JP2002034725A - Method and device for removing bubbles - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To thoroughly remove the bubbles from a liquid which is filled into a bag. SOLUTION: A bubble-removing method is constituted of such steps as a first step to install the bag 10 in a booth 15, a second step to fill the liquid into the bag 10, a third step to tilt the booth 15 by a prescribed angle against the horizontal surface and a forth step to evacuate simultaneously both bag 10 and booth 15 which are kept in a tilted position.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for removing air bubbles.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A technique of enclosing a gel-like liquid in a bag and using it as a mattress has been proposed.
Therefore, when manufacturing such a mattress, first evacuate the inside of the bag, then inject a gel-like liquid,
The bag was sealed. As a means for evacuating the inside of the bag, water was filled into the bag using a water suction pump, and then water was sucked from the bag using a drainage pump, thereby evacuating the inside of the bag.

[0003]

However, vacuuming the inside of the bag in the above-described manner requires a long time for water injection / drainage, is a roundabout, and is not suitable for mass production. In addition, even if the inside of the bag is evacuated, if air bubbles are mixed in the liquid to be injected into the bag, there is no countermeasure.

[0004] Therefore, it is a technical object of the present invention to provide a method and an apparatus for removing air bubbles from a liquid filled in a bag so as not to cause such a problem.

[0005]

Means for Solving the Problems To solve the above technical problem, a technical measure taken in the new invention of claim 1 is "a first step of loading a bag into a booth; A bubble removing step, a third step of inclining the booth with respect to a horizontal plane by a predetermined angle, and a fourth step of simultaneously evacuating the bag and the booth held in an inclined state. Method ".

Further, in order to solve the above technical problem, the technical means taken in the new invention of claim 2 is a booth for storing and holding a bag, a liquid filling means for filling a liquid in the bag, A bubble removing device comprising: a tilting unit that tilts the booth by a predetermined angle after the bag is filled with liquid; and a vacuuming unit that simultaneously evacuates the bag and the booth when the booth is tilted. That is the configuration.

[0007]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a bed removing method according to the present invention.

First, the basic principle of removing air bubbles after injecting a liquid into a bag will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 1, a storage compartment 11 communicating with each other is defined inside a bag 10 made of urethane. The bag 10 has an inlet 12 formed therein. When the gel-like liquid 13 is injected into the inlet 12, the liquid 13 spreads to each storage compartment 11. The inside is filled with a liquid 13 containing bubbles 14.

After the bag 10 filled with the liquid is stored and fixed in the booth 15, the booth 15
Is tilted by a predetermined angle, the air bubbles 14 float. However, the floating bubbles 14 are large bubbles, and small ones do not float and remain on the lower side.

Therefore, if the vacuum pump 17 is driven by connecting the suction port of the vacuum pump 17 to the inlet 12 of the bag 10 and the port 16 of the booth 15, that is, if the inside of the bag 10 and the inside of the booth 15 are simultaneously evacuated, The bubbles 14 stagnating in the lower part gradually increase, the buoyancy of the bubbles 14 increases, and the bubbles 14 rise, and finally the vacuum pump 17
Be eliminated.

The following is a theoretical description of the phenomenon of the elimination of the bubbles 14 described above. In the state of FIG. 2, the internal pressure of the bag 10 and the internal pressure of the booth 15 are P1, and the volume of the bubbles 14 is V1. On the other hand, in the state of FIG. 3, the internal pressure of the bag 10 and the internal pressure of the booth 15 are P2, and the volume of the bubbles 14 is V2. Thus, since PV = GRT (where G is the weight of the bubble 14, R is the gas constant and T is the temperature), P1V1 = P2
The equation V2 always holds. Therefore, the volume V2 of the bubble 14 at the time of evacuation is as follows: V2 = P1V1 / P
It becomes 2. Since evacuation means that P2 approaches zero as much as possible, the volume V2 of the bubble 14 increases, and its buoyancy increases.

[0012] Thus, by using a method based on the concept as described above, air bubbles contained in the liquid can be eliminated, and when the bag 10 filled with the liquid is used as a mattress, the air bubbles are included. (For example, the elastic modulus becomes locally nonuniform) is eliminated.

Next, an apparatus for realizing the above-described bubble elimination method will be described with reference to FIG.

The air bubble elimination device 20 includes a booth 15 that houses the bag 10. One side of the booth 15 is an opening, and the opening is opened and closed by a shutter device 24. When the shutter device 24 closes the opening, the closing is firmly held by the shutter retainer 26 and the O-ring 27 ensures liquid tightness.
Further, the bag 10 accommodated in the booth 15 is fixedly held by the bag clamp 23 which descends simultaneously with the operation of the shutter 24 of the shutter retainer 26.

When the bag 10 is accommodated in the booth 15, the injection port 12 is connected to a tip 25 a of an injection nozzle 25. Thus, the base end of the injection nozzle 25 is connected to the bag vacuum valve 32, the liquid injection valve 28, and the liquid drain valve 30. As shown in detail in FIG. 5, the distal end portion 25a of the injection nozzle 25 is in sealing contact with the inner peripheral surface of the injection port 12, and is liable to discharge air bubbles or air during evacuation (described later). Is provided with a slit 25b.

