Stone Bevelling Machine

This invention relates to a stone bevelling machine, which, specifically, rounds the corners of stone to, for example, process the stone in such a way as to make it appear natural.

Popular conventional stone bevelling machines have protruding vanes facing toward the center of and attached to the inner walls of either a polygonal or circular cylinder. Stone is loaded into the cylinder, whereupon the cylinder is made to rotate. The vanes within the cylinder scratch up the stone, causing the stone to either collide with the vanes or with other stones, bevelling the corners by either breaking (chipping) or chafing the stone.

As the above mentioned type of bevelling machine processes stones, however, the stone chips and powder are retained within the cylinder during the process, creating a kind of cushion that absorbs and weakens the impact between the stones and the vanes or other stones. The longer a bevelling operation is carried out, the lower the processing efficiency becomes, rendering processing time unpredictable. Productivity is further lowered, because additional work is required to separate the stones from the chips and powder after bevelling.

The object of this invention is to resolve the above mentioned problems, by offering a stone bevelling machine that improves and stabilizes processing efficiency and makes possible excellent productivity.

To achieve the object of this invention, the bevelling machine of this invention has vanes mounted inside a rotating polygonal cylinder and has a charge port on one side and a discharge port on the other side, with a size-regulator gate located between these two ports.

More specifically the invention provides a bevelling machine equipped with a cylinder, a partition, and feeder vanes. The cylinder of the bevelling machine has a charge port on one end and a discharge port on the other end. The partition separates the space within the cylinder into a charge port side zone and a discharge port side zone and has a size-regulator gate that selectively allows only stones of a specified diameter or smaller to pass through the partition. There are a multiplicity of feeder vanes fixed at least to inner walls of the charge port side zone, protruding inwardly.

FIGS. 1A and 1B show an embodiment of the stone bevelling machine of this invention, with FIG. 1A being a vertical cross-section along the rotational axis and FIG. 1B being a cross-sectional view taken along the line 1B--1B of FIG. 1A;

FIG. 2 is a partially broken front view of an embodiment of the bevelling machine of this invention;

FIG. 3 is a side view from the left side of the machine of FIG. 2;

FIGS. 4A and B show the liners that are structural components of the cylinder of the machine of FIG. 2, with FIG. 4A being a front view and FIG. 4B a right-side view;

FIG. 5 is a partial diagonal view of the inner part of the machine of FIG. 2, when the charge-port door has been opened;

FIGS. 6A and B show the size-regulator gate in the partition of the machine of FIG. 2, with FIG. 6A being a front view and FIG. 6B a cross-sectional view taken along the line 6B--6B of FIG. 6A;

FIGS. 7A, 7B and 7C are diagrams showing stones prior to and after processing with the bevelling machine of this invention;

FIG. 8 is an axial sectional drawing showing a trommel that has been applied to the bevelling machine of this invention;

FIG. 9 is a diagonal view of the trommel of FIG. 8 as viewed from the right side; and

FIG. 10 is a diagonal view of the trommel of FIG. 8 as viewed from the left side.

The operation of this invention will be explained in conjunction with FIGS. 1A and B. FIGS. 1A and 1B show a stone bevelling machine of this invention as a model, with 1A being a vertical cross-section along the rotational axis and (B) being a cross-section along the line 1B--1B of FIG. 1A.

In FIGS. 1A and B, the stone bevelling machine 1 is comprised of the hexagonal cylinder 2 rotated by a drive source (not shown in the diagram); a partition 3; feeder vanes T, which are fixed to the inner hexagonal shaped walls of cylinder 2 such that they protrude inward; support rollers 5, which support the cylinder and rotate along with the cylinder; charge port 6, which is located on one end of the cylinder; and discharge port 7, which is located on the other end of the cylinder. The feeder vanes T are arranged parallel to one another, diagonally with respect to both the rotational axis and a plane perpendicular to the rotational axis.

For the sake of convenience, a random one of the six internal surfaces of the hexagonal cylinder shall be referred to as surface n (n=1-6). The `m` th feeder vane arranged on surface n, starting from the charge port, will be referred to as feeder vane Tnm.

