JP2005075374A - Fine powder filling apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a fine powder filling apparatus, which is easy to handle, inexpensive, need not to be stopped at every time when a stored powder in a container is transferred out, offers superior work efficiency, and can be operated consecutively. <P>SOLUTION: The fine powder filling apparatus at least has a closed housing unit in which fine powder is enclosed airtightly, a fine powder fluidizing means for guiding a gas into the housing unit to fluidize the fine powder, and a filling means for discharging the fluidized powder from the housing unit and filling it into a fine powder filling container. The housing unit has a fine powder supply pipe arranged above and a fine powder transfer container arranged below. The supply pipe has a fine powder inlet, which is provided with an enclosing means. The fine powder transfer container has the fine powder fluidizing means, the fine powder filling means consisting of a pressurizing means using a gas and a fine powder discharge pipe, and a pressure adjusting means. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an apparatus for filling fine powder into a small-diameter container and a small-capacity container for fine powder, and more particularly to a filling apparatus for directly filling toner for developing an electrostatic latent image into a cartridge of a copying machine or a developing unit of a copying machine.

  Examples of powder filling machines include rotary valves, screw feeders, and auger type filling machines. To fill the powder container from these devices, use the powder's own weight, place the powder container directly under the filling machine, increase the bulk density of the powder in the filling machine, and cut it out. A method of filling these powders into the containers by gravity is a general method for efficiently filling powders into a constant volume filling container. In addition, after introducing gas into the powder in the powder feeder and improving the fluidity, it is transported from the powder feeder to the vicinity of the receiving container by the subordinate pipe and degassed from the powder in the transport pipe by the deaeration pipe. Then, a method (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-193902) for filling the container with high density has been proposed.

  However, these systems have to be provided with a deaeration pipe accurately and coaxially provided in the filling pipe, so that they are difficult to manufacture and are heavy and difficult to carry. In addition, it is effective when the filling container has a large filling diameter and is located directly under the filling machine. However, in a small-diameter filling container or a filling container having various structures inside, the filling machine or the transport pipe is separated. It was difficult to replace the powder in the container with the air inside the container, and there was a problem that the powder was blown up from the filling port and the movement of the powder was blocked by the structure in the container, so that the desired amount could not be filled.

  In addition, if you try to replenish toner used in copiers and printers directly to the toner bottle and the developing part of the machine in the general office where the machine is installed, dust may be scattered, even if it can be replenished However, when filling in a low density state containing a lot of air or directly into a complicated developing part, there is a problem that an image forming problem occurs in a part where the toner enters and a part where the toner does not enter. Also occurred.

  In order to solve these problems, for example, an invention described in JP-A-2002-337801 (Patent Document 1) is disclosed. In the invention described in Patent Document 1, as shown in FIG. 2, after powder is fluidized with gas in a sealed powder storage device (1) that stores fine powder and gas for filling, The fluidized powder is transferred from the filling powder storage device to the filling nozzle, the tip of the filling nozzle is inserted into the powder filling container (9), and the fine powder fluidized by the gas is obtained. In this method, the container is discharged and filled, and the container is filled with the powder in a state where the tip of the filling nozzle is surrounded by the fine powder staying in the container.

  By the method described in Patent Document 1, gas is uniformly introduced into the powder and controlled with a minimum amount of gas so that the fine powder is in a fluid state, and the back and bottom of a small-diameter filling container or a complicated-shaped filling container Flowing fine powder was allowed to flow into the container, and the fine powder after filling was degassed by a layer of fine powder between the filling nozzle and the opening of the container in the container, so that it could be filled easily with high density and no dust. Furthermore, the device described in Patent Document 1 is portable, easy to operate, and can be filled by anyone at any location.

  However, the apparatus described in Patent Document 1 has a disadvantage that the fluidized bed is inevitably large because the pressure feeding apparatus itself also serves as a storage container for fine powder, and is expensive and inconvenient to handle. It was. In addition, every time the stored powder in the container is carried out, the operation of the apparatus must be stopped and replaced with a new storage container, which has a problem of poor work efficiency.

