JP2004130308A - Method for freeze-crushing crude drug and apparatus therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for easily crushing a crude drug much containing oil content, sugar content or the like into particulate, and an apparatus for freeze-crushing the crude drug. <P>SOLUTION: A method for freeze-crushing the crude drug is the one that a crusher and a crude drug feeder connected thereto are used. The crude drug is frozen by charging liquid nitrogen at a plurality of places in the course of feeding the crude drug by the crude drug feeder to crush the frozen crude drug into a particulate state in the crusher. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

The present invention relates to a method and a device for freezing and crushing a crude drug at a very low temperature and then crushing the crude drug.

When crude drugs are used as medicines or health foods, crushed crude oils containing a lot of essential oils and sugars such as cinnamon bark, ground yellow, asahi, apricot, peach, jinji, choji, Fenka, Daifenka, Sanshuyu, daijutsu, thinly-loaded leaves and tablets etc. It can be used in the form.

However, since these crude drugs contain a large amount of oil, even if they are crushed into a fine powder by using a crusher alone, they stick to the crusher and become stuck in the crusher and burn. Therefore, conventionally, the mixture is ground with mixing with another easily-crushed crude drug, or after mixing with excipients such as starch.

However, there is a problem that when mixed with other crude drugs and crushed, the desired crude drug cannot be used alone. In addition, when excipients such as starch are mixed and then pulverized, an operation of separating and removing the excipient from the mixed powder is required, and there is a problem that production efficiency is poor.

In addition, when pulverizing after mixing raw materials of a plurality of herbal medicines at normal temperature by a conventional method, even if all the herbal medicines can be pulverized, there is a problem that the particle diameters are not uniform. It had to be done frequently and the particle size adjusted.

The present invention has been made in view of such a point, and an object of the present invention is to provide a crude drug crushing method and a crude drug crushing device that can easily crush a crude drug containing a large amount of oil, sugar and the like into fine powder. It is.

According to the present invention, there is provided a crude drug freeze-grinding method using a crushing device and a crude drug supply device connected to the crushing device, wherein liquid nitrogen is supplied at a plurality of locations while the crude drug is being supplied to the crushing device by the crude drug supply device. The crude drug is then frozen, and the frozen crude drug is pulverized by the pulverizing device.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a step of supplying a crude drug, a step of supplying a liquid nitrogen at a plurality of locations during supply of the crude drug in the crude drug supply step, and freezing the crude drug, and a step of pulverizing the frozen crude drug, And a method for freeze-crushing a crude drug, characterized by comprising:

Further, according to still another aspect of the present invention, a crude drug supply device whose lid is opened and closed, a refrigerating device provided below and connected to the crude drug supply device and supplied with liquid nitrogen, a pulverizing device, and the refrigerating device. A method for freezing and crushing a herbal medicine using a first valve provided between a device and the crushing device, wherein the step of opening the lid, the step of closing the first valve, Supplying the liquid nitrogen at a flow rate for a first fixed time to clean the crude drug supply device; closing the lid after supplying the crude drug to the crude drug supply device; and supplying the liquid nitrogen for the first fixed time. The first valve is opened, a second constant flow rate of the liquid nitrogen is supplied to the refrigerator from a plurality of locations for a second constant time to freeze the crude drug, and the frozen crude drug is crushed by the pulverizer. so Herbal freeze-grinding method characterized by comprising the steps of: grinding is provided.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, a crude drug supply device that is opened and closed by a lid to supply a crude drug, and a crude drug transport unit that transports a crude drug horizontally from a first device end to a second device end. A liquid nitrogen spraying section provided in the transport direction of the crude drug transport section and a plurality of liquid nitrogen spray sections provided in the transport direction of the crude drug transport section, the first device end provided below the crude drug supply device. A refrigerating device connected to the crude drug supply device at a portion, a pulverizing device provided below the refrigerating device and pulverizing the herbal medicine falling from the end of the second device, and between the refrigerating device and the pulverizing device. And a passage blocking means for blocking a passage through which the nitrogen gas passes.

