JP2006349363A - Method and instrument for measuring quality of granular material - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve a method and instrument for measuring the quality of granular material so as to enhance measurement accuracy, and also to provide measurement repeatability. <P>SOLUTION: This granular material quality measuring instrument is equipped with: a process chamber for receiving the material in order to manufacture or process the material; a sample chamber disposed in the process chamber for receiving part of the material that is an inspecting object as material samples; and a photosensor pointing to the sample chamber through a window. This measuring instrument is characterized in that the sample chamber 3 and the window 8 makes relative motion while the material samples existing in the sample chamber 3 is compressed by the relative motion and is brought into contact with the window 8. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The invention relates to a method and a device according to the premise of claim 1 or claim 10.

Such a method and apparatus are known from US Pat.
The optical quality measurement of the granules can be performed by infrared near-field measurement. In the present proposal, a granule is a loose or fluid material made of an individual and is not related to the size of the individual. Therefore, in this sense, powder or powder is also called a granule. Rather than removing the sample from the process chamber and removing it after the quality measurement from this type of method and apparatus, the quality measurement is performed inside the process chamber, ie in a unique sample chamber located inside the process chamber. It has been known. For this reason, the sample chamber is opened upwards, so that the material automatically reaches the sample chamber by movement of the material during the process, for example by movement within the fluidized bed granulation, and the optical sensor. Can be touched and inspected for quality.

  Since the particle size ratio and the humidity ratio are different, the fluidity of the granules is affected, and thus the manner in which the material to be inspected contacts the optical sensor window is different. This affects the measurement result and may correspondingly affect the measurement accuracy.

  It is also known that infrared measurement is performed on the pulverized product in the course of conveying the pulverized product. For this reason, a bypass pipe is connected to the main pipe that guides the product mainstream section, and measurement is performed in this bypass pipe. Therefore, in this type of apparatus, the sample is not taken out during the manufacturing process or the processing process stage in the process chamber, and the transport flow is inspected. In this case, the transport stream is divided and the sample is analyzed in the partial stream. Such a configuration not only requires space, but is also expensive, and is not suitable for testing a sample within the range of fluidized bed granulation, for example.

German Patent Publication No. 19645923 A1

  The object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and a method suitable for this kind of method which are improved to enable high measurement accuracy and repeatability of measurement.

  The above problems are solved in the method by compressing the material sample inside the sample chamber before performing quality measurements.

  In the apparatus, the sample chamber and the window can be moved relative to each other, and the material sample in the sample chamber can be compressed by the relative movement and can be brought into contact with the window.

  In other words, the present invention proposes to press the material sample rather than leave it as a bulk material. Hereinafter, this is referred to as “compression”. If the material sample is always compressed identically depending on the pressure or distance, accidental variations of the material sample inside the sample chamber are avoided and the measurement results are not affected.

  The material sample is pressed against the light sensor window to ensure that the material sample is optimally and always equidistantly held from the light sensor window, thus providing a high repeatability and high measurement accuracy. It is advantageous to be able to obtain a realistic measurement result. Even if such pressing of the material sample against the window does not actually cause "compression" in the sense that it increases the specific bulk density of the material sample, within the scope of the proposal according to the invention, said pressing is against the material of the optical sensor. It is a pressure that can be called “compression” in the sense of avoiding different intervals between samples.

  Compression in simultaneously bringing the material sample against the window can be performed in two different ways. One embodiment is an embodiment in which the sample chamber guides the material sample to the window of the optical sensor by being deformably and / or movably supported. Another aspect is to configure the optical sensor to be movable and press fit into a material sample in the sample chamber. In this second embodiment, in some cases, the compression is limited to a region in front of the optical sensor window and is performed in a locally narrow range. In both embodiments, due to the contact between the material sample and the window, the material sample to be optically inspected and the window have a predetermined spacing, ie, according to the present invention, a “zero spacing”. Thus, this predetermined spacing avoids the accidental effects caused by the accidental spacing of the loose particles of material from the window.

