JP2020006308A - Agitation-blending granulator - Google Patents

Abstract

To automate a scratching operation for a treated product adhering into the main body of a treatment container in an agitation-blending granulator.SOLUTION: An agitation-blending granulator 1 comprises an anthropomorphic robot 6 disposed outside a treatment container 2. The anthropomorphic robot 6 has a robot arm 6a movable in an optional direction in a three-dimensional space, and a scratching tool 15 held by the robot arm 6a. The robot 6 makes the robot arm 6a actuate after treatment of granular powders, and makes the scratching tool 15 held by the robot arm 6a go into an opening 8a to make move in a container body 8. Thereby, the treated product of granular powders adhered inside a container body 8 is scratched by the scratching tool 15.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to an agitation-mixing granulator that combines and granulates powders such as pharmaceuticals, foods, and agricultural chemicals.

  BACKGROUND ART A stirring and mixing granulating apparatus is used to combine and granulate powders, particles, and the like (hereinafter, collectively referred to as powders) of pharmaceuticals, foods, agricultural chemicals, and the like (hereinafter, these are collectively referred to as powders and granules) ( For example, see Patent Documents 1 to 3. The stirring / mixing granulation apparatus generally includes a processing container for accommodating the powder or granular material to be processed therein, and a stirring blade disposed on a bottom surface in the processing container, and the processing container has an opening at an upper end. And a lid for opening and closing the opening.

JP 2011-245415 A JP-A-7-8782 JP-A-5-115766

  By the way, in this stirring and mixing granulating apparatus, after the processing (granulation) of the granular material, the processed product of the granular material often adheres to the container body of the processing container. Conventionally, in order to improve the production amount of the processed product, the adhered processed product has been manually scraped by a jig by a worker and added to a normal processed product. However, from the viewpoint of production efficiency, automation of the scraping operation has been required.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above circumstances, it is a technical object of the present invention to automate a scraping operation of a processed product adhered in a container main body of a processing container in a stirring and mixing granulating apparatus.

  A stirring and mixing granulator according to the present invention devised to solve the above-described problem includes a processing container that accommodates powder and granular material to be processed therein, and a stirring blade disposed on a bottom surface in the processing container. Comprising, in the stirring and mixing granulator having a container body having an opening at the upper end, and a lid that opens and closes the opening, the joint container is provided with an articulated robot disposed outside the processing container, The articulated robot has a robot arm movable in an arbitrary direction in a three-dimensional space, and a scraping jig held by the robot arm. After the processing of the granular material, the articulated robot includes the robot By operating an arm, the scraping jig held by the robot arm is caused to enter from the opened opening and moved within the container body, whereby the scraping jig is moved by the scraping jig. And wherein the scraping the powder or granular material processing products adhering to the inside of the vessel main body.

  According to this configuration, the processed product of the powder and granules attached to the inside of the container body can be scraped by the scraping jig held by the robot arm of the joint robot. Therefore, in the stirring and mixing granulating apparatus, it is possible to automate the operation of scraping the processed product adhered in the container body of the processing container.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, in a stirring mixing granulation apparatus, the scraping operation | work of the processed article adhered in the container main body of a processing container can be automated.

1 is a schematic perspective view of a stirring and mixing granulator according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a principal part enlarged side view of a stirring mixing granulation apparatus. It is a figure which shows the handle of the cover part of a stirring mixing granulation apparatus, (A) is a side view, (B) is a top view. It is a figure which shows the clamp mechanism of the cover part of a stirring mixing granulation apparatus, (A) is a side view, (B) is a front view. It is a figure which shows the clamp mechanism of the cover part of a stirring mixing granulation apparatus, (A) is a side view, (B) is a front view. It is a figure which shows the clamp mechanism of the cover part of a stirring mixing granulation apparatus, (A) is a side view, (B) is a front view. It is a figure of the cover part fixing mechanism part of the stirring mixing granulation apparatus, (A) is a side view, (B) is a top view, (C) is the A arrow view of (A). It is a side view of a scraping jig. It is a figure of a lid opening / closing jig, (A) is a side view, (B) is a bottom view. It is a side view of the joint robot equipped with the jacket. It is a schematic perspective view of the stirring mixing granulation apparatus concerning the modification of this invention.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a stirring and mixing granulator according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged side view of a main part of the stirring and mixing granulator. The stirring / mixing granulation apparatus 1 is provided with a processing container 2 for accommodating a powdery material to be processed therein, a stirring blade 3 provided on a bottom surface in the processing container 2, and a side surface of the processing container 2. Crushing blades (cross screw 4), a discharge unit 5 disposed on the side of the processing container 2, an articulated robot 6 disposed outside the processing container 2, a processing of powder and granules, and an articulated robot 6. A control unit 7 for controlling is provided as a main component.