When freezing crude drugs with liquid nitrogen, a method of pouring liquid nitrogen into a container containing crude drugs and immersing the whole crude drug in liquid nitrogen can be considered. However, in this method, it is difficult to freeze the crude drug uniformly, and furthermore, it takes a very long time to freeze the crude drug to the core.

生 One feature of the crude drug freezing and crushing method of the present invention is that liquid nitrogen is supplied at a plurality of locations during the supply of the crude drug. With such a liquid nitrogen supply method, the crude drug can be uniformly frozen to the core in a short time.

生 The crude drug completely frozen at extremely low temperature can be easily pulverized into fine powder by a pulverizer while maintaining the essential oil components and the like of the crude drug.

Further, when a plurality of types of crude drug raw materials are mixed and then pulverized by the crude drug freezing and pulverizing method of the present invention, the particle size can be adjusted very easily, and the pulverization can be performed while keeping the water content and the essential oil content.

As a result, it is possible to easily comply with the regulation of the dry raw material and the regulation of the essential oil content according to the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Control Regulations, and it is possible to stabilize the quality and emphasize the good fragrance due to the retention of essential oils which could not be achieved conventionally.

Also, since the crude drug is charged after the air inside the loading hopper is exhausted, the crude drug is not attacked by various bacteria or moisture.

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural view of an apparatus suitable for carrying out the method for freeze-crushing crude drugs of the present invention. Reference numeral 2 denotes a crusher, which is rotationally driven by a motor 4. As the pulverizer 2, for example, Cryomill # CM-250-4M (trade name) manufactured by Nippon Sanso Corporation can be used.

供給 A supply device 6 is connected to the crusher 2. The supply device 6 is configured by housing a screw conveyor (not shown) in a stainless steel pipe 8. The pipe 8 is configured to be split in two in the longitudinal direction, so that the inside of the pipe 8 can be sufficiently washed with water.

投入 The pipe 8 is connected to a charging hopper 10 also made of stainless steel. Reference numeral 12 denotes a liquid nitrogen storage tank. The liquid nitrogen in the tank 12 is configured to be supplied to the pipe 8 and the charging hopper 10 through the pipe 14. A flow regulating valve 16 and a plurality of supply valves 18 are provided in the pipe 14.

流量 The flow control valve 16 and the supply valve 18 are connected to a control device (not shown), and the control device controls the opening and closing thereof. The cyclone 20 is connected to the pulverizer 2 via a pipe 22.

Hereinafter, a method for freeze-crushing a crude drug of the present invention using an apparatus as illustrated will be described. First, a crude drug as a raw material is inserted into the input hopper 10. The crude drug to be charged is preferably cut in advance into, for example, a 10 mm cubic shape.

The crude drug introduced into the introduction hopper 10 is gradually conveyed by the screw conveyor of the supply device 6 and supplied to the crusher 2 in, for example, 6 to 10 minutes.

(4) During the supply of the crude drug, the flow control valve 16 and the supply valve 18 are opened, and the liquid nitrogen in the tank 12 is supplied into the pipe 8 and / or the charging hopper 10. At this time, for example, when supplying a crude drug which is easy to freeze, only one or a plurality of supply valves 18 on the side close to the crusher 2 are opened to supply the liquid nitrogen into the pipe 8, so that the crude drug is sufficiently supplied. You can freeze the core.

However, in the case of a crude drug containing a very large amount of essential oils, sugars, etc., such as Asako-jin, apricot, peach, Sanjuyu, jujube, wolfberry, Toki, etc., all supply valves 18 are opened. Liquid nitrogen is supplied not only into the pipe 8 but also into the charging hopper 10.

(4) With such a liquid nitrogen supply method, a crude drug that is difficult to freeze can be uniformly frozen to the core. Preferably, when these crude drugs are freeze-ground, they are dried in advance in a drier to reduce the water content to 4% or less. By freeze-crushing after drying, it becomes easy to grind into fine powder.

開 閉 The opening and closing of each supply valve 18 is performed according to a program stored in the control device. This program differs depending on the type of crude drug to be supplied. Generally, the supply valve 18 is not always opened during the supply of the crude drug, but is opened and closed intermittently according to the program.

