Abstract:
A lateral wall arrangement for laterally bounding the roller gap of a roller press having rollers supported in a machine frame, driven in opposite directions, and forming a roller gap, comprising a lateral wall, an assembly device, and a suspension for the lateral wall, wherein the lateral wall is supported in a spring-loaded manner by the suspension. The suspension is a linkage in the simplest case. It is thus achieved in an advantageous manner that the lateral wall is both easy to dismantle and is able to follow deflection motions of the rollers.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The invention relates to a lateral wall arrangement for laterally bounding the roller gap of a roller press having rolls supported in a machine frame, driven in opposite directions and forming a roller gap, comprising a lateral wall, an assembly device and a suspension for the lateral wall, wherein the lateral wall is supported in a spring-loaded manner by the suspension. 
         [0002]    In roller presses for the high-pressure comminution of material to be ground, the material to be comminuted is discharged uniformly onto the roller gap of two rolls rotating in opposite directions, the material to be ground being drawn into the roller gap by the rolls and compacted there. If the compaction is very high, the material structure of the material to be comminuted fractures and forms briquette-like flakes, which leave the roller gap on the side opposite the feed side. These flakes can then be de-agglomerated with the comparatively low expenditure of energy, by which means a comminuted material to be ground can be obtained. As mentioned at the beginning, it is important for the high-pressure comminution to charge the roller gap uniformly with material to be ground, in order that the roller press does not operate as a breaker and therefore exhibit a lower comminution performance. In order to charge the roller gap uniformly with material to be ground, the material is distributed uniformly over the length of the roller gap by a discharge device. It is necessary to devise a boundary in each case at the ends of the rolls in order that the material to be ground does not fall out of the roller press at these points and this thus leads to a non-uniform discharge of material over the length of the roller gap. Such a boundary can in the simplest case be a lateral wall in each case, which each bear closely on the rotating ends of the rolls in the roller press. 
         [0003]    However, if one or both rolls of the roller press is movable as a loose roll, in order to be able to carry out deflection movements in the event of a non-uniform discharge of material to be ground, the lateral walls must be able to follow this mobility. Furthermore, the lateral walls interfere during the regular maintenance and the cyclic changing of the rolls, which are stressed highly by wear, since the lateral walls firstly have to be dismantled and each individual dismantling step during a roll change leads to an undesired prolongation of the stoppage time. 
         [0004]    German Laid-open Specification DE 3705051 A1 discloses a roller press in which the lateral walls are fixed by a link to the lateral walls of the material discharge device located above the latter and are supported against the ends of the rolls by an outrigger via compression springs received in clamping screws. Because of the compression springs, the lateral walls suspended on the link are capable of following deflection movements of the rolls. This type of suspension has proven worthwhile in operation but is complicated to dismantle during the regular roll change. 
         [0005]    In German Patent DE 102007032177 B3, a lateral wall for a roller press is disclosed which is received in a slotted guide. The slotted guide permits the lateral wall to carry out a movement during the dismantling of the rolls in which the lateral wall is moved away from the end of a roll. Between the lateral wall and the slotted guide, a lever connected to the lateral wall in the manner of a rotary joint ensures that the lateral wall is locked in its operating position. However, this locking prevents the lateral wall from deflecting during operation, which means that the lateral wall can be damaged and in the extreme case can be destroyed. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    The invention is therefore based on the object of providing a lateral wall arrangement for a roller press mentioned at the beginning which is both simple to dismantle and is also capable of following deflection movements of the rolls. 
         [0007]    According to the invention, a link is proposed as a suspension for the lateral wall in the simplest case, the link being received in an assembly device. In order to dismantle it, the entire lateral wall arrangement is separated from the machine frame of the roller press, in that the assembly device which carries the entire lateral wall arrangement is detached from the machine frame. Unlike the aforementioned prior art, the lateral wall arrangement forms a module of a roller press, this module permitting the spring-loaded suspension of a lateral wall. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0008]    The invention and further features and advantages thereof will be explained in more detail by using the exemplary embodiments illustrated schematically in the figures, in which: 
