JP2007253095A - Defoaming apparatus and applicator - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a defoaming apparatus which can continuously and efficiently remove fine bubbles from a high-viscosity liquid-form material and is satisfactory in workability of multiproduct production, and to perovide an applicator. <P>SOLUTION: The defoaming apparatus for continuously defoaming the liquid-form material has a reduced pressure vessel equipped with a pressure reducing means connection port and a liquid discharge port, a rotary tube which is a rotatable hollow cylindrical member disposed within the reduced pressure vessel, a driving device which rotates the rotary tube, and a liquid-form material supply pipe which supplies the liquid-form material into the rotary tube. The central axis of rotation of the rotary tube is arranged in a perpendicular direction, and an opening is disposed detachedly to an inner side from an inner side of a cylindrical portion of the rotary tube in at least at the bottom end of the top and bottom ends of the rotary tube, and a member which is a disk-shaped or cylindrical member and has a disk-shaped sectional outer periphery of the surface perpendicular to the rotary central axis of the rotary tube is disposed within the rotary tube. The member is detached from the inner wall surface of the rotary tube, and its radius is greater than the maximum value of the horizontal distance from the rotary central axis up to the opening and is the size at which the member and the inner wall surface of the cylindrical part of the rotary tube has a clearance. The applicator has the device described above. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a defoaming device and a coating device for liquid materials, and in particular, industrial fields such as chemistry, medicine, papermaking, printing, electronic materials, oil products, cosmetics, foods, resins, paints, adhesives, etc. The present invention relates to a defoaming device for continuously removing bubbles mixed in a liquid substance in the manufacturing process of the product, and a liquid material coating apparatus from which bubbles are removed.

  In a coating machine line that applies paint or coating liquid to the surface of paper, film, or other sheet-like material, if bubbles are mixed in the coating or coating liquid to be applied, a defect is caused. In addition, if air bubbles are mixed in, the coating amount of the coating liquid will not be stable, the thickness of the coated part will become uneven, and defects such as pinholes and uncoated parts will occur on the coated surface. Cause.

  Insulation of electronic components such as semiconductor chips, and when sealed with a sealing material made of a liquid resin to protect them from contamination and damage, and when applying bubbles, the coating amount is stable. Therefore, a part with poor filling of the sealant or an uncoated part of the photoresist liquid may occur. Furthermore, when bubbles are scattered on the surface or inside of the sealant, the strength and moisture resistance may be lowered.

  If air bubbles are present when a resin material for an optical disk is applied to the disk substrate, it may cause an error signal during reading and recording with a laser or the like, and accurate data reading and writing may not be possible.

  In chemical, pharmaceutical, and food-related materials, gas components in the bubbles may cause quality problems.

  Alternatively, if bubbles exist in the liquid material, it may cause corrosion and abnormal vibration of the transport pump and piping, or may change the apparent density and cause problems in the packing process.

  In particular, high-viscosity liquids are very difficult to escape once bubbles are mixed in, so batch processing may require long-term processing or it may be difficult to ensure a large throughput even if continuous. is there.

  On the other hand, in order to prevent the above-described defects, the size of bubbles that need to be removed tends to be increasingly fine in recent years, and a method capable of efficiently removing extremely fine bubbles is desired.

  As a conventional apparatus for removing bubbles contained in these liquid materials, there is a method of leaving the liquid material in a vacuum tank or stirring the inside of the tank to remove bubbles. However, it is industrially disadvantageous for high-viscosity liquids and large amounts of processing because it requires a large-scale machine or a long time.

  In addition, a rotating disk rotating in a horizontal plane or a rotating cylindrical container having a short body and a bottom plate or a rotating cylindrical container on the perforated plate or slit is disposed on the upper part of the vacuum tank, and the rotating disk or the rotating cylindrical container There is an apparatus of a type that supplies a liquid material to the inside. However, in this type of device, the driving force for the movement of bubbles in the liquid is mainly due to the vacuum, so it takes time to degas fine bubbles from a highly viscous liquid, The amount of processing cannot be increased. Furthermore, if the bubbles that have not been removed on the disk are refined when scattered on the inner wall surface, the number of bubbles may increase rather than defoaming.

  In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 59-305 (Patent Document 1), a liquid suction / discharge pipe is inserted from above into the center of a rotating cylindrical container and opened at the bottom of the container to supply liquid from around the discharge pipe. An open cell removal device is described that degassed from between the containers.

  In this method, since the liquid raw material with bubbles is discharged separately from the defoamed liquid raw material, an apparatus for recovering the liquid raw material is required and the process becomes complicated. In addition, since the liquid raw material is filled between the rotating part and the fixed part, the temperature rises due to friction, and the liquid raw material may be altered.

  In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-200203 (Patent Document 2), a bottomed cylindrical container is rotated along the inner wall from the upper part of the container with a stirring blade disposed in the vicinity of the bottom surface in a decompressed vacuum tank. The liquid resin is supplied, the liquid resin is agitated by relative rotation of the container and the stirring blade to remove bubbles therein, and after defoaming is completed, the inside of the vacuum layer is pressurized and placed in the rotating cylinder in advance. A method of discharging liquid resin through a delivery pipe inserted to the vicinity of the bottom is described.

  In this method, if the liquid resin is accumulated in the container as the processing time elapses, the efficiency of stirring is deteriorated, and the defoaming efficiency is also deteriorated. At the same time, the probability that fine bubbles cannot reach the surface due to the downward flow of stirring increases, and the efficiency of defoaming becomes worse. In addition, it is necessary to have a batch cycle in which liquid injection under vacuum and liquid discharge under pressure are alternately performed, so that the production rate is inefficient.

  Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-126508 (Patent Document 3) discloses that a rotating disk having an elliptical cross section is rotated in a vacuum tank, slurry is supplied to the inside, and the liquid material is an inner wall surface of the rotating disk by the action of centrifugal force. Is defoamed while spreading in a thin film shape along. A method is described in which the liquid material further moves to the outer peripheral side in the radial direction, accumulates in a slurry pool, and is discharged from a discharge pipe inserted in the lower portion by kinetic energy by the action of a rotating disk.

