AUTOMATIC MELT STREAM POSITIONING DEVICE

Abstract: The invention relates to a device for automatic positioning of the melt stream on the first rotating disk of an apparatus for scattering rock wool into fibers. The device for automatic positioning of the melt stream on the first rotating disk of an apparatus for scattering rock wool into fibers is characterized in that inside the settling chamber (9) a video camera (10) is placed and the melt tank (11) is movable along the Z and X axes by means of two propelling motors (19, 20), the video camera (10) being connected to a digitizer (15) which is a component of the electronic unit (14), this electronic unit (14) also comprising an output controller (16) that is connected, via a distribution board (17), to a relay block (18) by means of which the alarm (21) of the camera (10) and the motors (19, 20) for moving the tank (11) are switched on, while the electronic circuit (14) with the digitizer (15) and the output controller (16) is realized by means of a computer. The device for automatic positioning of the melt stream on the first rotating disk of an apparatus for scattering rock wool into fibers provides automatic, fast, precise and optimum positioning of the melt stream on the first rotating disk of the apparatus for scattering rock wool into fibers.

Description: AUTOMATIC MELT STREAM POSITIONING DEVICE The invention relates to a device for positioning the melt stream on the first rotating disk of an apparatus for scattering rock wool into fibers. In the hitherto known apparatuses for scattering rock wool into fibers the mineral melt is poured onto the first rotating disk, where it is scattered due to the centrifugal force and the mechanical properties of the melt itself, so that part of it drops onto the second rotating disk, whereas the remaining part is blown off by the axial air flow in the form of fibers. The second rotating disk scatters the melt by means of the centrifugal force, so that part of it drops onto the third rotating disk, whereas the remaining part is blown off by the axial air flow in the form of fibers. Usually, apparatuses for scattering rock wool into fibers comprise up to four rotating disks. It is known that the quality and the quantity of the mineral fibers depend upon the point (i e the angle), where the melt streams onto the first rotating disk. 2 All known methods for positioning the melt stream on the first rotating disk of an apparatus for scattering rock wool into fibers are manual. The most common one involves the operator observing the point (i e the angle) where the melt is streaming onto the first rotating disk, and setting it or adjusting it manually. In another implementation the operator observes, via a video-camera, the point (i e the angle) where the melt is streaming onto the first rotating disk, and sets it or adjusts it manually using servomechanis s . All known solutions have some common disadvantages, namely: the adjustments are subjective, the reaction times long, and the settings inaccurate. The object of the present invention is to provide a device for automatic positioning of the melt stream on the first rotating disk of an apparatus for scattering rock wool into fibers, that will provide automatic, fast, precise and optimum positioning of the melt stream on the first rotating disk of the apparatus for scattering rock wool into fibers. 3 According to the present invention the problem is solved as stated in the characterizing portion of the first patent claim. The device for automatic positioning of the melt stream on the first rotating disk of an apparatus for scattering rock wool into fibers will be described with reference to a sample embodiment illustrated in the following figures 1 to 7: Figure 1 A schematic drawing of the melt streaming onto the first rotating disk and other rotating disks. Figure 2 A diagram representing the dependence of product quality and waste upon the position of the melt stream. Figure 3 The appearance of quality fibers. Figure 4 The appearance of low quality fibers. Figure 5 The configuration of the elements of the device according to the invention. Figure 6 The electrical functional diagram of the device according to the invention. Figure 7 The image of the melt stream and of the rotating disks as seen, analyzed and displayed by the device according to the invention. It can be seen in Figure 1, which schematically shows the melt streaming onto the first rotating disk and other rotating disks, that the melt jet 1 streams onto the first rotating disk 2. The rotating disks 3, 4 and 5 rotate in such directions that part of the melt is dropped onto the next disk, whereas the remaining part of it is blown off along the Z axis by the axial air flow. It has been experimentally determined that the quality of the product, namely of the rock wool fibers, depends upon the position of the jet 1 stream on the first rotating disk, mainly along the X axis and somewhat less along the Z axis. Figure 2 shows a diagram of the dependence of product quality and waste upon the X-position of the melt jet 1 on the first rotating disk 2. At the left end of the X axis in Figure 2 the case is shown when the melt jet 1 streams 5 right onto the border of the first rotating disk, which is to say at an angle of nearly 0°, whereas at its right end we have the opposite situation with the melt jet 1 streaming onto the center of the first rotating disk 2, that is to say at an angle of 90°. The diagram in Figure 2 shows all the intermediate situations, relative to the X direction, between these two extreme positions of the jet 1 stream on the first rotating disk. As can be seen, the amount of waste melt accumulating below the rotating disks 2, 3, 4 and 5, represented by the curve 6, is great when the melt jet 1 streams right onto the border of the first rotating disk 2, and diminishes as the distance from the border is increased (nearing the center) . It can be seen, furthermore, that the quantity of undesired cinder, i e non-fibrous particles of melt, in the product, represented by the curve 7, is small when the melt streams right onto the border of the first rotating disk 2, and increases as the distance from the border is increased (nearing the center) . As it turns out, the optimum point 8 on the rotating disk 2 relative to the X axis is the point of intersection of the curves 6 and 1 . With regard to the Z direction, it is situated on the middle third of the thickness of the rotating disk 2. The device according to 6 the invention will provide automatic, fast, precise and optimum positioning of the melt jet 1 on the first rotating disk 2 of the apparatus for scattering rock wool into fibers . Figure 3 shows a quality product, that is rock wool fibers without non-fibrous particles of melt, while in Figure 4 non-fibrous particles of solidified melt can be seen as dark blots. The configuration of the device for automatically positioning the melt stream on the first rotating disk of the apparatus for scattering rock wool into fibers, according to the invention and as represented in Figure 5, consists of a settling chamber 9 with a conveyor belt 12, rotating disks 2, 3, 4 and 5, and a video camera 10, and of a melt tank 11. The melt jet 1 streams onto the first rotating disk 2, where it is partly blown off along the Z axis in the form of fibers 13 toward the conveyor belt 12, partly it is scattered onto the rotating disks 3, 4 and/or 5, and partly it drops in non-fibrous form on the ground below the rotating disks, as represented by the curve 6 in Figure 2. The melt tank 11 is moved by any known method along the Z and X axes by means of two propelling motors 19 7 and 20, so that the melt jet 1 can be positioned on the desired spot on the rotating disk 2. The video camera 10 is placed above the flow of fibers 13 and is additionally protected against the deposition of fibers 13 by introducing an air flow 27 in Figure 8 along the optical axis of the camera 10 and directing it toward the disks (2, 3, 4, 5) . The camera 10 in Figure 8 is placed in the tunnel 24 and fastened to it by means of longitudinal supports 25. In front of the optics of the video camera 10 a protecting glass 26 is located, preferably made of hardened glass. The air flow 27 blows the fibers 13 off and at the same time it cools the camera 10. The video camera 10 is positioned in such a way that its optical axis makes an angle of from 25 to 45° with the Z axis and lies on the vertical plane that contains the Z axis itself, this vertical plane extending in the middle of the gap between the first rotating disk 2 and the second rotating disk 3 within a 10?, tolerance relative to the overall width of the system of rotating disks 2, 3, 4 and 5. The field of vision of the video camera 10, focused on the gap between the rotating disks 2 and 3, encompasses the melt jet 1, the entire rotating disks 2 and 3, and the upper part of the rotating disks 4 and 5. Under these conditions, the video camera 10 sufficiently covers the jet 1 stream relative to the X and Z axes. The electrical functional diagram of the device according to the invention in Figure 6 shows that the device according to the invention is composed of the video camera 10 connected to the digitizer 15. The digitizer 15 is a component of the electronic unit 14, which also comprises the output controller 16. Via the distribution board 17 this output controller 16 is connected to the relay block 18, by means of which the alarm 21 of the camera 10 and the motors 19 and 20 for moving the tank 11 are switched on. In the sample embodiment, the electronic circuit 14 with the digitizer 15, the output controller 16, the monitor 22 and the input unit 23 (a keyboard, for example) are realized by means of a computer that recognizes the image received from the video camera 10 and via a computer program makes adjustments to the tank 11, thereby positioning the jet 1 on the first rotating disk 2. Figure 7 shows the image as displayed on the monitor 22, upon which image not only the analysis of the position of the jet 1 is based but, by means of the propelling motors 19 and 20 and of appropriate mechanisms, the automatic positioning of the melt jet 1 on the first rotating disk 2 of the apparatus for scattering rock wool into fibers is based as well.