粉 砕 While the crude drug is being supplied by the supply device 6, the crusher 2 is constantly rotating. Therefore, the crude drug frozen by liquid nitrogen is supplied to the crusher 2 and crushed into fine powder at the same time.

(4) The crushed crude drug is sucked into the cyclone 20 through the pipe 22 and separated into powdered crude drug and nitrogen gas. The powdered crude drug is taken out from the lower side of the cyclone 20 as a product, the low-temperature nitrogen gas is returned to the pulverizer 2 via a pipe 24, and the used nitrogen gas is discharged outdoors.

Table 1 shows a comparison of essential oil content between the freeze-pulverization method of the present invention and the conventional pulverization method in which crude drugs are not frozen.

　表１から明らかなように、普通粉砕方法の場合には約半分程度の精油成分が失われているが、本発明の凍結粉砕方法の場合にはほとんど全ての精油成分を保持したまま粉砕できている。

As is clear from Table 1, about half of the essential oil components are lost in the case of the ordinary pulverization method, but in the case of the freeze-pulverization method of the present invention, it is possible to pulverize while retaining almost all the essential oil components. I have.

Table 2 shows the pulverization findings when the freeze-pulverization method of the present invention is employed and when the conventional pulverization method that does not freeze crude drugs is employed.

　表２から麻子仁、桃仁、杏仁等の精油成分を多く含む生薬は、粉砕機に生薬を投入してもその粘り気のために粉砕機に生薬が詰まってこげたりし、粉砕することは不可能である。

From Table 2, crude drugs containing a lot of essential oils such as Asakojin, peach and apricot kernel cannot be crushed because crude drugs are clogged in the crusher due to their stickiness even if crude drugs are put into the crusher. It is.

In contrast, in the case of the freeze-pulverization method of the present invention, it can be seen that all the crude drugs tested can be pulverized into fine particles of about 100 μm.

粉 砕 Next, Table 3 shows the pulverization findings in the case where a plurality of types of crude drug raw materials are mixed and then pulverized by the freeze pulverization method of the present invention, and in the case where the conventional pulverization method in which the crude drug is not frozen is employed.

　表３から、従来の粉砕方法では微粉末化が困難であった混合粉末も、本発明の凍結粉砕方法により粉砕した場合には、水分及び精油分を保持したまま１３５μｍ以下の微粉末に粉砕できることが分かる。

From Table 3, it can be seen that the mixed powder, which was difficult to pulverize by the conventional pulverization method, can be pulverized to a fine powder of 135 μm or less while retaining the moisture and essential oil content when pulverized by the freeze pulverization method of the present invention. I understand.

As a result, it is possible to easily comply with the regulation of dry raw materials and the regulation of essential oil content according to the regulation of pharmaceutical production management, and to stabilize the quality and emphasize the good fragrance due to the retention of essential oils which could not be achieved conventionally.

FIG. 2 is a detailed configuration diagram of the crude drug freezing and crushing device of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the crude drug generator of the present invention includes a charging hopper 50, a frozen feeder 52, a charging chute 54, a crusher 56, a cyclone 58, a crushed product hopper 60, an air transporter 62, a compressor 64, and a liquid (not shown). It is equipped with a nitrogen supply tank, a main control panel (control device) and an operation panel at hand.

(4) A lid 100 is provided in the charging hopper 50 (supplying device), and the crude drug is supplied after the lid 100 is removed. The charging hopper 50 is connected to a freezing feeder 52 through a rotary valve 110.

The rotary valve 110 is closed so that a passage necessary for passing the crude drug can be secured when the crude drug is charged. When the charging hopper 50 is cleaned, nitrogen gas is further supplied to the charging hopper 50 from below. It is fully opened so that the passage required for inflow can be secured.

(2) When a shaft (not shown) provided in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the paper of FIG. 2 rotates, the rotating body rotates like a water wheel, and the herbal medicine drops to the frozen feeder 52.

回 転 The rotation speed is controlled by the motor 112 connected to the shaft, and the amount of the crude drug falling into the frozen feeder 52 is adjusted. A main control panel (not shown) controls opening and closing of the rotary valve 110. The limit switch 114 automatically stops the rotary valve 110 when the lid of the rotary valve 110 is open.

