JP2000108037A - Powder and grain collecting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent a filter within a separating machine from clogging, efficiently collect powder and grain with small installation space and to repeatingly utilize powder and grain by providing a powder and grain supplying unit collecting powder and grain separated by a cyclone separator and supplying powder and grain to a nozzle within a working chamber and the cyclone separator at this front stage. SOLUTION: Powder and grain which is injected to a work 20 and performs working is discharged from a lower part of a working chamber 17 together with air, powder and grain is led to a large-sized cyclone separator 24 through a circulating conduit 25, and air and powder and grain are separated. After separated air is returned to a separating machine 26 and powder and grain is further and completely removed by a filter, air is returned to the working chamber 17 through an air circulation pipe 28. Separated powder and grain falls within a dust bunker 47 and is led to foreign matter collecting device 55 through an exhaust channel 48 of a dust collecting machine 35. Therefore, powder and grain from which foreign matter is removed is led to cyclone separators 33, 34 through a powder and grain supply pipe 32, powder and grain is completely separated from air, and powder and grain is returned to the inside of a powder and grain supply unit 15.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a granular material collecting apparatus, and more particularly, to a method of spraying a granular material onto a work from a nozzle provided in a processing chamber, and collecting the injected granular material. The present invention relates to a powder and granular material recovery apparatus that is repeatedly used.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-143148, a processing apparatus for performing a surface processing of a work by injecting a granular material toward a work through an injection port of a nozzle. It has been known. Such an apparatus is designed to perform processing using the granular material in the processing chamber so that the granular material is not scattered to the outside, and after performing the processing, collect the granular material again and use it repeatedly. , And constitute a processing system of a substantially closed system.

[0005] FIG. 5 shows a conventional apparatus for recovering a granular material in such a processing apparatus, in which the granular material is supplied to a nozzle 3 in a processing chamber 2 by a granular material supply unit 1. ing. A work 5 is placed on a pallet 4 so as to face the nozzle 3, and a predetermined process is performed by ejecting powder or granules by the nozzle 3 toward the surface of the work 5.

[0004] The processed particles are discharged from the lower part of the processing chamber 2 by an air flow from the upper part to the lower part generated in the processing chamber 2 by the dust collector 6, and guided to the cyclone 8 through the filter 7. The granular material and the air are separated, the air is returned to the dust collector 6, and the granular material is returned to the granular material supply unit 1.

On the other hand, FIG. 6 shows a granular material recovery apparatus proposed by the present inventors in Japanese Patent Application No. 9-340978. This apparatus supplies the air mixed with the granular material from the processing chamber 2 to the separator 6 through the filter 7 so as to receive the granular material separated by the hopper 9 connected to the lower side of the separator 6. ing. The air from which the granular material has been removed by the separator 6 is returned to the processing chamber 2, and the air is circulated between the processing chamber 2 and the separator 6.

Here, the granular material separated from the air by the separator 6 and received by the hopper 9 is further separated from the air by the two-stage small cyclone 10 provided on the upper part of the granular material supply unit 1. At the same time, the separated granules are returned to the granule supply unit 1. The granular material supply unit 1 supplies the collected granular material to the nozzle 3 in the processing chamber 2, and injects it from the nozzle 3 toward the work 5. A dust collector 11 is connected to the subsequent stage of the cyclone 10, and the dust collector 11 removes the particulates contained in the exhaust of the cyclone 10 more completely and discharges them to the atmosphere.

[0007]

As shown in FIG. 5, in a granular material recovery apparatus comprising a combination of a large cyclone 8 and a large dust collector 6, a large dust collector 6 having a small vacuum pressure is used.
On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5, a filter 7 composed of a wire mesh having a mesh of about 60 to 100 μm is arranged in front of the large cyclone 8. In such a circulating system, it is necessary to provide a circulating passage having a reference pipe diameter of about 200 mm in diameter in order to maintain the air volume of the large dust collector 6 and collect the powder from the entire processing chamber 2.