JP 2002-337801 A

  The present invention has a small fluidized bed, is easy to handle, is inexpensive, and does not need to stop the operation every time the stored powder in the container is carried out. It is an object of the present invention to provide a fine powder filling device that can be made to operate.

According to the present invention, the following apparatus for filling fine powder is provided.
[1] A hermetic storage device for hermetically storing fine powder, a fluidizing means for fine powder that fluidizes the fine powder by introducing gas into the storage device, and a fine powder fluidized from the hermetic storage device A fine powder filling device having at least a filling means for discharging into the fine powder filling container, wherein the hermetic storage device has an upper fine powder supply pipe and a lower fine powder pressure feed container. A fine powder sealing means is provided at the fine powder inlet of the fine powder supply pipe, and the fine powder is composed of the fine powder fluidizing means, a gas pressurizing means, and a fine powder discharge pipe in the fine powder feed container. An apparatus for filling fine powder, characterized in that a body filling means and a pressure adjusting means are provided.
[2] The apparatus for filling fine powder according to [1], wherein the capacity of the fine powder feeding container is 1.5 times or more the capacity of the fine powder supply pipe.
[3] The fine powder filling apparatus according to [1] or [2], wherein the fine powder sealing means is a fine powder supply adjusting valve.
[4] The above [1] or [2], wherein the fine powder sealing means comprises a pipe to the fine powder inlet and a gas introduction / suction valve provided in the pipe via a filter. ] The apparatus for fine powder filling described in the above.
[5] The above-mentioned [1], wherein a throttle part is provided in an upper part of the fine powder feeding container, and a first fluidizing means for fine powder is provided in the fine powder pressure feeding container including the throttle part. -The apparatus for fine powder filling in any one of [4].
[6] The fine powder filling device according to [5], wherein the apex angle of the narrowed portion is 6 to 70 degrees.
[7] The first fluidizing means includes a first fluidized bed, a first air header, and a gas pipe to the first air header provided in a portion including the throttle portion of the fine powder pressure feeding container. The apparatus for filling fine powder according to [5] or [6], wherein the gas pipe is provided with a gas introduction / suction valve through a filter.
[8] The fluidizing means includes a second fluidized bed provided at the bottom of the fine powder pressure container, a second air header provided under the second fluidized bed, and gas introduction into the second air header. The fine powder filling apparatus according to any one of [1] to [7], wherein the fine fluid filling means is a second fluidizing means comprising a pipe and a gas pressure regulating valve provided in the gas introduction pipe. .
[9] The above [1] to [8], wherein the gas pressurizing means is a gas introduction pipe to the fine powder pressure feeding container and an opening / closing valve provided in the gas introduction pipe. The apparatus for filling fine powder according to any one of the above.
[10] The fine powder filling apparatus according to any one of [1] to [9], wherein an inlet of the powder discharge pipe is provided below an outlet of the gas introduction pipe.
[11] The pressure adjusting means includes a gas release pipe, a filter provided in the gas release pipe, a pressure release valve, and a gas pipe, and the gas pipe is provided with an open / close valve. The apparatus for filling fine powder according to any one of [1] to [10].
[12] The apparatus for filling fine powder according to any one of [1] to [11], wherein a vibrating sieve is provided between the fine powder supply pipe and the fine powder pumping container.
[13] The apparatus for filling fine powder according to any one of [1] to [12], wherein each part of the apparatus is hermetically connected with a simple pipe fastener made of ferrule.

  The apparatus for filling fine powder of the present invention is easy and inexpensive to handle because the fluidized bed is small. Moreover, since it is not necessary to stop the operation of the apparatus every time the stored powder in the container is carried out, it is excellent in work efficiency and can be operated continuously.