The refrigeration feeder 52 (refrigeration apparatus) is provided to be connected to the lower part of the charging hopper 50, and includes a liquid nitrogen supply pipe 150, a plurality of nozzles 152 # i (i = 1, 2,...), A screw conveyor 154, a needle It has a valve 156, an air seal 158, a motor 160, a ball valve 162, a regulator 164, a pressure gauge 166, and a level switch 168.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the frozen feeder 52 in FIG. 2, and is a front view of a state in which the periphery of the frozen feeder 52 is removed. 4 is a left side view of FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is a right side view of FIG. FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG.

The liquid nitrogen supply pipe 150 is a pipe for supplying liquid nitrogen, and is provided at an upper portion inside the refrigeration feeder 52 as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, the nozzle 122 #i (i = 1,...) Has a liquid nitrogen supply pipe 150 with an ejection port attached downward.

As shown in FIG. 6, a screw conveyor 154 is provided adjacent to and below the nozzle 122 # i (i = 1, 2,...). The screw conveyor 154 is provided with a plurality of screws, and rotates in a fixed direction by rotation of a shaft 179 shown in FIG. The crude drug supplied from the end is gradually transported by the rotation of the screw.

For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the herbal medicine rotates in the frozen feeder 52 from the right end (the first device end) to the left end (the second device end) by rotating clockwise as viewed from the motor 160 side. It is designed to be transported. At this time, the frozen feeder 52 has the following structure in order to surely and effectively freeze the crude drug.

First, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the transport direction is long. For example, the transport direction is about 2 meters. Second, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a plurality of nozzles 122 # i (i = 1,...) Are provided in the transport direction, and liquid nitrogen is sprayed on the crude drug from a plurality of locations.

Third, as shown in FIG. 6, the inside of the frozen feeder 52 is moved in the transport direction inside the frozen feeder 52 in order to efficiently freeze the crude drug, that is, to freeze the crude drug with a minimum of liquid nitrogen. The cross-sectional area in the vertical direction is small, and the cross-section has a rectangular shape and a lower end portion formed of a semicircle.

For example, the internal space of the freezing feeder 52 is formed of a rectangular parallelepiped having a transport direction of about 2 m, a horizontal direction perpendicular to the transport direction of about 16 cm, a depth direction of about 20 cm on a side, and a hemispherical space having a depth direction of about 8 cm. . The screw diameter of the screw of the screw conveyor 154 is about 8 cm, and the screw is accommodated in the hemispherical space at the lower end of the frozen feeder 52 and the upper hemispherical space.

As described above, the inside of the freezing feeder 52 has a minimum volume that can accommodate the screw conveyor 154 and the nozzles 122 #i (i = 1,...).

Third, as shown in FIG. 6, the periphery of the frozen feeder 52 is covered with, for example, a heat insulating material having a thickness of about 10 cm so as to exhibit a heat insulating effect and not to waste the cool air inside the frozen feeder 52. Has been done. The lid 180 of the frozen feeder 52 is also made of a heat insulating material.

蓋 As shown in FIG. 6, the lid 180 is rotated by 120 degrees so that the inside of the frozen feeder 52 can be opened in order to easily clean the inside of the frozen feeder 52. The frozen feeder 52 is supported by a table 222 as shown in FIG.

ニ ー ド ル As shown in FIG. 2, a needle valve 156 is provided in the liquid nitrogen supply pipe 150 to control the amount of inflow of liquid nitrogen. The control of the inflow amount of liquid nitrogen is because liquid nitrogen is expensive, so that the inflow amount is optimal to achieve a cost corresponding to the type of crude drug. For example, the pressure of the nitrogen gas inside the frozen feeder 52 is set to a value suitable for crude drugs in the range of 0.3 to 1.4 atm.

The freezing feeder 52 is provided with an air seal 158. As shown in FIG. 2, the air seal 158 is provided at a portion where the shaft 179 of the screw conveyor 154 disposed inside the freezing feeder 52 is disposed outside.

The air seal 158 is provided on the shaft 179 because the shaft 179 is inserted into an opening provided on the outer wall of the freezing feeder 52 and is connected to the motor 160 disposed outside the freezing feeder 52 and rotates. .

