US2515223A - Pneumatic dust removal machine - Google Patents

Description

July 18, 1950 J. G. HOLLiCK PNEUMATIC DUST REMOVAL momma 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 30, 1949 J- G. HOLLICK PNEUMATIC DUST REMOVAL MACHINE July 18, 1950 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 30, 41949 [nventor John G. /'/o//1'c/( fly A orncy July 18, 1950 J. G. HOLLICK I PNEUMATIC DUST REMOVAL MACHINE Filed March 50,. 1949 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 July 18, 1950 J. G. HOLLICK 2,515,223

PNEUMATIC" DUST REMOVAL MACHINE Filed March 30, 1949 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 fiivenfor: John G. Ha /lick July 18, 1950 J. G. HOLLlCK PNEUMATIC DUST REMOVAL MACHINE S-Sheets-Sheet 5 [10621 for: John G. /7'0///0/ Filed March 30, 1949 Patented July 18, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PNEUMATIC DUST REMOVAL MACHINE John G. Hollick, Beverly, Mass -assignor to United 7 Shoe Machinery Corporation, Flemington, N. J a corporation of New Jersey Application March" so, 1949, Serial No. 84 368 (01. es -n 12 Claims.

This invention relates to machines: for removing; dust particles from: the surfaces of. materials which are handled as individual sheets and which: possess compact: structures as distin-- guished' from loose structures" such as fabrics. The invention relates more particularly to'pneumatic apparatus-for removing fine dust from sucharticles'astanned hides or skins. As hereinillustrated, the invention is embodied in a pneumatic machine: which is an' improvement over thatdisclosed andclaimed in a copendin'g: application for: Letters Patent of" the United States Serial No.- 740,666,, filed" April -,-.1947, inthe. names-of Cutler D.- Knowlton and: John G. Hollickwhich issued on=September- 27'; 1949 as- Patent-No. 2,482,781. Such machines are particularly adapted for carryingaoutthe novel method disclosed and claimed in a copending application for Letters Patent of the United States; Serial No. 691,090,',filed August 16, 1946; in the name of- John G; Hollick which issued=on September 27, 1949 as PatentNo; v2, l82j7'75:

Conventional brushing-machines (relying uponbrushes-for the actual cleaning operation) do not remove dustrfrom leatherto the extent desired, with the result-that subsequentoperations oftenproduce a cloudy; streaked or-- unsightly finish on the leather.

The pneumatic: machine disclosed in the patent applicationSerial No. 740,666, above referred to,..has been foundin actual tannery practice to perform superior. workand-in -aimanner not previously encountered in a tanneryfl It has been found, however, that in the useof such=a pneumatic machine there oftenaredifficulties in feeding. particular leathers having. stifforcurled edges or which are-extremelyflexible'or: flims such as suede (sheepskin) or very thin calfskin. If one brush is used for feeding, the work, then the work must be pushed (instead of being-pulled) during-alportion of its travel through the machine and the feeding becomes erratic. If two brushes areused to feed the work (one brush for-each side of the work astheothcrside is cleaned by air), thenneither brush performs its Work .in a positive manner and difficult timing problems arise together with the added expense of the requisite parts. At leastone brush was used and wasbelieved preferable in the pneumatic type of machine to bringaabout' the feeding .of each consecutive Work piece, such as ahide or. skin, throughthe machine and it Wasashown'to be effective-in this respect for some leathers but not-for otherswand its'use'0n--- all leathers was not such as :to make-the pneumatic dust" removal operation as efficient as would be desirable; Another difiiculty has been encountered in that certain passages of the pneumatic machine have been blocked with dust; causing frequent interruptions in the production schedule and making cleansing of themachine necessary. I

An object of the present invention is to pro-a vide' apneumatic machine for removing dust fromconsecutively. presented work pieces such as hides or skins in whichmachine the work may be more smoothly fed-toand from-a treatment zone with-improvedefficiency of dustremoval in that zone despite variations in=thinnessgflexibilityor stiffness I necessarily encountered in such-works l To the above ends and in accordance with important characteristics of the invention, a flexible conveyor belt is provided for guiding and resilientlyrestraining a spread-'out work piece ina-path contiguous to a nozzle discharge-area and a suction duct structure associated with that area., Preferably, and as illustrated two similar unitsi. e.,--.two'nozzleandsuction struc tures are provided one foreachside of a;-worl-2-- to he -treated, and each unit ha a flexible piece 7 belt conveyor cooperating with it.

