JP2006290517A - Powder feeding equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide power feeding equipment easily feeding a predetermined amount of a plurality of kinds of raw material powder in a predetermined composition, and eliminating the need of cleaning required when the powder remains therein. <P>SOLUTION: The power feeding equipment comprises: a plurality of raw material containers 8 each having a discharge port 4 and its open/close valve 6; a plurality of product containers 12 each having an inlet port 10; a raw material container carrying device 14; a product container carrying device 16; a composition weighing device 18 which is detachably connected with discharge ports 4 of the raw material containers 8 that has been carried to a predetermined position and inlet ports 10 of the product containers 12, opens/closes the open/close valve 6, and discharges the predetermined amount of powder from the raw material containers 8 to the product containers 12. In this case, the predetermined amount of powder is sequentially fed to one or more of product container(s) 12 from one or more of raw material container(s) 8. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

The present invention relates to a powder supply facility for weighing and blending raw material powders contained in a plurality of containers and supplying the blended product powders to the plurality of containers, respectively.

For example, as a powder supply facility that supplies powder, such as chemicals and chemicals, in a containment container and supplies the required amount when necessary, the powder is divided into multiple containers to prevent consolidation. A facility has been developed and put into practical use in which a required number is sequentially connected to a storage tank equipped with a quantitative feeder, and powder is charged, and a predetermined amount of powder is supplied to the supply destination by the quantitative feeder (see, for example, Patent Document 1). ).
JP 2004-018013 A

However, the powder supply equipment in the form as described above has the following problems that are desired to be improved.

This powder supply facility supplies multiple types of powders, that is, stores multiple types of raw material powders in a plurality of containers, puts these predetermined amounts into storage tanks, and mixes the mixed product powders. It is substantially difficult to supply a predetermined amount by the fixed quantity feeder because it may not be easy to clean different kinds of powder remaining in the supply equipment such as a storage tank and a fixed quantity feeder.

The present invention has been made in view of the above facts, and its technical problem is that a plurality of types of raw material powders can be easily supplied in a predetermined amount with a predetermined composition, and there is a problem of cleaning due to residual powder. There is no need to provide powder supply equipment.

According to the present invention, as a powder supply facility for solving the above technical problem, a plurality of raw material containers having a powder discharge port and an opening / closing valve at a lower end portion, and a powder input port at an upper end portion are provided. A plurality of product containers, a raw material container transport device for transporting a raw material container, a product container transport device for transporting a product container, a discharge port of a raw material container transported to a predetermined position, and an input port of a product container, respectively. It is equipped with a blending and weighing device that freely connects and disconnects, opens and closes the on-off valve, and discharges a predetermined amount of powder from the raw material container to the product container. One or more predetermined amounts of powder from each of the one or more raw material containers A powder supply facility is provided, which supplies the product containers sequentially.

Preferably, the blending and weighing device includes an upper opening that extends in a vertical direction and that is connected to the discharge port and a lower opening that is connected to the charging port. And a valve driving means that is detachably connected to the valve shaft of the on-off valve. Also, the raw material container is provided with a means for identifying the powder contained therein, the blending weighing device is provided with a raw material confirming means for reading information of the identifying means, and the blending weighing device has been confirmed to be a pre-registered powder. Sometimes this raw material container powder is supplied to the product container.

A powder supply facility constructed in accordance with the present invention comprises a plurality of raw material containers, a plurality of product containers, a raw material container transport device, a product container transport device, a raw material container and a product container connected to each other. A blending and weighing device is provided for discharging a predetermined amount of powder into the container. Therefore, since a predetermined amount of powder is directly and sequentially supplied from each raw material container to each product container, a predetermined amount of a plurality of types of raw material powders in which different types of powder are accommodated in a plurality of raw material containers. A predetermined amount by blending can be easily supplied to the product container without causing the supply equipment to generate residual powder that needs to be cleaned.

Hereinafter, a powder supply facility constructed according to the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings illustrating preferred embodiments.

