Air-wiping device opening and closing in one level plane

Abstract

An air-wiping device for removing particulates, including water, adhering to an elongated member by compressed air is provided. In particular, this invention relates to an air-wiping device that loads said elongated member by opening with a sliding motion in one plane, instead of swinging open in two planes that is commonly to the conventional air-wiping devices embodied in a clamshell configuration, which not only substantially shortens the loading time but also greatly reduces the floor space needed to accommodate said device.

Claims

1. An air-wiping device sliding to open and close in one plane to load and unload an elongated member, wherein the air-wiping device dislodges undesirable adhering particular matter from said elongated member by compressed air; wherein the air-wiping device consists of two bodies and at least two rails, one of the bodies is stationary and the other one slides on the at least two rails, each of the bodies is inlayed with one-half piece of a cylindrical wiping passage with at least one orifice for directing the compressed air tangentially and opposite to the direction of the traversing elongated member; wherein said rails are cylindrical and rotary, bearing against the traversing elongated member, relieving a major portion of the frictional abrasion, which otherwise exerts on the wiping passage.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the air-wiping device comprises a rectangular housing and consists of two metallic bodies.

3. The device of claim 2, wherein the two metallic bodies are precisely machined, lapped, and hermetically sealed under a tension of a spring and an inward pressure of the environmental atmosphere when the device is closed under wiping, yet it will open readily to let pass knots carried by the elongated member.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the air-wiping device in the opening status to receiving an elongated member;

(2) FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the air-wiping device closed upon receiving the elongated member;

(3) FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the left half of the air-wiping device;

(4) FIG. 4 is a top view of the right half of the air-wiping device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(5) Reference is now made to the present preferred embodiment of the present invention, which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

(6) The metallic housing consists of two half bodies/pieces each fitted at its longitudinal center one-half piece of a cylindrical wiping passage made of wear-resistance material, and have at least one orifice to direct the compressed air tangentially to the center line of said cylinder. Said wear-resistant cylindrical wiping passage is preferably fabricated from sintered aluminum oxide, boron carbide, ruby, sapphire, silicon carbide, silicon nitride, tungsten carbide, tetragonal Zirconia crystalline or any other material, which is resistant to frictional abrasion. To reduce friction, said wear-resistant cylindrical wiping passage is preferably diamond polished in the interior surface to a roughness of less than 0.4 microns Rz.

(7) In addition, at least two precisely machined rails passing through the two half bodies/pieces of the metallic housing is provided. The rails allow the bodies/pieces of the air-wiping device to open and close in one level plane without pitching or yawing, thus assuring a leak-proof hermetic sealing of said two half pieces cylindrical passage when the air-wiping device is closed. Said rails are preferably cylindrical and rotary. Furthermore, said rails bear against the traversing elongated member, relieving a major portion of the frictional abrasion, which otherwise exerts on the wiping passage, extending the service life of the air-wiping device.

(8) As here embodied and depicted in FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 4, there are shown an air-wiping device designated by the numerical one and an elongated product designated by the numerical two. One half of the metallic housing 3 (e.g. one of the two half bodies/pieces) and the inlaid half cylindrical wiping passage 5, being secured on a mounting lug (not shown) on the machine frame, are stationary, while the other half of the metallic housing 4 and the inlayed half cylindrical wiping passage 14 are free to move on a level plane by sliding on two precisely machined rails 7 and 6 respectively passing through holes 17 and 18 which are machined onto metallic housing 4 that insure a sliding motion without yawing or pitching which, in unison with the precisely ground mating surfaces of the two half metallic housings, provide the desired leak-proof hermetic sealing (explained more fully below) of the cylindrical wiping passage.

(9) The compressed air is delivered by pipes(not shown) into the brass couplings 8 and 9, through metallic housings 3 and 4 respectively via orifices 13 and 19 into the cylindrical wiping passage, and directed tangentially and opposite to the direction of travel of the elongated product.

(10) Since the cross sectional area of the orifices 13 and 19 is substantially smaller than that of the brass couplings 8 and 9, the air velocity increases while the air pressure decreases, obeying the Physics Equation of Continuity. A partial vacuum is created in the cylindrical wiping passage while the potential energy of the compressed air is converted into kinetic energy that dislodges the adhering particulates from the elongated member. The momentum of the kinetic energy is proportional to the magnitude of the partial vacuum. In accordance with this invention, the air-wiping device is hermetically sealed upon closing, eliminating any possible leakage away or into the cylindrical wiping passage, maintaining the highest possible efficiency without wasting energy.

(11) Additionally, it should be appreciated that the present preferred embodiment of the invention, by using heat-resistant materials for all of its components including the pipes(not shown) that deliver the compressed air into the air-wiping device, is capable of being operated under elevated temperatures.

(12) Although the preferred embodiments of present disclosure have been described herein, the above description is merely illustrative. The preferred embodiments disclosed will not limit the scope of the present disclosure. Further modification of the disclosure herein disclosed will occur to those skilled in the respective arts and all such modifications are deemed to be within the scope of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims.