Abstract:
A splitting blade changing device for a block splitter, comprising a revolving mechanism in which an upper rotary member is suspended by a supporting plate which is moved up and down by a cylinder installed in an upper part of a gate-like frame, a plurality of upper blades are held on a circumferential face of the upper rotary member, a slit is provided in a table which is supported in a lower portion of the gate-like frame via buffer members, an lower rotary member fixed detachably on a bottom plate of the gate-like frame is installed in a lower part of the table, a plurality of lower blades facing the upper blades are held on a circumferential surface of the lower rotary member such that one of the lower blades protrudes from the table surface via the slit of the table, and the upper and lower rotary members sequentially select and install the upper blades and lower blades. The device enables the attainment of split blocks having a desired surface shape without requiring a cumbersome process of replacing splitting blades.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a splitting blade changing device used in a machine for splitting molded blocks (hereinafter, referred to as a block splitter). 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
       FIG. 6  is a front view showing a main part of a block splitter which has long been used, where a holder plate  82  is horizontally fixed to a lower end of one set of hydraulic cylinder  81  which is attached to the upper part of a gate-like frame  80 , and when activating the hydraulic cylinder  81 , the holder plate  82  can be moved up and down along with a slide shaft  84 . 
     One upper blade  86  is fixed to a lower end of the holder plate  82  by means of bolts  87 . Further, a table  90  on which a molded block  88  is to be placed is horizontally fixed to the lower part of the gate-like frame  80 , and one lower blade  92  extending horizontally facing the upper blade  86  is provided inside a slit  91  of the table  90 . 
     The table  90  is mounted on buffer members  94  such as an air bag. The blade edge of the upper blade  86  which is descended by operating the hydraulic cylinder  81  is pressed against an upper surface of the block  88 . When the upper blade  86  is further descended, the table  90  is elastically descended with a deflection of the buffer member  94 , and a blade edge of the lower blade  92  installed inside the slit  91  protrudes from a face of the table  90  and is pressed against a bottom face of the block  88 . Then the block  88  is split by the upper blade  86  and the lower blade  92  (see Japanese Patent Publication No. 2000-141360A). 
     In such a block splitter, the upper blade  86  and the lower blade  92  need to be replaced appropriately in accordance with the shape, size and the like of the molded block, or with a desired surface shape of the resultant split blocks. In this case, since the upper blade  86  and the lower blade  92  are fixed respectively to the holder plate  82  and a seat plate  83  by means of the bolts  87  or the like, the upper blade  86  and the lower blade  92  are replaced with other upper blade and lower blade after removing the bolts and the like. It takes a substantial time even for a skilled engineer in such replacement of the splitting blades. Also nowadays, automation of a process from molding to finishing blocks by using an industrial robot has been progressing. Although the splitter needs to be stopped in order to change the splitting blades, the problem is that stopping the splitting process becomes a factor of lowering the production efficiency of the entire equipment. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is contrived to eliminate the problem described above, and an object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus which can obtain split blocks having a desired surface shape by holding a plurality of splitting blades on a circumferential face of a rotary member without going through a cumbersome process of replacing the splitting blades. 
     The present invention has employed the following configuration in order to solve the above-described problem. 
     (1) A splitting blade changing device for a block splitter, comprising a revolving mechanism in which an upper rotary member is suspended by a supporting plate which is moved up and down by a cylinder installed in an upper part of a gate-like frame, a plurality of upper blades are held on a circumferential face of the upper rotary member, a slit is provided in a table which is supported in a lower portion of the gate-like frame via buffer members, an lower rotary member fixed detachably on a bottom plate of the gate-like frame is installed in a lower part of the table, a plurality of lower blades facing the upper blades are held on a circumferential surface of the lower rotary member such that one of the lower blades protrudes from the table surface via the slit of the table, and the upper and lower rotary members sequentially select and install the upper blades and lower blades. 
     For the cylinder which moves the supporting plate up and down, the various types can be used. Examples include hydraulic, vapor pressure type, combustion pressure type cylinders and the like. As a method of pivotally holding the rotary member to the supporting plate, the face of the detachable rotary member to which no splitting blades are attached may be fitted to the supporting plate by means of a fitting such as a bolt or the like, or both axial ends of the rotary member may be fixed to the supporting plates. Further, the various types of buffer members are used. For example, an air bag, coiled spring where a spring steel is used, plate spring, disk spring and the like are used. 
     (2) A splitting blade changing device for a block splitter, comprising a revolving mechanism in which a pair of upper rotary members are suspended by a pair of supporting plates which are moved up and down by a pair of cylinders installed in an upper part of a gate-like frame, a plurality of upper blades are held on each of circumferential surfaces of the upper rotary members so as to make a plurality of pairs of upper blades with the upper blades held on circumferential surfaces of the other upper rotary member, a slit is provided in a table which is supported in a lower portion of the gate-like frame via buffer members, a lower rotary member fixed detachably on a bottom plate of the gate-like frame is installed in a lower part of the table, a plurality of lower blades facing the upper blades are held on a circumferential surface of the lower rotary member so as to protrude from the table surface via the slit of the table, and the upper and lower rotary members sequentially select and install the upper blades and lower blades. 
     By using paired two upper blades, two molded blocks having a length that is half the normal length can be split at once into a total of four blocks in two rows. Moreover, molded blocks with irregular sizes can be split in order not to generate damaged products. Also the lower blades are not necessarily paired, but they may be used in pairs, like the upper blades, by causing the lower blades to face the upper blades. 
     (3) The splitting blade changing device for a block splitter according to (1) or (2) above, wherein a concave portion is provided at both axial ends or one axial end of the upper rotary member(s), and two or one handling devices, which have a convex portion having a shape to be fitted and fixed into the concave portion and have a grasping portion on the other ends, are installed in the axial direction of the upper rotary member(s) as through shafts passing the gate-like frame. 
     By fitting the handling device(s) in one or both ends of the upper rotary member, and rotating the rotary member by moving the handle manually or mechanically, any splitting blade can be selected easily. Various methods can be employed as a method of fitting the handling device(s) in one end or both ends of the rotary member. Examples include a method of fitting by forming an end or ends of the rotary member into a hexagonal convex as a hexagonal wrench, and forming an end or ends of the handling device(s) facing the end or ends of the rotary member into a hexagonal concave so as to be fitted into the convex, and other methods. 
     (4) The splitting blade changing device for a block splitter according to any of (1) to (3) above, wherein the upper rotary member and the lower rotary member are formed in a shape of a polygonal column having side faces (excluding both end faces in the axial direction of the rotary members) twice as many as the number of a plurality of upper blades or lower blades that are held on the circumferential surface of each rotary member. 
     By smoothing each face of the rotary members supporting the splitting blades, it is possible to hold the splitting blades on the face of each rotary member more securely than on a curved face. 
     The present invention has an effect of providing a block splitter which comprises a supporting plate which is moved up and down by a cylinder, a detachable upper rotary member, and a lower rotary member of the same sort under a table, and which can obtain split blocks having a desired surface configuration by holding a plurality of splitting blades on a circumferential surface of the rotary member without going through a cumbersome process of replacing the splitting blades. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a side view showing an example of an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a front view showing an example of another embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  is a front view showing an example of another embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  is a partial perspective view for explaining a method of bounding the upper rotary members  37  and  38  to the supporting plates  33  and  34 . 
         FIG. 5  is a partial perspective view for explaining another method of bounding the upper rotary members  37  and  38  to the supporting plates  33  and  34 . 
         FIG. 6  is a front view showing a substantial part of the block splitter which has long been used. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Hereinbelow, an embodiment of the present invention is described based on the drawings. 
       FIG. 1  is a side view showing an example of the embodiment of the present invention, in which a supporting plate  5  is fixed to a fixing plate  2  which is moved up and down by a hydraulic cylinder  1  installed in the upper part of a gate-like frame  10 . Reference numeral  4  indicates slide shafts. Further, a fitting convex portion  16 , which is formed on a circumferential surface of an upper rotary member  7 , is fitted in a bottom part of the supporting plate  5 , thereby suspending the rotary member  7 . Three upper blades  6 A,  6 B and  6 C are supported on the circumferential surface of the rotary member  7 . Furthermore, in the lower part of the gate-like frame  10 , there is a table  9  mounted on buffer members (not shown), and the table  9  is provided with a slit  11  for protruding a lower blade. A lower rotary member  17  is installed in the lower part of the table  9 . A circumferential surface of this rotary member  17  is provided with a plurality of lower blades  12 A,  12 B and  12 C that face the upper blades  6 A,  6 B and  6 C. Further, the lower blade  12 A needs to be held on the circumferential surface of the rotary member  17  so as to protrude from the face of the table  9  through the slit  11 . Moreover, the supporting plate  5  and the rotary member  7  have a structure so as to be detachably attached. Each of the rotary members is in the shape of a hexagonal column. The circumferential surface of the rotary member  7  is provided with faces to which the upper blades are attached, and faces on which the fitting convex portions  16  are formed. The fitting convex portion  16  is fixed to a fitting hole formed at the bottom part of the supporting plate  5 . Fastening of the rotary member to the supporting plate may be effected by means of a magnetic lock or bolts. 
     A molded block  19  to be split is conveyed onto the table  9  of the block splitter by a conveyer  18 . The conveyed molded block  19  is positioned at rest in a central part of the table  9 . The slit  11  portion of the table  9  is present under the bottom face of the molded block  19  which is positioned at rest. The table  9  is mounted on the buffer members (not shown), and the blade edge of the upper blade  6 A which is descended by the hydraulic cylinder  1  is pressed against the upper surface of the block  19 . When the upper blade  6 A is further descended from this state, the buffer members are elastically pressed down, then the table  9  is elastically descended, and the lower blade  12 A which is installed inside the slit  11  protrudes from the face of the table  9  and pressed against the bottom face of the block  19 . Then the block  19  is sandwiched between the upper blade  6 A and the lower blade  12 A and split. After the block  19  has been split, the upper blade  6 A is moved upward again by the hydraulic cylinder  1 . The split molded block  19  is transferred to the next process by a discharge conveyer  20 . 
       FIG. 2  shows an example of the rotary means.  FIG. 2  is a front view showing an example of another embodiment of the present invention. The same parts or members as those in  FIG. 1  are explained using the same numerals. 
     Hydraulic cylinders  21  and  22  that are installed in the upper part of the gate-like frame  10  move the rotary member  7  up and down. The three upper blades  6 A,  6 B and  6 C are retained on the circumferential surface of the rotary member  7 . In the lower part of the gate-like frame  10 , there is the table  9  mounted on buffer members  23 , and the table  9  is provided with the slit  11  (not shown) for protruding the lower blade  12 A. The rotary member  17  is installed in the lower part of the table  9 . The circumferential surface of this rotary member  17  is provided with a plurality of lower blades  12 A,  12 B and  12 C that face the upper blades  6 A,  6 B and  6 C. Further, the lower blade  12 A needs to be retained so as to protrude from the face of the table  9  through the slit. Furthermore, the both ends of the rotary member  7  are fixed to supporting plates  24  provided on the lower end parts of the cylinders  21  and  22 , and the rotary member  7  is appropriately rotated freely by a motor embedded in the lower end of the cylinder  21  and  22 . 
     The molded block  19  to be split is conveyed onto the table  9  of the block splitter by a conveyer (not shown). The conveyed molded block  19  is positioned at rest in a central part of the table  9 . The slit of the table  9  is present under the bottom face of the molded block  19  which is positioned at rest. The table  9  is mounted on the buffer members  23 , and the blade edge of the upper blade  6 A which is descended by the hydraulic cylinders  21  and  22  is pressed against the upper surface of the block  19 . When the upper blade  6 A is further descended from this state, the buffer members  23  are elastically pressed down, then the table  9  is elastically descended, and the lower blade  12 A which is installed inside the slit protrudes from the face of the table  9  and pressed against the bottom face of the block  19 . Then the block  19  is sandwiched between the upper blade  6 A and lower blade  12 A and split. After the block  19  has been split, the upper blade  6 A is moved upward again by the hydraulic cylinders  21  and  22 . The split molded block  19  is transferred to the next process by a discharge conveyer (not shown). Reference numeral  25  indicates a handling device. In  FIG. 2 , the upper blade  6 C and the lower blade  12 C are not shown. 
       FIG. 3  is a front view showing an example of another embodiment of the present invention. The same parts or members as those in  FIG. 1  are explained using the same numerals. As shown in  FIG. 3 , in the block splitter according to this embodiment, two upper rotary members  37  and  38 , each supported upper blades thereon so as to make pairs of upper blades, are provided with convex portions at axial outer ends thereof; and two handling devices  40  and  41 , which are provided with concave portions having shapes to be fitted and fixed into the above concave portions and have grasping portions on the other ends, are installed in the axial direction of rotary members  37  and  38  as thorough shafts  42  and  43  passing through the gate-like frame  10 . 
     The two hydraulic cylinders  31  and  32  that are installed in the upper part of the gate-like frame  10  move up and down supporting plates  33  and  34  to which the rotary members  37  and  38  are bounded. Further three upper blades  36 A 1 ,  36 B 1  and  36 C 1  are held on the circumferential surface of the rotary member  37 . The same applies to three upper blades  36 A 2 ,  36 B 2  and  36 C 2  that are held on the circumferential surface of the rotary member  38   
       FIG. 4  is a partial perspective view for explaining a method of bounding the rotary members  37  and  38  to the supporting plates  33  and  34 . In order to release the rotary members  37  and  38  from the supporting plates  33  and  34 , the handling devices  40  and  41  which are not shown are inserted into the concave portions of the axial outer ends of the rotary members, and thereby fixedly fitted, thereafter a magnetic lock  50  is turned OFF to cancel magnetization of a fitting magnetic body  54 . At this time, flanges  51  of the rotary member  37  and  38  are being mounted in a pinching fashion on suspending members  53  of the supporting plates  33  and  34 . By pressing the handling devices  40  and  41  (not shown) towards the direction of the arrow in the figure, the flanges  51  of the rotary members  37  and  38  can be removed from the suspending members  53  of the supporting plates  33  and  34 . At this time the rotary members  37  and  38  are being fitted and fixed to and supported by the handling devices  40  and  41 . The handling devices  40  and  41  are pushed down in this state, the upper blades  36 A 1  and the like that are held by the rotary members  37  and  38  are rotated together with the rotary members at the place where the handling devices are pushed down, and the upper blades  36 B 1  (not shown) and the like are selected accordingly. After selection, the rotary members  37  and  38  are magnetically bonded to the supporting plates  33  and  34 , using the above-described opposite method. 
       FIG. 5  is a partial perspective view for explaining another method of bounding the rotary members  37  and  38  to the supporting plates  33  and  34 . In order to release the rotary members  37  and  38  from the supporting plates  33  and  34 , the handling devices  40  and  41  which are not shown are inserted into the concave portions of the axial outer ends of the rotary members, and thereby fixedly fitted, thereafter bolts  61  are loosen and pulled out of insertion holes  62 . At this time, a convex portion  63  of the rotary member  37  and  38  are being placed in a pinching fashion on suspending members  64  of the supporting plates  33  and  34 , and the rotary members  37  and  38  are being fitted and fixed to and supported by the handling devices  40  and  41 . The handling devices  40  and  41  are pushed down from this state towards the direction of the arrow in the figure to a predetermined position, the upper blades  36 A 1  and the like that are held by the rotary members  37  and  38  are rotated together with the rotary members at the place where the handling devices are pushed down, and the upper blades  36 B 1  and the like are selected accordingly. After selection, the rotary members  37  and  38  are jointed to the supporting plates  33  and  34 , using the above-described opposite method, in which the rotary members  37  and  38  are introduced between the suspending member  64  and jointed to the supporting plates  33  and  34  by inserting the bolts  61  into the insertion holes  62 . Reference numerals  65  and  66  are a fitting convex portion and a fitting concave portion for positioning the respective members in a correct positional relationship therebetween and this positioning can also be effected by means of positioning pins and insertion holes. 
     Moreover, as shown in  FIG. 3 , in the lower part of the gate-like frame  10 , there is a table  49  which is supported via buffer members  39 , and the table  49  is provided with a slit (not shown) for protruding a lower blade  52 A 1 . A lower rotary member  57  is installed in the lower part of the table  49 . A plurality of lower blades  52 A 1 ,  52 B 1 ,  52 C 1  facing the upper blades  36 A 1 ,  36 A 2 ,  36 B 1 , and  36 B 2 ,  36 C,  36 C 2  are held on a circumferential surface of this rotary member  57 . Further, the lower blade  52 A 1  is supported so as to protrude from the face of the table  49  through the slit. 
     The molded block  19  to be split is conveyed onto the table  49  of the block splitter by a conveyer (not shown). The conveyed molded block  19  is positioned at rest in a central part of the table  49 . The slit of the table  49  is present under the bottom face of the molded block  19  which is positioned at rest. The table  49  is mounted on the buffer members  39 , and the blade edges of the paired upper blades  36 A 1  and  36 A 2  which are descended by the hydraulic cylinders  31  and  32  are pressed against the upper surface of the block  19 . When the upper blades  36 A 1  and  36 A 2  are further descended from this state, the buffer members  39  are elastically pressed down, then the table  49  is elastically descended, and the lower blade  52 A 1  which is installed inside the slit protrudes from the face of the table  49  and pressed against the bottom face of the block  19 . Then the block  19  is sandwiched between the upper blades  36 A 1  and  36 A 2  and the lower blade  52 A 1  and then split. After the block  19  has been split, the upper blades  36 A 1  and  36 A 2  are moved upward again by the hydraulic cylinders  31  and  32 . The split molded block  19  is transferred to the next process by a discharge conveyer (not shown). A handling device  45  is installed for the rotary member  57 . In  FIG. 3 , the upper blades  36 C 1  and  36 C 2  and the lower blades  52 B 1  and  52 C 1  are not shown. 
     In the above paragraphs, the embodiments using the lower rotary member holding three lower blades on its circumferential surface are explained, splitting of blocks could be successfully performed by installing a lower rotary member holding four blades on its circumferential surface in the above-mentioned block splitter. The number of plural upper and lower splitting blades may be varied to desired numbers by appropriately modifying the design or arrangement of the upper and lower rotary members.