Centrifuging installation

A centrifuge installation comprises at least one centrifuge which is loaded and emptied automatically and has an axis, has a centrifuge drum which is provided with the receiving frame, the receiving frame which is rectangular in a plan view and has four corners spaced at equal distances from the centrifuge axis, a plurality of containers which can be filled with industrial piece goods and are insertable into the centrifuge, the container have walls with passages for centrifuged liquid and an upper edge are formed as boxes in a plan view insertable into the receiving frame, a fixing device provided in the centrifuge and arranged to hold the centrifuge drum after braking in a predetermined position, a cover arranged to close the boxes and provided with a locking device, and a gripping device for the boxes, the gripping device is provided with an actuating device for opening and closing the locking device of the cover, the gripping device is also provided with a cover holder which fixes the cover after opening of the locking device and releases the same after closing of the locking device.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to a centrifuging installation. More 
particularly, it relates to a centrifuging installation which has at least 
one automatically chargeable and emptiable centrifuge with a gripping 
device arranged above the centrifuge for gripping, lifting, transporting 
and discharging of containers to be filled with industrial piece goods and 
inserted into the centrifuge with passage of centrifuge liquid through 
wall passages of the container. 
Centrifuging installations of the abovementioned general type are known in 
the art. Some of such installations are disclosed, for example, in the 
DE-OS Nos. 2,030,591 and 3,010,960 In the known automatically chargeable 
and emptiable centrifuges of this type a container for industrial piece 
goods is formed by a centrifuge drum. This has the disadvantage that for 
one centrifuge several centrifuge drums must be available. Also, the goods 
to be treated must be filled into a centrifuge drum and after centrifuging 
emptied by means of a drum tilting device. Especially for treating of 
impact-sensitive piece goods, such as for example parts provided with 
threads and the like, the two-step filling process is disturbing because 
of the time consumption or because of the possible damages to the teethed 
goods. Since the centrifuge drums are relatively heavy, the gripping 
device which grips the upper edge of the centrifuge drum must be designed 
so that it can lift, transport and lower the high weight. 
Centrifuges are often known in which the industrial piece goods are 
supplied in boxes, for example over roller tracks and introduced together 
with the boxes manually into the centrifuge drum. After centrifuging the 
boxes with the centrifuged piece goods are manually removed from the 
centrifuge. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a 
centrifuge installation which avoids the disadvantages of the prior art. 
More particularly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a 
centrifuge installation with an automatically chargeable and emptiable 
centrifuge, in which conventional transporting boxes filled with piece 
goods are automatically inserted into the centrifuge, removed from the 
centrifuge and supplied to a discharge device. 
In keeping with these objects and with others which will become apparent 
hereinafter, one feature of the present invention resides, briefly stated, 
in a centrifuge installation which comprises at least one centrifuge which 
is loaded and emptied automatically and has an axis, the centrifuge having 
a centrifuge drum which is provided with the receiving frame, the 
receiving frame being rectangular in a plan view and having four corners 
spaced at equal distances from the centrifuge axis, the centrifuge having 
a centrifuge drum, a plurality of containers which can be filled with 
industrial piece goods and are insertable into the centrifuge, the 
containers having walls with passages for centrifuged liquid and an upper 
edge, the containers being formed as boxes in a plan view insertable into 
the receiving frame, fixing means provided in the centrifuge and arranged 
to hold the centrifuge drum after bringing in a predetermined position, a 
cover arranged to close the boxes and provided with locking means, and 
gripping means for the boxes, the gripping means being provided with 
actuating means for opening and closing the locking means of the cover, 
the gripping means being also provided with a cover holder which fixes the 
cover after opening of the locking means and releases the same after 
closing of the locking means. 
The centrifuging installation in accordance with the present invention has 
the advantage that industrial piece goods supplied in relatively light 
transporting boxes for example over a roller track or a conveyor are 
introduced together with the boxes into a centrifuge, lifted after the 
centrifuging with the boxes from the centrifuge, and discharged by a 
discharge device. A decanting of the goods to be treated does not take 
place. 
Advantageously, a supply device and gripping device, and a discharging 
device are associated with at least two centrifuges, so that the gripping 
device engages a filled box in the supply station and inserts it into an 
empty centrifuge, while the other centrifuge centrifuges the box which has 
been inserted before. 
Since the gripping device of the rectangular box can be lowered into the 
respective rectangular receiving frame of the centrifuge drum, it is 
required that the centrifuge drum be fixed after its braking in a definite 
predetermined positon. This predetermined position can be reached when the 
centrifuge drum after its braking to stoppage for example by a friction 
wheel which abuts against the drum, moves to an exact position in which a 
spring-biased catch engages the same in a springy manner. 
In accordance with an advantageous embodiment of the invention, a 
vertically drivable pin is arranged under the bottom of the centrifuge 
drum and can engage in one of two recesses which are provided 
diametrically opposite in the drum bottom. After stopping of the 
centrifugal drum to its immovable position, the drum obtains via its drive 
motor one or several small impulses which are sufficient to rotate the 
centrifuge drum about approximately 180.degree. . The pin which abuts 
against the drum bottom with a spring force senses the drum bottom and 
moves under the action of a spring into one of both recesses as long as 
the drum bottom reaches the proper position The gripping device arranged 
above the centrifuge can now be lowered. The gripping levers provided with 
claws can engage under an edge bead of the box to be lifted, and the box 
with the centrifuged goods is lifted from the centrifuge drum to be 
transported to the discharge device and discharged there. 
