JP2006058109A - Rotary viscosity measuring instrument - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a rotary viscosity measuring instrument capable of accurately measuring the viscosity of a liquid having high volatility, ignitabilities and flowability. <P>SOLUTION: An annular outer frame 24 is attached to the outer peripheral parts of the measuring fins 22 of the rotary viscosity measuring instrument 10. Therefore, in stirring of the liquid having high flowability (catalyst ink 26), the liquid is prevented from flowing out of the gaps between the measuring fins 22 and the resistance to the measuring fins 22 can be increased. Further, no disadvantage to volatility and ignitabilities is caused because of a rotary type different from a friction type. Accordingly, the viscosity of the liquid (catalyst ink 26) can be accurately measured. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a rotary viscosity measuring apparatus for measuring the viscosity of a liquid.

  Viscometers for measuring the viscosity of a liquid are roughly classified into two types: a friction type and a rotary type (see the following patent document).

Here, the catalyst ink (a mixture of carbon, platinum, and various solutions), which greatly affects the performance of the fuel cell, has high volatility. Therefore, with the existing friction viscometer, the numerical value changes due to the effect of heat, and the true value There is a problem that does not understand. Further, since the catalyst ink is highly ignitable, there is a possibility that the existing friction viscometer may ignite during measurement. Furthermore, since the catalyst ink has high fluidity, the existing rotary viscometer has a problem in that the liquid flows out from between the measuring fins, so that the numerical value is too low to perform a relative comparison.
Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 1-163333 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-124585

  Therefore, conventionally, a test catalyst ink sample has been manufactured by trial and error based on the operator's experience of cans and tips. For this reason, a great deal of time, labor and cost were wasted.

  An object of the present invention is to obtain a rotary viscosity measuring apparatus that can accurately measure the viscosity of a liquid having high volatility, ignition, and fluidity in consideration of the above facts.

  The rotary viscosity measuring device according to the present invention as set forth in claim 1 is a rotary viscosity measuring device for measuring the viscosity of a liquid, the rotating shaft rotating around an axis by receiving a driving force, and the rotation A plurality of measurement fins arranged at predetermined intervals on the outer peripheral portion of the shaft and extending outward in the radial direction, and an outer frame provided on the outer peripheral portion of these measurement fins It is said.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the rotary viscosity measuring apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, the outer frame is formed in a closed ring shape.

  A rotary viscosity measuring apparatus according to a third aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in the first or second aspect of the present invention, the liquid is a catalyst ink used in a fuel cell.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the rotating shaft rotates around the axis upon receiving a driving force, the rotating shaft is arranged at a predetermined interval on the outer periphery of the rotating shaft and extends outward in the radial direction. The plurality of measurement fins rotate in the same direction by the same amount of rotation.

  Here, when the fluidity of the liquid to be measured is high, in the conventional existing rotary viscometer, the liquid flows out from between the measurement fins, and the viscosity is not attached and measurement is impossible. However, in the present invention, since the outer frame is provided on the outer peripheral portion of the measurement fin, the liquid flowing out from between the measurement fins is blocked by the outer frame and returned to the measurement fin side. For this reason, an appropriate resistance is obtained for the measuring fin, and the viscosity of the liquid having high fluidity can be measured.

  In addition, since this invention is a rotational viscosity measuring apparatus, even if it is a volatile and ignitable liquid, the problem resulting from it does not arise.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the outer frame is formed in a closed annular shape, most of the liquid that is located between the measurement fins and flows out to the outside in the radial direction of the rotating shaft is rebounded to the measurement fin side. .

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, the rotary viscosity measuring device is used for measuring the viscosity of a catalyst ink used in a fuel cell.

  Here, since the catalyst ink has high volatility, ignitability, and fluidity, it is suitable as a measurement target of the rotary viscosity measuring apparatus according to the present invention, and can accurately measure the viscosity of the catalyst ink. It becomes.

