1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for collecting scraps produced when various materials such as metals and plastics are processed by processing machines such as pressing machines and lathes and, more particularly, relates to a system which can efficiently collect scraps by the use of a suction force generated by a flow of high-pressure air.
2. Statement of the Prior Art
Heretofore, two typical systems have been used to collect scraps produced from a pressing machine, i.e. a press, which is one example of a machine for processing materials, when punching is carried out thereby.
In the first system, scraps are collected by simply receiving them as they fall due to their own weight. In this case, a box for collecting scraps is placed below the punching tool of the pressing machine, and scraps produced by punching of sheets fall due to their own weight and are received in the box and collected.
The second system is a dust collector. One example of such a dust collector system is disclosed in, e.g., Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 61-24157. This system is designed as a dust collector for a portable air grinder, and is characterized by having an air ejector fixedly provided on a lid member of a cylindrical tank, an air filter provided in the tank at the downstream end of a suction pipe leading to the air ejector, a compressed-air inlet passage in the ejector connected with an air supply pipe through a valve, said lid member being provided with a dust collection opening, and a dust suction duct for connecting an abrasive wheel cover of the grinder to the dust collection opening. The air supply line to the grinder is connected by a T-joint to the compressed air inlet passage.
However, such conventional scrap collection systems have the following disadvantages. A problem with the first system which simply collects falling scraps is that scraps are often prevented from falling because instead they are unintentionally deposited in a mold or the like, and are responsible for making dents in the products molded thereby, thus resulting in an increase in the number of defective products, a shortening in the service life of tools and a lowering of the efficiency of the system.
A problem with the second system, namely the dust collector, is that the size of the duct collector becomes very large, so that not only is there a need to provide a space sufficient for its installation, but the complicated equipment also leads to an increased cost. Another problem is that as the sharpness of the processing tools deteriorates, scraps are likely to ascend while sticking to the punches because of a lack of suction force of the dust collector, or holes or openings are clogged by scraps.