JP2002233787A - Apparatus and method for treating powder - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a compact apparatus for treating powder which can obtain treated powder free from unnecessary fine powder without using a plurality of devices and is easy of cleaning and handling. SOLUTION: The apparatus 10 which produces the treated powder by treating a raw material all together in an apparatus body 11 has rotary pieces 14 for producing the treated powder by applying mechanical energy to the raw material, a classification rotor 12 which allows only fine powder the particle size of which is a prescribed value or below of the raw material and/or the treated powder to pass selectively and discharges the fine powder outside the apparatus body 11 through a fine powder removing part 15, and an unloading part 17 for taking out the treated powder in the apparatus body 11.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a powder treatment for producing a treated powder by performing processes such as pulverization, classification, shape control, compounding, surface treatment, mixing, external addition, granulation, drying, and fusion. The present invention relates to a powder processing apparatus and a powder processing method that can perform a plurality of processes.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Processed powders produced by subjecting raw materials to a pulverizing treatment or the like are usually obtained in a state where powders having various particle sizes are mixed. In general, the particle size, shape, etc., required of a processed powder as a processed product (product) vary depending on the application, but in order to remove unnecessary fine powder whose particle size is smaller than a desired range, various types of powder are used. Classification of treated powders having mixed particle sizes has been performed.

[0003]

However, usually,
Since the classification is performed using a device different from the device used for powder processing, the system for obtaining the target processed product is composed of a plurality of devices, and the scale becomes large.
Since a plurality of devices are operated, the handling is poor, and there is a problem that the cleaning operation takes a long time. Therefore, a powder processing apparatus that does not require classification for removing fine powder from the processed powder, that is, a powder processing apparatus that is compact and has excellent handleability that can obtain a processed powder that does not include unnecessary fine powder has been demanded. ing.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to obtain a processed powder containing no fine powder without using a plurality of devices.
An object of the present invention is to provide a powder processing apparatus and a powder processing method that are compact and easy to clean.

[0005]

Means for Solving the Problems The inventors of the present invention have conducted intensive studies in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and as a result, while performing a process of applying mechanical energy and / or fluid energy to a raw material. It has been found that a powder having a particle size smaller than the lower limit of the particle size required for the processed powder, that is, a processed powder containing no fine powder can be obtained by removing unnecessary fine powder from the inside of the main body. . further,
The present invention was completed by confirming that the above powder processing apparatus can be realized as a compact system as compared with a conventional system in which powder processing and classification are performed by separate apparatuses, and that cleaning is easy and excellent in handling. It led to.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a powder processing apparatus according to the present invention is a powder processing apparatus which collectively processes raw materials inside a main body to produce processed powder. And / or by adding fluid energy, grinding, shape control, compounding, surface treatment, mixing, external addition, granulation,
A powder processing unit which performs one or more of fusion and drying to obtain a processed powder, and selectively passes only fine powder having a predetermined particle size or less among raw materials and / or processed powder. Further, the apparatus is characterized by comprising a fine-powder removing section for removing the fine powder that has passed from the inside of the main body, and a take-out section for taking out the processing powder inside the main body to the outside of the main body.

According to the above invention, the raw material can be processed by the powder processing section inside the main body, and unnecessary fine powder having a predetermined particle size or less can be removed from the inside of the main body. That is, it is possible to obtain the processed powder from which unnecessary fine powder has been removed as a processed product (product) remaining inside the main body.

Accordingly, unit operations such as grinding, shape control, compounding, surface treatment, mixing, external addition, granulation, coalescence and drying performed by adding mechanical energy and / or fluid energy to the raw material, and classification are performed. That is, since a plurality of operations can be processed simultaneously or continuously by one powder processing apparatus, a compact powder processing apparatus can be realized as compared with a system in which these are performed by separate apparatuses.

In addition, since operations performed by a plurality of devices are usually performed by a single powder processing device, there is no need to clean pipes connecting the plurality of devices. Therefore, the cleaning operation can be performed more easily in a shorter time than in the related art, so that the handleability is good. Further, it is possible to perform a final mixing operation such as addition of an external additive after the powder processing by a single powder processing apparatus.

That is, since the powder processing apparatus of the present invention is provided with the fine powder removing section, it is possible to remove only unnecessary fine powder having a predetermined particle size or less from the raw material and / or the processed powder in the main body. Further, the particle size of the fine powder to be removed by the fine powder removing unit can be arbitrarily set according to the particle size required for the processed powder as a processed product. In addition,
The removal of the fine powder from the inside of the main body may be performed before the processing powder is taken out from the inside of the main body, and may be performed, for example, simultaneously with or after the processing of the raw material.

On the other hand, particles that are not removed by the fine powder removing section stay inside the main body, circulate between the powder processing section and the fine powder removing section, and are repeatedly processed by the powder processing section. The circulation between the powder processing section and the fine powder removing section is not limited to the stagnation inside the main body, and a circulation path is provided outside the main body to supply particles not removed by the fine powder removing section to the powder processing section again. It can also be done by configuration.

The powder processing apparatus of the present invention is to collectively process (batch processing) raw materials to obtain a processed powder as a processed product as an object in the main body. For this reason, the degree of processing can be adjusted by setting conditions such as time, intensity, and temperature of processing by the powder processing unit.

For example, when the powder processing section is to pulverize the raw material by applying high energy such as impact force, compression force and shearing force, it is necessary to control the processing strength and processing time of the powder processing section. Thereby, the degree of pulverization of the processing powder inside the main body can be adjusted to reduce the processing powder to a desired particle size or less.

Therefore, the particle size of the processed powder remaining inside the main body after the powder processing can be set within a desired range. It should be noted that all existing classifiers / dust collectors (forced vortex type, free vortex type (cyclone, etc.), mesh, filter, etc.) can be applied as the fine powder removing unit.

Further, the powder treatment apparatus of the present invention is provided with a take-out portion for taking out the above-mentioned treated powder from the inside of the main body.
The processed powder remaining in the main body obtained by processing the raw material can be easily taken out from the main body.

In the above powder processing apparatus, the fine powder removing section comprises a classifying rotor having a plurality of blades inside the main body, and a drive shaft for driving the classifying rotor to rotate. When performing, only fine powder that has passed through the classifying rotor is removed from the inside of the main body, and it is preferable that a cylindrical portion is further provided between the classifying rotor and the main body. .

Preferably, the inner diameter of the cylindrical portion increases continuously toward the end of the cylindrical portion on the side of the powder processing section.

According to the above configuration, the raw material other than the fine powder can be effectively supplied to the powder processing section by the centrifugal force of the classifying rotor. Therefore, when the raw material is processed, the material other than the fine powder is circulated efficiently. It is possible to do.

The powder processing apparatus of the present invention may further include a temperature control section for setting the temperature inside the main body.

Thus, the temperature inside the main body can be arbitrarily set. Therefore, it is possible to perform the processing by the powder processing unit by setting the temperature inside the main body to a temperature suitable for the type of the raw material and the target processed product. For example, when the process involves heat generation, the inside of the main body can be cooled by the temperature control unit to prevent deterioration of the raw material due to heat. When the powder processing efficiency is improved by heating, the inside of the main body is heated by the temperature control unit, and the raw material can be processed by the powder processing unit at a temperature suitable for the processing.

For example, when a shape change such as spheroidization and flattening is performed by the powder processing section, the temperature inside the main body is adjusted, and the shape is controlled at a temperature at which the raw material has a hardness suitable for the shape change. Thereby, the shape can be changed effectively.

Further, it is preferable that the powder processing apparatus further includes a cylindrical portion temperature adjusting section for setting a temperature of the cylindrical portion. Thereby, the temperature inside the main body can be more reliably adjusted.

The powder processing section of the powder processing apparatus may be a pulverizing processing section for pulverizing raw materials, or may be composited by applying at least one of an impact force, a compressive force and a shearing force to two or more raw materials. It may be a composite processing unit.

[0024] Thus, the process of pulverizing or compounding the raw material and the classification can be performed using a single powder processing apparatus, and the processed powder containing no unnecessary fine powder remains as a residue remaining in the main body. It is possible to obtain. As the pulverizing section, all existing pulverizing apparatuses such as a rotary pulverizer, a jet mill, a ball mill, and a roller mill can be used. The above-mentioned pulverizers may be used alone or in combination.

Further, the powder processing section may perform shape control, surface treatment, mixing, external addition, granulation, fusion, drying, etc. of the raw material. Thereby, these processes and classification can be performed using one powder processing apparatus.

In the above powder processing apparatus, the pulverizing section comprises a rotary piece and a drive section for rotating the rotary piece, and the raw material is pulverized or compounded by the rotation of the rotary piece. It may be something.

Further, the pulverizing section further includes a gas injection section for pulverizing or compounding the raw material by injecting a gas into the inside of the main body, wherein the gas injection section has a variable gas injection direction. It may be something.

In the above powder processing apparatus, the main body is provided with a processing powder outlet for communicating the processing powder inside the main body to the outside of the main body for communicating the inside of the main body with the outside for taking out the processing powder inside the main body. The take-out part, in order to close the processing powder outlet, the fitting portion fitted from the outside of the main body, and the inside thereof communicates with the inside of the main body through the processing powder outlet. An extraction cylinder connected to the outside of the main body, an extraction valve for opening and closing the opposite side of the extraction cylinder from the main body, a gas introduction unit for introducing gas into the extraction cylinder, A gas introduction valve section for controlling the introduction of gas from the introduction section into the take-out cylinder section.

With the above configuration, when the fitting portion is closed by fitting into the processing powder outlet and the take-out valve is closed, gas is introduced into the take-out cylinder by the gas introduction valve. , The pressure in the take-out cylinder can be adjusted.

For this reason, for example, immediately before the insertion of the fitting portion into the outlet of the treated powder is completed, the air flow is increased between the two by increasing the pressure in the take-out cylinder by the gas introduction valve. It can be used to remove raw materials and processed powder. Therefore, inconvenience caused by the entry of raw materials and the like between the insertion portion and the processing powder outlet,
For example, it is possible to reliably prevent the two from being bonded by a raw material or a processed powder.

Further, even when there is a slight gap between the fitting portion and the processing powder outlet, the gap is increased by increasing the air pressure inside the take-out cylinder portion than the inside of the main body. Since air sealing can be performed, it is possible to reliably prevent the leakage of the raw material and the like from the inside of the main body and the entry of the raw material and the like into the gap.

[0032] In the above powder processing apparatus, the main body includes:
A casing formed on the side surface thereof with a processing powder outlet for communicating the processing powder inside the main body to the outside of the main body and communicating the inside of the main body with the outside, and formed by rotation of the rotary piece. It is preferable that the plate-like body obstructing the flow of the processing powder is formed so as to overlap at least a part of the processing powder outlet on the inner side of the main body.

