Abrasive identifiers and associated systems and methods for determining information about abrasives in liquid jet cutting systems

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2024149396-A1
Application number	US-202318505853-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Nov 9, 2023
Priority date	Nov 9, 2022
Publication date	May 9, 2024
Grant date	—

Abstract

A high-pressure liquid jet cutting system can include a hopper configured to contain an abrasive mixture that includes abrasive and an additive, and a cutting head configured to receive the abrasive mixture from the hopper and introduce the abrasive mixture into a high-pressure liquid jet. The system can further include a sensor configured to detect a characteristic of the abrasive mixture associated with the additive, and one or more processors operably connected to the sensor and configured to determine information about the abrasive based, at least in part, on the detected characteristic. The one or more processors can be configured to adjust or otherwise control operation of one or more components of the high-pressure liquid jet cutting system based, at least in part, on the information to, e.g., improve or optimize system performance.

First claim

I/We claim:

1 . A high-pressure liquid jet cutting system, the system comprising:
a hopper configured to contain an abrasive mixture received into the hopper at a first location, the abrasive mixture including abrasive and an additive; a cutting head configured to receive the abrasive mixture from the hopper, wherein the cutting head is configured to introduce the received abrasive mixture into a high-pressure liquid jet at a second location; a sensor positioned between the first location and the second location, wherein the sensor is configured to detect a characteristic of the abrasive mixture associated with the additive; and one or more processors operably coupled to the sensor and configured to determine information about the abrasive in the abrasive mixture based, at least in part, on the detected characteristic of the abrasive mixture.

2 . The high-pressure liquid jet cutting system of claim 1 wherein the hopper includes a sidewall that defines a chamber configured to contain the abrasive mixture, and wherein the sensor is positioned on the sidewall and configured to detect the characteristic of the abrasive mixture within the chamber.

3 . The high-pressure liquid jet cutting system of claim 1 , further comprising a feed tube positioned between the hopper and the cutting head, wherein the sensor is positioned on the feed tube and configured to detect the characteristic of the abrasive mixture moving through the feed tube.

4 . The high-pressure liquid jet cutting system of claim 1 wherein the abrasive has a first value of the characteristic, wherein mixing the additive with the abrasive results in the abrasive mixture having a second value of the characteristic, and wherein the sensor is configured to detect the second value of the characteristic of the abrasive mixture.

5 . The high-pressure liquid jet cutting system of claim 4 wherein the characteristic is a capacitance and wherein the sensor includes a capacitive sensor.

6 . The high-pressure liquid jet cutting system of claim 4 wherein the characteristic includes a color and wherein the sensor includes an optical sensor.

7 . The high-pressure liquid jet cutting system of claim 1 wherein the additive includes one or more of a polymer, a ceramic material, a metal, and/or a colloidal material.

8 . The high-pressure liquid jet cutting system of claim 1 wherein the one or more processors are configured to determine a particle size and/or a brand of the abrasive based, at least in part, on the characteristic of the abrasive mixture.

9 . The high-pressure liquid jet cutting system of claim 1 wherein the one or more processors are configured to determine a packing density, a hardness, and/or a friability, of the abrasive based, at least in part, on the characteristic of the abrasive mixture.

10 . The high-pressure liquid jet cutting system of claim 1 wherein the one or more processors are configured to determine an age of the abrasive based, at least in part, on the characteristic of the abrasive mixture.

11 . The high-pressure liquid jet cutting system of claim 1 wherein the characteristic of the abrasive mixture is a first characteristic detected at a first time, wherein the sensor is further configured to detect a second characteristic of the abrasive mixture associated with the additive at a second time, different than the first time, and wherein the one or more processors are configured to determine an age of the abrasive in the abrasive mixture based, at least in part, on the first characteristic of the abrasive mixture and the second characteristic of the abrasive mixture.

12 . The high-pressure liquid jet cutting system of claim 11 wherein the first characteristic includes a first capacitance and wherein the second characteristic includes a second capacitance.

13 . The high-pressure liquid jet cutting system of claim 1 wherein
the hopper is configured to receive an amount of the abrasive mixture,
the characteristic of the abrasive mixture is a first characteristic detected at a first time,
the sensor is further configured to detect a second characteristic of the abrasive mixture at a second time, different than the first time, and
the one or more processors are configured to determine an amount of spent abrasive material within the abrasive mixture based at least in part on the first and second characteristics of the abrasive mixture.

14 . The high-pressure liquid jet cutting system of claim 13 wherein the first time is before the abrasive mixture is introduced into the high-pressure liquid jet, wherein the second time is after the abrasive mixture has been discharged from the cutting head in the high-pressure liquid jet.

15 . The high-pressure liquid jet cutting system of claim 13 wherein the first characteristic includes a first capacitance and the second characteristic includes a second capacitance.

16 . The high-pressure liquid jet cutting system of claim 1 wherein—
the characteristic of the abrasive mixture is a first characteristic detected at a first time,
the abrasive mixture is a first abrasive mixture,
the hopper is configured to receive a second abrasive mixture to mix with the first abrasive mixture at a second time,
the sensor is further configured to detect a second characteristic associated with mixing the first and second abrasive mixtures after the second time, and
the one or more processors are configured to determine an amount of the first abrasive mixture recycled into the second abrasive mixture based, at least in part, on the first characteristic and the second characteristic.

17 . The high-pressure liquid jet cutting system of claim 1 , further comprising one or more non-transitory, computer-readable media storing a data structure that relates the detected characteristic associated with the additive to the information about the abrasive, wherein the one or more processors are configured to query the data structure using the detected characteristic associated with the additive to determine the information about the abrasive.

18 . The high-pressure liquid jet cutting system of claim 1 wherein the high-pressure liquid jet cutting system is a high-pressure water jet cutting system and the high-pressure liquid jet is a high-pressure water jet.

19 . A method of operating a high-pressure liquid jet cutting system, the high-pressure liquid jet cutting system having a hopper and a cutting head, the method comprising:
receiving, at a first location, an abrasive mixture into the hopper, the abrasive mixture including abrasive and an additive; causing the abrasive mixture to flow from the hopper toward the cutting head, wherein the cutting head is configured to introduce the abrasive mixture into a high-pressure liquid jet at a second location; detecting, via one or more sensors positioned between the first location and the second location, a characteristic of the abrasive mixture, wherein the characteristic is associated with the additive; and determining, via one or more processors operably coupled to the one or more sensors, information about the abrasive in the abrasive mixture based, at least in part, on the detected characteristic of the abrasive mixture.

20 . The method of claim 19 wherein the hopper includes a sidewall that defines a chamber that contains the abrasive mixture, and wherein detecting, via the one or more sensors, a characteristic of the abrasive mixture includes detecting the characteristic through the sidewall of the hopper.

21 . The me

Assignees

• Omax Corp

Inventors

• Henning Axel H
• Darrow Clifford
• Schubert Ernst H
• Best Guy
• Midura Martin
• Mitra Madhura
• Garg Sanjay

Classifications

• B24C7/0015 Primary

  with control of feed parameters, e.g. feed rate of abrasive material or carrier · CPC title

• B24C1/045

  for cutting (energy dissipating devices therefor B26F3/008) · CPC title

• B24C9/00 Primary

  Appurtenances of abrasive blasting machines or devices, e.g. working chambers, arrangements for handling used abrasive material · CPC title

• B24C11/005

  of additives, e.g. anti-corrosive or disinfecting agents in solid, liquid or gaseous form · CPC title

• B24C11/00

  Selection of abrasive materials {or additives} for abrasive blasts (polishing compositions C09G) · CPC title