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EP-4019140-B1 - POWDER PROCESSING APPARATUS INCLUDING A LOADING AND UNLOADING SYSTEM

EP4019140B1EP 4019140 B1EP4019140 B1EP 4019140B1EP-4019140-B1

Inventors

  • GROSSRIEDER, YVES
  • VIRDIS, ANTOINE

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20201222

Claims (15)

  1. A powder processing apparatus (1) for performing a powder processing operation, comprising a processing head (20) configured to process a material and to be removably and functionally fixed to a driving unit (30) via a fixation device (50) extending between the driving unit (30) and the processing head (20), the processing head (20) being at a distance from a base (80) when connected to the driving unit (30); the processing head (20) comprising an inlet connecting unit (22) configured to be connected to an input container (71) containing the material to be processed, and an outlet connecting unit (23) configured to be connected to an output container (72) destined to receive the processed material; characterized in that the fixation device (50) comprises a pivoting element (51) configured to rotate the processing head (20) around a pivoting axis (52) by a rotation angle (α i ) between a first angular position (α 1 ) where the material contained in the input container (71) can be inputted in the processing head (20) and where the processed material can be outputted in the output container (72), and a second angular position (α 2 ) where the input container (71) being on the base (80) can be connected to the inlet connecting unit (22).
  2. Apparatus according to claim 1, comprising a head driving unit configured to drive the pivoting element (51) in rotation.
  3. Apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the rotation angle (α i ) is at least 160° or at least 180°, preferably wherein the first angular position (α 1 ) is 0° and the second angular position (α 2 ) is 180°, relative to a vertical direction (53) substantially perpendicular to the pivoting axis (52).
  4. Apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the pivoting element (51) and/or the processing head (20) comprises a foolproof device configured to allow fixing processing heads that are suitable for the rotation by the pivoting element (51).
  5. Apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, comprising a rotation sensor (61) configured to measure the rotation angle (α i ) of the processing head (20).
  6. Apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, comprising a supporting structure (40) including a lifting column (42) configured to control a movement (54) of the driving unit (30) along a vertical direction (53) substantially perpendicular to the pivoting axis (52).
  7. Apparatus according to claim 6, comprising a lifting sensor (60) configured to provide a linear position signal associated with the movement (54) of the lifting column (42).
  8. Apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, configured to control the pivoting of the processing head (20) and the movement (54) of the lifting column (42) in a coordinated fashion.
  9. Apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, comprising a connecting device (90) configured to connect the input container (71) to the inlet connecting unit (22) and/or the output container (72) to the outlet connecting unit (23) in a secured fashion without requiring a locking connection.
  10. Apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 9, comprises a container supporting device (100) configured to support the input and/or output container (71, 72) laterally relative to the processing head (20).
  11. Method of using the powder processing apparatus (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 10, comprising: pivoting the processing head (20) in the second angular position (α 2 ); connecting an input container (71) to the inlet connecting unit (22); pivoting the processing head (20) with the attached input container (71) in the first angular position (α 1 ); connecting an output container (72) to the outlet connecting unit (23); and performing the powder processing operation and transferring the processed material from the processing head (20) to the output container (72).
  12. Method according to claim 11, wherein the apparatus comprises a supporting structure (40) including a lifting column (42) configured to control a movement (54) of the driving unit (30) along a vertical direction (53) substantially perpendicular to the pivoting axis (52); the method further comprising: prior to turning the processing head (20) in the second angular position (α 2 ), controlling the lifting column (42) to move the processing head (20) in a first predetermined position; prior to pivoting the processing head (20) with the attached input container (71) in the first angular position (α 1 ), controlling the lifting column (42) to move the processing head (20) in a second predetermined position.
  13. Method according to claim 12, further comprising prior to connecting an output container (72) to the outlet connecting unit (23), controlling the lifting column (42) to move the processing head (20) in a third predetermined position.
  14. Method according to any one of claims 11 to 13, wherein the steps of pivoting the processing head (20) and of controlling the lifting column (42) are performed in combination.
  15. Computer program comprising instructions to cause the device of any of claims 1-10 to carry out the method according to any one of claims 11 to 14.

Description

Technical domain The present invention concerns a powder processing apparatus for performing a powder processing operation that includes a loading and unloading system and allows for simplified loading of the material to be processed and unloading of the processed material. The present invention further concerns a method of using the powder processing apparatus and a computer program comprising instructions for implementing the method. Related art According to existing solutions, the problem of lifting a drum or any container to fill a powder processing apparatus with a material to be processed is solved by using an auxiliary lifting device such as a lifting column. The drum is then clamped to the lifting device, raised up and maintained over the powder processing apparatus. After opening a valve, such as a butterfly valve, the material to be milled can then be poured into the powder processing apparatus. Such an operation is both time and space consuming as it requires to bring an auxiliary cumbersome lifting device. Moreover, the docking of the drum against the powder processing apparatus is particularly delicate as the involved weights can be rather important. Therefore, this operation often requires one person commanding the lifting device and another one controlling the docking of the drum against the powder processing apparatus. CN206139267U relates to a reducing mechanism for carrying out crushing operation the mechanism including a shredder head which can remove ground and is fixed to a driver element, a pulverizing chamber, a rotor assembly which is mounted to the pulverizing chamber and a screen assembly which is used to sieve the crushed material; wherein the driver element is adapted to control the rotor assembly during the crushing operation relative to the sieve motion. WO2016098017 relates to a modular system for performing a plurality of crushing and grinding processes, comprising: a plurality of interchangeable milling heads, each interchangeable milling head comprising a milling mechanism configured to perform one of said plurality of crushing and grinding processes when driven; a driving unit comprising a driving motor having a range of motor characteristics; and a connecting unit configured to functionally connect one of the interchangeable milling heads to the driving motor such that, when connected, said one of the plurality of interchangeable milling heads can perform said one of said plurality of crushing and grinding processes; each of said plurality of interchangeable milling heads further comprises an adaptor unit configured to connect the milling head to the connecting unit and for converting the range of motor characteristics of the driving motor into the milling driving characteristics of the connected interchangeable milling heads Summary The present invention concerns a powder processing apparatus comprising a processing head configured to process a material and to be removably and functionally fixed to a driving unit via a fixation device extending between the driving unit and the processing head, the processing head being at a distance from a base when connected to the driving unit. The processing head comprises an inlet connecting unit configured to be connected to an input container containing the material to be processed and an outlet connecting unit configured to be connected to an output container destined to receive the processed material. The fixation device comprises a pivoting element configured to rotate the processing head around a pivoting axis by a rotation angle between a first angular position where the material contained in the input container can be inputted in a processing head and where the processed material can be outputted in the output container, and a second angular position where the input container being on the base can be connected to the inlet connecting unit. The present invention further concerns a method of using the powder processing apparatus and comprising the steps of pivoting the processing head in the second angular position;connecting an input container to the inlet connecting unit;pivoting the processing head with the attached input container in the first angular position;connecting an output container to the outlet connecting unit; andperforming the powder processing operation. A computer program comprising instructions for implementing the method is also disclosed. The powder processing apparatus disclosed herein allows for loading the material to be processed in the processing head and unloading the processed material from the processing head without using an auxiliary device such as a separate lifting column and/or clamping elements. The surface area needed to load and use the powder processing apparatus can be reduced. The complexity of the manipulation steps required in loading and operating the powder processing apparatus is also reduced. In particular, the steps of lifting and attaching the containers to the processing head can