With the above configuration, the processing powder inside the main body can be efficiently taken out of the main body. That is, when the processing powder is taken out from the inside of the main body, the flow of the processing powder is stopped by the plate-like body and is directed toward the processing powder outlet. For this reason, the processing powder can be efficiently taken out from the inside of the main body.

In the above powder processing apparatus, the processed powder may be a toner and / or a toner intermediate.

The above-mentioned powder processing apparatus can perform shape control such as pulverization and spheroidization of raw materials, and fine powder removal. Therefore, as a toner production apparatus having a high relation between the particle size and shape and the function, It can be particularly preferably used.

In the present invention, the term "intermediate toner product" refers to an intermediate product in a toner production (generation) process, that is, a product which has been powder-treated in a toner production process and has not yet been converted into a toner. Further, the toner and the toner intermediate product may be any of those obtained by a pulverization method and those obtained by a polymerization method, and the production method is not limited.

The above-mentioned powder processing apparatus includes, specifically, a pulverizing apparatus, a shape control apparatus, a compounding apparatus, a surface processing apparatus,
It can be used as an external addition device, a granulation device, a drying device, a fusion device, a classification device, and the like.

[0038] The powder processing method of the present invention is a powder processing method for batch-processing raw materials into processed powders in order to solve the above-mentioned problems. In addition, a powder processing step of performing any one or more of pulverization, shape control, compounding, surface treatment, mixing, external addition, granulation, fusion, and drying to obtain a processed powder; And a fine powder removing step of removing fine powder having a predetermined particle size or less contained in the raw material and / or the processed powder in parallel with the powder processing step.

According to the above invention, fine powder can be removed from the inside of the main body in parallel with the powder processing step of applying mechanical energy and / or fluid energy to the raw material to obtain a processed powder. It is possible to obtain a processed powder that does not contain unnecessary fine powder as a residue inside the main body.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the powder processing method of the present invention is a powder processing method in which raw materials are batch-processed into a toner or a powder coating material. And a fine-powder removing step of removing fine powder having a predetermined particle size or less contained in the raw material and / or the processed powder in parallel with the pulverizing step.

According to the above invention, a toner or a powder coating material having a particle size within a desired range can be obtained. Here, it is possible to adjust the maximum value of the particle diameter of the processed powder by adjusting the conditions such as the pulverizing strength, the pulverizing time and the pulverizing temperature in the powder processing step. It is difficult to control the value by setting the conditions of the pulverizing process. Therefore, in the powder processing method of the present invention, in the fine powder removing step of removing fine powder having a predetermined particle size or less in parallel with the pulverizing step, the raw material and / or the processed powder are classified to remove unnecessary fine powder. Therefore, it is possible to obtain a toner or a powder coating having a particle size within a desired range as a residue inside the main body of the powder processing apparatus.

The powder processing method of the present invention is a powder processing method in which raw materials are batch-processed into a toner or a powder coating material in order to solve the above-mentioned problems. It is characterized by including a shape control step of forming a body, and a fine powder removing step of removing fine powder having a predetermined particle size or less contained in the raw material and / or the processed powder, which is parallel to the shape control step.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a powder processing method of the present invention is a powder processing method in which raw materials are batch-processed into a toner or a powder coating, and the raw materials are changed in shape. A shape control step of forming the processed powder, a fine powder removing step for removing fine powder having a predetermined particle size or less contained in the raw material and / or the processed powder in parallel with the shape control step, and an external additive added to the processed powder. And adding an external addition step.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a powder processing method of the present invention is a powder processing method in which raw materials are batch-processed into a toner or a powder coating. And a shape control step of changing the shape of the raw material to a processed powder in parallel with the pulverizing step, and a fine powder having a predetermined particle size or less contained in the raw material and / or the processed powder in parallel with the pulverizing step. And a step of removing fine powder.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the powder processing method of the present invention is a powder processing method in which raw materials are batch-processed into a toner or a powder coating. And a shape control step of changing the shape of the raw material to a processed powder in parallel with the pulverizing step, and a fine powder having a predetermined particle size or less contained in the raw material and / or the processed powder in parallel with the pulverizing step. It is characterized by including a fine powder removing step to be removed and an external adding step of adding an external additive to the treated powder.

According to the above-mentioned invention, the unnecessary fine powder contained in the raw material, the unnecessary fine powder generated in the pulverizing step of pulverizing the raw material, and / or the shape control step of changing the raw material into a processed powder. The unnecessary fine powder generated in the above can be removed by a fine powder removing step parallel to the pulverizing step and / or the shape controlling step. Therefore, it is possible to obtain a shape-controlled toner or coating material that does not contain unnecessary fine powder.

In the conventional powder processing method in which the shape is controlled by applying heat to the raw material to form a sphere, when the low-melting-point material is used as the raw material, aggregation and fusion of the raw materials are likely to occur. On the other hand, the shape control step of the powder processing method of the present invention involves applying mechanical energy such as collision or compression to the raw material to form corners of the raw material particles and further change the shape to a shape close to a true sphere. Therefore, it is possible to effectively prevent the raw materials from aggregating and fusing together.

The shape control step may be performed under heating conditions. Thereby, at a preferable temperature according to the type of the raw material whose shape is to be changed, the raw materials or the processed powders can collide with each other, or a compressive force can be applied. Therefore, shape control of the raw material can be realized more effectively.

[0049] In the powder processing method in which the raw materials are batch-processed into a toner or a powder coating, the toner or the powder coating is converted into a toner and / or a toner intermediate product or a powder coating and / or a powder coating intermediate. It may be an article. In the present invention, “intermediate toner product” refers to the above-mentioned product, and “intermediate powder coating material” refers to an intermediate product in a powder coating manufacturing (generation) process, that is, powder processing in a powder coating manufacturing process. This is the state before the powder coating is made. These may be any of those obtained by a pulverization method and those obtained by a polymerization method, and the production method is not limited.

[0050]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS [Embodiment 1] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a powder processing system including the powder processing apparatus of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, a powder processing system including a powder processing apparatus 1 of the present invention includes a raw material supply tank 2 for supplying raw materials to the powder processing apparatus 1 via a screw feeder and a powder processing apparatus 1. A heat exchanger 3 for adjusting the introduced gas to a desired temperature, a dust collector 4 for capturing unnecessary fine powder removed from the inside of the powder processing apparatus 1, and a blower 5 for suctioning for removing unnecessary fine powder And

The heat exchanger 3 sets the temperature of the gas to be introduced into the powder processing apparatus 1 to a temperature suitable for powder processing. As the heat exchanger 3, for example, a heat medium such as steam or cold water is circulated and supplied to a tube provided therein, and heat exchange is performed between the tube and the gas when the gas passes through the inside. Then, a gas at a desired temperature is introduced into the powder processing apparatus 1. The blower 5 is connected to the inside of the powder processing apparatus 1 via the dust collector 4, and the fine powder sucked by the blower 5 is captured by the dust collector 4.

In the system shown in FIG. 1, first temperature display control means (TIC (Temperature Indicate Controller)) is provided between the powder processing apparatus 1 and the heat exchanger 3.
And a second space between the powder processing apparatus 1 and the dust collector 4.
The temperature display control means is provided between the dust collector 4 and the blower 5 by an air flow rate display control means (FIC (Flow Indicate Controlle).
r) is preferably provided.

The first temperature display control means and the second temperature display control means
The inlet temperature and the outlet temperature of the powder processing apparatus 1 are measured by the temperature display control means, and the air volume of the blower 5 is measured by the air volume display control means, and the measurement results are fed back to the powder processing apparatus 1. Can be. Thus, for example, when manufacturing a toner or the like that is greatly affected by temperature by the powder processing apparatus 1, the supply amount of the raw material is adjusted according to the measurement result fed back, and processing conditions such as pulverization energy and temperature are adjusted. Can be adjusted.

In general, the lower the inlet temperature of the powder processing apparatus 1 is, the larger the load on the raw material can be given during powder processing, so that the processing capacity can be improved. For example, when the raw material is subjected to shape control such as spheroidization using the powder processing apparatus 1, the degree of change in the shape of the particles is greatly affected by the outlet temperature. Can be sufficiently treated to improve the degree of shape change of the treated powder.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the powder processing apparatus of the present invention. The powder processing apparatus of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.

As shown in FIG. 2, the powder processing apparatus 1 includes a powder processing section 7 and a fine powder removing section 8 inside a main body 6 thereof. (Hereinafter, when the two are not distinguished, they are simply referred to as “powder”) are removed from the inside of the main body 6. Further, the powder processing apparatus 1 includes an extraction unit 9 for extracting the processing powder obtained as a residue inside the main body 6 from the main body 6.

The powder processing section 7 performs powder processing by applying mechanical energy such as impact force, compression force, grinding force, and shearing force to the raw material. A control device, a mixing / external addition device, a surface treatment device, and the like can be used.

The fine powder removing section 8 classifies the powder inside the main body 6 and only unnecessary powder having a predetermined particle size or less (hereinafter referred to as “fine powder”) among the powder inside the main body 6. After passing through the fine powder removing unit 8 from the powder processing unit 7 side, the dust is collected by the dust collector 4 (see FIG. 1) which is a fine powder collecting device. As the fine powder removing section 8, all existing classifiers can be used. The particle size of the fine powder that can pass through the fine powder removing unit 8 can be arbitrarily set according to the particle size required for the processed powder as a target processed product.

For example, when the shape of the powder is controlled using the powder processing apparatus 1, the powder inside the main body 6 is strongly applied to the powder inside the main body 6 by the powder processing section 7 under an appropriate temperature condition according to the raw material to be controlled. By giving a strong force,
It can be spherical or flattened.

As shown in FIG. 2, the powder that does not pass through the fine powder removing unit 8 circulates inside the main body 6 and the processing by the powder processing unit 7 is repeated. For this reason, by controlling processing conditions such as the processing intensity of the powder processing section 7, the processing time, and the processing temperature inside the main body 6, the shape change of the raw material can be advanced to reach a desired particle shape.

As described above, since fine powder is removed from the inside of the main body 6 in addition to the particle shape control operation such as spheroidization,
A processed powder having a sharp particle size distribution that satisfies the particle size required for the processed product can be obtained.

When a pulverizing section of a jet mill or a mechanical pulverizer having a rotary blade is mounted as the powder processing section 7, the flakes from the step of kneading the raw materials are used as the raw materials, for example, by fine pulverization. 3 of fine powder cutting and spheroidization
By performing the two operations at the same time, it is possible to obtain a processed powder having a desired particle size and particle shape and containing no fine powder.

