Disclosure of Invention
However, in the dehydrator described in patent document 1, since the rotation adjusting member is a bottomed cylindrical member having a tapered surface obliquely cut from the distal end toward the base end, the sucked air leaks from the gap between the tapered surface of the rotation adjusting member in the slit groove and the widthwise end edges of the cloth, and the suction force is low. In addition, the size of the slot in the cloth conveying direction is small, so that the contact time between the cloth and the slot in the conveying process is short, and the dewatering force is low.
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a dehydrator capable of improving the suction force and dehydration force of water contained in a belt-like member.
The above object of the present invention is achieved by the following structure.
(1) A dehydrator for removing a part of water contained in a belt-like member made of fibers conveyed in one direction, comprising at least one dehydration section, wherein the at least one dehydration section comprises: a suction unit having a plurality of suction ports on an upper surface thereof for sucking moisture contained in the belt-like member; and a pair of adjustment members that are disposed on an upper surface of the suction portion and adjust a suction width of the suction portion with respect to the belt-shaped member, wherein the upper surface of the suction portion is disposed along a conveyance direction of the belt-shaped member, and a space between the pair of adjustment members is adjusted in accordance with the width of the belt-shaped member, whereby a part of the plurality of suction ports is opened and closed by the pair of adjustment members, thereby adjusting the suction width of the suction portion with respect to the belt-shaped member.
(2) The dehydrator according to (1), further comprising a gas-liquid separator connected to the at least one dehydration unit, and a vacuum pump connected to the gas-liquid separator.
(3) The dehydrator according to (2), wherein the suction unit includes: a base part having a suction hole penetrating in the vertical direction; and a suction plate attached to an upper surface of the base portion so as to close an upper opening of the suction hole, wherein the plurality of suction ports are provided in the suction plate.
(4) The dehydrator according to any one of (1) to (3), wherein the at least one dehydrating unit further includes a driving device that drives the pair of adjusting members in the width direction of the belt-like member.
(5) The dehydrator according to (4), wherein the driving device includes: a ball screw device for moving the pair of adjusting members; and a pair of guide rods for guiding the movement of the pair of adjustment members.
(6) The dehydrator according to (5), wherein the driving device further includes a motor for driving the ball screw device.
(7) The dehydrator according to (2), further comprising: a water discharge tank connected to the gas-liquid separator; a 1 st valve provided between the gas-liquid separator and the drain tank; and a 2 nd valve provided between the drain tank and a drain port, wherein the 1 st valve is closed and the 2 nd valve is opened when the water in the drain tank is drained, and the 1 st valve is opened after the 2 nd valve is closed after the drainage is finished.
Effects of the invention
According to the present invention, the suction width of the suction portion with respect to the belt-shaped member is adjusted by adjusting the interval between the pair of adjustment members in accordance with the width of the belt-shaped member and opening and closing a part of the plurality of suction ports of the suction portion by the pair of adjustment members, so that leakage of the sucked air can be suppressed and the suction force of the moisture contained in the belt-shaped member can be increased. Further, since the upper surface of the suction portion is arranged along the conveying direction of the belt-like member, the contact time of the belt-like member with the plurality of suction ports during conveyance can be extended, and the dewatering force can be improved.
Detailed Description
Hereinafter, a dryer according to an embodiment of a dehydrator according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, the upper side refers to the upper side with respect to the paper surface of fig. 1, the lower side refers to the lower side with respect to the paper surface of fig. 1, the front side refers to the front side with respect to the paper surface of fig. 1, the rear side refers to the rear side with respect to the paper surface of fig. 1, the left side refers to the left side with respect to the paper surface of fig. 1, and the right side refers to the right side with respect to the paper surface of fig. 1. In addition, regarding the upstream side and the downstream side, the right side is the upstream side and the left side is the downstream side with reference to the conveying direction of the belt-like member.