Another feature ofthe invention is found eachunitor nozzle and suction structure which"; comprises two halves'orcastingsjoined together with spacing means between them to determine the nozzledischarge area oropening which is preferably in'theeform of a-=s10t. One-otherv feature resides in the stepped-and slotted-nozzle structure in which the nozzlelip located nearestto the front of the machine extends nearer to the path of the work than the other lip of-the" same-unit. Still another feature is the provision forsupplementing the di-ist-laden air with more air to=insu-re the carrying away of Y thedust'from the nozzle andsuction passages of the machine 1 tion. of travel of I or object:

When'the term hides is used aloneherein' itis-- the intention te -refer to work pieces-such The use of a that tei m' as "hides; sides; orl skins. avoids excess verbiage:

The invention will now be more particularly described by reference to the accompanying drawings and thereafter pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a front view in elevation and partially in section (along the line I-I of Fig. 2) of the preferred form of the apparatus;

Fig. 2 is an elevation view of the right-hand end of the machine shown in Fig. 1, parts being broken away for purposes of illustration;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view along the line IIIIII of Fig. 1 and is drawn to a larger scale with the main operative parts ofthe machine being shown;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the left-hand end of the lower nozzle and suction structure or unit together with portions of conveyor belts associated therewith;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view in section and diagrammatically presented to illustrate the principles of operation of the machine;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged sectional View of a portion of one nozzle and suction structure;

Fig. '7 is a view partially in section and drawn to an enlarged scale of some of the safety device details shown in the left-hand side of the machine as viewed in Fig. 1;

Fig. 8 is a view in perspective showing a portion including one end of a casting, which casting comprises almost one half of a complete nozzle and suction structure; and

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of some of the parts shown in Fig. 4

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of a locater or gage mechanism for the front conveyor belt roller; and

made up of three endless conveyor belts I 4, I6 and I8 (Figs. 2, 3 and 5) and their supporting rollers 20, 22, 24, 26, 28 and 36 are arranged for the conveying of a work piece W (Fig. 3) beneath the nozzle structure A and just above the nozzle structure B and from the machine.

The upper nozzle and suction structure A is supported on the standards I0 and I2 by bolts 32 (shown only at the right-hand end of the machine in Figs. 1 and 2). tion structure B is supported on the standards I0 and I2 by bolts 34 (also shown at one end only of the machine).

