JP2007185583A - Apparatus and method for flattening powder in tray - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an apparatus and a method for certainly and easily flattening a powder such as a catalyst precursor and a prepolymer for a solid state polymerization charged into a tray. <P>SOLUTION: The flattening apparatus that flattens a powder charged into an approximately square tray comprised of a vertical elevator, a bracket that is attached to the vertical elevator and moves upward and downward, a rotary mechanism attached to the bracket, a vertical rotary shaft rotatably supported by the rotary mechanism, and a horizontal rotary plate that is attached to the lower end of the vertical rotary shaft and rotates horizontally keeps the horizontal length of the horizontal rotary plate longer than the length of one side of the approximately square tray and shorter than that of a diagonal line of the tray and is made from a resin so as to be able to bend itself upon touching a side face of the tray while rotating. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a powder particle flattening apparatus and a flattening method. More specifically, the present invention relates to a flattening device and a flattening method for powder particles put in a tray.

When manufacturing a catalyst, the method of baking and manufacturing a catalyst precursor etc. is known (for example, refer patent document 1 and patent document 2). As the method, the structure of the device is relatively simple and easy to heat uniformly, and it is easy to change the type, etc., so put the catalyst precursor etc. into the tray, insert the tray into the heating furnace and heat There is a way to do it.
In addition, methods for producing polyethylene terephthalate, polybutylene terephthalate and liquid crystalline polyester resin by solid phase polymerization are known. As such a method, a method is known in which a prepolymer (a granular polymer) is placed in a tray, the tray is stacked on a shelf, inserted into a heating furnace, and heated to perform solid phase polymerization (for example, Patent Document 3). reference.).
In order to uniformly heat the granular material, the granular material in the tray needs to have a uniform thickness. Usually, since the granular material is put into the tray from the hopper, it has a substantially mountain shape in the tray, and this is flattened manually using a flat spatula.

However, since the manual flattening method takes time and labor, this spatula is automatically moved back and forth or left and right in the tray and flattened. There is a need for a more reliable and easier method of flattening that is not sufficiently flat and not a sufficient method.
JP-A-4-63139 JP 2000-288396 A JP 2004-331789 A

  In order to solve the above problems, the present inventors have intensively studied a method for flattening the granular material in the tray, and as a result, an apparatus for flattening the granular material charged into the tray having a substantially square plane. A vertical elevating mechanism, a bracket attached to the vertical elevating mechanism and moving up and down, a rotating mechanism attached to the bracket, a vertical rotating shaft supported and rotated by the rotating mechanism, and attached to a lower end of the vertical rotating shaft A horizontal rotating plate that rotates horizontally, wherein the horizontal length of the horizontal rotating plate is longer than the length of one side of the substantially square of the tray and shorter than the length of the diagonal line. It has been found that by using a flattening device made of a resin that is curved when it comes into contact with the side surface, it can be more reliably and easily flattened, and the present invention has been achieved.

That is, the present invention is an apparatus for flattening powder particles put in a tray having a substantially square plane, and is attached to a vertical elevating mechanism, a bracket that is attached to the vertical elevating mechanism, and is moved up and down. A rotating mechanism, a vertical rotating shaft supported and rotated by the rotating mechanism, and a horizontal rotating plate attached to the lower end of the vertical rotating shaft and rotating horizontally. The horizontal length of the horizontal rotating plate The flatness of the granular material in the tray is characterized in that it is longer than the length of one side of the square and shorter than the length of the diagonal, and is made of a resin that curves when the horizontal rotating plate rotates and contacts the side of the tray. Device.
In addition, using this flattening device, the tray loaded with powder particles is transported below the flattening device by transporting means, and the vertical rotating shaft is lowered through the bracket by the vertical lifting mechanism to move the horizontal rotating plate. After inserting the horizontal rotating plate through the vertical rotating shaft by the rotating mechanism and flattening the powder particles put in the tray by the rotating mechanism, the vertical rotating shaft is moved by the vertical lifting mechanism. In this method, the horizontal rotating plate is raised through the flattening method of the granular material in the tray.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to surely and easily flatten the granular material charged in the tray. That is, it can be easily flattened using an automated apparatus, and in particular, the space and accumulation at the four corners of the tray can be reduced.

  Examples of the granular material include, but are not limited to, a prepolymer for solid phase polymerization and a catalyst precursor for catalyst production.

Although it does not specifically limit as a prepolymer, For example, the prepolymer of polyester, polyamide, polyamideimide, a polyimide, polyphenylene sulfide, etc. are mentioned. These prepolymers are heated to perform solid phase polymerization to produce a polymer.
Here, the polyester is, for example, a polyester such as polyethylene terephthalate, polybutylene terephthalate, poly-m-phenylene terephthalate, poly-p-phenylene isophthalate, poly-1,4-cyclohexanedimethylene terephthalate, or p-hydroxybenzoic acid. Polyesters obtained from aromatic hydroxycarboxylic acids such as 2-hydroxy-6-naphthoic acid, and aromatic dicarboxylic acids such as terephthalic acid, isophthalic acid and 2,6-naphthalenedicarboxylic acid, hydroquinone, resorcin, 4 , 4′-dihydroxydiphenyl, liquid crystalline polyesters obtained from aromatic hydroxy compounds such as 2,6-dihydroxynaphthalene.

