US3906679A

US3906679A - Vibratory finishing machine

Info

Publication number: US3906679A
Application number: US366036A
Authority: US
Inventors: Paul Riedel
Original assignee: Oxy Metal Finishing Corp
Current assignee: Oxy Metal Finishing Corp
Priority date: 1973-03-12
Filing date: 1973-06-01
Publication date: 1975-09-23
Anticipated expiration: 1992-09-23
Also published as: FR2221916A5; BE811362A

Abstract

A vibratory finishing method and apparatus are provided for the surface treatment of workpieces with screenable treating agents wherein the treatment is effected and the treating agents separated and recycled for the treatment of other workpieces in the same apparatus by changing the nature of the vibratory movement.

Description

United States Patent 191 Riedel [4 Sept. 23, 1975 1 VIBRATORY FINISHING MACHINE [75] Inventor: Paul Riedei, Saint Germain en Laye,

France [73] Assignee: Oxy Metal Finishing Corporation,

Warren, Mich.

[22] Filed: June 1, I973 [21] Appi. No.: 366,036

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Mar. 12, 1973 France 73.08709 [52] US. C1 51/163; 51/163 [51] Int. C1. 1324B 31/00 [58] Field of Search 51/163, 7

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,328,922 7/1967 Ruppe 51/163 3,553,900 1/1971 McKibben 51/163 3,618,267 11/1971 Hubner 51/163 3,811,231 .5/1974 Kobayashi 51/163 Primary Examiner-Haro1d D. Whitehead Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Johnston, Keil, Thompson & Shurtleff [57] ABSTRACT A vibratory finishing method and apparatus are provided for the surface treatment of workpieces with screenable treating agents wherein the treatment is effected and the treating agents separated and recycled for the treatment of other workpieces in the same apparatus by changing the nature of the vibratory movement.

8 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures US Patent Sept. 23,1975 Sheet 1 of2 3,906,679

US Patent Sept. 23,1975 Sheet 2 of2 3,906,679

VIBRATORY FINISHING MACHINE This invention relates to vibrator machines for treatment of workpieces.

Vibrator machines are used for example for the mechanical or mechanico-chemical or chemical surface treatment or workpieces; machines of this kind comprise a tank, in which the required treatment operation is given, and a vibration generator coupled with a motor or electromagnet or a vibrator which can be me chanical or hydraulic or pneumatic. The vibrations are so applied to the treatment tank that the workpieces to be treated move therein relatively to the treatment agents in a way determining the quality and speed of the treatment work.

In all treatment operations carried out in machines of this kind finishing, polishing, grinding, crushing, screening, fettling, cleaning, glazing, drying, grading, coating and any other mechanical treatment and/or preparation of industrial articles the modification or the alteration of surface appearance of workpieces disposed at random in the treatment tank with the appropriate agents is produced during the treatment phase of the operations.

The most awkward problem with machines of this kind occurs at the end of the treatment phase i.e., at the time when the two ingredients which form the mixture in the tank have to be separated from one another, such 'ingredients being, on the one hand, the finishtrea ted workpieces and, on the other hand, the treatment agents which can be re-used at least once, depending on circumstances. Sometimes, after the two ingredients have been separated, all or some of the sorted fraction of the treatment agents is, with advantage, recycled to be used for an identical surface treatment on a fresh batch of workpieces; some of the advantages of this step are improved throughput of each machine and, of course, reduced wastage of treatment agentswhieh are still highly usable.

It is known for the mixture of treated workpieces and treatment agents to be discharged into a second machine having one or morescreening grids for sorting out the two ingredients, large items being retained on the grids whereas the treatment agents, which are always or reduced size, pass the mesh and drop by gravity into a container whence they may or may not be recycled back to the treatment tank. The disadvantages of this kind of separation are of two kinds. First, extra manual operations are needed to transfer the mixture from the first machine to the second machine, and sec ond, the presence of the second machine ties up extra capital and requires an appreciable amount of working space.

One suggestion for avoiding these disadvantages is to use vibrator machines which can themselves provide after-treatment separation of the two ingredients of the mixture; for-this purpose, it is known to use a machine whose treatment tank is a vertical-axis helix; during treatment ,the mixture,moves from the lowest part to the highest part of the helix, then drops back to the lowest part to return upwards again gradually along the helical path. To achieve the required extent of treatment, the mixture must climb the helix and drop back very many times, and the frequent drops of the complete mixture result in the workpieces which are being treated experiencing a succession of impacts which often lead to surface flaws such as dents and cracks and sometimes even fractures.

