A ROLL-FLOW FINISHING MACHINE TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates generally to a swirl type barrel polishing machine comprising a rotating ring disposed around the outer circumference of a rotating disk connected fixedly to a driving motor at the lower part of the swirl type barrel polishing machine, the rotating ring having a sloping contact surface of 45 degrees ; a fixed ring disposed around the inner circumference of a stationary drum at the lower part of the stationary drum, the fixed ring having a sloping contact surface of 45 degrees corresponding to the sloping contact surface of 45 degrees of the rotating ring, the stationary drum with the fixed ring disposed around the stationary drum going up and coming down along a supporting member, whereby it is possible to adjust easily, conveniently and precisely a gap between the rotating ring mounted to the rotating disk at the lower part of the swirl type barrel polishing machine and the fixed ring mounted to the stationary drum at the upper part of the a roll-flow finishing machine such as swirl type barrel polishing machine.

BACKGROUND ART

Generally, a conventional swirl type barrel polishing machine includes a rotating shaft that is provided at the upper end thereof with a projected jaw. A fixation part of a rotating disk is put around the upper end of the rotating shaft, and a cover is disposed on the rotating disk. As the rotating disk rotates in the stationary drum at the lower part thereof, materials to be polished and abrasives thrown into the rotating disk are mixed in the form of swirl so that the materials is polished. At this time, in order to prevent the materials to be polished escaping between the rotating disk and the stationary drum, an inner rotating ring and an outer fixed ring made of polyurethane are provided between the rotating disk and the stationary drum.

The inner rotating ring and the outer fixed ring are provided with substantially vertical contact surfaces respectively.

However, the inner rotating ring and the outer fixed rings may be worn away with ease since they are rotating in contact with each other. As a result, a gap between the inner rotating ring and the outer ring is increased.

Typically, if the gap is approximately 2 to 3 mm or more, the materials to be polished is held in the gap or escapes from the gap, which leads to damage of the materials to be polished. Consequently, it is essentially required to replace the inner rotating ring and the outer ring or

adjust the gap between the inner rotating ring and the outer ring.

In case that the inner rotating ring and the outer ring are replaced, the rotating disk must be removed from the rotating shaft of the driving motor and the stationary drum must also be removed from the lower supporting member, in order to replace the inner rotating ring and the outer ring. As a result, a great deal of labor, manpower, working time and costs are needed to replace the inner rotating ring and the outer ring. In addition, the production efficiency is decreased due to the interruption of operation of the polishing machine.

In case that the gap between the inner rotating ring and the outer ring is adjusted, the rotating disk is attached to the rotating shaft at the upper end thereof by means of a bolt, and the fixed ring, which is attached on the rotating shaft by means of a bolt, is arranged on the upper surface of the fixation part of the rotating disk in contact with each other. Under this condition, the rotating disk is lowered by controlling the rotating shaft and the rotating disk using the bolt to adjust the gap between the fixed ring and the rotating ring.

With the aforesaid gap adjusting apparatus applied to the swirl type barrel polishing machine according to the conventional method for lowering the rotating disk, however,

actual rotating disk itself rotating at high speed is lowered. Consequently, a troublesome operation for adjusting the level of the rotating disk is required after the gap between the rotating ring and the fixed ring is adjusted. This adjusting operation is not only very troublesome and very difficult, but requires a great deal of labor and skilled technique as well.

If the adjustment of the level of the rotating disk is not perfect, eccentricity occurs at the rotating disk, which leads to increasing wear at specific parts of the rotating ring and the fixed ring. Furthermore, the materials to be polished may be damaged.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present invention is disclosed in order to overcome the aforesaid drawbacks of the prior art.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a swirl type barrel polishing machine capable of adjusting the gap between the worn rotating ring and the worn fixed ring easily and conveniently, by lowering the stationary drum, which is disposed at the upper part of the swirl type barrel polishing machine and which the electric power is not supplied to, under the complete leveled condition by means of the adjustment of the adjusting bolts at the outside of the swirl type barrel

