JPS61208285A - Replacement apparatus of dye liquid for dye laser device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To conduct the replacement and washing of a dye liquid automatically by constituting the washing cycle of a bottle detachable device detaching a bottle from a dye-liquid circulating device a liquid discharger discharging a liquid in the bottle a detergent in jector the bottle detachable device by a conveyor. CONSTITUTION:A bottle susceptor 2b is lowered as a dye liquid is left as it is circulated by a circulating pump 1c, and a bottle 1e is placed on a roller conveyor 7a while the pump 1c is stopped at a point of time when the whole solution is introduced into the bottle 1e. The bottle 1e covered with a cover by a cover detachable device 3 is carried by the conveyor 7a, the liquid in the bottle 1e is sucked out by a liquid discharger 4, a detergent is injected by a liquid injector 5, and the bottle is carried up to the end section of the conveyor 7a. The cover is removed by the device 3, the bottle is mounted to a chuck 1f by a bottle detachable device 2, and the detergent is circulated in a dye liquid circulating section 1. Said replacement cycle is repeated.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a device for replacing a dye liquid in a dye laser device.

[Prior art and its problems] A circulating dye laser device circulates a dye liquid stored in a bottle through dye laser cells in an oscillator section and an amplifier section, irradiates the cells with laser light, and generates a separate signal. It is a device that oscillates a laser beam of the same wavelength or amplifies the oscillated laser beam and then emits the laser beam. In such a dye laser device, the dye liquid has a relatively short lifespan, and after its life, the efficiency deteriorates and the dye liquid must be replaced. Furthermore, when changing the type of laser light to be emitted, the dye liquid must be replaced. A method of replacing the dye liquid in such a dye laser device will be explained.

Figure 8 shows the structure of the pigment circulation system.

a is a dye laser cell, b is a circulation tube, C is a circulation pump, d is a filter for removing degraded dye, e is a bottle, f is a bottle chuck, and g is a bracket.

The procedure for replacing the dye solution is as follows.

(1) Remove bottle chuck f and lower bottle e.

■ If you continue to run circulation pump C in this state,
All the dye liquid in the circulation system flows down into the bottle e by sucking air. When the flow is finished, stop the circulation pump C.

■ Remove bottle e, transfer the contents to another container, and inject the cleaning liquid instead.

(To) Attach the bottle e containing the cleaning liquid to the bottle chuck f.

■ Turn the circulation pump C to circulate the cleaning liquid through the circulation system.

(6) Repeat the operations from (1) to (2) above to replace the washing solution. The number of times the washing solution is replaced varies depending on the concentration of the dye solution used, but is usually performed 5 to 8 times.

(7) After washing is complete, replace the washing liquid with new dye liquid and attach bottle e to bottle chuck f! The exchange is complete.

There are the following problems when replacing the dye solution manually using the above procedure.

(1) The ease of washing differs depending on the type of dye solution, so the number of washings and the circulation time each time must be changed, but since this is done manually, the degree of washing is difficult to maintain.

■ Replacing the dye solution is very time-consuming because it takes a lot of time while the washing solution is being circulated, and the number of washings is also large.

■ There is also a safety issue as it involves handling harmful cleaning fluids (solvents such as methanol).

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, there is also a laser device in which the entire dye liquid circulation system is made into a cassette type, and the whole system can be replaced. In this case, it is not necessary to wash the circulation system, so it does not take much time to replace the dye solution, but when a large number of dyes are used, it is necessary to have circulation systems corresponding to the number of dyes, which increases the cost. Since the dye laser cell a is moved roughly, it takes time to readjust the alignment. Even with this type, cleaning is required when the dye solution reaches the end of its life and needs to be replaced.

Therefore, such a cassette-type circulation system is inappropriate for a dye laser device in which many kinds of dye liquids need to be frequently exchanged.

