JP3006457B2 - Multi-pipe detachable switching device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a detachable switching device having a plurality of pipes, and in particular, feeds a predetermined amount of several kinds of raw materials from a raw material tank in which several tens of liquids are individually stored to a mixing tank to mix the same. The present invention also relates to a multi-pipe detachable switching device for switching a pipe communicating from a mixing tank to each liquid raw material tank in a facility for producing a variety of products.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a facility for producing a wide variety of products, several kinds of raw materials are fed from a raw material tank in which several tens of liquids are individually stored to a predetermined amount mixing tank to mix the products. It is necessary to switch the pipe connected to the raw material tank every time the process is performed. This connection switching of the piping is performed in conjunction with the type switching of the mixing tank, and it is required to simultaneously supply a plurality of raw materials to the mixing tank in order to shorten the cycle time. In response to this requirement, conventionally, connection switching between several raw material supply pipes to the compounding tank and several tens of pipes from the raw material tank was performed using a coupler, and this work was manually performed by an operator. ing.

[0003]

However, since the above-mentioned conventional method is a manual operation by an operator, there is a problem that the burden on the operator is large and there is a risk that human error occurs. The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and it is possible to easily and efficiently perform a switching operation, and to automate the switching operation, thereby eliminating a human error in the operation and burdening an operator. An object of the present invention is to provide a detachable switching device having a plurality of pipes, which can reduce the number of pipes.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a method for supplying a plurality of desired fluids from a plurality of storage tanks for respectively storing a plurality of different types of fluids to a blending tank. A detachable switching device of a plurality of pipes for switching a pipe route between the storage tank and the compounding tank,
A plurality of pipes extending from the plurality of storage tanks are aligned and arranged at the pipe end, a joint provided with a joint, and a detachable connection port at the joint, the plurality of aligned tanks. A traveling device that travels between the joints and attaches the connection port to a joint of the coupling, and a flexible pipe that connects between the connection port of the traveling device and the compounding tank. Features.

[0005] In order to achieve the above object, the storage tank and the mixing tank are provided to supply a plurality of desired fluids from among a plurality of storage tanks respectively storing a plurality of different types of fluids to the mixing tank. What is claimed is: 1. A multi-pipe detachable switching device for switching a pipe route to and from a tank, comprising a plurality of pipes arranged in line with pipe ends of pipes extending from the plurality of storage tanks and having different connection directions. A joint provided with a joint and a plurality of joints provided in the plurality of aligned joints are grouped by joints having the same connection direction, and one of the grouped plural groups is formed. A plurality of traveling devices that have a dedicated connection port that can be detached only at the connection of the group, and that travels between the plurality of joints and mounts the dedicated connection that fits the connection of the connection; and Travel equipment specialty Characterized in that and a flexible pipe connecting between the blending tank and the connection port.

[0006]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the supply of the liquid from the storage tank to the mixing tank is performed through a fitting port of a storage tank in which a desired liquid is stored and a flexible pipe. The communication is performed by connecting the connection port of the traveling device that is connected to the vehicle. When switching the fluid to be supplied to the mixing tank, the connection port is communicated with the connection port to be switched by running the traveling body.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, a plurality of joints are provided in the joint, and a plurality of traveling devices having dedicated connection ports in the joints are caused to travel, so that a plurality of fluids can be transferred. At the same time, it can be supplied to the mixing tank. Further, by controlling the control of the traveling device according to the present invention by a program, the switching device can be automated.

[0008]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a preferred embodiment of a switching device for a plurality of pipes according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is a front view of an embodiment of a switching device for a plurality of pipes according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a side view of FIG.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a three-way joint 14, 14
Are arranged in a straight line to form a three-way joint row. Each three-way joint 14 has a pipe connection port 15 at its upper end.
Are provided, and male couplers 16B, 16A, and 16C each having a check valve are disposed on a lower end portion and on both side surfaces near the lower end portion. The connection port 15 and the male coupler 16
B, 16A and 16C are communicated with each other.