The catalyst precursor is not particularly limited. For example, propylene and isobutylene described in Patent Document 2 are vapor-phase catalytically oxidized with molecular oxygen to produce corresponding unsaturated aldehydes and unsaturated carboxylic acids. And a precursor of a Mo—Bi-based composite oxidation catalyst used in the process.
This composite oxide catalyst is obtained, for example, by mixing an aqueous solution of a catalyst raw material to obtain a slurry, concentrating and drying the slurry, and, if necessary, obtaining a dried product into a granular form by means such as crushing. The product is calcined, molded, and finally calcined. Here, the catalyst precursor is a powder before temporary firing, a powder before final firing, a molded body, or the like.

  The granular material used in the present invention may be in the form of powder or pellets, and the particle diameter is not particularly limited, but usually about 10 mm or less is used.

A tray made of aluminum or stainless steel is used as the tray. The size of the tray is not particularly limited. Although it depends on the type and shape of the granular material, the thickness of the granular material in the tray is preferably about 65 mm or less so as not to cause a temperature difference between the inside and the surface of the granular material. In consideration of ease of handling, etc., a plane having a substantially square shape with a side length of about 200 to 700 mm and a height of about 70 to 120 mm is used.
In the present invention, “substantially square” refers to a rectangle whose ratio of the length of the other piece to the length of one side is about 0.95 to 1.05. In the case of a tray in which the ratio of the lengths of the sides is outside this range, the accumulation of powder particles increases in the corners and the horizontal rotating plate becomes difficult to rotate, which is not preferable.

  The granular material is normally stored in a hopper or the like, and when the granular material is put into a tray, the granular material forms a substantially mountain shape. In order to uniformly heat the granular material, it is necessary to make the granular material in the tray as uniform as possible below a certain thickness. Usually, the thickness is preferably about 5 to 65 mm, although it varies depending on the type and shape of the powder.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of the planarization apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic horizontal cross-sectional view of the horizontal rotating plate portion.
A vertical lifting mechanism 1 is attached to the frame 10. As the vertical elevating mechanism 1, an air cylinder, a hydraulic cylinder or the like is usually used. A bracket 2 is attached to the vertical lifting mechanism 1, and a rotating mechanism 3 is attached to the bracket 2. In order to prevent scattering of the granular material, it is preferable to attach a scattering prevention cover. Specifically, a support plate 9 also serving as a scattering prevention cover is attached to the bracket 2, and the rotation mechanism 3 is mounted on the support plate 9. It is attached. That is, the rotation mechanism 3 is attached to the bracket 2 via the support plate 9.
As the rotation mechanism 3, a geared motor or the like is usually used. The vertical rotation shaft 4 is supported and rotated by the rotation mechanism 3. At the lower end of the vertical rotating shaft 4, a horizontal rotating plate 5 that is rotated horizontally by the rotation of the vertical rotating shaft is attached via an attaching plate 6.
The vertical lifting mechanism 1 is preferably attached to the frame 10 via a height adjusting slide mechanism (not shown) in order to adjust the distance between the horizontal rotating plate and the bottom plate of the tray. As the height adjusting slide mechanism, a slide plate that is moved up and down by a screw is usually preferably used.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the horizontal rotating plate 5 has a length in the horizontal direction longer than the length of one side of the substantially square of the tray and shorter than the length of the diagonal line, and rotates to contact the side surface of the tray. It is made of resin that bends when The length of the horizontal rotating plate is preferably 1.25 to 1.35 times the length of one side inside the tray. The length in the height direction is not particularly limited, and is usually about 50 to 150 mm. The resin constituting the horizontal rotating plate is not particularly limited as long as it has flexibility to bend when it contacts the side surface of the tray. For example, urethane resin having a hardness of about 30 is preferably used.

  When the horizontal rotating plate 5 is put in and out of the tray, it is preferable that the direction of the horizontal rotating plate is the diagonal direction of the tray. That is, when the horizontal rotating plate stops, it is preferable that the direction stops at a position in the diagonal direction of the tray. For this purpose, a rotational position detection sensor 8 is provided to detect the rotational position. As the rotational position detection sensor 8, for example, a proximity switch is used, and a semi-circular disk is attached to the vertical rotation shaft 4 so that the boundary direction between the circular part and the disk part is the diagonal direction of the tray. By detecting the boundary between the missing circle portion and the disc portion and stopping the rotation of the vertical rotation shaft, the direction of the horizontal rotation plate can be adjusted to the diagonal position of the tray.

The method for flattening the powder will be described below.
The tray into which the powder and granular materials are put is conveyed below the above-described flattening apparatus. Usually, these are done automatically, and the tray is transported on a roller conveyor onto a weighing machine located under the hopper storing the granular material. Next, a predetermined amount of powder particles are put into the tray from the hopper. The tray containing the substantially chevron-shaped powder particles is conveyed below the flattening device by a roller conveyor.
In order to stop the tray at a predetermined position and to prevent the tray from moving during flattening, the tray is preferably supported by a stop plate and a fixed plate (not shown). The stop plate is raised from between the rollers on the front side in the tray conveyance direction, and the fixed plate is pushed out from the left and right in the tray carry-in direction and supported by sandwiching the tray. The stop plate and the fixed plate are operated with an air cylinder or the like.

