JP3133069U - Transport path opening / closing mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided is a transport path opening / closing mechanism that can flexibly cope with setup change such as change of a material supply source, change of extension / shortening of a transport route, etc., and can keep parts costs low with a simple configuration.
SOLUTION: An upstream pipe connecting portion 9 and a downstream pipe connecting portion 10 to which upstream and downstream pipes in a material conveying direction are connected are respectively formed, and an intake portion 11 capable of taking in air from the outside is formed. The box body 8 includes an opening / closing switching means 12 that closes any of the upstream pipe connection opening 9a and the intake opening 11a in the box body 8 to open and close the material conveyance path. It is installed in the vicinity so as to be portable.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a conveyance path opening / closing mechanism provided in, for example, a material conveyance apparatus and provided in a conveyance path of a granular resin material stored in a material tank.

For example, the resin material supplied to the screw of the injection molding machine is a granular resin material. This resin material is dried by conveying a resin material previously stored in a material tank to a dryer, and the dried resin material is supplied to a molding machine.
In order to convey the resin material from the material tank to the dryer or from the dryer to the molding machine, the resin material is conveyed from the material tank to a hopper provided at the material input port of the dryer or the molding machine. Air in the hopper is sucked by a suction device (blower, compressor, etc.) connected to the hopper, and secondary air is sucked in from the transport pipe connected to the hopper, and the resin material in the form of powder is combined with secondary air from the material tank. It is designed to be transported to the hopper.

  If the material transport operation is stopped, a large amount of resin material remains in the transport pipe connected to the hopper. This is an obstacle to transporting the material again. For this reason, a secondary air introduction port is branched in the vicinity of the material tank, and the opening amount is adjusted by a valve mechanism that opens and closes the secondary air introduction port, and the secondary air is taken in to remain in the transport pipe. A resin material is conveyed to a hopper (Patent Document 1).

Alternatively, a shutter box is provided in the vicinity of the dryer supply port, and a valve element driven by a cylinder opens and closes a pipe opening in the box. In addition, the shutter box is provided with a filter that takes in the secondary air into the transport pipe as the resin material passes. When the cylinder is activated and the valve body closes the pipe opening, the secondary air is taken from the filter and the resin material remaining in the pipe is supplied to the hopper on the molding machine side.
Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 6-16335

  Since the secondary air inlet is provided by branching from the resin material transport pipe, the number of parts increases and the secondary air cannot be taken in at an arbitrary position. In particular, it is impossible to cope with sudden changeover such as changing the material supply source, shortening or changing the transportation pipe (pipe). In addition, when the shutter box is provided in the material conveyance path, it is necessary to provide a filter for taking in secondary air in addition to the driving source for driving the valve body, which increases the number of parts and the cost of the parts.

  The present invention has been made to solve these problems, and the purpose of the present invention is to flexibly cope with setup changes such as changing the material supply source and changing the extension and shortening of the transport route, and with a simple configuration. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a transport path opening / closing mechanism that can keep the component cost low.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has the following configuration.
That is, a box main body formed with an upstream side pipe connecting part and a downstream side pipe connecting part to which the upstream and downstream pipes in the material conveying direction are respectively connected, an intake part capable of taking in air from the outside, and a box An opening / closing switching means for closing or opening the material conveyance path by closing either the upstream pipe connection opening or the intake opening in the main body is provided.
In the open / close switching means, the upstream pipe connection portion and the intake portion are formed on the side surface of the box body, and the valve body connected to a single drive source provided outside the intake portion is located upstream of the box body. It moves to the position which closes a side piping connection part opening or an intake part opening, It is characterized by the above-mentioned.
In addition, the box body is installed in the vicinity of the material supply source so as to be portable.

