JP2010083622A - Powder and granular material supply device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a powder and granular material supply device for reducing cost required for manufacture and use, and superior in disassembling-cleaning performance, by reducing scattering and pollution of a powder and granular material with a simple structure. <P>SOLUTION: This device is used when supplying the powder and granular material to a manufacturing device from a sealed container, and has a first connecting pipe 12 arranged on the sealed container side and a second connecting pipe 24 arranged on the manufacturing device side. The first connecting pipe 12 is provided with a first butterfly valve 14, and the second connecting pipe 24 is provided with a second butterfly valve 34, respectively. The two connecting pipes 12 and 24 have a cleaning nozzle 26 for cleaning a space partitioned by the two butterfly valves 14 and 34 constituted when connecting the two connecting pipe 12 and 24, to a place positioned between the two butterfly valves 14 and 34. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  In the present invention, when powder or granules are dropped by gravity from a powder supply unit such as a sealed container toward a powder supply unit such as a manufacturing apparatus located downstream of the powder supply unit. In particular, it transports particles that are small in size and easy to fly, such as highly toxic powder in pharmaceutical factories and nanoparticle production lines that are concerned about cytotoxicity and aspiration toxicity. It is related with the granular material supply apparatus suitable for a case.

  In factories that handle granular materials, especially pharmaceutical factories, it is important to prevent contamination (contamination) and scattering of granular drugs during the manufacturing process from the viewpoint of ensuring quality and reducing the exposure risk of operators. Become.

  A part of the manufacturing process in a pharmaceutical factory is shown in FIG. The process shown in FIG. 7 shows the granulation drying process using the manufacturing apparatus 1, such as the granulation drying apparatus which manufactures a granular product, and the tableting machine which manufactures a tablet-like tablet, or a tableting process.

  In any such manufacturing process, a process of supplying a powder or liquid to the manufacturing apparatus 1 is required as a preceding process. Raw materials such as powder and liquid and intermediate products are stored in a sealed container 2 stored in an automatic rack warehouse 4, and the sealed container 2 is provided in the upper stage of the production area 3. It will be conveyed to the supply area 5, and a granular material will be supplied to the manufacturing apparatus 1. FIG.

  In such a case, when supplying a granular material having a high possibility of scattering or the like, the role of preventing the scattering of the granular material or mixing of foreign substances between the sealed container 2 and the manufacturing apparatus 1 is provided. The carrying powder supply device 6 is intervened. As a general structure of the granular material supply device 6, a structure using a split valve is known.

The split valve is a valve (a flap in Patent Document 1) having a structure in which a butterfly valve is halved in the plane direction as disclosed in Patent Document 1, for example. Since the split valve overlaps the contaminated surfaces (half-divided surfaces) and opens and closes as a single valve, it can prevent and suppress both foreign matter contamination and powder scattering into the manufacturing apparatus. . In the granular material supply apparatus employing the split valve, the split valve is disposed at the opening of the connecting pipe located between the sealed container and the manufacturing apparatus.
Japanese Patent No. 2676679

  When the split valve as described above is adopted, it is possible to reduce powder scattering more than applying a normal butterfly valve. However, the split valve has the following problems.

  That is, the split valve is required to have high accuracy in machining the valve body mating surface which is divided in half. Due to structural problems of the rotation mechanism of the valve body, high accuracy is required for the connection when connecting the powder supply container to the apparatus, which increases the manufacturing cost and makes it difficult to connect the valves and lots to be manufactured. Dimension error management and adjustment work becomes enormous. In addition to normal manufacturing operations, pharmaceutical factories need to disassemble and clean manufacturing equipment and powder supply equipment during product type switching and equipment maintenance. As a matter of course, the work itself such as disassembly and assembly is complicated.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a granular material supply apparatus that can reduce scattering and contamination of a granular material with a simple structure, has a low cost for production and use, and has good decomposability.

