JP3783086B2 - Granular dry ice distribution supply equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention measures and distributes granular dry ice in a container containing refrigerated products in a precise and efficient manner according to the type and amount of the refrigerated products, and can supply them in a simple and efficient manner. Relates to the device.

  The use of granular dry ice (for example, bead dry [registered trademark] of Iwatani Corporation) has begun to become popular in recent years because it is not necessary to divide the product and can be quantitatively controlled. Yes.

This granular dry ice can be suitably used when keeping refrigerated items such as frozen or refrigerated foods in a cold state. For example, the granular dry ice is put into a container such as an insulated container made of polystyrene foam together with the refrigerated items. ing. Hereinafter, a container to be filled with granular dry ice is referred to as a “refrigerated container”.
When placing granular dry ice in such refrigerated containers, for example, when handling a large variety of products at large supermarkets, the amount of granular dry ice to be filled in each refrigerated container Therefore, it is strongly desired to provide an apparatus capable of mechanically and stably supplying an appropriate amount for each refrigerated container.

In order to meet such demands, the present applicant has previously proposed a granular dry ice distribution and supply device that can flexibly accommodate various refrigerated containers and can easily supply the required amount of granular dry ice ( For example, see Patent Document 1).

The distribution supply device described in Patent Document 1 (hereinafter referred to as the previously proposed device) is shown in FIG. 3 of the publication, and lifts the distribution container to a required height and a large hopper that stores granular dry ice. A first charging means for charging the entire amount of the granular dry ice in the distribution container into the large hopper, and a vibration provided in the hopper so as to vibrate to loosen the granular dry ice contained in the large hopper. Means for transporting the refrigerated containers in order, and a second feeding means for supplying granular dry ice in the large hopper so that the supply amount can be adjusted in the refrigerated containers. And control means for driving and controlling the second charging means in accordance with the amount of dry ice to be charged into the refrigerated product container, in particular, the granular dry ice is refrigerated. The second input means for supplying the supply amount to the inside of the container is a screw conveyor having a screw in the outer casing, and one of them can be used to adjust a wide range of supply amounts. is there.
JP 2004-1993 (in particular, page 11 [0050] to [0055], FIG. 3).

  The above-mentioned proposed apparatus can arbitrarily adjust the amount of granular dry ice discharged from the second charging means realized by the screw conveyor by means of screw rotation control. Can be filled with an appropriate amount of granular dry ice at any time, relatively accurately, and the intended purpose can be achieved.

  However, since the supply amount per unit time is limited in one screw conveyor, there is a limit in the number of refrigerated containers that should be charged with granular dry ice. Moreover, it is necessary to cope with the case where the size of the refrigerated container is different. In other words, in the case of refrigerated containers with different filling and supply amounts, the range of large and small capacities and filling and supply amounts is wide because it covers a wide variety of products. There is a problem that the speed control range is expanded, the structure of both the mechanical system and the control system becomes complicated, and the efficiency of filling the granular dry ice is affected.

  Therefore, the present invention uses a plurality of supply unit structures as supply means corresponding to the second input means in the previously proposed apparatus to increase the input amount by a plurality of times, and in the case of small capacity filling and large capacity filling. By allowing operation distribution of the supply unit structure in some cases, it is possible to stably supply a required amount of granular dry ice to a refrigerated product container with high reliability with excellent measurement accuracy. An object of the present invention is to provide a granular dry ice distribution and supply device capable of realizing high efficiency in the supply operation of granular dry ice in both small capacity filling and large capacity filling. .

