Suction roll/suction cylinder

Abstract: The invention concerns a suction roll / suction cylinder (10), which comprises axle journals (13A) on whose support the suction roll / suction cylinder is fitted to revolve, end flanges (12A), with which the axle journals (13A) are connected, a mantle (11), which is connected with the end flanges (12A) and which mantle (11) comprises numerous holes or equivalent openings passing through the mantle (11), said suction roll / suction cylinder (10) being connected to a suction duct (21) that passes into the interior (16) of the roll/cylinder (10) and that transfers the vacuum, and air being sucked through the perforations into the interior (16) of the roll mantle (11) so as to press the paper web (W) towards the outer face of the roll mantle (11). The suction roll / suction cylinder (10) comprises a system of suction pipes (20) connected with the suction duct (21), which system of suction pipes (20) includes at least one suction pipe (23;24), into which suction pipe (23;24) air is guided and/or sucked from the vicinity of the inner face of the roll mantle (11) of the roll/cylinder (10).

Description: The invention concerns a suction roll / suction cylinder, which comprises axle journals on whose support the suction roll / suction cylinder is fitted to revolve, end flanges, with which the axle journals are connected, a mantle, which is connected with the end flanges and which mantle comprises numerous holes or equivalent openings passing through the mantle, said suction roll / suction cylinder being connected to a suction duct that passes into the interior of the roll/cylinder and that transfers the vacuum, and air being sucked through the perforations into the interior of the roll mantle to press the paper web towards the outer face of the roll mantle. In the following description, in order to simplify the description, the designation suction roll will be used. This is, however, not supposed to restrict the invention in any way whatsoever, but the term suction roll refers to various suction rolls, suction cylinders, and equivalent. With respect to the prior art, reference is made to the applicant's FI Patent No. 83,680 (equivalent US Patent No. 5,022,163 ), from which a solution of a suction roll is known in which, for supporting the paper web, a suction roll is used that does not comprise a suction box in the interior of the roll. The construction of the suction roll has been made such that the suction roll comprises perforations and, at the ends of the perforations, a separate recess, preferably a groove, through which the vacuum is distributed over a wider area on the roll face so as to produce a suitable suction force across the paper web, in which case, with a favourable dimensioning of the perforations, an adequate holding force is obtained without necessity to place a suction box or an equivalent arrangement in the interior of the suction roll. When air is removed out of a revolving roll whose mantle is perforated and whose interior is empty through a hollow shaft or suction pipe, in the suction pipe in the shaft a vortex is formed, which produces a high flow resistance and, thus, makes the removal of air from the roll more difficult. With respect to the prior art related to this, reference can also be made to the applicant's FI Patent No. 82,849 (equivalent US Patent No. 5,024,729 ), in which a solution is described in relation to the problems described above. In the suction roll in accordance with the FI Patent 82,849 , it is considered novel that the suction roll comprises at least a vortex-prevention equipment placed at the vicinity of the suction pipe of the suction roll, which equipment comprises at least one plate part, which has a face substantially parallel to the radius of the roll, and which vortex-prevention equipment is fitted in such a way in relation to the end of the suction pipe that, in a suction situation, increasing vortex formation in the sucked air is prevented and, thus, the vacuum is kept at the desired, substantially invariable value on the inside face of the roll mantle across the entire width of the roll, and the flow rate of suction air through the perforations in the roll mantle is kept at the desired, substantially invariable value. However, in this prior-art solution, problems have still been caused by the pressure loss produced by the centrifugal force arising from the speed of rotation. The object of the present invention is to suggest a novel solution for the problem described above, which problem, thus, arises from the fact that, during its rotation, the suction roll produces a resistance against the air to be sucked, which air resistance increases when the speed of rotation increases and, thus, makes the removal of air out of the roll more difficult, in which case the centre suction must also overcome the resistance arising from rotation. When the suction takes place from the hole in the shaft of the roll, the negative pressure dependent on the speed of rotation of the roll centre, i.e. the difference in pressure arising from the centrifugal force, is about 300...500 Pa even if the suction effect has not yet been switched on. Thus, the object of the present invention is also to overcome this negative pressure and, at the same time, to present a solution in which the dynamic pressure produced