[Object of the Invention] The present invention was devised in view of the problems of the prior art, and is suitable for a dye laser device in which many types of dye liquids are frequently replaced, and requires little manpower to replace the dye liquids. It is an object of the present invention to provide a dye liquid exchange device for a dye laser device that is highly safe even against harmful dye liquids and cleaning liquids.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the dye liquid exchange device of the dye laser device of the present invention includes a bottle that circulates the stored dye liquid between the dye laser cell and the laser device. Bottles are sequentially transferred between the three devices mentioned above: a bottle attaching/detaching device, a draining device that suctions and drains the contents from the removed bottle, and a pouring device that injects cleaning liquid into the bottle after straw draining is completed. It consists of a conveyor device that returns the bottle after filling has been completed to the bottle attachment/detachment device.The bottle attachment/detachment device maintains the bottle in a state of liquid circulation, and also moves the bottle when exchanging the liquid content to transfer the bottle between the bottle and the conveyor device. The liquid draining device includes a liquid suction pipe that penetrates into the bottle that is conveyed by a conveyor device and reaches a predetermined position, drains the liquid content, and withdraws it. The apparatus is characterized by being equipped with a liquid injection pipe for pouring a cleaning liquid into a bottle that is conveyed by a conveyor device and brought to a predetermined position.

[Example] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the entire dye liquid exchange device of a dye laser device according to the present invention.

In FIG. 1, 1 is the dye liquid circulation section of the laser device, which includes a dye laser cell 1a, a circulation tube 1b, a circulation pump lc,
It consists of a filter 1d for removing deteriorated dye and a bottle 1e, and the dye liquid is circulated between the dye laser cell 1a and the bottle 1e by a circulation pump 1C.

2 is a bottle attaching/detaching device, which includes a bracket 2a, a support base 2b that moves up and down, and a support base 2b that is attached to the bracket 2a.
Three limit switches 2c, 2 that detect the position of b
It consists of d and 2e.

Reference numeral 3 denotes a lid attaching/detaching device for a bottle 1e, which is used when the dye liquid or cleaning liquid is highly volatile, harmful to the human body, or particularly dusty.
It consists of an arm support part 3b, an arm 3c, and a pickup part 3d.

4 is a drainage device, which includes a fixed joint part 4a and a movable joint part 4b.
The movable joint part 4 rotates around the fixed joint part 4a.
A suction pipe 4d that moves the tube beyond b up and down to enter and exit the bottle 1e at the suction port 4C.
It consists of a suction pump 4e that is connected to a suction pipe 4d and discharges the liquid in the bottle 1e, and a drain tank 4f that receives the liquid from the suction pump 4e.

The stone is a liquid injection device for injecting cleaning liquid, and includes a liquid storage tower 5a,
The cleaning liquid is supplied from the storage tank 5a to the bottle 1 via the injection pipe 5C.
The liquid injection pipe 5C rotates around the fixed joint 5d and moves the tube beyond the movable joint 5e up and down to the liquid injection port 5.
It is possible to enter and exit the bottle 1e at the part f.

Reference numeral 6 denotes a lid attaching/detaching device for the bottle 1e, which has the same configuration as the lid attaching/detaching device 3, and includes an actuator 6a, an arm support portion 6b, an arm 6c, and a pickup portion 6d.

7 is a conveyor device, which includes a roller conveyor 7a that transfers the bottle 1e between the bottle attaching/detaching device 2 and the loop-shaped roller conveyor 7b, and a draining device 4 and a pouring device for transferring the bottle 1e sent by the roller conveyor 7a 5, and then transferred again to the roller conveyor 7a.
It consists of b.

8 is a control device that sends programmed operation signals to the above devices, and includes a console 8a and an operation panel 8 with a display.
It consists of b. Gates 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15 regulate the movement of the bottles 1e on the roller conveyor. 16, 17, 18, 19, and 20 are non-contact switches such as photoelectric type that detect the position of the bottle 1e and send a signal.

The action will be explained below.