If the above-described transport path opening / closing mechanism is used, the upstream pipe connection section and the downstream pipe connection section where the upstream and downstream pipes in the material transport direction are respectively connected to the box body, the intake air that can take in air from the outside And is provided with an opening / closing switching means for closing or opening the material conveyance path by closing either the upstream pipe connection opening or the intake opening in the box body. When the opening of the pipe is closed, a material transfer path from the upstream pipe connection to the downstream pipe connection via the box body is formed. When the opening of the upstream pipe connection is closed, the material transfer path is closed but the intake section. Since the opening is opened, air can be taken into the box main body from the outside, and air can be sent to the material conveyance path downstream from the downstream pipe connection portion.
In addition, the upstream side pipe connection part and the intake part are formed on the side surface of the box body, and the valve body connected to a single drive source provided outside the intake part is an upstream side pipe connection part opening or When moving to the position where the intake opening is closed, the valve connected to one drive source can be moved using the intake provided in the box body. In addition, the configuration can be simplified by reducing the number of parts.
Furthermore, since the box body is movably installed in the vicinity of the material supply source, it can flexibly cope with the changeover such as changing the material supply source or extending / shortening the conveyance route.
Further, while the material conveyance path is opened by the conveyance path opening / closing mechanism, the material is conveyed from the material supply unit to the supplied part together with the secondary suction air, and when the material conveyance path is closed, the external secondary air is communicated from the opening. The material remaining in the downstream material transport path is transported to the supplied part. Therefore, the material can be efficiently conveyed from the material supply unit to the supply unit without being clogged.

  DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the best mode of a transport path opening / closing mechanism according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the present embodiment, a conveyance path opening / closing mechanism provided in a conveyance path for conveying a granular resin material from a material tank to a dryer as a part of the material conveyance apparatus will be described as an example.

First, a schematic configuration of the material conveying apparatus will be described with reference to FIG.
A material tank 1 serving as a material supply unit stores a granular resin material. The dryer 2 dries the resin material conveyed from the material tank 1 and supplies it to a molding machine (not shown).

  On the top of the dryer 2, a hopper 3 that is a supplied portion is provided. The hopper 3 temporarily stores the resin material fed from the material tank 1. The resin material is introduced into the dryer 2 from the hopper 3. The hopper 3 is connected to a suction control unit (suction device) 4 and a suction hose 5. The suction control unit 4 sucks primary air from the hopper 3 through the suction hose 5.

  In addition, a conveyance path opening / closing mechanism 7 is connected to a middle portion of the conveyance path (material conveyance hose 6) connecting the material tank 1 and the hopper 3. The resin material accommodated in the material tank 1 is conveyed to the hopper 3 together with the secondary air through the material conveyance hose 6 by the suction operation of the suction control unit 4. The transfer path opening / closing mechanism 7 forms a part of the material transfer path, and when the supply port of the material transfer hose 6 is closed, the secondary secondary air is sucked from the opening and remains in the downstream material transfer hose 6. The material is conveyed toward the hopper 3.

Next, a specific configuration of the transport path opening / closing mechanism 7 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.
In FIG. 4, the transport path opening / closing mechanism 7 is connected in a portable state to an arbitrary midway portion (for example, in the vicinity of the material tank 1) of the material transport hose 6 that connects the hopper 3 and the material tank 1. When the material conveyance path is closed, the conveyance path opening / closing mechanism 7 sucks the secondary air from the opening and conveys the resin material remaining in the material conveyance hose 6 on the downstream side to the hopper 3.

  In FIG. 3, the transport path opening / closing mechanism 7 includes a box-shaped box body 8. In the box body 8, an upstream side pipe connection part 9 and a downstream side pipe connection part 10 to which the upstream and downstream material transport hoses 6 are respectively connected are formed on different side surfaces.

  In FIG. 3, the box body 8 is formed with an intake portion 11 capable of taking in external secondary air. Further, the box body 8 is provided with an open / close cylinder (open / close switching means) 12 that alternately opens and closes the opening 9a and the intake portion 11 of the upstream side pipe connection portion 9. A cylinder rod 12a (see FIG. 1) of the open / close cylinder 12 enters the box body 8 through the intake portion 11, and a valve body 13 is provided at the tip thereof. The valve body 13 closes the opening 9a of the upstream side pipe connection portion 9 or the opening 11a of the intake portion 11 and switches the suction path of the secondary air.

  Further, the upstream side pipe connection portion 9 and the intake portion 11 are formed on opposite side surfaces of the box body 8. The intake portion 11 is provided with a filter (for example, a mesh material) 14 to prevent dust from entering when the external secondary air is taken into the box body 8. A portal cylinder stay 15 is provided outside the filter 14 of the box body 8. An open / close cylinder (for example, an air cylinder) 12 as a single drive source is attached to the cylinder stay 15. That is, the open / close cylinder 12, the intake portion 11, the valve body 13, and the upstream side pipe connection portion 9 provided in the box body 8 are respectively arranged in series. The upper surface of the box body 8 is closed by a lid 16. A material suction nozzle 17 is attached to the upstream side pipe connection portion 9.