The other side of the booth 15 is closed, and a booth vacuum valve 33 and a booth atmosphere release valve 40 are provided. The bag vacuum valve 32 and the booth vacuum valve 33 include an atmosphere release valve 36 and are connected to a residual liquid tank 34 that is evacuated by a vacuum pump 35. Liquid injection valve 28
Is connected to a liquid storage tank 29 via a supply pump 19. The liquid drain valve 30 is connected to the liquid return tank 2.
Connected to 1. Thus, the residual liquid recovery valve 37 and the liquid return tank 21 installed below the residual liquid tank 34
Is connected to the liquid storage tank 29 via the return pump 38.

A swivel cylinder 47 is provided below the booth 15.
Are pivoted so as to be located diagonally with respect to the booth 15. When the swivel cylinder 47 moves backward, the booth 15 tilts as shown in the figure, and when the swivel cylinder 47 moves forward, the booth 15 becomes horizontal. . However, the reason why the swivel cylinder 47 is pivoted so as to be positioned substantially diagonally with respect to the booth 15 is to take into consideration that some of the extending directions of the storage sections 11 are different as shown in FIG.

The operation or use of the air bubble elimination device 20 having the above-described configuration is as follows.

First, the bag 10 is accommodated in a booth 15 set horizontally, and the tip of an injection nozzle 25 is connected to the injection port 12.

When a start button (not shown) is pressed, the shutter of the shutter device 24 is lowered to close the opening of the booth 15, and the closing is maintained by the shutter retainer 26 firmly holding the shutter. At the same time, the bag clamp 23 is activated to hold the bag 10 in the booth 15 fixedly.

Next, the swivel cylinder 47 is operated to tilt and hold the booth 15 at a predetermined angle with respect to the floor.

When the booth 15 is held at the predetermined tilt position, the liquid injection valve 28 is opened, and the supply pump 19 is driven to inject a predetermined amount of liquid from the liquid storage tank 29 into the bag 10.

The bag vacuum valve 32 and the air 1 in the bag 10
The liquid collected between the liquid storage tank 4 and the liquid storage tank 4 is placed in the liquid return tank 21. This is because if you evacuate without draining the liquid,
Immediately after that, the liquid is drained and the amount is not stable,
This is to prevent the weight of the bag after the injection from fluctuating.

When the bag vacuum valve 32 and the booth vacuum valve 33 are simultaneously opened and the vacuum pump 35 is driven, the booth 15 and the bag 10 are simultaneously evacuated. When a sensor (not shown) confirms that the degree of vacuum in the booth 15 has reached a specified value (set value), the booth vacuum valve 33 is closed immediately, and after a few seconds, the bag vacuum valve 32 is closed. .

Next, the booth air release valve 40 is opened,
The inside of the booth 15 becomes atmospheric pressure. A few seconds later, the swing cylinder 47 is operated in the reverse direction, and the booth 15 is returned to the horizontal state. Thereafter, the air release valve 3 of the residual liquid tank 34
6, the remaining liquid tank 34 is opened to the atmosphere. Then, the liquid is returned to the liquid storage tank 29 by driving the return pump 38 simultaneously with opening the residual liquid recovery valve 37.

On the other hand, after the booth 15 returns to the horizontal state, the shutter presser 26 retreats and the shutter device 24
Rises. At the same time, the bag clamp 23 moves up. Thereafter, the tip of the injection nozzle 25 is removed from the injection port 12 of the bag 10, the injection port 12 is sealed with a stopper (not shown), and the bag 10 is taken out. Thus, the bag 10 filled with the liquid without bubbles is obtained.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the above-described embodiments, and may be any method and apparatus for removing bubbles according to the spirit of the present invention. Anything may be used.

[0028]

According to the present invention, by inclining the bag filled with the liquid, the air bubbles in the liquid are levitated, and the small air bubbles which do not float are levitated by the simultaneous evacuation of the bag and the booth. Can be easily eliminated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a bag for illustrating the concept of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view showing a state where the booth is tilted after the bag shown in FIG. 1 is accommodated and held in the booth.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a state in which the bag and the booth shown in FIG. 2 are simultaneously evacuated.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration of an air bubble removing device according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing in detail a connection relationship between an injection port and an injection nozzle of the bag shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a configuration of an air bubble removing device according to the present invention.

[Description of Signs] 10 Bag 15 Booth 19 Supply Pump (Liquid Filling Means) 29 Liquid Storage Tank (Liquid Filling Means) 35 Vacuum Pump (Vacuum Pulling Means) 47 Swivel Cylinder (Tilt Means)

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A first step of loading a bag into a booth, a second step of filling the bag with liquid, a third step of inclining the booth by a predetermined angle with respect to a horizontal plane, and in a state of being inclined. A fourth step of simultaneously evacuating the held bag and the booth. 2. A booth for storing and holding a bag, liquid filling means for filling the bag with liquid, tilting means for tilting the booth by a predetermined angle after the bag is filled with liquid, and tilting the booth. An air bubble removing device, comprising: a vacuum means for simultaneously evacuating the bag and the booth when pressed.