JP2006346609A - Spheroidizing treatment apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a spheroidizing treatment apparatus in which a hot wind having a preferable temperature distribution can be obtained without lowering the temperature of the hot wind in a hot wind jetting pipe. <P>SOLUTION: The spheroidizing treatment apparatus is provided with: a reaction tank 1; the hot wind jetting pipe 2 for blowing the hot wind in the reaction tank 1 from the upper part thereof; a raw material jetting pipe 3 the tip of which is positioned in an outlet part of the hot wind jetting pipe 2 and which is used for jetting a thermoplastic particle toward the hot wind to be jetted from the hot wind jetting pipe 2; a cooling means for preventing the temperature of the thermoplastic particle in the raw material jetting pipe 3 from being raised to the melting point or higher of the thermoplastic particle by the hot wind flowing in the hot wind jetting pipe 2; and a heat insulating means for preventing the hot wind flowing in the hot wind jetting pipe 2 from being cooled by the cooling means. The cooling means has a cylindrical cooling jacket 5 arranged for covering the periphery of the raw material jetting pipe 3. Double-layer cylindrical spaces are formed concentrically in the cooling jacket 5. The inside cylindrical space is used as a cooling water passage 5c and the outside cylindrical space is packed with a heat insulating material 7 as the heat insulating means. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a spheronization processing apparatus for spheroidizing thermoplastic particles such as developing toner used in a copying machine.

In order to improve various physical properties such as fluidity, dispersibility, and charging characteristics, thermoplastic particles used as a developing toner have been conventionally spheroidized. As an apparatus for performing such spheroidization processing, for example, there is one described in Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-17074 (see Patent Document 1).
The apparatus described in the above document is arranged in a reaction tank, a hot air injection pipe that blows hot air from the upper part of the reaction tank, and an outlet portion of the hot air injection pipe, and is directed to the hot air that is injected from the hot air injection pipe. A raw material injection pipe for injecting thermoplastic particles, and a cooling means for preventing the thermoplastic particles in the raw material injection pipe from rising above the melting point by hot air flowing in the hot air injection pipe. And a thermoplastic particle is injected in the hot air injected from a hot-air injection pipe, the surface of a thermoplastic particle is fuse | melted with a hot air, and a spheronization process is performed.
Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-17074

  By the way, in the apparatus described in Patent Document 1, the thermoplastic particles in the raw material injection tube are prevented from being heated to the melting point or higher, while the hot air flowing in the hot air injection tube is cooled by the cooling means to lower the temperature. There was a problem to do. As a means for solving this problem, it is conceivable to raise the temperature of the hot air corresponding to the amount cooled by the cooling means. However, this leads to a new problem that energy efficiency is deteriorated.

In addition, when the hot air in the hot air jet tube is cooled by the cooling means, there is a problem that the temperature distribution of the hot air is deteriorated and the sphericity is varied.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a spheronization treatment apparatus in which hot air having a preferable temperature distribution is obtained without lowering the temperature of hot air in the hot air jet tube.

In order to solve the above-described problem, the spheronization processing apparatus of the present invention provides:
A reaction tank, a hot air spray pipe that blows hot air from the top of the reaction tank, and a raw material jet that is located at the outlet of the hot air spray pipe and injects thermoplastic particles toward the hot air sprayed from the hot air spray pipe A cooling means for preventing the thermoplastic particles in the raw material injection pipe from rising above the melting point due to the hot air flowing in the pipe, the hot air injection pipe, and the hot air flowing in the hot air injection pipe from being cooled by the cooling means It is equipped with heat insulation means.

In the spheronization processing apparatus,
The cooling means includes a cylindrical cooling jacket provided so as to cover the periphery of the raw material injection pipe, and a two-layer cylindrical space is formed concentrically in the cooling jacket, and the inner cylindrical space is a cooling water. It is a passage, and the outer cylindrical space is filled with a heat insulating material as a heat insulating means,
Sometimes.