polishing machine while the rotating disk rotating by means of the driving motor disposed inside the swirl type barrel polishing machine remains mounted.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a swirl type barrel polishing machine capable of maintaining the gap between the rotating ring and the fixed ring uniformly by lowering the stationary drum under the complete leveled condition by means of the adjustment of the adjusting bolts arranged at the outside of the stationary drum to adjust the gap between the worn rotating ring and the worn fixed ring, thereby any biased wear of the rotating ring and the fixed ring is prevented during the rotating operation thereof and thus durability of the rotating ring and the fixed ring is improved.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a swirl type barrel polishing machine capable of adapting itself to a wet or dry swirl type barrel polishing machine.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a swirl type barrel polishing machine capable of discharging polished materials easily by tilting a barrel polishing bath.

In order to accomplish the aforesaid objects of the present invention, there is provided a swirl type barrel polishing machine comprising a rotating ring disposed

around the outer circumference of a rotating disk connected fixedly to a driving motor at the lower part of the swirl type barrel polishing machine, the rotating ring having a sloping contact surface of 45 degrees; a fixed ring disposed around the inner circumference of a stationary drum at the lower part of the stationary drum, the fixed ring. having a sloping contact surface of 45 degrees corresponding to the sloping contact surface of 45 degrees of the rotating ring; an adjusting bolt mounted around the outer circumference of the stationary drum with the fixed ring attached thereto, the stationary drum going up and coming down along a supporting member by means of the adjustment of the adjusting bolt ; and a tilting barrel polishing bath.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a tilting swirl type barrel polishing machine according to the present invention; Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the state that the swirl type barrel polishing machine according to the

present invention is tilted to discharge abrasives and polished materials; Fig. 3 is a perspective view, partly in section, of main parts of the swirl type barrel polishing machine according to the present invention; Figs. 4 and 5 are cross-sectional views of main parts of the swirl type barrel polishing machine according to the present invention respectively, Fig. 4 showing the normal state before the main parts are worn and Fig. 5 showing that the gap is adjusted after the main parts have been worn; Figs. 6 and 7 are perspective views, partly in sections, of the fixed ring and the rotating ring of the swirl type barrel polishing machine according to the present invention respectively, Fig. 6 showing the rotating ring and Fig. 7 showing the fixed ring; and Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a dry swirl type barrel polishing machine according to another embodiment of the present invention.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 is a, perspective view of a tilting swirl type

barrel polishing machine according to the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the state that the swirl type barrel polishing machine according to the present invention is tilted to discharge abrasives and polished materials. Fig. 3 is a perspective view, partly in section, of main parts of the swirl type barrel polishing machine according to the present invention. Fig. 4 and Fig.

5 are cross-sectional views of main parts of the swirl type barrel polishing machine according to the present invention respectively. Fig. 4 shows the normal state before the main parts are worn and Fig. 5 shows that the gap is adjusted after the main parts have been worn.

As shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, a swirl type barrel polishing machine 1 comprises a barrel polishing bath 2 disposed at the rear of the swirl type barrel polishing machine. The barrel polishing bath 2 is arranged on a stand 3 in a manner that the barrel polishing bath 2 is tilted by means of a hydraulic cylinder 4 attached to the stand 3 and a connecting rod 5 attached pivotally to the hydraulic cylinder 4. The swirl type barrel polishing machine 1 further comprises a vibration type separating plate 6 and a sorting plate 7 at the front of the swirl type barrel polishing machine.

As shown in Fig. 3 to Fig. 6, a rotating disk 10 is attached fixedly to a shaft 9 of a driving motor 8, such as

an inverter motor, by means of a bolt 11 at the lower part of the barrel polishing bath 2, which is tilted by the hydraulic cylinder 4. A rotating ring 16 is attached to the outer upper part of an upper lining 12 of the rotating disk 10 by means of bolts 17. The rotating ring 16 has a 45- degree sloping contact surface 13, a vertical contact surface 14, and a plurality of holes 15 formed at the bottom part thereof, into which the bolts 17 are engaged.