First, the second method explains how to attach and detach the bottle 1e to the dye circulation section 1.
This will be explained using figures.

First, in the state shown in Figure 2(a) where the dye solution is circulating,
The bottle support stand 2b that supports the bottle 1e supports the bottle 1e.
It is stationary at the position where it is pushed into the bottle chuck 1f. Next, while the dye solution is being circulated, the bottle support 2b is lowered and stopped at that position when the limit switch 2d in the middle is activated (FIG. 2(b)). At this position, the circulation pump 1C is in idle operation, so all the solution that has been circulating ten times by sucking air enters the bottle 1e. The time for all of this solution to enter the bottle is set in advance in the control device 8, and the circulation pump 1e is stopped when all of the solution has entered the bottle.

Thereafter, the bottle support stand 2b further lowers and stops at that position when the lowest limit switch 2e is activated. (Figure 2 (C)). The support part of the bottle support stand 1C has a comb-tooth shape, and when it descends to the lowest point, each comb tooth is located between each roller at the end of the roller conveyor 7a, and the upper surface of the comb tooth is Since it is lower than the top of each roller, bottle 1
e will ride on the end of the roller conveyor 7a.

After the bottle 1e is placed on the end of the roller conveyor 7a, the bottle 1e is capped by the bottle cap attaching/detaching device 3. This lid was previously removed and held by the lid attachment/detachment device 3 when the bottle 1e was attached to the circulation section 1 of the laser device. The operation of the lid attaching/detaching device 3 will be explained in the third section below.
This will be explained using figures.

First, the lid removal operation will be explained. When the bottle 1e moves on the roller conveyor 7a and reaches the end of the roller conveyor 7a, a control device 8 is activated from a non-contact switch 20 such as a photoelectric switch installed at the end of the roller conveyor 7a.
A signal is sent to the bottle 1e, and the operation of removing the lid of the bottle 1e is started.

First, as shown in Fig. 3 (a''), the pick-up part 3d at the tip of the arm 3C goes down and grabs the lid of the bottle 1e, then the whole arm 3C goes up (Fig. 3 (b)), and then the pick-up part 3d is 90@ centered around the arm support part 3b
Rotate (Figure 3 (C)). This completes the lid removal operation.

Next, we will explain the operation of attaching the lid. When the bottle 1e is lowered by the bottle attaching/detaching device 2 and rides on the end of the roller conveyor 7a, a signal is sent from the non-contact switch 20 installed at the end of the roller conveyor 7a to the control device 8, and the bottle 1
The operation of attaching the lid of e starts.

First, as shown in FIG. 3(f), the pickup section 3d is rotated at an angle of 90 degrees around the arm support section 3b while gripping the bottle lid.
It rotates, and then the whole arm 3C lowers and the bottle 1e
The pickup section 3d releases the lid (Q), and the entire arm 3C rises (h), completing the series of operations for attaching the lid.

When the bottle 1e has been capped, the roller conveyor 7a transfers the bottle 1e to the loop-shaped roller conveyor 7b.

The bottle 1e passes through the α point on the roller conveyor 7a, moves on an arc, and reaches the β point on the loop-shaped roller conveyor 7b. At point α, gate 1 is
5 is designed to move, and when the roller conveyor 7a transfers the bottle 1e to the loop roller conveyor 7b, the gate 15 is in the state shown by the solid line in FIG. 1 so that the bolt moves from point α to point β. There is. The bottle is on roller conveyor 7a
When the point β is reached, the non-contact switch 16 is activated, and at the point β, where the presence of the bottle 1e is detected, the contents of the bottle 1e are either to be saved or discarded, and when it is time to save, the bottle 1e is removed manually. .

On the other hand, when discarding the contents, the loop-shaped roller conveyor 7b
The gate 11 at point β of is automatically opened and the bottle 1e proceeds to the draining process.

