HYDRAULIC SYSTEM PROVIDING POWER SAVING IN CERAMIC PRESSES

AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING IT

The Field of the Invention The invention relates to pressing machines of high tonnages used during process of shaping tile materials in ceramic sector.

The invention particularly relates to hydraulic ceramic pressing developed for the purposes such as to provide energy saving and provide more sensitivity in control of pressed ceramic thickness, to reduce waste amount and increase quality and to minimize environmental pollution by means of use of less oil as well as less noisy operating.

Background of the Invention

Ceramic tile factories are the systems operating full automatically and with integration of all installed systems. For that reason all parts should be in coordination, and be qualitative and quantitative compliance with each other. These systems are called raw material unit, moulding (press) unit, glazing unit, baking and quality classification units and also package unit in order of flow of manufacturing. Intermediate stocks and moving (loading, unloading, transportation) systems are used in order to balance the system stops occurring due to faults, which occur during the maintenance of the said units and change of the manufacturing parameters. Therefore, the investment and manufacturing costs increase. All units used in ceramic tile (floor or wall tile) are sensitive but the most critical unit is pressing (moulding) unit.

If to give examples for existing embodiments from literature, the product "Ceramic Product Press-Moulding Machine" disclosed under patent numbered JP11245207 (A) is seen. The invention is equipped with a machine passing connection mechanism containing a cylindrical part providing guiding spindle on the guiding spindle and guides located thereon and a ram for guiding lifting movement in order to prevent the damages that might occur on the product because of press occurring on the ceramic after pressing. As another example for existing embodiments from literature, the product "Irregular ceramic product rolling press forming machine" disclosed under patent numbered CN1511686 (A) is seen. The invention consists of a synchronising moulding operating simultaneously with the rolling head in order to shape the irregular ceramic product by pressing. Ceramic raw material is filled inside the cavity of the mould for shaping and is shaped by pressing. And ceramic biscuit is formed in the mould space. The said invention has the advantages of simple structure, stable and reliable operation, high production efficiency, and high ceramic product.

However, the heavy tonnage ceramic pressing machines referred to in the literature and used in the related art have some disadvantages which will be described below.

Very sensitive and complicated valves and valve blocks are used in the hydraulic circuits used in the presses in this unit, and probability of faults is high because of structure and characteristics of such circuits, and therefore it is likely that the pressing may stop and the manufacturing may stop. On the other hand, because of continuous operation of the pump in the hydraulic system and the resistance occurring in the valves, reduction in capability to control due to oil heating (although the oil is cooled), and thus the influence on the product quality quantity cause serious manufacturing problems. As a result, direct and indirect investment and manufacturing costs increase. In addition, in order to eliminate the system stops with the above described reasons, selection of higher capacities than installed press capacities or selection of higher capacity for intermediate stock systems may occur. And this means a further cost increase.

The dimensions of the ceramic tiles manufactured today change constantly. Therefore, it is needed to use bigger and stronger moulding presses for production of big size tiles. The quantity of oil flowing in the hydraulic circuits used in big and stronger presses is much more at the normally. Furthermore, the press machine operates at lower speeds in order to prevent the resistance, heating and fault problems described above. In case of increase in speed, foaming/air bubbles in hydraulic oil occurs. In this case, it causes diesel effect on the cavity, that is, serious mechanic damages on the hydraulic circuits. As a result, operation at low speeds causes a further capacity loss and cost increase. In addition to all those production, investment and cost problems, other factors which are as important as them may also occur. These are the high power consumption in ceramic tile pressing machines and the environmental disadvantages caused indirectly in the related art. As a result, the need for hydraulic ceramic pressing machines displaying more sensitivity in control of pressed ceramic thickness, providing energy saving and reducing waste amount and increasing quality and minimizing environmental pollution by means of use of less oil as well as less noisy operating and inadequate solutions in the related art have made necessary to make development in the related art.

Brief Description of the Invention

The present invention relates to a ceramic pressing machine consisting of a hydraulic system providing energy saving and a method providing saving meeting the needs mentioned above, eliminating all disadvantages and providing some additional advantages.

The purpose of the invention is to provide control of desired speed and position, prevention of both pressure losses and providing accurate position control by use of varying recycled four quadrants pumps by help of servo engines or speed adjustable engines instead of on-off valves in press machines available in the related art.

A similar purpose of the invention is to prevent increase in temperature of hydraulic oil by means of prevention of pressure losses.

Another purpose of the invention is to provide elimination or minimization of service and fault problems by means of providing control of speed and position by use of varying periodical pump / engine through servo engines.

Another similar purpose of the invention is to provide use of energy only during press manufacturing in the press system being subject of the invention while the electrical engine continues to consume energy when the press is not operating in existing systems. Therefore, the need to cool the hydraulic oil and the equipment required to be integrated to the system for this operation has been eliminated.

When considered together with all the purposes described above, the press machine being subject of the invention requires less oil, less energy and less maintenance and also ensures traceability.

A further purpose of the invention is to provide direction change by help of servo engines and four-quadrant pump without valve.