A stationary drum 18 is disposed outside the rotating disk 10. The stationary drum 18 includes an inner lining 20 with swirl generating projections 19 formed thereon. The inner lining 29 is provided at the lower part thereof with a fixed ring 25. The fixed ring 25 has a 45- degree sloping contact surface 21 corresponding to the 45- degree sloping contact surface 13 of the rotating ring 16, a vertical contact surface 22, and a connecting piece 24 with a plurality of holes 23 formed at the outer bottom part thereof. The fixed ring 25 is attached to a lower flange 28 of the stationary drum 18 by means of bolts 26.

The stationary drum is provided at the outer circumference and the lower part thereof with a flange 30 with a plurality of adjusting bolts 29 engaged and a cylindrical lifting member 31, respectively. The cylindrical lifting member 31 at the lower part of the stationary drum 18 is arranged movably up and down in a lower sealing case 32, on

which a supporting piece 33 with 0-rings 34 for sealing mounted on the inner circumference thereof is formed integrally. The stationary drum is moved up or down by means of the adjusting bolts 29. The lower sealing case 32 is mounted on a cylindrical supporting member 35, and communicated with an outside discharging pipe 37 with a valve 36.

The rotating ring 16 mounted to the rotating disk 10 and the fixed ring 25 mounted to the stationary drum 18 are made of polyurethane or the like under the consideration of wear and elasticity.

The operation and effect of the swirl type barrel polishing machine constructed as mentioned above will now be described.

After the valve 36 of the discharging valve 37 has been closed, water, materials to be polished and abrasives are introduced into the barrel polishing bath 2. The rotating disk 10 disposed at the lower part thereof is rotated by means of the driving motor 8, such as an inverter motor to create swirl in the barrel polishing bath 2, which swirl polishes the materials to be polished. At this time, the 45-degree sloping contact surface 13 of the rotating ring 16 arranged around the outer circumference of the rotating disk 10, which is rotating by means of the driving motor 8, is rotated relative to the 45-degree

sloping contact surface 21 of the fixed ring 25 arranged at the lower part of the stationary drum 18 with a predetermined minute gap t between the 45-degree sloping contact surface 13 of the rotating ring 16 and the 45- degree sloping contact surface 21 of the fixed ring 25. As a result, wear occurs between the 45-degree sloping contact surface 13 of the rotating ring 16 and the 45-degree sloping contact surface 21 of the fixed ring 25 due to the rotating friction thereof. If the resulted gap t exceeds the predetermined value, the materials to be polished are held in the gap, which leads to damage of the materials to be polished. Consequently, if the gap t between the rotating ring 16 and the fixed ring 18 exceeds the predetermined value or if it is required to adjust the gap to a desired value depending on the condition of the materials to be polished, the adjusting bolts 29 arranged to the flange 30 formed at the lower part of the stationary drum 18 are turned to lower the outer circumference of the cylindrical lifting member 31 formed on the lower part of the stationary drum 18 along the inner surface of the supporting member 33 formed at the upper outer circumference of the lower sealing case 32, which acts as a cylinder. Since the supporting member 33 formed at the upper outer circumference of the lower sealing case 32 is provided at the inner surface thereof with a plurality of

0-ring 34, the lower sealing case 32 can be moved up and down isolated from the outside while air tightness is maintained between the supporting member 33 and the cylindrical lifting member 31 of the stationary drum 18.

The fixed ring 25 attached to the flange 28 at the lower inner circumference of the stationary drum 18 also adjusts the gap t. The fixed ring 25 is provided at the inner side thereof with the 45-degree sloping contact surface 21 and the vertical contact surface 22. Similarly, the rotating ring 16 attached to the outer circumference of the rotating disk 10 is provided with the 45-degree sloping contact surface 13 and the vertical contact surface 14. As the stationary drum 18 is moved down, the 45-degree sloping contact surfaces 21 and 13 between the fixed ring 25 and the rotating ring 16 is also moved down while the sloping angles of 45 degrees are maintained at the 45-degree sloping contact surfaces 21 and 13. Consequently, the desired gap can be maintained regardless of the amount and the state of the wear at the sloping contact surfaces 21 and 13 of the fixed ring 18 and the rotating ring 16. At this time, the adjusting bolts 29 are turned outside the barrel polishing bath 2 to adjust the gap t. As a result, no disassembling of the barrel polishing bath 2 is required or the worker does not need to put himself into the barrel polishing bath 2 in order to adjust the gap. Furthermore,

adjusting the gap to the desired value can be made conveniently, easily and precisely while the outside working space is ensured to the maximum.