by the rotation of the roll (about 200...300 Pa) in the air is utilized. Thus, the object of the present invention is to provide a solution in which the same suction air flow is produced in the air duct with a clearly lower vacuum, compared with the prior-art solutions. It is a further object of the invention to provide a suction roll in which no source of vacuum has been connected with the suction duct at all. Thus, the object of the present invention is a solution of a suction roll by whose means it is effectively possible to remove a large quantity of air through the perforations in the suction roll without a pressure loss arising from centrifugal force. In view of achieving the objectives stated above and those that will come out later, the suction roll in accordance with the invention is mainly characterized in that the suction roll / suction cylinder comprises a system of suction pipes connected with the suction duct, which system of suction pipes includes at least one suction pipe, into which suction pipe air is guided and/or sucked from the vicinity of the inner face of the roll mantle of the roll/cylinder. In a suction roll in accordance with the present invention, the lowering of the vacuum level in the duct is achieved so that a stationary system of suction pipes has been installed in the interior of the roll through the suction opening of the suction roll, and the suction openings in said system of suction pipes are directed against the movement of rotation of the roll and are placed in the vicinity of the outer circumference of the roll near the inner face of the roll mantle. The air to be sucked is taken from the outer circumference of the layer of air revolving inside the roll from the lowest vacuum and, at the same time, the dynamic motive energy of the revolving air is also utilized, whereby a lower vacuum is achieved in the system of suction ducts with the same quantity of air, compared with such a prior-art suction roll in whose interior there is no system of suction pipes. In this way, economies are obtained in the consumption of energy. In the arrangement in accordance with the invention, when the speed of rotation of the roll increases, the requirement of vacuum in the suction duct of the suction roll also becomes lower, which also reduces the consumption of energy of the apparatuses used for the generation of vacuum, such as, for example, blowers. In the arrangement of the present invention, the flow of suction air in the suction duct can also be produced without a source of vacuum by utilizing the centrifugal air flows. The invention is particularly well suitable for use in suction rolls in which there is no inside suction box, such as, for example, the applicant's suction rolls of what is called the VAC Roll type, whose construction is described in detail, e.g., in the applicant's FI Patent 83,680 mentioned above (equivalent US Pat. 5,022,163 ). In the following, the invention will be described in more detail with reference to the figures in the accompanying drawing, the invention being, however, not supposed to be in any way strictly confined to the details of said illustrations. Figures 1A and 1B are schematic sectional views of a prior-art suction roll. Figures 2A and 2B illustrate an arrangement in accordance with the invention for lowering the vacuum level in the suction duct of a suction roll. Figure 3 is a schematic illustration of test results of the static pressure in the suction duct as a function of the air quantity in a prior-art suction roll as compared with a suction roll provided with an arrangement in accordance with the invention. Fig. 1A shows a prior-art suction roll 10. The suction roll 10 comprises a roll mantle 11. The roll mantle 11 is mounted revolving on axle journals 13A and 13B, which are connected with the roll mantle 11 by means of the end flanges 12A and 12B. The roll mantle 11 includes perforations 15, which consist of a great number of holes 15 passing through the roll mantle 11. In this way, air is sucked through the holes 15 in the roll mantle 11 into the interior 16 of the suction roll 10 (arrows A), and the paper web W is thus drawn by means of the vacuum into contact with the felt F or equivalent and, through it, with the outer face of the roll mantle 11. The suction duct 21 is connected with the axle journal 13A, and the axle journal 13A is a hollow shaft. A suction duct 21, i.e. a hollow shaft, can also be provided at both ends of the roll 10. The other end of the suction duct 21 is connected to a blower or to some other, equivalent source of vacuum (not shown). In this way, the hold of the web is achieved by means of a suction roll 10 which has no stationary air sector. The perforations 15 have been dimensioned so that the air flow rate through the perforations remains within controlled limits in all positions of the face of the roll mantle. In the applicant's suction roll of the VAC type, there are grooves 17 on the outer face of the roll mantle, which grooves equalize the vacuum. Such a roll is described in more detail in the applicant's said FI Patent 83,680 (equivalent US Patent 5,022,163 ). Figs. 2A and 2B show an arrangement in accordance with the present invention, in which the system of suction pipes 20 is placed inside the suction roll 10 at the side of the axle journal 13A through which air