One suggestion for avoiding this further disadvantage is to use a vibrator machine having an annular tank which has a flat horizontal base and which is so vibrated in conventional manner that the mixture moves in one direction during treatment and in the opposite direction in the after-treatment or separation phase. ln its separation-phase movement the mixture enters freely into a passage adjacent the tank, then comes up against a screen of a mesh size such as to pass the treatment agents and retain all the treated workpieces. Ad-

vantageously, the treatment agents which go throughthe screen are then recycled directly back into the machine tank, but the workpieces are removed for inspcc-,.

tion or classification or distribution or storage.

This invention relates to a machine of the latter kind and concerns more particularly improvements in orrelating to that part of the machine forming the sidepassage adjacent the treatment tank.

The invention relates first to a process for surfacetreating workpieces and, upon the completion of treatment, sorting the ingredients of the mixture comprising the treated workpieces and the treatment agents, the mixture moving during treatment in an annular tank of a vibrator machine, such tank being in lower crosssection substantially half-round with its bottom lying in a horizontal base plane, the mixture moving, in response to vibrations continuously imparted to the tank, both in unidirectional displacement along the trough of the tank and also in a rolling motion generally transverse to the displacement, and in which after treatment at least the direction of the rolling motion and possibly the direction of the displacement of the mixture are rc-' versed by a change in the mode of the vibrations so that t the mixture passes freely out of the trough of the tank, through an aperture which is normally inaccessible to the mixture during the treatment phase thereof, and on to at least one screen which starts near the aperture and, there at least, is coplanar with the tank base plane and overlies the bottom of a passage which extends adjacent to the tank and whose bottom is lower than the tank base plane, the mesh size of the screen being larger than the size of the treatment agents and smaller than the size of the treated workpieces so that the mixture leaving the tank is sorted by the screen, the treated workpieces being retained on top of the screen and the treatment agents being separated from the workpieces by falling through the screen and collecting on the passage bottom.

Preferably, in the post-treatment phase, after sorting of the treated pieces and the agents, the latter are returned automatically from the passage, through the agency of the vibrations agitating the tank, to the inside thereof through the exit from the passage; after the phase of sorting the treated workpieces and the treatment agents, the workpieces are moved, through the agency of the vibrations which agitate the tank and the screen rigidly secured thereto, along the screen operative surface from screen entry towards its exit and go to a reception zone,

This invention also relates to a vibrator machine for surface-treating workpieces and, upon the completion of treatment, sorting the ingredients of the mixture comprising the treated workpieces and the treatment agents, the machine comprising: an annular tank which is in lower cross-section substantially half-round with its bottom lying in a horizontal base plane and which is mounted on a frame with or without the interposition of resilient means; and a vibration generator for moving such mixture in the tank in a motion comprising a continuous unidirectional displacement along the tank and a rolling motion transverse to the displacement; and in which the annular tank has outside its substantially vertical outer side wall a passage which is adjacent the tank side wall and whose bottom is lower than the horizontal base plane, the interior of the tank communicating with the entry end of the passage by way of an aperture which is normally inaccessible to the mixture during the treatment phase thereof and which is freely accessible to the mixture during the sorting phase thereof; and at least one screen which, at least in the zone near the aperture where it starts, is coplanar with the tank base plane and overlies the bottom of the passage at its entry end, the screen having a mesh size which is larger than the size of the treatment agents and smaller than the size of the treated workpieces, so that the screen, which is disposed in the path of the mixture, retains the treated workpieces on its operative surface and passes the agents, the latter collecting below the screen on the passage bottom.

Preferably, the screen is flat and horizontal and is entircly disposed in the tank base plane; the screen mesh size can be either uniform or non-uniform.

There may be two or more superimposed screen elements of different mesh sizes, the top screen element retaining the workpieces while each lower screen element sorts or grades the treatment agents: the screen leads, preferably by way of a chute for the workpieces which have been treated and sorted by the vibration, to a reception area for such workpieces; the lower part of the passage below the screen may lead at its exit back into the tank interior via a return aperture which is normally inaccessible to the mixture during the treatment phase thereof; the return aperture is provided with a door which is closed during the treatment phase and is open during the sorting phase; the passage exit is preferably disposed, in the region of the return aperture. at a higher level than the tank base plane, the bottom of the passage rising, relatively to the horizontal base plane, along at least part of its length, in the direction upwards from the passage entry to the passage exit. The passage bottom may be upwardly inclined along part of its length towards the exit, or it may be formed as a rising stairway or ladder or the like extending regularly upwardly towards the passage exit.