After the movement of the stationary drum 18 is controlled and the gap t between the fixed ring 18 and the rotating ring 16 is adjusted as mentioned above, the polishing operation is carried out. After the polishing operation is completed, the valve 36 of the discharging pipe 37 is opened so that the water used to polish the materials, i. e., the water drained out from the gap t between the fixed ring 18 and the rotating ring 16, is discharged. After that, the barrel polishing bath 2 is risen and tilted by the hydraulic cylinder 4 so that the polished materials and the abrasives in the barrel polishing bath 2 are poured out onto the separating plate 6, and then the polished materials are sorted.

The above description is made in relation to the wet swirl type barrel polishing bath 2 using the water. However, the present invention may be applied to a dry swirl type barrel polishing bath that does not use the water, as shown in Fig. 8.

Fig. 8 shows a dry swirl type barrel polishing bath using the air. As shown in Fig. 8, the stationary drum 18 of the barrel polishing bath 2 is provided at the upper part thereof with a semicircle fixed covering plate 41 and

a hinged transparent covering plate 42. The stationary drum 18 is provided at the upper end of the inner part thereof with a dust suction pipe 43, a suction pump 44 and a dust collector 45. The air is supplied through the lower pipe 37 from an air compressor (not shown). The polishing operation in the dry swirl type barrel polishing bath is similar to the polishing operation in the wet swirl type barrel polishing bath as described in detail above. The materials to be polished and the abrasives are introduced into the barrel polishing bath 2, and the rotating disk 19 is rotated to carry out the polishing operation. At this time, the air is supplied into the lower sealing case 32 through the lower pipe 37, and thus the air is supplied into the barrel polishing bath 2 through the gap 5 formed between the rotating ring 16 of the rotating disk 10 and the fixed ring 25 of the stationary drum 18. Any dust produced in the barrel polishing bath 2, such as the dust produced from the polishing stone, is floated by means of the air, discharged through the suction pipe 43 at the upper part of the stationary drum 18, and collected into the dust collector 45.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY As mentioned above, the swirl type barrel polishing machine according to the present invention comprises a

rotating ring disposed around the outer circumference of a rotating disk connected fixedly to a driving motor at the lower part of the swirl type barrel polishing machine, the rotating ring having a sloping contact surface of 45 degrees ; a fixed ring disposed around the inner circumference of a stationary drum at the lower part of the stationary drum, the fixed ring having a sloping contact surface of 45 degrees corresponding to the sloping contact surface of 45 degrees of the rotating ring; and an adjusting bolt mounted around the outer circumference of the stationary drum with the fixed ring attached thereto, the stationary drum going up and coming down along a supporting member by means of the adjustment of the adjusting bolts.

Consequently, the swirl type barrel polishing machine according to the present invention is capable of adjusting the gap between the worn rotating ring and the worn fixed ring easily and conveniently, by lowering the stationary drum, which is disposed at the upper part of the swirl type barrel polishing machine and which the electric power is not supplied to, under the complete leveled condition by means of the adjustment of the adjusting bolts at the outside of the swirl type barrel polishing machine while the rotating disk rotating by means of the driving motor disposed inside the swirl type barrel polishing

machine remains mounted.

Furthermore, the swirl type barrel polishing machine according to the present invention is capable of maintaining the gap between the rotating ring and the fixed ring uniformly by lowering the stationary drum under the complete leveled condition by means of the adjustment of the adjusting bolts arranged at the outside of the stationary drum to adjust the gap between the worn rotating ring and the worn fixed ring, thereby any biased wear of the rotating ring and the fixed ring is prevented during the rotating operation thereof and thus durability of the rotating ring and the fixed ring is improved.

Besides, the swirl type barrel polishing machine according to the present invention is capable of adapting itself to a wet or dry swirl type barrel polishing machine.