ANNOVI, Alberto (Via Statale Est 167, Fiorano Modenese, I-41042, IT)
CLAIMS
1. Extruding apparatus (1) comprising supplying means (2, 3) for at least a material to be extruded, extruding means (4) to advance said at least a material and push said at least a material through die means, characterised in that said supplying means (2, 3) comprises a plurality of supplying devices (3) , each one of which is driven and is adjustable independently of the other supplying devices (3) and that said extruding means comprises a plurality of extruding devices (4) , each extruding device (4) being driven and being adjustable independently of the other extruding devices (4) .
2. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein at least a respective supplying device (3) corresponds to each extruding device (4) .
3. Apparatus (1) according to claim 1, or 2, wherein said supplying means (2, 3) comprises hopper means (2) structured so as to supply said supplying devices (3) separately and independently.
4. Apparatus according to claim 3, .wherein .,each .supplying device (3) is suppliable with, materials of different type and/or nature.
5. Apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said materials of different type and/or nature are materials having a different colouring.
6. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein each supplying device (3) comprises respective screw conveyor means (5) , driven by a respective motor (8) through a respective epicyclic reduction gear (9) .
7. Apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the axes of the screw conveyor means of the supplying devices (3) of said plurality of supplying devices (3) are parallel to one another .
8. Apparatus according to claim 6, or 7, wherein each motor
(8) is adjustable independently of the other motors (8) .
9. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, further comprising vacuum chamber means (6) that receives said material from said supplying devices (3) .
10. Apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said vacuum chamber (6) is divided into a number of separate parts, so that each part receives said material from at least a supplying device (3) and supplies a single extruding device (4) .
11. Apparatus (1) according to any preceding claim, wherein each extruding device (4) comprises respective further screw conveyor means (7) , driven by a respective further motor (10) through a respective further epicyclic reduction gear (11) .
12. Apparatus (1) according to claim 11, =wherein ".the. axes of the further screw conveyor means (7) of the extruding devices (4) of said plurality extruding devices (4) are parallel to one another.
13. Apparatus (1) according to claim 11, or 12, wherein each further motor (10) is adjustable independently of the other motors (10) .
14. Apparatus (1) according to any one of claims 10 to 13, wherein each of said parts of said vacuum chamber (6) communicates below with a respective extruding device (4) , such that each extruding device (4) receives material only from the respective part of said vacuum chamber (6) .
15. Apparatus (1) according to any preceding claim, further comprising die means through which said material is pushed by said extruding devices (4) .
16. Apparatus (1) according to any preceding claim, wherein at least an extruding device (4) is driven by at least two supplying devices (3) .
17. Apparatus (1) according to claim 16, wherein said at least two supplying devices (3) comprise a first supplying device having a substantially horizontal axis and a second supplying device having a substantially vertical axis. |
Extruding apparatus for ceramic, brick and refractory- products and the like.
The present invention relates to an extruding apparatus for ceramic, brick and refractory and similar products, in particular an apparatus for extruding such products in the form of single-layer or double-layer profiled elements, also of large dimensions.
In the prior art, extruding apparatuses are known for ceramic, brick and refractory products, etc, in which ceramic, brick and refractory material paste is immersed in a screw conveyor device that mixes the material and pushes the material through a die, through which the material is compressed, extruded and shaped into the desired shape. Known extruding apparatuses comprise a single screw conveyor device, which does not enable large ceramic products to be obtained and makes it difficult to obtain products with coloured veining, using differently coloured materials. The present invention intends to provide an extruding apparatus for making ceramic, brick and refractory and similar products that enables large single and double-layered products to be made that are monochrome or have veining of different colours, or enables a plurality of products of differing shapes to be made. According to the invention, an extruding apparatus is provided comprising supplying means, by means of which the material to be extruded is fed into the apparatus , extruding means, by means of which the material fed into the apparatus is made to advance and is pushed through die means, characterised in that said supplying means comprises a plurality of supplying devices, each one of which is driven and is adjustable independently of the other supplying devices and that said extruding means comprises a plurality of extruding devices, each extruding device being driven and being adjustable independently of the other extruding devices, at least a respective supplying device being able to correspond to each extruding device.