  In order to achieve the above object, the granular material supply apparatus according to the present invention supplies the granular material from the granular material supply unit to the granular material receiving unit disposed below the granular material supply unit. It is an apparatus to be used, and includes a first connecting pipe disposed on the powder body supply unit side and a second connecting pipe disposed on the powder body receiving unit side, and the first connection pipe The connecting pipe is provided with a first butterfly valve, and the second connecting pipe is provided with a second butterfly valve. In the two connecting pipes, the two butterfly valves are located at two positions. A cleaning nozzle that cleans a space defined by the two butterfly valves configured when the two connecting pipes are connected is provided.

  Moreover, in the granular material supply apparatus having the above-described features, the cleaning nozzle has an expansion tube, a nozzle head, and a stopper plug provided at the tip of the nozzle head, and the connection is made when the expansion tube is contracted. It is good to set it as the structure which positions the inner wall face of a pipe | tube, and the said closure plug on the same surface.

  With such a feature, the inner wall surface of the connecting pipe can be smoothed by contracting the cleaning nozzle. Thereby, what is called powder accumulation in which a granular material volume can be decreased. Further, by reducing dust accumulation, the yield of the product can be improved, and the time required for cleaning the powder contact surface can be shortened.

In the granular material supply apparatus having the above-described characteristics, a plurality of the cleaning nozzles may be provided radially so that the expansion and contraction pipes are along a plane perpendicular to the axial direction of the connection pipe. It is desirable.
By setting it as such a structure, it becomes possible to wash | clean the whole granular material contact surface partitioned off by the 1st butterfly valve and the 2nd butterfly valve.

Further, when a plurality of cleaning nozzles as described above are arranged, the plurality of cleaning nozzles are arranged so that the expansion and contraction tubes of each cleaning nozzle have an angle of 90 ° to 120 ° around the axis of the connection pipe. Good.
According to such a configuration, there is no waste in the arrangement of the cleaning nozzles, and the entire granular material contact surface can be cleaned with a small number of cleaning nozzles.

  Moreover, in the granular material supply apparatus having the above-described features, the rotation axis of the second butterfly valve has an opening on the main surface of the second butterfly valve facing the first butterfly valve. It is advisable to provide an exhaust / drainage route.

  According to such a configuration, there is no need to process the seal enclosure disposed on the outer edge when the second butterfly valve is closed. For this reason, it is possible to ensure high sealing performance without performing highly accurate control of the rotational position of the butterfly valve.

  In the granular material supply apparatus having the above-described features, the first sealing plate is provided in the opening in the first connecting pipe, and the second sealing is provided in the opening in the second connecting pipe. Stop plates are respectively provided, and at least one of the two sealing plates is brought into contact with the two sealing plates so that an opening of the first connection pipe and an opening of the second connection pipe are provided. After the proximity, an actuator that opens the two openings by sliding the sealing plate in a direction parallel to the opening surface of the opening may be connected.

  By setting it as such a structure, it becomes possible to seal both opening parts until just before connecting a 1st connection pipe and a 2nd connection pipe. For this reason, it is possible to reduce risks such as contamination of the connection pipe and cross contamination.

Further, when the sealing plate as described above is adopted, the second connection pipe is configured to close a gap generated between the first connection after sliding the two sealing plates. It is desirable to provide an elevating mechanism.
With such a configuration, it is possible to perform a minute gap or minute positioning, which contributes to an improvement in sealing performance.

  According to the granular material supply apparatus having the above-described characteristics, scattering and contamination of the granular material can be reduced with a simple structure. In addition, the cost required for the production and use of the granular material supply device can be kept low, and the labor required for disassembly and assembly for maintenance and cleaning can be reduced.

  DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments according to the powder and particle supply apparatus of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. First, with reference to FIGS. 1-4, basic embodiment of the granular material supply apparatus of this invention is described. In addition, in FIG. 1, FIG. 1 (A) is a figure which shows the schematic cross section of the granular material supply apparatus which concerns on embodiment, and shows a part of shrinkage | contraction state of the washing nozzle in FIG. 1 (B) same figure (A). FIG. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the rotation state of the butterfly valve, and the cross-sectional view of FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a cleaning range by a cleaning nozzle, FIG. 3A illustrates a cleaning range on a horizontal plane, and FIG. 3B illustrates a cleaning range on a vertical plane. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a partial cross section of the second butterfly valve.