  As described above, the rotary viscosity measuring apparatus according to the present invention as set forth in claim 1 is a plurality of sheets that extend outward in the radial direction to the outer peripheral portion of the rotating shaft that rotates around the axis by receiving a driving force. The measurement fins are provided at predetermined intervals, and the outer frame is provided on the outer periphery of these measurement fins, so that liquid with high fluidity can be prevented from flowing between the rotating measurement fins. It has an excellent effect of being able to accurately measure the viscosity of a liquid having high volatility, ignitability, and fluidity.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the rotary viscosity measuring device according to the first aspect of the present invention, since the outer frame is formed in a closed annular shape, the outer frame is located between the measuring fins and flows out radially outward of the rotating shaft. Most of the liquid to be bounced back to the measuring fin side, and as a result, it has an excellent effect that the measurement accuracy of the viscosity of the liquid can be increased.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, the rotary viscosity measuring device according to the present invention uses the present invention to measure the viscosity of a catalyst ink used in a fuel cell in the first or second aspect of the invention. It is possible to accurately measure the viscosity of the catalyst ink that could not be obtained, and as a result, it has an excellent effect of being able to bring out stable fuel cell performance.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of a rotary viscosity measuring apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the overall configuration of the rotary viscosity measuring apparatus according to the present embodiment. As shown in this figure, the rotary viscosity measuring device 10 is provided with a device main body 12 provided with a driving means (not shown) such as a motor, and is arranged to protrude downward from the bottom surface of the device main body 12 and can move up and down. The measurement unit 14 is provided. The apparatus main body 12 is stably supported on the work surface by the support column 16 and the leg portion 18.

  As shown in an enlarged view in FIG. 2A, the measuring unit 14 includes a rod 20 as a rotating shaft that rotates around an axis line by receiving a driving force of a driving unit (not shown), and an outer periphery of a lower end portion of the rod 20. A plurality of measurement fins 22 (in this embodiment, a total of four at 90 degree intervals) radially attached to the part, and an outer frame 24 attached to the outer peripheral part of these measurement fins 22; It is constituted by.

  Each measurement fin 22 is formed in an elongated rectangular plate shape, and the inner end is fixed to the outer peripheral portion of the rod 20. The outer frame 24 is formed in an annular shape, and is fixed to the outer ends of the measurement fins 22 without any gaps so as to draw a circumscribed circle of the four measurement fins 22. Note that the heights of the measurement fins 22 and the outer frame 24 are the same. The measurement fin 22 and the outer frame 24 are made of stainless steel.

(Operation and effect of this embodiment)
Next, with reference to FIG. 3, a sample manufacturing method of the catalyst ink 26 using the rotary viscosity measuring apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment will be described, and the operation and effect of the present embodiment will be described through the description.

  First, as shown in FIG. 3A, the viscosity of the prepared catalyst ink 26 stored in the container 28 is measured using the rotary viscosity measuring apparatus 10 according to this embodiment (measurement target). The liquid agitation measurement step).

  Here, if the measured viscosity is within a certain range, the amount of platinum supported in the catalyst ink 26 satisfies the required value. FIG. 4 is a graph of the relationship between the amount of platinum carried in the catalyst ink 26 and the voltage. If the measured viscosity is within a certain range, the amount of platinum carried is within the range of the section A, which is an appropriate reference value. (Voltage measurement values are indicated by “·”).

  If the measured viscosity is high based on the above relationship, as shown in FIG. 3B, a solution 30 such as ethanol is dropped with a dropper 32 to control the viscosity of the catalyst ink 26 (ie, viscosity). The viscosity is adjusted so that the viscosity becomes lower) (viscosity adjustment step). It has been verified that when the viscosity of the catalyst ink 26 is measured, no matter how much the solution 30 such as ethanol increases, the performance of the catalyst ink 26 is not affected.

  After adjusting the viscosity, the viscosity of the catalyst ink 26 is measured again using the rotary viscosity measuring device 10. If the measured viscosity is within a certain range, the platinum carrying amount is within the appropriate range (within the range of the section A). Therefore, as shown in FIG. The catalyst ink 26 is applied to the sheet 36 by using (application process).

  Then, after passing through the drying process of the sheet 36, as shown in FIG. 3D, the sheet 36 is cut to a required size to obtain a sample 38 (cut process).

  As described above, in the rotary viscosity measuring apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment, the outer frame 24 is provided on the outer peripheral portion of the four measurement fins 22 of the measurement unit 14, and therefore, when the measurement fins 22 are rotated (at the time of stirring), The catalyst ink 26 that tries to flow radially outward from between adjacent measurement fins 22 is blocked by the outer frame 24 and returned to the measurement fin 22 side. For this reason, an appropriate resistance acts on each measurement fin 22 (the resistance received by the measurement fin 22 increases), and the viscosity of the highly fluid catalyst ink 26 can be measured. The rotary viscosity measuring apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment belongs to the rotary viscometer and does not belong to the friction viscometer. Therefore, even if the catalyst ink 26 has high volatility and ignitability. Problems due to these properties do not occur. As a result, according to the present embodiment, the viscosity of the catalyst ink 26 having high volatility, ignitability, and fluidity can be accurately measured.