Therefore, in order to solve the above problems, the applicant of the present invention has a bottomed cylindrical shape in which the inlet 8 is opened at the top and the pair of outlets 9 and 9 are opened at the bottom. A hopper 1 having a plurality of rotating blade-like stirring rods 12 concentrically housed in the inner bottom of the hopper body 6 and capable of storing a predetermined amount of granular dry ice under stirring; In order to sequentially convey the refrigerated container A to a predetermined receiving position, the conveying means 5 provided adjacent to the hopper 1, a central axis of the hopper body 6, and a reference point of the predetermined receiving position of the conveying means 5 are included. One piece of granular dry ice that is sequentially taken out from the take-out ports 9 and 9 by a pair of supply unit structures 2A and 2B that are arranged symmetrically with respect to the supply reference plane S, and that is delivered to the predetermined receiving position. Or Supply means 2 for supplying the two refrigerated product containers A adjacent to each other in such a manner that the supply amount can be adjusted, and drying corresponding to the required filling amount for one or two adjacent refrigerated product containers A adjacent to the front and rear. It comprises control means 3 for driving and controlling a pair of supply unit structures 2A, 2B of the supply means 2 according to the ice supply amount, and the hopper 1 is in a symmetrical position with respect to the supply reference plane S. The take-out ports 9 and 9 are opened at predetermined locations in contact with the outer peripheral edge of the bottom wall, and the stirrer 11 is provided with each stir bar so as to sweep out the granular dry ice in the hopper body 6 toward the side peripheral wall. 12 is provided to be close to the inner bottom surface and the inner peripheral surface of the hopper body 6 so as to be rotatable around the central axis, and the hopper 1 closes the outlets 9 and 9 when the agitator 11 is stopped. Shielding plate material 16, 1 There Ri Na respectively provided in relation to the outlets 9 and 9, a pair of the supply unit structures 2A of the supply means 2, 2B may send an inlet 19 feeding dry ice the outlet 9 under the entry side Further, a dry ice feed comprising a screw conveyor in which a screw 17 is rotatably provided in a cylindrical outer casing 18 each having a delivery port 20 above the predetermined receiving position on the dry ice delivery side, facing the base end of the screw shaft. An inlet-side inlet 19 is directly connected by a duct 23 immediately below the outlet 9, and a outlet 20 provided in the cylindrical outer casing 18 facing the portion immediately before the outlet end 21 of the screw 17 is a conveying means 5. The hopper is disposed in a slanted shape at a predetermined elevation angle and in a forwardly recessed shape so as to be positioned directly above the filling points PA and PB at the predetermined receiving position. -1 granular dry ice accommodated in 1 is received from the inlet 19 via the duct 23, and then transferred while being pushed up by the rotation of the screw 17, and is conveyed by the conveying means 5 and arrives directly below and is placed in front or rear. providing two of the refrigerated goods container a dispensing apparatus particulate dry ice, wherein provided Rukoto to sequentially introduced and supplying a suitable amount of particulate dry ice into the vessel from the outlet 20 of adjacent to the Is.

In the above distribution and supply device, for example, the entire amount of granular dry ice in the distribution container containing the granular dry ice necessary for the cold storage of about several thousand to about one thousand units of the refrigerated container A is charged into the hopper 1 To do. In the hopper body 6, the granular dry ice stored in each stirrer 12 of the stirrer 11 is uniformly and efficiently stirred to prevent a bridging phenomenon due to solidification due to its own pressure. As a result, the individual granular dry ice in a loose state can be smoothly fed out to the feeding side of the supply means 2, and as a result, it is possible to stably maintain the quantitative distribution supply without supply unevenness.
In addition, when the agitator 11 is stopped from stirring, the outlets 9 and 9 are closed with the shielding plates 16 and 16 so that the granular dry ice in the duct 22 and the supply means 2 described later as the distribution path of the granular dry ice can be obtained. Can prevent clogging.

The particulate dry ice delivery by the supply means 2 consisting of the supply unit structures 2A · 2B of the pair of the screw conveyors provided by concatenating the hopper 1 by parallel manner appropriate amount of simultaneous, for example, position by conveying means such as a Are sequentially supplied into the refrigerated container A that is transported to the container. At that time, the granular dry ice fed to the feeding side of the supplying means 2 is actuated from the sending side by a required amount adapted to the amount of dry ice to be charged by the operation of the control means 3 for driving and controlling the supplying means 2. It is sequentially supplied into each refrigerated product container A.

Thus, the apparatus according to the present invention, low stature due bottomed cylindrical hopper 1 alone and a pair of screw conveyors supply unit structures 2A of the supply means 2 consisting 2B as particulate dry ice container Using a simple and compact structure, the required amount of granular dry ice can be reliably and smoothly supplied without any clogging, and more than twice by a pair of supply unit structures 2A and 2B. It can be distributed and supplied efficiently in a short time.