  In this method, since the discharge mechanism works at the end portion in the radial direction where the centrifugal force acts most strongly, the dwelling time is short and sufficient defoaming action due to the centrifugal force cannot be expected. Therefore, it is suitable for removing relatively large bubbles with a very small amount of processing or a low-viscosity liquid, but is not suitable for removing fine bubbles of a high-viscosity liquid. In addition, since the liquid remains in the rotating disk after the operation is completed, the rotating part needs to be disassembled to completely remove the liquid material. This is not suitable for recent multi-product production because of poor workability.

  In JP-A-3-86273 (Patent Document 4), in a sheet continuous coating method for producing a coated sheet, a continuous orifice vacuum deaerator is provided in the coating liquid circulation system to degas the coating liquid. There is a description that a thermal recording paper was manufactured with an air knife type coating apparatus. When trying to process a liquid with high viscosity by this method, the pressure at the orifice increases, so the pump and piping materials for liquid delivery become pressure resistant and expensive, and before the bubbles disappear, In some cases, the number of fine bubbles that are refined by spraying from and difficult to remove is increased.

  In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-286511 (Patent Document 5), in an apparatus for applying an object to be coated on a film using an application roller, bubbles are sucked using a porous body, or each bubble is detected using a pump. There is a description of an apparatus that sucks a coating liquid and liquefies it again. This method can only remove bubbles on the surface in the coating solution tank. That is, the bubbles contained in the high viscosity liquid cannot be sufficiently removed. Furthermore, since the mechanism is very complicated, a significant load is generated in the cleaning operation when changing the product type.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-157905 (Patent Document 6) discloses that an apparatus for continuously forming a coating film by a die coating method uses one or more coating liquid storage means for stirring the coating liquid in a reduced pressure atmosphere. There is a description of an apparatus for supplying a foamed coating solution. In this method, when removing extremely fine bubbles in recent years, and further for removing fine bubbles from a high-viscosity liquid, the time for stirring in a reduced-pressure atmosphere becomes very long. If the coating liquid is allowed to stay for a long time under reduced pressure, the volatile components are evaporated, the viscosity changes, and the supply amount of the coating liquid, that is, the film thickness of the coating film changes or the quality changes. In order to prevent this, it is necessary to install a large number of such coating liquid storage means to secure the supply amount, which causes an increase in cost and further deteriorates the product changeability.
JP 59-305 A JP-A-5-200203 JP 2000-126508 A JP-A-3-86273 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-286511 JP 2000-157905 A

  An object of the present invention is to provide a defoaming device and a coating device that can continuously and efficiently remove fine bubbles even in a high-viscosity liquid, and also have good workability for multi-product production. That is.

According to the present invention, a defoaming device for continuously defoaming a liquid material,
A decompression vessel comprising a decompression means connection port and a liquid discharge port;
A rotating cylinder which is a rotatable hollow cylindrical member provided in the decompression vessel;
A driving device for rotating the rotating cylinder;
A liquid supply pipe for supplying a liquid material into the rotating cylinder;
The rotation center axis of the rotating cylinder is arranged in the vertical direction,
At least at the lower end of the upper and lower ends of the rotating cylinder, an opening is provided inwardly spaced from the inner wall of the rotating cylinder body portion,
Inside the rotating cylinder, a disk-shaped or cylindrical member having a circular cross-sectional outer periphery on a surface perpendicular to the rotation center axis of the rotating cylinder is provided.
The member whose outer periphery is circular is separated from the inner wall surface of the rotating cylinder,
The radius of the member whose outer periphery is circular is larger than the maximum value in the horizontal direction from the rotation center axis of the rotating cylinder to the opening, and the inner diameter of the member having the circular outer periphery and the cylindrical part of the rotating cylinder. There is provided a defoaming device characterized in that the wall surface has a gap.

In the defoaming device, a rotating shaft is connected to the rotating cylinder, and the driving device has a driving shaft,
The rotating shaft and the driving shaft are connected via a driving force transmission means,
It is preferable that a vacuum seal portion for maintaining the inside of the decompression vessel in a decompressed state is provided on the drive shaft and not on the rotation shaft.

  It is preferable that the defoaming device has a liquid material co-rotation promoting means inside the rotating cylinder.

In the defoaming device, openings are provided on both the upper and lower ends of the rotating cylinder,
The liquid material supply pipe is inserted into the rotary cylinder from the opening at the lower end of the rotary cylinder,
It is preferable that the maximum value of the horizontal distance from the rotation center axis of the rotating cylinder to the opening at the upper end is larger than the maximum value of the horizontal distance from the rotation center axis of the rotating cylinder to the opening at the lower end.

  According to the present invention, there is also provided a liquid material applicator having a filtering part, a defoaming part and an application part, wherein the defoaming part is the above defoaming apparatus. The

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a defoaming device and a coating device that can continuously and efficiently remove fine bubbles even in the case of a high-viscosity liquid, and also have good workability for multi-product production.

  The defoaming device of the present invention has a vacuum container. The decompression vessel includes a decompression means connection port for connecting the decompression means and a liquid discharge port for discharging the defoamed liquid material. A rotatable cylinder is provided in the decompression vessel.

  In addition, the defoaming device includes a driving device that rotates the rotating cylinder and a liquid supply pipe that supplies the liquid to be defoamed into the rotating cylinder.

  The rotating cylinder is a hollow cylinder.

  It is desirable that the inner wall surface of the body portion of the rotating cylinder has a shape having an axisymmetric rotating body space so that the liquid material receives a centrifugal effect uniformly in the rotating cylinder. There is no limitation on the outer shape of the rotating cylinder, but the rotating cylinder is preferably an axially symmetric body, and more preferably an axially symmetric rotating body. By using an axially symmetric body or an axially symmetric rotating body, it is possible to make a simple structure in terms of mechanical design of the defoaming apparatus, which is economically advantageous.