A description will be given with reference to FIG. The powder supply equipment generally indicated by numeral 2 has a plurality of raw material containers 8 (one in the figure) having a powder discharge port 4 and an opening / closing valve 6 at the lower end, and a powder supply at the upper end. A plurality of product containers 12 (one in the figure) having a mouth 10, a conveyor 14 as a raw material container transfer device for transferring the raw material container 8, and a conveyor 16 as a product container transfer device for transferring the product container 12 The raw material container 8 conveyed to a predetermined position indicated by the vertical axis X is detachably connected to the discharge port 4 of the raw material container 8 and the input port 10 of the product container 12 to open and close the open / close valve 6 to open the raw material container 8 to the product container 12. A blending weighing device 18 for discharging a predetermined amount of powder is provided.

The powder supply equipment 18 also includes a control device 20 that controls a series of operations such as the conveyors 14 and 16 and the blending and weighing device 18.

The conveyor 14 for placing and transporting the raw material container 8 is installed on the upper frame 22, and the conveyor 16 for placing and transporting the product container 16 is installed on the lower frame 24 positioned below the upper frame 22, The blending weighing device 18 is installed in the lower frame 24 and the upper frame 22.

The conveyor 14 is driven by the electric motor 14 a and carries the raw material container 8 into and out of the predetermined position X of the blending and weighing device 18. The conveyor 16 is driven by an electric motor 16 a and carries the product container 10 onto and from the platform balance 28 at a predetermined position X of the blending and weighing apparatus 18.

The raw material container 8 and the product container 10 may be substantially the same, and are provided with container bodies attached to the bases 9 and 13 mounted on the conveyors 14 and 16 respectively, and the container body has an inlet 10 at the upper end. And a lower funnel portion having a discharge port 4 and an on-off valve 6 at the lower end. Since the raw material container 8 and the product container 10 themselves do not constitute a novel feature of the present invention, they may be well known. Therefore, the detailed description is abbreviate | omitted.

By making the raw material container 8 and the product container 10 the same, the powder supply equipment 2 can be operated effectively as described later.

The blending and weighing device 18 extends in the vertical direction, and has an upper opening connected to the discharge port 4 and a lower opening connected to the input port 10, and a supply tube 26 that can be freely extended and lowered, and the product container 12 are placed thereon. The platform scale 28 is provided with valve drive means 30 that is detachably connected to the valve shaft of the on-off valve 6.

The conveyor 14 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 2A, the conveyor 14 controlled by the control device 20 indicates a raw material container 8 selected from a plurality of raw material containers filled with raw material powder stored in a warehouse or the like. Carry in toward the predetermined position X in the Z direction. The conveyor 14 includes an optical sensor 32 for positioning the raw material container 8 at a predetermined position X. When the front end of the raw material container 8 in the traveling direction of the gantry 9 is detected by the optical sensor 32, the conveyance speed of the conveyor 14 is reduced. Is done.

The conveyor 14 stops when the raw material container 8 decelerates and the position of the on-off valve 6 is detected by the optical sensor 32 as shown in FIG. Thus, the raw material container 8 stops at the predetermined position X of the blending weighing device 18.

Each of the plurality of raw material containers 8 includes an identification tag 34 in which identification information is recorded. As the identification information, a powder item, a lot, a filling date, a quantity, and the like, a container number, a weight, a cleaning history, and the like are recorded by a bar code, an IC chip, and the like. Information of the identification tag 34 is read by a reader 36 provided in the vicinity of the predetermined position X and sent to the control device 20.

Returning to FIG. 1, the conveyor 16 directs a product container 12 selected from a plurality of basically empty product containers controlled by the control device 20 and stored in a warehouse or the like toward a predetermined position X. Carry in. At the time of carrying in, before the predetermined position X, the lid of the insertion port 10 is attracted by the lid attaching / detaching device 38 and lifted and removed. Thereafter, the product container 12 having the opening 10 opened is sent to a predetermined position X of the blending weighing device 18 and stopped.