The novel features which are considered as characteristic for the invention 
are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, 
however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together 
with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood 
from the following description of specific embodiments when read in 
connection with the accompanying drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
A centrifuging installation in accordance with the present invention is 
shown as a whole in FIGS. 1 and 2. It includes two centrifuges 1 and 1'. A 
supply device 4 supplies industrial piece goods to be treated to 
rectangular boxes 3. A discharge device 5 transports away the boxes 3 
which are centrifuged in the centrifuge 1 and 1'. A displaceable as well 
as liftable and lowerable gripping device 8 is supported by a carriage 7 
which is movable on a track 6 arranged above the centrifuges 1 and 1'. 
A lifting and lowering device 9 is arranged in the carriage 7 and has a 
lifting frame 11 which is fixedly connected with the carriage 7. A 
gripping frame 12 is liftably and lowerably guided in the lifting frame 11 
via rollers 10. Turnable gripping levers 14 are supported on the small 
sides of the gripper frame 12 turnably about pivot axles 13. The turnable 
ends of the gripping levers 14 are provided with claws 15. As can be seen 
from FIG. 3 gripper levers 14 can be spread by means of the gripper 
cylinder-piston unit 17 so that they grip with their gripper claws 15 over 
beaded edges 16 arranged on the small sides of the box 3. The gripper 
levers 14 are turnable so that the gripper claws 15 engage under the bead 
edge 16 of the box 3 and thereby the box can be reliably lifted and 
transported. 
The boxes 3 which are filled with industrial piece goods and transported by 
the supply device 4 are closed with a cover 18 prior to their insertion 
into the centrifuge 1 or 1' as particularly shown in FIG. 6. The cover 18 
is provided on its upper side with four latches 19 which lock the cover 18 
with the box 3. Two latches 19 provided on each sma1l side are connected 
with one another by a latch bridge 19. The latches 19 are guided in latch 
guides 21 displaceable in a longitudinal direction. 
A web 22 is located under the latch bridge and is engageable by a 
displaceable driver 23. Two displaceable drivers 23 are provided under the 
gripper frame and can be moved by an opening and closing cylinder-piston 
unit 24 in longitudinal direction of the latch 19. When a box 3 is engaged 
by the gripping device 8, the cover 18 which is held in the gripping 
device 8 is applied onto the box 3 and with the box 3 by opposite movement 
of the drivers 23. 
A fixed cover ho1der 25 is located on the lower side of the gripper frame 
12 and set with flat rails on the upper side of the cover 18. Bends 26 are 
provided at the inner end of the four latches 19 and moved over the flat 
rails of the cover holder 26 when the drivers 23 displace the latches 19 
to the opening position. The cover 18 is held in the gripping device 8 as 
long as the latching device 19-22 is brought in the opening position. 
When, however, the latching device 19-22 is in the working position, the 
cover holder 23 is free. 
As can be seen from FIG. 4, a centrifuge drum 2 is mounted with drum bottom 
30 on a substantially vertical motor shaft 33. A drive motor 34 is mounted 
on a motor support 35 which is held via a pin 36 in an elastic bearing 37. 
Since the centrifuge drum 2 swings with its drive motor 34 in the elastic 
bearing 37, the guide of a catch pin 41 is mounted on a console 38 which 
is fixedly connected with the motor support 35. The catch pin 41 is 
provided with a conically extending tip. A roller 42 is mounted in this 
tip. After adjusting of the catch pin by means of an adjusting 
cylinder-piston unit 44, the roller 42 rolls on the drum bottom 30 or on 
an associated running ring 43. When the drum 2 after its braking and 
adjusting of the catch pin reaches the proper position, the catch pin 41 
moves into one or both recesses 40 and thereby holds the centrifuge drum 2 
in the proper position, so that the box 3 can be engaged without 
difficulties by the gripping device 8. 
The box 3 supplied by the supply device abuts against an abutment 39. The 
abutment serves for placing the supplied box so that it can be 
unobjectionably engaged by the gripping device 8 and supplied to one or 
both centrifuges 1 and 1'. The fixing device 40-45 serves the purpose that 
after centrifuging the centrifuge drum 2 or 2' which is a proper gripping 
position. Each supplied box 3 which is taken by the gripping device is 
closed with the cover 18 and locked. After discharge of a centrifuged box 
3, the gripping device 8 takes over the cover and holds it until a new box 
supplied by the supply device 4 must be provided with a cover and locked. 
The recess 40 in the drum bottom 30 are closed from the drum interior by 
leads 44. The centrifuged liquid is collected by a bath 28 and discharged 
through a discharge 29. 
It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or 
more together, may also find a useful application in other types of 
constructions differing from the types described above. 
While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in a 
centrifuging installation, it is not intended to be limited to the details 
shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made 
without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention. 
Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of 
the present invention that others can, by applying current knowledge, 
readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, 
from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential 
characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention.