ROTATION AND AIR/ABRASIVE DELIVERY SYSTEM FOR AN ABRASIVE MATERIAL SURFACE FINISHING SYSTEM
A rotation and air/abrasive delivery system for an abrasive material surface finishing system includes a rotating basket within the tub; a blast head connected with a compressed air source and an abrasive media source; a hinged connection configured to allow angular adjustment of the blast head into a desired angular position relative to the rotating basket and maintain the blast head in the desired angular position; a motor outside of the tub that is configured to drive rotation of the rotating basket; a bearing shaft connected with the motor and with the rotating basket, the bearing shaft being operable to transfer rotational force from the motor to the rotating basket; and a linkage assembly having at least one seal configured to isolate the motor from the abrasive media source within the tub. A method of retrofitting an abrasive material surface finishing system is also disclosed.
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/382,739, filed on Nov. 8, 2022, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
TECHNICAL FIELDThe present disclosure is directed to material surface finishing and, more particularly, to an abrasive material surface finishing system that reduces operator involvement during operation.
BACKGROUNDAbrasive surface systems, such as sand blasters, are used to produce a desired finish on the surface of various parts. Typically, these systems include a cabinet in which a blasting chamber is provided. A handheld nozzle is provided inside the cabinet and is fed, either by siphon or pressure means with a supply of sand or other abrasive material where a pressured air supply forces the abrasive material out of the nozzle at high speed. The front of the cabinet usually has two access holes in which heavy rubber or plastic “gloves” are mounted. An operator inserts both arms through the access holes. One hand holds the part(s) while the other is used to hold and operate the nozzle. These systems are reliant on the skill of the operator and multiple parts are treated one by one as the operator picks them up. As a result, these systems tend to produce inconsistent results. These systems also require a dedicated, full-time operator. The traditional systems can also present injury risks to the operators, including carpel tunnel or similar injuries.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide an improved abrasive blaster that allows for more limited operator involvement and facilitates process automation.
SUMMARYAccording to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a rotation and air/abrasive delivery system for an abrasive material surface finishing system having a compressed air source, an abrasive media source, and a tub, including a rotating basket within the tub that is configured to contain one or more parts requiring surface finishing; a blast head connected with the compressed air source by an air inlet tube and with the abrasive media source and configured for accelerated delivery of the abrasive media; a hinged connection configured to allow angular adjustment of the blast head into a desired angular position relative to the rotating basket and maintain the blast head in the desired angular position; a motor mounted outside of the tub that is configured to drive rotation of the rotating basket; a bearing shaft connected with the motor at a first end and with the rotating basket at a second end, the bearing shaft being operable to transfer rotational force from the motor to the rotating basket; and a linkage assembly having at least one seal configured to isolate the motor from the abrasive media source within the tub.
According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an abrasive material surface finishing system includes a tub; a compressed air source and an abrasive media source; a rotating basket within the tub that is configured to contain one or more parts requiring surface finishing; a blast head connected with the compressed air source and the abrasive media source and configured for accelerated delivery of the abrasive media; a hinged connection configured to allow angular adjustment of the blast head into a desired angular position relative to the rotating basket and maintain the blast head in the desired angular position; a motor outside of the tub that is configured to drive rotation of the rotating basket; a bearing shaft connected at a first end with the motor and at a second end with the rotating basket and passing through the tub, the bearing shaft being operable to transfer rotational force from the motor to the rotating basket; and a linkage assembly having at least one seal configured to isolate the motor from the abrasive media source within the tub.
According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there is a provided a method of retrofitting an abrasive material surface finishing system with embodiments of the rotation and air/abrasive delivery system of the present disclosure that includes the steps of creating a shaft opening in the tub having an opening diameter slightly greater than a diameter of the bearing shaft to allow insertion of and subsequent free rotation of the bearing shaft; connecting the first end of the bearing shaft with the motor and mounting the motor to an outside surface of the tub adjacent to the shaft opening; connecting the linkage assembly with the bearing shaft adjacent to an inside surface of the tub; connecting the second end of the bearing shaft with the rotating basket; connecting the blast head to the compressed air source with an air inlet tube; connecting the blast head with the abrasive media source; and connecting the blast head to the hinged connection 60 and connecting the hinged connection to one of the tub or the air inlet tube.
These aspects are merely illustrative of the innumerable aspects associated with the present disclosure and should not be deemed as limiting in any manner. These and other aspects, features and advantages of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the referenced drawings.
Reference is now made more particularly to the drawings, which illustrate the best presently known mode of carrying out the disclosure and wherein similar reference characters indicate the same parts throughout all views.