Owing to the invention it is possible to make ceramic, brick and refractory and similar products of large width dimensions inasmuch as the extruding devices, by operating parallel, are able to supply a die of large dimensions, it being possible to use a number of extruding devices that is appropriate to the dimensions of the product to be made. Further, the independent drive of the single supplying devices and of the extruding devices enables the rate of each extruding device to be adjusted independently, enabling optimal distribution of the material at the die inlet. It is further possible to control and adjust the outlet pressure from the extruding zone. Further, by using materials with different colouring in the extruding devices and by varying the rate of the single extruders it is possible to make products with a great variety of tones of colour and veining.
Lastly, it is possible to make, for the various extruding devices, products with a different shape, using a die that has outlets of different shapes for the material coming from each extruding device, or a plurality of dies. The invention will now be disclosed solely by way of non- limiting example with reference to the enclosed drawing, in which:
Figure 1 is a raised frontal view of an extruding apparatus according to the invention; „. ._.„.. . Figure 2 is the section H-II in Figure 1.. . . .
With reference to Figure 1, by 1 there is indicated an extruding apparatus according to the invention, comprising a loading hopper 2, through which the materials to be extruded are fed. The hopper 2 is structured so as to be able to supply separately and independently of one another a plurality of supplying devices 3 , each of which supplies a corresponding extruding device 4. In the illustrated embodiment, the apparatus 1 comprises four supplying devices 3 and four extruding devices 4, one for each supplying device, but it must be understood that the apparatus 1 can be provided with any number of supplying devices 3 and with a
corresponding number of extruding devices 4. Nevertheless, each extruding device 4 can be supplied by more than a supplying device 3, for example if it is desired to obtain a product obtained from a mixture of different materials. Each supplying device 3 comprises a screw conveyor 5, which may have a horizontal, or also vertical axis, which receives the material from the hopper 2 , mixes the material and pushes the material to a drilled grid 5a that grinds the material, to introduce the material into a vacuum chamber 6 in which the material is degassed and drops by gravity to the extruding device 4 associated with the supplying device 3. The extruding device 4 comprises a further screw conveyor 7, for example with a horizontal axis, or also with a vertical axis, which may be substantially parallel to the axis of the screw conveyor 5 of the supplying device 3, but may also be orientated in a different direction.
The vacuum chamber 6 is divided into a number of separate parts, so that each part receives the material from at least a supplying device 3 and supplies a corresponding extruding device 4 so that the materials directed to the single extruders 4 cannot come into contact with one another. All the vacuum chamber 6 has a single gas suction vent. Each part of the vacuum chamber 6 can be supplied by more than one supplying device 3, for .example by a first horizontal axis supplying device 3.and by a second vertical- axis supplying device 3 that feeds the material from above into the vacuum chamber 6.
The further screw conveyors 7 of the extruding devices 4 push the material received by the respective supplying devices 3 through a die (not shown) so as to obtain a profiled finished product of the desired shape and dimensions, or a plurality of products with different shapes.
The screw conveyor 5 of each supplying device 3 is driven by a corresponding motor 8, for example an electric motor, through an epicyclic reduction gear 9. The motor 8 and the epicyclic reduction gear 9 enable the rotation speed of the
screw conveyor 5 to be adjusted fully and easily, and thus the rate of the material conveyed by the supplying device 3 to the vacuum chamber 6.
Each motor 8 is adjustable independently of the other motors 8, which enables the rate of material in the single supplying devices 3 to be adjusted independently.
The further screw conveyor 7 of each extruding device 4 is driven by a corresponding further motor 10, for example an electric motor, through a further epicyclic reduction gear 11. The further motor 10 and the further epicyclic reduction gear 11 enable the rotation speed of the further screw conveyor 7 and thus the pressure with which the material is pushed through the die to be adjusted widely and easily. Each further motor 10 is adjustable independently of the other motors 10, which enables the pressure with which the single extruding devices 4 push the material through the die to be adjusted.
The apparatus according to the invention is completed by a base 12 on which the various components of the apparatus 1 are mounted.
Each supplying device 3 and, thus, each extruding device 4, can be supplied with a material having different features from those of the materials with which the other supplying devices, -and extruders are . supplied, for example, each supplying device 3 can be supplied with a material of different colour or of a different nature. The materials intended for the different extruders 4 do not come into contact with one another or with the supplying devices 3, either in the vacuum chamber 6 or in the extruding devices 4, thus enabling a precise and safe check of the distribution of the various materials in the finished products and thus of the aesthetic result that it is desired to obtain. In the practical embodiment, the materials, the dimensions and the constructional details may be different from those indicated but be technically equivalent thereto, without
thereby falling outside the legal protective scope of the present invention.
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