JP2001104767A - Kneading/granulating apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a kneading/granulating apparatus exhibiting a good kneading performance, hardly undergoing abrasion wear and capable of obtaining granules having a small specific surface area while holding advantages such as multi-function, being easy in disassembly and cleaning by providing a stirring blade with all functions required for kneading. SOLUTION: In a kneading/granulating apparatus having a plurality of stirring blades 3 on an inside bottom face 1a of a treatment tank 1 through a rotation shaft 2, the stirring blades 3 are made slantingly upward toward a rotation direction X.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a kneading and granulating apparatus used for producing granules and the like in the pharmaceutical and food industries.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when granules are produced, the powder is kneaded using a kneader (dedicated kneader) as a pre-treatment, and the kneaded product obtained by the kneader is extruded as a post-treatment using a granulator. Is becoming Since the kneader has good kneading performance, it has advantages such as a small friability of the obtained granules and a small specific surface area of the granules when post-processed by an extrusion granulator. However, since the kneader has only a single function (kneading function), it cannot be used for applications that require stirring and mixing or granulation functions, and has disadvantages such as being difficult to disassemble and wash. I have.

Therefore, in recent years, a multifunctional apparatus having functions of mixing, kneading and granulating instead of the above kneader has been proposed. As this multi-function device, for example,
-236, 5-26317, 5-115766
No. 7-8782. As shown in FIGS. 8 to 10, each of these contents basically includes a plurality of stirring blades 12 in a processing vessel 10 via a rotation shaft 11 in a rotation direction X with respect to a vessel bottom surface 10 a. It is inclined so as to face downward, that is, inclined so that the front end side in the rotation direction is low and the rear end side is high.

[0004]

However, each of the above apparatuses has the advantage that it is multifunctional and can be easily decomposed and washed, but when the kneaded material obtained with these apparatuses is post-processed by an extrusion granulator. , The friability and the specific surface area are large, and it is easy to disintegrate and only brittle granules can be obtained.

[0005] The present inventors have conducted research on the stirring blade used in the above-mentioned multifunctional apparatus, and have found the following. That is, the kneading operation requires a good combination of the three actions of spatula, folding, and shearing (Kenji Hashimoto, “Kneading Apparatus” pp8-11, Research Institute of Science and Technology, 1986). In the kneader, the powder loaded in the container hardly fluidizes, and the interaction between the stirring blades and the bottom and side walls of the container and the stirring blades causes the powder and the liquid to be spatulated, folded, and sheared. . As a result, the agglomerate becomes a lump of several millimeters to several tens of millimeters, and when this is subjected to post-treatment by an extrusion granulator and granulated, as described above, a good granule having a small friability and a small specific surface area is obtained. Is obtained.

From these viewpoints, in the case of the multifunctional apparatus, the powder and the liquid are stirred and mixed by the stirring blade provided on the bottom surface of the container to obtain an agglomerate, and the chopper is installed in the container. The shearing of the aggregates is carried out, so that stirring and mixing and shearing action are provided. However, it has neither a spatula nor a folding action. As a result, it cannot be said that all the functions necessary for kneading are provided. Due to this, when subjected to post-treatment by an extrusion granulator and granulated, the friability and the specific surface area are increased and only brittle granules are obtained.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide the stirring blade with all the functions necessary for kneading, while having the advantage of being easy to disassemble and clean as well as the above-described devices. Another object of the present invention is to provide a kneading and granulating apparatus capable of obtaining granules having good kneading performance, small friability and a small specific surface area.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, in the kneading and granulating apparatus according to the first aspect, the stirring blade provided on the bottom surface in the container is inclined upward in the rotation direction.

According to the above-described kneading and granulating apparatus, the stirring blades which are inclined upward in the rotational direction perform the pressing, folding and shearing of the powder and liquid necessary for kneading. Then, the kneaded product obtained by the kneading and granulating apparatus is post-processed and granulated by an extruder and granulator, so that the friability is small,
Further, granules having a small specific surface area can be obtained. Moreover, the kneading and granulating apparatus has multiple functions such as stirring and mixing and a granulating function, and also has an advantage that it can be easily decomposed and washed.