The following description of technology is merely exemplary in nature of the subject matter, manufacture and use of one or more inventions, and is not intended to limit the scope, application, or uses of any specific invention claimed in this application or in such other applications as may be filed claiming priority to this application, or patents issuing therefrom. The following definitions and non-limiting guidelines must be considered in reviewing the description of the technology set forth herein.
The headings and sub-headings used herein are intended only for general organization of topics within the present disclosure and are not intended to limit the disclosure of the technology or any aspect thereof. In particular, subject matter disclosed in the “Background” may include novel technology and may not constitute a recitation of prior art. Subject matter disclosed in the “Summary” is not an exhaustive or complete disclosure of the entire scope of the technology or any embodiments thereof. Classification or discussion of a material within a section of this specification as having a particular utility is made for convenience, and no inference should be drawn that the material must necessarily or solely function in accordance with its classification herein when it is used in any given composition.
The citation of references herein does not constitute an admission that those references are prior art or have any relevance to the patentability of the technology disclosed herein. All references cited in the “Detailed Description” section of this specification are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
The description and specific examples, while indicating embodiments of the technology, are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the technology. Moreover, recitation of multiple embodiments having stated features is not intended to exclude other embodiments having additional features, or other embodiments incorporating different combinations of the stated features. Specific examples are provided for illustrative purposes of how to make and use the apparatus and systems of this technology and, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are not intended to be a representation that given embodiments of this technology have, or have not, been made or tested.
As used herein, the word “include,” and its variants, is intended to be non-limiting, such that recitation of items in a list is not to the exclusion of other like items that may also be useful in the materials, compositions, devices, and methods of this technology. Similarly, the terms “can” and “may” and their variants are intended to be non-limiting, such that recitation that an embodiment can or may comprise certain elements or features does not exclude other embodiments of the present technology that do not contain those elements or features.
“A” and “an” as used herein indicate “at least one” of the item is present; a plurality of such items may be present, when possible. “About” when applied to values indicates that the calculation or the measurement allows some slight imprecision in the value (with some approach to exactness in the value; approximately or reasonably close to the value; nearly). If, for some reason, the imprecision provided by “about” is not otherwise understood in the art with this ordinary meaning, then “about” as used herein indicates at least variations that may arise from ordinary methods of measuring or using such parameters. In addition, disclosure of ranges includes disclosure of all distinct values and further divided ranges within the entire range.
The rotary system 20 rotates items during the abrasive surface finishing process. The rotary system 20 is driven by a motor 22, which may be, as only one suitable example, a 12V, 100 RPM, 60W, 3 Nm torque gear motor, with an output shaft 24. The output shaft 24 is connected with one end of a bearing shaft 26 and rotates the bearing shaft 26. The motor 22 is secured to a motor mount 28, which in turn is mounted to a sidewall of a tub 44 of the abrasive material surface finishing system by a bracket 30.
A basket adapter 40 is secured to the bearing shaft 26 adjacent to its end opposite the motor 22. A rotating basket 42, which is perforated in the illustrated embodiment, is secured to the basket adapter 40. The rotating basket 42 and basket adapter 40 may be secured by a threaded connection or other suitable fasteners. Alternately, the basket adapter 40 may be integrated with the rotating basket 42.
A linkage assembly supports the bearing shaft 26 between the motor 22 and basket adapter 40 and function to maintain an appropriate concentric axial relationship among the output shaft 24, bearing shaft 26, and basket adapter 40 to ensure smooth rotation of the bearing shaft 26 and rotating basket 42, as well as to protect those components inside of the tub 44 from damage. The bearing shaft 26 passes through a dry run sleeve 32 secured to the bracket 30. A seal block 34 mounts to the bracket 30 over the dry run sleeve 32 and contains a seal 36, for example, a spring tension seal, to prevent sand or other abrasive media from infiltrating the bearing shaft 26 pathway and passing to the motor 22 and potentially damaging it. A bearing cover 38 is secured in a position over the seal 36, seal block 34, and dry run sleeve 32 to further protect those components.
The compressed air input system 50 includes an air inlet tube 52, which is connected with a source of compressed or pressurized air. The air inlet tube 52 may be a rigid tube. One end of the air inlet tube 52 may be secured to and held in place by the bracket 30. An air input slide 54 is provided on the air inlet tube 52 and is configured to slide along at least a portion of the length of the air inlet tube 52 and rotate around the air inlet tube 52. A hinged connection 60 may be secured to and support the blast head 62, which may also be referred to as a nozzle. The hinged connection 60 may include a fixed hinge plate 58 mounted to a flange of the air input slide 54. The hinged connection 60 allows for pivoting adjustment of an angular position of the blast head 62 relative to the rotating basket 42 until a desired angular position of the blast head 62 is achieved and maintaining the blast head 62 in the desired angular position. The sliding engagement of the air input slide 54 with the air inlet tube 52 allows for sliding adjustment of a linear position of the blast head 62 relative to the rotating basket 42 until a desired linear position of the blast head 62 is achieved and maintaining the blast head 62 in the desired linear position.
