Shot blasting cabinet with adjustable impellers

A shot blasting cabinet with adjustable impellers includes a cabinet, a plurality of impeller apparatuses, and a plurality of adjusting devices. A shot-blasting working line is defined between an inlet and an outlet of the cabinet. The impeller apparatuses are symmetrically disposed on upper and lower sides of the cabinet. Each impeller apparatus has a protective housing, a driving device, a pair of rotary plates, and a plurality of impeller blades. The driving device connects one of the rotary plates. The protective housing covers the pair of rotary plates and the impeller blades, and defines a shot-blasting exit surface. The shot-blasting exit surface communicates with an interior of the cabinet. The adjusting devices are used to adjust an angle and a distance of the shot-blasting exit surface relative to the shot-blasting working line.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of priority to Taiwan Patent Application No. 109203921, filed on Apr. 6, 2020. The entire content of the above-identified application is incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure relates to a shot blasting cabinet with adjustable impellers, and more particularly to a shot blasting cabinet having a plurality of impeller apparatuses, in which the impeller apparatuses combine advantages of sand blasting and shot peening, and a height and a shot-blasting angle of the impeller apparatus are adjustable for blasting particles at a high speed, so as to form a frosted surface or an abrasive surface on a workpiece to be processed for purposes of rust removal, oxide layer removal, stress treatment, friction coefficient adjustment, etc.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

Sand blasting is one of the conventional methods for surface finishing of a workpiece. It is commonly seen in sand blasting to shoot a blasting material (such as ceramic sands, glass beads, nylon sands, quartz sands, emery grits, and iron sands) onto a surface of a workpiece at a high speed by using compressed air as power, so that an exterior or a shape of the workpiece is changed. Due to impact and cutting done by the blasting material on the surface of the workpiece, the surface of the workpiece is cleaned to a certain extent and can have different degrees of roughness, and a mechanical property of the surface of the workpiece is improved. However, when the compressed air is used as the power to accelerate sand blasting, the shooting speed of the blasting material is subjected to certain limitations.

Another similar method for surface finishing is shot peening, which is a cold working process and is to have the surface of the workpiece being continuously struck by a plurality of round and small steel beads. Each of the plurality of steel beads strikes the surface of the workpiece (e.g., a metal component) makes a small indentation or a recess, so that the surface can be hardened to achieve the effect of increased hardness. During the process of shot peening, a plurality of recesses are formed on the surface of the workpiece, and a surface layer of the metal component is extended. Such recesses can relieve residual stress during casing, forging or welding, and results in lattice compression, so as to further increase the hardness of the surface of the workpiece.

Although the principle of shot peening is similar to that of sand blasting, there are many differences in terms of equipment and process. For sand blasting, only recycling, dust collecting, and strength are usually taken into consideration. However, for shot peening, sieving out deformed or broken steel beads to remove unqualified beads and controlling the flow rate also need to be considered. Further, the size of the beads needs to be graded strictly. In terms of function, differences between sand blasting and shot peening is even more distinct. The main function of sand blasting is to clean and to enhance the roughness of a surface, so as to facilitate the performance of subsequent processes (e.g., electroplating and paint baking). On the other hand, shot peening focuses on increasing fatigue resistance, stress corrosion resistance, and the surface hardness of the workpiece, so as to achieve the effect of extending a service life of the workpiece.

Compared to sand blasting, shot peening machines, which include equipment for increasing the speed of shot peening beads and surrounding walls of an area for processing the workpiece, are easily damaged, given that shot peening materials used by the shot peening machines are relatively larger in particle diameter.

Furthermore, whether by shot peening or sand blasting, an angle and a force used in the conventional art for processing a metal piece with a longer length are fixed and non-adjustable. Even if the metal piece is to be processed manually by operators, the quality of surface finishing cannot achieve the same standard.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

In response to the above-referenced technical inadequacies, the present disclosure provides a shot blasting machine and an impeller apparatus thereof, which not only combines advantages of sand blasting and shot peening, but also provides an impeller apparatus being able to shoot shot-blasting particles at a high speed. A particle size of the shot-blasting particles can be between a sand material of sand blasting and shot peening beads, which can not only provide a cleaning effect and enhance surface roughness, but also increase fatigue resistance and surface hardness of a workpiece, thereby extending a service life of the workpiece.