The dryer 10 dries a fibrous tape-like member T while conveying it, and as shown in fig. 1, includes: a drying box 20 having a drying chamber 21 for allowing the belt-like member T to pass through; a conveyor 30 for conveying the belt-like member T; a plurality of guide rollers 41 disposed in the drying chamber 21 and guiding the conveyance of the tape member T; and a plurality of hot air supply ducts 42 for supplying heated air to the drying chamber 21. In the dryer 10, the moisture-containing tape-like member T is heated and dried by passing the tape-like member T through the drying chamber 21 filled with high-temperature air. The dryer 10 illustrated in the drawings is configured to convey two strip-shaped members T (see fig. 4) in parallel in the front-rear direction and simultaneously dry the two strip-shaped members T. The fiber tape-like member T is, for example, a fastener tape or a fastener chain of a slide fastener.
The conveyance device 30 includes: a 1 st feeding device 31 disposed on the upstream side (right side in fig. 1) of the drying oven 20, a 2 nd feeding device 32 disposed on the downstream side (left side in fig. 1) of the drying oven 20, and a tension measuring device 33 disposed between the 1 st feeding device 31 and the 2 nd feeding device 32 and measuring the tension of the tape-like member T. According to the example of the figure, the tension meter 33 is arranged between the feed device 31 No. 1 and the drying box 20. Further, the tension measuring device 33 may be disposed between the drying oven 20 and the 2 nd feeding device 32. The 1 st feeding device 31 and the 2 nd feeding device 32 are respectively provided with driving rollers 31a and 32a and pressure rollers 31b and 32b, and convey the belt-like member T between them.
The tension measuring device 33 includes: a measuring roller 33a which comes into contact with the belt-like member T during conveyance, and a sensor, not shown, which measures a load applied to the measuring roller 33a from the belt-like member T. The tension applied to the belt-like member T is measured based on the load applied to the measuring roller 33 a. Further, according to the illustrated example, the tension measuring device 33 includes: a 1 st guide roller 33b disposed upstream of the measurement roller 33a in the conveyance direction of the belt-like member T, and a 2 nd guide roller 33c disposed downstream of the measurement roller 33a in the conveyance direction of the belt-like member T. The guide rollers 33b and 33c guide the belt-like member T so that the belt-like member T is wound around the measuring roller 33a within a predetermined range.
As shown in fig. 1, the dryer 10 further includes a dehydrator 50 disposed upstream of the feed device 31 1 in the conveying direction of the belt-like member T. The dehydrator 50 removes a part of the moisture contained in the belt-shaped member T before the belt-shaped member T is sent to the drying oven 20.
As shown in fig. 2, the dehydrator 50 of the present embodiment includes: two dewatering units 51 for dewatering the two strip-shaped members T; a gas-liquid separator 52 connected to the two dehydration sections 51; a vacuum pump 53 connected to the upper end of the gas-liquid separator 52; a drain tank 54 connected to the lower end of the gas-liquid separator 52; a 1 st valve 55 provided between the gas-liquid separator 52 and the drain tank 54; and a 2 nd valve 56 provided between the drain tank 54 and the drain port 57. In the present embodiment, two dewatering units 51 are provided to dewater two belt members T, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and one or three or more dewatering units may be provided depending on the number of belt members T to be dewatered.
As shown in fig. 3 to 5, the dewatering unit 51 includes: a suction unit 60 for sucking moisture contained in the tape-like member T; a pair of adjustment members 70 disposed on the upper surface of the suction portion 60 and adjusting the suction width W of the suction portion 60 with respect to the belt-shaped member T; and a driving device 80 that drives the pair of adjustment members 70 in the width direction of the belt member T. The two dewatering units 51 are arranged and attached to the upper surface of the base plate 58 so that the front-rear directions thereof are opposite to each other. The pair of adjustment members 70 also function as guide members for guiding the conveyance of the tape member T. This suppresses the movement of the belt-shaped member T in the width direction (front-rear direction), and can suppress the displacement between the belt-shaped member T and the suction unit 60 in the width direction of the belt-shaped member T.