The connection ports 15, 15,... Provided in the three-way joints 14, 14,... Are connected to pipes 18, 18 ′ communicating with a liquid material storage tank (not shown). One of the pipes 18, 18,... Is connected to a raw material storage tank with an even number, and the other pipes 18 ′, 18 ′,.
Are connected to the odd numbered raw material storage tanks.
In the middle of these pipes 18, 18 ', pipes 18, 1'
, A raw material receiving flow control valve 22, 22,..., A raw material receiving flow controller 24, 24,... Are installed in order from the upstream side of 8 ′ to control the amount of raw material to be supplied. It has become. Also, the raw material receiving flow control valve 2
, And the raw material receiving flow controllers 24, 24,... Are connected with air purging pipes 26, 26,.
, 26,... Provided with air purge solenoid valves 28, 2
By controlling 8,..., Compressed air can be injected into the pipes 18, 18 ′.

On the other hand, below the three-way joints 14, 14,..., Rails 52A, 52B, 52
C is laid, and the traveling device 50 of the A system runs on this rail.
Traveling device 50B of A and B systems, traveling device 50C of C system
Runs. And each traveling device 50A, 50
B, 50C have the male couplers 16B, 16B,.
, 16C, 16C, ..., female couplers 30B, 30A,
30C is provided. This female coupler 30B, 30
A and 30C are male couplers 1 on the same straight line, respectively.
6B16B, ..., 16A, 16A, ..., 16C, 16
C,... Can be connected. That is, the female coupler 30B can be connected to the male couplers 16B, 16B,... Installed below the three-way joints 14, 14,.
System connection), the female coupler 30A is a three-way joint 14, 14,
.. Can be connected to the male couplers 16A, 16A,. The female coupler 30C can be connected to male couplers 16C, 16C,... Installed on the left side of the three-way joints 14, 14,.

FIG. 3 shows the male coupler 16A of the A system of the three-way joint 14 and the female coupler 30A of the traveling device 50A of the A system.
FIG. As shown in the figure, the female coupler 3 of the A-system connection installed on the right side of the three-way joint 14.
0A is communicated with one end of the pipe 32A. The pipe 32A is slidably supported by an A-system connection traveling machine 34A that moves along the direction in which the three-way joints 14, 14, ... are arranged. A sleeve 37A having a rack 36A formed on the peripheral surface is inserted and fixed to the pipe 32A. The rack 36A meshes with a pinion gear 38A fixed to a rotating shaft of a drive motor (not shown). By driving the drive motor, the female coupler 30A is connected to the male couplers 16A, 16A.
A,...

The female coupler 30A is provided with a retaining prevention mechanism 40A, which is constructed as follows. At the tip of the female coupler 30A, balls 42A, 4
2A,... Are provided on the inner peripheral surface of the female coupler 30A so as to be freely retractable. Also, at the tip of the female coupler 30A,
The collar 4 urged in the distal direction by a spring 44A while sliding on the balls 42A, 42A,.
6A is inserted. An electromagnet 48A is provided at a stage subsequent to the collar 46A.
, The collar 46A moves forward and backward. On the other hand, a groove 17A into which the balls 42A, 42A,.

When connecting the female coupler 30A and the male coupler 16A configured as described above, first, an electromagnet 48
A is driven to retract the collar 46A by the suction force. In this state, the female coupler 30A is connected to the male coupler 16A.
To fit along. Female coupler 30A is male coupler 1
6A, the balls 42A, 42A,... Provided on the female coupler 30A are fitted into the grooves 17A formed on the male coupler 16A. When the collar 46A advances in this state, the movement of the balls 42A, 42A,... In the radial direction is locked by the collar 46A, and the female coupler 30A and the male coupler 16A are moved by the balls 42A, 42A,. Axial movement is locked. The female coupler 30A and the male coupler 16A
Is released, first, the electromagnet 48A is driven to retract the collar 46A by the attraction force. This releases the locking of the balls 42A, 42A,... In the radial direction. Then, in this state, the female coupler 30A is retracted. Thereby, the female coupler 30
The connection between A and the male coupler 16A is released. Similarly, the B-system male coupler 16B and the C-system male coupler 16C of the three-way joint 14 can be attached to and detached from the female coupler 30B of the B-system traveling device 50B and the female coupler 30C of the C-system traveling device 50C, respectively.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the A-system connection traveling machine 34A is installed on a traveling device 50A capable of self-propelling. The traveling device 50A includes a rail 5 installed along the direction in which the three-way joints 14, 14,.
Move on 2A. In addition, the three-way joints 14, 14,
Are provided with position light emitters 64A, 64A,..., Respectively, and the A-system connection traveling machine 34A is equipped with a position detector 62A so as to face each of the position light emitters 64A, 64A,. Have been. The traveling device 50A includes:
The position detector 62A is connected to each of the three-way joints 14, 14,.
By transmitting and receiving light to and from the position light emitters 64A, 64A,... Provided in the above, the connection with the desired male coupler 16A can be positioned.