(3) As shown in FIG. 3, a packing 184 is provided in contact with the opening of the outer wall of the refrigeration filter 52. The air seal 158 is provided with a lantern ring 178 provided around the shaft 179 adjacent to the packing 184 and a nitrogen injection port 183 for injecting nitrogen below the lantern ring 178.

The compressed nitrogen gas whose flow rate is controlled by the ball valve 162 and the regulator 164 in FIG. 2 is injected from the nitrogen injection port 183 to the lantern ring 178 to apply pressure to the lantern ring 178 so that the lantern ring 178 is in close contact with the shaft 179. Then, the nitrogen gas is applied to the opening side where the shaft 179 is inserted, thereby preventing the low-temperature nitrogen in the frozen feeder 52 from leaking. A pressure gauge 166 is provided to control the flow rate of liquid nitrogen.

グ ラ ン ド Furthermore, a gland packing 181 is provided around the horizontal outer periphery of the lantern ring 178 to prevent low-temperature nitrogen from leaking. The level switch 168 automatically stops the screw conveyor 154 and the like when the lid of the freezing feeder 52 is open.

The charging chute 54 is provided below the end of the second device of the frozen feeder 52 and connects the frozen feeder 52 and the crusher 56. The input chute 54 is provided with a rotary valve 200 (passage shut-off means) for preventing the low-temperature nitrogen gas from leaking to the pulverizer 56 during air cleaning. The structure of the rotary valve 200 is the same as that of the rotary valve 110.

The rotation of the rotary valve 200 is controlled by a motor 202, and its opening and closing are controlled by a main control panel. The limit switch 204 automatically stops when the lid of the rotary valve 200 is open. The rotary rub 200 is closed when the air inside the charging hopper 50 is discharged before charging the crude drug, and is opened when the crude drug is charged.

液体 Spray liquid nitrogen, the flow rate of which is controlled by the needle valve 206, from the nozzle 215 into the lower part of the charging chute 54. This is because the crude drug is further frozen in the input chute 54. A pressure gauge 208 is provided to control the flow rate of liquid nitrogen. As shown in FIG. 3, a temperature sensor 220 is provided in the charging chute 54 to determine whether the crude drug is effectively frozen.

The nitrogen in the atmosphere filtered by the air filter 210 is supplied to the charging chute 54 with the flow rate controlled by the butterfly valve 212 and the check valve 213, and is supplied to the refrigeration feeder 52 through the butterfly valve 216.

This is when the crude drug is pulverized at normal temperature without using liquid nitrogen (normal temperature pulverization). Atmosphere is injected from the upper part of the frozen feeder 52 instead of liquid nitrogen. As described above, it is possible to select one of freeze-crushing and room-temperature grinding of crude drugs in accordance with the type of crude drug.

The pulverizer 56 (pulverizer) is provided below the chute 54 and is rotated by the motor 254 to pulverize the crude drug. Since the low-temperature nitrogen is supplied from the freezing feeder 52, the pulverizer 56 injects compressed nitrogen, the amount of which is controlled by the ball valve 250 and the regulator 252, through the air seal 256 in order to prevent leakage of nitrogen gas.

At the time of normal temperature pulverization, nitrogen in the air filtered by the air filter 300 is supplied into the pipe 310 at an inflow amount controlled by the butterfly valve 302.

Pulverizer 56 is connected to inlet 350 of cyclone 58 through pipe 310. Since the nitrogen gas in the cyclone 58 is sucked by the pneumatic transport device 62 during the crude drug pulverization, the crude drug pulverized by the pulverizer 56 is sucked and conveyed to the inlet 350 together with the nitrogen gas through the pipe 310. I have.

An exhaust port 352 connected to the pneumatic transport unit 62 is provided above the Sinecron 58 for sucking nitrogen gas in the cyclone 58 and the crushed product hopper 60 to suck and transport the crushed product from the pipe 300.

(5) The exhaust port 352 is provided with a filter (not shown) that prevents the passage of the pulverized product, for example, passes only particles or gas having a certain size or less and does not allow particles larger than the gas or gas to pass.