The distinction between storage and disposal is registered in advance in the control device 8 to prevent the liquid to be stored from being erroneously discarded. The liquid is disposed of after the bottle 1e reaches the γ point of the loop roller conveyor 1b. When the bottle 1e reaches the γ point, the non-contact switch 17 is activated,
The loop roller conveyor 7b is stopped by the control device 8. Subsequently, the lid of the bottle 1e is removed by the lid attachment/detachment device 6 for the bottle 1e. The operation of removing the lid is
Similar to the lid attachment/detachment device 3 described above, the operations are performed in the order shown in FIGS. 3(a) to 3(C). When the lid of the bottle 1e is removed, the draining process begins. After the bottle 1e reaches the γ point, the movable joint 4b of the suction pipe 4d is connected to the suction pump 4e.
The further tube is lowered and the suction port 4C is inserted into the bottle 1e.

Subsequently, the suction pump 4e starts to operate, sucks out all the liquid in the bottle 1e, and transfers it to the drain tank 4f.

The suction pump 4e stops operating for a certain period of time, and subsequently the tube beyond the movable joint 4b also returns to its original position above.

When the draining process is completed, the gate 12 is opened and the bottle 1e without a lid is carried by the loop roller conveyor 7b to the δ point on the opposite side of the γ point. The positional relationship between the γ point and the δ point is shown in FIG. Next, the liquid injection process will be explained using FIG. 6.

When the bottle 1e reaches point p, the non-contact switch 18 is activated, and the control device 8 causes the loop roller conveyor 7 to
Stop b. After a certain period of time after the bottle 1e reaches the δ point, the tube beyond the movable joint 5e of the liquid injection pipe 5C connected to the liquid injection pump 5b is lowered, and the liquid injection port 5f enters into the bottle 1e.

Subsequently, the liquid injection pump 5b starts to operate and injects a certain amount of cleaning liquid into the bottle 1e.

The liquid injection pump 5b operates for a certain period of time, injects a certain amount of cleaning liquid, and then stops. - The amount injected into the bottle 1e can be easily changed by changing the operating time of the injection pump 5b. After the injection pump 5b is stopped, the tube beyond the movable joint 5e returns to its original position above.

Subsequently, the lid of the bottle 1e that was previously removed is attached by the lid attaching/detaching device 6. The operation for attaching the lid is performed in the order shown in FIG. However, the direction of rotation of the arm is reversed.

After the solvent bottle 1e is capped, the gate 13 at point δ
opens, and the loop-shaped roller conveyor lb begins to move. The bottle moves on conveyor 7b, reaches point ε, and passes through gate 1.
Stop in front of 4. There is also a non-contact type switch 19 at the ε point to detect the arrival of the bottle 1e.

Then, the gate 14 at point ε is half-opened to the position indicated by the dotted line, and the bottle 1e reaches point α by the roller conveyor 7a. At this time, the gate 15 at point α is at the position indicated by the dotted line, and the bottle 1e moves to the end of the roller conveyor 7a.

Next, the lid of the bottle 1e is removed by the lid attachment/detachment device. Next, the bottle 1e is raised by the bottle attaching/detaching device 2, and when the uppermost limit switch 2C moves, it returns to that position (second position).
It stops at figure (a)).

Furthermore, after a certain period of time, the liquid begins to circulate. The circulation time of the liquid is registered in advance in the control device 8 for each dye before replacement, and after a certain period of time has elapsed, the cleaning liquid of the bottle 1e that has been cleaned is replaced by the above-mentioned replacement cycle.

By repeating this cleaning solution exchange cycle several times, complete cleaning can be achieved. The number of times this cleaning cycle has been repeated can be determined using various switches, such as a non-contact switch 20.
It is counted based on how many times the bottle 1e is detected. Also,
When newly circulating the dye solution, place the bottle at point ε of the loop-shaped roller conveyor 7a, and the roller conveyor 7
After the cleaning liquid bottle 1e carried from the bottle attachment/detachment device 2 by the roller a reaches point β of the loop-shaped roller conveyor 7b, it is replaced by the bottle 1e carried by the roller conveyor 7a to the bottle attachment/detachment device 2, and the laser device is attached to the circulation system 1 of the dye liquid circulation section, and the dye liquid exchange in the dye liquid circulation section is completed.