is sucked through the suction duct 21 as the air flow C. If a suction duct 21 is provided in connection with each of the axle journals 13A,13B, a system of suction pipes 20 can, of course, be fitted in connection with each of the axle journals. The suction duct 21 is placed in the hole 14 passing through the axle journal 13A. At the end of the suction duct 21 inside the roll 10, in the interior of the roll 10, a connecting flange 22 has been fixed, to which the suction pipes 23 and 24 are connected, which extend from the connecting flange 22, placed on the central axis X of the roll 10 (Fig. 1), radially towards the inner face of the roll mantle 11. The suction pipes 23,24 are preferably stationary while the suction roll 10 revolves. The suction pipes 23,24 may also revolve at a speed substantially slower than the suction roll 10 or in the opposite direction. The suction pipes 23 and 24 are placed so that their suction openings 25,26 are placed in the vicinity of the inner face of the roll mantle 11 of the suction roll 10, i.e., when the roll 10 revolves, on the outer circumference of the inside revolving air flow, in which connection, when the suction roll 10 revolves in the sense of rotation S, air is sucked into the interior of the roll 10 through the holes 15 passing through the mantle 11 as the air flows A, which flows A turn, by the effect of the rotation of the roll 10, in the way indicated by the arrow A, into the direction of rotation S of the roll 10. The ends of the suction pipes 23,24 have preferably been bent so that the suction openings 25,26 are directed perpendicularly to the air flow B revolving along with the circumference, in which case the air is guided into the suction pipes 24 and 23. From the suction pipes 23,24, the air is carried further through the flange part 22 into the suction duct 21 into the suction flow C. When the suction pipes 23,24 are stationary or revolve at a speed substantially slower than the speed of the roll 10 mantle, by means of the described arrangement it is possible to eliminate the pressure loss, which is produced by centrifugal force, which depends on the speed, and which can be typically 300...500 Pa in a high-speed paper machine. At the same time, it is also possible to take advantage of the dynamic pressure of the air revolving along with the roll, which pressure is, in a high-speed paper machine, 200...300 Pa. In this way, in the system of suction ducts, a lower vacuum of 500...800 Pa is produced with the same quantity of air, compared with the situation in a roll which is not provided with the arrangement in accordance with the invention, but the holding effect on the web remains the same. With an increasing speed of rotation, the effect of the arrangement in accordance with the invention is increased, and so, along with the reduction of the pressure of the air quantity to be sucked, the consumption of energy can be reduced, because the level of vacuum in the system of suction ducts can be made lower. By means of the arrangement in accordance with the invention, it is also possible to subject the roll face to a reasonable suction effect without a source of vacuum, because in such an embodiment, when the roll revolves, air is discharged out of the open air duct by the effect of the rotation of the roll. In Fig. 2, an embodiment is shown in which there are two suction pipes 23,24, but the scope of the invention, of course, also includes the solutions in which there is just one suction pipe or in which there are more than two suction pipes. Fig. 3 is a schematic illustration of some test results concerning the static pressure in the suction duct of a suction roll as a function of the air quantity in a prior-art suction roll as compared with a suction roll provided with an arrangement in accordance with the present invention. The curves 31,32,33 illustrate the test results of a suction roll provided with an arrangement in accordance with the invention, and the curves 34,35,36 illustrate the test results of a prior-art arrangement. The vertical axis Y represents the pressure in the duct, and the horizontal axis X represents the air quantity that is sucked. The curves 31 and 34 illustrate the situation at the speed of rotation of 1800 metres per minute, the curves 32 and 35 at 1500 m/min, and the curves 33,36 at 1200 m/min, respectively. In Fig. 3, in the curves 31,32,33, which illustrate the arrangement in accordance with the invention, it is seen that the pressure level rises above the 0-pressure level at low air flow rates. In this portion, the flow is directed outwards from the suction opening of the roll without an outside source of vacuum. From the curves 31,32,33; 34,35,36 it can also be seen that the relative sequence of the curves is changed, compare, for example, the curves 31;34. In other words, by means of the arrangement in accordance with the invention, a certain amount of air can be removed out of the roll the more easily, the higher the speed of rotation of the roll is. In the prior-art solution, the situation is the opposite, in which case the suction must be intensified to produce the same effect. Above, the invention has been described with reference to a preferred exemplifying embodiment of same only, the invention being, however, not supposed to be strictly confined to the details of said embodiment.