A pipe 32A, which is supported by the A-system connecting traveling machine 34A and has one end connected to the female coupler 30A, has the other end connected to a flexible pipe 56A via a connecting pipe 54A. The flexible pipe 56A communicates with a flange 58A at the pipe end, and communicates with each blending tank (not shown) through the flange 58A. Also, this flexible pipe 56A is
It is formed so as to be extendable and contractable, and the cable carrier 60A can always maintain the extended state regardless of the position of the traveling device 50A.

Similarly, the female coupler 30B of the traveling device 50B of the B system and the female coupler 3B of the traveling device 50C of the C system.
0C is also formed in the same manner as the female coupler 30A connected to the A system, and communicates with the mixing tank in the same configuration. A pipe 18 'arranged at the right end of FIG. 2 among the plurality of pipes 18' is connected to a cleaning liquid storage tank (not shown), and the male coupler 16A connected to the pipe 18 '.
', 16B', 16C ', female couplers 30A, 30
When B and 30C are communicated, the cleaning liquid stored in the tank is supplied, and each member is cleaned.

The operation of the embodiment of the multi-pipe detachable switching apparatus according to the present invention having the above-mentioned structure is as follows.
In addition, in the detachable switching device 10 of the present embodiment, three connections A, B, and
Although there is C, the connections of the respective systems are connected by the same operation, so the connection of the A system will be described below as a representative example. The detachable switching device 10 of the present embodiment is driven and controlled by a control device (not shown). By inputting a program for positioning the traveling machine, attaching / detaching a coupler, opening / closing a solenoid valve, and the like to the control device in advance. The operation is performed automatically.

First, a traveling device 50A equipped with an A-system connection traveling machine 34A travels toward a male coupler 16A of a three-way joint 14 connected to a desired liquid raw material tank, and a male coupler 16A provided on the three-way joint 14 is provided. And the female coupler 30A provided in the A-system connection traveling machine 34A are positioned so as to face each other and stop. This positioning operation is performed by the position light emitter 64A provided on the three-way joint 14.
And a position detector 62 provided in the A-system connection traveling machine 34A
This is performed by transmitting and receiving light to and from A.

Next, the drive motor of the pinion gear 38A provided on the A-system connection traveling machine 34A is driven to move the female coupler 30A toward the male coupler 16A. When the female coupler 30A advances toward the male coupler 16A, the female coupler 30A and the male coupler 16A are fitted, whereby the female coupler 30A and the male coupler 16A are mounted. After confirming the attachment, the raw material receiving flow control valve 22 is opened, and the female coupler 30 is opened from the male coupler 16A side.
The raw material flows into the A side. The amount of the raw material flowing from the male coupler 16A into the female coupler 30A is detected by the raw material receiving flow controller 24. After the detected value reaches a desired value, the raw material receiving flow control valve 22 is closed. After closing the raw material receiving flow control valve 22, the air purge electromagnetic valves 28, 28,... Are opened to inject compressed air into the piping 18 to purge the liquid raw material in the piping communicating with the mixing tank.

Next, the female coupler 30A is removed. To remove the female coupler 30A, first, the electromagnet 48A is driven to retract the collar 46A by the attraction force.
In this state, the drive motor of the pinion gear 38A is driven to retract the female coupler 30. Thereby, the connection between the female coupler 30A and the male coupler 16A is released. With the above operation, the first supply of the raw materials to the mixing tank is completed.
By repeating the above series of operations a plurality of times, necessary raw materials can be sequentially supplied to the mixing tank.

In the case of the B-system connection and the C-system connection, by performing the same operation, necessary raw materials can be sequentially supplied to the mixing tank. If there is a risk of cross contamination due to the raw material adhering to the pipes by air purge alone, the male couplers 16A ′, 16B ′, 16C ′ communicating with the cleaning liquid storage tank storing the cleaning liquid are connected to the female couplers 30A, 30B, respectively. Attach 30C and wash.