Next, the vertical elevating mechanism is operated, the vertical rotation shaft is lowered through the bracket, and the horizontal rotation plate is inserted into a substantially diagonal position (dotted line position in FIG. 2) in the tray. The interval between the horizontal rotating plate and the bottom plate of the tray is set according to the type and shape of the powder and may be adjusted by the height adjusting slide mechanism.
Next, the rotating mechanism is operated, and the horizontal rotating plate is rotated via the vertical rotating shaft to flatten the powder particles put in the tray. The rotation speed, the number of rotations, or the rotation time is set depending on the type and shape of the powder and the like. Usually, it can be flattened by rotating the horizontal rotating plate at 2 to 50 rpm at a rotation speed of 5 to 20 rpm.
When the horizontal rotating plate comes into contact with the side surface of the tray as it rotates, the horizontal rotating plate is curved in order from the top as shown in FIG. 2, and rotates while rubbing the side surface. As a result, the entire surface of the tray is flattened by the horizontal rotating plate except for a part of the poles at the four corners.

After flattening, the rotation of the horizontal rotating plate is stopped. At that time, the rotation position detection sensor detects the rotation position of the vertical rotation shaft, and the horizontal rotation plate is stopped at a substantially diagonal position in the tray. Next, the vertical elevating mechanism is actuated to raise the vertical rotation shaft through the bracket and pull up the horizontal rotation plate above the tray.
Next, the stop plate and the fixed plate that supported the tray are removed, and the tray is carried out to the next process by a roller conveyor.
These operations are automatically performed by sequence control.
By this flattening method, the granular material in the tray can be made substantially flat.

  Examples of the present invention will be described below, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

Example 1
About 600 g of a catalyst precursor (average particle size: about 2.5 μm) was put into a stainless steel tray having a length of 300 mm × width of 300 mm × height of 100 mm. The catalyst precursor formed a substantially mountain shape having a height of about 80 mm.
As the catalyst precursor, in the same manner as in Example 1 of Patent Document 2, an aqueous solution of a catalyst raw material was mixed to obtain a slurry, which was subsequently concentrated and dried to obtain a powder.
Flattening was performed by the flattening apparatus and method shown in FIG. As the horizontal rotating plate, a urethane resin having a length of 400 mm × a height of 100 mm × a width of 4 mm and a hardness of 30 was used.
Flattening was performed by rotating the horizontal rotating plate 30 times at a rotation speed of 15 rpm.
As a result, some accumulation was observed at the four corners, but the other portions could be flattened substantially uniformly.

It is a schematic diagram of the planarization apparatus of this invention. It is a horizontal cross-sectional schematic diagram of a horizontal rotating board part.

Explanation of symbols

1 Vertical Elevating Mechanism 2 Bracket 3 Rotating Mechanism 4 Vertical Rotating Shaft 5 Horizontal Rotating Plate 6 Mounting Plate 7 Tray 8 Rotation Position Detection Sensor 9 Support Plate 10 Frame

Claims (7)

  An apparatus for flattening powder particles put in a tray having a substantially square plane, a vertical lifting mechanism, a bracket that is attached to the vertical lifting mechanism, and a rotating mechanism that is attached to the bracket. A vertical rotating shaft supported and rotated by the mechanism, and a horizontal rotating plate attached to the lower end of the vertical rotating shaft and rotating horizontally, and the horizontal length of the horizontal rotating plate is one side of the substantially square of the tray A flattening device for powder particles in a tray, wherein the horizontal rotating plate is made of a resin that is curved when the horizontal rotating plate rotates and contacts the side surface of the tray.   The flattening device according to claim 1, further comprising a rotational position detection sensor for stopping the horizontal rotating plate in a substantially diagonal direction in the tray.   3. The flattening apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the horizontal rotating plate made of resin is a horizontal rotating plate made of urethane resin.   The flattening apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the length of the horizontal rotating plate is 1.25 to 1.35 times the length of one side inside the tray.   2. The flattening apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the vertical elevating mechanism is an air cylinder, and the rotating mechanism is a geared motor.   A tray loaded with powder particles is transported below the flattening device according to any one of claims 1 to 5 by a transport means, and a vertical rotating shaft is lowered through a bracket by a vertical lifting mechanism to move the horizontal rotating plate Is inserted into the tray at a substantially diagonal position, the horizontal rotating plate is rotated by the rotating mechanism through the vertical rotating shaft to flatten the powder particles put in the tray, and then the vertical rotating shaft is rotated by the vertical lifting mechanism. A method for flattening a granular material in a tray, wherein the horizontal rotating plate is raised through a wall. The flattening method according to claim 6, wherein the horizontal rotating plate is rotated 2 to 50 at a rotational speed of 5 to 20 rpm.

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