  In FIG. 1, the open / close cylinder 12 attached to the cylinder stay 15 is provided with hose connection portions 12b and 12c to which an air hose is connected. The cylinder rod 12 a passes through the filter 14 and the main body inner side opening 11 a of the intake portion 11, and is provided with a valve body 13 at the front end of the main body. The valve body 13 moves to a position for closing the opening 11 a of the intake portion 11 and a position for closing the opening 9 a of the upstream side pipe connection portion 9 by switching the operation of the open / close cylinder 12. As described above, since the valve body 13 linked to the opening / closing cylinder 12 provided in the box body 8 can be moved by using the intake portion 11, the configuration is simplified by reducing the number of openings and the number of parts provided in the box body 8. can do.

Next, the operation of the transport path opening / closing mechanism 7 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2A and 2B.
FIG. 2A shows a normal material transfer operation state. By the suction operation of the suction control unit 4, suction of secondary air is started from the material tank 1 toward the hopper 3 through the material transport hose 6 (see FIG. 4). At this time, the valve body 13 in the box body 8 closes the opening 11 a of the intake portion 11. The resin material enters the box body 8 from the upstream side pipe connection part 9 together with the secondary air, and is conveyed from the downstream side pipe connection part 10 to the hopper 3 through the material conveyance hose 6.

  FIG. 2B shows an operation state in which the material conveyance operation is once ended and the resin material remaining in the material conveyance hose 6 is collected into the hopper 3. At this time, the valve body 13 in the box body 8 operates the open / close cylinder 12 to close the opening 9 a of the upstream side pipe connection portion 9 and open the opening 11 a of the intake portion 11. At this time, external secondary air is taken into the box body 8 through the filter 14 and the opening 11a from the outside, and is sucked into the material transport hose 6 through the downstream side pipe connection portion 10. As a result, the resin material remaining in the material transport hose 6 is collected into the hopper 3.

In this way, the box body 8 can be connected to any location in the middle of the material transport hose 6 that connects the hopper 3 and the material tank 1, so that the material supply source can be changed or the transport route can be extended. It is possible to respond flexibly to setup changes such as.
Moreover, the box main body 8 may be provided in a part of material conveyance path which connects the dryer 2 and the molding machine which is not shown in figure.
In addition, although the air cylinder is used as a single drive source provided in the transport path opening / closing mechanism 7, other drive sources such as a solenoid and a servo motor may be used.

It is an internal plan view of the box body. It is operation | movement state explanatory drawing in a box main body. It is a perspective view of a conveyance path opening / closing mechanism. It is explanatory drawing which shows schematic structure of a material conveyance apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Material tank 2 Dryer 3 Hopper 4 Suction control unit 5 Suction hose 6 Material conveyance hose 7 Conveyance path opening / closing mechanism 8 Box main body 9 Upstream side pipe connection part 9a Opening 10 Downstream side pipe connection part 11 Intake part 12 Opening / closing cylinder 12a Cylinder rod 12b, 12c Hose connection 13 Valve body
14 Filter
15 Cylinder stay
16 Lid 17 Material suction nozzle

Claims (3)

Upstream and downstream piping connections to which the upstream and downstream piping in the material conveyance direction are connected, respectively, and a box body formed with an intake portion capable of taking in air from the outside, and
A transport path opening / closing mechanism provided with an open / close switching means for closing or opening the material transport path by closing either the upstream pipe connection opening or the intake opening in the box body.   As for the opening / closing switching means, the upstream side pipe connection part and the intake part are formed on the side surface of the box body, and the valve body linked to the single drive source provided outside the intake part is the upstream side pipe in the box body. The transport path opening / closing mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the transport path opening / closing mechanism moves to a position where the connection portion opening or the intake portion opening is closed.   The conveyance path opening / closing mechanism according to claim 2, wherein the box body is installed in the vicinity of the material supply source so as to be portable.

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