In response to the above-referenced technical inadequacies, the present disclosure further provides a shot blasting cabinet with adjustable impellers, which includes a plurality of impeller apparatuses. A shot-blasting angle and a height of each of the impeller apparatuses can be adjusted to cooperate with metal workpieces of different thickness, so as to better process surface finishing.

The shot blasting cabinet with adjustable impellers of the present disclosure can provide a longer closed working area, and the impeller apparatuses are distributed in an up-and-down symmetrical manner, so as to keep symmetrical forces.

Preferably, the impeller apparatus provided in the present disclosure can adjust the shot-blasting angle and the height of the impeller apparatuses individually according to different thicknesses of metal boards, and set a plurality of processing curves. During the surface finishing process, the shot-blasting angle and the height of each of the impeller apparatuses are automatically adjusted according to a corresponding one of the originally-set processing curves. Therefore, the surface finishing provided by the shot blasting cabinet is flexible, and the quality of the surface finishing can reach a good consistency.

In one aspect, the present disclosure provides a shot blasting cabinet with adjustable impellers, which includes a cabinet, a plurality of impeller apparatus, and a plurality of adjusting devices. The cabinet has an inlet and an outlet, and the inlet and the outlet define a shot-blasting working line. The plurality of impeller apparatuses are disposed symmetrically on an upper side and a lower side of the cabinet. Each of the impeller apparatuses has a protective housing, a driving device, a pair of rotary plates, and a plurality of impeller blades. The plurality of impeller blades are connected radially between the pair of rotary plates. The driving device connects to one of the rotary plates. The protective housing has a first baffle and a second baffle. The protective housing covers the pair of rotary plates and the plurality of impeller blades. The protective housing defines a shot-blasting exit surface, and the shot-blasting exit surface communicates with an interior of the cabinet. The adjusting devices are arranged correspondingly to the impeller apparatus. Each of the adjusting devices can be used to adjust an angle and a distance of the shot-blasting exit surface relative to the shot-blasting working line. Therefore, the plurality of shot-blasting exit surfaces of the impeller apparatuses are configured to have different angles and heights.

One of the advantages of the present disclosure is that, in the shot blasting cabinet with adjustable impellers as provided, the adjusting device can change heights of two ends of the impeller apparatus, so as to adjust the angle and the height of the impeller apparatus. Not only are the plurality of impeller apparatuses distributed in an up-and-down symmetrical manner, but the shot-blasting condition of the impeller apparatus is arranged in a lateral symmetrical manner along a central position of the cabinet. Therefore, a surface of a workpiece can be processed more efficiently in the present disclosure. However, the above description is merely for illustrative purposes. In the present disclosure, the impeller apparatuses can be adjusted to have different angles and heights for cooperating with metal boards of different thicknesses.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Referring toFIG.1, the present disclosure provides a shot blasting cabinet with adjustable impellers1, which includes a cabinet12and a plurality of impeller apparatuses20. The cabinet12has an inlet11and an outlet19, and a shot-blasting working line W is defined between the inlet11and the outlet19for transporting workpieces. For example, the workpieces may be hung on a hook, or continuously fed by a roller belt, depending on the kinds of workpieces to be shot-blasted. In this embodiment, it is suitable for metal boards, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. The workpiece to be shot-blasted, such as a roll of the metal board, is transported into the shot-blasting working line W from the inlet11and is held and pushed by a roller toward the outlet19. The impeller apparatuses20are disposed symmetrically on an upper side12aand a lower side12bof the cabinet12, so that upper and lower shot blasting forces can be counterbalanced by each other for maintaining the evenness of the metal board. In this embodiment, the cabinet12has four cabinet sub-modules (A, B, C, D), and the cabinet sub-modules (A, B, C, D), are connected to each other in series to form the cabinet12.