The kneading and granulating apparatus according to the second aspect is the first aspect.
In the above configuration, one or a plurality of scrapers for fluidizing the bottom of the object to be processed (powder / kneaded material) are attached inside the processing container. According to this, the bottom is fluidized by scraping off the deposits on the bottom of the container and the deposits attached to the bottom of the container, so that the liquid and powder injected into the container are uniformly mixed. Let me do. That is, at the time of kneading by the kneading and granulating apparatus, the kneaded material of the powder and the liquid accumulates or adheres between the lower portion of the stirring blade and the bottom of the container. If these are left undisturbed, the mixing of the liquid and the powder becomes non-uniform, but by keeping the bottom of the container constantly in a fluid state with the scraper as described above, the uniform mixing of the liquid and the powder becomes possible. Thus, a kneaded material having a predetermined hardness set in advance is obtained. In addition, since the scraper scrapes off the deposits and the like, and the scraped-off deposits and the like are kneaded by the stirring blade, the folding function is further added to increase the size.

The kneading and granulating apparatus according to the third aspect is the first aspect.
In the above configuration, a chopper is attached to a position above the stirring blade inside the processing container via a rotating shaft extending in a horizontal direction. According to this, when the chopper shears the kneaded material, not only the stirring (fluidization of the powder) action is given, but also the shearing function of the kneaded material is further added and increased.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the kneading and granulating apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing the entire structure of the device. This kneading and granulating apparatus is suitably used as a pretreatment machine for extrusion granulation. In this kneading and granulating apparatus, a rotating shaft 2 is inserted through an inner bottom surface of a processing vessel 1, and three stirring blades 3 radially extending at equal intervals are attached to an upper portion of the rotating shaft 2 via a boss 30. Further, a nozzle 4 for injecting a liquid such as water into the powder loaded therein is attached to an upper portion of the container 1.

The stirring blade 3 is inclined with respect to the bottom surface 1a of the container 1 so as to face upward in the rotation direction X (incline upward as it goes in the rotation direction X), that is, the front end side in the rotation direction is high. To make the rear end side lower. In the embodiment of FIGS. 2 and 3, the stirring blade 3 has a substantially trapezoidal shape in a plan view, and has a trapezoidal bottom (long side) side at the front end side in the rotation direction, and a short side of the trapezoid at the rear end side in the rotation direction. The oblique side is arranged, and the long side is lifted upward to form an open internal hollow shape. More specifically, the agitating blade 3 has a trapezoidal long side and one oblique side connected to a boss portion 30, and is inclined upward in a radially outward direction from the connection portion. A substantially triangular base portion 31 extending, a rectangular portion 32 extending radially outward from an end thereof, and a generally triangular shape extending obliquely downward from the end of the rectangular portion 32 radially outward. It is formed from a tip portion 33 having a shape. Then, as shown in FIG.
The entirety of the stirring blades 1, 32, and 33 is inclined such that the front end in the rotation direction X is high and the rear end is low, and the front end in the rotation direction is opened.

The inclination angle α of the stirring blade 3 with respect to the container bottom surface 1a is in the range of 5 to 60 °, preferably 5 to 60 °.
The angle is 45 °, more preferably 10 to 30 ° (FIG. 4). The stirring blade 3 is attached to the container bottom surface 10 at a predetermined interval T (FIG. 3). At this time, T is 1 to 50 mm, more preferably 10 to 30 mm
It is. By doing so, the stirring blade 3 exerts a good spatula pushing, folding and shearing action.

According to the stirring blade 3 described above, by rotating the stirring blade 3 in the X direction, the powder loaded in the container 1 and the liquid injected from the nozzle 4 are mixed with the stirring blade 3 and the container bottom surface 1a or side wall. 1b and the stirring blades 3 are mixed by stirring. At this time, the mixture of the powder and the liquid is taken into the inside from the opening portion on the front end side in the rotation direction of the stirring blade 3, and is pushed and folded by the base 31, the rectangular portion 32, and the front end 33 of the stirring blade 3. It is kneaded while being mixed. Further, the kneaded material is sheared between the stirring blade 3 and the container bottom surface 1a or the like to be reduced in diameter (granulated).