The crushed product hopper (herbal medicine storage device) 60 receives the crushed product. Below this, a plurality of air knockers 360 # 1, 360 # 2 and an air blow 362 are provided. The air knockers 360 # 1 and 360 # 2 vibrate the crushed product hopper 60 with the supplied compressed nitrogen to prevent the crushed product from adhering around the crushed product hopper 60.

{Circle around (2)} The air blow 362 injects compressed nitrogen gas into the crushed product hopper 60 and blows the falling crushed product to prevent the crushed product from sticking to the crushed product hopper 60.

The reason why the nitrogen gas is supplied to the air knockers 360 # 1 and 360 # 2 and the air blow 362 instead of the air is to prevent dew condensation in the crushed product hopper 60 and the pipe because the temperature in the crushed product hopper 362 is low.

ロ ー タ A rotary valve 400 is provided below the crushed product hopper 60. Rotation of the rotary valve 400 is controlled by a motor 404, and opening and closing is controlled by a main control panel. The limit switch 402 automatically stops when the lid of the rotary valve 400 is open. The rotary valve 400 is closed during the crude drug pulverization, is fully opened after the completion of the crude drug pulverization, and the pulverized product is stored in a container provided below.

The pneumatic transporter 62 is connected to the exhaust port 352 of the cyclone 58 and removes, by the bag filter 450, fine particles generated when the nitrogen gas is sucked. The nitrogen gas sucked by the air transporter 62 is discharged through the butterfly valve 506 and the line filter 508 for purifying N ₂ waste to a path returning to the compressor 64 or a path exhausted outside.

The compressor 64 compresses the nitrogen gas filtered by the air filter 500 and the nitrogen gas supplied from the line filter 508 by the rotation of the motor 510. The flow rate of the nitrogen gas compressed by the compressor 64 is controlled by the regulators 162, 250, 452 and the ball valves 164, 252, 454, and the air seals 158, 256, the tank 456, and the air knocker 360 # i (i = 1, 2). And the air blow 362.

(4) The nitrogen gas supplied to the tank 456 is injected from above into the bag filter 450 to prevent the bag filter 450 from being clogged.

The main control panel (not shown) stores a program for executing the crude drug freezing and crushing method. The needle valve 156 for controlling the flow rate of liquid nitrogen and the opening and closing of the rotary valves 110, 220, and 400 by executing the program. Controls the entire device. The hand operation unit is for performing a discharge operation of the crushed product hopper 62.

Hereinafter, the method of pulverizing and producing a crude drug of the present invention using the crude drug pulverizing apparatus shown in FIG. 2 will be described. FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 are flowcharts showing the method of freeze-crushing crude drugs.

に お い て In step S2 in FIG. 7, equipment such as a butterfly valve for pulverizing at room temperature is closed. In step S4, the lid 100 of the charging hopper 50 is opened. In step S6, the rotary valve 110 is fully opened so that the nitrogen gas from the freezing feeder 52 flows into the charging hopper 50. In step S8, the rotary valve 200 is closed so that nitrogen gas is not output to the crusher 56 side.

In step S10, the needle valve 156 is adjusted, and liquid nitrogen is sprayed from the nozzle 152 # i (i = 1 to 7) into the liquid nitrogen supply pipe 150 at a desired flow rate (first constant flow rate). Liquid nitrogen is supplied into the feeder 52. Since the rotary valve 200 is closed, the nitrogen gas supplied to the refrigeration feeder 52 fills the inside and the partial pressure increases.

Since the nitrogen gas is lighter than the air, the nitrogen gas flows into the charging hopper 50 through the passage fully opened by the opened rotary valve 110 while pushing up the air. The inflowing nitrogen gas rises inside the charging hopper 50, and since the lid 100 is opened, air is pushed out by the nitrogen gas and discharged to the outside.

に お い て In step S12, it is determined whether or not air has been discharged. Whether or not the air has been discharged is determined based on whether the partial pressure of the nitrogen gas in the refrigeration feeder 52 has reached a certain level or more, or whether or not liquid nitrogen has been supplied for a certain time (first certain time).

場合 If it is determined that the air has not been exhausted, the process waits in step S12. If it is determined that the air has been discharged, the process proceeds to step S14. In step S14, the rotary valve 110 is closed so as to secure a passage through which the crude drug passes.