When stones are loaded into the charge port side zone of the cylinder and the cylinder begins to rotate, the stones are regulated by feeder vane T11 and proceed to tumble in an angular direction with respect to the rotational axis. When the stones reach the end of vane T11 on the partition side, they are transferred to surface 2, and as control of the stones is also transferred, in turn, from vane T11 to vane T22, the stones proceed to tumble in the same direction as described above. The corners of the stones are rounded, as they collide either with one another or with the feeder vanes and inner walls of the cylinder.

The stone chips and powder produced as the corners and edges of the stones are rounded receive the effect of feeder vane action more strongly than stone bodies do, thereby regulated and transferred by the feeder vanes until they reach the size-regulator gates located where the partition and the walls of the cylinder meet. Stone chips and powder, as well as any stones that have dimensions equal to or smaller than the gates in the partition, pass through the gates and enter the discharge port side zone, where they leave the cylinder through a discharge port. Stones larger than the gate openings remain in the charge port side zone, where they continue to be broken down and size-regulated. The stones in the charge port side zone gradually become uniform in size, with only narrow deviation. The quantity of mixed-in stone chips and powder are few, and therefore do not form any kind of cushion in the charge port side zone, enabling continuous, high-efficiency bevelling.

The surface of the partition on the charge port side is ideally convex, in the shape of a cone, pyramid, or other similar shape, such that the convex side faces the charge port. Scratch vanes are ideally arranged, protruding from the surface of the partition and facing the charge port such that they form a radial pattern. This is a good arrangement because even if the stones still have not been broken down to the appropriate size after making a single run from the first feeder vane T11 until the last feeder vane Tnm, those stones are scratched up before reaching feeder vane Tnm and returned to the feeder vanes midway between the first and last feeder vanes, where the action of the feeder vanes, as described above, can continue to work on the stones. There is no danger that large stones will block the size-regulator gates, because before the larger stones can reach the size-regulator gates, they are returned toward the charge port by either coming in contact with the scratch vanes or the conical surface of the partition.

There will normally be stones of various sizes mixed together within the cylinder, so they may not all necessarily be transferred through the bevelling machine from one feeder vane to the next, in exact order, but will most likely be repeatedly broken down, size-regulated, and returned back mid-way up the feeder vanes, as necessary.

Many different methods exist whereby rotational drive can be conveyed to the cylinder. One good example is to form a circumferential surface of circular cylinder and assemble a sprocket or pulley approximately in the center of the circumferential surface, in axial direction, then place support rollers touching the circumferential surface in such a way as to support the cylinder. A chain or belt is fit onto the sprocket or pulley and when that chain or belt is driven by the cylinder motor installed externally to the cylinder, rotational drive is conveyed to the cylinder.

Arranging the bevelling machine in this way eliminates the necessity of having a bearing at each end of the cylinder and makes it easier to form the charge and discharge ports.

An actual embodiment of the stone bevelling machine of this invention will be explained with reference to FIGS. 2-10.

As shown in FIG. 2, stone bevelling machine 1 is equipped with a cylinder 2 having a charge port on one end; a discharge port on the other end, which rotates; a partition 3, which separates the cylinder 2 into two parts; a motor 4, which supplies the drive to rotate the cylinder 2 and is installed externally to the cylinder 2; support rollers 5, which support the cylinder 2 on the left and right sides of both the front and back of the cylinder 2; a support column 61, which stands adjacent to the charge port side end of the cylinder 2; a charge-port door 6, which is linked to the support column 61 and can be opened and closed around the column 61 used as a pivot; a handle 62 fixed on the door 6; a support column 75, which stands adjacent to the discharge port side end of the cylinder 2; a discharge-port door 7, which is linked to the support column 75 and can be opened and closed around the column 75 used as a pivot; a handle fixed on the door 7; and an installation platform 8, on which the support rollers 5 and motor 4 are fixed.

The cylinder 2 has a double drum structure, which is comprised of the inner drum 21 having a hexagonal cross-section, a diagonal length of 1,500 mm, and an axial length of 1,300 mm; and a cylindrical outer drum 22 enclosing the inner drum 21. The two drums are joined together with bolts at flanges 21a and 22a.

