JP2592145B2 - Fitting system - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a coupling system used in a chemical plant, industrial equipment, or the like. More specifically, the present invention relates to a coupling system for transferring a fluid, which is suitable for a mobile container such as a self-propelled batch reaction device used for high-mix low-volume production.

[Conventional technology]

One of the non-fixed joints widely used in chemical plants and industrial equipment is a so-called quick joint.

For example, these joints are provided at the distal end of a gas pipe, a hose, or the like, and have a structure that can be easily attached and detached. If necessary, these joints are cut off and reconnected so that another fluid flows.

In the case of a fixed-type flange joint, such attachment / detachment is not easy.

When joints such as detachable quick joints are joined and the required fluid is supplied, pressure is usually applied, so at the time of joining, to prevent fluid leakage, It has a sealing mechanism having an appropriate shape such as an O-ring. Further, in order to prevent the hose from detaching and coming off due to the reaction force of the fluid, a lock mechanism is provided so as to be mechanically held at the time of joining.

This locking mechanism should not be disengaged during normal times,
For attachment / detachment, it is necessary to release the lock mechanism and release the mechanical holding by, for example, a human hand. Usually, the sleeve is often pulled to release the lock mechanism.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

The demand for automation of industrial equipment in recent years is the same not only in the assembly industry but also in a chemical plant which is a typical equipment industry. Particularly in a chemical plant that performs batch production, such demands are high. For example, drugs, cosmetics,
In the food and other industries, batch production is exclusively used.In addition to the recent diversification of demand, the production process has become versatile, that is, there is a strong demand for multi-product small-lot production. ing.

Against this background, for example, the magazine “Chemical Economics”
(March 1986, pp. 32-41, Michio Nobue and Kaoru Takahashi, "21st Century Chemical Factory"), a concept of a so-called pipeless chemical factory has been proposed.
It has been proposed that the processing container itself for reaction / mixing, etc. mounted on an unmanned carrier such as that shown in 62-144745 moves freely, and batch production is performed automatically and efficiently.
For such a self-propelled processing container device, a nozzle for receiving the supply of raw materials and discharging the processed material out of the system is provided. In view of this, it is necessary to accurately connect the nozzle on the container side to the nozzle on the raw material supply side or on the receiving and discharging side.
(Hereinafter, the raw material supply side and the delivery / reception side nozzle are collectively referred to as “external nozzle”, and the movable container nozzle is referred to as “container nozzle”.
There is that. In the case of a flange used for a processing vessel such as a conventional fixed piping facility or a reaction apparatus, a separate coupling system not depending on the flange is required because the flange is not easily attached and detached.

Even in the case of the quick joint, which is one of the prior arts, there are the following problems when trying to use it in a self-propelled reactor.

In the case of attaching and detaching at the quick joint, an operation of pushing or pulling out one or both of the male and female of the joint portion is required.

As described above, it has a sealing mechanism to prevent fluid leakage at the time of joining, but since this sealing portion is usually made of a material having a large sealing effect such as rubber, contact resistance is reduced. It is usually large. Therefore, when pushing or pulling out, an opposing force is required.

Further, some of these joints have an inner valve to prevent leakage of liquid at the time of attachment and detachment.

The inner valve is designed to close automatically when the fitting is about to disengage, preventing the outflow of liquid. A spring is usually used as a drive source for closing the inner valve, and depends on, for example, a restoring force of a spring which is pushed and contracted at the time of joining. A joint with an inner valve is provided with a valve seat, valve body, spring, etc. inside, which reduces the fluid passage, increases pressure loss, and limits the possible flow rate per unit time. I have.

In a joint provided with an inner valve, it is necessary to push one tip against the force of a spring supporting the inner valve when joining is to be performed. On the one hand, this spring is a strong spring because it is the source of the necessary force to close the valve upon disengagement. For this reason, an even greater pushing force is required.

As described above, a lock or holding mechanism is provided to prevent the holding mechanism from coming off due to fluid pressure during use. However, an operation for releasing the holding mechanism is required at the time of attachment / detachment. It is necessary to pull the sleeve or the like provided on the side in the axial direction, and then push and join or pull out the male side part to separate it.

With the above general quick joints, (1)
In addition to the above-mentioned problems such as requiring a considerable pushing / pulling force, (2) requiring movement of the sleeve, and (3) making the fluid passage small, the alignment is usually performed with an accuracy of 0.1 to 2.0 mm or less. Need to do.

In recent years, quick joints that have this fixing mechanism but can be detached in one action without pulling the sleeve are also available on the market. Alignment is required, and even more problematic.