The suction unit 60 includes: a rectangular parallelepiped base portion 61 attached to the upper surface of the base plate 58 and having a suction hole 61a penetrating in the vertical direction; a suction plate 62 attached to the upper surface of the base portion 61 so as to close the upper openings of the suction holes 61a, and having a plurality of suction ports 62a penetrating in the vertical direction; and a suction tube 63 having one end connected to a lower opening of the suction hole 61a of the base portion 61. The other end of the suction tube 63 is connected to the gas-liquid separator 52. The suction pressure (vacuum pressure) of the suction unit 60 is, for example, -10 kpa to-90 kpa.
In the suction plate 62, the plurality of suction ports 62a of the suction plate 62 are arranged in a honeycomb shape in the present embodiment. The suction plate 62 is disposed along the conveying direction of the belt-like member T. Thereby, the belt-like member T is conveyed while being in surface contact with the upper surface of the suction plate 62. The plurality of suction ports 62a are not limited to honeycomb shapes, and may be arranged in a lattice shape. The shape of the suction port 62a is not limited to a circular shape, and may be a polygonal shape such as an oblong shape, an elliptical shape, or a quadrangular shape, and is not particularly limited. In addition, the number of the suction ports 62a is not particularly limited. The shape of the suction holes 61a of the base portion 61 is substantially quadrangular so as to surround all of the plurality of suction ports 62a arranged in a honeycomb shape, but is not particularly limited.
As shown in fig. 5, the belt-like member T to be dehydrated is conveyed through between the pair of adjusting members 70 so as to be in surface contact with the upper surface of the suction plate 62. The belt-like member T dehydrated in the other dehydration section 51 is conveyed so as to pass between the 2 nd support table 92 and the 3 rd support table 93 described later.
The adjustment member 70 is a rectangular parallelepiped member, and is placed on the upper surface of the suction plate 62 such that the lower surface thereof is in surface contact with the upper surface of the suction plate 62. That is, the adjustment member 70 is disposed slidably with respect to the upper surface of the suction plate 62. Therefore, as shown in fig. 6, by moving the pair of adjustment members 70 in the belt width direction (the left-right direction in fig. 6), the pair of adjustment members 70 can open or close a part of the plurality of suction ports 62a of the suction plate 62, and thereby the suction width W of the suction portion 60 can be adjusted in accordance with the belt-like member T to be dehydrated. At this time, of the plurality of suction ports 62a, the upper surface of the suction port 62a, which is not covered with the belt-like member T in the width direction, can be covered with the adjustment member 70. Therefore, the leakage of the sucked air from the suction port 62a whose upper surface is not covered with the belt-like member T in the width direction can be suppressed, and the dewatering force can be improved.
As shown in fig. 3 to 5, the driving device 80 includes: a ball screw device 81 for moving the pair of adjustment members 70; a pair of guide rods 85 that guide the movement of the pair of adjustment members 70; a motor 86 that drives the ball screw device 81; a 1 st support table 91 and a 2 nd support table 92 which are arranged in the front-rear direction with the suction unit 60 interposed therebetween and support the ball screw device 81; and a 3 rd support table 93 supporting the motor 86.
The ball screw device 81 includes: a screw shaft 82 having a regular thread portion 82a formed on one end side and a reverse thread portion 82b formed on the other end side; and nuts 83 attached to the shafts of the regular thread portion 82a and the inverse thread portion 82b, respectively. The positions of the regular thread portion 82a and the inverse thread portion 82b may be reversed.
The screw shaft 82 is rotatably supported by ball bearings 94 attached to the 1 st support base 91 and the 2 nd support base 92, respectively. The nut 83 is fitted into and fixed to the center portion of the adjustment member 70 in the lateral direction.
The screw shaft 82 has an input shaft 82c extending from the inverse screw portion 82b toward the motor 86, and the input shaft 82c is coupled to a rotating shaft 86a of the motor 86 via a coupling 95. Thereby, the motor 86 can rotate the screw shaft 82.