  Within the scope of the proposal of the present invention, the “light sensor”, in general terms, refers to the individual elements including the window. These elements enable the optical evaluation of material samples and therefore include the light guide, intermediate member, etc., as well as the window itself, which in some cases forms a light exit surface for illumination. A light incident surface for an optical signal to be evaluated is always formed. In this case, the original sensor mechanism (which may be configured as a cell or chip in some cases) may be spaced apart in some cases. However, in the proposal of the present invention, it is not important where the sensor set and the original sensor mechanism are arranged, but where the window where the material contacts is important when performing optical quality measurements.

  The above-mentioned patent document 1 explains that the main drawback is to perform optical quality measurement using a window provided on the container wall. However, according to the proposal of the present invention, this type of measurement can be performed with excellent measurement results. In addition, it is advantageous because the window can be cleaned. In particular, the sample chamber itself can be configured to clean the window with a small construction cost.

  The sample chamber may be configured, for example, in the form of a shell, abutting against the wall of the process chamber from the inside and opening upward and also toward the wall of the process chamber. That is, the wall portion defining the sample hollow space in the entire sample chamber is formed by the wall of the process chamber itself. For this reason, the rest of the shell-like sample chamber is in close contact with the walls of the process chamber. A portion of the material accidentally resulting from the process (eg, fluidized bed granulation process) falls into a sample chamber that opens upward. These materials are still present inside the process chamber but have been excluded from the process because they are no longer vortexed. Such a shell-like sample chamber can later be further separated from the wall of the process chamber, or can be moved along the wall of the process chamber, for example by a rotational movement. Accordingly, the opening that is initially open upward is turned downward. In both cases, the sample chamber is thus emptied by dropping or fluidly extracting the material sample from the sample chamber purely by gravity.

  In some cases, the process of emptying the sample chamber purely by gravity may be assisted by, for example, a liquid or gas cleaning process. In this case, it is particularly advantageous to use a fluid that is neutral to the process, so that the cleaning can be repeated any number of times without affecting the process that takes place in the process chamber.

  When the sample chamber is rotated as described above, the shell-shaped sample chamber wall scrapes along the inner wall of the process chamber by its edge, and is embedded in the process chamber wall at that time. Clean the light sensor window. For this reason, a particularly good cleaning result may be obtained by providing the sample chamber with a suitable cleaning element, for example in the form of a brush or elastomeric lip.

  It is particularly advantageous to configure the edge of the sample chamber itself passing by the window itself as a cleaning element, for example in the form of a brush or an elastomeric lip. With this configuration, it is not necessary to provide an assembly member such as a special cleaning element, so that it is possible to avoid a sanitary defect that may occur due to a hollow space, a gap, or the like where the cleaning action cannot be achieved.

  Advantageously, most or all of the edge of the sample chamber is configured to be deflectable. When configured in this way, the edge of the sample chamber has a function of pressing the sample chamber against the wall of the process chamber by a linear motion or a tilting motion in addition to the cleaning action due to its deformability, and thus the material sample. Allows compression of As a result, the material is pressed against the window of the photosensor provided on this wall. For this purpose, for example, the axis of rotation around which the shell-like sample chamber rotates or rotates may be translatable simultaneously in the form of a push bar or a pull bar. In this way, compression becomes possible. Furthermore, the translational movement assists the process of emptying the sample chamber by separating the sample chamber from the process chamber wall and thus opening.

  Instead of making the edge of the sample chamber deformable in this way, the entire sample chamber is made of an elastically deformable material such as an elastomer material and pressed against the wall of the process chamber as described above. May be. In this case, the sample chamber is deformed and the material sample contained in the sample chamber is compressed, so that the material is in optimal contact with the window of the photosensor.

  Alternatively, the optical sensor embedded in the process chamber wall may be supported by a reciprocable piston or plunger. If the sample chamber filled with the material sample is placed in front of the window, the plunger can run out of the wall, so that the plunger penetrates into the process chamber where it compresses the material so that the material is light Optimum contact with the sensor window, enabling reliable measurement.

  Instead of configuring the sample chamber in a shell shape as described above, it may be configured like a very short conveying screw. That is, you may comprise so that it may have a receiving space tapering in the shape of a wedge. The receiving space is defined by the walls of the process chamber and tapers along the direction of movement of the sample chamber. Due to the movement of the sample chamber, the material present in the wedge-shaped receiving space is automatically compressed, so that when the optical quality measurement is performed by a window, the material contacts this window with a constant contact pressure. .