  The apparatus for filling fine powder of the present invention includes a sealed storage device for sealing and storing fine powder, a fluidizing means for fine powder that introduces gas into the storage device to fluidize the fine powder, and the sealed storage device. And a filling means for discharging the fluidized fine powder into the fine powder filling container. A fine powder filling apparatus having such a configuration is conventionally known, but the characteristic part of the present invention is that the hermetic storage device is divided into an upper fine powder supply pipe 1 and a lower fine powder pressure feeding container 2. It is. If comprised in this way, since the area of a fluidized bed can be made small by making the internal diameter of the fine powder pumping container 2 smaller than the internal diameter of the fine powder supply pipe | tube 1, it can produce at low cost, and is small and lightweight. So it is easy to handle.

  The capacity of the fine powder feeding container 2 is preferably 1.5 times or more the capacity of the fine powder supply pipe 1. When the capacity of the fine powder feeding container 2 is less than 1.5 times the capacity of the fine powder supply pipe 1, there is a possibility that the fine powder in the fine powder feeding container 2 cannot be fluidized efficiently.

  The hermetic storage device in the present invention has a hermetic structure as a whole. For that purpose, it is preferable that each part of the apparatus of the present invention is hermetically connected with a simple pipe fastener made of ferrule. If comprised in this way, since each part of an apparatus can be easily attached or detached at the time of the kind change of a fine powder, productivity will improve.

  Further, a fine powder sealing means is provided at the fine powder inlet 15 of the fine powder supply pipe 1 constituting the hermetic storage device. As the sealing means provided at the fine powder inlet 15, as shown in FIG. 1, the fine powder supply adjustment valve 3 is provided at the fine powder inlet 15. However, since a fine powder aggregate is formed when the fine powder supply adjustment valve 3 is provided, it is preferable to provide a vibrating sieve to remove the aggregate as described later.

  As a means for sealing the fine powder inlet 15, although not shown, a gas suction pipe is attached to the fine powder inlet 15, and an open / close valve is provided on the gas suction pipe via a filter. With this configuration, when the gas is sucked by opening the opening / closing valve, the fine powder accumulates in the powder inlet 15 to form a powder block, so that the inside of the hermetic storage device can be sealed. In the case of this configuration, since the fine powder aggregates are not formed, it is not necessary to provide means for removing the fine powder aggregates.

  The fine powder feeding container 2 constituting the hermetic storage device in the present invention includes a fine powder fluidizing means, a fine pressure filling means comprising a gas pressurizing means and a fine powder discharge pipe, and a pressure adjusting means. Is provided. That is, in the fine powder feeding container 2, the fine powder is fluidized, and the fluidized fine powder is discharged and filled into the small-capacity container 23 by the filling means including the gas pressurizing means and the fine powder discharge pipe. it can. At that time, by adjusting the pressure in the fine powder feeding container by the pressure adjusting means, it is possible to stably discharge the fine powder by the filling means.

  As the fluidizing means for the fine powder provided in the fine powder feeding container 2, there are a first fluidizing means and a second fluidizing means. By these fluidization means, air can be gently introduced into the fine powder to achieve fluidization with a low Brownian motion of the powder. Since the fine powder has high fluidity after fluidization, the powder can be discharged out of the filling powder storage device by transferring the pressure in the filling powder storage device slightly higher than the external pressure. Pneumatic transport can be smoothly performed in the path to the tip of the filling nozzle, and filling can be performed without extra stirring in the filling container.

It is preferable that the throttle part 4 is provided in the upper part of the fine powder pumping container 2, and it is preferable that the first fluidization means is provided in the fine powder pumping container 2 including the throttle part 4. That is, it is preferable to fluidize the fine powder while sliding it down by the gravity at the throttle portion 4.
The apex angle of the narrowed portion 4 is preferably 6 to 70 degrees, more preferably 15 to 60 degrees, and further preferably 30 to 50 degrees, from the viewpoint that the fine powder stably slides down. If the apex angle is less than 6 degrees, the aperture is too small and the fine powder falls in a state of being nearly vertical, so there is a possibility that the effect of sliding down may not be obtained. There is a risk that the body will not fall smoothly.