In the joint having the above general type, positioning is important when joining is to be performed. Although it is a natural requirement to join male and female parts, it is customary to perform a considerably large-scale facility to perform these series of operations automatically. For example, it is customary to perform positioning using a pair of guide pins provided on a gauge plate. The male and female parts of the quick joint are respectively provided on this gauge plate, and are joined after being positioned by guide pins. This gauge plate needs to be machined so as to enable the entire joint joining, especially the position of the pin, as well as its own machining accuracy.

The above disadvantage is that even if the facilities are mutually fixed and do not use a movable container, there is a great problem in trying to automate this joining.

On the other hand, when these joints are used for a movable container as described above, it is necessary to consider that the stop position accuracy of the automatic transport vehicle, which typically moves the container, is poor. In a generally used carrier, the normal stop accuracy is ± 5 to 10 mm, which greatly exceeds the accuracy of the above-described alignment required for a quick joint.

As mentioned earlier, conventional joints require a high-precision positioning device for these connections, and a nozzle and an external device that are uniquely installed in a mobile container with poor stop position accuracy A large-scale facility is required to connect a joint for connecting the nozzle to the nozzle.

On the other hand, as factories become unmanned, robots and the like are introduced, and the robots can perform these operations, but the following problems occur. That is, a visual sensor or the like corresponding to the human eye can be provided at the end of the robot hand to perform positioning alignment without a guide pin. It is difficult to put to practical use.

Since the stop position of an unmanned transport vehicle, etc., changes each time, a separate position sensor first checks the stop position of the transport vehicle, and calculates the required position of the nozzles to be connected from that position. And approach.
After approaching to the detectable range of the misalignment of the joints, the misalignment of the joints is detected and corrected to make the misalignment within the allowable range, and then the joints are joined. In order to perform these operations, a high-precision visual sensor or the like is required, and the practicality is low.

If the joint is further pushed in to join, a conventional joint requires a considerable pushing force as described above. When this force is applied to the tip of the robot, the bending moment increases, and if a general articulated robot is applied to this kind of purpose to withstand this load, it becomes a large-scale robot, which is also less practical .

Furthermore, when trying to attach and detach, the robot requires additional operations such as releasing the holding mechanism typified by the sleeve, so that the robot performs more operations than necessary and requires special jigs. In short, these also hinder practicality.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a system for solving the above-mentioned problems, and does not require a fixing mechanism requiring a secondary operation in place of a joint having a conventional structure, and a special centering device. It is an object of the present invention to provide a joint system which does not require a pressing force and does not particularly require a pushing force.

[Means for solving the problem]

In the present invention, the connection means provided on the movable container and the fixed pipe connection means are in a male / female relationship with each other, and the movable container has a positional relationship in which the axes of both connection means are substantially vertical. And a connecting means for connecting both connecting means to each other and moving the fluid relative to each other, wherein a vertical moving means for moving any connecting means in a vertical direction, and any connecting means. An annular elastic seal member capable of inflating and contracting and returning can be provided, and any one of the connecting means can be moved in the horizontal direction in accordance with a movement in which the male connecting means is inserted into the female connecting means and the annular elastic sealing members expand and closely contact each other. The present invention provides a joint system comprising moving centering means. The fluid referred to in the present invention is a liquid, a gas, a granular material,
It refers to a solid, liquid and / or gas-containing substance in a liquid, and is typically a liquid, a liquid containing various dispersions, or a fluid high-viscosity material.

Of course, the fluid includes not only those used for treatment and reaction, but also liquid media represented by washing water used for washing the inside of the movable container after use for the intended treatment. It is.

The basic components of the system of the present invention are:
Corresponding external nozzle and container side or external nozzle,
An expandable and contractible returnable elastic seal member, preferably made of a material such as rubber, which permits large elastic deformation, preferably provided on the inner or outer cylindrical surface of the outer nozzle, and an outer or container-side specific seal member. A support means for supporting any of the nozzles so as to be movable in a substantially horizontal direction, and an air cylinder, which is a means for vertically changing the container side and the external nozzle corresponding to each other, that is, means for moving up and down. And a lifting device.

In the present invention, an elastic sealing material, a vertical position maintaining means, a vertical relative position change, from the viewpoint of reducing the weight of the moving body by reducing the number of coupling / removing parts for various devices and utilities attached to the movable container side and miniaturizing the moving body. It is preferable that the means and the like be provided to the outer nozzle. However, depending on the case, for example, the means for moving the vertical relative position, that is, the changing means, may be provided on the moving body side as an elevating means provided to the automatic or automatic guided vehicle.