According to the dewatering unit 51 configured as described above, the screw shaft 82 is rotated to one side by the motor 86, and the pair of adjustment members 70 are moved so as to approach each other in the width direction, whereby the suction width W of the suction unit 60 is narrowed (see fig. 6). On the other hand, the screw shaft 82 is rotated toward the other side by the motor 86, and the pair of adjustment members 70 are moved so as to be separated from each other in the width direction, whereby the suction width W of the suction portion 60 is increased. That is, the suction width W of the suction unit 60 is adjusted by adjusting the interval between the pair of adjustment members 70 in accordance with the width of the belt-like member T, and opening and closing a part of the plurality of suction ports 62a by the pair of adjustment members 70.
Further, a cover member 96 for covering the input shaft 82c of the screw shaft 82 and the periphery of the coupling 95 is attached to the 2 nd support base 92 and the 3 rd support base 93. This prevents the belt-like member T dehydrated in the dehydration section 51 on the other side from coming into contact with the input shaft 82c of the screw shaft 82 and the coupling 95, and prevents the belt-like member T from being entangled. The belt-like member T passes through an opening formed by the base plate 58, the 2 nd and 3 rd support bases 92 and 93, and the cover member 96.
The pair of guide rods 85 penetrate the pair of adjustment members 70 in the front-rear direction, and both ends thereof are supported by the 1 st support base 91 and the 2 nd support base 92, respectively. Further, a stopper bolt 97 is attached to the 1 st support base 91, and the stopper bolt 97 stops the movement of the adjustment member 70 outward in the belt width direction by coming into contact with the side surface of the adjustment member 70. The stopper bolt 97 can also be used as a reference for positioning the initial position of the adjustment member 70 at the time of machine start-up (at the time of startup).
In the dehydrator 50 of the present embodiment, when the water in the drain tank 54 is drained (e.g., when the water is full), the 1 st valve 55 is closed and the 2 nd valve 56 is opened to maintain the suction pressure (vacuum pressure) of the suction unit 60 constant. After the completion of the water discharge, the 2 nd valve 56 is closed and then the 1 st valve 55 is controlled to be opened. This prevents the suction pressure of the suction unit 60 from changing, and thus the dewatering amount can be kept constant.
In addition, during drainage, air is supplied into the drainage tank 54 to apply pressure to the water, thereby draining the water in a short time. The series of water discharge operations are automatically performed based on a signal from a water level sensor provided in the water discharge tank 54. Further, the water may be manually discharged, not by automatic discharge by the water level sensor.
As described above, according to the dehydrator 50 of the present embodiment, the suction width W of the suction unit 60 is adjusted by adjusting the interval between the pair of adjustment members 70 in accordance with the width of the belt-shaped member T and opening and closing a part of the plurality of suction ports 62a by the pair of adjustment members 70, so that the suction force of the moisture contained in the belt-shaped member T can be increased while suppressing the leakage of the sucked air. Further, since the suction plate 62 constituting the upper surface of the suction portion 60 is disposed along the conveying direction of the belt-like member T, the contact time of the belt-like member T with the plurality of suction ports 62a during conveyance can be extended, and the dewatering force can be improved.
Next, as a modification of the dewatering unit 51 of the present embodiment, as shown in fig. 7A and 7B, one (left side in the figure) of the pair of adjustment members 70 may be a fixed portion, and the other (right side in the figure) may be a movable portion. In the present modification, the adjustment member 70 on the movable portion side is driven in the width direction of the belt-like member T by the cylinder device 80B as the driving device. This allows the suction width W of the suction unit 60 to be adjusted in accordance with the belt-like member T to be dehydrated. The cylinder device 80B is a pneumatic or hydraulic cylinder device.
The present invention is not limited to the invention exemplified in the above embodiments, and can be modified as appropriate within a scope not departing from the gist of the present invention.
For example, in the present embodiment, the base portion of the suction portion and the suction plate are formed separately, but may be formed integrally.
Further, the driving device for driving the pair of adjustment members may not include a motor. In this case, a handle or the like is attached to a screw shaft of the ball screw device, and the screw shaft is manually rotated.