  In this embodiment, the granular material supply apparatus 10 is a powder supplied from a granular material supply unit such as a sealed container containing the granular material and the granular material supply unit, as described in the background section. A generic term for a device that includes the structure of a connecting pipe that connects a granular material receiving unit such as a manufacturing apparatus that manufactures a product using granules as a raw material, and the structure of equipment arranged around the connecting pipe; To do.

  The granular material supply apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment includes a first connection pipe 12 provided on the sealed container side, a second connection pipe 24 provided on the manufacturing apparatus side, and a first connection pipe 12. The first butterfly valve 14, the second butterfly valve 34 provided in the second connection pipe 24, and the cleaning nozzle 26 are included.

  The first connection pipe 12 is a pipe connected to the lower part of the hopper 60 of the sealed container, and is formed in a cylindrical shape. In the opening located at the lower end of the first connecting pipe 12, a flange 22 is formed for increasing the contact area with the opening in the second connecting pipe 24, the details of which will be described later.

  The first butterfly valve 14 is provided between the two rotary shafts 15a provided near the center in the longitudinal direction of the first connection tube 12 and penetrating the wall surface of the first connection tube 12, and the rotary shaft 15a. And a disc 15b. The two rotary shafts 15a constituting the first butterfly valve 14 are arranged in a straight line perpendicular to the central axis of the cylindrical first connection pipe 12, and at least one of the rotary shafts 15a includes a rotary shaft 15a. You may make it connect the actuator (not shown) for rotating. The diameter of the disc 15b constituting the first butterfly valve 14 is substantially the same as the inner diameter of the first connecting pipe 12. A flange-like projecting portion 16 is formed in a portion of the first connecting pipe 12 where the rotary shaft 15a of the first butterfly valve 14 is disposed, and a disc is formed inside the projecting portion 16 that is hollow. When 15b is in a horizontal state, a seal enclosure 18 for closing the first connecting pipe 12 in an airtight manner is provided.

  The first connecting pipe 12 is configured to be divided in the horizontal direction by the flange-like projecting portion 16 provided with the first butterfly valve 14 and the seal enclosure 18 described above. In this way, a clamp for fastening the overhanging portion 16 in the longitudinal direction and a holding jig 20 such as a ferrule clamp are provided on the outer periphery of the overhanging portion 16 that can be divided like a so-called ferrule joint.

  By adopting such a configuration, it is possible to close or open the first connecting pipe 12 by rotating the rotating shaft 15a so that the disk 15b is tilted. In addition, since the overhanging portion 16 provided with the first butterfly valve 14 and the seal enclosure 18 is fastened with a holding jig 20 such as a clamp or a ferrule clamp, no tools are required for disassembly or assembly during maintenance or cleaning. Thus, labor required for disassembly and assembly is reduced. With respect to the opening degree of the first butterfly valve 14, 0 ° is a fully closed (closed) state and 90 ° is a fully open state with reference to an angle obtained by making the main surface of the disk 15 b horizontal.

  Next, the configuration of the second connection pipe 24 will be described. The configuration of the second connection pipe 24 is almost the same as the configuration of the first connection pipe 12 described above. That is, the flange 42 provided in the opening facing the first connecting pipe 12, the second butterfly valve 34 provided in the overhanging part 36 that can be divided into a ferrule-type joint, and the seal enclosure 38 The overhanging portion 36 is fastened by the presser jig 40.

  A difference in configuration of the second connection pipe 24 from the first connection pipe 12 includes a seal packing 44, a cleaning nozzle 26, and an exhaust / drainage path 33 (see FIG. 4). The point connected to 70 can be mentioned.

  The seal packing 44 is provided in a groove formed in the flange 42 of the opening in the second connection pipe 24. The seal packing 44 is preferably arranged so as to have a crush margin protruding from the cross section of the flange 42, and is crushed between the flange 22 of the opening in the first connection pipe 12, so that the first connection pipe The hermeticity at the time of connecting 12 and the 2nd connection pipe 24 can be improved.

