Crusher for crushing a silicon lump, and silicon lump crushing apparatus having a plurality of crushers

Abstract

A crusher which can transmit energy to be applied to a piston to a silicon lump efficiently, and a silicon lump crushing apparatus which can crush a silicon lump into small pieces by suppressing the production of powders as much as possible and enables the automation of the crushing work of a silicon lump. The crusher is constituted such that a hammer head is connected to a piston. When compressed air is not applied to the piston, the hammer head is elastically urged to a standby position and when compressed air is applied to the piston, the hammer head is moved from the standby position to collide with the silicon lump. In the silicon lump crushing apparatus, a plurality of crushers having a hammer head to be collided with a silicon lump are opposed to the silicon lump supported on a support base and spaced apart from one another.

1 . A silicon lump crushing apparatus comprising:
 a support base for supporting an approximately rod-like polycrystalline silicon lump to be crushed; and   a plurality of crushers which are opposed to the rod-like polycrystalline silicon lump supported on the support base and spaced apart from one another, wherein   each of the crushers has a hammer head to be collided with the silicon lump supported on the support base.   
     
     
         2 . The silicon lump crushing apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the apparatus includes a carrier table having a receiving groove which has a V-shaped cross section, extends in the longitudinal direction and is formed in the top surface of the carrier table, the silicon lump is placed on the receiving groove of the carrier table, and the carrier table is carried onto the support base. 
     
     
         3 . The silicon lump crushing apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein a movable support member is arranged on the support base, two carrier tables having on the top surface a receiving groove which has a V-shaped cross section and extends in the longitudinal direction are arranged parallel to each other and mounted on the movable support member, the movable support member is moved to a first work position where one carrier table is situated below the crushers and the other carrier table is displaced to one side from the crushers and to a second work position where the other carrier table is situated below the crushers and the one carrier table is displaced to the other side from the crushers, when the movable support member is moved to the first work position, the silicon lump placed on the receiving groove of the one carrier table is crushed by the crushers and a silicon lump to be crushed is carried onto the other carrier table, and when the movable support member is moved to the second work position, the silicon lump placed on the receiving groove of the other carrier table is crushed by the crushers and a silicon lump to be crushed is carried onto the one carrier table. 
     
     
         4 . The silicon lump crushing apparatus according to  claim 3 , wherein the movable support member is further moved to a first exhaust position displaced to the one side beyond the first work position and to a second exhaust position which is displaced to the other side beyond the second work position, the carrier tables are mounted in such a manner that they can turn around an axis extending in the longitudinal direction, when the movable support member is moved to the first exhaust position, the other carrier table is turned around the axis extending in the longitudinal direction at an angle of 90° or more and the crushed silicon lump on the receiving groove is discharged downward, and when the movable support member is moved to the second exhaust position, the one carrier table is turned around the axis extending in the longitudinal direction at an angle of 90° or more and the crushed silicon lump on the receiving groove is discharged downward. 
     
     
         5 . The silicon lump crushing apparatus according to  claim 3 , wherein the crushers are mounted to a support frame which can move vertically and is moved to a work position and a non-work position above the work position, the carrier tables are provided with a cover wall extending upward to cover the receiving grooves, the support frame is provided with a cover wall extending downward to cover the crushers, when the movable support member is moved to the first work position and the support frame is moved down to the work position, the cover wall of the one carrier table and the cover wall of the support frame define a closed space cooperatively, and when the movable support member is moved to the second work position and the support frame is moved down to the work position, the cover wall of the other carrier table and the cover wall of the support frame define a closed space cooperatively. 
     
     
         6 . The silicon lump crushing apparatus according to  claim 4 , wherein the crushers are mounted to a support frame which can move vertically and is moved to a work position and a non-work position above the work position, the carrier tables are provided with a cover wall extending upward to cover the receiving grooves, the support frame is provided with a cover wall extending downward to cover the crushers, when the movable support member is moved to the first work position and the support frame is moved down to the work position, the cover wall of the one carrier table and the cover wall of the support frame define a closed space cooperatively, and when the movable support member is moved to the second work position and the support frame is moved down to the work position, the cover wall of the other carrier table and the cover wall of the support frame define a closed space cooperatively. 
     
     
         7 . The silicon lump crushing apparatus according to  claim 2 , wherein an angle between both side faces of the receiving groove is 110 to 130°. 
     
     
         8 . The silicon lump crushing apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the apparatus includes a first crusher positioned right above the silicon lump supported on the support base and second and third crushers positioned on both sides of the first crusher and away from the first crusher at an equal angle when seen from the peripheral direction of the silicon lump. 
     
     
         9 . The silicon lump crushing apparatus according to  claim 8 , wherein the second and third crushers are away from the first crusher at an equal angle of 30 to 80°. 
     
     
         10 . The silicon lump crushing apparatus according to  claim 9 , wherein the hammer heads of the first, second and third crushers are projected toward the center axis of the silicon lump and collided with the silicon lump. 
     
     
         11 . The silicon lump crushing apparatus according to  claim 8 , wherein a plurality of sets of first, second and third crushers are arranged in the longitudinal direction of the silicon lump supported on the support base at intervals. 
     
     
         12 . The silicon lump crushing apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein each of the crushers comprises:
 a cylinder case for defining the space of a cylinder bore;   a piston which is stored in the cylinder bore in such a manner that it slidably moves between a first position which is one end of the cylinder bore and a second position which is the other end of the cylinder bore;   a blocking member which is fixed in the cylinder case to define the other end of the cylinder bore;   a release path for making the other end of the cylinder bore open to the air;   elastic urging means for elastically urging the piston to the first position;   a rod member which extends from the piston toward the other end of the cylinder bore and projects from the cylinder bore through the blocking member;   a hammer head which is fixed onto the projecting end portion of the rod member;   a compressed air source;   communication means interposed between the one end of the cylinder bore and the compressed air source; and   control valve means which is provided on the communication means and selectively switches the cylinder bore between an operation mode in which the cylinder bore is communicated with the compressed air source and a non-operation mode in which the one end of the cylinder bore is made open to the air, wherein   when the control valve means is switched to the non-operation mode, the piston is elastically urged to the first position by the elastic urging action of the elastic urging means and when the control valve means is switched to the operation mode, the piston is driven to the second position by compressed air supplied to the one end of the cylinder bore from the compressed air source in defiance of the elastic urging action of the elastic urging means.   
     
     
         13 . The silicon lump crushing apparatus according to  claim 12 , wherein the cylinder case is made of a metal and its outer surface is covered with a synthetic resin cover member. 
     
     
         14 . The silicon lump crushing apparatus according to  claim 13 , wherein the cover member extends beyond the front end of the cylinder case, and the hammer head is situated posterior to the front end of the cover member when the piston is elastically urged to the first position and projects beyond the front end of the cover member when the piston is driven to the second position. 
     
     
         15 . The silicon lump crushing apparatus according to  claim 14 , wherein the hammer head has a cylindrical outer surface and the inner diameter of a portion where the hammer head moves of the cover member corresponds to the outer diameter of the hammer head so that the movement of the hammer head is guided by the cover member. 
     
     
         16 . The silicon lump crushing apparatus according to  claim 12 , wherein the hammer head is made of a super hard alloy.