Further, the hot air injection pipe and the raw material injection pipe are located concentrically, and a collision plate on which the injected raw material collides is disposed below the outlet of the raw material injection pipe.
Sometimes.

  According to the spheroidization processing apparatus of the first aspect, since the heat insulating means is provided between the cooling means and the hot air jet pipe, the temperature of the hot air flowing in the hot air jet pipe is unlikely to decrease. For this reason, it is not necessary to raise the temperature of the hot air supplied to the spheroidizing apparatus more than necessary. Furthermore, hot air having a temperature distribution suitable for the spheroidizing treatment of the thermoplastic particles can be obtained.

  Moreover, according to the spheroidizing apparatus of claim 2, the cooling means and the heat insulating means can be easily and inexpensively formed.

  According to the spheroidizing treatment apparatus of the third aspect, the raw materials are appropriately dispersed in the reaction tank, and the spheroidizing treatment can be effectively performed.

A spheronization processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
The spheroidizing treatment apparatus of the present invention has a reaction vessel 1, a hot air injection tube 2 that blows hot air downward from the upper part of the reaction vessel 1 into the reaction vessel 1, a tip located inside the outlet of the hot air injection tube 2, A raw material injection pipe 3 that injects thermoplastic particles downward toward the hot air injected from the injection pipe 2, a cooling jacket 5 provided so as to cover the outer periphery of the raw material injection pipe 3, and an outlet of the raw material injection pipe 3 A horizontal plate-shaped collision member 8 is provided so as to face each other. The collision member 8 is for effectively dispersing the raw material in the hot air.

The reaction tank 1 has an inverted frustoconical shape that decreases in diameter toward the lower end, and the upper end opening is closed by the top plate 4. A circular first air intake 4a is opened at the center of the top plate 4, and an arc-shaped second air intake 4b is opened at the peripheral edge.

The diameter of the first air intake 4a is larger than the outer diameter of the outlet portion of the hot air injection pipe 2. Moreover, the 1st air intake 4a and the exit part of the hot air injection pipe 2 are located on the same axis.

As shown in FIG. 1, the hot air injection tube 2 has an inverted L shape when viewed from the side. The lower ends of the raw material injection tube 3 and the cooling jacket 5 are located in the lower end of the vertical portion of the hot air injection tube 2, and the upper portions of the raw material injection tube 3 and the cooling jacket 5 protrude from the vertical portion of the hot air injection tube 2. In addition, a raw material injection pipe 3 and a cooling jacket 5 are arranged in a state of penetrating the hot air injection pipe 2.

The cooling jacket 5 has a cylindrical shape. The inner diameter of the cooling jacket 5 is larger than the outer diameter of the raw material injection pipe 3, and the cooling jacket 5 is arranged coaxially so as to cover the outer periphery of the raw material injection pipe 3 and at a distance from the outer periphery of the raw material injection pipe 3. ing. Further, a two-layered cylindrical space is formed inside the cooling jacket 5, the inner cylindrical space serves as an annular cooling water passage 5 c, and the outer cylindrical space fills the heat insulating material 7. It is considered as a space. A cooling water inlet 5a extending in the radial direction and projecting outward from the hot air jet pipe 2 is formed in the lower part of the cooling jacket 5, and a cooling water outlet 5b extending in the radial direction is formed in the upper part of the cooling jacket 5, respectively. The cooling water supplied from the cooling water inlet 5a is discharged from the cooling water outlet 5b through the annular cooling water passage 5c.
In addition, by integrating three cylindrical members having different diameters, the cylindrical cooling jacket 5 in which two layers of cylindrical spaces are formed can be easily configured.