In the first fluidizing means, in order to uniformly introduce gas into the fine powder from outside the apparatus, specifically, a first fluidized bed 5a provided in the fine powder pressure feeding container 2 including the throttle portion 4; And a first air header 5b provided at the lower part of the first fluidized bed 5a and a gas pipe 6 to the first air header 5b. A gas introduction / suction valve is connected to the gas pipe 6 through a filter 8. 7 is preferably provided.
The first fluidized bed 5a has a function as a gas distribution means, and includes, for example, a sintered metal plate, a sintered resin plate, a fine wire mesh, and the like, and an air header 5b is provided under the fluidized bed 5a. Therefore, the gas introduced from outside the apparatus is equally introduced into the fine powder pressure feeding container 2. Further, when the fine powder is falling on the throttle portion 4, the flow of fine powder is stopped from the throttle portion 4 by sucking gas and accumulating the fine powder in the throttle portion 4 to form a powder block. The lower part can be sealed.

  In the second fluidizing means, a second fluidized bed 17a provided at the bottom of the fine powder pressure container 2, a second air header and 17b provided under the second fluidized bed 17a, and a second air header. It is preferable to consist of the gas introduction pipe | tube 18 to 17b and the gas pressure control valve 19 provided in this gas introduction pipe | tube. The second fluidized bed 17a is configured in the same manner as the fluidized bed 5a, and it is more preferable that the first gas pressure regulating valve 19a and the second gas pressure regulating valve 19b are provided as the gas pressure regulating valve 19, A first pressure gauge (p1) is provided between the first adjustment valve 19a and the second adjustment valve 19b, and a second pressure gauge (p2) is provided between the second adjustment valve 19b and the bottom of the fine powder feeding container 2. It is preferable that an air flow meter 20 is provided between the second pressure gauge (p2) and the bottom of the powder transport pipe 2.

  The fine powder feeding container 2 is provided with a fine powder filling means composed of a gas pressurizing means and a fine powder discharge pipe 9, and a pressure adjusting means. As the pressurizing means constituting the filling means, it is preferable to connect the gas introduction pipe 10 to the fine powder feeding container and to provide the gas introduction pipe 10 with an opening / closing valve 11a. Further, as a pressure adjusting means, a gas pipe 12 is piped to the fine powder pressure feeding container 2, a filter 14 and a pressure relief valve 13 are provided in the gas pipe 12, and a gas introduction pipe 16 provided with an opening / closing valve 11b in the gas pipe 12. It is preferable to provide. Note that the opening / closing valve 11a and the opening / closing valve 11b may be provided as separate valves or may be integrated into one valve.

  When configured in this manner, the pressure in the fine powder feeding container 2 is adjusted and controlled by the pressurizing means and the pressure adjusting means to apply an appropriate pressure to the fine powder, and the fine powder is filled from the discharge pipe. 23 can be discharged. Further, the start and end of the fluidized fine powder discharged and filled in the container 23 can be controlled by adjusting the pressure in the fine powder pressure feed container 2. Control of the pressure in the fine powder pressure feeding container 2 can be performed by adjusting the on-off valve 11a and the pressure release valve 13, and can be assisted by the on-off valve 11b. In addition, the pressure in the fine powder feeding container 2 can be changed during the powder filling operation, and fine pressure adjustment can be performed to change the powder outflow state, for example, at the beginning and midway of the powder filling operation.

  In order to smoothly discharge the fine powder, the inlet of the powder discharge pipe 9 is preferably provided below the outlet of the gas introduction pipe 10.

  The degree of pressurization in the fine powder feeding container 2 may be slightly higher than the normal pressure, and if it is pressurized too much, the trapping effect by the fine powder cloud staying in the fine powder feeding container 2 is impaired. There is. Generally, the degree of pressurization is 2 to 1500 gauge hectopas, preferably 3 to 800, although it depends on the amount of the fine powder cloud staying in the fine powder feeding container 2 and the filling mode of the fluidized fine powder. Gauge hectopa, more preferably 10 to 500 gauge hectopa. When the pressure is less than 2 gauge hectares, filling takes a long time.

  In the present invention, it is preferable that a vibrating sieve 21 is provided between the fine powder supply pipe 1 and the fine powder pumping container 2. In particular, when the fine powder supply adjusting valve 3 is provided at the fine powder inlet 15 as a sealing means, it is preferable to provide the vibrating sieve 21 to remove the aggregate. Further, the vibration sieve 21 is preferably attached to the apparatus using a spring 22 in order not to give intense vibration to the apparatus main body.