  The stirring and mixing granulating apparatus 1 processes the powder and granular material in the processing container 2 as follows. While supplying the binder into the processing vessel 2 from a binder supply unit (not shown), the powder and granules are stirred by the stirring blades 3 and the cross screw 4 to combine the powder and granules and granulate them. More specifically, when the stirring blade 3 rotates, the particles in the processing container 2 are stirred, and the stirred particles are appropriately aggregated by the supplied binder, while the cross screw 4 is used. It is appropriately sheared and gradually granulated to a desired particle size.

  The processing container 2 is mounted on the container main body 8 having an opening 8a at the upper end, and the opening 8a of the container main body 8 via a rotation mechanism 9, and the opening 8a is rotated by the vertical movement with respect to the container main body 8. And a lid 10 that can be opened and closed. The rotation mechanism 9 is provided on one end side of the lid 10 and is a kind of hinge in the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 3, a handle 11 that is gripped when the lid 10 is manually rotated is attached to the lid 10. The handle 11 is formed of a round bar member. More specifically, the handle 11 has a grip portion 11a for linearly extending in the lateral direction for gripping, and a pair of L-shaped portions 11b having an L-shape in side view for attaching both ends of the grip portion 11a to the lid portion 10. .

  As shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, the container body 8 is provided with a plurality of clamp mechanisms 12 for preventing the closed lid 10 from being opened. The clamp mechanism 12 engages with the engagement piece 13 fixed to the upper surface of the lid 10 to prevent the lid 10 in the closed state from being opened. The engagement piece 13 protrudes from the lid 10 to the outer diameter side along the radial direction of the lid 10, and a protrusion 13 a is provided at the tip thereof.

  The clamp mechanism 12 includes a clamp portion 12a and a lever portion 12b as main components. The clamp portion 12a has a round bar-shaped engagement bar portion 12c for engaging with the engagement piece 13, and a pair of long plate portions 12d fixed to both ends. The lever portion 12b has a main body portion 12e formed of a round bar-shaped member, and a cap portion 12f attached to a tip of the main body portion 12e. Further, the main body 12e has a long portion 12g at the distal end and a short portion 12h at the proximal end. The short portion 12h of the lever portion 12b is fixed to a lever rotating portion 12i, and the lever rotating portion 12i is fixed to a clamp rotating portion 12j by a connecting portion 12k. The lever rotating portion 12i is rotatably attached to a pair of convex pieces 8b provided on the container body 8. The clamp rotating portion 12j is rotatably attached to a pair of long plate portions 12d of the clamp portion 12a.

  In order to prevent the lid 10 in the closed state from being opened by the clamp mechanism 12, first, the lid 10 is closed (the state of FIG. 6). Next, the engaging rod portion 12c of the clamp portion 12a of the clamp mechanism 12 is engaged with the engaging piece 13 (the state of FIG. 5). Then, the tip side of the lever portion 12b is pushed down. Then, the clamp portion 12a is fixed (locked) with the engagement rod portion 12c of the clamp portion 12a engaged with the engagement piece 13 (the state of FIG. 4).

  As shown in FIGS. 7A to 7C, the stirring and mixing granulation apparatus 1 includes a lid fixing mechanism 14 for fixing the lid 10 in an open state. The lid fixing mechanism 14 is provided on the lid 10 via a fixing plate 14a provided on a lid rotating section 10a which is connected to the rotating mechanism 9 and rotates on the lid 10 via a mounting plate 14b. The fixing pin 14c is provided.