Referring toFIG.2AtoFIG.2D, the impeller apparatus20of this embodiment is described as follows. Each impeller apparatus20has a protective housing22, a driving device M, a pair of rotary plates24a,24b, and a plurality of impeller blades26. The impeller blades26are connected radially between the pair of rotary plates24a,24b. The driving device M connects to one of the rotary plates (i.e.,24a). The protective housing22has at least a first baffle221and a second baffle222. The protective housing22covers the pair of rotary plates24a,24band the plurality of impeller blades26. The protective housing22is used to contain shot-blasting particles inside the protective housing22. The walls of the protective housing22have a considerable thickness to prevent the shot-blasting particles from passing therethrough. The protective housing22defines a shot-blasting exit surface200, which is an imaginary plane. The shot-blasting exit surface200communicates with an interior of the cabinet12. After being processed, the shot-blasting particles are sent into the protective housing22, and are shot into the cabinet12at a high speed through the shot-blasting exit surface200by centrifugal force due to the fast rotation of the rotary plates24a,24b, and the impeller blades26. The shot-blasting particles of this embodiment can be, for example, ceramic sands, glass beads, nylon sands, quartz sands, emery grits, iron sands, fine metal balls, and so on.

In this embodiment, the first baffle221is oblique to the shot-blasting exit surface200. The second baffle222is substantially perpendicular to the shot-blasting exit surface200. A first adjusting unit28aconnects to the first baffle221and is close to the shot-blasting exit surface200. A second adjusting unit28bconnects to the second baffle222and is close to the shot-blasting exit surface200.

With regard to details of the impeller apparatus20, reference can be made to a Taiwan patent application “SHOT BLASTING MACHINE AND IMPELLER APPARATUS THEREOF” filed under application No. 108132992 by the same applicant. The entire content of said patent application can be incorporated into this specification by reference. The present disclosure can utilize the aforesaid related patent application, but it is not limited thereto.

Reference is made toFIG.3AtoFIG.3D, which are enlarged views of the cabinet sub-modules (A, B, C, D), respectively. One characteristic of the present disclosure is that the adjusting devices are provided. The adjusting devices are arranged correspondingly to the plurality of impeller apparatuses20. Each of the adjusting devices is used to adjust the angle and the distance of the shot-blasting exit surface200related to the shot-blasting working line W, so that the shot-blasting exit surfaces200of the impeller apparatuses20can be configured to have different angles and heights. Preferably, inclined angles of the shot-blasting exit surfaces200of this embodiment are configured along tangent lines of an imaginary parabolic curve from the inlet to the outlet of the cabinet12.

Reference is made toFIG.3A, which illustrates the configuration of the cabinet sub-module A. Through entering the cabinet12from the inlet11along the shot-blasting working line W, included angles θ11, θ12, θ13are formed by the shot-blasting exit surfaces200of the plurality of impeller apparatuses20and the upper sides12aor the lower sides12bof the cabinet12. The included angles from the inlet11toward a central position of the cabinet12are positive angles and decreased progressively. For example, the included angle θ11is 5 degrees, the included angle θ12is 3 degrees, and the included angle θ13is 2 degrees. When a workpiece (such as a metal plate) initially enters into the cabinet12from the inlet11, the shot blasting can be processed in a relatively large angle, so as to remove an oxide layer of a surface of the workpiece at a larger inclined angle with a stronger cleaning effectiveness. After shot blasting by the first impeller apparatus20, the workpiece is sent to the second impeller apparatus20. The included angle θ12of the second impeller apparatus20becomes smaller. After that, the included angle θ13of the third impeller apparatus20becomes even smaller, so that a normal impact force from shot-blasting can be applied to the workpiece for processing a fatigue resistance or hardness thereof.

Reference is made toFIG.3BandFIG.3C, which illustrates the configuration of the cabinet sub-modules B and C. The included angles θ20, θ30, which are close to the central position of the cabinet, are zero degrees. The shot-blasting force is provided fully as a normal impact force on the workpiece, which is to focus more on processing the fatigue resistance or hardness of the workpiece.