  Especially when the mobility of the sample chamber is configured as a rotational motion, the sample chamber is automatically emptied when the sample chamber opens downward and the material sample falls from the sample chamber due to gravity. Therefore, it is not necessary to provide an auxiliary movable member, such as a hermetic cover for the sample chamber, which favorably affects the manufacturing costs and the hygienic characteristics of the device. By configuring the sample chamber wall edge or the entire wall to be deflectable, the sample chamber can be pulled toward the process chamber wall in the second direction of motion to allow compression of the material sample.

  The sample chamber may be provided with a flexible edge. This edge defines a hollow space in which the material sample is received, so that this flexible edge acts as a packing that prevents the material sample from being accidentally escaped from the sample chamber to the process chamber. Furthermore, this flexible edge allows the material sample to be compressed by the second direction of movement, even when the sample chamber is rigidly constructed, when the sample chamber is guided over the window of the light sensor. Improve the cleaning action.

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
In FIG. 1, 1 is a process chamber, for example, a product container for fluidized bed granulation. The process chamber 1 has a wall 2 extending in a tapered shape in a truncated cone shape. A sample chamber 3 is provided inside the process chamber 1. The sample chamber 3 is formed in a shell shape and defines a sample hollow space 4. The sample hollow space 4 is also defined by the wall 2. The sample chamber 3 is opened upward in the position shown in FIG. 1, so that the granular material (granules) produced or processed in the process chamber 1 automatically reaches the sample chamber 3 and passes through the sample hollow space 4. Fill. The material sample is in the process chamber 1 but is excluded from the process because it does not participate in the vortex formation process, for example.

  The illustration of FIG. 1 illustrates the peripheral region of the sample chamber 3 and shows a sleeve-like insert 5. This insert 5 forms a wall 2 formed as a conical surface 10 immediately around the sample chamber 3. A guide rod 6 is movably guided on the insert 5, and as a result, the sample chamber 3 can be driven to rotate using the guide rod 6. The guide rod 6 is not only provided as a rotational drive unit for the sample chamber 3 configured in a shell shape, but also can be adjusted in position in the axial direction.

  Further, the light guide 7 is guided so as to penetrate the insert 5. The light guide 7 is flush with the insert 5, i.e. flush with a portion of the wall 2 formed by the insert 5. This end face of the light guide 7 bordering the process chamber 1 or the sample chamber 3 will be referred to as a window 8 hereinafter. Unlike the illustrated embodiment, the window 8 may be formed by a separate member that separates the light guide 7 from the process chamber 1 or the sample hollow space 4. Both the light source and the optical signal emitting part of the optical sensor are located away from the original process chamber 1, so that the light guide 7 which forms part of the entire optical sensor allows the necessary short distance to the material sample. To do.

  FIG. 2 shows the apparatus of FIG. 1 in the discharge position. That is, the sample chamber 3 is rotated 180 ° with respect to the arrangement shown in FIG. 1 using the guide rod 6 and is separated from the wall. That is, it opens downward. As a result, the sample chamber 3 is emptied at this position, and the material sample falls from the sample hollow space 4. When the sample chamber 3 is rotated by 180 ° again in the direction shown in FIG. 2, the sample chamber 3 opens upward as shown in FIG. Next, when the sample chamber 3 in which the guide rod 6 is directed to open upward is slowly guided along the wall 2, the sample chamber 3 is accumulated in the sample hollow space 4 until just before the sample chamber 3 contacts the wall 2. The formed material is compressed, and the material comes into contact with the window 8 with a constant pressing force. In this way, irregular spacing between the material sample and the window 8 is prevented. Therefore, it is possible to obtain individual measurement results that are direct (expressive) and comparable in optical quality control.

  The edge of the sample chamber 3 that abuts the wall 2 in the form of an insert 5 is advantageously elastically deformable. Alternatively, it is advantageous for the entire material of the shell-like sample chamber 3 to be elastically deformable. In this way, a particularly reliable compression of the material sample can occur. That is, when the guide rod 6 is appropriately moved in the axial direction, the sample chamber 1 comes into contact with the wall 2 and when the material is collected in the sample hollow space 4, the guide rod 6 is further moved to thereby move the elastic force. The entire packing lip or elastic sample chamber 3 is deformed, so that the material in the sample hollow space 4 is compressed. In this case, the guide bar 6 may be moved to a certain resistance pressure, or the guide bar 6 may always be moved by the same distance. By always performing homogeneous compression depending on pressure or distance, direct measurement results can be obtained at the time of quality specification (measurement).