  The rotating cylinder is provided with bottom surfaces at both ends thereof. In the present invention, even the upper part of the rotating cylinder is referred to as a “bottom surface” for convenience. There is no restriction on the shape of the bottom surface. A flat bottom surface, a cone shape whose outer shape and / or inner diameter gradually decrease, and the like can be selected as appropriate. For example, a cylindrical shape having an outer diameter and an inner diameter with a constant cross section, that is, a circular straight tubular body, and a shape having a bottom surface disposed at both ends of the body and perpendicular to the central axis of the body, A rotating cylinder can have.

  The rotation center axis of the rotating cylinder is arranged in the vertical direction. The center axis of rotation coincides with a line perpendicularly passing through the center of gravity of the section of the rotating cylinder body. That is, the line that passes through the center of gravity of the cross section of the rotary cylinder body vertically is arranged in the vertical direction, and the rotary cylinder can be rotated with this line as the rotation center axis. The cross section of the rotating cylinder body indicates the cross section in the horizontal direction.

  At least at the lower end of the upper and lower ends of the rotating cylinder, an opening is provided inwardly spaced from the inner wall of the rotating cylinder body. The rotary cylinder body portion means a cylinder part having a cylindrical surface of the rotary cylinder.

  Inside the rotating cylinder, a disk-shaped or cylindrical member having a circular cross-sectional outer periphery on a plane perpendicular to the rotation center axis of the rotating cylinder is provided.

  The member whose outer periphery is circular is separated from the inner wall surface of the rotating cylinder.

  The radius of the member having a circular cross-section outer periphery (the radius of the circle having the cross-sectional shape) is larger than the maximum horizontal distance from the rotation center axis of the rotating cylinder to the opening. That is, when the opening is provided only at the lower end of the rotating cylinder, the point farthest in the horizontal direction from the rotation center axis of the opening at the lower end is selected. When the openings are provided on both the upper and lower ends of the rotating cylinder, a point farthest in the horizontal direction from the rotation center axis of the openings is selected for all the openings. The radius of the member having a circular outer periphery is set to be larger than the horizontal distance between the selected point and the rotation center axis.

  Further, the radius of the member whose outer periphery is circular is such that the member whose circular outer periphery is circular and the inner wall surface of the rotating barrel portion have a gap. That is, the member having a circular cross-sectional outer periphery does not contact the inner wall surface of the barrel portion of the rotating cylinder.

  The liquid material passes through a gap formed between a member having a circular cross-sectional outer periphery and the inner wall surface of the rotating cylinder, and is discharged from the inside of the rotating cylinder into the decompression container via the opening.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a liquid material is supplied from a liquid material inlet 5 through a liquid material supply pipe 4 into a rotating cylinder 3 that rotates in a decompressed container 1. This liquid material receives a centrifugal force due to rotation, and becomes a circular tube having a liquid surface on the rotation center axis side on the inner wall 3f surface of the body portion of the rotating cylinder. At this time, in the liquid material 10 having a tubular shape on the inner wall surface of the rotating cylinder body portion, the bubbles are promoted to move from the liquid material to the surface thereof, that is, the liquid surface by the centrifugal effect and the pressure reducing effect, and defoamed. .

  In order to discharge the gas component of the bubbles to be continuously removed out of the system and maintain the inside of the decompression vessel at a constant decompression state, the decompression vessel has decompression means (not shown) via the decompression means connection port 1a. Connected. As the decompression means, a known decompression means such as a vacuum pump can be used. The pressure in the decompression vessel is preferably in the range of -0.01 [MPaG (indicating gauge pressure, the same applies hereinafter)] to -0.09 [MPaG]. It is economically advantageous in selecting a decompression container and decompression means by setting it to -0.09 [MPaG] or more. It is preferable to set it to −0.01 [MPaG] or less because it is possible to prevent bubbles from being mixed when the liquid discharged from the rotary cylinder collides with the inner wall surface of the decompression vessel.

  In order to maintain the residence time of the liquid substance in the rotating cylinder, the openings (the upper opening 3b and the lower opening 3a in FIG. 1) of the end of the rotating cylinder do not come into contact with the inner wall of the rotating cylinder. Is provided. That is, the opening is provided inwardly spaced from the inner wall of the rotating barrel portion. Since the opening does not come into contact with the inner wall of the rotating cylinder body portion, the liquid material can be a circular tube having a certain thickness in the rotating cylinder. By securing this thickness, it becomes possible to secure the staying time, and even if it is a fine bubble, it is possible to secure the time to move from the inside of the liquid material to the liquid surface, and it is preferable because defoaming proceeds well. .

  The shape and number of such openings can be determined as appropriate. The opening can have a structure shown in FIG. 2, FIG. 3, or FIG. 4, for example. FIG. 2 shows a case where one circular opening (here, the opening 3b at the upper end of the rotating cylinder) is provided on the bottom surface of the rotating cylinder and concentric with the rotation center axis of the rotating cylinder. The outermost side of the opening 3b, that is, the outer periphery of the opening is on the inner side of the inner wall 3f surface of the rotating cylinder body. FIG. 3 shows a case where a plurality of identical circular openings 3b are provided on the bottom surface of the rotating cylinder. The centers of the openings are arranged symmetrically at equal intervals on a circumference concentric with the rotation center axis of the rotating cylinder. The outermost side of the opening is inside the surface of the inner wall 3f of the rotating cylinder body. In the form shown in FIG. 4, a bottom surface member 3g having an outer diameter smaller than the diameter of the inner wall 3f surface of the rotating cylinder body is provided on the bottom surface of the rotating cylinder, and an opening is formed by the body of the bottom surface member. . The bottom surface member is a hollow cylindrical member having a bottom surface at one end (upper end in the figure), and a plurality of holes 3j are provided in the body portion of the bottom surface member at a predetermined interval in the circumferential direction of the body portion of the bottom surface.