           [0009]      FIG. 1  shows the lateral wall arrangement according to the invention in a side view, 
           [0010]      FIG. 2  shows the lateral wall arrangement according to  FIG. 1  in a rear view, 
           [0011]      FIG. 3  shows the lateral wall arrangement according to  FIG. 1  in a front view. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0012]      FIG. 1  shows a lateral wall arrangement  10  according to the invention in a side view, in which the three important constituent parts, namely the assembly device  11 , link  12  and lateral wall  14 , can be seen clearly. In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in concrete terms here, the suspension comprises a three-joint lever mechanism having two levers coupled to each other in the manner of a rotary joint via a common joint  12   b,  link  12  and spring leg  13  and having different axes of rotation  12   a,    13   a,  a first lever, link  12 , having an adjustable length and a second lever comprising a spring leg  13 . 
         [0013]    In this side view, the lateral wall  14  can be seen only by way of a narrow profile, the lateral wall  14  being mounted in the manner of a rotary joint via a lug  15  in a bearing device  16  with rotary bearing  16   c.  The bearing device  16  is in turn fixed to the assembly device  11  and has two bearing receivers  16   a  and  16   b  for a rotary bearing  16   c,  via which the rotary bearing  16   c  located in the bearing receivers  16   a  and  16   b  can move slightly with two degrees of freedom for the purpose of fine adjustment. Apart from the three constituent parts comprising assembly device  11 , link  12  and lateral wall  14 , a compression rod in the form of a spring leg  13  is also provided, through which the lateral wall  14  experiences a pressing force of about 20,000 N to the right in this view, the spring leg  13  optionally also having a damping system. The aforementioned pressing force is generated in spring leg  13  by a preloaded spring  13   b,  wherein the spring  13   b  can comprise a spiral spring or else a disk spring pack. In operation, the preloaded spring  13   b  stresses the spring leg  13 , so that the latter experiences a lengthening force but the preloaded spring  13   b  is provided with a stop, so that the spring leg  13  has reached the maximum length in this view. If a roll, located on the right of the lateral wall  14  in this view and not shown here, carries out a deflection movement and, in the process, swings out slightly to the left, the lateral wall  14  is forced to the left. Link  12  follows this movement by means of a rotational movement of a few degrees oriented in a clockwise direction. During this rotational movement in a joint or a rotary bearing about the axis of rotation  12   a,  the spring leg  13  is compressed counter to the force of the preloaded spring  13   b  with an axis of rotation  13   a  offset to the left with respect to axis of rotation  12   a,  and as a result of this compression, the link  12  experiences a tensile force, for which reason this link  12  can also be designated a tie rod. As a result of this concerted movement of link  12  and spring leg  13 , the lateral wall  14  deflects to the left, the lateral wall  14  moving by a short distance in a linear bearing  17  suspended in the manner of a rotary joint, in the simplest case a dovetail slide. As compared with the link  12  and the spring leg  13 , the lateral wall  14  has a third axis in rotary bearing  16   c,  the position of which is determined by the finely adjusted position of the bearing receivers  16   a  and  16   b.    
         [0014]    When installed in a roller press, the lateral wall arrangement  10  is fixed to a machine frame of the roller press via the assembly device  11  at the top left in  FIG. 1 . For the purpose of dismantling, it is sufficient for the assembly device  11  to be detached from the machine frame, it being possible for the entire lateral wall arrangement  10  to be removed from the machine frame, not shown here. If appropriate, before dismantling the lateral wall  10  from a roller press, it is necessary to displace the bearing device  16 , fixed to the assembly device  11  in slots, in the direction of the machine frame and to lengthen the link  12  by means of a corresponding length adjustment, which is explained in more detail below. As a result, the lateral wall  14  is displaced in a parallel manner to the left in  FIG. 1  and removed from a roll not illustrated in  FIG. 1  but adjoining on the right, and also from a lateral wall of a discharge device for material to be ground arranged above the lateral wall  14 . 