Accordingly, the filter 7 constituting the foreign matter collection device
Becomes huge. The large cyclone 8 also generates a corresponding pressure loss, but the foreign matter collecting device using a wire mesh or the like of the filter 7 adds to the fluctuation of the pressure loss.
There is a problem that the control wind speed cannot be stabilized.

On the other hand, in the apparatus shown in FIG. 6, the large cyclone 8 is omitted, and the granular material received by the hopper 9 attached to the lower part of the separator 6 composed of a large and low pressure dust collector is removed. A configuration is adopted in which the powder is transported to a small cyclone 10 provided above the granular material supply unit 1. Here, powder containing a workpiece such as a resin is caught on a filter in the separator 6 and clogging occurs, and the powder cannot be removed by intermittent air purging. Therefore, during mass production processing of the workpiece 5, There is a problem that the filter life of the separator 6 becomes very short.

The configuration in which the apparatus shown in FIG. 5 and the apparatus shown in FIG. 6 are combined to directly connect the large cyclone 8 to the granular material supply unit 1 has a problem in terms of installation space. That is, the total height of the granular material supply unit 1 is required to be 1.5 m or more at an injection amount of about 300 to 1000 g / min. When a large cyclone 8 having a flow rate of about 20 m / min is directly connected to the upper portion, the total height becomes 4 m or more.
Therefore, it cannot be stored in the installation space of a normal building, which is not practical in terms of installation space.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and does not cause clogging of a filter in a separator, requires only a small installation space, and efficiently collects powder and granules. It is an object of the present invention to provide a granular material recovery apparatus that can be repeatedly used.

[0012]

According to one aspect of the present invention, a workpiece is sprayed from a nozzle provided in a processing chamber to a workpiece for processing, and the sprayed particulate is recovered and used repeatedly. In the powder and particle recovery apparatus, a separator that separates, by a filter, powder and particles contained in air that causes the injected powder to flow in the processing chamber and returns the air to the processing chamber, and the separation from the processing chamber A first cyclone provided in a recirculation path for recirculating air to the machine, and a powder and granule supply unit for collecting the powder and granules separated by the first cyclone and supplying the powder to a nozzle in the processing chamber, A second cyclone provided in a stage preceding the granular material supply unit.

[0013] The second cyclone may be arranged on the granular material supply unit. Further, the second cyclone may be composed of two small cyclones connected to a high-pressure dust collector with a small air flow, and the two cyclones may be connected in series. Further, a closed flow path may be formed by the processing chamber, the separator, and the return path having the first cyclone, and air may be circulated through the closed flow path.
Further, the closed flow path may be a low-pressure, high-flow-rate air flow path.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for recovering a powdery or granular material, in which a powdery or granular material is sprayed from a nozzle provided in a processing chamber to a workpiece to perform processing, and the sprayed or granular material is recovered and used repeatedly. In the apparatus, a separator that separates powder and granules contained in air that causes the injected powder to flow in the processing chamber and recirculates air to the processing chamber, and recirculates air from the processing chamber to the separator. A first cyclone provided in the return path, a powder supply unit that collects the powder separated by the first cyclone, and supplies the powder to a nozzle in the processing chamber; and a powder supply unit. And a foreign matter removing device provided between the first cyclone and the second cyclone, the foreign matter removing device being provided between the first cyclone and the second cyclone and removing foreign matter in the granular material. Related to body recovery equipment That.

A dust collector is connected downstream of the second cyclone, and an exhaust passage of the dust collector is connected downstream of the first cyclone to form a closed flow passage. May be connected. Further, the foreign matter removing device may have a cleaner for removing foreign matter. Further, the closed flow path may be an air flow path having a high pressure and a small flow rate. Further, the closed channel may be connected to a dust bunker of the first cyclone. Further, a valve for controlling the flow of air in the closed channel may be provided in the closed channel. Further, the separator may be constituted by a large-volume, low-pressure dust collector.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention relates to an apparatus for recovering powder and granules applied to a powder beam processing machine, wherein the apparatus for recovering powder and granules from a processing chamber to a powder and granule supply unit is provided. A large cyclone is arranged in front of the separator that removes the granules and circulates the air into the processing chamber, and a small cyclone is arranged in front of the granule collection unit. Here, a compact foreign matter collecting device is connected to the lower part of the large cyclone and from the bottom surface of the dust bunker via an exhaust passage of a small dust collector with a high vacuum pressure. In addition, a device in which a small cyclone and a granular material supply unit are directly connected up and down is arranged at the subsequent stage of the foreign material collecting device.