に お い て In step S16 in FIG. 8, the rotary valve 200 is opened. In step S18, the compressor 64 is operated to supply the compressed nitrogen to the air knockers 360 # i (i = 1 to 3) and the air blow 362. The air knocker 360 # i (i = 1, 2) vibrates the crushed product hopper 60 with the supplied compressed nitrogen.

The air blow 362 supplies compressed nitrogen to the inside of the crushed product hopper 60. In step S20, the pneumatic transport unit 62 is operated to suck nitrogen gas inside the cyclone 58. At this time, the particles of the previous pulverized product remaining inside the cyclone 58 and the pulverized product hopper 60 are sucked and the inside is cleaned.

In step S22, the needle valve 126 is adjusted to supply liquid nitrogen to the nozzle 122 # i (i = 1 to 7) at a desired inflow rate (second constant flow rate) according to the cost of the crude drug to be charged into the liquid nitrogen supply pipe 120. Liquid nitrogen is sprayed for a fixed time (second fixed time) so that the pressure of the nitrogen gas inside the frozen feeder 52 is constant, for example, 0.3 to 1.4 atm, which is a value suitable for crude drugs. Then, liquid nitrogen is supplied into the frozen feeder 52.

に お い て In step S24, a crude drug is introduced. In step S26, the lid 100 is closed. At this point, the air inside the charging hopper 50 has been exhausted, and since bacteria and water contained in the normal air have been removed from the inside of the charging hopper 50, the crude drug is not contaminated by these. .

生 Further, since the inside of the charging hopper 50 is filled with the low-temperature nitrogen gas, the crude drug is also cooled inside the charging hopper 50. The crude drug placed in the loading hopper 50 falls to the frozen feeder 52, and is conveyed by the screw conveyor 154 from the first device end of the frozen feeder 52 to the second device end in FIG.

At this time, since the liquid nitrogen is sprayed by the plurality of nozzles 152 # i (i = 1,..., 7) provided above the transport path and the crude drug is gradually transported by the screw conveyor 154, the crude drug is Fully frozen.

On the other hand, the nitrogen compressed by the compressor 60 is supplied to the air seal 158 after the pressure is adjusted by the ball valve 162 and the regulator 164. The air seal 158 injects the supplied nitrogen gas so as to prevent the nitrogen gas in the frozen feeder 52 from leaking.

When the frozen crude drug is gradually conveyed to the left end (end of the second device) of the frozen feeder 52 in FIG. 2 by the screw conveyor 154, it falls into the crusher 56 through the rotary valve 200 opened from the input feeder 54. I do.

(4) The temperature inside the charging chute 54 is measured by the temperature sensor 220 provided during the fall. Liquid nitrogen is sprayed onto the crude drug from the nozzle 214 into the input chute 54 to completely freeze the crude drug.

The crusher 56 crushes the frozen crude drug. The crusher 56 is air-sealed by the air seal 256. The crushed crude drug is sucked and conveyed to the inlet 350 of the cyclone 58 together with the nitrogen gas. The ground herb falls and accumulates at the bottom of the ground hopper 60.

圧 縮 The compressed nitrogen gas ejected from the air blow 362 to the crushed product hopper 60 can prevent the crushed product from sticking and prevent the inside of the crushed product hopper 60 from dew condensation. Also, the compressed nitrogen gas supplied to the air knockers 360 # 1 and 360 # 2 can prevent the pulverized product from adhering to the wall of the pulverized product hopper 60 and prevent the nitrogen supply pipe from dew condensation.

粒子 The particles of the pulverized product sucked together with the nitrogen gas by the air transporter 62 from the discharge port 352 are removed by the bag filter 450. Unnecessary nitrogen gas is exhausted outdoors, and the required nitrogen gas is returned to the compressor 64 via the air transporter 62. Further, the bag filter 450 is prevented from being clogged with powder by the compressed nitrogen supplied from the tank 456.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is a schematic block diagram of the apparatus suitable for performing the crude drug crushing method of this invention. FIG. 2 is a detailed view of a crude drug cryocrushing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a frozen feeder in FIG. 2. FIG. 3 is a left side view of FIG. 2. FIG. 3 is a right side view of FIG. 2. It is AA sectional drawing in FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the crude drug freeze grinding method of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the crude drug freeze grinding method of this invention.