An air input tube 56 is sealingly connected at a first end with the free end of the air inlet tube 52 and at a second end with an air inlet of the blast head 62. The air input tube 56 delivers compressed air to the blast head 62.
Sand or any other suitable abrasive media is supplied to the blast head 62 by a sand input hose 72, which is connected with a sand inlet tube 74. The sand inlet tube 74 is, in turn, connected with a supply of the abrasive media.
Embodiments of the present disclosure may be incorporated into abrasive material surface finishing systems of any size and configuration, for example, both full size (
Retrofitting an existing finishing system includes the steps of creating a shaft opening in the tub 44 having an opening diameter slightly greater than a diameter of the bearing shaft 26 to allow insertion of and subsequent free rotation of the bearing shaft 26; connecting the first end of the bearing shaft 26 with the motor 22 and mounting the motor 22 to an outside surface of the tub 44 adjacent to the shaft opening; connecting the linkage assembly with the bearing shaft 26 adjacent to an inside surface of the tub 44; connecting the second end of the bearing shaft 26 with the rotating basket 42; connecting the blast head 62 to the compressed air source with an air inlet tube 52; connecting the blast head 62 with the abrasive media source; and connecting the blast head 62 to the hinged connection 60 and connecting the hinged connection 60 to one of the tub 44 or the air inlet tube 52.
The method may further include the step of pivotally adjusting the blast head 62 into the desired angular position by pivoting the hinged connection 60.
In embodiments in which an air input slide 54 is provided, the method may further include the step of slidingly adjusting the blast head 62 relative to the rotating basket 42 into the desired linear position by moving the air input slide 54 along the air inlet tube 52.
In embodiments including a basket adapter 40, the step of connecting the second end of the bearing shaft 26 with the rotating basket 42 may also include connecting the basket adapter 40 with the second end of the bearing shaft 26 and, in some embodiments, also connecting the basket adapter 40 to the rotating basket 42.
Embodiments of the present disclosure may be operated in the following exemplary and non-limited method. The motor 22 is adjusted to produce a desired rotations per minute (“RPM”) of the rotating basket 42. The desired RPM may depend on a variety of variables, including, for example, the size, weight, shape, type, and/or number of parts to be loaded into the rotating basket 42. The air pressure supplied to the blast head 62 may then be adjusted to provide a desired abrasive media dispersion pattern for the part variables. Once these parameters are set, a user may fill the rotating basket 42 with parts to be treated in the appropriate quantity.
Note that once an optimized RPM and air pressure are determined for a particular set of part variables, that RPM and air pressure may be recorded or stored with a listing of the related operating variables for future reference. As one example, a computer controller may be connected with and configured to operate the motor 22 and air supply. The computer controller may be provided with a memory and a data input means by which optimum operating and part variable relationships may be stored. A user may subsequently select a stored operating and part variable relationship for future operation of the abrasive material surface finishing system without need to repeat any manual adjustment.
Once the RPM and air pressure are set, an operator may fill the rotating basket 42 as appropriate and initiate operation. The system 10 may also be provided with a timer to automatically stop operation after a desired period of time. Alternately, operation of the system 10 may be stopped manually. If the part quality is not as desired, the RPM and air pressure variables may be adjusted as needed and updated if they have been previously recorded and stored.
The preferred embodiments of the disclosure have been described above to explain the principles of the invention and its practical application to thereby enable others skilled in the art to utilize the invention. However, as various modifications could be made in the constructions and methods herein described and illustrated without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the foregoing description or shown in the accompanying drawings, including all materials expressly incorporated by reference herein, shall be interpreted as illustrative rather than limiting. Thus, the breadth and scope of the present invention should not be limited by the above-described exemplary embodiment but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims appended hereto and their equivalents.
Claims
1. A rotation and air/abrasive delivery system for an abrasive material surface finishing system having a compressed air source, an abrasive media source, and a tub, comprising:
- a rotating basket within the tub that is configured to contain one or more parts requiring surface finishing;
- a blast head connected with the compressed air source by an air inlet tube and with the abrasive media source and configured for accelerated delivery of the abrasive media;
- a hinged connection configured to allow angular adjustment of the blast head into a desired angular position relative to the rotating basket and maintain the blast head in the desired angular position;
- a motor mounted outside of the tub that is configured to drive rotation of the rotating basket;
- a bearing shaft connected with the motor at a first end and with the rotating basket at a second end, the bearing shaft being operable to transfer rotational force from the motor to the rotating basket; and
- a linkage assembly having at least one seal configured to isolate the motor from the abrasive media source within the tub.