The annular tank may be circular, or oval or polygonal.

The vibration generator may be driven by a motor or an clectromagnet, or a mechanical or pneumatic or hydraulic or electronic or electromagnetic vibrator may be used. The vibration generator may be disposed substantially at the centre of the machine, at least to some extent in the zone bounded by the substantially vertical tank inner wall; alternatively the vibration generator may be disposed at least to some extent at the tank periphery beyond the substantially vertical tank outer wall. The vibration generator can provide a first impul sion to the mixture, in the treatment phase, such that the mixture in the tank moves in a motion comprising a continuous unidirectional displacement along the trough of the tank and also in a rolling motion substantially transverse to the displacement, whereafter the vibration generator can provide a second mode of vibration during the sorting phase whose impulsion will reverse at least the direction of the rolling motion and possibly also the direction of the displacement of the mixture in the tank. During the treatment phase the mixture forms a moving stream in continuous contact with the inside surface of the substantially vertical tank inner wall, whereas in the sorting phase the mixture forms a moving stream in continuous contact with the inside surface of the substantially vertical tank outer wall.

The invention may be carried into practice in various ways, but one specific embodiment thereof will now be described by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein;

FIG. 1 is a plan of a vibrator machine embodying the invention, the machine comprising in this case a hexagonal annular tank around three sides of which extends a side passage for recyling treatment agents;

FIG. 2 is a section on the line llII of FIG. I with the vertical walls of the tank partly removed to show the end of the screen for separating the two ingredients of the mixture;

FIG. 3 shows the machine of FIG. 2 when operating for the actual treatment of the workpieces by the treatment agents, and

FIG. 4 is a view of the machine of FIG. 2 when operating in the phase in which treatment agents are separated from treated workpieces.

For a better understanding of the invention, throughout the following description the invention will be described with reference to the particular form of treatment used for finishing, polishing, grinding, fcttling and trimming of fashioned articles; the treatment agents used specifically for work of this kind are in the form of abrasive solid particles which will generally be called hereinafter abrasives.

The vibrator machine illustrated comprises an annular tank 1 which in lower cross-section is substantially half-round and which has a substantially flat and horizontal base plate 2. The tank 1 can be circular or oval or polygonal; in the particular case shown in FIG. I it is hexagonal. Tank 1 is disposed on a frame 3 with the interposition of a resilient suspension, such as helical springs 4. A motor 5 secured to the base plate 2 has on its vertical central shaft 6 a system of unbalanced weights, namely a bottom unbalanced weight 7 secured to the shaft 6 and a top unbalanced weight 8 which cannot move vertically on shaft 6 but which can rotate there-around and which is adapted more particularly to take up seriatim the position 8a of FIG. 3 and the position 8b of FIG. 4, according to the direction of rotation of motor 5. The two

members

7, 8 are eccentric of shaft 6 and at an angular offset from one another, so that the rotating system embodied by the motor 5 and the

eccentric members

7, 8 can, after adjustments of a kind which are now well-known, Co-opcrate with the resilient suspension 4 to produce repeated vibrations which cause all the articles in the trough of the tank 1 to perform a complex motion.

In the particular case being described, the items in the tank trough form a mixture consisting of workpieces 9 and treatment agents 10, such as abrasives.

If the motor 5 backwards (i.e. clockwise as seen in FIG. I) the mixture experiences in tank I a complex total motion comprising a continuous backwards, e.g. clockwise, circular displacement motion 11 and a rolling motion which is transverse to the displacement motion and which tends to apply the mixture to the inside surface of the tank inner wall 12, the same being sub stantially vertical; the radial component of the rolling motion is diagrammatically shown in FIG. 3 by the centripetally directed horizontal arrow 13.

If after reversal of motor rotation the motor rotates continuously in the forwards direction, ie anti clockwise in FIG. 1, the mixture is also moved in the tank 1 in a complex motion pattern in which the uniform continuous horizontal circular component of the mixture motion along the trough may reverse into the direction 14 indicated by solid-line arrows in FIG. I, the rolling component of the total motion also reversing so that the mixture tends in this case to be applied to the inside surface of the substantially vertical outer wall 15 of tank 1, the resultant of the rolling motion being directed centrifugally, as indicated by a horizontal arrow 113 in FIG. 4.

Due to the complex motion pattern of the mixture, there are relative movements in its internal structure between the workpieces and the treatment agents, the main purpose of such movements being to determine the quality and speed of the specific treatment required for each workpiece 9.