FIG. 7 shows a logic flowchart for inputting to the control device for controlling the dye liquid exchange process described above.

[Modifications] The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and the following modifications can be made within the scope of the claims.

(1) As shown by the dotted line above the loop-type roller conveyor 7b in FIG. 1, a common dye exchange device may be used for the two liquid circulation systems. In this case, the bottle attaching/detaching device 2, the lid attaching/detaching device 3, the roller conveyor 7a, the gate 14.
15. It is sufficient to newly add the same non-contact switch as 19 and 20, and other devices can be used in common.

(2) The roller conveyor 7a may be omitted and a bottle attaching/detaching device may be provided around the loop-shaped roller conveyor.

■ A slat conveyor or the like may be used instead of the roller conveyors 7a and 7b.

(To) The liquid injection pipe 5C of the liquid injection device 5 may be a fixed type in which it remains fixed upward. In this case, two joints can be omitted.

■ The lid attaching/detaching device 3.6 may be omitted.

[Effects of the Invention 1 As explained above, the dye liquid exchange device of the dye laser device of the present invention has the following effects.

(1) Regarding the washing procedure when replacing the dye solution, program the number of washings, washing solution circulation time, etc. for each dye solution used before replacement, and set the type of dye solution before starting the washing cycle. Once you input the information, the rest is done automatically, so you can keep the level of cleaning constant.

■ Safety is improved because there is no need to manually inject or dispose of harmful chemicals (dye liquids or cleaning liquids).

■ The dye solution exchange and washing cycle can be performed with almost no human intervention, resulting in significant labor savings.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of the dye liquid exchange device of the dye laser device of this description, FIG. 2 is a front view of the bottle attaching/detaching device, and FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the operation of the lid attaching/detaching device. , FIG. 4 is a front view of the liquid drainage device, FIG. 5 is a plan view showing the relative relationship between the γ point and the δ point, FIG. 6 is a front view of the liquid injection device, and FIG. 7 is a front view of the liquid injection device. 8 is a logic flowchart of the ilJ'm device, and FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a conventional dye circulation system. 1...Dye liquid circulation unit 2...Bottle attaching/detaching device 3...Lid attaching/detaching device 4...Liquid draining device 5...Liquid injection device 6...Lid attaching/detaching device 7...Conveyor device 8 ...Control device Fig. 2 Fig. 3 (9) (S) Fig. 4 Fig. 5

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A bottle attaching and detaching device that attaches and detaches a bottle that circulates the stored dye liquid between the dye laser cell and the laser device;
A drainage device sucks and discharges the contents from the removed bottle, and a liquid injection device injects cleaning liquid into the bottle after draining, and the bottles are sequentially transferred between the three devices mentioned above and the liquid is poured. It consists of a conveyor device that returns the completed bottle to the bottle attachment/detachment device again, and the bottle attachment/detachment device maintains the bottle in a liquid circulation state, and also includes a bottle support that moves to transfer the bottle to and from the conveyor device when the liquid content is replaced. The liquid drain device is provided with a liquid suction pipe that penetrates into the bottle that is conveyed by a conveyor device and comes to a predetermined position, discharges the contents, and withdraws it. A dye liquid exchange device for a dye laser device, comprising a liquid injection pipe for pouring a cleaning liquid into a bottle that is transported and brought to a predetermined position. (2) The conveyor device is a roller type conveyor device, and the bottle support stand of the bottle attaching/detaching device has a comb-shaped portion, and the comb-shaped portion is sunk between the conveyor rollers. A dye liquid exchange liquid device for a dye laser device according to claim 1.