In the embodiment of FIG. 2, the base 3 of the stirring blade 3
1 is attached to the rotating shaft 2 so as to retreat backward from the axis in the rotating direction. In this way, the frictional resistance generated between the powder by the stirring blade 3 and the side wall of the container can be reduced.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, a chopper 6 is mounted at a position above the stirring blade 3 via a horizontally extending rotary shaft 5 provided on a side wall 1b of the container 1. When the chopper 6 is attached, the shearing of the kneaded material not only gives an agitation (fluidization of powder) but also increases the shearing function of the kneaded material.

Further, in the embodiment shown in FIG.
Attach two stirring blades 3 to the rotating shaft 2 inside the
, Two scrapers 7 are radially attached so as to be located between the stirring blades 3. The scraper 7 has a triangular cross section in which edges are formed at the front and rear edges in the rotation direction, and is formed such that the base side is thick and the tip side is thin. When such a scraper 7 is attached, it scrapes up the deposits and deposits deposited on the bottom surface of the container 1, so that the bottom portion is always kept in a fluid state. Therefore, the liquid and the powder to be injected into the container 1 can be uniformly mixed, and a kneaded material having a predetermined hardness set in advance can be obtained. In addition, the scraper 7 scrapes off the deposits and the like, and the scraped-off deposits and the like are kneaded by the stirring blades 3, so that the folding function is further added and increased.

[0019]

Next, a description will be given of an embodiment in which granules are produced by using a kneading and granulating apparatus provided with the stirring blades 3 described above. Example 1 First, the lower diameter of the container was 400 mm, and the total volume of the container was 2 mm.
5L device (SPG-25 type manufactured by Fuji Paudal Co., Ltd.)
, And the stirring blade 3 of the present invention was set therein. As a raw material, a powder composed of lactose (67.2%), corn starch (28.8%), Avicel (4.0%), and hydroxypropylcellulose (3.0%) commonly used in the pharmaceutical industry. Body and water (22.0%) were used. Then, the powder is put into the container and mixed for 2 minutes while rotating the stirring blade at a rotation speed of 300 rpm.
After this, water is injected from the nozzle (dropped for 1 minute by dropping method)
Then, the mixture was kneaded for 10 minutes while rotating the stirring blade at a rotation speed of 100 rpm. Three stirring blades are provided, and these stirring blades are inclined by about 25 ° at 32 in FIG. 2 so that the front end side is higher than the rear end in the rotation direction. As an extrusion granulator for granulating the kneaded product obtained above, a dome-type extrusion granulator (Model TDG-110 manufactured by Fuji Paudal Co., Ltd.) was used. In addition, the extrusion screen has a hole diameter of 0.8 mm, a plate thickness of 0.8 mm,
An aperture ratio of 23.8% was used. The data of the granules thus obtained are shown in Table 1 below.

[0020]

[Table 1]

Comparative Example 1 The same apparatus as in Example 1 was used, and a conventional stirring blade as shown in FIGS. 6 to 8 was set therein. The stirring blade is inclined by about 25 ° so that the rear end side is higher than the front end in the rotation direction. Then, the same powder as in Example 1 was put into a container, and mixed for 2 minutes while rotating the stirring blade at a rotation speed of 300 rpm. Thereafter, water was injected, and the stirring blade was rotated at the same speed. Kneaded for 10 minutes. At this time, two U-shaped choppers were used and rotated at 3600 rpm. Further, as an extrusion granulator for granulating the kneaded material obtained as described above, Example 1 was used.
The same as was used. The data of the granules thus obtained are shown in Table 1.

Comparative Example 2 As a conventional kneader (dedicated kneader), a batch kneader (Model KDH-20 manufactured by Fuji Paudal Co., Ltd.) was used.
Then, the same powder as in Example 1 was charged and mixed for 2 minutes, and then water was injected and kneaded for 10 minutes. The same extruder as in Example 1 was used as an extruder for granulating the kneaded product obtained above. The data of the granules thus obtained are shown in Table 1.

When the granules obtained in Example 1 and Comparative Examples 1 and 2 were observed with a microscope photograph, Comparative Example 1
The product obtained in (1) has large grain boundaries (grain boundaries) in the cross section of the granule, has many cavities inside the granule, and the outer surface of the granule is rough. On the other hand, in Examples 1 and Comparative Example 2, large grain boundaries and voids were not recognized, and the granular cross section and the outer surface were dense. From this, it can be understood that in the case of Example 1, granules equivalent to those of Comparative Example 2, that is, the case of using a conventional kneader (dedicated kneader) are obtained.