Means are provided for rotating the drum comprising, approximately in the center of the circumferential surface of the outer drum 22 in the axial direction, a sprocket or pulley 22b. A chain or belt 42 is fit onto sprocket or pulley 22b and a sprocket or pulley 41 of the motor 4, enabling the torque from the motor 4 to be transmitted to the cylinder 2. Minutely turning the positioning screw 43 for the motor 4 slightly moves the motor 4 closer to or farther from the cylinder 2, enabling the tension of the chain or belt 42 to be adjusted.

The surface of the inner drum 21 is formed by assembling the six liners 23, with four feeder vanes 24 on the charge port side and three feeder vanes 25 on the discharge port side, fixed in place perpendicular to the principal plane of the liners 23, as shown in FIGS. 4A and B. As shown in FIG. 5, when the liners 23 are combined to form the surface of the inner drum, a total of 42 feeder vanes 24 and 25 protrude toward the inside of the inner drum 21. The angles of the charge port side feeder vanes 24 and the discharge port side feeder vanes 25 are different from each other, but both groups of feeder vanes 24 and 25 are respectively arranged at a slanted angle with regard to the rotational axis of the cylinder 2. The angle .alpha. of incline of the feeder vanes 24 on the charge port side is 30.degree. and the angle .beta. of incline of the feeder vanes 25 on the discharge port side is 60.degree..

The partition 3 is made in a hexagonal, conical shape and is fixed inside the inner drum 21, such that the convex surface of the partition 3 is facing the charge port side of the cylinder 2 and the center line is aligned with the rotational axis of the cylinder 2. The partition 3 divides the inside of the cylinder 2 into a charge port side zone 2a and a discharge port side zone 2b. As shown in FIG. 5, the partition 3 is equipped with scratch vanes 31, size-regulator gates 32, and inspection window 33. The scratch vanes 31 are located along each of the radial-shaped edge parts of the convex surface, and are protruding toward the charge port. The size-regulator gates 32, are located along the border between the convex surface and the surface of the inner wall (the principal plane of the liners 23) of the inner drum 21, and selectively allow only stones of a specified diameter or less to pass through. The inspection window 33 is located in the center of the partition 3, and allows the zone on the opposite side to be viewed from either the charge port or the discharge port. Each size-regulator gate 32, as shown in FIGS. 6A and B, is comprised of adjuster plate 34 and screws 36. The adjuster plate 34 slides in the direction of the diameter, with respect to the body of the partition 3. The screws 36 pass through a long hole 35 formed in the adjuster plate 34 and join the adjuster plate 34 to the body of the partition 3. The structure of each size-regulator gate is such that the adjuster plate 34 is able to be fixed in a location where the gap is of the appropriate size.

The discharge port door 7 has a chute 71 and a duct 72. The chute 71 runs through from the inside to the outside approximately in the center of the discharge port door 7. The duct 72 also runs through the discharge port door 7 toward a suction pump (not shown in the diagram). The chute 71 has a full open port 71a on the top of upper end portion closer to the cylinder 2 and a partial open port 71b on the bottom of upper portion. Moving the handle 73 enables the opening and closing of the damper 74, which is fixed to the edge of port 71b such that it can swing back and forth. When the port 71b is open, the chute 71 is closed, blocking the passage between inside and outside. When the port 71b is closed, the chute 71 allows passage between the inside and outside. This means that when the handle 73 is in the upper position, as indicated by the solid line in FIG. 3, the port 71b is closed and stones can be discharged from the bevelling machine through the chute 71 that links the inside to the outside. Conversely, when the handle 73 is in the lower position, as indicated by the double dotted line in FIG. 3, the damper 74 swings in the direction indicated by the arrow, blocking the passage through the chute 71, opening the port 71b, and preventing the accumulation of stones in the chute 71.

The following will explain how the stone bevelling machine 1 works. For the sake of convenience, a random one of the six internal surfaces (the principal planes of the liners 23) of the inner drum 21 shall be referred to as surface n (n=1-6). The `m` th feeder vane 24 arranged on surface n, starting from the charge port, will be referred to as feeder vane Tnm.