Further, the powder processing apparatus 1 of the present invention can cut fine powder (removal of fine powder) in addition to processing such as pulverization or control of particle shape inside the main body. That is, since fine powder removal and shape control can be performed only by the powder processing apparatus 1, the entire system is significantly reduced in size as compared with a conventional powder processing system having a separate classifier for removing fine powder. can do. In addition, since troublesome cleaning of a pipe, a cyclone, and the like connecting a plurality of devices is eliminated, the cleaning time of the devices can be significantly reduced.

In the above description, the powder processing unit 7
The removal of fine powder from the main body 6 is performed in parallel with the control of the shape of the raw material by the above-mentioned process. However, the same process is performed by stopping the blower 5 and stopping the flow from the fine powder removal unit 8 to the dust collector 4 to operate. The fine powder removal by 8 may be performed after the shape control of the raw material is completed.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a schematic configuration of the powder processing apparatus according to the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, a powder processing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment includes a main body (casing) 11 for performing powder processing therein, and a classifying rotor (only a fine powder among the powder in the main body 11). Fine powder removal section) 1
2, a guide ring 13 (cylindrical portion) for guiding the powder inside the main body 11 to the classifying rotor 12, and a rotating piece (powder processing section, pulverization A processing unit) 14, a fine powder discharging unit (fine powder removing unit) 15 for removing fine powder from the inside of the main body 11, a raw material introduction unit 16 for introducing a raw material into the main body 11, and taking out processed powder as a processed product from the main body 11. And a take-out section (process powder outlet) 17.

The main body 11 has a substantially cylindrical shape, and includes a classifying rotor 12, a guide ring 13, and a rotating piece 14 inside. Classification rotor 12 inside body 11
Is disposed between the fine powder discharge portion 15 formed on the main body 11 and the rotating piece 14.

The powder processing apparatus 10 is provided with a gas inlet 28 for introducing a gas into the main body 11.
The position of the gas inlet 28 is not particularly limited, but is preferably provided below the rotary piece 14. The gas introduced into the main body 11 from the gas inlet 28 by suction by the blower 5 connected to the fine powder discharge unit 15 via the dust collector 4 (see FIG. 1) passes through the classification rotor 12 from the inside of the main body 11. Thus, a flow reaching the dust collector 4 via the fine powder discharge unit 15 is formed. In addition, as the gas, a gas corresponding to a target processed product is used.
Examples include air, an inert gas such as nitrogen and argon, and the like.

A jacket (temperature control section) 21 for controlling the internal temperature of the main body 11 is provided around the main body 11.
Is provided. As the jacket portion 21, for example, a heating medium or a cooling medium from a separately provided tank (not shown) is circulated and supplied as needed,
The internal temperature of the main body 11 can be adjusted. For example,
In the case of powder processing of a raw material that is likely to be deteriorated due to a change in temperature, deterioration of the powder can be prevented by circulating and supplying a cooling medium to the jacket 21.

The classifying rotor 12 is connected to driving means (not shown) via a driving shaft 22. By rotating at high speed inside the main body 11, only fine powder contained in the powder is discharged from the rotary piece 14 side. It is passed to the part 15 side. Here, the particle size of the powder that can pass through the classification rotor 12 can be arbitrarily set by controlling the rotation speed of the classification rotor 12. Therefore, the classification rotor 12
By controlling the rotation speed, the particle size of the fine powder removed from the inside of the main body 11 can be defined.

On the other hand, the powder that cannot pass through the classification rotor 12 stays inside the main body 11 and is repeatedly processed by the rotating piece 14. The rotating piece 14 is connected to driving means (driving unit) such as a motor (not shown). By rotating at a high speed, the raw material located between the rotating piece 14 and the inner wall surface of the main body 11 is subjected to an impact shearing action to process the raw material. To give a treated powder.

Since the rotating piece 14 of the powder processing apparatus 10 of the present embodiment is provided on the upper surface of the disk-shaped body 23, it is suitable for use as a pulverizing apparatus for applying an impact shearing action to the raw material to pulverize the raw material. I have. Although not shown, the rotating piece 14 is
May be provided on the lower surface. Rotating piece 1
4 is provided on the lower surface of the disc-shaped body 23,
4 is a method for crushing the raw material inside the
Since a strong swirling airflow can be formed inside, it can be suitably used as a sphering device for spheroidizing raw materials by colliding them.

The guide ring 13 has a substantially cylindrical shape, and the main body 11 surrounds the classifying rotor 12.
It is arranged inside. FIG.
11 shows the guide ring 13 continuously decreasing toward the end on the side of the rotating piece 14. The guide ring 13 has the same diameter as in FIG. 11 or the inner diameter of the main body 11 as in FIG. A guide ring 63 that continuously increases toward the end on the rotating piece 14 side may be used.

As in the case of the guide ring 63, the main body 11
When the inner diameter of the main body 11 is increased by rotation of the rotary piece 14,
Due to the centrifugal force applied to the internal raw material, the raw material moves to the rotating piece 14 side along the guide ring 63 (tubular portion). Thereby, the raw material inside the main body 11 can be effectively circulated and processed, so that the efficiency of the powder processing is improved.

Although not shown, the guide ring 13 and the guide ring 63 preferably have a jacket for adjusting the temperature, similarly to the main body 11. This makes it possible to more reliably prevent the powder from being deteriorated when the raw material which is likely to be deteriorated by the temperature change is subjected to the powder treatment.

The fine powder discharging section 15 removes unnecessary fine powder passing through the classifying rotor 12 from the inside of the main body 11. Further, the fine powder discharge section 15 is connected to the blower 5 via the dust collector 4 (see FIG. 1), and the fine powder sucked by the blower 5 is captured by the dust collector 4.

The take-out section 17 is a take-out port provided on the side wall of the main body 11 for taking out the processing powder remaining after the processing of the raw material is completed. Is done. Unloading unit 1 during processing
7 is closed, and after the processing is completed and the target processing powder containing no fine powder as a residue inside the main body 11 is obtained, the take-out part 17 is opened and the processing powder is discharged from the inside of the main body 11. Taken out. Specifically, by opening the take-out part 17 and opening the take-out valve 19 of the take-out cylinder 20 whose one end is connected to the take-out part 17, the processing powder inside the main body 11 can be easily taken out. The powder processing apparatus 10 of the embodiment does not sequentially discharge the processing powder obtained by continuously processing the raw materials, but performs what is called batch processing in which the raw materials are collectively processed. For example, unlike a conventional powder processing apparatus in which raw materials are continuously processed and powders smaller than the upper limit of the particle size required for the processed product are sequentially extracted, the range required for the processed product by batch processing the raw materials Fine particles smaller than the lower limit of the particle size are removed from the inside of the main body 11 as unnecessary substances. For this reason, the main body 11 after the powder processing is completed.
The processed powder obtained as a residue inside the powder is obtained as containing no unnecessary fine powder smaller than the lower limit of the particle size in the range required for the processed product.

When the raw material is pulverized by the rotary piece 14, the rotation speed of the rotary piece 14, the processing time,
The degree of pulverization of the raw material inside the main body 11 can be adjusted by adjusting conditions such as the internal temperature of the main body 11. Therefore, the upper limit value of the particle diameter of the processing powder remaining in the main body 11 is adjusted to a desired value or less within the range of the processing capacity of the powder processing apparatus 10 by adjusting the processing conditions of the rotating piece 14 or the like. Becomes possible.

Therefore, the processed powder obtained as a residue inside the main body 11 processed by the powder processing apparatus 10 of the present embodiment satisfies the particle size required for the processed product.

As described above, the powder processing apparatus 10 of the present embodiment classifies the powder inside the main body when the raw material is continuously pulverized, and removes the processed powder having a predetermined particle size or less. Unlike a conventional powder processing apparatus that takes out, it is possible to obtain a processed powder that does not contain fine powder as a residue inside the main body. Therefore, it is not necessary to use another device for removing unnecessary fine powder from the obtained processed powder.

The powder processing apparatus 10 can make the raw materials repeatedly collide with each other during the powder processing to form a sphere. Thus, the powder processing apparatus 10 of the present embodiment
By itself, shape control such as pulverization of raw materials, removal of fine powder, and spheroidization can be performed. Therefore, from the viewpoint of preventing deterioration due to stress in a copier or a printer, securing fluidity, improving charge controllability, etc., as a powder processing apparatus for producing a toner whose shape is closer to a true sphere, the more preferable it is. It can be particularly preferably used.

The powder processing apparatus 10 of the present embodiment can process both one-component toner and two-component toner. Also, when a polymerized toner, a capsule toner, or the like is used as a raw material, spheroidization and removal of fine powder can be performed by the powder processing apparatus 10 as in the case of the pulverized toner.

The two-component toner generally comprises a resin, a colorant, a charge control agent, a release agent, and a surface treatment agent. Examples of the resin include a styrene acrylic copolymer, polyester, and epoxy. Examples of the coloring agent include carbon black for black toner. Examples of the charge control agent include electron-donating substances such as a positively charged nigrosine dye, a fatty acid metal salt, and a quaternary ammonium salt; electron-accepting substances such as a negatively charged azo-based dye and chlorinated paraffin; A so-called polymer-type charge control agent having a polar functional group introduced therein may be used. Examples of the release agent include synthetic waxes such as polypropylene and polyethylene, and natural waxes. Examples of the surface treatment agent include colloidal silica, alumina, and titanium oxide. The release agent and the surface treatment agent are applied to the surface of the toner particles in the final external addition step.

Subsequently, the powder processing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment
The powder processing method using 0 will be described below. First, a predetermined amount of raw material is charged into the main body 11, the raw material is retained inside the main body 11, and powder processing is performed by the rotating piece 14 for a predetermined time. In parallel with the powder processing, the powder inside the main body 11 is classified by the classification rotor 12 and unnecessary fine powder is discharged by the fine powder discharge unit 15.

As described above, while the raw material is held and retained in the main body 11 for a predetermined time, pulverization, shape control,
Since powder treatment such as surface treatment, mixing, external addition, granulation, drying, compounding, fusion, and dispersion and fine powder removal can be performed simultaneously, the treated powder held and retained for a predetermined time is It does not contain unnecessary fine powder. Therefore, it is not necessary to remove the fine powder in the processed powder using another device.

Further, in the powder processing method of the present embodiment, the fine powder is removed by keeping the raw material inside the main body for a predetermined time, so that the fine powder is removed as in a classifier for continuously feeding and classifying the raw material. No direct mixing into the processed powder (so-called short path) occurs. Further, it is possible to disperse the agglomerated particles into single particles by applying an impact force or the like to the raw material in the powder processing section, and it is possible to efficiently remove unnecessary fine powder. Therefore, the fine powder in the processed powder can be more reliably removed as compared with the conventional classifier.