  The cleaning nozzle 26 is an inner wall surface of the second connection pipe 24 and is disposed between the flange 42 and the position where the second butterfly valve 34 is disposed. The cleaning nozzle 26 according to the embodiment includes a telescopic tube 28, a nozzle head 30, and a closing plug 32 provided at the tip of the nozzle head 30. The expansion / contraction tube 28 of the cleaning nozzle 26 is arranged in the radial direction so as to follow a plane perpendicular to the center line penetrating the second connection tube 24 in the longitudinal direction. On the inner wall surface of the second connection pipe 24 located on the proximal end side of the telescopic pipe 28 extending toward the axial direction of the second connection pipe 24, a closing plug provided at the tip of the nozzle head 30 A counterbore hole for fitting 32 is formed.

  When the expansion tube 28 is contracted, the cleaning nozzle 26 configured as described above can accommodate the nozzle head 30 up to the inner wall surface of the second connection tube 24, and the expansion tube 28 is contracted most. In the state, the stopper plug 32 provided at the tip of the nozzle head 30 and the inner wall surface of the second connection pipe 24 are located on the same plane. Here, by providing a sealing member (not shown) such as an O-ring or a V seal on the outer periphery of the stopper plug 32, the expansion wall 28 of the cleaning nozzle 26 is contracted to thereby contract the inner wall surface of the second connection pipe 24. The opening is sealed, and there is no possibility that the granular material is mixed into the opening of the inner wall surface. In addition, a stopper plug 32 is provided at the tip of the cleaning nozzle 26, and the particle contact surface (the contact surface when the particle is a drug) on the inner wall surface of the second connecting tube 24 is kept smooth. It is possible to reduce the accumulation of dust on the inner wall surface and improve the yield of the product. Moreover, according to the fact that powder accumulation is reduced, it is possible to shorten the cleaning time of the granular material contact surface.

  It is desirable that the cleaning nozzle 26 includes a plurality of expansion tubes 28 such that the expansion tubes 28 are radially arranged along a plane perpendicular to the center line penetrating the second connection tube 24 in the longitudinal direction. Here, when the cleaning range of the cleaning nozzle 26 is a hatched range shown in FIG. 3, the cleaning nozzle 26 is set to 2 to 3 with an arrangement interval of θ = 90 ° to 120 ° with the center line as a base point. It becomes possible to wash | clean the whole granular material contact surface by arrange | positioning a piece.

  An exhaust / drainage path 33 is provided in the second rose fly valve 34. Specifically, the opening provided in the main surface of the disc 35b facing the first butterfly valve 14 is provided with a hole 33b provided in the axial direction with respect to the rotation shaft 35a constituting the second butterfly valve 34. It is comprised by connecting to 33a. By configuring the exhaust / drainage path 33 using the rotating shaft 35a of the second butterfly valve 34, the gas and cleaning liquid after cleaning the granular material contact surface are exhausted and drained without processing the seal enclosure 38. It becomes possible to do. In addition, it is not necessary to ensure the sealing performance of the butterfly valve, which is necessary when an opening is provided for the purpose other than inserting the rotation shaft 35a through the seal enclosure 38, and to control the rotational position for that purpose. Become. In the exhaust / drain passage 33, a dust coupler or the like can be reduced by installing a closing coupler or a stopper (not shown) having an expansion / contraction function for closing the opening 35a of the disk 35b. .

  According to the granular material supply apparatus 10 having the above-described configuration, it is possible to reduce scattering and contamination of the granular material with a simple structure. Moreover, the cost required for manufacture and use of the granular material supply apparatus 10 can be kept low, and the labor required for disassembly and assembly for maintenance and cleaning can be reduced.

  Next, the supply process of the granular material through the granular material supply apparatus 10 having the above configuration will be described. First, a docking process for connecting the opening of the first connection pipe 12 connected to the sealed container and the opening of the second connection pipe 24 connected to the manufacturing apparatus is performed. At this time, in order to avoid interference during operation of the butterfly valve, the horizontal direction of the rotary shaft 15a in the first butterfly valve 14 and the horizontal direction of the rotary shaft 35a in the second butterfly valve 34 should be matched. Is desirable.