Explanation of reference numerals

2,56 Crusher 6 Supply device 8 Pipe 10,50 Input hopper 12 Liquid nitrogen storage tank 14 Pipe line 16 Flow control valve 18 Supply valve 20,58 Cyclone 52 Refrigeration feeder 60 Crushed product hopper 62 Air transporter 64 Compressor 110,200 Rotary valve

Claims (11)

A crude drug freeze-grinding method using a crushing device and a crude drug supply device connected to the crushing device,
The crude drug supply device supplies liquid nitrogen at a plurality of locations while supplying the crude drug to the crushing device to freeze the crude drug,
A method for freeze-crushing a crude drug, wherein the frozen crude drug is crushed by the crushing device. Providing a crude drug;
A step of supplying the liquid nitrogen at a plurality of points while supplying the crude drug in the crude drug supply step to freeze the crude drug;
Crushing the frozen crude drug;
A method for freezing and crushing a crude drug, comprising: 3. The method for freezing and pulverizing a crude drug according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a plurality of kinds of crude drugs are mixed in the supplied crude drug. A herbal medicine supply device whose lid is opened and closed, a refrigeration device provided below and connected to the herbal medicine supply device and supplied with liquid nitrogen; a crushing device; and a crushing device provided between the refrigeration device and the crushing device. A method for freeze-crushing a crude drug using a first valve,
Opening the lid,
Closing the first valve;
Supplying the liquid nitrogen at a first constant flow rate to the refrigerating device for a first constant time, and cleaning the crude drug supply device;
After supplying the crude drug to the crude drug supply device, closing the lid,
Opening the first valve after the liquid nitrogen has been supplied for the first fixed time;
Supplying the liquid nitrogen at a second constant flow rate to the refrigerating device from a plurality of locations for a second constant time to freeze the crude drug;
Crushing the frozen crude drug with the crushing device,
A method for freezing and crushing a crude drug, comprising: A step of fully opening a second valve provided between the crude drug supply device and the freezing device before performing the step of cleaning, and a step of closing the second valve after performing the step of cleaning. 5. The method for freeze-crushing herbal medicine according to claim 4, further comprising: The method of claim 5, wherein the pressure of the nitrogen in the refrigerating device is in a range from 0.3 atm to 1.4 atm. A crude drug supply device that is opened and closed by a lid to supply a crude drug,
A herbal medicine transport section for transporting the herbal medicine from the first device end to the second device end in a horizontal direction, and a plurality of liquid nitrogens supplied from the outside are sprayed inside, and a plurality of herbs are provided in the transport direction of the herbal medicine transport section. A refrigeration device having a liquid nitrogen spraying unit, provided below the crude drug supply device and connected to the crude drug supply device at the first device end;
A crushing device that is provided below the refrigerating device and crushes the crude drug that falls from the second device end;
Passage blocking means for blocking a passage through which nitrogen gas passes between the refrigeration device and the crushing device,
A herbal cryofreezing and crushing device comprising: 8. The crude drug cryocrushing device according to claim 7, further comprising a valve for changing a size of a passage through which the nitrogen gas passes between the crude drug supply device and the refrigerating device. (9) The crude drug freeze / pulverization device according to (7) or (8), wherein the refrigerating device has a lid formed of a heat insulating material on an upper part and rotatable to a certain angle so that the inside is opened. 10. A liquid nitrogen spraying unit for spraying liquid nitrogen supplied from the outside into a passage through which the crude drug passes between the freezing device and the crushing device, further comprising: a second liquid nitrogen spraying unit. A crude drug freeze / pulverization device according to the above-mentioned. A cyclone having an inlet connected to the pulverizer and an exhaust port for exhausting nitrogen gas, and a crude drug accumulator having a nitrogen gas supply port for introducing nitrogen gas supplied from the outside and connected below the cyclone The crude drug freeze-pulverization device according to any one of claims 7 to 10, further comprising: a pneumatic transport device connected to the exhaust port and sucking nitrogen gas.

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