[Embodiment 2] Another embodiment of the powder processing apparatus of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.
Since the configuration of the powder processing system including the powder processing apparatus of the present embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, the description thereof will be omitted in this embodiment.

FIG. 4 shows a powder processing apparatus 30 according to this embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway view showing a schematic configuration of FIG. As shown in the figure, a powder processing apparatus 30 of the present embodiment has a main body 31 for performing powder processing inside thereof, and a classifying section (fine powder removing section) 32 for passing only fine powder having a predetermined particle size or less. And body 3
1, a gas injection unit (powder processing unit, pulverization processing unit) 34 for injecting gas into the inside, a fine powder discharge unit (fine powder removal unit) 35 for removing fine powder from the inside of the main body 31, and a material introduced into the main body 31. A raw material introduction part 36 and an extraction part 3 for taking out, from the main body 31, processed powder as a processed product obtained by crushing the raw material
7 is provided.

As shown in FIG. 4, the main body 31 has a substantially cylindrical shape, and the gas injection unit 34 performs a powerful injection of gas (jet air injection) on the raw material therein, thereby applying fluid energy to the raw material. In other words, the raw material can be pulverized or dried, or the agglomerated powder can be dispersed by adding energy to the raw material by means of a fluid. The main body 31 may be provided with a jacket portion for adjusting the temperature inside the main body 31 outside the main body 31.

Further, inside the main body 31, the gas injection unit 3 is provided.
A classifier 32 is provided between the region where the gas is strongly injected by the gas turbine 4 and the fine powder discharge unit 35, and the classifier 32 is similar to the classifier rotor 12 of the first embodiment.
Only unnecessary fine powder inside 1 is allowed to pass through, and the fine powder that has passed can be removed from the inside of the main body 31 by the fine powder discharging unit 35. On the other hand, the powder that cannot pass through the classification section 32 stays inside the main body 31 and the processing by the gas injection section 34 is repeated.

The fine powder discharging section 35 is connected to the blower 5 (see FIG. 1) via the dust collector 4 similarly to the fine powder discharging section 15 of the powder processing apparatus 10 of the first embodiment. The fine powder that has passed through the classification rotor 32 is discharged from the fine powder discharge unit 35 to the outside of the main body 31 by suction of the blower 5. The take-out section 37 is closed during the powder processing, and is opened after the powder processing is completed to take out the processed powder inside the main body 31.

[0092] The powder processing apparatus 30 of the present embodiment performs batch processing for batch processing of raw materials to obtain a processed powder as a processed product as a residue inside the main body 31. For this reason, by adjusting the gas injection intensity by the gas injection unit 34 and the processing time and processing temperature inside the main body 31, the raw material is subjected to a desired processing and unnecessary fine powder inside the main body 31 is removed, and the fine powder is not included. Processed powder can be reliably obtained.

Third Embodiment Still another embodiment of the present invention is described below with reference to FIG. Since the configuration of the powder processing system including the powder processing apparatus of the present embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, the description thereof will be omitted in this embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a partially cutaway view showing a schematic configuration of the powder processing apparatus of the present embodiment. As shown in the figure, a powder processing apparatus 40 of the present embodiment includes a main body 41 for performing powder processing inside thereof, and a classifying section (fine powder removing section) for passing only unnecessary fine powder having a predetermined particle size or less. ) 42, rotor 44 (powder processing section, compounding processing section), inner piece (powder processing section, compounding processing section) 48, and fine powder for removing fine powder contained in raw material or powder from inside main body 41. The apparatus includes a discharge section (fine powder removing section) 45, a raw material introduction section 46 for introducing a raw material into the main body 41, and an extraction section 47 for extracting a processed product obtained by crushing the raw material from the main body 41.

Since the jacket (temperature adjusting portion) 51 is provided around the main body 41, the temperature inside the main body 41 can be adjusted. The rotor 44 is a cylindrical rotating body having a substantially cylindrical shape with a bottom, and the inner piece 48 generates a compressive force, a shear force, and the like on the inner peripheral surface of the rotor 44 to apply mechanical energy to the powder. In addition, processing is performed.

As described above, by rotating the rotor 44 and relatively rotating the inner peripheral surface of the rotor 44 and the inner piece 48, a compressive force, a shear force, or the like is applied to the powder present in these gaps. Thus, a compounding process of a plurality of powders can be performed. A slit 52 is formed in the wall surface of the rotor 44, and the powder sent to the outside of the rotor 44 through the slit 52 is again conveyed to the upper portion of the rotor 44 by the circulation blade 53, And the decoding process is performed. As described above, the powder processing apparatus 40 of the present embodiment is suitably used for compounding a plurality of types of powder.

Since the powder processing apparatus 40 of the present embodiment is provided with the classifying section 42 for passing only fine powder inside the main body 41, the powder processing apparatus 40 completes the processing simultaneously with the processing such as the compounding of the powder or the like. After that, unnecessary fine powder that has not been compounded can be classified and discharged from the fine powder discharge unit 45 to the outside of the main body 41.

Therefore, the powder processing apparatus 40 of the present embodiment adjusts the processing time and the processing temperature of the rotor 44 and the inner piece 48 so as to perform the desired processing on the raw material and to reduce unnecessary processing inside the main body 41. Since the fine powder is removed, a processed powder containing no fine powder can be reliably obtained.

[Embodiment 4] Still another embodiment of the present invention is described below with reference to FIG. Since the configuration of the powder processing system including the powder processing apparatus of the present embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, the description thereof will be omitted in this embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a powder processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. Of the members constituting the powder processing apparatus 100 of the present embodiment, those having the same functions as those described in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 9, the powder processing apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment comprises a main body 11, a classifying rotor 12, a guide ring 13, a fine powder discharge port 15, an extraction section 17, an air cylinder 18, an extraction valve 19, A take-out cylinder 20, a drive shaft 22, a crushing rotor 114, an additive introduction port 116, and a gas / raw material introduction port 118 are provided. The powder processing apparatus 100
As a pulverizing processing unit, a pulverizing rotor (powder processing unit, pulverizing processing unit) 114 is provided in place of the rotary piece 14, an additive introduction port 116 is further provided, and gas and raw materials are provided in the lower part of the main body 11. It differs from the powder processing apparatus 10 in that it has a gas / raw material introduction port 118 to be introduced.

The pulverizing rotor 114 has a cylindrical shape having a large number of grooves, and is rotatably driven by driving means such as a motor (not shown). Also, the grinding rotor 114
A dispersion pin 119 is provided at an end on the side of the classification rotor 12 as dispersion means for dispersing the processing powder inside the main body. By this dispersion pin (powder processing section) 119, a swirling flow of the processing powder can be formed in the space on the classifying rotor 12 side inside the main body 11.

The gas / raw material inlet 118 at the lower part of the main body 11
The raw material introduced from inside the main body 11 is pulverized when passing through the rotating pulverizing rotor 114 and then reaches the classification rotor 12 side. Then, the treated powders that have reached the classifying rotor 12 collide with each other due to the swirling flow formed by the dispersion pins 119. At this time, the corners of the particles are removed or the corners are crushed to form a spherical shape. Is done. Further, together with the spheroidization, unnecessary fine powder inside the main body 11 can be removed by the classification rotor 12. Thus, the powder processing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment
00 performs the raw material pulverization, spheroidization, and fine powder removal,
It is possible to obtain spherical particles having a desired particle size inside the main body 11 as processed powder.

As described above, the powder processing apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment includes the pulverizing rotor 11 inside the main body 11.
Since fine powder is removed from the processed powder that has passed through No. 4, raw material that has not been pulverized does not directly reach the extraction unit 17 (a so-called short path). Therefore, the pulverization, spheroidization, and removal of fine powder of the raw material can be performed not only by batch processing but also by continuous processing. However, in order to surely form the spheres inside the main body 11, it is preferable to process the raw materials by batch processing.

The powder processing apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment
Can add an additive through an additive inlet 116 of the main body 11. For this reason, the processing powder pulverized by the pulverizing rotor 114 is processed by an additive, for example,
It becomes possible to form a film of the additive on the surface of the treated powder and modify it to desired properties.

When the surface treatment is performed by adding an additive to the processed powder inside the main body 11, the amount of air sucked by the blower 5 (see FIG. 1) is much smaller than when the raw material is pulverized and spheroidized. Or do not aspirate. And, after the surface treatment of the treated powder,
By increasing the amount of air sucked by the blower 5, the main body 11
The internal untreated additive is removed.

[Fifth Embodiment] Still another embodiment of the present invention is described below with reference to FIG. Since the configuration of the powder processing system including the powder processing apparatus of the present embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, the description thereof will be omitted in this embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a powder processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. Of the members constituting the powder processing apparatus 140 of the present embodiment, members having the same functions as those described in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 10, the powder processing apparatus 140 according to the present embodiment comprises a guide ring 13, a rotating piece 14, a fine powder discharge port 15, a raw material introduction section 16, an extraction section 17, an extraction valve 19, an extraction cylinder. 20, a main body 141, a first classifying rotor (fine powder removing section) 142, a second classifying rotor 143, an additive inlet 146, and a knife valve 148 used when taking out the processing powder inside the main body 141 from the extracting section 17. It has. The powder processing apparatus 140 includes a first classifying rotor 142 and a second classifying rotor 1 inside a main body 141.
43 is different from the powder processing apparatus 10 of the first embodiment in that it has two classifying rotors 43 and an additive introduction port 146.

As shown in the figure, the powder processing apparatus 140 of the present embodiment comprises a rotating piece 14 and a first classifying rotor 142.
And a second classifying rotor 143 is provided. The first classifying rotor 142, like the classifying rotor 12 of the first embodiment, passes only unnecessary fine powder. The second classifying rotor 143 is a rotating piece 1
In this case, only the treated powder which has been pulverized by Step 4 and has a desired particle size or less is passed through. For this reason, the lower limit of the particle size of the processed powder can be controlled more reliably, and the processed powder having a desired particle size can be obtained more reliably.

The powder processing apparatus 140 according to the present embodiment
Is provided with an additive inlet 146, so that the treated powder can be treated with the additive, for example, a film of the additive can be formed on the surface of the treated powder to modify it to desired properties. .

[Embodiment 6] Still another embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. Since the configuration of the powder processing system including the powder processing apparatus of the present embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, the description thereof will be omitted in this embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a powder processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. Among the members constituting the powder processing apparatus 150 of the present embodiment, members having the same functions as those described in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 11, the powder processing apparatus 150 of the present embodiment comprises a classification rotor 12, a guide ring 1
3, rotating piece 14, fine powder discharge port 15, take-out part 17, air cylinder 18, take-out valve 19, take-out cylinder 20, drive shaft 2
2. Gas inlet 28, jacket 153, temperature control medium supply 154, gas injection 155, gas introduction 15
6 and a gas introduction valve 157.