Claims: A suction roll / suction cylinder (10), which comprises axle journals (13A,13B) on whose support the suction roll / suction cylinder is fitted to revolve, end flanges (12A,12B), with which the axle journals (13A,13B) are connected, a mantle (11), which is connected with the end flanges (12A,12B) and which mantle (11) comprises numerous holes (15) or equivalent openings passing through the mantle (11), said suction roll / suction cylinder (10) being connected to a suction duct (21) that passes into the interior (16) of the roll/cylinder (10) and that transfers the vacuum, and air being sucked through the perforations (15) into the interior (16) of the roll mantle (11) so as to press the paper web (W) towards the outer face of the roll mantle (11), characterized in that the suction roll / suction cylinder (10) comprises a system of suction pipes (20) connected with the suction duct (21), which system of suction pipes (20) includes at least one suction pipe (23;24), into which suction pipe (23;24) air is guided and/or sucked from the vicinity of the inner face of the roll mantle (11) of the roll/cylinder (10). A suction roll / suction cylinder as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the system of suction pipes (20) comprises a flange part (22), which is connected with the suction duct (21) and the suction pipe (23,24). A suction roll / suction cylinder as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that there is a suction opening (25,26) in the end of the suction pipe (23,24) placed next to the mantle of the roll/cylinder (10). A suction roll / suction cylinder as claimed in any of the claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the end of the suction pipe (23,24) placed next to the roll mantle (11) has been bent so that the suction opening (25,26) is placed perpendicularly to the direction of the air flow revolving along with the roll/cylinder (10). A suction roll / suction cylinder as claimed in any of the claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the suction pipe (23,24) extends from the flange part (22) radially towards the inner face of the mantle (11) of the roll/cylinder (10). A suction roll / suction cylinder as claimed in any of the claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the suction duct (21) communicates with a source of vacuum. A suction roll / suction cylinder as claimed in any of the claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the suction pipe (23,24) remains stationary while the roll/cylinder (10) revolves. A suction roll / suction cylinder as claimed in any of the claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the suction pipe revolves substantially more slowly than the roll (10) or in a direction opposite to the sense of rotation of the roll (10). A suction roll / suction cylinder as claimed in any of the claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the system of suction pipes (20) comprises two suction pipes (23,24) connected with a flange part (22). A suction roll / suction cylinder as claimed in any of the claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the suction pipes (23,24) are placed substantially in the same plane in the cross direction of the roll/cylinder (10), and that the suction pipes (23, 24) extend from the flange part (22) in opposite directions in relation to one another. A suction roll / suction cylinder as claimed in any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the suction duct (21) is placed in a hole (14) in the axle journal (13A,13B). A suction roll / suction cylinder as claimed in any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the flange part (22) is placed substantially on the central axis of the roll/cylinder (10).

Inventors: VIITANEN OLAVI, VIRTA RAIMO, VIITANEN, OLAVI, VIRTA, RAIMO
Applicants: VALMET CORP, VALMET CORPORATION(REG.NO.763281)
Application year: 1997
Main classification: D21F3
IPC codes: D21F3