  Thus, if the rotational viscosity measuring device 10 according to the present embodiment is used to make a sample of the catalyst ink 26 which has been conventionally performed on a trial and error basis based on the experience of an operator's can and knack, an arbitrary viscosity can be obtained. The catalyst ink 26 can be made. As a result, it is possible to eliminate waste of time and labor for repeating the trial and error for sample preparation, and it is possible to shorten the time required for sample production of the catalyst ink 26, reduce labor, and significantly reduce the cost. it can.

  Further, in the rotary viscosity measuring apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment, the outer frame 24 is formed in a closed annular shape (annular shape), so that it is positioned between the adjacent measurement fins 22 by stirring and outward in the radial direction of the rod 20. Most of the catalyst ink 26 about to flow out is bounced back to the measurement fin 22 side. As a result, according to the present embodiment, the measurement accuracy of the viscosity of the catalyst ink 26 can be further increased.

  Furthermore, in the rotational viscosity measuring apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment, it is used for measuring the viscosity of the catalyst ink 26 used in the fuel cell, but the catalyst ink 26 has properties such as high volatility, ignitability, and fluidity. It is suitable as a measurement object of the rotary viscosity measuring apparatus according to the present invention, and the viscosity of the catalyst ink 26 can be accurately measured. As a result, stable fuel cell performance can be extracted.

(Supplementary explanation of this embodiment)
In the above-described embodiment, the rotary viscosity measuring device 10 is used for measuring the viscosity of the catalyst ink 26 of the fuel cell. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the rotation according to the present invention is used for measuring the viscosity of a liquid having similar properties. A type viscosity measuring device may be used.

  Further, in the present embodiment described above, four measuring fins 22 of the measuring unit 14 attached in a cross shape when viewed in the axial direction are used. However, as long as the outer frame 24 is provided, the shape of the measuring fins of the measuring unit 14 The number of sheets can be arbitrarily selected.

  For example, in the measurement unit 40 shown in FIG. 5A, a wire-like support bar 42 is inserted into the outer periphery of the rod 20 in a cross shape when viewed in the axial direction, and a short rectangular plate is formed at the tip thereof. A measuring fin 44 is attached. However, with this configuration alone, the viscosity of a liquid with high fluidity cannot be measured at all. However, by adding the outer frame 24 as in the present embodiment, the viscosity of such liquid with high fluidity can be measured. .

  5B, a large number of rectangular plate-shaped measurement fins 48 are radially attached to the outer peripheral portion of the rod 20. In the measurement unit 46 shown in FIG. However, with this configuration alone, the viscosity of a liquid with high fluidity cannot be measured at all. However, by adding the outer frame 24 as in the present embodiment, the viscosity of such liquid with high fluidity can be measured. .

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment described above, the annular outer frame 24 is provided as viewed in the axial direction, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and any closed annular body may be used. Therefore, the present invention can also be applied to a regular polygon outer frame having a large number of sides.

It is a perspective view which shows the whole structure of the rotational viscosity measuring apparatus which concerns on this embodiment. (A) is an expansion perspective view of the measurement part shown by FIG. 1, (B) is an expansion perspective view of the container shown by FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the manufacture procedure of the sample of the catalyst ink using the rotational viscosity measuring apparatus which concerns on this embodiment. It is a graph which shows the relationship between platinum carrying amount and a voltage. It is a perspective view which shows the modification of a measurement part, (A) is a perspective view which shows the modification which added the support rod other than the measurement fin, (B) is the perspective view which shows the modification which increased the number of the measurement fins. It is.

Explanation of symbols

10 Rotational viscosity measuring device 20 Rod (Rotating shaft)
22 Measuring fin 24 Outer frame 26 Catalyst ink (liquid)

Claims (3)

A rotary viscosity measuring device for measuring the viscosity of a liquid,
A rotating shaft that rotates around an axis by receiving a driving force;
A plurality of measuring fins arranged at predetermined intervals on the outer periphery of the rotating shaft and each extending outward in the radial direction;
An outer frame provided on the outer periphery of these measuring fins;
A rotary viscosity measuring apparatus characterized by comprising: The outer frame is formed in a closed annular shape,
The rotational viscosity measuring apparatus according to claim 1. The liquid is a catalyst ink used in a fuel cell.
The rotary viscosity measuring apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein

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