The powder processing apparatus 150 includes the guide ring 13
A gas injection section (powder processing section, pulverization processing section) 155 for injecting gas into the main body 151 in that a jacket section (temperature control section) 153 for controlling the temperature is provided around And a gas introduction part 156 and a gas introduction valve 157 for introducing gas into the take-out cylinder 20.
This is different from the powder processing apparatus 10 of the first embodiment in that

As described above, the guide ring 13 is provided with the jacket 153 around the guide ring 13 and, for example, a heating medium or a cooling medium from a separately provided tank (not shown) via the temperature control medium supply section 154. Is circulated as needed. Thus, the temperature of the guide ring 13 can be adjusted. For example, when powder processing is performed on a raw material that may be degraded due to a change in temperature, a cooling medium is circulated and supplied to the jacket 153 to degrade the powder. Can be prevented.

Although not shown, the main body 151 of the powder processing apparatus 150 according to the present embodiment has a jacket for adjusting the temperature, similarly to the main body 11 of the powder processing apparatus 10. It may be something. Since both the guide ring 13 and the main body 151 have a jacket portion, the temperature of the powder inside the main body is set to a desired temperature,
Temperature change during powder processing can be more reliably prevented.

Further, the powder processing apparatus 150 of the present embodiment
Has a gas injection unit 155 in addition to the rotary piece 14, so that when the raw material inside the main body 151 is processed powder, not only the rotary piece 14 but also the gas injection unit 155 can be used. Therefore, the conditions for powder processing inside the main body 151 can be set more finely.

FIG. 12 is a sectional view taken along the line AA ′ showing a schematic configuration of the gas injection section 155 of the powder processing apparatus 150 of FIG. The gas injection unit 155 is provided in the main body 1 indicated by an arrow.
51, the direction of gas injection into the interior is variable.
Gas Injection Direction from 55 to Inside of Main Body 151 and Main Body 151
Of the cross section with respect to the center O can be changed. Therefore, for example, in the case where the raw material is pulverized, spheroidized, and fine powder removed by the powder processing apparatus 150, the degree of pulverization and spheroidization can be controlled by changing the gas injection direction of the gas injection unit 155. .

Specifically, when the gas is injected at the same intensity, the force for crushing the raw material becomes maximum when the gas injection direction is the center direction (x = 0 °) of the cross section of the main body 151,
It becomes smaller as it approaches the tangential direction (x = 90 °) of the cross section of the main body 151. On the other hand, the force for spheroidizing the raw material is such that the gas injection direction is the center direction of the cross section of the main body 151 (x = 0).
(°), and becomes larger as approaching the tangential direction (x = 90 °) of the cross section of the main body 151.

Therefore, the degree of pulverization and spheroidization of the treated powder can be controlled by changing the direction of gas injection from the gas injection section 155. In FIG. 11, the angle x between the gas injection direction and the center O is substantially the same for each gas injection unit 155, but may be different.

Although the powder processing apparatus 150 has the gas injection section 155 whose gas injection direction is variable, the powder processing apparatus 150 may have the gas injection section 155 whose gas injection direction is fixed. In this case, it is preferable that the gas injection direction be different for each gas injection unit 155. For example, of the four gas injection units 155, two gas injection directions are set to the center O
Direction, and the remaining two gas injection directions are the tangential directions. Thus, a desired processing powder can be obtained by controlling the degree of pulverization, shape control, and compounding by properly using the gas injection unit 155 according to the target processing powder. Although FIG. 12 shows four gas injection units 155, the number of gas injection units 155 is not limited to this, and may be one, two, three, or five or more.

FIG. 13 shows a powder processing apparatus 1 according to this embodiment.
It is sectional drawing which shows schematic structure of 50 take-out cylinders 20. As shown in the figure, the powder processing apparatus 150 includes a gas introduction section 156 for introducing gas such as air and a gas introduction valve 157 inside the take-out cylinder 20. For this reason, in a state in which the extraction unit valve is closed, the introduction of gas from the gas introduction unit 156 into the extraction tube 20 can be controlled by the gas introduction valve 157, and the air pressure inside the extraction tube 20 can be adjusted. .

For this reason, the take-out section 1 as a treated powder outlet
Even if there is a gap between the nozzle 7 and the fitting portion 158, the pressure inside the take-out cylinder 20 is made higher than the pressure inside the main body 151 so that the processing powder and / or the raw material are filled in the gap. It can be prevented from entering. Therefore, it is possible to reliably prevent the adverse effects caused by the processing powder or the like entering the gap. For example, when the processed powder is toner, the temperature is raised and melted by applying pressure to the toner sandwiched between the take-out section 17 and the fitting section 158, so that the take-out section 17 and the fitting section 158 can be reliably prevented from being fused.

Further, when the insertion portion 158 is inserted to the extraction portion 17 to some extent (in a state where it is not completely inserted), gas is injected from the gas introduction portion 156 into the extraction tube 20. Thereby, the processing powder and / or the raw material adhering to the insertion section 158 or the removal section 17 can be removed. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the processing powder and / or the raw material from being caught between the insertion portion 158 and the extraction portion 17.

The gas inlet 156 is connected to the discharge cylinder 2
Any gas can be introduced as long as a gas can be introduced into the inside of the main body 151 and its pressure can be made higher than that inside the main body 151. The fine powder discharge port 15 of the powder processing device 150 of the present embodiment is, as shown in FIG.
It is connected to a blower 5 via a dust collector 4. During the powder processing, air is sucked by the blower 5,
The pressure inside the main body 151 is lower than the atmospheric pressure. For this reason, by opening the gas introduction valve 157 and setting the inside of the take-out cylinder 20 to atmospheric pressure,
1 can be higher than the atmospheric pressure. In addition, the gas introduction part 156 may be connected to a cylinder or the like in which high-pressure gas (not shown) is sealed, and may be singular or plural.

[Embodiment 7] Still another embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. Since the configuration of the powder processing system including the powder processing apparatus of the present embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, the description thereof will be omitted in this embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a powder processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. Of the members constituting the powder processing apparatus 160 of the present embodiment, members having the same functions as those described in the first and sixth embodiments are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted. I do.

As shown in FIG. 14, the powder processing apparatus 160 according to the present embodiment is different from the powder processing apparatus 160 in that the powder processing apparatus 160 includes a gas introduction section 156, a gas introduction valve 157, and an extraction plate (plate-like body) 161. This is different from the powder processing apparatus 10 of the first embodiment. Since the gas introduction section 156 and the gas introduction valve 157 have been described in the sixth embodiment, the description thereof will be omitted in the present embodiment. The extraction plate 161 will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 15 is a sectional view taken along the line BB ′ of FIG. 14 for explaining the position of the take-out plate of the powder processing apparatus 160. The drawing shows a state in which the fitting portion 158 has been removed from the removing portion 17, that is, a case where the processing powder inside the main body 11 is removed from the removing portion 17. Note that the illustration of the jacket portion 21 (see FIG. 3) around the main body 11 is omitted in FIG. 11 for simplification. As shown in the drawing, the take-out plate 161 is formed so as to obstruct the flow of the processing powder formed by the rotation of the rotary piece 14, so that the processing powder is removed from inside the main body 11. At the time of taking out the body, the flow direction of the processing powder is changed to take out the processing powder.
Can be guided to the side. For this reason, it is possible to improve the efficiency of taking out the processed powder from the inside of the main body 11 and shorten the time required for taking out.

FIG. 16 shows the take-out plate 1 of the powder processing apparatus 160.
FIG. 15C is a cross-sectional view for explaining the position of FIG. As shown in the drawing, the take-out plate 161 is formed so as to cover a part of the take-out part 17 which is a treated powder take-out port. Further, as shown in the figure, the take-out plate 161 is preferably formed substantially perpendicular to the flow of the processing powder formed by the rotation of the rotary piece 14.
More preferably, the upper end of 61 is provided so as to be located on the downstream side of the flow of the processing powder from the lower end. Thereby, the removal efficiency of the processing powder can be further improved.

Although not shown, it is preferable that the take-out plate 161 obstructs the flow of the process powder only when the take-out portion 17 is opened to take out the process powder. That is, while the raw material is being processed, the flow of the processing powder is not obstructed so as not to obstruct the flow of the processing powder when the raw material is being inserted into the insertion portion 158 (see FIG. 14) and the extraction portion 17. It is preferable that the take-out plate 161 be substantially parallel with respect to.

The configuration for changing the position of the extraction plate 161 is not particularly limited, and a conventionally known configuration can be used. For example, one end of the extraction plate 161 is fixed to the inner surface of the main body 11 by a hinge, and the other end is connected to the insertion portion 158 via connection means. The positions of the ends are linked, and the insertion portion 158 is inserted.
May be substantially parallel to the flow of the processing powder when inserted into the take-out portion 17, and may be substantially vertical when not inserted.

Note that the powder processing apparatus of the present invention can also be realized as a combination of the configurations disclosed in the first to seventh embodiments.

[Embodiment 8] The powder processing apparatus of the present invention can perform a plurality of powder processing independently. It can also be implemented as a combined system. A system using the powder processing apparatus of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.

FIG. 17 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an example of a conventional toner and powder coating material production system comprising a plurality of devices. As shown in FIG. 1, a conventional powder processing system includes a fine pulverizer 201 for pulverizing a raw material, and a coarse powder classifier for extracting only a processed powder having a desired particle size or less from the raw material pulverized by the fine pulverizer 201. 202, a fine powder classifier 203 for removing unnecessary fine powder from the processed powder, a shape controller 204 for controlling the shape of the processed powder, and added to a processed powder (medium powder) from which coarse and fine powder have been removed Add agent,
It comprises an external additive mixer 205 for mixing. In addition,
The fine pulverizer 201 and the coarse powder classifier 202 may be configured separately or may be configured as one device. Note that the manufacturing system shown in FIG. 17 is an example of a conventional manufacturing system, and the powder processing apparatus of the present invention includes:
Used in combination with each device shown in the figure,
It can be used as a substitute for each device shown in FIG.

For example, the powder processing apparatus of the present invention has a structure shown in FIG.
As a substitute for the fine powder classifier 203, as a substitute for the shape controller 204, as a substitute for the external additive mixer 205, additionally incorporated between each device, external additive mixing It can be incorporated after the machine 205.

By incorporating the powder processing apparatus of the present invention instead of the fine powder classifier 203, a fine pulverizer 201, a coarse powder classifier 202, a powder processing apparatus, a shape controller 204, and an external mixer 205 are provided. A powder processing system is configured. By incorporating the powder processing apparatus of the present invention in place of the shape controller 204, a powder processing comprising a fine pulverizer 201, a coarse powder classifier 202, a fine powder classifier 203, a powder processing apparatus and an external additive mixer 205 The system is configured. By incorporating the powder processing apparatus of the present invention in place of the external additive mixer 205, a fine pulverizer 201, a coarse powder classifier 202,
A powder processing system including a fine powder classifier 203, a shape controller 204, and a powder processing device is configured.