Although the present invention is particularly suitable for an unmanned mobile moving container, the present invention is also useful when using a moving container which is directly involved in human movement, as well as being able to work by a worker with low proficiency. is there. It is also useful for automating desorption in conventional fixed piping equipment.

 Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

1 (a) and 1 (b) are conceptual diagrams showing a typical example of the system of the present invention. There is at least one fluid supply side nozzle 3 that is raised and lowered by at least one lifting device, typically an air cylinder 1, ie, a vertical relative position changing means. At the lower part of the nozzle, a moving container 7 which is a reaction device or various processing tanks mounted on the transporting vehicle 5.
Is located. This transport trolley is not a track-type trolley such as a rail in order to secure the degree of freedom of movement, but is of a traveling type using only guide tape, for example, and the accuracy of the stop position is 5 to 10 mm as described above. And big. Therefore,
The position of at least one nozzle 9 fixedly provided to the reaction device mounted on the carriage and corresponding to each of the maximum number of nozzles 3 is determined in each case in accordance with the accuracy of the stop position. A displacement will occur. Further, a method is also conceivable in which the reaction device is temporarily transferred from the carriage by a lateral holding device or the like and is positioned at a predetermined fixed position. In this case, the equipment of the horizontal holding means and the horizontal holding work are required, but the accuracy of the position is considerably high.

It is necessary to join the trolley side positioned as described above to, for example, a raw material supply side which is relatively fixedly installed as compared with the trolley side. The vertical direction can be achieved, for example, by lowering the supply side to a predetermined position using a lifting device. At this time, the female side, in which the inner dimension is increased in consideration of the stop position accuracy of the bogie, here, the container side nozzle 9 here, and the male side, here, the supply side nozzle 3 are relatively inserted. Connect.

That is, for example, a rubber bag 11 made of an annular elastic seal member is provided to the tip of the nozzle 3 by the attachment 13. Fixture
13 has a substantially horizontal flange 15 and is supported by the support frame 17 supported by the air cylinder 1 by the flange 15. The nozzle 3 penetrates the through hole 19 of the frame 17 at the position of the fitting 13.

When the carriage 5 stops below the nozzle 3 with a predetermined accuracy, the frame 17 and the nozzle 3 are lowered by the air cylinder 1, and the rubber bag 11 becomes the nozzle 9 on the container side which may be a reaction tank. Is inserted into.

When gas 21 such as air is pressed into the rubber bag,
11 expands by expanding the outer peripheral side, and the collar 15 slides on the frame 17 in most cases to align the center with the nozzle 9, and finally, both are pressed and joined in a sealing manner, and the function of the joint is achieved. Be completed. The nozzle 3 and a fluid supply source (not shown) are movably connected by a flexible tube or the like, and a fluid 10 flows.

Since the through hole 19 is sufficiently large, it does not hinder the alignment by the slide. Further, since the inner diameter of the female nozzle 9 is made larger than the outer diameter of the male rubber bag 11 at the time of the return of contraction, the rubber tube 9 of the tank or the container 7 on the carriage stopped at the predetermined position is The bag 11 can be inserted without substantial contact.

It is also obvious that if the corresponding nozzles happen to be in a relative position that does not require alignment before joining, no alignment operation is achieved and only sealing is achieved in using the present invention.

 A more specific connection example will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a specific example of a joint unit used in the joint system.

That is, a rubber sheet, such as a cord-containing or a rubber-made cylinder, is formed into a hollow cylinder 300 as a part of the nozzle 3 shown in FIG.
An annular bag 110 is formed by attaching the outer bag to the outer periphery of the bag with a band 450 or the like, and when the gas 21 typified by air is supplied through the gas passage 211, the bag expands, whereby the centering seal is performed. You.

Such an elastic sealing material unit 111 is attached to the nozzle, that is, the nozzle 3 by using, for example, a screw 400 as shown in FIG. Such a unit is typically set on a support frame 17 via a flange 15 shown in FIG. 1, and is lowered to a predetermined vertical position by an air cylinder. When the predetermined position is reached, the sensor of the cylinder is activated, and this signal supplies air to the bag 110 of the unit 111. Annular bag 110 before air supply
(A) expands to a state of 110 (B) by this air pressure, firmly presses against the inner surface of the nozzle 9, and balances in a predetermined geometric shape. In this case, if the air pressure is sufficiently increased, sufficient fixation is achieved, and the sealing member is, for example, a rubber bag. Therefore, if the raw material (fluid) has a property that dislikes contact with the outside air, after joining and fixing, for example, nitrogen gas is once introduced into the joined pipe to purge the material, and then the material is supplied. It becomes possible. In other words, this unit 111 functions as a seal box.