  The fixing plate portion 14a is disposed along a plane perpendicular to the rotation axis of the rotation mechanism 9, and has an L-shape as a whole in FIG. 7A. The fixing plate 14a is provided with first and second insertion holes 14d and 14e into which the fixing pins 14c are inserted. As shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 7A, the lid 10 is fixed at an opening of 45 ° by inserting the fixing pin 14c into the first insertion hole 14d. The lid 10 is fixed at an opening of 90 ° by inserting the fixing pin 14c into the second insertion hole 14e. The fixing plate 14a is provided with a manual insertion hole 14f used when the cover 10 is manually opened. By inserting the fixing pin 14c into the manual insertion hole 14f, the lid 10 is fixed at an opening of 80 °.

  The fixing pin 14c is disposed so that its axis is parallel to the rotation axis of the rotation mechanism 9. The fixing pin 14c can be moved back and forth along its axis by a cylinder mechanism in a cylinder box 14g provided on the mounting plate 14b.

  The mounting plate 14b is provided with first and second proximity switches 14h and 14i for detecting the opening of the lid 10. When only the first proximity switch 14h detects the fixing plate 14a, the opening of the lid 10 is determined to be 45 °, and both the first and second proximity switches 14h and 14i detect the fixing plate 14a. In this case, the opening of the lid 10 is determined to be 90 °.

  The joint robot 6 is a six-axis vertical articulated robot in the present embodiment, but the present invention is not limited to this. The articulated robot 6 includes a robot arm 6a whose tip 6b can move in an arbitrary direction in a three-dimensional space, a scraping jig 15 and a lid opening / closing jig 16 held by the tip 6b of the robot arm 6a. Have. As shown in FIG. 1, the scraping jig 15 and the lid opening / closing jig 16 are arranged at predetermined positions before use.

  As shown in FIG. 8 (A), the scraping jig 15 includes a spatula 15a for scraping the processed product of the granular material, and an attaching part for attaching the spatula 15a to the distal end 6b of the robot arm 6a. 15b. The spatula 15a is formed of, for example, a resin such as polyethylene. The mounting portion 15b is connected to the bent plate portion 15c to which the spatula portion 15a is mounted, the flat plate portion 15d to which the bent plate portion 15c is mounted, the connection base portion 15e connected to the distal end portion 6b of the robot arm 6a, and the flat plate portion 15d. It has a plurality of rods 15f that connect to the base 15e.

  Spatula part 15a has wide part 15g and handle part 15h. As shown in FIG. 8B, the direction in which the spatula portion 15a is attached to the bent plate portion 15c can be changed by 90 °. The width of the wide portion 15g of the spatula portion 15a gradually decreases toward the tip.

  As shown in FIGS. 8C and 8E, the position at which the bent plate portion 15c is attached to the flat plate portion 15d can be changed. Further, as shown in FIG. 8 (D), by connecting the additional rod portion 15j to the rod portion 15f, the distance between the flat plate portion 15d and the connection base portion 15e can be changed.

  Further, in FIGS. 8A to 8E, the distal end of the wide portion 15g of the spatula portion 15a is linear in the width direction in a plan view, but as shown in FIG. Notch 15i may be provided at the tip of wide portion 15g of 15a. For example, if the shape of the notch 15i in plan view is matched to the shape of the boss portion 3a of the stirring blade 3 in side view, it is easy to scrape off the processed product attached to the boss portion 3a of the stirring blade 3. Become.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the lid opening / closing jig 16 is disposed between a pair of side plates 16a used to open and close the lid 10, and these side plates 16a. It has a drive unit 16b for moving in the direction of approaching and separating, and a connection base 16f fixed above the drive unit 16b and connected to the tip end 6b of the robot arm 6a. Note that the left side of FIG. 9 is the front side of the lid opening / closing jig 16, and the right side is the rear side of the lid opening / closing jig 16.

  At the upper end and the lower end of the front portion of the side plate portion 16a, arc-shaped notches 16c are provided in a side view, and as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. Can be engaged with and supported by the member W. Note that the cutout portion 16c need not be arcuate as long as it can be engaged with the round bar-shaped member W. For example, the cutout portion 16c may be U-shaped or U-shaped in side view.