A similar purpose of the invention is to provide the desired speed ranges at rotation speed of the pump without need for members such as pressure, speed adjustment and direction change valves which are most exposed to energy loss. Thus, the traceability has become digital and observable.

Another purpose of the invention is to provide capability of automatic adjustment of press rate according to factory rate of flowing based on the data coming from system automation by help of the assembly located on the press machine without need for any adjustment valve or another member.

A further purpose of the invention is to provide work energy generation by means of operation of the pump in engine position by help of positive pressure applied to the hydraulic oil by the weight of press table and moulding (because of four quadrant operation feature of the pump). The generated work energy is converted into electrical energy by help of servo engine and contribution to recycle of energy is provided.

In the existing conventional systems the said energy is entirely lost but in the system being subject of the invention the regaining is provided as described above.

Another purpose of the invention is to provide considerable reduction in service, fault and labour costs as well as time loss by means of elimination of several valves such as direction control valve, flow adjustment valve, pressure adjustment valve, logic valve which are used in the existing system of the related art. The energy losses caused by oil heating are also eliminated.

A further purpose of the invention is to provide elimination of the disadvantage of adverse impacts on the employee of high noisy operation of existing press machines by means of providing operation of press machine of the invention at much lower sound level.

A further purpose of the invention is to provide considerable reduction in amount of oil used in the system by help of energy regaining described above. Thus environment protection is provided by help of reduction in amount of waste oil.

Another purpose of the invention is to provide considerable reduction in general production costs when the economy of energy, environmental protection, employee's health, system traceability and fault costs decrease are considered.

The structural and characteristics features of the invention and all advantages will be understood better in detailed descriptions with the figures given below and with reference to the figures, and therefore, the assessment should be made taking into account the said figures and detailed explanations. Description of Figures

In order to make the embodiment and additional members being subject of the present invention as well as the advantages clearer for better understanding, it should be assessed with reference to the fallowing described figures.

Figure 1 shows a front view of ceramic press machine indicated as an illustrative embodiment of the invention.

Figure 2 shows a side view of ceramic press machine indicated as an illustrative embodiment of the invention. Reference Numbers

10. First servo engine 40. Press cylinder valve block

11. Second servo engine 41. Pre-filling and press cylinder valve block

12. Third servo engine 42. Ejector cylinder valve block

20. First pump 43. Pre-filling valve accumulator

21. Second pump 44. Ejector cylinder accumulator

22. Third pump 50. Ruler

30. Press cylinder 60. Oil tank

31. Ejector cylinder (pushing cylinder) 61. Pipe

32. Raw material mixer electrical engine 70. Pre-filling valve

33. Raw material mixer electrical engine 80. Body

reducer

34. Raw material conveyor and remover 90. Mould

electrical engine

35. Raw material conveyor and remover 91. Moulting chamber

electrical engine reducer

36. Raw material chamber

37. Conveyor band

Detailed Description of the Invention

In this detailed description, the preferred embodiment of the ceramic press machine operated by hydraulic system and method providing energy saving have been disclosed solely for the purpose of better understanding of the subject and described in a manner not causing any restrictive effect.

Figure 1 shows a front view of the ceramic press machine. As it can be seen from the figure, the press system consists of a body (80), moulding chambers (91) located thereon in order to provide shaping of ceramic raw material in the said mould chambers (91) under high pressure. Figure 2 shows a side view of the ceramic press machine. The figure shows the raw material chamber (36) where the raw material is filled and which is located on the conveyor band (37) located slightly at the upper level of the moulding chamber (91 ), raw material conveyor and remover electrical engine (34) removing the shaped material and providing fill of new raw material, a raw material conveyor and remover electrical engine reducer (35) transferring the power of the said electrical engine (34) and reducing the recycling rate. Figure 1 shows raw material mixer electrical engine (32) mixing the raw material with synchronized operation with the said members and providing homogenous distribution thereof inside the mould and a raw material electrical engine reducer (33) providing transfer of power of the said electrical engine (32) and reducing recycling rate thereof.

A moulding (90) sitting onto the mould chamber (91 ) has been provided by help of a press cylinder (30) in order to provide shaping the ceramic raw material inside the said mould chamber (91 ) and converting it into biscuit. The said mould chamber (91 ) can be referred to as female mould and the said mould (90) can be referred to as male mould.

Ceramic press machines are of column, H type, pre-tensioned rope structurally. In terms of their structures, they vary between 500 and 10.000 tons in sizes. In column, pre-tensioned rope and H type press machines the system is operated with automated control by means of adding supply line for input of the raw material and discharge system for conveyance of the pressed material. The pressing is realized by motion of the press cylinder (30) from up to down. When the press cylinder (30) is lifted to up position after completion of pressing the pressed material is removed from the mould chamber (91 ) by help of ejector cylinder (pushing cylinder) (31) from down to up and is pushed onto conveyor band (37).