According to such an embodiment, since the air flowing through the separator contains almost no powder, the filter of the separator can be prevented from being clogged. In addition, the swirling airflow at the center of the large cyclone can be restricted by the airflow below the dust bunker, thereby increasing the effect of preventing the filter of the separator from being clogged. Further, the foreign matter collecting device is connected to the small-diameter exhaust passage of the dust collector, so that the device becomes compact, and it is possible to prevent a change in the air volume of the separator. In addition, by directly connecting a small cyclone to the upper part of the granular material supply unit, the overall height of the apparatus can be reduced.

[0018]

FIG. 1 shows an entire configuration of a granular material recovery apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The apparatus has a granular material supply unit 15. The powder supply unit 15 is connected to a nozzle 18 of a processing chamber 17 via a powder supply pipe 16. In the processing chamber 17, the work 20 is placed on the pallet 19 so as to face the tip of the nozzle 18.

A return line 25 is connected to the lower part of the processing chamber 17 and the return line 25 is connected to the large cyclone 2.
4, and is connected to the separator 26.
The separator 26 is composed of a large-volume, low-pressure dust collector, has a filter for removing particulate matter in the air, and has an air return pipe 28 for returning the air removed by the filter to the processing chamber 17. The separator 26 and the processing chamber 17 are connected to each other by the air return pipe 28.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the processing chamber 17 is provided with a joint 29 at an upper portion thereof, and the joint 29 is connected to the air recirculation pipe 28. Also, the air return pipe 28
Is provided with a butterfly valve 21 as shown in FIG. 1, and the amount of air recirculated by the butterfly valve 21 is controlled. The processing chamber 17 is provided with an outside air inlet 22 at an upper portion thereof, and a butterfly valve 23 is attached to the outside air inlet 22.

A dust bunker 47 is mounted below the large cyclone 24, and the dust bunker 47 is connected to an exhaust passage 48 of the dust collector 35. A butterfly valve 49 is connected to the exhaust passage 48, and the butterfly valve 49
A branch pipe 50 is provided on the more upstream side, and another butterfly valve 51 is attached to the branch pipe 50.

A foreign matter collecting device 55 is connected to the exhaust passage 48 at a position downstream of the connection with the dust bunker 47. The foreign matter collecting device 55 includes a foreign matter removing wire mesh 56 therein and a cleaner 57 that removes foreign matter caught on the foreign matter removing wire mesh 56. The cleaner 57 is connected to the foreign matter collecting device 58.

The downstream side of the foreign substance recovery device 55 is connected to small cyclones 33 and 34 via the powder supply pipe 32. These cyclones 33, 34
Are connected in series with each other, and these cyclones 33 and 34 are arranged side by side on the upper part of the granular material supply unit 15. A triangular valve 63 is provided below each of the cyclones 33 and 34. The upper portion of the lower cyclone 34 is connected to a dust collector 35 via an air flow pipe 36. The exhaust passage 48 of the dust collector 35 is connected to the dust bunker 47 as described above, thereby forming a closed passage having a high pressure and a small flow rate. The triangular valve 63 may be replaced by a rotary valve.

FIGS. 2 to 4 show the internal structure of a processing chamber 17 for processing a workpiece 20 on a pallet 19 by spraying a granular material from a nozzle 18. As shown by an arrow in FIG. 4, the nozzle 18 swings in the direction perpendicular to the length direction of the nozzle 18, that is, in the width direction of the pallet 19, via an arm 40 shown in FIG. Processing is performed.