In this case, if rubber is used as the material of the bag and has a conductive function, it can be extracted by an electric signal that it has expanded and fixed to the inner surface of the nozzle (generally made of metal such as steel), and the expansion is reduced. You can know exactly what was done.

Also, if air is introduced without confirming that the cylinder has been lowered to the predetermined position, the bag of the unit will expand excessively and may burst depending on the material of the bag. It is desirable from a safety standpoint that the arrival is detected by a position sensor below the cylinder, and air is introduced only after that. For this reason, fail-safe piping should be planned not only for the sequencer that handles electric signals, but also for the air piping to the cylinders and units.

A sufficient clearance is secured between the unit and the corresponding nozzle inner surface, so that no special insertion force is required.

Even if there is a large misalignment between the core of the unit and the corresponding nozzle, it is necessary to join them without a special centering mechanism. When pressurized air is introduced into the elastic bag 11 or 110 of the unit, in this example the bag expands outward uniformly. Therefore, even if the unit is inserted with the misalignment,
As the unit expands, the unit attempts to move horizontally to move to the center of the corresponding nozzle. Therefore, in the present invention, the unit and the fixture are freely movable in the horizontal direction, and the unit is provided with an automatic centering function. For this purpose, as described in FIG. 1, the support frame 17 is provided with a generally round hole having an inner diameter sufficiently larger than the outer diameter of the mounting fixture. In order to prevent the attachment from falling, the attachment is provided with a collar, and the collar and the support frame are slidable with respect to each other, so that the unit can be freely moved on the upper surface of the support frame. These dimensions are determined by comprehensively considering the inner diameter of the female nozzle, the obtained stopping accuracy, the size of the fixture, and the like.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram of the present invention suitable for a so-called discharge nozzle system in which, for example, a reaction-terminated substance is taken out of the reaction apparatus 7 which is a moving container, to the outside. Unlike the case of FIG. 2, a unit 111i is shown in which a bag 110i made of rubber or the like is attached to the inside and expands inward when air is introduced. Such a unit is attached to the support frame 17 via the brim 15, the support frame is pushed up by the air cylinder 1L, and the dispensing pipe 23 is positioned inside the bag, and then the air 21 is introduced to expand the bag. Then, the reaction device 7 and the payout line 27 are joined. The unit 111i is made movable on the upper surface of the support frame as in the case shown in FIG. Also,
The same applies to the dimensions determined in consideration of the outer diameter of the delivery pipe, the stopping accuracy, the dimensions of the unit, and the like.

FIG. 4 shows a tube end seal 31 composed of a small solid cylinder 330 and a rubber bag 310 inside a unit 111 shown in FIG.
1 is arranged, and a passage 311 is
When air pressure is applied from i, the bag 310 made of rubber or the like expands and adheres to the inner surface of the unit 111. As a result, the sealing body 311 can function as a stop valve for the flow of the fluid in the cylinder 300, and furthermore, since the air is operated by high pressure, the time required for fixing is short, and the opening and closing time is reduced. Compared to relatively long motorized valves,
For example, it is possible to quickly cope with the adjustment of the supply amount of the raw material.
Further, the sealing body 311 can be set at a free position in the unit 111, and when the sealing body 311 is mounted near the lower end of the unit 111 as shown in the figure, after closing the sealing body 311, the valve is closed. The liquid adhering to the inner surface of the unit 111 below the sealing body can be eliminated, and the dripping can be prevented.

5, the bag-like body 110i provided on the inner surface of the nozzle lower end cylinder 300 is inflated inward by the air 21 provided from the path 211i, and is arranged coaxially with the nozzle 300 by the spoke ring 330S. The valve is opened by engaging with the inserted core plug 330C. Like the sealing body 311 in FIG. 4, it can function as a stop valve, and if the sealing body 311 is arranged near the lower end, it is suitable for preventing dripping. In this example, the net layer 300N is fixed to the lower end of the nozzle 300 by a ring 300R to ensure the prevention of liquid dripping.

FIG. 6 shows an example of a sealing valve of the type shown in FIG. 5, in which, when the concentration of the liquid hold above the valve, particularly the concentration of the hold of a large number of manifolds, etc. is in one valve, the concentration is once concentrated and then removed. Useful for The hollow core plug 330T is connected to the nozzle cylinder 300 by a spoke ring 330S near its upper end.
Since it is held coaxially at the center and has many openings 330H on the side near the lower end of the upper exposed portion of the bag-like body 110i in the closed state on the upper side,
From here, the liquid for holding flows into the hollow core plug 330T in a concentrated manner.