The energy saving hydraulic system being subject of the invention is a hydraulic system which realizes up and down motion of press cylinder (30) providing pressing on the said press machine and the said ejector cylinder (31). The hydraulic oil providing operation of the hydraulic system is stored inside oil tank (60) located on upper side of the press cylinder (30). The said hydraulic oil is supplied to the system through pipes (61 ) connected to oil tank (60). The size of the oil tank (60) has been decreased by 2/3 in comparison to its existing structure as less oil is recycled in the system. In addition, the quick motion of the said press cylinder (30) is provided by a pre-filling valve (70) located thereon. A pre-filling valve accumulator (43) provides quick opening of the said pre-filling valve (70) and energy regaining. The amount of oil needed for the hydraulic accumulator (43) is provided from this accumulation by use of the pressure generated during up and down motion of the press cylinder (30). In other words, no further energy source is used. A press cylinder valve block (40) has been provided on this side in order to provide pressure safety of the press cylinder (30). A pre-filling and press cylinder valve block (41 ) has been provided on the other side in order to provide pressure safety of both the said pre-filling valve (70) and press cylinder (30).

Separate driving members have been provided in order to drive the pumps (20, 21 , 22) to be described further below and located in the hydraulic system. The said driving members are of structure where the speeds can be adjusted. They will be referred to as servo engines (10, 1 1 , 12) below. Each of the said pumps (20, 21 , 22) is four quadrant pump. The pumps (20, 21 , 22) can operate in both pump and hydraulic engine modes.

As indicated in figure 1 , a first servo engine (10) has been provided, which is on the same side as the said pre-filling valve (70) and accumulator (43) and drives the first pump (20) for opening and closing motion of the press cylinder (30) and pre-filling valve (70) connected to hydraulic oil carrying pipes (61 ). The first pump (20) located in lower part of the said first servo engine (10) applies pressure to pre-filling valve (70) through press cylinder (30).

As shown in Figure 1 , a second servo engine (1 1 ) driving the related second pump (21) for upward motion of press cylinder (30) is located on the same side as the pre- filling and press cylinder valve block (41 ). The second pump (21 ) located in lower part of the said second servo engine (1 1 ) applies pressure to ejector cylinder (31 ).

A third pump (22) connected to hydraulic pipes (61 ) is located in lower part in order to apply pressure to ejector cylinder (31 ) functioning to provide pushing of the said mould chamber (91 ) upward. A third servo engine (12) is located in the rear part in order to provide motion of the said third pump (22). Also ejector cylinder valve block (42) is located in the lower part in order to provide pressure safety of the said ejector cylinder (31 ). In addition to it, an ejector cylinder accumulator (44) accumulating the pressure generated by return of the ejector cylinder (31) in order to regain the energy.

In addition, a ruler (50) has been located on side and external side of the press machine in order to provide information about position between mould chamber (91 ) and press cylinder (30).

According to the given figures and considering the said factors from the positions according to the figures, the functioning of the invention is as follows.

In order to enable realization of vertical motion of the press cylinder (30) downward, the second servo engine (1 1 ) rotates the second pump (21) and initiates the motion of press cylinder (30) by the oil coming from the oil tank (60) through pipes (61 ). During that time the first servo engine (10) moves the first pump (20) and increases downward motion of the press cylinder (30) upon opening of the pre-filling valve (70). The force generating during downward motion by total weight of the press cylinder (30), mould (90) and other members is converted into electricity energy. This generating energy is regained to the system and the energy saving is provided. The press cylinder (30) adjusts the position of the mould (90) according to the information received from the ruler (50) and thus the mould (90) performs the pressing operation to the mould chamber (91) by the pressure until achievement of desired position. Pre-filling valve (70) closes during this operation. For closing, the first servo engine (10) changes the direction of the first pump (20) to the opposite direction. In order to discharge the air compressed inside the mould (90), the second pump (21 ) is changed to opposite direction and moves the mould (90) slightly upward. The rate of moving upward can be monitored from the ruler (50). The press cylinder (30) starts to apply pressure to ceramic material again upon changing the first pump (20) and related first servo engine (10) to opposite direction. This operation is repeated subject to size of the ceramic mould (90) when required. The finishing operation is completed according to the information received from the ruler (50). Completing the pressing operation, the press cylinder (30) moves upward and thus the new raw material coming from the raw material chamber (36) is filled to the mould chambers (91 ) by raw material conveyor and remover electrical engine (34). However, before filling the new raw material, the ejector cylinder (31 ) pushes out the ceramic biscuit pressed and formed in the mould chamber (91) and pushes it to different side. In other words, raw material filling, entrance into press machine and removal of pressed biscuit from the press machine are realized by means of conveying through members such as conveyor band (37) etc. During this operation the ejector cylinder (31) and raw material conveyor and remover electrical engine and reducer (34, 35) return to initial positions. Thus a cycle is completed. Upon repeating the same operation several times, serial production inside the factory is maintained.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the said hydraulic system disclosed under the invention can also be used in vertical type presses as well as horizontal type presses. In other words, the said hydraulic system disclosed under the invention can be applied to any types of hydraulic ceramic material pressing machines.

The protection area of this application has been specified under claims and cannot be limited to the descriptions only given as sampling above. It is obvious that a person skilled in the related art can apply the innovation disclosed by this invention into similar purposed other areas by means of changing the parts in form and using similar structures. Therefore, it is also clear that such embodiments lack of innovation criteria.