As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG.
The powders and particles ejected from the injection port at the tip of the work flow along the surface of the work 20 to both sides in the width direction of the pallet 19, and pass from the end face of the work 20 to the inside of the wall surface of the processing chamber 17. Move downward. In order to guide the flow of the granular material at this time, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, rectifying plates 41 are arranged on both sides of the pallet 19 and inside the wall surface of the processing chamber 17. In addition, inner rectifying plates 42 are arranged at both end portions of the pallet 19 so as to substantially contact the lower ends thereof. The flow of the granular material flows downward between the straightening plates 41 and 42.

In the above-described configuration, the workpiece 20 supported on the pallet 19 is processed by ejecting the powder supplied from the powder supply unit 15 from the ejection port of the nozzle 18. Thereafter, the powder and granules move downward in the processing chamber 17 together with the air flow, and return to the return line 2.
5 into the separator 26. And here, the large cyclone 24 connected in the middle of the reflux line 25
As a result, the air and the granular material are separated, and the separated granular material is guided into the dust bunker 47. On the other hand, the air from which the granular material has been removed is further removed by the separator 26, and is introduced into the processing chamber 17 through the air return pipe 28, and flows downward from above in the processing chamber 17. The air flow is again formed.

That is, the powder and granules sprayed and processed on the work 20 are discharged from the lower part of the processing chamber 17 together with the air, and guided to the large cyclone 24 through the return line 25, where the air and the powder And are separated. Then, the separated air is returned to the separator 26, where the air is returned to the processing chamber 17 through the air return pipe 28 after the particulate matter is completely removed by the filter. That is, air circulates through such a closed circuit.

The powder separated by the large cyclone 24 falls in the dust bunker 47, and is discharged from the exhaust passage 4 of the dust collector 35.
8 and is guided to the foreign matter collection device 55. Foreign matter such as resin is caught by the foreign matter removing wire mesh 56 in the foreign matter collecting device 55, and is sucked by the cleaner 57 to be removed.
It is led to 8. Therefore, the granular material from which the foreign matter has been removed is guided to the cyclones 33 and 34 through the granular material supply pipe 32.

The granules are more completely separated from the air by the cyclones 33 and 34 connected in series in two stages, and the granules are supplied to the granule supply unit 15.
Will be returned within. The granular material collected by the jet fluid supply unit 15 is supplied to the nozzle 18 of the processing chamber 17, whereby the granular material is repeatedly used. On the other hand, the exhaust gas of the dust collector 35 is guided to the lower part of the dust bunker 47 through the exhaust passage 48. That is, the pipe 48 also forms a closed flow path together with the pipe 32.

As described above, the granular material recovery apparatus of the present embodiment is improved so that the advantages of the apparatus shown in FIG. 5 and the apparatus shown in FIG. 6 are skillfully combined and the total height is kept within a certain range. In particular, a foreign matter collecting device 55 is provided in an exhaust flow path 48 formed of a small-diameter pipe without providing a foreign matter collecting device in a reflux line 25 that connects the processing chamber 17 and the separator 26. Thus, the collection of foreign matter is made possible by the compact foreign matter collecting device 55.

A small dust collector 35 having a high vacuum pressure is connected to the small cyclones 33, 34 which are juxtaposed on the powder supply unit 15 and connected in series with each other, so that the overall height is about 2 mm. It is intended to recover the powder and granules with high efficiency while keeping it low.

In particular, a feature of this apparatus is that almost no powder or granules pass through the separator 26.
That is, most of the powder and granules are separated by the large cyclone 24 and collected in the powder and granule supply unit 15, and the powder and particles flowing to the separator 26 have a volume of 0.1 μm.
Most have a particle size of about 1% and 10 μm or less. That is, the filter of the separator 26 is prevented from being clogged by the large cyclone 24 provided in the preceding stage of the separator 26. Further, since the foreign matter collecting device 55 is also disposed in the exhaust flow path 48 irrespective of the pressure loss of the separator 26, there is no adverse effect on the air recirculation path provided with the separator 26.