The charge port door 6 is opened and stones are loaded into the bevelling machine 1. The charge port door 6 is then closed. When the power is turned on for the motor 4, driving the chain 42, the cylinder 2 rotates, supported by the support rollers 5, while the stones remain where they were loaded in the charge port side zone 2a. First, the stones proceed in a direction forming a 60.degree. angle relative to the rotational axis, as they are regulated by feeder vane T11. When the stones reach the end of feeder vane T11 on partition 3 side, they are transferred to surface 23, where they again proceed in a direction that forms 60.degree. angle relative to the rotational axis, as being regulated by a succeeding feeder vane T22. In this way, the stones are orderly transferred from feeder vane Tnm to feeder vane Tn+1 m+1. During the process, when the surface n which is contacting with a stone approaches the top, the stone falls due to its own dead weight to surface n+1 or surface n+2, colliding with each other, the feeder vanes, and the inner walls. This action chips away at the corners of the stones, giving them a rounder appearance.

The stone chips and powder that result from the above action receive the effect of the action of the feeder vanes 24 more strongly than the stone bodies do, thereby regulated and transferred by the feeder vanes 24, eventually reaching the size-regulator gates 32 that are located where the partition 3 and the cylinder 2 meet. At the size-regulator gates 32, the stone chips and powder, as well as any stones that are equal to or smaller than the gap in the size-regulator gates 32, pass through the size-regulator gates 32 and enter the discharge port side zone 2b. Stones larger than the size-regulator gates 32 remain in the charge port side zone 2a, where they continue to be broken down and their size regulated. In this way, the stones in the charge port side zone 2a become uniform in size, with a narrow size distribution. The bevelling action is very efficient, because the quantity of mixed-in stone chips or powder are few, and therefore no cushion effect is generated in the charge port side zone 2a.

The partition 3 is a hexagonal cone, with its convex surface on the charge port side of the cylinder. The partition 3 has scratch vanes 31, which are located along each edge in a radial pattern and protrude toward the charge port. Therefore, even if the stones have not been broken down to the appropriate size after making a single run that starts with the first feeder vane T11 and ends with the last feeder vane Tnm; those stones are returned by the scratch vanes 31 to the feeder vanes 24 located mid-way back toward the charge port, then being scratched all the way back, before they reach the final feeder vane Tnm. At this point, the stones are once again subject to the action of the feeder vanes 24, described above. There is no danger that large stones will block the size-regulator gate 32, because they are returned by the scratch vanes 31 or by the conical surface of the partition 3, before they reach the size-regulator gates 32. This eliminates the time and trouble required to roughly break larger stones into smaller pieces as a preparation for loading.

As described above, there are also feeder vanes 25 located on the surfaces of the inner walls in the discharge port side zone 2b. If the handle 73 is lowered to close the chute 71 with the damper 74, the stones that have passed through the size-regulator gates will remain in the discharge port side zone 2b and be further broken down. There is a port 71b formed at the bottom of the chute 71, preventing the chute from becoming clogged. If it is not necessary to continue breaking down the stones in the discharge port side zone 2b, the handle 73 should be lifted up to close the port 71b with the damper 74, and open the chute 71, so that the stones are continuously discharged outside the bevelling machine, falling out from port 71a, as the cylinder 2 rotates. In either case, the stone dust is expelled through the duct 72, so there is no need for concern about stone dust being scattered around outside the bevelling machine.

To confirm the workings of the bevelling machine 1 described in this Example, stones of sizes ranging from 50-100 mm.times.100-200 mm.times.100-200 mm, as shown in FIG. 7 (A), were loaded into the bevelling machine 1. When the stones were taken out from the charge port side zone 2a and the discharge port side zone 2b, after the cylinder had been made to rotate for some time, the stones taken from the charge port side zone 2a measured 50-100 mm in side, per side, and their corners were rounded, as shown in FIG. 7(B), while the stones removed from the discharge port 2b, were stones smaller than 50 mm, stone chips, and stone powder, as shown in FIG. 7 (C).

This bevelling machine 1 can be also used for a crusher machine. In this case, the stones from the discharge port side zone 2b will be the final products.

A further embodiment of the invention is shown in FIGS. 8-10 which is the same as the bevelling machine described above, but is linked to a trommel, which enables further sorting of the bevelled stones.

The bevelling machine of this embodiment is the same as the bevelling machine described above, except that the discharge port side door 7, and its attachments; chute 71, duct 72, handle 73 and damper 74 have been removed, and instead of them, an open-and-closable trommel 9 has been attached. The trommel 9 is linked to the support column 75 and uses support column 75 as its pivot.