The nozzle and suction structures A and B are identical in construction and each is made up of two castings 36 which are similar in that they may be taken from the same mold. Each casting 36 is rather intricate in construction and may best be understood by reference to Fig. 8. The ends of a given casting 36 are similar to each other except, of course, that they are to the opposite hand. Each of the castings 36 is made up of'a side or vertical Wall 40, a horizontal wall 42, end walls 44, a nozzle wall section 46, and interior partitions 48, 50, 52, 54 and 56. The partitions are so arranged, when two of the castings 36 are joined together to form a unit, that air entering through end openings 60 (in this case through only one opening 60 of each unit A or B) is caused to flow along between the nozzle wall sections 46 and emerge from between the lips 62. After im- Fig. 11 is a diagrammatic representation of the The nozzle and suc- 4 pact with leather to be cleaned, as will be further described, dust-laden air is then caused to pass between parallel ribs or partitions 64 and out through a central discharge opening 66. The above-referred-to passage of air obtains when two halves 36 are bolted together in the relation shown in Figs. 2 and 3. Each end of each casting 36 is provided with five through holes 16 (Fig. 8) for bolts I2 which serve to hold the two halves of a nozzle unit or structure A or B together. Each casting 36 is also provided with holes (Fig. 8) passing through the partition 52 and through which bolts 8| (see unit A in Fig. 3) are retained to aid in holding the two halves 36 together. As will be further explained the two halves are not in contact with each other when assembled but are separated a short distance by thin sheets of metal or shims 82 and 84 and also by a gasket or filler composition 85 at exterior points where the shims are not used. Each casting 36 is also provided with a number of bosses 88 (Figs. 3 and 8) through which pass bolts 9ll(see unit A in Fig. 3) which assist in holding the parts in rigid relation. The ribs 64 of each casting are parallel and they are inclined at an angle across the casting. Side plates I00 are attached to the castings of each unit by means-of screws I 04. It will be noted that the ribs 64 are each of such length that they form passages leading from one side of each wall I06 to the exterior or other side of that wall. The longitudinal edge III] of each casting 36 is beveled as shown. In the machine illustrated, the fou openings 60 and the two openings 66 of the two front castings 36 are closed by means of plates H2 and H4. The rear" right-hand'opening 60 of the unit A communicates with a rubber hose I20 (Fig. 2) leading to a source of supply of air under pressure. I The lower rear and left-hand opening 60 communi- "cates with a source of air under pressure by means of the hose connection I22. The rear lefthand opening 60 of the unit A and the rear righthand opening 60 of the unit B are closed by means of suitable plates. 'The upper opening 66 communicates with an air exhaust system. by means of a conduit I24 and the lower rear opening 66 communicates with the same system by the conduit I26.

A switch control box I30 (Fig. 1) is mounted on the front. of the machine and has three push buttons F, R and S for initiating operation of the work feeding system forwardly or in reverse or for stopping it.

A casting I32 is mounted near the right-hand end and on the under side of the nozzle structure pended from the brackets or castings I32 and I34 by means of bolts I44 and I46. Each of the bolts I44 and slot in its casting I32 or I34 permitting adjustment of the roller 20 to vary the tension in the belt I4.

A handle I56 (Figs. 2 and 10) depends from and is pivoted upon a pin I52 passing through two ears I54 and I56 (Fig. 10) forming part of the casting I32. A rod I58 is threaded into the up:

per end of the handle I50 and is locked therein I46 passes through a' in...suoh=position as to abut the. rear ofthe dour,

nalflll l and-thereby .adjustabl .determine. the.

propenpositionof theright-hand endof theroller- Mnas wellras-the proper tension. the belt J4 pneliminaryto tightening of the. bolt 14.4. The. journal 11.42 is similarly mountedior adjustment.

and-aihandle 1.80. (similar'to handle 150;). is shown.

for-the. purpose .(see' Fig. 11),. the construc.-.-. tionof lthesedetails asshown, the tension of the. belt M may. be restored-after cleaning of theuslot. in unit A and this restoration may be effectedv without: tedious adjustment. In. other words, the

pins; 1 5.8 .serveas .locators or gages. in. positioning If the handles. and 160. are

the roller 20. swung forwardly and. the. bolts. .IM and 14.5. are

loosened, .the. belt 29 may be-relaxed'. sufficiently: to. permit insertion of an. appropriate tool. to

clean theair discharge slot of. theunit A.

Beneath the upper run theforward conveyor:

attached to the rod ITO-to determine thelimits of vertical travel of the bar I62. The extreme end of the extension [64 is provided with an eye- H8 byv means of which a spring I8!) is adapted to resiliently support the bar 162 to an eye I82 affixed to the stanchion l2 A micro-switch l84 is attached to the stanchion lz with its plunger normally in contact with the extension I54, A spring I86 and micro-switch I88 (Fig. 11) are similarly mounted at the other end of the bar I62.