Reference is made toFIG.3D, which illustrates the configuration of the cabinet sub-module D. The included angles θ41, θ42, θ43are negative angles and increased progressively from the central position of the cabinet12toward the outlet12. For example, the included angle θ41is −2 degrees, the included angle θ42is −3 degrees, and the included angle θ43is −5 degrees. The first three cabinet sub-modules (A, B, C) have finished most of the shot-blasting work. Therefore, in the last cabinet sub-module D, the shot-blasting angle is substantially contrary to that of the cabinet sub-module A, which can supplement another angle, so that the surface of the workpiece can be more even and more delicate. In other words, the shot-blasting forces of the cabinet sub-module A and the cabinet sub-module D are symmetrical to each other along the central position of the cabinet12, and the shot-blasting forces of the cabinet sub-module B and the cabinet sub-module C are symmetrical to each other along the central position of the cabinet12.

Reference is made toFIG.4AtoFIG.4C. Each of the adjusting devices of the present disclosure, for instance, has the first adjusting unit28aand the second adjusting unit28b. The first adjusting unit28ais disposed on one end of the protective housing22, and the second adjusting unit28bis disposed on the other end of the protective housing22. The first adjusting unit28acan adjust a height of one end of the impeller apparatus20. The second adjusting unit28bcan adjust a height of the other end of the impeller apparatus20. When two ends of the impeller apparatus20are adjusted to different heights, the shot-blasting exit surface200is in an inclined state. When the two ends of the impeller apparatus20are lifted to form various height differences, the shot-blasting exit surface200can be in various inclined states. When the two ends of the impeller apparatus20are lifted simultaneously, the height of the shot-blasting exit surface200relative to the shot-blasting working line W is changed. Therefore, this embodiment can adjust the shot-blasting angle or the height of the impeller apparatus20.

In this embodiment, each impeller apparatus20further has a sealing cover P, such as a durable rubber sheet, to prevent a gap from forming between the impeller apparatus20and the cabinet12, after the height of the two ends of the impeller apparatus20is adjusted. The sealing cover P connects to a bottom periphery of the protective housing22. The sealing cover P extends close to the first adjusting unit28aand the second adjusting unit28b. After the angle or the height of the impeller apparatus20is adjusted, a gap is formed between a bottom flange of the impeller apparatus20and the cabinet12. The sealing cover P of this embodiment can prevent fine particles from escaping during the shot-blasting process. Further, the present disclosure can utilize related filtering and recycling mechanisms to recycle and reuse the shot-blasting particles, so as to conform to the developing trends of environmental protection.

Referring toFIG.4A, the adjusting unit of this embodiment is described more specifically as follows. The first adjusting unit28aand the second adjusting unit28brespectively have a lifting unit281and a hinge282. The lifting unit281of the first adjusting unit28aconnects to the first baffle221by the hinge282. The lifting unit281of the second adjusting unit28bconnects to the second baffle222by the hinge282. The lifting unit281, such as an alloy block, a gear rack, or a stepper motor with power, can lift or lower two ends of the protective housing22of the impeller apparatus20in a perpendicular direction.

Referring toFIG.5AtoFIG.5C, a second embodiment of the adjusting device according to the present disclosure is shown. A first adjusting unit29aand a second adjusting unit29bcan be a horizontal moving member, such as a wedge block. The traverse moving member forms a bevel292. The bevel292is abutted against bottom ends of two sides of the protective housing22. The traverse moving member can move relative to the impeller apparatus20, so as to lift up or lower the two ends of the impeller apparatus20. By moving the adjusting unit having the bevel292left or right, the height of the two ends of the impeller apparatus20can be adjusted, and then the inclined angle of the impeller apparatus20can be adjusted accordingly.

One of the advantages of the present disclosure is that, the shot blasting cabinet with adjustable impellers has the adjusting device that can change the heights of the two ends of the impeller apparatus, so as to adjust the angle or the height of the impeller apparatus. The cabinet12can include the cabinet sub-modules (A, B, C, D), and provides a longer closed working area. The impeller apparatuses20are distributed in an up-and-down symmetrical manner. The shot-blasting condition of the impeller apparatuses20is distributed in a lateral symmetrical manner along a central position of the cabinet12. Therefore, a surface of a workpiece can be processed more efficiently in the present disclosure. However, the above description is merely for illustrative purposes. In the present disclosure, the impeller apparatuses can be adjusted to have different angles and heights for cooperating with metal boards of different thickness.