When the powder processing apparatus of the present invention is additionally installed between the apparatuses shown in FIG.
1 and coarse powder classifier 202, between coarse powder classifier 202 and fine powder classifier 203, fine powder classifier 203 and shape controller 2
04, and between the fine powder classifier 203 and the externally added mixer 205. In addition, it is also possible to configure a powder processing system using a plurality of coarse powder classifiers 202 and / or fine powder classifiers 203. In this case, a plurality of fine powder classifiers are provided between the plurality of coarse powder classifiers 202. It is possible to incorporate the powder processing apparatus of the present invention anywhere between the machines 203. That is, the fine crusher 201
The powder processing apparatus of the present invention can be incorporated anywhere except before the above.

An example of the device used in the system shown in FIG. 17 is shown below. As the fine pulverizer 201, a counter jet mill (manufactured by Hosokawa Micron Corporation),
Micron Jet T type (manufactured by Hosokawa Micron Corporation),
Cross jet mill (made by Kurimoto Iron Works Ltd.), IDS type and PJM type jet mills (made by Nippon Pneumatic Industries, Ltd.), Condax jet mill (made by Mitsui Miike Kakoki Co., Ltd.), and others Jet mill and air-flow crusher, ACM Pulverizer (Hosokawa Micron Corporation)
), Inomaizer (manufactured by Hosokawa Micron Corporation), Turbo Mill (manufactured by Turbo Kogyo Co., Ltd.), Cryproton (manufactured by Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd.), Super Rotor (manufactured by Nisshin Engineering Co., Ltd.), Fine Mill (manufactured by Nihon New Matic Kogyo Co., Ltd.), Classifier Mill (Mitsui Miike Kakoki Co., Ltd.) and other mechanical impact crushers.

As the coarse powder classifier 202, Turboplex (manufactured by Hosokawa Micron Corporation), Turbo Classifier (manufactured by Nisshin Engineering Co., Ltd.) dispersion separator (manufactured by Nippon Pneumatic Industries, Ltd.), sharp cut separator ( (Made by Kurimoto Iron Works), SF
Examples include a sharp cut separator (manufactured by Kurimoto Iron Works, Ltd.), an elbow jet (manufactured by Nittetsu Mining Co., Ltd.), and other air-flow classifiers.

Examples of the apparatus in which the fine pulverizer 201 and the coarse powder classifier 202 are integrally formed include a counter jet mill (manufactured by Hosokawa Micron Corporation) and a cross jet mill (manufactured by Kurimoto Iron Works Co., Ltd.) ), ACM Pulverizer (manufactured by Hosokawa Micron Corp.), Inomizer (manufactured by Hosokawa Micron Corp.), Condax Jet Mill (manufactured by Mitsui Miike Kakoki Co., Ltd.) and the like.

As the fine powder classifier 203, Turboplex (manufactured by Hosokawa Micron Co., Ltd.), TSP separator (manufactured by Hosokawa Micron Co., Ltd.), sharp cut separator (manufactured by Kurimoto Iron Works, Ltd.), SF sharp cut separator (( Elbow Jet (manufactured by Nittetsu Mining Co., Ltd.) and the like.

As the shape controller 204, a thermal sphering apparatus (manufactured by Hosokawa Micron Corporation), a hybridization system (manufactured by Nara Machinery Co., Ltd.), the above-mentioned mechanical impact crusher, and similar impact means or stirring Examples include a crusher, a classifier, and a mixer having mixing means.

Examples of the external mixing machine 205 include Cyclomix (manufactured by Hosokawa Micron Corporation), Turbulizer (manufactured by Hosokawa Micron Corporation), Henschel Mixer (manufactured by Mitsui Miike Kakoki Co., Ltd.), Mechano Fusion System (manufactured by Hosokawa Micron Corporation) )), A hybridization system (manufactured by Nara Kikai Seisakusho), a super mixer (manufactured by Kawata), a Reidige mixer (manufactured by Reedige, Germany), and other mixers having screws or stirring blades. And a fluid mixing type mixer using air and gas.

[0146]

The present invention will be described below in more detail with reference to Examples and Comparative Examples. The measurement of the average circularity in the following Examples and Comparative Examples was performed using FPIA-2100 (manufactured by Sysmex Corporation). The measurement of the particle size distribution in Examples 1 to 3 and Comparative Example 1 was performed using MULTISIZER II (manufactured by Coulter Inc.). Measurement of the particle size distribution (cumulative passage rate) in Examples 4 to 8 and Comparative Example 2
The measurement was performed using MICROTRAC HRA (MODEL: 9320-X100, manufactured by Nikkiso Co., Ltd.). The measurement of the number frequency in Example 10, Comparative Example 3, and Comparative Example 4 was performed using FPIA-2100 (manufactured by Sysmex Corporation). The amount of fine powder in Example 11 and Comparative Example 5 was measured using a Coulter counter (manufactured by Coulter Corporation).

[Average Circularity] In the examples and comparative examples, the average circularity obtained by averaging the circularity obtained by using information on the projection area and the perimeter of each particle image obtained by analyzing the particle image. Was used to evaluate the spheroidization of the raw material. The circularity is a value obtained by assuming a projected area of a particle image as a circle having the same area and dividing the assumed circumference of the circle by the perimeter of the projected particle image. The closer the circularity is to 1, the closer the particle shape is to a sphere.

[Circularity change rate] The average circularity obtained as described above was substituted into the following equation (1) to obtain a circularity change rate (ψ). The greater the degree of change in circularity, the greater the degree of spheroidization of the treated powder. Circularity change rate (ψ) = (Average circularity of treated powder−Average raw material circularity) / (1−Average circularity of raw material) (1) Embodiment 1 FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of the present invention. This will be described below. In this embodiment, a polyester color toner (magenta) of 1 to 2 mm is jet-milled (counter-jet mill, Hosokawa Micron Corporation).
Manufactured by pulverization using the following method.
A powder having a size of 3 μm and an average circularity of 0.925 was used as a raw material. The raw material contained 0.1% by weight of particles having a particle size of 12.7 μm or more, and contained 47.3% by weight of particles having a particle size of 4 μm or less.

The powder processing apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 3 was used for sphering the raw material. The processing conditions were 59 kg /
Time, number of revolutions 6000rpm of rotating piece 14, the rotation speed 7500rpm of the classifying rotor 12, as the process air volume 8m ³ / min, 1 cycle time of 45 seconds, the raw material feed time 3 sec / 1
The cycle and the processing powder discharge time were set to 20 seconds / 1 cycle. The gas temperature at the gas inlet 28 was 16 ° C, and the gas temperature at the fine powder outlet 15 was 40 to 45 ° C.

The treated powder obtained by treating the raw material under the above conditions has an average diameter of 6.5 μm and an average circularity of 0.935.
And the recovery was 78.2%. The treated powder did not contain particles having a particle size of 12.7 μm or more, and contained 0.9% by weight of particles having a particle size of 4 μm or less. Table 1 shows the results.

[Example 2] The processing conditions of the powder processing apparatus 10 were set to a processing capacity of 30 kg / hour, a cycle time of 75 seconds,
The raw material was treated in the same manner as in Example 1, except that the gas temperature of the gas inlet 28 was set to 17 ° C.

The processed powder obtained as described above had an average diameter of 6.7 μm, an average circularity of 0.942, and a recovery of 74.7%. The treated powder has a particle size of 1
Particles having a size of 2.7 μm or more were not contained, and particles having a particle size of 4 μm or less were contained at 0.5% by weight. Table 1 shows the results.

Example 3 The processing conditions of the powder processing apparatus 10 were changed to a processing capacity of 14 kg / hour, a cycle time of 120
Seconds, except that the gas temperature of the gas inlet 28 was set to 17 ° C.
The raw material was treated in the same manner as in Example 1.

The processed powder obtained as described above had an average diameter of 6.7 μm, an average circularity of 0.953, and a recovery of 73.5%. The treated powder has a particle size of 1
Particles having a particle size of 2.7 μm or more were not contained, and particles having a particle size of 4 μm or less were contained at 0.4% by weight. Table 1 shows the results.

[Comparative Example 1] Using a Turboplex (manufactured by Hosokawa Micron Corporation) as a fine powder removing apparatus, continuous processing was carried out at a processing condition of 50 kg / hour to remove fine powder from the same raw material as in Example 1. Then, the raw material from which the fine powder has been removed is subjected to a thermal sphering apparatus (manufactured by Hosokawa Micron Corporation).
And spheroidized.

The processed powder obtained as described above had an average diameter of 6.8 μm, a sphericity of 0.943, and a recovery of 77.5%. The treated powder has a particle size of 12.7μ
Particles having a particle size of 4 μm or less were not contained, and 0.7% by weight of particles having a particle size of 4 μm or less were contained. Table 1 shows the results.

[0157]

[Table 1]

Embodiment 4 Another embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. An acrylic powder paint (white) flake product (length of one side is about 15 mm, thickness is about 1 mm (about 15 mm × 15 mm × ^t 1 mm)) was used as a raw material and processed by the powder processing apparatus 10 shown in FIG. . The processing conditions were as follows: one cycle time: 60 seconds; processing capacity: 75 kg / hour;
m, the number of revolutions of the classifying rotor 12 is 5000 rpm, the processing air volume is 10 m ³ / min, the raw material feed time is 20 seconds / 1 cycle,
The processing powder discharge time was set to 20 seconds / 1 cycle. The gas temperature of the gas inlet 28 is 20 ° C., and the fine powder outlet 1
The gas temperature of No. 5 was about 35 ° C.

The treated powder obtained by treating the raw materials under the above conditions had an average particle diameter of 49 μm, an average circularity of 0.912, and a recovery of 87%. Table 2 shows the results. FIG. 6 shows the cumulative passage ratio representing the particle size distribution of the processed powder of the present embodiment. In addition, the particle diameter shown on the horizontal axis of FIG. 6 is represented using a logarithm.

Example 5 A raw material was processed in the same manner as in Example 4 except that one cycle time was 90 seconds and the processing capacity was 58 kg / hour. The treated powder thus obtained had an average particle size of 33 μm and an average circularity of 0.91.
8 and a recovery of 82%. Table 2 shows the results. FIG. 6 shows the cumulative passage ratio representing the particle size distribution of the processed powder of the present embodiment.