Claims: 10 PATENT CLAIMS 1. Device for automatic positioning of the melt stream on the first rotating disk of the apparatus for scattering rock wool into fibers, characterized in that a video camera (10) is placed inside the settling chamber (9) and the tank (11) is movable along the Z and X axes by means of two propelling motors (19, 20), the video camera (10) being connected to a digitizer (15) which is a component of the electronic unit (14), the electronic unit (14) also comprising an output controller (16) that is connected, via a distribution board (17), to a relay block (18) by means of which the alarm (21) of the camera (10) and the motors (19, 20) for moving the tank (11) are switched on, whereas the electronic circuit (14) with the digitizer (15) and the output controller (16) is realized by means of a computer. 2. Device as claimed in Claim 1, characterized in that the video camera (10) is placed above the flow of fibers (13) in such a way that the optical axis of the video camera (10) makes an angle of from 25° to 45° with the Z axis and lies on the vertical plane that contains the Z axis 11 itself, this vertical plane extending in the middle of the gap between the first rotating disk (2) and the second rotating disk (3) within a 10? tolerance relative to the overall width of the system of rotating disks (2, 3, 4, 5), and the video camera (10) is focused on the gap between the rotating disks (2, 3) . 3. Device as claimed in Claim 1, characterized in that the air flow (27), directed along the optical axis of the video camera (10) toward the disks (2, 3, 4, 5), protects the video camera (10) against the deposition of fibers (13) and cools it.

Inventors: MIHOVEC BOJAN, SIROK BRANKO, STREMFELJ BRANKO, TRDIC FRANCELJ, MIHOVEC, BOJAN, SIROK, BRANKO, STREMFELJ, BRANKO, TRDIC, FRANCELJ
Applicants: TERMO D D IND TERMICNIH IZOLAC, TERMO D.D., INDUSTRIJA TERMICNIH IZOLACIJ SKOFJA LOKA
Application year: 1999
Main classification: C03B37
IPC codes: C03B37, C03C13, G01B11, G05D3