  Since the opening portion is not in contact with the inner wall surface of the rotating cylinder body portion, the residence time of the liquid material in the rotating cylinder can be secured. Therefore, it is industrially advantageous because the operating conditions for defoaming the liquid material can be selected as appropriate by changing the rotation speed of the rotating cylinder according to the viscosity of the liquid material, the processing amount, and the size of bubbles to be removed. When the opening is in contact with the inner wall of the rotating cylinder body, the liquid material is supplied to the inner surface of the rotating cylinder and is made circular inside, and at the same time, the liquid is quickly scattered from the inner side of the rotating cylinder toward the inner surface of the vacuum vessel by centrifugal force. Resulting in. At this time, the residence time on the inner surface of the rotating cylinder body is short, and the removal of bubbles does not proceed well. Further, when the liquid material is directly scattered from the rotating cylinder and collides with the inner surface of the decompression vessel, the bubbles that have not been defoamed are refined, and the number of fine bubbles that are difficult to remove increases.

  The size of the outermost diameter (radius) of the opening through which the liquid material is discharged (the distance in the horizontal direction between the point farthest from the rotation center axis of the opening and the rotation center axis; indicated by Rout in FIG. 5). As for the relationship between the inner diameter (radius) of the rotating cylinder, that is, the radius (R) of the inner wall surface of the rotating cylinder body, Rout / R is preferably in the range of 0.2 to 0.8. By setting this ratio to 0.2 or more, it is possible to prevent a large amount of liquid material from staying in the rotating cylinder, causing a load on the rotating portion and increasing the cost in terms of mechanical strength. Further, it takes time for the bubbles to move in the liquid substance, and it is possible to prevent the efficiency from being deteriorated and the processing amount from being lowered. By controlling the ratio to 0.8 or less, the time required for bubbles to move inside the liquid material is shortened, and it is difficult to adjust the residence time, thereby preventing industrially stable processing from becoming difficult. Can do. Rout / R is more preferably in the range of 0.3 to 0.6 due to a balance between mechanical strength cost and throughput.

  Moreover, about the inner diameter (diameter of the inner wall of a rotating cylinder trunk | drum) D and the length (L) of the inner surface of a rotating cylinder trunk | drum, L / D is the range of 1-10. Note that D = 2R. By setting L / D to 1 or more, it is possible to prevent the amount of liquid staying in the rotating cylinder from decreasing and the processing amount from decreasing. By setting L / D to 10 or less, it is possible to prevent an increase in the load on the rotating part and increase in cost due to mechanical design. Further, by setting L / D to 10 or less, it is possible to prevent the staying amount of the liquid material from increasing and the cleaning performance from being deteriorated at the time of product type switching. More preferably, L / D is 3-7.

  The opening is provided at least in the lower part of the rotating cylinder. If there is an opening in the lower part of the rotating cylinder, it is easy to reliably discharge the liquid material remaining inside the rotating cylinder after the operation is stopped, and the product switching operation is facilitated. If there is no opening at the bottom of the rotating cylinder, liquid material remains in the rotating cylinder, and the operability for changing the product type is significantly deteriorated.

  In order to defoam the liquid material supplied into the rotating cylinder better and to flow in the piston flow without causing a short pass in the rotating cylinder, openings are provided on both the upper and lower ends of the rotating cylinder, respectively, It is preferable to insert the liquid material supply pipe from the opening to supply the liquid material and to discharge the liquid material from the other opening. At this time, as shown in FIG. 5, the size (Rin) of the outermost diameter (radius) of the opening on the supply side is made smaller than the size (Rout) of the outermost diameter of the other opening. The portion becomes the discharge side, and the piston flow can be reliably formed (in FIG. 5, the liquid material is supplied from the opening at the lower end and discharged from the opening at the upper end). The ratio of Rout / Rin can be appropriately set depending on the design of the rotating cylinder and the liquid material supply pipe. The defoaming action proceeds while the liquid material supplied from the supply-side opening moves toward the discharge-side opening, and the defoaming does not proceed by moving the liquid according to the progress. It is possible to prevent the liquid material from being discharged in a short pass.

  Further, it is more preferable that a liquid material supply pipe is inserted into the opening at the bottom of the rotating cylinder to supply the liquid material, and the liquid material is discharged from the opening at the upper end. At this time, the piston flow can be formed because the outermost diameter (radius) of the lower opening is smaller than the outermost diameter (radius) of the upper opening. If the rotating cylinder is fixed and rotated at the upper part, it is advantageous in mechanical design because it becomes easy to fix the rotating shaft of the rotating cylinder and maintain the rotational balance of the rotating cylinder. Furthermore, it becomes possible to make the lower part of the rotating cylinder a simpler structure, and the workability such as the treatment of the remaining liquid at the time of product type switching is improved. Therefore, inserting the liquid material supply pipe from the lower opening and discharging the liquid material from the upper opening is advantageous in terms of machine design and is industrially preferable, and also improves the productivity of various products.

  By rotating the rotating cylinder around the rotation center axis in the vertical direction, the liquid material can be efficiently formed into a tubular shape on the inner wall surface of the rotating cylinder body. Further, in the vertical direction, even when stopped, the residual liquid material inside is discharged by gravity from the opening at the lower end of the rotating cylinder, which is suitable for a variety of product switching operations. If the rotating cylinder is rotated in a tilted or horizontal state with the opening not in contact with the inner wall surface of the rotating cylinder body, the liquid material remains inside the rotating cylinder when stopped, and the product is switched. Remarkably decreases the performance.

  Inside the rotary cylinder, a disk-shaped or cylindrical member having a circular cross-sectional outer periphery (a member having a circular cross-sectional outer periphery) on a plane perpendicular to the rotation center axis of the rotary cylinder is provided. The liquid material passes through a gap formed between a member having a circular cross-sectional outer periphery and the inner wall surface of the rotating cylinder, and is discharged from the inside of the rotating cylinder into the decompression container via the opening. Therefore, a member having a circular cross-section outer periphery is provided with a liquid material supply pipe and an opening (an opening for discharging the liquid material from the rotating cylinder) in order to discharge a well-defoamed liquid substance by a piston flow inside the rotating cylinder. ) Is preferably provided. Furthermore, it is preferable to provide in the vicinity of the opening for discharging the liquid material from the rotating cylinder.

