding cavity 24.

[0031] As shown in FIG. 5, the final pressing extruding cylinder 31 drives the final pressing punch 32 to fully extrude the materials in the final pressing cavity 33 so as to obtain the dense metal cake 34.

[0032] It needs to be explained that the upper part of the re-extruding cavity 24 is provided with the re-extruding release area 25 and simultaneously the top surface of the re-extruding punch 23 is provided with the top gap 26 which can be the optimized structure aimed at some special soft metal scraps. The briquetting machine for processing the conventional loose metal scraps is provided with the pre-extruding release area 15 and the side gap 28 is arranged at one side close to the pre-extruding cavity 14 of the re-extruding punch so as to successfully implement the pressure relief of scraps and ensure the continuously normal operation of the equipment.

[0033] The above description is an exemplary implementation of the present invention, and is not in anyway limiting. The scope of the present invention is defined in its claims. The invention can be modified in any form without violating its principle of operation.