  A disk-shaped support member 16d is rotatably mounted in a circumferential direction on the inside of the center in the vertical direction of the front portion of each side plate portion 16a. The support surface 16e of the support member 16d is planar, and the support surfaces 16e of the support member 16d of the pair of side plate portions 16a are parallel. The support member 16d is formed of, for example, rubber, metal, or the like. The lid opening / closing jig 16 can clamp (chuck) the clamp portion 12a between the pair of support members 16d by approaching each other from a state in which the pair of side plate portions 16a indicated by the two-dot chain line in FIG. It is. In a normal state, the pair of side plate portions 16a of the lid opening / closing jig 16 are in a state of approaching each other.

  As shown in FIG. 10, the joint robot 6 can be equipped with a jacket 17 that covers the joint robot 6. By mounting the jacket 17, it is possible to prevent contamination from the joint robot 6 to the processed product and to protect the joint robot 6. The jacket 17 is formed of, for example, a base fabric of a blend of polyester and polyurethane, which is subjected to lamination processing of polyurethane, but is not limited to this.

  Next, the opening / closing operation of the lid 10 in the stirring and mixing granulation apparatus 1 will be described by taking as an example a case where the angle (opening) when the lid 10 is opened is 45 °. The joint robot 6 automatically holds the lid opening / closing jig 16 at the distal end 6b of the robot arm 6a in advance.

  First, the operation of opening the lid 10 from the state where the clamp 12a is locked will be described.

  First, as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 4, the notch 16c above the one side plate 16a of the lid opening / closing jig 16 is engaged with the long part 12g of the lever part 12b by the joint robot 6. Let it. Then, by moving the lid opening / closing jig 16 in this state, the lever portion 12b is rotated upward, and the lock of the clamp portion 12a is released.

  Next, the pair of side plate portions 16a of the lid opening / closing jig 16 are separated from each other and then approached to each other, as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. The end on the side of the mating bar portion 12c is chucked by a pair of support members 16d. Then, by moving the lid opening / closing jig 16 in this state, the clamp part 12a is rotated downward to bring the state shown in FIG. 6 (see the two-dot chain line in FIG. 6B).

  When the state shown in FIG. 6 is reached, the pair of side plates 16a of the lid opening / closing jig 16 are separated from each other, and the chuck of the clamp portion 12a by the pair of support members 16d is released. After the lid opening / closing jig 16 is moved, the pair of side plates 16a of the lid opening / closing jig 16 are brought into a state of approaching each other.

  The above operation is performed for all the clamp mechanisms 12.

  Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 3, the notches 16c of the pair of side plates 16a are engaged with the grips 11a of the handle 11. Then, by moving the lid opening and closing jig 16 in this state by the articulated robot 6, the lid 10 is rotated upward.

  When the opening of the lid 10 becomes 45 °, the fixing pin 14c is advanced by the cylinder mechanism in the cylinder box 14g and inserted into the first insertion hole 14d of the fixing plate 14a. As a result, the lid 10 is fixed at an opening of 45 °.

  Next, an operation of closing the lid 10 fixed by the lid fixing mechanism 14 will be described.

  First, the opening of the lid 10 is determined based on the detection results of the first and second proximity switches 14h and 14i. For example, if the opening of the cover 10 is 45 ° (only the first proximity switch 14h detects the fixing plate 14a), the joint opening / closing jig 16 is moved by the articulated robot 6, and the opening is 45 °. The notches 16c of the pair of side plates 16a are engaged with and supported by the grips 11a of the handle 11 of the lid 10 fixed by the above.

  After the holding portion 11a is supported by the notch 16c, the fixing pin 14c is retracted from the first insertion hole 14d of the fixing plate 14a by the cylinder mechanism in the cylinder box 14g. Thus, the fixing of the lid 10 by the fixing pins 14c is released.

  Then, by moving the lid opening / closing jig 16 by the joint robot 6, the lid 10 is rotated downward. When the lid 10 is closed, the engagement of the notch 16c with the grip 11a is released.