  FIG. 6 shows a disk-shaped member 3c as an example of a member having a circular cross-sectional outer periphery. The outer diameter (radius) (Rb) of the member having a circular cross-sectional outer periphery is larger than the outermost diameter (radius) (Rout) of the opening at the end of the rotating cylinder from the rotating cylinder rotation center axis, and the rotating cylinder body The inner wall surface has a size having a gap (Th). When the liquid in the rotating cylinder is discharged from the opening of the rotating cylinder by the member having the circular outer periphery, the liquid is discharged through the gap between the member having the circular outer periphery and the inner wall surface of the rotating cylinder body. be able to. Bubbles move from the inner wall surface toward the liquid surface inside the liquid material formed into a tubular shape by the inner wall surface of the cylinder body. Therefore, the liquid substance which is sent to the opening through the gap (Th) between the member having a circular cross section and the inner wall surface of the rotating cylinder is a portion from which bubbles are removed. If there is no member whose outer periphery is circular, the liquid material close to the liquid level will be discharged from the opening, but since the bubbles move toward the liquid surface, the discharged liquid material has many bubbles. As a result, defoaming does not proceed well.

  At this time, the ratio of Rb to the inner diameter (radius) R of the rotating cylinder, Rb / R, is preferably in the range of 0.85 to 0.99. By setting Rb / R to 0.85 or more, it is possible to prevent the liquid containing bubbles from easily flowing toward the discharge portion, and to perform good defoaming. By setting the ratio to 0.99 or less, the gap (Th) between the member having a circular cross-section outer periphery and the inner wall surface of the rotating cylinder is reduced, the resistance when the liquid material moves is increased, and the throughput is suppressed from being reduced. can do.

  The liquid material supply pipe 4 supplies the liquid material into the rotating cylinder from the opening of the rotating rotating cylinder. The shape and structure of the liquid material supply pipe that can supply the liquid material so that the liquid material is circularly formed in the rotating cylinder with good uniformity can be appropriately adopted. For example, the tip of the liquid supply pipe can be installed so as to be close to the inner wall surface of the rotating cylinder. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 1, it is preferable to provide a dispersion plate 3d that rotates integrally with the rotating cylinder in the rotating cylinder, and to install a liquid material supply pipe so that the liquid material contacts the dispersing plate. By providing the dispersion plate in the rotating cylinder, the liquid material supply pipe can be installed on the rotation center axis of the rotating cylinder, and the liquid material is quickly and excellently and uniformly rotated after being supplied onto the dispersing plate. Since it moves to the inner wall surface, it is excellent in balance as a rotating body and is advantageous in terms of mechanical strength design.

  The driving device 2 for rotating the rotating cylinder may be a turbine method using compressed gas, a combination of a known driving force transmission means 2c such as a belt drive and a motor, a method using a special high-speed motor, or the like. In order to widen the operating range and remove finer bubbles, the rotating cylinder is rotated at a rotational speed capable of achieving a centrifugal acceleration of 2,000 G or more (G represents gravitational acceleration), and the rotational speed. Is preferably variable. The turbine system is suitable for processing on a test facility scale because of its low output energy, but on an industrial scale, there is a tendency for the machine to become larger and cost and noise to increase. If the special high-speed motor is directly connected to the rotating cylinder, the structure of the drive part becomes simple, but the variable-speed special high-speed motor is very expensive and tends to have poor maintainability. Therefore, a combination of a known driving force transmission means such as a belt drive and a general-purpose inverter motor is preferable. In this method, the mechanical structure is simple, industrially advantageous and suitable for achieving centrifugal acceleration of 2,000 G or more in the rotating cylinder as a condition for efficiently removing extremely fine bubbles from the high-viscosity liquid. is there.

  In order to maintain the decompressed state in the decompression container at a certain level, a vacuum seal portion can be provided as appropriate. Since the rotating cylinder is rotated in the decompression vessel, a vacuum seal portion can be provided for the rotating shaft portion. In order to provide the vacuum seal portion on the rotating shaft of the rotary cylinder, a commercially available vacuum seal component can be used as appropriate. However, when the rotating cylinder is rotated under the condition of the number of rotations at which the centrifugal acceleration in the rotating cylinder achieves 2,000 G or more, as shown in FIG. 1, a driving force transmitting means such as a belt transmission driving system is provided in the driving device. As a structure in which the drive shaft 2b of the drive device and the rotary shaft 3e of the rotary cylinder are not directly connected, the drive shaft portion is provided with a vacuum seal portion 2a for the rotating shaft portion, and the rotary shaft 3e is provided with a vacuum seal portion. It is preferable not to provide it. At this time, a container capable of integrally reducing the pressure from the portion accommodating the rotating cylinder to the vacuum seal portion of the drive shaft portion is used. When trying to remove fine bubbles, it is effective to rotate the rotating cylinder at high speed. By making the drive shaft 2b rotate at a low speed and the rotating shaft of the rotating cylinder at a high speed by the driving force transmitting means, a general-purpose device can be selected as the drive device, which is industrially suitable. Further, at this time, by providing the vacuum seal portion on the drive shaft of the drive device on the low speed side, a low-cost general-purpose vacuum seal component can be used, which is industrially more preferable.

  It is preferable to have a liquid material co-rotation promoting means inside the rotating cylinder so that the liquid substance existing inside the rotating cylinder rotates at a rotational speed close to the rotational speed of the rotating cylinder. In particular, in the case of high viscosity liquids and liquids having viscosity dependency on the shear rate, slip is likely to occur near the inner wall surface of the rotating cylinder, and a phenomenon occurs in which most liquid substances rotate slower than the rotational speed of the rotating cylinder. , That is, centrifugal force is not generated, and degassing may not be performed efficiently. Therefore, it is desirable to provide a co-rotation promoting means that transmits a rotating force to the liquid material inside according to the rotation of the rotating cylinder and makes it possible to rotate at the same rotation speed as the rotating cylinder. The shape of the corotation promoting means is not particularly limited as long as the liquid material can be rotated at the same rotational speed as the rotating cylinder. The co-rotation promoting means may be fixed to the inner wall surface of the rotating cylinder by welding or adhesion, or may be fixed by a spring or a screw. A protrusion can be provided on the inner wall surface of the rotating cylinder, or a (stirring) blade-like object can be fixed. FIG. 7 shows an example in which the common rotation promoting means 3h having three blades is fixed by a spring 3i.