The upper end portion of the raw material injection pipe 3 protrudes upward from the upper end of the cooling jacket 5, and a hopper 9 for filling thermoplastic particles is attached to the upper end portion. Further, as described above, the inner diameter of the cooling jacket 5 is larger than the outer diameter of the raw material injection pipe 3, and an annular gap is formed between the jacket 5 and the raw material injection pipe 3, and this gap is an air passage. It is set to 6. An air supply port 6 a for supplying air to the air passage 6 is formed above the cooling water outlet 5 b of the cooling jacket 5.

A diffuser portion (not shown) is formed immediately below the hopper 9 of the raw material injection pipe 3. The thermoplastic particles stored in the hopper 9 are sucked into the raw material injection pipe 3 by the air flow in the diffuser portion. Since this configuration is known, the illustration is omitted.

The spheronization processing apparatus having the above configuration is used as follows.
First, hot air is injected into the reaction tank 1 from the hot air injection tube 2. At the same time, air is injected from the air passage 6 into the reaction tank 1. Further, water as a refrigerant is flowed from the cooling water inlet 5a to the cooling water passage 5c, and water is discharged from the cooling water outlet 5b. In this state, a mixed fluid of thermoplastic particles and air is injected from the raw material injection tube 3 into the reaction tank 1.

The thermoplastic particles injected from the raw material injection tube 3 into the reaction tank 1 collide with the collision member 8. The thermoplastic particles are dispersed in the hot air jetted from the hot air jet tube 2 by the collision and the air jetted from the air passage 6 and uniformly contact with the hot air.
The thermoplastic particles that have been spheroidized in contact with the hot air are cooled by the air taken in from the air intake ports 4a and 4b.

By the way, since the cooling jacket 5 is provided between the raw material injection tube 3 and the hot air injection tube 2, the thermoplastic particles flowing in the raw material injection tube 3 are affected by the hot air flowing in the hot air injection tube 2. There is no agglomeration, and there is no material aggregation in the injection tube 3.
Further, since the heat insulating material 7 is disposed outside the cooling water passage 5c of the cooling jacket 5, the hot air flowing in the hot air injection pipe 2 is not cooled by the water flowing in the cooling water passage 5c. Therefore, the hot air is kept at a temperature suitable for the spheroidization treatment of the thermoplastic particles until it is jetted from the hot air jet tube 2. Further, the temperature of the water flowing in the cooling water passage 5c does not increase.

The spheronization processing apparatus of one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, but the spheronization processing apparatus of the present invention is not limited to that of the above embodiment. For example, a conical collision member may be used instead of the horizontal plate-shaped collision member 8, and the shape of the collision member can be changed as appropriate.

It is sectional drawing of the spheroidization processing apparatus of this invention. It is sectional drawing of the principal part of the same spheronization processing apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

1 Reaction tank 2 Hot air injection tube 3 Raw material injection tube 4 Top plate
4a 1st air intake
4b 2nd air intake 5 Cooling jacket
5c Cooling water passage 6 Air passage 7 Heat insulation material 8 Collision member 9 Hopper

Claims (3)

A reaction tank, a hot air spray pipe that blows hot air from the top of the reaction tank, and a raw material jet that is located at the outlet of the hot air spray pipe and injects thermoplastic particles toward the hot air sprayed from the hot air spray pipe A cooling means for preventing the thermoplastic particles in the raw material injection pipe from rising above the melting point due to the hot air flowing in the pipe, the hot air injection pipe, and the hot air flowing in the hot air injection pipe from being cooled by the cooling means And a spheroidizing treatment device. The cooling means includes a cylindrical cooling jacket provided so as to cover the periphery of the raw material injection pipe,
A two-layered cylindrical space is formed concentrically in the cooling jacket, the inner cylindrical space is used as a cooling water passage, and the outer cylindrical space is filled with a heat insulating material as heat insulating means. The spheroidizing apparatus according to 1. The spheronization process according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the hot air injection pipe and the raw material injection pipe are concentrically arranged, and a collision plate on which the injected raw material collides is disposed below the outlet of the raw material injection pipe. apparatus.

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