Further, a cleaner 57 for intermittently collecting actual foreign matter such as a resist film is provided on a wire net 56 of the foreign matter collecting device 55. Since the cleaner 57 reliably collects foreign matter, Foreign matter collection device 5
The trouble of 5 is decreasing.

Also, the valve 59 at the inlet of the foreign matter collecting device 55 and the butterfly valve 49 on the upstream side are automatically closed before opening the triangular valve 63 of the granular material supply unit 15 and the dust collector 35 is stopped. I have. If such an operation is not performed, the granular material in the dust bunker below the small cyclones 33 and 34 is sucked by the dust collector 35 due to the pressure difference when the triangular valve 63 is opened and does not drop. In addition, if the valve 59 and the butterfly valve 49 are not closed, when the dust collector 35 stops, foreign substances and the like may flow backward to the separator 26 side. Branch pipe 5
The zero butterfly valve 51 causes the exhaust gas of the dust collector 35 to flow to the lower part of the large cyclone 24, and adjusts the exhaust gas so as to exceed the original recovery efficiency, that is, to reduce the upward airflow at the center of the cyclone 24 and to function the large cyclone 24. Like that.

It is possible to use a rotary valve in place of the triangular valve in the dust bunker portion of the powder supply unit 15. According to such a configuration, it is not necessary to stop the dust collector 35, but it is preferable to provide a cooling device in order to easily heat the dust collector 35.

The powder and granular material recovery apparatus according to the present embodiment has a smaller filter than that of the conventional powder and particle recovery apparatus because the powder and granular material hardly pass through the separator 26 in particular. Almost no clogging. In addition, since the swirling airflow at the center of the large cyclone 24 can be restricted by the airflow below the dust bunker 47, the separator 2
The effect of preventing clogging of the filter No. 6 further increases.

Further, since the particulate material collecting device 55 is installed in the exhaust passage 48 of the dust collector 34, the foreign material can be collected by the compact foreign material collecting device, and the foreign material collecting device disposed in such a position can be collected. Depending on the device, the separator 2
6 has no influence such as a change in air volume. In addition, the small cyclones 33, 3
4 is directly connected, it is possible to keep the overall height of the apparatus for collecting the granular material with high efficiency low.

[0038]

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for recovering a particulate material in which a particulate material is sprayed onto a workpiece from a nozzle provided in a processing chamber to perform processing, and the injected particulate material is recovered and used repeatedly. In the apparatus, a separator that separates powder and granules contained in air that causes the injected powder and particles to flow in the processing chamber and returns the air to the processing chamber by a filter, and a reflux that returns air from the processing chamber to the separator. A first cyclone provided in the passage, a powder supply unit for collecting the powder separated by the first cyclone and supplying the powder to a nozzle in the processing chamber, and a powder supply unit provided in front of the powder supply unit The second
And a cyclone.

Therefore, according to such a configuration, it is possible to remove the particulates from the air by the first cyclone and to recirculate the air to the separator, thereby clogging the filter of the separator. Will be prevented.

Another invention of the present application is an apparatus for recovering a particulate material in which a particulate material is injected from a nozzle provided in a processing chamber to a workpiece to perform processing, and the injected particulate material is collected and used repeatedly. In the present invention, a separator for separating the particles contained in the air that causes the injected particles to flow in the processing chamber and recirculating the air to the processing chamber, and a reflux path for recirculating the air from the processing chamber to the separator are provided. A first cyclone, a granule supply unit that collects the granules separated by the first cyclone and supplies the collected granules to a nozzle in the processing chamber, and a stage provided before the granule supply unit. A second cyclone,
A foreign matter removing device that is provided between the first cyclone and the second cyclone and that removes foreign matter in the granular material.

Therefore, according to such a configuration, it is possible to completely remove the foreign matter in the granular material by the foreign matter removing device provided between the first cyclone and the second cyclone. Moreover, since this foreign matter removing device is provided between the first cyclone and the second cyclone,
It does not affect the fluctuation of the flow rate of the air recirculated by the separator.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a piping diagram of a granular material recovery apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the processing chamber.

FIG. 3 is an essential part perspective view showing a state of processing in the processing chamber.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the same.