  Since the wall of the sample chamber 3 is elastically deformable, the elasticity of the sample chamber 3 when the guide rod 6 rotates or rotates, and therefore when the sample chamber 3 rotates or rotates. The wall scrapes the window 8, thus automatically cleaning the window 8. This cleaning effect is also promoted by the conical surface 10. This is because the conical surface 10 creates a small free space that allows the material to fall downward.

  FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the situation of FIG. 1 as viewed from the inside of the process chamber 1.

  FIG. 4 is a view in which the sample chamber 3 is rotated 90 ° relative to this. As is apparent from this figure, the edge of the sample chamber 3 scrapes the window 8 to clean it.

  FIG. 5 shows the sample chamber 3 rotated downward by 180 ° with respect to FIG. 1 or FIG. 3 and opened downward, and FIG. 6 shows that the sample chamber 3 is spaced from the wall 2 as shown in FIG. It shows the state of being.

  The fact that the guide rod 6 is movable in the axial direction is advantageous on the one hand for completely emptying the sample chamber 3, while the material sample in the sample chamber 3 can be compressed.

  FIG. 7 is a perspective view similar to FIGS. 3 to 6, but a second embodiment of the sample chamber 3 is provided in the process chamber 1. As can be seen from the enlarged views of FIGS. 8 to 10, the sample chamber 3 has a substantially spiral configuration, and as a result, a sample hollow space 4 extending in a wedge shape and curved is formed. The sample hollow space 4 is tapered in the direction opposite to the moving direction of the sample chamber 3. The movement of the sample chamber 3 is performed in the counterclockwise direction according to FIGS. 7 to 9, so that the material initially reaching the sample hollow space 4 is press-fitted into the sample hollow space 4 which becomes smaller as it deepens. Is compressed.

  In addition to this effect, the configuration of the sample chamber 3 is deformable, and the guide rod 6 that drives the sample chamber 3 is movable in the axial direction, as described in the first embodiment. Additional compression effects also occur.

  The sample chamber 3 of this second embodiment is advantageous because it can move in two directions of movement. That is, if the reciprocating rotational motion is performed, the sample chamber can be opened downward by the clockwise motion, and the sample chamber can be emptied by a kind of scraping effect. Alternatively or in addition to these two reverse movement directions, the guide rod can be moved in the axial direction as described above, and the distance between the sample chamber 3 and the wall 2 can be made variable. May be. This facilitates or improves the compression process and the discharge process.

  As can be seen in particular in FIG. 10, the part of the sample chamber 3 that is closest to the wall 2 (in this embodiment, part of which is formed by the insert 5) is such that when the sample chamber 3 moves, Since the window 8 is rubbed, it is suitable for mechanical cleaning of the window 8.

  Further, as can be seen from FIG. 10, there is no wall extending around the sample chamber 3 to seal the sample chamber 3 with respect to the wall 2. However, unlike the illustrated embodiment, such walls may be provided. Similarly, the wall of the sample chamber 3 or the entire sample chamber 3 is elastically configured so that various spacings between the sample chamber 3 and the wall 2 are used for compressing the material so that the material is sampled in the radial direction. It may be prevented from flowing out of the chamber 3 or the sample hollow space.

  Unlike some of the illustrated embodiments, the window 8 may be configured to move into the sample hollow space 4 to compress the material sample to be examined. For this reason, you may comprise so that the optical derivative 7 may be displaced to a longitudinal direction. If comprised in this way, even if it does not comprise the sample chamber 3 elastically, the expression of quality control which can be compared with this is possible.