2. The rotation and air/abrasive delivery system as set forth in claim 1, wherein the hinged connection is supported by the air inlet tube.
3. The rotation and air/abrasive delivery system as set forth in claim 2, further comprising an air input slide engaging the air inlet tube in a sliding manner and wherein the hinged connection is connected to the air input slide, the air input slide being configured to allow linear adjustment of the blast head into a desired linear position relative to the rotating basket and maintain the blast head in the desired linear position.
4. The rotation and air/abrasive delivery system as set forth in claim 1, further comprising a basket adapter connected with the second end of the bearing shaft and with the rotating basket.
5. An abrasive material surface finishing system, comprising:
- a tub;
- a compressed air source and an abrasive media source;
- a rotating basket within the tub that is configured to contain one or more parts requiring surface finishing;
- a blast head connected with the compressed air source and the abrasive media source and configured for accelerated delivery of the abrasive media;
- a hinged connection configured to allow angular adjustment of the blast head into a desired angular position relative to the rotating basket and maintain the blast head in the desired angular position;
- a motor outside of the tub that is configured to drive rotation of the rotating basket;
- a bearing shaft connected at a first end with the motor and at a second end with the rotating basket and passing through the tub, the bearing shaft being operable to transfer rotational force from the motor to the rotating basket; and
- a linkage assembly having at least one seal configured to isolate the motor from the abrasive media source within the tub.
6. The abrasive material surface finishing system as set forth in claim 5, further comprising an air inlet tube connecting the compressed air source and the blast head and wherein the hinged connection is supported by the air inlet tube.
7. The abrasive material surface finishing system as set forth in claim 6, further comprising an air input slide engaging the air inlet tube in a sliding manner and wherein the hinged connection is connected to the air input slide, the air input slide being configured to allow linear adjustment of the blast head into a desired linear position relative to the rotating basket and maintain the blast head in the desired linear position.
8. The abrasive material surface finishing system as set forth in claim 5, further comprising a basket adapter connected with the second end of the bearing shaft and with the rotating basket.
9. A method of retrofitting an abrasive material surface finishing system, having a compressed air source, an abrasive media source, and a tub, with a rotation and air/abrasive delivery system according to claim 1, comprising the steps of:
- creating a shaft opening in the tub having an opening diameter slightly greater than a diameter of the bearing shaft to allow insertion of and subsequent free rotation of the bearing shaft;
- connecting the first end of the bearing shaft with the motor and mounting the motor to an outside surface of the tub adjacent to the shaft opening;
- connecting the linkage assembly with the bearing shaft adjacent to an inside surface of the tub;
- connecting the second end of the bearing shaft with the rotating basket;
- connecting the blast head to the compressed air source with an air inlet tube;
- connecting the blast head with the abrasive media source; and
- connecting the blast head to the hinged connection and connecting the hinged connection to one of the tub or the air inlet tube.
10. The method of retrofitting an abrasive material surface finishing system as set forth in claim 9, wherein the hinged connection is configured to allow angular adjustment of the blast head into a desired angular position relative to the rotating basket and maintain the blast head in the desired angular position, and further comprising the step of pivotally adjusting the blast head into the desired angular position by pivoting the hinged connection.
11. The method of retrofitting an abrasive material surface finishing system as set forth in claim 9, further comprising an air input slide engaging the air inlet tube in a sliding manner and wherein the hinged connection is connected to the air input slide, the air input slide being configured to allow linear adjustment of the blast head into a desired linear position relative to the rotating basket and maintain the blast head in the desired linear position, and further comprising the step of slidingly adjusting the blast head relative to the rotating basket into the desired linear position by moving the air input slide along the air inlet tube.
12. The method of retrofitting an abrasive material surface finishing system as set forth in claim 9, further comprising a basket adapter and wherein the step of connecting the second end of the bearing shaft with the rotating basket further comprises connecting the basket adapter with the second end of the bearing shaft.
13. The method of retrofitting an abrasive material surface finishing system as set forth in claim 12, wherein the step of connecting the second end of the bearing shaft with the rotating basket further comprises connecting the basket adapter with the rotating basket.
Type: Application
Filed: Nov 8, 2023
Publication Date: May 9, 2024
Inventors: Benjamin Douglas York (Grantsburg, WI), Douglas Charles York (Warrens, WI)
Application Number: 18/504,786