The wall 15 of the tank is formed with a first aperture 16, extending downwardly as far as the tank base 2, and with a second aperture 17, which extends downwardly to terminate well above the tank base 2. The difference in levels between the bottom of the second aperture 17 and the tank base 2 is diagrammatically shown in FIG. 2 by the height I1, this value is the height of a step 18 which is operative on the mixture during the sorting phase thereof, when the step 18 acts as an element for retaining the mixture in the tank 1. The apertures 16, '17 lead into and from a single side passage 19 which extends part of the way round the tank outside wall 15. Aperture 16 leads to the passage entry end and aper ture 17 leads from its exit. The vertical walls of the passage 19 are formed by three consecutive sides 15a, 15b, l5c of the tank outside wall, by a front wall 20 substantially at right-angles to side 1511, by three peripheral sides 2.10, 2112, 21 parallel to the sides 15a, 15b, 150 respectively, and by a rear wall 22 which is substantially perpendicular to the parallel sides 15c and 210. The bottom 23 of the passage 19 is lower than the bottom of the tank trough l at least in the zone opposite the first aperture 16. From aperture 16 the passage bottom 23 rises, either in abrupt and consecutive steps to form a ladder or stairway or the like, or regularly and gradually as a slope 23a, as far as a level 24 which is vertically above the bottom of the trough of the tank by the height II, the highest or top level or zone 24 corresponding to the passage exit which is opposite the second aperture 17. A screen 25 extends horizontally above the bottom of the passage at its entry end and from the bottom of the first aperture 16 i.e., the screen 25 starts at the aperture 16 and is coplanar with the tank bottom. Advantageously, the screen has a uniform mesh dimension which is smaller than the size of the treated workpieces and greater than the size of the treatment agents, so that the treated workpieces are retained on the operative surface of the screen whereas the treatment agents can drop through the screen to be separated from the workpieces, the treatment agents being collected on the bottom of the passage below the screen. Advantageously, the screen edges are strengthened by a frame 26 which is at least partly embedded in some of the vertical walls bounding the passage 19 in its entry zone, inter alia the front wall 20 and the parallel edges 15a, 2lu which extend well above the horizontal plane in which the screen 25 is disposed. The downstream end 25a of the screen extends beyond the passage 19, preferably by way of a discharge spout, to a reception area for the treated workpieces disposed on the side of the vibrating machine.

If required, a door 27 which is movable relative to the aperture 17 is hinged about a vertical axis 28 disposed on the vertical edge of the tank outside wall which is opposite the rear wall 22 of the side passage 19. The door 27 is usually closed and keeps the second aperture 17 closed during the treatment plasc, the door 27 then being normally open during the sorting phase. This feature of the door 27 as an ancillary device is very advantageous if the parameter /1 is very small; however, there is no point in using a door 27 if the parameter h is large enough for the mixture of workpieces 9 and treatment agents 10 not to have a natural tendency to leave the tank through the aperture 17 into the passage 19 during the treatment phase.

In the operation of the vibrator machine as hereinbefore described. there are two periods or phases, one corresponding to the actual treatment phase, which is conventional, and the other to the separation phase in which the treated workpieces are separated from the treatment agents such as abrasives.

The articles 9 for treatment and the abrasives 10 are placed at random in tank 1 and rest on its annular horizontal bottom to form a body of very uniform height. The motor 5 is run backwards (clockwise in FIG. 1), the top unbalanced weight 8 being arranged in the position 8a of FIG. 3. Because of the vibrations produced in the tank, the mixture consisting of the workpieces and the abrasives experiences a continuous complex motion comprising at least a rearwards longitudinal displacement 11 around the trough and a rolling motion having the general tendency to press the vein or stream 30 formed by the

mixture

9, 10 against the vertical inside tank wall 12. At the bottom the mixture'stream 30 is guided virtually exclusively by the half-round part of the tank. The natural tendency of the mixture stream is to remain in the tank, since it experiences inter alia a centripetal force in the direction 13, and so the stream 30 never tends to move near the apertures 16, l7-in the tank outer wall 15.

When the articles 9 have been treated by the abrasives 10 to an extent such that the articles 9 have a surface texture corresponding to the required condition, the motor 5 is stopped, so that the tank 1 stops and the mixture stabilizes temporarily on the tank bottom. The treatment phase has heretofore proceeded conventionally, in a manner common to other known circular tank machines.