The trommel 9 is comprised of a foundation 91, which has a propeller 91a that rotates along with the cylinder 2; a cylindrical inner sieve 92, which is fixed perpendicularly to the principal plane of the foundation 91 on the opposite side of which the propeller 91a is installed; a cylindrical outer sieve 93, which is fixed in such a way as to enclose the inner sieve 92 within it; a cover 94, which is fixed to the support column 75 and encloses both the inner and outer sieves 92 and 93 within it; and two support rollers 95, which are fixed to the cover 94 and support the inner sieve 92. The mesh of the outer sieve 93 is narrower than that of the inner sieve 92.

The inner sieve 92 is sandwiched between multiple inner frames 92a, and outer frames 92b, which face each other. In the same way, the outer sieve 93 is sandwiched between multiple inner frames 93a and outer frames 93b. Each of the inner and outer frames are welded onto the principal plane of the foundation 91, such that both sieves 92 and 93 are fixed to the foundation 91. The inner sieve 92 extends farther than outer sieve 93 in the axial direction, along with its inner and outer frames 92a and 92b. A circular rail 96 is welded onto the outer circumference of the end of the outer frame 92b. This circular rail 96 contacts the support rollers 95. Multiple feeder vanes 97 are welded onto the inner frames 92a such that they protrude in toward the center of the inner sieve 92. In the same way, multiple feeder vanes 98 are welded onto the inner frame 93a.

A circular flange 91b is installed on the outer circumference of the principal plane on propeller 91a side of the foundation 91. This flange 91b is supported by brackets 76 protruding in a tapered shape from the discharge port of the cylinder 2.

The cover 94 has two discharge ports 94a and 94b on the bottom and one discharge port 94c on the farther end from the

The cover 94 has two discharge ports 94a and 94b on the bottom and one discharge port 94c on the farther end from the foundation 91. The discharge port 94c is covered by a rubber lid 94d. On top of the cover 94, a duct 99 is installed. An observation window 94e, made of clear plastic, is attached between the rubber lid 94d and the duct 99. The rubber lid 94d has been removed from FIG. 10 for clarity.

Excluding the cover 94 and the support rollers 95, approximately one-half of the weight of all the components of the trommel 9 is supported by the brackets 76, via the flange 91b. The remaining half of the weight of the trommel 9 is supported by the support rollers 95, via the rail 96. This means that the frictional force that is proportional to the weight supported by the brackets 76, works between the brackets 76 and the flange 91b, so that all of the components of the trommel 9, except the cover 94 and the support rollers 95, rotate along with the rotation of the cylinder 2.

When the stone bevelling machine using the trommel is put into operation, the size of the gap in size-regulator gates 32 has been previously set larger than that when the trommel is not used. When the bevelling machine is operated, among the stones rounded within the inner drum 21, the relatively smaller size stones pass through the size-regulator gate 32 with the stone powder and enter the discharge port side zone 2b. These stones and powder are then taken in by the propeller 91a to be transferred into the trommel 9.

The trommel 9 rotates along with the rotation of the cylinder 2, so the stones and powder that are transferred into the trommel 9 are guided by the feeder vanes 97 and proceed, as they are turning around in the inner sieve 92. Stones that are larger than the mesh of the inner sieve 92 ultimately fall from the end of the inner sieve 92 and are to be discharged from the discharge port 94c. The rubber lid 94d is covering the discharge port 94c, so there is no danger of the stones flying out of the bevelling machine when they fall. Stones and stone powder that are smaller than the mesh of the inner sieve 92 pass through the inner sieve 92 while they are turning around and arrive on the surface of the outer sieve 93. There, the stones are guided by the feeder vanes 98 and again turn around and proceed, where they ultimately fall from the end of the outer sieve 93 and are discharged from the discharge port 94b. The stone powder that is smaller that the mesh of the outer sieve 93, however, passes through the outer sieve 93 while it is being moved around and is discharged from discharge port 94a. In this way, stones are sorted through a rotating double sieve and are then discharged from either discharge port 94a, 94b, or 94c, according to their size.

This stone bevelling machine enables stones to be bevelled, then sorted according to their size, all in a sequential process.

As described above, the stone bevelling machine of this invention is useful in efficiently bevelling stones and in sorting the rounded stones that are the final product, from among the stone chips.