Furthermore, according to the distribution supply device, the supply of granular dry ice by the pair of supply unit structures 2A and 2B is fed to the predetermined position or to the two refrigeration container A adjacent to the front and rear. Supply control is possible, so that an appropriate amount of granular dry ice can be put into large and small containers. As a result, it is possible to improve efficiency while responding to various needs for distribution and supply.

In order to solve the above problem, the invention described in claim 2 relates to the granular dry ice distribution supply device according to claim 1, wherein the hopper 1 has an inner bottom surface of the bottom wall portion of the hopper body 6. The stirrer 11 is formed in a flat surface or a conical surface having a gentle downward gradient from the axial center toward the bottom edge. In the width direction, it is formed in a curved surface that is inclined backward based on the rotation direction so as to scoop up granular dry ice while being close to the inner bottom surface in the width direction, while stirring The tool 11 has the plate-shaped shielding plate members 16 and 16 attached to the tip ends of the two stirring rods 12 and 12 corresponding to the take-out ports 9 and 9, and the shielding plate member when stirring is stopped. 16 and 16 are taken out There is provided a dispensing device for granular dry ice, characterized in that it has a configuration in which stall control is performed so as to stationary conform respectively to the mouth 9,9.

In the above-mentioned distribution supply device, each stirring bar 12 sweeps the granular dry ice toward the side peripheral wall while scooping the granular dry ice while approaching the inner bottom surface and the inner peripheral surface with respect to the granular dry ice stored in the hopper body 6. The stirring action is extremely effective because it rotates in such a way that the entire amount can be guided to the outlets 9 and 9 without causing any stagnation in any part. Of course, it is possible to uniformly stir the entire area inside the hopper body 6 without causing any clogging.
Further, when the stirring is stopped, the take-out ports 9 and 9 are securely closed by the shielding plate materials 16 and 16 so that the granular dry ice distribution path after the take-out ports 9 and 9 is not blocked when the granular dry ice is replenished. It is prevented.

The invention of claim 3 as to solve the above problems, with respect to particulate dry ice dispensing device as claimed in claim 1 or 2 above, before kissing clew 17, a horizontal line that directly intersects the screw axis A virtual inclination formed by crossing the virtual vertical plane C passing through the position immediately before the outlet 20 at the position immediately before and tilting backward at an angle θ1 corresponding to about 45 degrees as an angle of repose unique to the granular dry ice group. The delivery end 21 is placed in a region from the frontmost position of the surface D to the rearmost position at the rear of 2 pitches in terms of screw pitch, and is provided in the cylindrical outer casing 18. In accordance with the dry ice supply amount corresponding to the required filling amount of the refrigerated product container A, the rotation amount of the screw 17 is controlled by a small rotation unit of one rotation or less. There is provided a Jo dry ice dispensing device.
Here, the angle of repose unique to the granular dry ice group is an angle formed between the generatrix and the horizontal plane of a cone formed when the granular dry ice is gently dropped on a horizontal plane with a funnel-like object. .

  In the above-described distribution supply device, when controlling the distribution supply amount of granular dry ice in small rotation units of one rotation or less with the rotation amount of the screw being controlled, in the conventional device, the phase of the screw end when the supply is stopped is controlled. The entire amount is dropped due to the difference, or a part of the amount is left without being dropped, and a filling error occurs due to a slight difference in the dropped amount. By adopting the above-described configuration of the present invention that is placed inside, the filling amount error is eliminated here, and the distribution and supply of granular dry ice can be performed under high-precision measurement management.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention of claim 4 relates to the granular dry ice distribution and supply device of claim 3, and the inlets of the pair of supply unit structures 2 </ b> A and 2 </ b> B in the supply means 2. 19 is formed wider than the corresponding take-out port 9 of the hopper 1, opens to a position immediately below the take-out port 9, and hangs down in a straight tube shape or a tube shape with a wide hem. It is connected to the take-out port 9 by a duct 23, and when the duct 23 is seen through vertically from the take-out port 9 side, no part of the inner peripheral wall surface is projected, and granular dry ice is deposited. It is an object of the present invention to provide a granular dry ice distribution and supply device characterized in that it is configured to be suspended while maintaining a steady posture that does not occur.