The advantage of the vibrator machine embodying the invention is that, for instance (and preferably) immediately after treatment, the abrasives and the workpieces can be separated from one another without having to use a second machine or to fit the vibrator machine with extra equipment, The only adjustment to the machine needed to change over from treatment to sorting is to impart a different motion to the mixture, the new motion having a centrifugal radial component so that the natural tendency of the mixture stream is to be applied to the tank outer wall 15 and therefore to flow freely through the aperture 16 which extends down to the bottom part of the tank base. To this end, the motor is reversed so that it runs forwards (anti-clockwise); also, the top unbalanced weight 8 is shifted into the position 8b of FIG. 4. These latter modifications are in themselvesordinary and conventional and can be performed rapidly and readily. The new vibrations imparted to the tank are also imparted to the mixture which now forms a stream or vein moving in a complex pattern comprising. for instance (and preferably) a continuous direct movement 14 along the annular trough of the tank and a rolling motion whose radial component is a centrifugal component 113.

As it performs its new complex motion in the annular tank, the mixture stream 31 is applied to the inside surface of the tank outer wall 15 and so of course reaches the aperture 16 and passes therethrough. The mixture portion 311! removed through aperture 16 reaches the operative surface of the screen which is above the bottom of the side passage 19 and lies in the plane of the tank bottom. The side passage 19, which is rigidly secured to the tank 1, experiences the same vibrations as the latter. and so the body of material 31:! tends to move on the operative surface of the screen downstream thereof, as indicated by an arrow 32; this movement of the material 31a is parallel to the rearwards motion 14 which the remainder of the stream 31 experiences in the tank 1. As the material 31a moves over the screen surface, the abrasives drop through the screen meshes by gravity, as indicated by arrow 33, to collect on the bottom 23 of the side passage 19, but the treated workpieces, separated from the abrasives, continue their movement along the screen as indicated by an arrow 34, and are removed near the downstream part 25a of the screen to a reception area.

Because of the vibrations imparted to the side passage 19, the abrasives 10 on the bottom thereof are subjected to a displacement motion which tends to move the abrasives 10 along the passage from the entry end of the passage towards its exit end. Consequently. the abrasives first move horizontally along the bottom of the side passage (arrow 35), and then, as indicated by a reference 36, rise up the slope 23a formed by the bottom of the side passage to the exit therefrom, to return to the tank through aperture 17 as indicated by an arrow 37. The return of the abrasives 10 back to the tank through the aperture 17 in the side passage proceeds freely if the aperture 17 is devoid of closure means; if a door or gate or the like 27 is disposed opposite the aperture 17, the body of returned abrasives tends to rotate the door 27 around its pivot 28 and thus enable the abrasive material to flow from the side passage exit to the annular tank over the step 18. Also, the abrasive material returned to inside the tank through the aperture 17 has the advantage of forcing back any proportion of the stream 31 which may accidentally tend to discharge through the aperture 17 into the side passage exit end. Should any of the stream 31 drop into the exit region of the passage 19 and not into the entry zone thereof i.e., after separation on the screen 25 the treated and unsorted workpieces introduced accidentally into the side passage will sooner or later return to the annular tank through the aperture 17 and will be removed therefrom through the aperture 16 and therefore sorted along the operative surface of the screen 25. Clearly, all that is necessary in this case is for the machine to run long enough for all the treated workpieces 9 to pass through the aperture 16 for separation from the abrasive composition.

Upon completion of separation between the two ingredients of the mixture. the tank 1 and the side passage 19 contain only abrasives and a new treatment cycle can start with a new batch of workpieces. To this end. the motor 5 is stopped and the new workpieces are introduced into the tank at random. The motor 5 is then run backwards and the unbalanced weight 8 is moved to the position 811. When the motor 5 starts, the mixture in the tank of course forms a stream 30 experiencing a centripetal force 13 and a rearwards movement 14', any abrasive particles 10 remaining on the bottom of the passage 19 tend to accumulate at the passage entry against the front wall 20 and, because of the vibrations as indicated by reference 38, to rise along the wall 20 to pass through the screen meshes, and then to enter the inside of the tank freely through the aperture 16 as shown at 39 to mix with the stream 30 and be operative on the new item 9 to be treated. In this second cycle the vibrator machine operates conventionally until completion of the treatment phase.