It is a cross-sectional view of a process chamber, and is a cross-sectional view when a sample chamber disposed in the process chamber is in a first position. It is a cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 1, and is a cross-sectional view when the sample chamber is in the second position. It is the perspective view which looked at the inside of the process chamber of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, and is a perspective view when a sample chamber exists in one specific position. It is the perspective view which looked at the inside of the process chamber of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, and is a perspective view when a sample chamber exists in another position. It is the perspective view which looked at the inside of the process chamber of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, and is a perspective view when a sample chamber exists in another position. It is the perspective view which looked at the inside of the process chamber of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, and is a perspective view when a sample chamber exists in another position. It is the perspective view which looked at the inside of the process chamber provided with 2nd Embodiment of the sample chamber. FIG. 8 is a view of the sample chamber when the sample chamber of FIG. 7 is in a certain position. FIG. 8 is a view of the sample chamber when the sample chamber of FIG. 7 is in another position. FIG. 8 is a view of the sample chamber when the sample chamber of FIG. 7 is in another position.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Process chamber 2 Wall 3 Sample chamber 4 Sample hollow space 5 Insert 6 Guide rod 7 Light guide 8 Window 10 Conical surface

Claims (21)

A method for measuring the quality of a granular material using an optical sensor, wherein a material sample is removed from the process and supplied into the sample chamber during a manufacturing process or a processing process that proceeds in the process chamber. In the method, wherein the material sample is guided in front of the window for detecting the material sample, and the material sample is kept inside the process chamber during the quality measurement by the optical sensor and then returned to the process.
A method characterized in that the material sample inside the sample chamber (3) is compressed before the quality measurement is carried out. 2. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that the material sample is pressed against the window (8). 3. A method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the window (8) is cleaned before the quality measurement by the optical sensor is performed. The method according to claim 3, wherein the cleaning is performed using a mechanical wiper. 5. Method according to claim 4, characterized in that the cleaning is carried out by means of an elastic wall of the sample chamber (3). 4. Method according to claim 3, characterized in that the cleaning is carried out by blowing gas on the window (8). 7. The method according to claim 1, wherein gas is blown into the sample chamber (3) in order to empty the sample chamber (3). 8. A method according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that process neutral gas is used. The method according to claim 1, wherein the quality measurement is performed by infrared near-field measurement. An apparatus for measuring the quality of granular materials,
A process chamber that receives the material for manufacturing or processing the material;
A sample chamber disposed within the process chamber and receiving a portion of the material to be inspected as a material sample;
An optical sensor directed to the sample chamber through the window;
In the device comprising:
The sample chamber (3) and the window (8) can be moved relative to each other, and the material sample in the sample chamber (3) can be compressed by the relative movement and can contact the window (8). Equipment. The sample chamber (3) is configured in a shell shape and is supported so as to be rotatable or rotatable so that it can be filled when opened upward and discharged when opened downward. Device according to claim 10, characterized. The sample chamber (3) is movable along the wall (2) of the process chamber (1), and a window (8) for the optical sensor is formed in the wall (2) within the movement trajectory of the sample chamber (3). 12. Device according to claim 10 or 11, characterized in that it is provided. Device according to claim 12, characterized in that the sample chamber (3) is provided with a cleaning element for cleaning the window (8). 14. Device according to claim 13, characterized in that a conical surface (10) is provided in the region of the window (8) and the wall of the sample chamber (3) is configured to be elastic. 15. The light sensor according to claim 10, wherein the light sensor is movable with the window (8) into the sample chamber (3) so that the material sample contacts the window (8). Equipment. Device according to claim 15, characterized in that the optical sensor is movable into the sample chamber (3) to the extent that it compresses the material sample. The sample chamber (3) can be deformed so that the internal space volume of the sample chamber (3) can be reduced and the material sample contained in the sample chamber (3) can be compressed. A device according to any one of claims 10 to 16. 18. Device according to claim 17, characterized in that the sample chamber (3) is pulled by the guide rod (6) towards the wall (2) of the process chamber (1) and is thereby deformable. The sample chamber (3) abuts against the wall (2) of the process chamber (1) so that the wall (2) simultaneously defines the sample chamber (3) and prevents material loss of the material sample. Device according to any one of claims 10 to 18, characterized in that (3) abuts closely against the wall (2). 20. The sample chamber (3) according to claim 10 or 19, characterized in that it forms a wedge-shaped sample hollow space (4) that tapers in a direction opposite to the direction of movement of the sample chamber (3). Equipment. Device according to claim 20, characterized in that the sample chamber (3) is movable in two opposite directions of movement.

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