         [0015]    After the lateral wall arrangement  10  has been reassembled following a roll change, the alignment of lateral wall  14  can be adjusted finely by adjusting on the bearing receiver  16   a  such that the lateral wall  14  has a vertical alignment. In order to adjust the lateral wall  14  in its horizontal position, provision is made to lengthen or to shorten the link  12  by means of a length adjustment, in the simplest case by rotating a double nut with left-hand and right-hand internal thread on a link part in each case having a left-hand and right-hand external thread, by which means the position of the connection between link  12  and spring leg  13  by the joint  12   b  can be changed not only in the vertical position but also in the horizontal position. The change in the length of the link  12  does not change the vertical position of the lateral wall  14 , since it is accommodated in a linear bearing  17  suspended in the manner of a rotary joint but, during the change to the length of the link  12 , the horizontal position of the latter is displaced, since the connection between link  12  and spring leg  13  by means of joint  12   b  takes the horizontal position of the lateral wall  14  with it as a result of an approximately rotational movement in the clockwise direction. In order to align the lateral wall  14  finely in the vertical position, provision is made to adjust the latter by means of an adjustment of the bearing receiver  16   b.    
         [0016]      FIG. 2  shows the lateral wall arrangement  10  according to  FIG. 1  in a rear view. To be seen clearly is a flange  11   a,  which is part of the assembly device  11  and via which the entire lateral wall arrangement  10  is fixed to the machine frame of a roller press with the aid of the drilled holes  11   b  and  11   c.    
         [0017]    In this view, it is also possible to see that the link  12  has two limbs  12   c  and  12   d,  which enclose the spring leg  13  symmetrically from two sides. In the background, it is finally possible to see the lateral wall  14 , which has the shape of a triangle standing on its point, with two concave sides and a rectilinear base located at the top. 
         [0018]      FIG. 3 , finally, shows the lateral wall arrangement according to  FIG. 1  in a front view, which is dominated by the shape of the lateral wall  14 . It can be seen in this case that, at the lower point, where the lateral wall  14  comes into contact with the compaction zone of the roller gap, the lateral wall  14  is equipped with an anti-wear layer  14   b,  since at this point the abrasive forces of the material to be ground which is drawn through the roller gap act most intensely. 
         [0019]    As is apparent from the foregoing specification, the invention is susceptible of being embodied with various alterations and modifications which may differ particularly from those that have been described in the preceding specification and description. It should be understood that I wish to embody within the scope of the patent warranted hereon all such modifications as reasonably and properly come within the scope of my contribution to the art. 
         [0020]    List of Designations 
         [0000]    
       
         
               
               
               
             
           
               
                   
                   
               
             
             
               
                   
                 10  
                 Lateral wall 
               
               
                   
                   
                 arrangement 
               
               
                   
                 11 
                 Assembly device  
               
               
                   
                 11a 
                 Flange 
               
               
                   
                 11b 
                 Drilled hole 
               
               
                   
                 11c 
                 Drilled hole 
               
               
                   
                 12  
                 Link 
               
               
                   
                 12a 
                 Axis of rotation  
               
               
                   
                 12b 
                 Joint 
               
               
                   
                 12c 
                 Limb 
               
               
                   
                 12d 
                 Limb 
               
               
                   
                 13  
                 Spring leg 
               
               
                   
                 13a 
                 Axis of rotation 
               
               
                   
                 13b 
                 Spring 
               
               
                   
                 14 
                 Lateral wall 
               
               
                   
                 14b 
                 Anti-wear layer 
               
               
                   
                 15 
                 Lug 
               
               
                   
                 16 
                 Bearing device 
               
               
                   
                 16a 
                 Bearing receiver 
               
               
                   
                 16b 
                 Bearing receiver 
               
               
                   
                 16c 
                 Rotary bearing 
               
               
                   
                 17 
                 Linear bearing