  After the docking step, the cleaning nozzle 26 is extended from the inner wall surface of the second connecting pipe 24, and the first and second powder particles contact surfaces partitioned by the first butterfly valve 14 and the second butterfly valve 34 are air blown. The air blowing process is performed. The first air blowing step plays a role of air-cleaning dirt on the granular material contact surface exposed to the outside air. In performing the first air blowing process, if the pressure in the space partitioned by the first butterfly valve 14 and the second butterfly valve 34 is high, the air is vented from the exhaust / drain passage 33. .

  After the first air blowing step, the cleaning nozzle 26 is contracted, the butterfly valve is rotated in the order of the second butterfly valve 34 and the first butterfly valve 14, and the second connection pipe 24 and the first connection pipe The granular material supply process which each opens 12 is performed. At this time, it is desirable that the first butterfly valve 14 and the second butterfly valve 34 are rotated in the same direction to avoid interference therebetween.

  A second air blowing step of rotating the first butterfly valve 14 to close the first connecting pipe 12, extending the cleaning nozzle 26, and air blowing the powder particle contact surface after the powder particle supplying step is completed. Done. By performing a 2nd air blow process, the granular material adhering to a granular material contact surface will be dropped and will be supplied to a manufacturing apparatus. Similarly to the first air blowing step, the second air blowing step may be configured to release air from the exhaust / drainage path 33.

  After the second air blowing process is completed, a cleaning process is performed in which the second butterfly valve 34 is rotated to close the second connecting pipe 24 and the cleaning liquid is ejected from the cleaning nozzle 26. The cleaning liquid sprayed from the cleaning nozzle 26 is discharged to the outside of the granular material supply apparatus 10 from an exhaust / drainage path 33 formed in the second butterfly valve 34. Note that the discharged cleaning liquid may be collected outside the apparatus.

After the cleaning process is completed, a drying process is performed in which air is sprayed from the cleaning nozzle 26 to dry the contact surfaces of the powder and particles cleaned with the cleaning liquid.
After the drying process is completed, the washing nozzle 26 is contracted, and an undocking process for releasing the connection state between the first connection pipe 12 and the second connection pipe 24 is performed.

  The granular material supply apparatus 10 having the above-described configuration may be provided with an elevating mechanism 46 in order to improve micro-positioning and sealing performance during connection. The lifting mechanism 46 according to the embodiment may be provided in the second connection pipe 24. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, a support portion is formed on the outer edge of the second connection pipe 24, and the lower surface side of the support portion is connected to the upper end of an expansion gasket fixed to the base. can do.

  In the lifting mechanism 46 configured as described above, the second connecting pipe 24 and the hopper 70 can be slightly raised by supplying air to the expansion gasket, and by removing the air supplied to the expansion gasket, The second connecting pipe 24 and the hopper 70 can be lowered.

  Moreover, you may make it the granular material supply apparatus 10 of the above structures provide the slide gate 48 as shown in FIG. 5, FIG. The slide gate 48 includes a first sealing plate 50 that seals the opening in the first connecting pipe 12, a second sealing plate 54 that seals the opening in the second connecting pipe 24, and the first And an actuator 58 that slides the two sealing plates 54 in a direction parallel to the opening surface of the opening.

  The second sealing plate 54 has a protrusion 56 on the main surface facing the first sealing plate 50, and the first sealing plate 50 is a protrusion provided on the second sealing plate 54. A through hole 52 into which the protrusion 56 can be fitted is provided at a position corresponding to the portion 56. By adopting such a configuration, when the first sealing plate 50 and the second sealing plate 54 are overlapped, it is possible to handle both as one sealing plate. Therefore, even when the actuator 58 for sliding the sealing plates (the first sealing plate 50 and the second sealing plate 54) is connected only to the second sealing plate 54, one actuator 58 is provided. As a result of the operation, both the first sealing plate 50 and the second sealing plate 54 can be slid to open the openings of both the first connecting pipe 12 and the second connecting pipe 24.