Below the side opening 330H of the core plug 330T, the valve seat VS and the valve body VM are engaged with a conical surface so as to be opened when the valve body moves downward, and a spring is provided so as to be normally closed.
Powered by 350. The spring is fixed with a retaining ring 370. The liquid is stored by keeping the outer peripheral bag-shaped valve closed, and when the valve body VM is moved downward, for example, by applying a vacuum from below, the valve body VM opens and the accumulated liquid is sucked out at once. .

〔The invention's effect〕

With the joint system of the present invention, when transferring the fluid between the movable container side and the fixing device side, 1. The relative fixation, that is, reliable joining even if the positional deviation between the stationary standby side and the moving object to be stopped is large. can do.

2. A small drive system is required because no pushing force is required for joining.

3. No extra operation, such as release of the holding mechanism, is required for any attachment or detachment.

4. Automatic alignment, ie alignment.

And the like, and is industrially useful, such as being usable as a sealing valve.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 (a) and 1 (b) are conceptual diagrams showing a joint system according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a specific example of a joint unit used in the joint system, and FIG. 3 is a mobile container. FIG. 4 is a conceptual view showing a joint system with a discharge pipe of FIG. 4, FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a specific example in which an inner valve as an auxiliary stop valve is provided in a joint unit, and FIG. 5 is particularly useful for preventing dripping. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a stop valve useful for clearing the upper hold. 1,1L ... air cylinder, 3 ... supply side nozzle, 5 ... transport trolley 7, ... moving container, 9 ... reaction container side nozzle 10 ... fluid 11 ... bag made of annular elastic seal member 13 Mounting bracket, 15 Collar 17 Support frame, 19 Perforated hole 21 Gas (air, etc.) 23 Discharge pipe, 25 Discharge nozzle 27 27 Discharge pipe (flexible) 110, 110 i, 310: Bag: (A) When contracted (B) When inflated 111,111i, 311 Units 211, 211i, 311i Gas passage 300 Hollow cylinder 330 Solid cylinder 330c, 330T Core plug 330H ... opening 330S ... spoke ring 350 ... spring, 370 ... retaining ring 450 ... stop band, VS ... valve seat VM ... valve body

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification number Agency reference number FI Technical display F17D 1/13 F17D 1/13

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] A connection means provided on a movable container and a fixed pipe connection means are in a male / female relationship with each other, and the movable container is located at a position where the axes of both connection means are substantially vertical. A joint system for moving in a relationship, connecting between both connecting means, and moving the fluid relative to each other, wherein a vertical moving means for moving any connecting means in a vertical direction; Means are provided with an annular elastic seal member capable of expansion and contraction return, and a male connecting means is inserted into the female connecting means, and any one of the connecting means is moved in the horizontal direction in accordance with the movement of expanding the annular elastic seal members and connecting them closely. And a centering means for moving the joint system. 2. The system according to claim 1, wherein said vertical moving means is a cylinder provided in parallel on both sides of one of the connecting means and a slide support frame provided in a horizontal direction connecting the two cylinders. 3. The centering means is provided on a hole provided in a slide support frame of the vertical moving means, and is integrated with any connecting means penetrating the hole to be slidably provided on the support frame. 3. The system according to claim 1, wherein the system is a collar. 4. The sealing member is an annular bag-shaped hollow body made of an elastically deformable material, has a gas inlet / outlet path to the hollow part, and feeds or discharges gas from the path to thereby form the seal member. The system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the seal member expands and contracts again. 5. A plug fixed to the inside of the lower end of the connecting means having an outer peripheral surface coaxial with the inner surface of the connecting means inside the lower end of the connecting means opening downward, and a gas attached to the inner surface of the connecting means or the outer peripheral surface of the plug. The system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising a sealing valve comprising an annular bag made of an elastic material which expands and contracts and returns by press-fitting and discharging. 6. A hollow plug fixed inside the lower end of the connecting means having an outer peripheral surface coaxial with the inner surface of the connecting means inside the lower end of the connecting means opening downward, and attached to the inner surface of the connecting means or the outer peripheral surface of the plug. A sealing valve comprising an annular bag made of an elastic material which expands and contracts by gas injection and discharge, and the hollow plug has an opening above the sealing valve and faces downward at a lower portion of the opening. And a valve body that engages with the valve seat and expands downward, and a spring that biases the valve body to press the valve hole to close the valve. The system according to claim 1, further comprising a stop valve.