The supply pipe 26 will be described with reference to FIG. 3 together with FIG. The supply pipe 26 is configured such that an upper pipe 26b having an upper opening 26a contacting and connecting to the discharge port 4 and a lower pipe 26d having a lower opening 26c contacting and connecting to the input port 10 are fitted in a vertically extendable manner. Provided, and is disposed through a through hole 23 extending from the upper surface formed in the upper frame 22 to the lower frame 24 side.

The upper pipe 26b is attached to the upper surface of the upper frame 22 via an air cylinder 40 so as to be movable up and down. The lower pipe 26d is attached to a frame 42 provided on the lower frame 24 via an air cylinder 44 so as to be movable up and down.

The valve driving means 30 will be described with reference to FIG. The valve drive means 30 includes an electric actuator 48 that is freely attached to a base 46 provided on the upper frame 22 so as to advance and retract (indicated by an arrow Y) toward the raw material container 8 at a predetermined position X. The output shaft 48a of the electric actuator 48 is disposed so as to be collinear with the axis 7 of the valve shaft 6a of the on-off valve 6, and the valve shaft 6a is disposed between a pair of drive plates 48b, 48b at the tip of the output shaft 48a. The driven plate 6b at the tip is fitted and connected so as to be capable of rotational driving.

Thus, by controlling the input (for example, current) to the electric actuator 48 by the control device 20, the opening degree of the valve plate 6c of the on-off valve 6 according to the input can be obtained.

A vibrator 50 is detachably attached to the other end of the valve shaft 6a. The vibrator 50 is a well-known one that operates by pressurized air. The vibrator 50 vibrates the valve shaft 6a of the on-off valve 6 to vibrate the valve body 6c, vibrates and fluidizes the powder on the valve body 6c, and more accurately corresponds to the opening of the valve body 6c. The powder is discharged.

A description will be given mainly with reference to FIG. The control device 20 includes a microcomputer, and controls a series of operations of the conveyor 14 of the raw material container transport device, the conveyor 16 of the product container transport device, the blending and weighing device 18 and the like. Powder is supplied to the product container 12.

Container delivery:
By a conveyor 14 which is a raw material container transfer device and by a conveyor 16 which is a product container transfer device, a predetermined raw material container filled with a plurality of raw material powders and an empty product container stored in a warehouse or the like is predetermined. A container is selected and carried into a predetermined position X of the blending weighing device 18.

Material container identification:
The identification tag 34 in which the information of the raw material container 8 is recorded is read by the reader 36. When the raw material container 8 is not a predetermined one, the supply pipe 26 is connected to the raw material container 8 and the product container 12, and the powder to the product container 12 is used. Is rejected and the raw material container 8 is sent back to the transfer source.

Supply pipe connection and valve drive means connection:
A supply pipe 26 is connected to the discharge port 4 of the raw material container 8 at the predetermined position X and the input port 10 of the product container 12, and the output shaft 48 a of the valve driving means 30 is connected to the valve shaft 6 a of the on-off valve 6 of the raw material container 8. Link.

Powder discharge, weighing:
The opening degree of the on-off valve 6 is controlled by the electric actuator 48 of the valve driving means 30, and the powder in the raw material container 8 is discharged to the product container 12. At this time, the weight of the product container 12 is detected by the platform balance 28 of the blending weighing device 18, the opening degree of the on-off valve 6 is controlled, the discharge amount of the raw material powder is kept constant, and a predetermined amount is discharged. The on-off valve 6 is closed. When the weight increase per unit time of the platform balance 28 exceeds the set weight value, the opening degree of the on-off valve 6 is automatically narrowed to prevent an excessive charging amount into the product container 12.

Powder formulation:
By selecting a combination of a plurality of raw material containers 8 and product containers 12, the composition of the powder charged into the product container 12 is changed. In other words, a predetermined amount of each of the raw material powders of several types of raw material containers 8 is put into one product container 12 to generate a powder having a predetermined composition.

Unloading:
The product container 12 into which the powder has been charged is carried out to a storage location such as a warehouse by a conveyor 16 which is a product container transfer device.