Two brackets B are mounted on the nozzle structure B to supportand form journals for the twoconveyor rollers 22 and 28. Each bracket 200 is attached to the nozzle structure 13 by three bolts 202 (Fig. 4.) and is provided with a horizontal rear extension 2% (Fig. 9) and an upwardly directed flange 206. passes through each flange 26b and is provided with-a lock nut 2|!) (Fig. 2). permits a horizontal adjustmentin and determination of the. position of the roller 25' as the threaded-rod 288 abuts against one of the journalsZ l2 at each end of the roller 26. Each journal 2152 is attached to its bracket extension 204= by=means of a bolt passing through a slot 213 (Eig. 9)uin that extension.

Anoutrigger arm 22!).extends rearwardlyfrom each end ofthe nozzle mechanism-Bandis at:

tached thereto by two bolts. 22,2; Eacharm- 220 at therear of each arm 23; for the support of theconveyon roller 3i). The-outrigger arms 22d.-

i e hirdbe t m r se i n qu p.- mentthe u se of which is preferred but'is not' essential aswill further appear.

A- large bracket 25!! (Fig. 1) isbolted at 252 to the front side of the nozzle: mechanism Band tothisbracket is attached the motor. M for. drivingtheconveyor System. The motor shaft is ar- This; .bar is slightly A threaded rod 208 This mechanism 22. that belt, Lads driven hythe roller 22 i, andsthatv belt It. is driven loathe-roller 2%, the ends of all conveyor shafts are provided with collars .269 where essential,

It hasbeen. stated above that the four castings. 36:; are identical andthisis substantially correct as-they. are made from the samemold. It has been found; however, that the rear halves or cast-.

ingsof each. nozzlestr-ucture A on Bt-shouldiloe.

modified; slightly in, ond'en to minimize-the clog.- ging of the nozzle discharge areas, It has been found: advantageous to. machine downthe lip of thezrear castings 3.6.; asclearly i'llLlStlfdtfid'il'lIFig. 6i dirt being forced intorand'e any work catching in the slot of the. particular nozzle structure conranged to drive a pulley 25.?lilth iougha gear arrangement 2555; A belt zlilleads from the. pulleya fl t-ta a .nu ley .5.8 a which keyed. its rotateiwithl corned; The slot. width dimension P (Fig. 6)

should not-exceedaa s of an inch. andwith; such a. slot the distance J should be at least .005 inchif the desired; non-clogging propensities of the slot-- are toberealized. It is much preferred that such. Orifice be in the form. of a slot and that the preferred'efiective width of the slot be only a- .fe= w thousa-n-dths ofan inch, that is, not in ex- S e /1000 or; aninch. With such adimension for: the width, the slotzis barely perceptible to the eye. Regardless-of the form oforifice or orificesused-a (it is clear that perforated stationary or reciprocated nozzle members ma be used inlieu of slotted units) the effective-cross sectional orifice area should: not exceed. of a square inch per; linear foot (measured transverse to the direction of feed'of-the work) .=.which is the same as thearea ora a slot.

A1 guard; 55M; of sheet: metal; is mounted on the front-of the, unit and is attached. thereto by screws 392. The guard is provided with adownwardly andirearwardly inolinedlip 304:.w-hich terminates close up. to the soft covering of the roller, (36'.