Of course, the illustrated embodiment hereinbefore described can be modified as required without for that reason departing from the scope of the invention; inter alia, and as already stated, the annular tank can in plan shape be circular or oval or polygonal, the tank bottom can be inclined regularly or have a step, the vibration generator can be of any conventional type and positioned either at the centre of the machine or at its sides. The vibrator machine can also have two or more screen elements placed one above another and having different mesh sizes. the operative surface of the top screen element being in the plane of the tank bottom; the top screen element, which has a larger mesh than the bottom screen clement, retains and separates the workpieces from the treatment agents whereas the or each bottom screen clement whose mesh dimension decreases from the highest intermediate screen element to the lowest screen element, sorts or grades the treatment agents, so that the finest treatment agents can be removed from the cycling path whereas the large and possibly medium-sized treatment agents are returned to the treatment path for reintroduction into the tank so as to give a further treatment similar to the first treatment just given. it

What we claim is:

1. A vibrator machine for surface treating a work piece and, upon the completion of treatment, sorting the ingredients of the mixture comprising the treated work pieces and the treating agents, said machine comprising:

a. an annular tank having a base which lies in a single horizontal flat plane, said tank having'substantially vertical outer walls and substantially vertical inner walls forming an annular passageway;

b. a frame on which said base is mounted in spaced relationship;

c. means forming a passageway which extends substantially half way around said annular tank and to a level below the level of the base of said annular tank; 1

d. a vibration generator disposed with respect to said annular tank operative to move a mixturein said annular passageway in a motion comprising a continuous universal displacement. along the tank and a rolling motion transverse to the displacement and to reverse the direction of displacement of said mixture;

e. a first opening in the outer wall of said annular tank on one side of said annular passageway extending upwardly from said base and communicating with said passageway of (e);

f. a second opening in an opposing outer wall of said tank extending upwardly from a point substantially above said base and communicating with said passageway of (c); and

g. a screen extending tangentially in a plane substantially coplanar with the plane of said base beneath said first opening in said passageway of (c) and projecting outwardly beyond said passageway of 2. A vibrator machine as claimed in claim 1 in which said second opening is provided with means for opening and closing said opening.

3. A machine as claimed in claim 2 in which said opening and closing means is a door.

4. A machine as claimed in claim 1 in which the bottom of said passageway of (c) is inclined relatively to a horizontal plane over at least some of its length. the inclination being upwards in the direction from said first opening toward the second opening.

5. A machine as claimed in claim 1 in which said annular tank is polygonal in plan.

6. A machine as claimed in claim 1 in which said vibration generator of (d) is a reversible motor.

7. A machine as claimed in claim 1 in which said vibration generator is disposed substantially centrally with respect to said tank and at least to some extent in the zone bounded by the substantially vertical tank inner wall.

8. A machine as claimed in claim 1 in which resilient means are interposed between said base of said annular tank and said frame.

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION PATENT NO. 3,906,679

DATED I September 23, 1975 VENTOR(5) PAUL RIEDEL It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 1, line 7, "or" should read of.

Column 1, line 46, "or should read -of--.

Column 4, line 63, after "5" insert runs-.

Signed and Scaled this sixth D y of January 1976 [SEAL] Attest:

RUTH C. MASON C. MARSHALL DANN Arresting Officer Commissioner uj'Parents and Trademarks

Claims

1. A vibrator machine for surface treating a work piece and, upon the completion of treatment, sorting the ingredients of the mixture comprising the treated work pieces and the treatIng agents, said machine comprising: a. an annular tank having a base which lies in a single horizontal flat plane, said tank having substantially vertical outer walls and substantially vertical inner walls forming an annular passageway; b. a frame on which said base is mounted in spaced relationship; c. means forming a passageway which extends substantially half way around said annular tank and to a level below the level of the base of said annular tank; d. a vibration generator disposed with respect to said annular tank operative to move a mixture in said annular passageway in a motion comprising a continuous universal displacement along the tank and a rolling motion transverse to the displacement and to reverse the direction of displacement of said mixture; e. a first opening in the outer wall of said annular tank on one side of said annular passageway extending upwardly from said base and communicating with said passageway of (c); f. a second opening in an opposing outer wall of said tank extending upwardly from a point substantially above said base and communicating with said passageway of (c); and g. a screen extending tangentially in a plane substantially coplanar with the plane of said base beneath said first opening in said passageway of (c) and projecting outwardly beyond said passageway of (c).

2. A vibrator machine as claimed in claim 1 in which said second opening is provided with means for opening and closing said opening.

4. A machine as claimed in claim 1 in which the bottom of said passageway of (c) is inclined relatively to a horizontal plane over at least some of its length, the inclination being upwards in the direction from said first opening toward the second opening.