As described above, according to the plural-pipe detachable switching device of the present embodiment, the connection of the female couplers 30A, 30B, and 30C communicated with the mixing tank is performed by the traveling device 50.
A, 50B, and 50C allow arbitrary male couplers 16A, 16A,..., 16B, 16B,.
6C, 16C,... Can be easily switched. Also, three male couplers 16A, 16A,..., 16B, 16B,.
Since 6C,... Are provided, a plurality of raw materials can be supplied simultaneously. Also, at this time, there is no interference between the pipes.

Further, since the operation of the apparatus can be program-controlled, the switching operation of attachment / detachment can be performed automatically. As a result, the labor of the operator can be saved, and the danger of human error occurring can be eliminated. In addition,
In this embodiment, three male couplers 16A, 16A,..., 16B, 16B,.
Although 16C, 16C,... Are mounted, the number is not limited to this, and for example, one may be used.

Also, female couplers 30A, 30B, 30C
By providing a check valve, the device for air purging can be omitted. In the present embodiment, the collars 46A, 46B, 46C for preventing the female couplers 30A, 30B, 30C from coming off are replaced by electromagnets 48A, 48B, 4C.
It is moved forward and backward by the suction force of 8C.
The device for moving the 6A, 46B, 46C forward and backward is not limited to this, and may be, for example, a cylinder.

In this embodiment, the female coupler 30A,
Although the forward and backward movements of 30B and 30C are performed by the rack and pinion mechanism, the invention is not limited to this. For example, a cylinder may be used.

[0027]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to easily switch the fluid to be supplied to the mixing tank by running the traveling device. According to the second aspect of the invention, a plurality of connection ports communicating with the mixing tank and a plurality of corresponding connection ports are provided.
A plurality of liquids can be simultaneously supplied to the mixing tank. Thus, the production cycle time can be shortened.

Further, the apparatus of the present invention can be automated by controlling a program.
Human errors can be eliminated, and the burden on the operator can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of an embodiment of a multiple-pipe detachable switching device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of an embodiment of a multiple-pipe detachable switching device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a main part of an embodiment of a multiple-pipe detachable switching device according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 Detachable switching device 14 Three-way joint 16A, 16B, 16C Male coupler 18 Pipe 26 Air purge pipe 28 Air purge solenoid valve 30A, 30B, 30C Female coupler 50A, 50B, 50C Traveling device 56A, 56B 56C: Flexible piping

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-52-28718 (JP, A) JP-A-51-75520 (JP, A) Fully open Showa 60-175100 (JP, U) Really open Showa 51- 102807 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B67D 5/00 B67D 3/00

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] In order to supply a plurality of desired fluids from among a plurality of storage tanks each storing a plurality of different types of fluids to a blending tank, a piping path between the storage tank and the blending tank is provided. A detachable switching device of a plurality of pipes to be switched, which is arranged and aligned with the pipe end of each pipe extended from the plurality of storage tanks, and a joint having an inlet, and detachable to the inlet. A traveling device having a connection port, traveling between the plurality of aligned joints, and attaching the connection port to a joint of the coupling, and connecting between the connection port of the traveling device and the compounding tank; And a flexible pipe which performs the switching. 2. A piping route between the storage tank and the mixing tank in order to supply a plurality of desired fluids to the mixing tank from among a plurality of storage tanks respectively storing a plurality of different types of fluids. A detachable switching device for a plurality of pipes to be switched, the joint having a plurality of joints having different connection directions, which are arranged in alignment with the pipe ends of the respective pipes extending from the plurality of storage tanks, A plurality of fittings provided in a plurality of aligned joints are grouped together by fittings having the same connection direction, and only the fittings of one of the grouped groups are detachable. A plurality of traveling devices having a dedicated connection port, and traveling between the plurality of joints and mounting the dedicated connection port that fits into the joint of the joint, and each dedicated connection port of each traveling device. Contact between the compounding tank And a flexible piping connected to the piping. 3. The multi-pipe detachable switching device according to claim 1, wherein the operation control of the traveling device is automatically controlled by a program controller. 4. A compressed air pipe is connected to the plurality of pipes via a valve.
A detachable switching device having a plurality of pipes as described in the above.