Embodiment 6 One cycle time is 120 seconds,
The raw material was processed in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the processing capacity was set to 47 kg / hour to obtain a processed powder. The treated powder thus obtained has an average particle diameter of 20 μm and an average circularity of 0.9.
32 and a recovery of 73%. Table 2 shows the results. FIG. 6 shows the cumulative passage ratio representing the particle size distribution of the processed powder of the present embodiment.

[Comparative Example 2] Instead of the powder processing apparatus 10,
Using a pulverizer ACM-10A (manufactured by Hosokawa Micron Corp.), the processing conditions were as follows: processing capacity 50 kg / hour, rotating speed of rotating piece 6800 rpm, rotating speed of classification section 4000 rpm
m and the processing air flow rate were set to 15 m ³ / min. The treated powder thus obtained has an average particle size of 25.
μm, and the average circularity was 0.919. Table 2 shows the results. FIG. 6 shows the cumulative passage ratio representing the particle size distribution of the processed powder of this comparative example.

[0163]

[Table 2]

Thus, it can be understood that the average particle size of the treated powder can be reduced by increasing the cycle time. Further, since the average circularity is increased by lengthening one cycle time, it can be seen that the spheroidization of the raw material is progressing.

FIG. 6 shows that all of the treated powders of Examples 4 to 6 had a smaller ratio of particles having a particle size of 10 μm or less than the treated powder of Comparative Example 2. This allows
It is understood that fine powder can be effectively removed from the processed powder by using the powder processing apparatus 10 according to one embodiment of the present invention. Further, the graph showing the cumulative transmittance in FIG. 6 shows that by extending one cycle time, a processed powder having a narrow particle size distribution suitable as a powder coating material can be obtained.

Embodiment 7 Another embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. A flake product of polyester-based powder coating (gray) (length of one side of about 20 mm, thickness of about 1 mm (about 20 mm × 20 mm × ^t 1 mm)) was used as a raw material and processed by a powder processing apparatus 10 shown in FIG. The conditions were one cycle time of 90 seconds, a processing capacity of 54 kg / hour, the number of revolutions of the rotating piece 14 was 6000 rpm,
The number of revolutions of the classifying rotor 12 is 5000 rpm, and the processing air volume is 8 m.
³ / min, material feed time 15 seconds / 1 cycle, material discharge time 25 seconds / 1 cycle. The gas temperature at the gas inlet 28 was 10 ° C., and the gas temperature at the fine powder outlet 15 was around 29 ° C.

Under the above conditions, the processed powder obtained by processing the raw materials had a recovery of 81%. FIG. 7 shows the cumulative transmittance representing the particle size distribution of the processed powder of this example.

[Embodiment 8] The number of revolutions of the classifying rotor 12 is set to 7
7000 rpm and the processing capacity was 52 kg / hour. The recovery of the treated powder obtained by treating the raw material in this way was 93%. FIG. 7 shows the cumulative transmittance representing the particle size distribution of the processed powder of this example.

Embodiment 9 Another embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. In this embodiment, two-component non-magnetic color toner (magenta), two-component non-magnetic toner (black), one-component magnetic toner (black)
Was used as a raw material to produce a treated powder. The average circularity of the two-component nonmagnetic color toner (magenta) used as the raw material was 0.925, and the average circularity of the two-component nonmagnetic toner (black) was 0.921.
The average circularity of the component magnetic toner (black) was 0.937.

The powder processing apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 3 was used for sphering the raw material. The processing conditions are as follows: the rotation speed of the rotary piece 14 is 5200 rpm to 6000 rpm, the rotation speed of the classification rotor 12 is 6000 rpm to 7500 rpm, and the processing air volume is 8 m ^3.
１５15 m ³ / minute, 1 cycle time 30 seconds to 90 seconds, raw material feed time 2 seconds / 1 cycle, processing powder discharge time 10
Sec / 1 cycle, gas temperature at gas inlet 28 -20 ° C ~
The temperature was 17 ° C., the gas temperature at the fine powder outlet 15 was 20 to 45 ° C., and the processing capacity was 14 kg to 100 kg / hour. By changing the processing conditions variously within the above range, the amount of energy input per unit weight of the toner was changed to achieve spheroidization. The circularity of the obtained treated powder was measured to determine the circularity change rate (ψ).

FIG. 18 shows the relationship between the input energy per unit weight of toner and the circularity change rate measured as described above. From the figure, it is recognized that the circularity change rate increases with an increase in the input energy per unit weight of the toner regardless of the type of the toner.

[Embodiment 10] Another embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. In the present embodiment, a styrene-based resin for toner (trade name: Hymer, manufactured by Sanyo Chemical Industries, Ltd.) was prepared using a counter jet mill 200AFG.
A powder having an average diameter of 8.2 μm, which was produced by pulverization using (manufactured by Hosokawa Micron Corporation), was used as a raw material.

The powder processing apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 3 was used for sphering the raw material. The processing conditions were 55 kg /
Time, the rotation speed of the rotating piece 14 was 6000 rpm, the rotation speed of the classifying rotor 12 was 7300 rpm, and the processing air volume was 15 m ³ / min., One cycle time was 30 seconds, and the raw material feed time was 2 seconds /
One cycle and a treated product discharge time of 8 seconds / 1 cycle were set. The gas temperature at the gas inlet 28 was 7 ° C., and the gas temperature at the fine powder outlet 15 was 38 ° C.

FIG. 19 shows the result of evaluating the particle size distribution of the processed powder obtained by processing the raw materials under the above conditions by the number frequency.

[Comparative Example 3] A TSP separator 31 was used instead of the powder processing apparatus 10 shown in FIG.
A treated powder was obtained in the same manner as in Example 10, except that 5TSP (manufactured by Hosokawa Alpine) was used.

The processing conditions of the TSP separator 315 TSP are as follows: the classification rotor rotation speed is 2900 rpm, and the processing air volume is 20 m.
³ / min, and the processing capacity was 100 kg / hour.

FIG. 19 shows the result of evaluating the particle size distribution of the processed powder obtained by processing the raw materials under the above conditions by the number frequency.

[Comparative Example 4] TSP separator 315TS
FIG. 19 shows the results of evaluating the particle size distribution of the treated powder obtained by treating the raw material twice under the exact same conditions as in Comparative Example 3 using the number frequency.

Embodiment 11 Another embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. In this embodiment, the color toner is transferred to a counter jet mill 200AF.
A powder having an average diameter of 7.6 μm, prepared by pulverizing using G (manufactured by Hosokawa Micron Corporation), was used as a raw material.

The powder processing apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 3 was used for sphering the raw material. The processing conditions were as follows: the rotating speed of the rotating piece 14 was 5200 rpm, and the rotating speed of the classifying rotor 12 was 7000 rpm.
M～7300rpm, as a process air volume 10m ³ ~15m ³ / min, 1 cycle time 30 to 80 seconds, the raw material feed time 2 sec / 1 cycle, treated powder discharge time 10-12 sec / 1
The cycle and the processing capacity were set to 30 to 50 kg / hour, and spheroidization was performed by changing the processing conditions within this range. The gas temperature at the gas inlet 28 is 0 ° C.
Was about 35 ° C.

FIG. 20 shows the relationship between the amount of fine powder having a particle size of 4 μm or less and the yield of the processed powder obtained by processing the raw materials under the above conditions.

Comparative Example 5 A TSP separator 31 was used instead of the powder processing apparatus 10 shown in FIG.
A treated powder was obtained in the same manner as in Example 11 except that 5TSP (manufactured by Hosokawa Alpine) was used.

The processing conditions of the TSP separator 315 TSP are as follows: Classification rotor rotation speed 2500 rpm to 3000 rpm
m, the processing air volume was 20 m ³ / min, and the processing capacity was 50 kg / hour.

FIG. 20 shows the relationship between the amount of fine powder having a particle size of 4 μm or less and the yield of the processed powder obtained by processing the raw materials under the above conditions.

According to the graph of FIG. 20, in both Example 11 and Comparative Example 5, the yield of the treated powder increases as the proportion of the fine powder having a particle size of 4 μm or less increases, but Example 11 is different from Comparative Example 5. The processing powder yield is also good, and the powder processing apparatus 10
It can be seen that the yield is superior to the TSP separator 315 TSP.

[0186]

As described above, the powder processing apparatus of the present invention applies mechanical energy and / or fluid energy to raw materials, and performs pulverization, shape control, compounding, surface treatment, mixing, external addition, and production. A powder processing unit that performs one or more of granulation, fusion, and drying to obtain a processed powder; and selectively selects only fine powder having a predetermined particle size or less from raw materials and / or processed powder. The apparatus is provided with a fine powder removing section that passes through and removes the inside of the main body, and an extraction section that takes out the processed powder from the inside of the main body.

Therefore, the raw material can be processed by the powder processing section inside the main body, and unnecessary fine powder having a predetermined particle size or less can be removed from the inside of the main body. For this reason, a processed powder containing no unnecessary fine powder as a residue inside the main body is obtained, and can be easily taken out from the take-out part. Thereby, there is an effect that it is possible to provide a compact and easy-to-handle powder processing apparatus that realizes powder processing and classification by one apparatus.

In the powder processing apparatus of the present invention, the raw material and the processed powder can be kept in the powder processing apparatus consistently from the input of the raw material to the removal of the product. Therefore, it is possible to solve the problem of mixing of foreign substances and the adhesion to the transport pipe, which occur in moving the transport pipe as in the conventional apparatus, and the similar problem in a classifier or dust collector as ancillary equipment. . This facilitates cleaning and cleaning after the operation of the powder processing apparatus, which is advantageous in terms of maintenance of the powder processing apparatus.

[0189] Further, for example, the temperature in the powder processing container is adjusted, a vacuum is applied, an inert gas atmosphere is set, and clean air capable of processing medicines, food materials, and the like is introduced. Can be easily handled.

Further, in order to perform a treatment such as adhesion prevention or abrasion prevention on a portion of the powder processing apparatus which comes into contact with the raw material and / or the processed powder, it is sufficient to perform the processing only in the processing container. For this reason, these processes can be performed at a low cost, that is, there is an economic effect that costs required for maintenance and management can be suppressed.

[0191] The powder processing apparatus of the present invention may further include a cylindrical portion between the classifying rotor and the main body, and the cylindrical portion is provided with the powder of the cylindrical portion. It is preferable that the inner diameter increases continuously toward the end on the body treatment section side.

As a result, there is an effect that the raw material other than the fine powder can be efficiently circulated to obtain the processed powder.

The powder processing apparatus of the present invention may further include a temperature control section for setting the temperature inside the main body.

Thus, there is an effect that the temperature inside the main body can be set arbitrarily and powder processing can be performed at a temperature suitable for the type of raw material and the target powder to be processed.

