Installation for treating a material
View Patent ↗An installation for treating material having a treatment chamber equipped with an envelope which separates a controlled atmosphere which is present in its interior from an atmosphere which is present outside the envelope and a housing which delimits the treatment chamber. At least one supporting roller for conveying the material is arranged at least partly inside the treatment chamber. One or more mounting apparatuses for mounting at least one supporting roller are arranged outside the housing. A flexible compensating element is provided between at least one mounting apparatus and a wall, which is associated with the latter, of the housing, there being provided a sealing arrangement which is connected to said compensating element and which separates the at least one mounting apparatus from the atmosphere which is present inside the envelope.
1. An installation for treating a material comprising:
a) a housing which delimits a treatment chamber, the housing comprising an envelope which separates an atmosphere which is present inside the envelope from an atmosphere which is present outside said envelope, wherein the atmosphere inside the envelope is a controlled atmosphere;
b) at least one supporting roller, which is arranged at least partly inside the treatment chamber, for conveying a material;
c) at least one mounting apparatus which is arranged outside the housing, the at least one mounting apparatus being associated with a wall of the housing, the at least one supporting roller being mounted by the at least one mounting apparatus;
wherein
d) a flexible compensating element is provided and extends between the at least one mounting apparatus and the wall of the housing associated with the at least one mounting apparatus,
da) a flange connected to a first end of the flexible compensating element, and
db) a second end of the flexible compensating element having a sealing arrangement connected thereto, the sealing arrangement extending between the second end of the flexible compensating element and the at least one mounting apparatus and separating the at least one mounting apparatus from the atmosphere which is present inside the envelope.
2. The installation according to claim 1 , wherein the flexible compensating element is constructed in such a way that the at least one mounting apparatus is decoupled from the wall of the housing as regards the supporting function for the supporting roller.
3. The installation according to claim 1 , wherein the flexible compensating element is elastic and arranged between the at least one mounting apparatus and the wall of the housing associated with the at least one mounting apparatus in a pretensioned manner so that the sealing arrangement is pressed towards the at least one mounting apparatus.
4. The installation according to claim 1 , wherein the housing has one or more passages, each passage being associated with one of the one or more mounting apparatuses, and
the flexible compensating element is elastic and arranged between the at least one mounting apparatus and the wall of the housing associated with the at least one mounting apparatus so that the flexible compensating element can bend to compensate for any offset which occurs between the axis of the supporting roller and an axis of the passage for the supporting roller, guaranteeing sealing of the controlled atmosphere in the passage associated with the at least one mounting apparatus.
5. The installation according to claim 1 , wherein the sealing arrangement has a receiving element which is a washer and which extends within a plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the supporting roller.
6. The installation according to claim 1 , wherein the sealing arrangement has a sealing element, which sealing element is arranged between the flexible compensating element and the receiving element of the sealing arrangement.
7. The installation according to claim 5 , wherein the receiving element of the sealing arrangement is kinematically coupled to the supporting roller so that the receiving element rotates in conjunction with rotation of the support roller.
8. The installation according to claim 1 , wherein the flexible compensating element is a tube within which a partial region of the supporting roller is arranged.
9. The installation according to claim 8 , wherein the flexible compensating element is a corrugated tube.
10. The installation according to claim 1 , wherein the controlled atmosphere is bounded entirely within an atmospheric region formed by the envelope, the flexible compensating element and the sealing arrangement.
11. The installation according to claim 10 , wherein each of the envelope, the flexible compensating element and the sealing arrangement are of gas-tight construction.
12. The installation according to claim 1 , wherein the flexible compensating element is arranged outside the housing.
13. The installation according to claim 1 , wherein at least part of the flexible compensating element is arranged in a passage in the housing.
14. The installation according to claim 1 , wherein the supporting roller has a roller body and a roller spindle, said roller body and roller spindle being connected to one another in a form-locking manner.
15. The installation according to claim 1 , wherein the supporting roller extends through the treatment chamber perpendicularly between two interior side walls of the housing, each interior side wall having an associated exterior side wall, each exterior side wall having one of the one or more mounting apparatuses associated therewith, each mounting apparatus having an associated flexible compensating element with a sealing element connected thereto, each flexible compensating element extending between its associated mounting apparatus and the exterior wall associated with the mounting apparats,
wherein the supporting roller is mounted to each mounting apparatus.
16. The installation according to claim 5 , wherein the washer includes groove, the groove receiving a sealing ring.
17. The installation according to claim 16 further comprising an annular member, the annular member coupling the sealing ring and flexible compensating element.
18. The installation according to claim 1 wherein the wall of the housing associated with the at least on mounting apparatus partially delimits and bounds the treatment chamber.
19. An installation for treating a material comprising:
a) a housing which delimits a treatment chamber, the housing comprising an envelope which separates an atmosphere which is present inside the envelope from an atmosphere which is present outside the envelope, wherein the atmosphere inside the envelope is a controlled atmosphere;
b) at least one supporting roller for conveying a material, the at least one supporting roller being arranged at least partly inside the treatment chamber;
c) at least two mounting apparatuses which are arranged outside the housing, each of the at least two mounting apparatuses being associated with a wall of the housing, the at least one supporting roller being mounted by the at least two mounting apparatuses;
d) at least two flexible compensating elements, each flexible compensating element extending between an associated mounting apparatus from the at least two mounting apparatuses and the wall of the housing associated with the associated mounting apparatus, wherein a sealing arrangement is connected to each flexible compensating element, each sealing element being kinematically coupled to the at least one supporting roller so that each sealing arrangement moves during a movement of the supporting roller, each sealing element separating the associated mounting apparatus from the atmosphere which is present inside the envelope.