In operatingthemaohine the; motor- M is utilized; to runathe conveyor system in a direction shownby thearrows in Figs. sand-'5'. A hide (Eig-r 3 isc-then spread'out'. by the operator upon theupper run oithe conveyor belt M'and one. edge thereofi'is inserted beneath the rubbercovereolroller. 36: The insertion is made easy bythepresence-of thesguard lip 30 3. Assuming thatcair underpressureis directed into the nozzle struoture. A1 and.l3;.through conduits 12%! and IZZ theAVQrkpiece, W is quickly and positively fed by; the conveyor system beneath thenozzle area 0f.the-.unit2A1 andover the. nozzle area of the hnitB and'sthen is; discharged to the conveyor belt i 8 from which the cleaned work piece W may be removed; During the-passage, the air emerges from the. slotiofe-achzunit A andB and impinges upon the leather to dislodge-dusttherefrom. The dust-laden airis pulled; into the exhaust system fromboth sides-of eachslot through the spaces :between the ribs M. Supplementary air from the room is admitted :at the side-of each unit to.

those. same; spaces and ensures suillcientair:

velocity to carry thedu-st out. of the machine.

The. belt: lflzservesto supportseach treated work apiece-momentarily, permittinguthetoperator sufll- This provision eliminates the possibility of ation is assured without the belt I8, however, for

the operator may grasp the leading edge of each work piece and may manually support the piece 1 as it is discharged.

Fig. 11 diagrammatically illustrates the elec" trical circuits utilized in controlling the motor M for driving the conveyor belts of the machine. Power is derived from the main lines D, E and G, the three-phase current passing only to the motor M.

For feeding a work piece through the machine-i. e., for moving the conveyor belts I4, I6 and I8 forwardly, the push button F is depressed, energizing the forward contactor FC which remains energized when the button F is released because of the holding contacts 0. Current passes through the lines 11, e and g to the motor M.

When an'obstruction, such as the hand of an operator, causes the upper run of the conveyor belt I l to be depressed beyond a predetermined limit, one or both of the switches I84 and I88 will close, energizing the relay K and opening the coil of the forward contactor FC' thereby shutting off the power to the motor M. After a short time delay due to the mechanism of the relay K, the reverse contactor RC is energized and the motor M actuates the conveyors in reverse. Reverse operation removes the operators hand or other obstruction from the zone above the bar I62, ensures that both switches I84 and I88 are open and stops the motor M. The push button F must again be depressed for resumption of the work feeding operation.

With the circuits shown, the motor M and the conveyors which it drives may be stopped by depressing the bush button S or they may be operated in reverse for such interval of time as may be desired depressing the reverse push button R to energize the reverse contactor RC. With current flowing the mechanical linkage or pivv oting lever H between the contactors FC and RC forces the motor M to run either forwardly or effect of gravity. In order to facilitate removal of such obstructions the conveyor roller 20 may be loosened from its position and pushed rearwardly a sufiicient amount to permit an operator to put his hand into the machine between the roller I36 and the bar I62 and insert a thin instrument into the discharge slot to clean it. This operation has been referred to above in the description of the handles I56 and I60 and their function.

The cleaning of each individual work piece is rapidly done and the effective cleaning action of 1 the air at each nozzle unit is limited to and concentrated on the leather area immediately adjacent the air discharge slot of each unit. With such concentration of the air currents on the Work piece the action is extremely effective and serves to minimize the quantity of air essential for the proper dust removal. actual operation that the air action is concen- It is known from trated on the areas referred to. This is because of the efiiciency of operation and also because of the visual evidence that the surfaces of the edges I'IU contacted by the work and the corresponding conveyor belt become more polished than do the webs 64. It will be noted that the conveyor belts I4 and I6 are arranged in an overlapping relation and that they cooperate with the nozzle" structures in such a way that each work piece W is positively guided for proper treatment despite the fact that the characteristics of the work treated may vary considerably. Each work piece may be very thin, extremely flexible, or quite stiff or the edges may be curled and rather hard and despite these difiiculties the conveyor belts cooperate with the nozzle units properly to feed the work.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A pneumatic machine for treating hides comprising nozzle means with a nozzle discharge opening area extending the full. width of a spreadout work piece, suction means along both sides of other of said structures whereby both sides of said work piece may be treated.

