GB1112423A - Improvements in or relating to finishing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

1,112,423. Finishing. ALMCO SUPERSHEEN DIVISION OF GREAT BRITAIN Ltd., and C. J. A. KELLARD. 2 June, 1965 [2 June, 1964], No. 22839/64. Heading B3D. Finishing apparatus comprises (a) a container into which workpieces to be finished and finishing media can be introduced and from which workpieces and finishing media can be discharged; (b) means for rotating or vibrating the container; (c) a hopper having closable outlet means and being positioned above the container and arranged to supply finishing media to the container under gravity through the outlet means; (d) means for separating discharged finishing media from the discharged workpieces; (e) trough means arranged to collect the separated finishing media; (f) one or more conduits arranged to provide communication between the interior of the trough means and the interior of the hopper; and (g) means for so reducing the pressure inside the hopper as to cause the media in the trough means to return through the or each conduit to the hopper. A rotary barrel 1, Fig. 2, has in one side wall 5 an opening for charging and discharging workpieces and surface finishing media, e.g. limestone chips, into and from the barrel; the opening has a detachable cover 6. The discharged material is directed by baffles 10 on to a screen 7. Workpieces are discharged off the end of the screen into suitable receptacles. Media falls through the screen into a shoot 8 which directs it into a collecting trough 9 having baffles 15 directing it towards pipes 14 at each side of the machine. The pipes 14 connect with a hopper 11 above the barrel. A motor-driven fan or blower unit 16 produces reduced pressure within the hopper so that media is conveyed from the trough 9 through the pipes 14 to the hopper 11. Flexible curtains suspended within the hopper direct the media from the pipes 14 into the lower portion of the hopper. The latter has a gate 12 operable by a handle 13 for discharging media into the barrel. In another embodiment, Fig. 4, the contents of a vibratory barrel are discharged through a gate 19 in one end wall of the barrel on to a shoot 20 having a perforated section through which media falls into a trough 22. A motordriven blower or fan unit 26 produces reduced pressure within a hopper 23 so that media is conveyed from the trough 22 through a pipe 27 to the hopper 23. The latter has a gate 24 for discharging media, via a pivoted shoot 25, into the barrel. The media and workpieces may be separated by a magnetic separator. The hopper discharge may include a rotary outlet valve enabling the media to be fed into the barrel in metered quantities. The hopper may be divided into compartments for storing media of different sizes, the compartments being connected to the suction pipe through branch pipes connected therewith by a rotary butterfly valve.