  In the defoaming device of the present invention, the material of each structural part is not particularly limited as long as the strength as a structure can be maintained, non-ferrous metals and alloys such as steel, stainless steel, and aluminum steel, inorganics such as glass and ceramic, Synthetic resins can be used. Further, the wetted part may be subjected to surface treatment such as heat treatment, plating, coating, overlaying, and other special treatments for corrosion resistance treatment and wear resistance treatment. Stainless steel is preferred from the standpoint of mechanical stability and cost, and surface treatment can be applied as necessary.

  In particular, it is preferable to reduce the surface roughness by polishing the surface in contact with the liquid material in order to prevent bubbles from adhering.

  With the defoaming apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to treat an appropriate kind of liquid material such as water, oil, solvent, polymer monomer, polymer polymer, and other mixtures, and to treat a liquid material having an appropriate viscosity. can do. There is no limitation on the viscosity of the liquid. In particular, it can be used more suitably for defoaming a high viscosity liquid of 100 [mPa · s] or more. If the viscosity is less than 100 [mPa · s], higher productivity can be achieved.

  When solids having a specific gravity greater than that of the liquid material as a medium are mixed, such solids are accumulated in the rotating cylinder, and thus the present invention can be achieved by appropriately removing the accumulated solids. The defoaming apparatus can be applied.

  There is no restriction | limiting in the magnitude | size of the bubble which can be removed with the defoaming apparatus of this invention. Even bubbles with a diameter of several hundred microns to several microns can be removed. In particular, it is industrially advantageous to remove bubbles having a diameter of 10 microns or more from a high-viscosity liquid material, and the workability of multi-product production can be achieved well.

  One embodiment of the liquid material coating apparatus of the present invention is shown in FIG. However, the present invention is not limited to FIG. 9, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the liquid substance supplied from the supply port 24 is sent to the filtration part 20 by the liquid sending apparatus 23a. The filtering part removes foreign matters in the liquid material. The material, type, and operating conditions of the filtration unit can be appropriately selected according to the properties of the liquid material and the properties of the foreign matter to be removed. There is no restriction on the foreign matter to be removed. For the filtering material 20a, natural fibers, synthetic fibers, metal fibers, inorganic materials, etc. can be used, and these are processed into a molded membrane shape such as a flat membrane shape, a bag shape, a pleat, a disk, or a cylindrical shape. Can do. The filtering material can be selected according to the foreign matter to be removed.

  The defoaming unit 21 is configured subsequent to the filtering unit. Since the filtration part has a great surface area, it is easy to entrain air bubbles when the liquid is first passed. Therefore, it is preferable to configure the defoaming part after the filtration part because foreign substances and bubbles can be removed more reliably.

  If the filtration unit is configured after the defoaming unit, it may be difficult to remove bubbles on the downstream side of the filtration unit and manage the presence thereof, which is not industrially advantageous. For example, even if an attempt is made to remove bubbles by discharge before the start of production, it is not easy to determine the conditions for bringing bubbles to the discharge product to zero. Furthermore, if foreign matter is captured by the filtration unit and the filter medium needs to be replaced, there is a concern that air bubbles may be mixed in each replacement operation.

  In the present invention, since the principle of centrifugal defoaming is used for the defoaming unit in the defoaming unit, foreign matters stay in the centrifugal unit by configuring the filtration unit before supplying the liquid material to the centrifugal unit. This is also preferable.

  The liquid material defoamed by the defoaming unit 21 is sent to the coating unit 22 by the liquid feeding device 23b.

  A well-known coating apparatus can be used for an application part. It can be selected appropriately depending on the shape of the part to be coated, the properties of the liquid and the operating conditions. When the object to be coated is in the form of a film or a sheet, methods such as a roll coater, a die coater, a knife coater, and an air coater are known. A method of spraying the object to be coated with a spray or the like, and a method of dipping the object to be coated in the liquid reservoir are also possible. For a relatively small shape such as an optical disk to be coated, a method such as a spin coater is known. In addition to these examples, it can be appropriately selected from known coating apparatuses.

  In addition, there are no restrictions on the provision of liquid feeding devices such as a pressure tank type and a pump type or valves in each of the filtration unit, the defoaming unit, and the coating unit, depending on the properties and operating conditions of the liquid material. Can be selected.

  With the coating apparatus of the present invention, an appropriate kind of liquid material such as water, oil, solvent, polymer monomer, polymer polymer, and other mixtures can be applied to the object to be coated, and an appropriate viscosity can be applied. A liquid material can be applied to an object to be coated. There is no limitation on the viscosity of the liquid. In particular, it can be used more suitably for application of a high viscosity liquid of 100 [mPa · s] or more. If the viscosity is less than 100 [mPa · s], higher productivity can be achieved.

  When solids with a large specific gravity are mixed in comparison with liquid materials such as slurry, the solids are accumulated in the rotating cylinder of the filtration unit and defoaming unit. The applicator of the present invention can be applied by removing as appropriate.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the liquid material is formed into a tubular shape by the centrifugal force of rotation in the rotating cylinder, and the residence time is excellently secured by the opening and the member having a circular cross-sectional outer periphery. And the liquid part where the movement of the bubble progressed by the action of the centrifugal force can be selectively discharged. Furthermore, a superior centrifugal effect can be provided by the co-rotation promoting means. In addition, there is an opening at the bottom of the rotating cylinder, and the rotating cylinder is installed in the vertical direction, so that no liquid material remains in the rotating cylinder and the product switching is facilitated. The structure in which the drive unit is not directly connected to the rotating shaft of the rotating cylinder unit enables not only operation at a high rotation speed, but also general industrial parts can be used, which is very advantageous industrially.