3. A pneumatic machine for treating hides comprising a horizontal nozzle and suction strucf ture extending the full width of a spread-out work piece, said structure comprising two portions joined together with spacing means between them to determine a nozzle discharge opening area, and a flexible conveyor belt arranged to guide and resiliently to restrain said work piece in a path contiguous to said area.

4. A pneumatic machine for treating hides comprising an upper and. a lower nozzle and suction structure, each structure being horizontal and comprising two halves joined together to form a nozzle opening in the form of a slot with a length greater than the width of a spread-out work piece and with one lip extending beyond the other, and flexible conveyor belts arranged to guide and restrain said work piece in a path contiguous to and transverse to the extended lips.

5. A pneumatic machine for treating hides comprising nozzle means with a nozzle discharge slot extending the full width of a spread-out work piece, suction means along both sides of said slot,

and a flexible conveyor belt arranged to guide and :.resiliently to restrain said work piece in a path leading from the front of the machine and transverse to said slot, the foremost lip of the slot being arranged to extend nearer to said path than the I rearmost lip of said slot.

6. A pneumatic machine for treating hides comprising a nozzle and suction structure with a nozzle discharge area extending the full width of a spread-out work piece and suction means located beside said area, said suction means including an inlet for the admission of supplementary air, and a flexible conveyor belt arranged to guide and resiliently to restrain said work piece in a path contiguous and transverse to said structure.

7. A pneumatic machine for treating hides in- =cluding horizontal upper and lower nozzle and suction structures each of which extends the full width of a spread-out work piece and comprises cast metal portions joined together to form a discharge slot between them, each structure also having suction means located beside its discharge slot including an inlet for the admission of supplementary air, and flexible conveyor belts arranged to guide said work piece beneath one and over the other of said structures whereby both sides of said work piece may be treated.

8. A pneumatic machine for treating hides comprising nozzle means with nozzle discharge area extending the full width of a spread-out work piece, a power operated flexible conveyor belt arranged to feed and resiliently to restrain said work piece in a path contiguous and transverse to said area, and a, safety device including an element movable by undue displacement of said belt from said path to terminate the work feeding operation of the conveyor belt.

9. A pneumatic machine for treating hides including upper and lower nozzle and suction structures, each of said structures comprising two portions joined together to form a discharge slot between them, and three flexible conveyor belts arranged in overlapping relation to feed said work piece in a path leading through the machine and contiguous to the slots of said structures for treatment of both sides of the Work piece.

10. A pneumatic machine for treating hides comprising upper and lower nozzle and suction structures each extending the full width of a spread-out work piece, three power operated flexible conveyor belts arranged in overlapping relation resiliently to restrain and feed said work piece in a path leading beneath one and over the other of said structures and a safety device ex tending beneath a run of one of said conveyor belts arranged by undue displacement of said run to reverse the direction of operation of said one of the conveyor belts.

11. A pneumatic machine for treating hides including upper and lower nozzle structures, said upper structure having a downwardly directed discharge, said lower structure having an upwardly directed discharge, a first horizontal conveyor belt arranged as an exposed support for a work piece as said work piece is spread out by an operator, said first belt extending beneath said upper nozzle structure, a second conveyor belt contiguous to, above, and in overlapping relation with one run of said first belt and extending over said lower nozzle structure, each of said belts being power driven, and the length of the nozzle discharge area of each of said structures being in excess of the width of said work piece.

12. A pneumatic machine for treating hides including an upper nozzle structure with a discharge nozzle area directed'downwardly, a lower nozzle structure with a discharge nozzle area directed upwardly, a first endless conveyor belt arranged as a partially exposed support for a hide extending beneath said upper nozzle structure, a second endless conveyor belt contiguous to, above, and in overlapping relation with the upper run of said first belt and extending over said lower nozzle structure, each of said belts being power driven to feed said hide through the machine, and each of said nozzle areas extending the full width of said hide and not exceeding of a square inch per linear foot as measured across said hide.

JOHN G. HOLLICK.

No references cited.

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