  Next, the following operation is performed for all the clamp mechanisms 12.

  After the pair of side plate portions 16a of the lid opening / closing jig 16 are separated from each other, they are brought closer to each other, and as shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 6B, the engaging rod portions of the pair of long plate portions 12d of the clamp portion 12a. The end on the side of 12c is chucked by a pair of support members 16d. Then, by moving the lid opening / closing jig 16 in this state, the clamp part 12a is rotated upward to bring the state shown in FIG.

  When the state shown in FIG. 5 is reached, the pair of side plates 16a of the lid opening / closing jig 16 are separated from each other, and the chuck of the clamp portion 12a by the pair of support members 16d is released.

  Thereafter, the pair of side plates 16a of the lid opening / closing jig 16 are brought close to each other, and the lower cutout 16c of one side plate 16a of the lid opening / closing jig 16 is inserted into the long portion 12g of the lever portion 12b. To be engaged. Then, by moving the lid opening / closing jig 16 in this state, the lever part 12b is rotated downward, and the clamp part 12a is locked (state shown in FIG. 4).

  Next, the operation of scraping the inside of the container body 8 in the stirring and mixing granulating apparatus 1 will be described.

  After the processing of the granular material, the lid 10 is opened and fixed by the lid fixing mechanism 14 as described above. Thereafter, the joint robot 6 automatically removes the lid opening / closing jig 16 from the distal end portion 6b of the robot arm 6a, and holds the scraping jig 15 at the distal end portion 6b of the robot arm 6a.

  The articulated robot 6 operates the robot arm 6a, and causes the scraping jig 15 held by the robot arm 6a to enter from the opening 8a of the opened container body 8.

  Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 2, the articulated robot 6 operates the robot arm 6 a to move the scraping jig 15 held by the robot arm 6 a within the container body 8, thereby forming a scraping jig. By 15, the processed product of the granular material adhered to the inside of the container body 8 is scraped off.

  Then, the processed product scraped by the scraping jig 15 falls onto a normal processed product existing below.

  After that, the scraped processed product is discharged to the outside of the stirring and mixing granulating apparatus 1 via the discharge unit 5 together with the normal processed product.

  In the stirring and mixing granulator 1 configured as described above, the scraping jig 15 held by the robot arm 6a of the articulated robot 6 scrapes off the processed product of the powder and granules attached to the inside of the container body 8. Can be. Therefore, in the stirring and mixing granulating apparatus 1, it is possible to automate the operation of scraping the processed product adhered in the container body 8 of the processing container 2.

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the technical idea. For example, in the case of treating a powdered substance such as a highly pharmacologically active drug or a chemical substance harmful to the human body, in order to protect workers and prevent contamination of the external environment, as shown in FIG. The device 1 may include a work room R that is airtightly isolated from the external environment. In this case, the processing container 2, the discharge unit 5, the joint robot 6, the scraping jig 15, the lid opening / closing jig 16, and the like are arranged inside the work room R. The stirring and mixing granulator 1 performs all the operations in the work room R, including the charging of the granular material into the processing container 2 and the movement of the processed product discharged from the discharge unit 5, by the joint robot 6. It is constituted so that it can be performed.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Stir-mixing granulator 2 Processing container 3 Stirring blade 6 Articulated robot 6a Robot arm 7 Control part 8 Container body 8a Opening 10 Lid 15 Scrape jig

Claims (1)

A processing container accommodating a powdery material to be processed therein, and a stirring blade disposed on a bottom surface in the processing container, wherein the processing container has a container main body having an opening at an upper end, and the opening A stirring and mixing granulator having a lid for opening and closing
An articulated robot arranged outside the processing container,
The articulated robot has a robot arm movable in any direction in a three-dimensional space, and a scraping jig held by the robot arm,
After the processing of the granular material, the articulated robot operates the robot arm, causes the scraping jig held by the robot arm to enter through the opened opening, and moves within the container body. The stirring and mixing granulation apparatus characterized in that the scraping jig scrapes off the treated product of the powdery and granular material adhered to the inside of the container body.