[Example 1]
As shown in FIG. 8, a rotating cylinder 3 having an upper opening 3b, a lower opening 3a, and a disk-like member 3c was prepared. At this time, the inner diameter (radius) R of the rotating cylinder, the length L of the inner surface of the barrel of the rotating cylinder, the maximum outer diameter (radius) Rin of the opening (lower opening) of the liquid supply section, the liquid discharge section (upper opening) Portion) and the outer diameter (radius) Rb of the disk-shaped member were as follows.
R: 22.2 mm
L: 204 mm,
Rin: 4.75 mm,
Rout: 12.5mm,
Rb: 21 mm.

  The rotating cylinder was provided in the decompression vessel 1, and the rotating shaft of the rotating cylinder was driven by directly connecting the inverter motor of the driving device 2. The vacuum seal portion 2a for the rotating shaft was provided between the decompression container and the rotating shaft of the rotating cylinder.

  The decompression vessel is provided with a decompression means connection port 1a, and this connection port is connected to a vacuum pump (not shown) so that the interior of the decompression vessel can be decompressed.

  The liquid material supply pipe was inserted into the rotary cylinder through the opening 3a at the lower part of the rotary cylinder, and fixed together with the vacuum seal part 4a to the decompression container part.

  The rotating cylinder was rotated at 3,000 [rpm], and candy having a viscosity of 100 [mPa · s] was supplied at 9.8 [kg / h] into the rotating cylinder through the liquid supply pipe. The pressure in the vacuum vessel was -0.09 [MPaG].

  During continuous operation, candy was continuously discharged from the upper opening of the rotating cylinder. The water candy accumulated in the decompression container is continuously discharged from the liquid discharge port 1b using a pump (not shown), and the water candy is poured into a metal plate having recesses of 20 [mm] depth and 2 [mm] depth and width. The state of bubbles was confirmed with a microscope. Bubbles with a diameter exceeding 50 [μm] could not be observed, indicating a good defoamed state.

  After operation, stop supplying the water candy, supply water instead of water candy, operate for a while and then stop the water supply, rotation of the rotating cylinder and the vacuum pump. Of water was discharged into the vacuum vessel. As a precaution, when the rotating cylinder was removed and the inside was observed, there was no candy or water remaining.

[Example 2]
The candy was run in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the candy having a viscosity of 3,500 [mPa · s] was supplied at 0.28 [kg / h] through the liquid supply pipe into the rotating cylinder. The bubbles were observed with a digital microscope. Bubbles with a diameter exceeding 50 [μm] could not be observed, indicating a good defoamed state.

  After operation, stop supplying the water candy, supply water instead of water candy, operate for a while and then stop the water supply, rotation of the rotating cylinder and the vacuum pump. Of water was discharged into the vacuum vessel. As a precaution, when the rotating cylinder was removed and the inside was observed, there was no candy or water remaining.

Example 3
As shown in FIG. 1, using the rotating cylinder of the first embodiment, the rotating cylinder is provided in the decompression vessel 1, and the rotating shaft of the rotating cylinder is connected to the driving device 2 via a belt transmission mechanism that is a driving force transmitting means 2c. It was driven by an inverter motor. A vacuum seal portion 2a was provided between the decompression vessel and the drive shaft 2b of the drive device 2, and no vacuum seal portion was provided around the rotation shaft 3e of the rotary cylinder. Further, as shown in FIG. 7, the rotary cylinder has a three-blade configuration, the distance from the rotation center axis to the tip of the blade is 21 [mm], and the length in the rotation center axis direction is 120 [ mm], fixed to the inner wall surface of the rotating cylinder with a spring, and provided with a co-rotation promoting means 3h made of stainless steel.

  The rotating cylinder was rotated at 10,000 [rpm], and a candy having a viscosity of 3,500 [mPa · s] was supplied at 3 [kg / h] into the rotating cylinder through the liquid supply pipe. The pressure in the vacuum container was −0.09 [MPaG].

  During continuous operation, candy was continuously discharged from the upper opening of the rotating cylinder. The water candy accumulated in the decompression container is continuously discharged from the liquid discharge port 1b using a pump (not shown), and the water candy is poured into a metal plate having recesses of 20 [mm] depth and 2 [mm] depth and width. The state of bubbles was confirmed with a microscope. Bubbles having a diameter exceeding 30 [μm] could not be observed, and it was in a good defoamed state.

  After operation, stop supplying the water candy, supply water instead of water candy, operate for a while and then stop the water supply, rotation of the rotating cylinder and the vacuum pump. Of water was discharged into the vacuum vessel. As a precaution, when the rotating cylinder was removed and the inside was observed, there was no candy or water remaining.

Example 4
As shown in FIG. 9, a filter element made by Nippon Pole (Profile Star, AB1A0503J) is used for the filtration unit 20, and the defoaming unit used in Example 3 is used for the defoaming unit 21. The passed candy was supplied to a defoaming apparatus and defoamed in the same manner as in Example 3. Subsequently, the candy accumulated in the decompression container of the defoaming device was continuously fed to the spin coater 22b of the coating device 22 by the pump (liquid feeding device) 23b. The candy discharged from the dispenser nozzle 22a installed in the spin coater was applied to the optical disk substrate fixed on the spin coater. When the state of bubbles in the candy on the optical disk substrate was confirmed with a digital microscope, bubbles with a diameter exceeding 30 [μm] could not be observed. As a precaution, the candy discharged from the dispenser nozzle 22a was poured into a metal plate having recesses of 20 [mm] depth and 2 [mm] depth and width, and the state of bubbles was confirmed with a digital microscope. Foreign matter and bubbles with a diameter exceeding 50 [μm] were not observed, and were in good condition. After operation, stop supplying the water candy, supply water instead of water candy, operate for a while and then stop the water supply, rotation of the rotating cylinder and the vacuum pump. Of water was discharged into the vacuum vessel. As a precaution, when the rotating cylinder was removed and the inside was observed, there was no candy or water remaining.