The friability in Table 1 was measured by the ball mill method as follows. First, the dried granules were sieved with 12 mesh and 32 mesh to remove agglomerates and fine powder. Next, 100 g of the sieved granules and alumina balls (diameter 30 mm, density 3.6 g / cm ³ , weight 58 g)
After putting 5 pieces into a ball mill pot made of alumina,
Spin at 5 rpm for 10 minutes. Thereafter, the granules and the deposits on the inner wall of the pot and the balls were taken out and sieved with 32 mesh. In addition, sieving is performed by Row-TapShak.
er (manufactured by Iida Manufacturing Co., Ltd.) for 5 minutes. And the weight which passed 32 mesh was measured and calculated by the following formula (1). Degree of friability (%) = (weight of 32 mesh passed after using a ball mill / weight of dry granules of 12 to 32 me sh) × 100 Formula (1) In addition, the specific surface area of the granules sieved to 14/18 mesh was converted to betasorb automatic. It was measured by a nitrogen adsorption method using a surface area meter (manufactured by Nikkiso Co., Ltd.).

As apparent from Table 1 above, the granules obtained in Example 1 were smaller in both the friability and the specific surface area than the granules in Comparative Example 1, and were produced using Comparative Example 2, ie, a special kneader. Almost the same as granulated granules are obtained. In other words, it can be understood that the use of the stirring blade of Example 1 can provide a spatula, a folding, and a shearing action required for kneading, and can produce granules having a small friability and a small specific surface area. .

The kneading and granulating apparatus of the present invention is not limited to the configuration of each of the above-described embodiments and examples, but can be appropriately changed.
For example, instead of inclining the entire stirring blade upward in the rotation direction, only a part thereof may be formed upward in the rotation direction. For example, it is possible to make a change such that the boss portion side is inclined upward in the rotation direction to be a spatula push portion, and the radially outer portion is inclined downward in the rotation direction to be a scraping portion. The stirring blade may be formed in the same manner as the inclination of the rectangular portion 32 of the base portion 31 and the tip portion 33 in FIGS. Also, besides attaching the scraper coaxially with the rotation axis of the stirring blade,
It can be a separate axis. In addition, a scraper blade can be provided continuously below the stirring blade. Further, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the gap T between a part or all of the lower portion of the stirring blade and the bottom wall 1a may be narrowed to about 1 to 2 mm so as to have a scraper function. . FIGS. 6 and 7 show portions 31 and 3 of the stirring blade, respectively.
A case is shown in which the space T between the lower portion of each of the containers 2 and 33 and the container bottom wall 1a is sequentially formed to be narrower to provide a scraper function.

[0027]

As described above, according to the present invention, the kneading performance is improved by providing the stirring blade with all the functions necessary for kneading, while having the advantage of being easily disassembled and washed with multiple functions. Good granules having small friability and small specific surface area can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front sectional view of a kneading and granulating apparatus shown as one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged plan sectional view of the device.

FIG. 3 is a drawing in which a part of a processing container is cut away and a stirring blade is viewed from a direction of line AA in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the stirring blade as viewed from the direction of line BB in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a plan sectional view showing another embodiment of the kneading and granulating apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a front sectional view showing another embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged plan sectional view of the device.

FIG. 8 is a plan view showing a conventional device.

FIG. 9 is a front view of a stirring blade of the apparatus, in which a part of a container is cut away.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view of the stirring blade.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Processing container 1a Container bottom 2 Rotation axis 3 Stirrer blade 5 Chopper rotation axis 6 Chopper 7 Scraper X Rotation direction

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 4G004 FA04 FA05 JA05 4G037 DA15 EA04 4G078 AA03 AA13 AB20 BA05 CA13 DA06 DA26 DA28 EA08

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A kneading machine wherein a plurality of stirring blades are radially attached to a bottom surface in a processing vessel via a rotation shaft, and the stirring blades are inclined upward in a rotation direction. Granulation equipment. 2. The kneading and granulating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein one or a plurality of scrapers for fluidizing a bottom portion are attached inside the processing container. 3. The kneading machine according to claim 1, wherein a chopper is attached to the upper portion of the stirring blade inside the processing container via a rotating shaft extending in a horizontal direction. Granulation equipment.