  In this way, by sealing both openings with the sealing plates 50 and 54 immediately before connecting the first connecting pipe 12 and the second connecting pipe 24, the connecting pipe (first connection It is possible to reduce the risk of contamination of the pipe 12 and the second connecting pipe 24), cross contamination, and the like.

  In the case where the slide gate 48 is employed, when the sealing plates 50 and 54 are slid from the opening, at least between the opening of the first connection pipe 12 and the opening of the second connection pipe 24. A gap larger than the thickness of the two sealing plates 50 and 54 is generated. The gap generated in this manner causes the second connecting pipe 24 and the hopper 70 to be lifted by operating the above-described lifting mechanism 46 to connect the first connecting pipe 12 and the second connecting pipe 24. And keep the airtightness between the two.

It is sectional drawing which shows the basic composition of the granular material supply apparatus which concerns on embodiment. It is a top view which shows the butterfly valve employ | adopted as embodiment and its attachment structure. It is a figure which shows the washing | cleaning range of the washing nozzle employ | adopted as embodiment. It is a fragmentary sectional view which shows the structure of the 2nd butterfly valve employ | adopted as embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example in the case of employ | adopting a slide gate in the opening part of a connection pipe. It is a figure which shows a mode that employ | adopts a slide gate for the opening part of a connection pipe, and connects a 1st connection pipe and a 2nd connection pipe. It is the schematic which shows a part of manufacturing process in a pharmaceutical factory.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ......... Powder body supply apparatus, 12 ......... 1st connection pipe, 14 ......... 1st butterfly valve, 15a ......... Rotating shaft, 15b ......... Disk, 16 ...... Overhang part 18 ......... Seal enclosure, 20 ......... Fixing jig, 22 ......... Flange, 24 ......... Second connecting pipe, 26 ......... Cleaning nozzle, 28 ......... Expandable pipe, 30 ......... Nozzle head, 32... Closing plug, 33... Exhaust and drainage path, 34 ... Second butterfly valve, 35 a ... Rotating shaft, 35 b ... Disc, 36 ... Overhang part, 38 ......... Seal enclosure, 40 ......... Pressing jig, 42 ......... Flange, 44 ......... Seal packing, 46 ......... Elevating mechanism.

Claims (7)

An apparatus used when supplying a granular material from a granular material supply unit to a granular material receiving unit disposed at a lower portion of the granular material supply unit,
A first connecting pipe disposed on the particulate supply unit side and a second connecting pipe disposed on the particulate receiving unit side;
The first connection pipe is provided with a first butterfly valve, and the second connection pipe is provided with a second butterfly valve,
In the two connection pipes, a cleaning nozzle for cleaning a space defined by the two butterfly valves configured when the two connection pipes are connected is provided at a position located between the two butterfly valves. The granular material supply apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. The cleaning nozzle has an expansion tube, a nozzle head, and a stopper plug provided at the tip of the nozzle head,
The granular material supply apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the telescopic tube is contracted, an inner wall surface of the connection tube and the closing plug are positioned on the same plane.   The granular material supply apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a plurality of the cleaning nozzles are radially provided so that the expansion tube extends along a plane perpendicular to the axial direction of the connection tube.   4. The powder according to claim 3, wherein the plurality of cleaning nozzles are arranged such that the expansion tube of each cleaning nozzle has an angle of 90 ° to 120 ° with the axis of the connection pipe as a center. Granule supply device.   2. An exhaust / drain passage having an opening on a main surface of the second butterfly valve facing the first butterfly valve is provided on a rotating shaft of the second butterfly valve. The granular material supply apparatus of any one of Claim 4. A first sealing plate is provided at the opening in the first connection pipe, and a second sealing plate is provided at the opening in the second connection pipe.
At least one of the two sealing plates is brought into contact with the two sealing plates to bring the opening of the first connection pipe close to the opening of the second connection pipe, and then the sealing. The powder according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein an actuator is connected to slide the stop plate in a direction parallel to the opening surface of the opening to open the two openings. Granule supply device. The said 2nd connection pipe | tube is equipped with the raising / lowering mechanism for plugging up the gap | interval which arises between the said 1st connection after sliding the said 2 sealing plate. The granular material supply apparatus of description.

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