  The fine powder filling apparatus of the present invention can be widely used for filling fine powder, but can be suitably used for filling powder toner for developing an electrostatic latent image.

It is explanatory drawing of the apparatus for fine powder filling of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the conventional apparatus for fine powder filling.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Fine powder supply pipe 2 Fine powder pumping container 3 Fine powder supply adjustment valve 4 Restriction part 5a First fluidized bed 5b First air header 6 Gas pipe 7 Gas introduction / suction valve 8 Filter 9 Discharge pipe 10 Gas introduction pipe 11a Opening and closing Valve 11b Open / close valve 12 Gas pipe 13 Pressure release valve 14 Filter 15 Fine powder inlet 16 Gas introduction pipe 17a Second fluidized bed 17b Second air header 18 Gas introduction pipe 19 Gas pressure adjustment valve 19a First gas pressure adjustment valve 19b First Two gas pressure control valve 20 Flow meter 21 Vibrating sieve 22 Spring 23 Small capacity container

Claims (13)

  A hermetically sealed storage device for storing fine powder in a sealed manner, a fluidizing means for fluidizing the fine powder by introducing gas into the storage device, and discharging the fluidized fine powder from the sealed storage device. A fine powder filling apparatus having at least a filling means for filling the fine powder filling container, wherein the hermetic storage device has an upper fine powder supply pipe and a lower fine powder pressure feed container, A fine powder sealing means is provided at the fine powder inlet of the body supply pipe, and the fine powder fluidization means, a gas pressure means, and a fine powder discharge pipe are provided in the fine powder feed container. An apparatus for filling fine powder, characterized in that filling means and pressure adjusting means are provided.   2. The apparatus for filling fine powder according to claim 1, wherein the capacity of the fine powder feeding container is 1.5 times or more the capacity of the fine powder supply pipe.   The fine powder filling apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the fine powder sealing means is a fine powder supply adjusting valve.   3. The fine powder according to claim 1, wherein the fine powder sealing means comprises a pipe to the fine powder inlet and a gas introduction / suction valve provided in the pipe via a filter. Filling device.   The throttle part is provided in the upper part of this fine powder pumping container, The 1st fluidization means of fine powder is provided in the fine powder pumping container containing this throttle part, The any one of Claims 1-4 characterized by the above-mentioned. A device for filling fine powder according to claim 1.   6. The fine powder filling apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the apex angle of the narrowed portion is 6 to 70 degrees.   The first fluidizing means has a first fluidized bed, a first air header, and a gas pipe to the first air header provided in a portion including the throttle portion of the fine powder pressure feeding container. The apparatus for filling fine powder according to claim 5 or 6, wherein a gas introduction / suction valve is provided in the pipe via a filter.   The fluidizing means includes a second fluidized bed provided at the bottom of the fine powder pressure feeding container, a second air header provided under the second fluidized bed, a gas introduction pipe to the second air header, The apparatus for filling fine powder according to any one of claims 1 to 7, which is a second fluidizing means comprising a gas pressure adjusting valve provided in the gas introduction pipe.   9. The gas pressurizing means is a gas introduction pipe to a fine powder pressure feeding container and an open / close valve provided in the gas introduction pipe. Equipment for fine powder filling.   The apparatus for filling fine powder according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein an inlet of the powder discharge pipe is provided below an outlet of the gas introduction pipe.   2. The pressure adjusting means comprises a gas discharge pipe, a filter provided in the gas discharge pipe, a pressure release valve, and a gas pipe, and an open / close valve is provided in the gas pipe. The apparatus for fine powder filling in any one of -10.   The apparatus for filling fine powder according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein a vibrating sieve is provided between the fine powder supply pipe and the fine powder pumping container.   The apparatus for filling fine powder according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein each part of the apparatus is hermetically connected by a simple pipe fastener made of ferrule.

Images