The powder processing apparatus may further include a cylindrical portion temperature adjusting section for setting the temperature of the cylindrical portion. Thereby, there is an effect that the temperature at the time of powder processing can be more reliably controlled.

The powder processing section of the powder processing apparatus may be a pulverization processing section for pulverizing raw materials,
It may be a composite processing unit that composites by applying at least one of an impact force, a compressive force, and a shear force.

As a result, there is an effect that processing such as pulverization and compounding and classification can be performed using one powder processing apparatus.

The powder processing apparatus may further include a gas injection unit, and the gas injection unit may have a variable gas injection direction.

It is preferable that the main body is provided with a gas introduction part and a gas introduction valve part.
Thereby, at the time of powder processing, there is an effect that the main body can be air-sealed and leakage of the raw material and the like from the inside of the main body can be reliably prevented.

Further, a plate-like body which obstructs the flow of the processing powder formed by the rotation of the rotary piece is formed so as to overlap at least a part of the inside of the main body of the processing powder outlet. Is preferred. Thereby, there is an effect that the processing powder inside the main body can be efficiently taken out of the main body.

Further, the powder processing method of the present invention includes a fine powder removing step of removing fine powder having a predetermined particle size or less contained in the raw material and / or the processed powder in parallel with the powder processing step.

Therefore, since the fine powder can be removed from the inside of the main body in parallel with the powder processing step, there is an effect that a processed powder containing no unnecessary fine powder can be obtained.

The powder processing method of the present invention includes a fine powder removing step of removing fine powder having a predetermined particle size or less contained in the raw material and / or the processed powder in parallel with the pulverizing step. Therefore, there is an effect that it is possible to obtain a processed powder whose particle diameter is within a desired range.

The powder processing method of the present invention includes a fine powder removing step of removing fine powder having a predetermined particle size or less contained in the raw material and / or the processed powder in parallel with the shape control step.

Further, the powder processing method of the present invention comprises a shape control step of changing the shape of a raw material into a processed powder in parallel with the pulverizing step; and a raw material and / or processed powder in parallel with the pulverizing step. And a fine powder removing step of removing fine powder having a particle size equal to or smaller than a predetermined particle size.

Therefore, unnecessary fine powder can be removed by the fine powder removing step in parallel with the shape control step and / or the pulverizing step. For this reason, there is an effect that a shape-controlled toner or coating material that does not contain unnecessary fine powder can be easily obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a powder processing system including a powder processing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a powder processing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a schematic configuration of a powder processing apparatus according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway view illustrating a schematic configuration of a powder processing apparatus according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a partially cutaway view illustrating a schematic configuration of a powder processing apparatus according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 6 shows treated powders of Examples 4 to 6 and Comparative Example 2.
3 is a graph showing the particle size distribution of the treated powder of Example 1.

FIG. 7 is a graph showing the particle size distribution of the treated powders of Examples 7 and 8.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing a schematic configuration of another embodiment of the powder processing apparatus of the first embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a schematic configuration of a powder processing apparatus according to a fourth embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view illustrating a schematic configuration of a powder processing apparatus according to a fifth embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a sectional view illustrating a schematic configuration of a powder processing apparatus according to a sixth embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a sectional view taken along the line AA ′, showing a schematic configuration of a gas injection unit of the powder processing apparatus of FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is a sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a take-out cylinder of the powder processing apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 14 is a sectional view illustrating a schematic configuration of a powder processing apparatus according to a seventh embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a sectional view taken along the line BB ′ showing the position of an extraction plate of the powder processing apparatus according to the seventh embodiment.

FIG. 16 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line CC ′ showing the position of a take-out plate of the powder processing apparatus according to the seventh embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of an example of a conventional toner and powder coating material manufacturing system including a plurality of devices.

FIG. 18 is a graph showing a relationship between input energy per unit weight of toner and a degree of change in circularity.

FIG. 19 is a graph showing the particle size distribution of the treated powders of Example 10, Comparative Examples 3 and 4, using the number frequency.

FIG. 20 is a graph showing the relationship between the amount of fine powder having a particle size of 4 μm or less contained in the treated powder and the yield of the treated powder.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Powder processing apparatus 6 Main body 7 Powder processing section 8 Fine powder removing section 9 Extraction section 10 Powder processing apparatus 11 Main body 12 Classification rotor (fine powder removing section) 13, 63 Guide ring (tubular section) 14 Rotating piece (powder) Processing unit, pulverization processing unit) 15 fine powder discharge unit (fine powder removal unit) 17 extraction unit (processing powder outlet) 19 extraction valve (extraction unit) 20 extraction tube (extraction unit) 21 jacket unit (temperature control unit) 22 drive shaft Reference Signs List 30 powder processing device 32 classification unit (fine powder removal unit) 34 gas injection unit (powder processing unit, pulverization processing unit) 35 fine powder discharge unit (fine powder removal unit) 40 powder processing device 42 classification unit (fine powder removal unit) 44 Rotor (powder processing section, composite processing section) 45 Fine powder discharge section (fine powder removing section) 48 Inner piece (powder processing section, composite processing section) 51 Jacket section (temperature control section) 100 Powder processing apparatus 114 grinding B Data (powder processing section, pulverization processing section) 119 dispersion pin (powder processing section) 140 powder processing apparatus 141 main body 142 first classification rotor (fine powder removing section) 143 second classification rotor 150 powder processing apparatus 153 Jacket section (temperature control section) 156 Gas introduction section 157 Gas introduction valve 158 Insertion section 160 Powder processing device 161 Extraction plate (plate-like body)

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) B02C 23/28 B02C 23/28 B07B 7/083 B07B 7/083 G03G 9/087 G03G 9/08 381

Claims (19)

[Claims] 1. A powder processing apparatus for processing a raw material collectively in a main body to produce a processed powder, wherein the raw material is subjected to mechanical energy and / or fluid energy to pulverize, shape control, composite, and surface. Processing, mixing,
A powder processing unit that performs one or more of external addition, granulation, fusion, and drying to obtain a processed powder; and only a fine powder having a predetermined particle size or less among raw materials and / or processed powder. , A fine powder removing section for selectively passing the fine powder from the inside of the main body, and an extracting section for taking out the processing powder inside the main body to the outside of the main body. Processing equipment. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the fine powder removing unit includes a classifying rotor having a plurality of blades inside the main body, and a drive shaft for driving the classifying rotor to rotate. The powder according to claim 1, wherein only the fine powder that has passed through the classification rotor is removed from the inside of the main body, and a cylindrical portion is further provided between the classification rotor and the main body. Body treatment device. 3. The cylindrical part according to claim 2, wherein an inner diameter of the cylindrical part increases continuously toward an end of the cylindrical part on the powder processing part side. Powder processing equipment. 4. The powder processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a temperature control section for setting a temperature inside the main body. 5. The powder processing apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising a cylindrical portion temperature adjusting section for setting a temperature of the cylindrical portion. 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein said powder processing section is a pulverizing processing section for pulverizing a raw material.
A powder processing apparatus according to the item. 7. A composite processing section wherein the powder processing section is a composite processing section for applying at least one of an impact force, a compressive force and a shearing force to two or more kinds of raw materials to form a composite. Item 6. The powder processing apparatus according to any one of Items 1 to 5. 8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the pulverizing section comprises a rotary piece and a drive section for driving the rotary piece to rotate, and the raw material is pulverized or compounded by rotation of the rotary piece. The powder processing apparatus according to claim 6 or 7, wherein 9. The crushing unit further includes a gas injection unit for crushing or compounding the raw material by injecting a gas into the main body, wherein the gas injection unit has a variable gas injection direction. 9. The powder processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the powder processing apparatus is used. 10. A casing having a processing powder outlet formed on a side surface thereof for taking out processing powder inside the main body to the outside of the main body, the processing powder outlet communicating between the inside of the main body and the outside. The take-out part is connected to the outside of the main body so as to close the processing powder outlet so that the insertion part is inserted from the outside of the main body and the inside thereof communicates with the inside of the main body through the processing powder outlet. A take-out tube portion, a take-out valve portion that opens and closes the side opposite to the main body of the take-out tube portion, a gas introduction portion for introducing gas into the inside of the take-out tube portion, and And a gas introduction valve section for controlling the introduction of gas into the vessel.
The powder processing apparatus according to any one of claims 9 to 9. 11. The casing according to claim 1, wherein the main body is provided with a processing powder outlet for communicating the processing powder inside the main body with the outside for taking out the processing powder inside the main body to the outside of the main body. The plate-like body that inhibits the flow of the processing powder formed by the rotation of the rotating piece is formed so as to overlap at least a part of the inside of the main body of the processing powder outlet. The powder processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: 12. The powder processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processed powder is a toner and / or a toner intermediate product. 13. A powder processing method for batch-processing raw materials into processed powders, wherein mechanical energy and / or fluid energy are applied to the raw materials to grind, shape-control, compound, surface-treat, and mix. ,
A powder processing step in which one or more of external addition, granulation, fusion and drying are performed to obtain a processed powder; and a raw material and / or a processed powder which is parallel to the powder processing step. A fine powder removing step of removing fine powder having a particle size equal to or smaller than a predetermined particle size. 14. A powder processing method in which raw materials are batch-processed into a toner or a powder coating material, wherein a pulverizing step of pulverizing the raw materials to obtain a processed powder, A fine powder removing step of removing fine powder having a predetermined particle size or less contained in the processed powder. 15. A powder processing method for batch-processing raw materials into a toner or a powder coating, comprising: a shape control step of changing a raw material into a processed powder; And / or a fine powder removing step of removing fine powder having a predetermined particle size or less contained in the processed powder. 16. A powder processing method for batch-processing raw materials to obtain a toner or a powder coating, comprising: a shape control step of changing a raw material into a processed powder; And / or an external addition step of adding an external additive to the processed powder, and a fine powder removing method for removing a fine powder having a predetermined particle size or less contained in the processed powder. . 17. A powder processing method for batch-processing raw materials into a toner or a powder coating, comprising: a pulverizing step of pulverizing the raw materials; A powder processing method, comprising: a shape control step of performing a fine powder removal step; and a fine powder removal step of removing fine powder having a predetermined particle size or less contained in the raw material and / or the processed powder in parallel with the pulverization step. 18. A powder processing method in which raw materials are batch-processed into a toner or a powder coating, comprising: a pulverizing step of pulverizing the raw materials; Shape control step, a fine powder removing step for removing fine powder having a predetermined particle size or less contained in the raw material and / or the processed powder in parallel with the pulverizing step, and an external additive for adding an external additive to the processed powder. And a powder processing method. 19. A toner according to claim 14, wherein said toner or powder coating is a toner and / or toner intermediate, or a powder coating and / or powder coating intermediate.
19. The powder processing method according to any one of items 18 to 18.