Example 5
In the defoaming apparatus of Example 3, defoaming was performed in the same manner as in Example 3 except that the rotation promoting means was removed. The discharged candy was poured into a metal plate having recesses of 20 [mm] depth and 2 [mm] depth and width, and the state of bubbles was confirmed with a digital microscope. Bubbles having a diameter exceeding 100 [μm] could not be observed, indicating a good defoamed state. Next, the candy was supplied at a feed rate of 0.28 [kg / h]. The discharged candy was poured into a metal plate having recesses of 20 [mm] depth and 2 [mm] depth and width, and the state of bubbles was confirmed with a digital microscope. Bubbles having a diameter exceeding 30 [μm] could not be observed, and it was in a very good defoamed state. After operation, stop supplying the water candy, supply water instead of water candy, operate for a while and then stop the water supply, rotation of the rotating cylinder and the vacuum pump. Of water was discharged into the vacuum vessel. As a precaution, when the rotating cylinder was removed and the inside was observed, there was no candy or water remaining.

[Comparative Example 1]
The same defoaming apparatus as in Example 1 was used except that a rotating cylinder having no opening in the lower part and having an opening only in the upper part was used, and the liquid supply pipe was inserted from the upper opening. The defoaming of the candy was performed. Water candy remained in the rotating cylinder after the operation was stopped, and the only way to remove it completely was to disassemble it.

  As described in Examples 1 and 2, according to the present invention, it was possible to obtain a good defoamed state of the liquid material because of the high workability of changing the varieties. In addition, as described in Example 5, the rotating cylinder is connected to the driving device using the driving force transmission means, and the vacuum shaft is provided on the driving shaft of the driving device, so that the liquid material with higher viscosity is in a good state. The defoaming treatment was possible. Further, as described in Example 3, by providing the co-rotation promoting means, it was possible to increase the treatment amount while defoaming a higher viscosity liquid in a good state. Moreover, in any case, the work of changing the type was simple.

  As described above, according to the defoaming apparatus of the present invention, fine bubbles can be removed even from a highly viscous liquid that is not easily defoamed. Moreover, according to the coating apparatus by this invention, the liquid substance from which the foreign material and fine bubble were removed can be apply | coated to a to-be-coated article in a high quality state. In addition, since the product change operation is easy, it is suitable for multi-product production.

  Furthermore, since it can be comprised with a general purpose component, it is industrially advantageous.

It is a schematic diagram which shows schematic structure of one form of the defoaming apparatus of this invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows the example of the opening part of a rotating cylinder end part. It is a schematic diagram which shows another example of the opening part of a rotating cylinder end part. It is a schematic diagram which shows another example of the opening part of a rotating cylinder end part. It is typical sectional drawing for demonstrating the outermost diameter of an opening part. It is typical sectional drawing for demonstrating the outer diameter of a disk shaped member. It is a schematic diagram which shows the example of a corotation acceleration | stimulation means, (a) is a sectional side view, (b) is ZZ sectional drawing. It is a schematic diagram which shows schematic structure of one form of the defoaming apparatus of this invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows schematic structure of the coating device of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Pressure reduction container 1a Pressure reduction means connection port 1b Liquid discharge port 2 Drive device 2a Drive shaft vacuum seal portion 2b Drive shaft 2c Drive force transmission means 3 Rotating cylinder 3a Lower opening portion 3b Upper opening portion 3c Disk-like member 3d Dispersed plate 3e Rotating shaft of rotating cylinder 3f Inner wall surface 3g of rotating cylinder barrel Bottom member 3h Co-rotation promoting means 3i Co-rotation promoting means fixing spring 3j Hole 4 in bottom member barrel 4 Liquid substance supply pipe 4a Liquid substance supply pipe vacuum seal part 5 Liquid material inlet 10 Liquid material 20 Filtration part 20a Filtration material 21 Defoaming part 22 Application part 22a Dispenser nozzle 22b Spin coater 23 Liquid feeder 24 Supply port

Claims (5)

A defoaming device for continuously defoaming a liquid material,
A decompression vessel comprising a decompression means connection port and a liquid discharge port;
A rotating cylinder which is a rotatable hollow cylindrical member provided in the decompression vessel;
A driving device for rotating the rotating cylinder;
A liquid supply pipe for supplying a liquid material into the rotating cylinder;
The rotation center axis of the rotating cylinder is arranged in the vertical direction,
At least at the lower end of the upper and lower ends of the rotating cylinder, an opening is provided inwardly spaced from the inner wall of the rotating cylinder body portion,
Inside the rotating cylinder, a disk-shaped or cylindrical member having a circular cross-sectional outer periphery on a surface perpendicular to the rotation center axis of the rotating cylinder is provided.
The member whose outer periphery is circular is separated from the inner wall surface of the rotating cylinder,
The radius of the member whose outer periphery is circular is larger than the maximum value in the horizontal direction from the rotation center axis of the rotating cylinder to the opening, and the inner diameter of the member having the circular outer periphery and the cylindrical part of the rotating cylinder. A defoaming device having a gap between the wall surface and the wall. A rotating shaft is connected to the rotating cylinder, and the driving device has a driving shaft,
The rotating shaft and the driving shaft are connected via a driving force transmission means,
The defoaming device according to claim 1, wherein a vacuum seal portion for maintaining the inside of the decompression vessel in a decompressed state is provided on the drive shaft, and is not provided on the rotation shaft.   The defoaming device according to claim 1, further comprising a liquid material co-rotation promoting means inside the rotating cylinder. Openings are provided on both upper and lower ends of the rotating cylinder,
The liquid material supply pipe is inserted into the rotary cylinder from the opening at the lower end of the rotary cylinder,
The maximum value of the horizontal distance from the rotation center axis of the rotating cylinder to the opening at the upper end is larger than the maximum value of the horizontal distance from the rotation center axis of the rotating cylinder to the opening at the lower end. The defoaming device according to any one of 3.   5. A liquid material application apparatus having a filtration part, a defoaming part, and an application part, wherein the defoaming part is the defoaming apparatus according to claim 1.

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