The operation of the powder supply equipment 2 as described above will be described.

The powder supply equipment 2 includes a plurality of raw material containers 8, a plurality of product containers 12, a raw material container transfer device 14, a product container transfer device 16, and a raw material container 8 and a product container 12 at a predetermined position X. A blending and weighing device 18 is connected to discharge a predetermined amount of powder from the raw material container 8 to the product container 12. Accordingly, since a predetermined amount of powder is directly and sequentially supplied from each raw material container 8 to each product container 12, a plurality of types of raw material powders in which different types of powder are accommodated in a plurality of raw material containers 8. A predetermined amount of the predetermined composition can be easily supplied to the product container 12 without causing the supply facility to generate residual powder that needs to be cleaned.

The powder supply facility 2 can supply a predetermined amount of powder from one or more raw material containers to one or more product containers by appropriately combining the number of raw material containers 8 and product containers 12. Various systems can be configured. For example, the raw material container can be fixed to one and distributed to a plurality of product containers, or the product container can be fixed to one and distributed to a plurality of raw material containers.

Further, by making the raw material container 8 and the product container 10 the same, the product container 12 containing the blended powder can be used as the raw material container 8 as it is, and the powder supply equipment 2 is more effective. Can be operated.

When the raw material container 8 and the product container 12 are directly connected by the supply pipe 18 and the discharge of the raw material powder is completed, the on-off valve 6 is fully closed, and the remaining amount of raw material in the pipe from the raw material container 8 to the product container 12 There is no. Therefore, mixing of different kinds of powders and foreign matters into the product powder is prevented.

By providing the identification tag 34 in which the identification information is recorded in the raw material container 8 and the product container 12, necessary information regarding the powder and the container is managed, so that a weighing system without any mistake can be constructed.

Furthermore, since the powder supply facility 2 has a degree of freedom in transporting the raw material container 8 and the product container 12, the operation efficiency of the facility including the cleaning of the container can be improved by connecting the container automatic cleaning dryer to this facility. Can be improved.

The present invention has been described in detail based on the embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various changes or modifications can be made within the scope of the present invention.

For example, in the embodiment of the present invention, the conveyors 14 and 16 are used as the container transfer devices 22 and 24, but the container transfer device may be other appropriate means such as an automatic guided vehicle (AGV) or a stacker.

The outline explanatory view of the composition of the powder supply equipment constituted according to the present invention. Explanatory drawing which decelerates and stops a container to a predetermined position. Explanatory drawing of a supply pipe | tube. Explanatory drawing of the valve drive means which opens and closes an on-off valve.

Explanation of symbols

2: Powder supply equipment 4: Discharge port 6: On-off valve 8: Raw material container 10: Input port 12: Product container 14: Conveyor (raw material container transport device)
16: Conveyor (product container transport device)
18: blending weighing device 20: control device 26: supply pipe 28: platform scale 30: valve driving means

Claims (3)

A plurality of raw material containers having a powder discharge port and an opening / closing valve for the powder at the lower end, a plurality of product containers having a powder inlet at the upper end, and a raw material container conveying device for conveying the raw material container The product container transporting device that transports the product container and the discharge port of the raw material container and the input port of the product container that are transported to a predetermined position are detachably connected to open and close the opening and closing valve to open and close the raw material container to the product container. A powder supply comprising a blending and weighing device for discharging a predetermined amount of powder, and sequentially supplying a predetermined amount of powder from each of one or more raw material containers to each of one or more product containers Facility. The blending weighing device extends vertically and has an upper opening connected to the discharge port and a lower opening connected to the input port. The supply pipe can be extended and retracted freely, a platform scale on which the product container is placed, and an on-off valve A valve driving means that is detachably connected to the valve shaft;
The powder supply facility according to claim 1. The raw material container comprises means for identifying the powder contained therein,
The blending weighing device includes a raw material confirmation unit that reads information of the identification unit,
When it is confirmed that the blending weighing device is a pre-registered powder, the powder of this raw material container is supplied to the product container.
The powder supply equipment according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that.

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