FIG. 5 is a piping diagram of a conventional granular material recovery apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a piping diagram of another conventional granular material recovery apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

1. Powder supply unit, 2 processing room, 3 nozzle, 4 pallet, 5 work, 6 dust collector, 7
‥‥ filter, 8 ‥‥ large cyclone, 9 ‥‥ hopper,
10 ‥‥ small cyclone, 11 ‥‥ dust collector, 15 ‥‥ powder supply unit, 16 ‥‥ powder supply pipe, 17 ‥
‥ Processing room, 18 ‥‥ nozzle, 19 ‥‥ pallet, 20 ‥
‥ Work, 21 ‥‥ Butterfly valve, 22 ‥‥ Outside air inlet, 23 ‥‥ Butterfly valve, 24 ‥‥ Large cyclone, 25 ‥‥ Reflux line, 26 ‥‥ Separator, 28 ‥‥ Air recirculation pipe, 29 ‥ {Joint, 32} Powder supply pipe, 33, 34} Cyclone, 35} Dust collector, 36} Air flow pipe, 40} Arm, 41,
42 ‥‥ current plate, 43 ‥‥ guide plate, 47 ‥‥ dust bunker, 48 ‥‥ exhaust passage, 49 ‥‥ butterfly valve, 5、５
0 ‥‥ branch pipe, 51 ‥‥ butterfly valve, 55 ‥
‥ Foreign matter collecting device, 56 ‥‥ Foreign matter removing wire mesh, 57 ‥‥ cleaner, 58 ‥‥ Foreign matter collecting device, 59 回収 valve, 63
‥‥ Triangle valve

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A powder and granular material collecting apparatus that performs processing by spraying powder and granules onto a work from a nozzle provided in a processing chamber, and collects and repeatedly uses the sprayed powder and granules. A separator that separates, by a filter, particles contained in air that causes the particles to flow in the processing chamber and returns the air to the processing chamber; and a separator that is provided in a reflux path that returns air from the processing chamber to the separator. A first cyclone, a granular material supply unit that collects the granular material separated by the first cyclone, and supplies the granular material to a nozzle in the processing chamber, and is provided at a stage preceding the granular material supply unit. And a second cyclone. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said second cyclone is arranged on said powdery material supply unit.
2. The granular material recovery device according to item 1. 3. The second cyclone comprises two small cyclones connected to a small air volume, high pressure dust collector,
The granular material recovery device according to claim 1, wherein the two cyclones are connected in series. 4. A closed channel is formed by the processing chamber, the separator, and a return channel having the first cyclone, and air circulates through the closed channel. Of granular material recovery equipment. 5. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the closed flow path is a low-pressure, large-flow air flow path. 6. A powder and granular material recovery apparatus for performing processing by spraying powder and granules onto a workpiece from a nozzle provided in a processing chamber, and recovering and repeatedly using the sprayed powder and granules. A separator that separates powder and granules contained in the air that causes the powder to flow in the processing chamber and recirculates the air to the processing chamber; and a recirculation path that recirculates the air from the processing chamber to the separator. A first cyclone, a granular material supply unit that collects the granular material separated by the first cyclone and supplies the granular material to a nozzle in the processing chamber, and is provided at a stage preceding the granular material supply unit. And a foreign matter removing device provided between the first cyclone and the second cyclone, for removing foreign matter in the granular material. 7. A dust collector is connected downstream of the second cyclone, and an exhaust passage of the dust collector is connected downstream of the first cyclone to form a closed flow passage. The granular material recovery device according to claim 6, wherein a removal device is connected. 8. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said foreign matter removing device has a cleaner for removing foreign matter. 9. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the closed flow path is an air flow path having a high pressure and a small flow rate. 10. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said closed flow path is connected to a dust bunker of said first cyclone.
2. The granular material recovery device according to item 1. 11. The granular material recovery device according to claim 7, wherein a valve for controlling the flow of air in the closed flow path is provided in the closed flow path. 12. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the separator comprises a large-volume, low-pressure dust collector.