  In the distribution and supply apparatus, the supply means 2 is specified by the configuration of the duct 23 in a steady posture that does not cause the accumulation of granular dry ice as the form of the flow path from the hopper 1 to the supply means 2 such as a screw. It is possible to stably deliver granular dry ice to the container so that there is no clogging (crosslinking) and no excess or deficiency occurs. That is, it is well known that granular dry ice used under ultra-low temperature is clogged due to its own weight, and that growth starts from that point if any deposition occurs in the flow. This distribution and supply device is nothing but a configuration that can fundamentally prevent the occurrence of the above-described deposition.

  Furthermore, in order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the invention of claim 5 is the granular dry ice distribution supply device according to claim 3 or 4, wherein each of the supply unit structures 2A and 2B in the supply means 2 is provided. A delivery port 20 is provided directly above the transport direction center line of the predetermined receiving position of the transport means 5 and close to the front and rear of the transport direction and is opened downward. The present invention provides a granular dry ice distribution and supply device characterized by comprising a filling base 26 connected to an opening.

  In the above-described distribution supply device, the granular dry ice dropped from the delivery port 20 of each of the supply unit structures 2A and 2B toward the refrigerated product container A immediately below is a cylinder that expands rather than in an open state. Since it is made to carry out in the shielding state surrounded by the filling base 26 suspended in a form, there is no inconvenience that a part of granular dry ice overflows outside the refrigerated product container A, and it is stable. The lower distribution supply is possible.

  Furthermore, in order to solve the above-mentioned problem, in the invention of claim 6, in the granular dry ice distribution supply device according to claim 5, the filling base 26 has an elliptical horizontal cross-sectional shape, and The long diameter portion is formed in an elliptical cylindrical shape that is located directly above the transport direction center line and has a mountain fold strip 27 bridged along the short diameter portion of the lower end opening. The distribution of granular dry ice is characterized in that the granular dry ice delivered from the outlet 20 can be stably supplied to the refrigerated product container A while being uniformly distributed in the major axis direction which is the conveying direction. A supply device is provided.

  In the distribution supply device, the filling cap 26 has a horizontal cross-sectional oval shape in which the major axis side is arranged in the same direction as the transport direction of the refrigerated product container A, and is along the minor axis part of the lower end opening. Since the mountain fold strips 27 are bridged, the granular dry ice falling for filling is uniformly dispersed and distributed in the container, so that the inconvenience of being piled up in one place is eliminated. .

As described above, according to the distribution supply device of the present invention, a required amount of granular dry ice is refrigerated by arbitrarily adjusting the operation conditions such as the operation time and the rotation speed of the supply means connected to the hopper by the control means. In addition, a pair of supply unit structures in the supply means can be operated individually corresponding to each refrigeration container for each unit structure, and both unit structures can be integrated into one unit. By properly using the coordinated supply system that operates in response to the refrigerated containers of the refrigeration, it is possible to accurately respond to the refrigerated containers that have a wide range of filling supplies, without having to widen the adjustment range of the control means. An appropriate amount of granular dry ice can be filled. That is, when the supply of granular dry ice by the pair of supply unit structures 2A and 2B is configured to be controllable to one refrigerated container A that is fed to the predetermined position or two adjacent refrigerated containers A. Can put an appropriate amount of granular dry ice into large and small containers. Accordingly, it is possible to increase the efficiency of the distribution supply work while responding to various needs for distribution supply.

  In particular, according to the distribution supply device according to the present invention, it is configured so as not to cause any dry ice clogging in the granular dry ice flow passage from the hopper to the supply means, and the inside of the refrigerated product container using the filling cap. As a result, it is possible to achieve uniform distribution of dry ice, so that not only is it possible to provide an excellent distribution in terms of weighing accuracy, but also a stable and orderly continuous operation is achieved. With a compact structure, the height is low and it does not occupy a large installation space, further reducing the cost of the apparatus.

Hereinafter, embodiments of a granular dry ice distribution and supply device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an outline of a system of a granular dry ice filling line using an embodiment of the distribution supply device of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a hopper in the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 1 is an elevational view of the supply means 2 and the input means 4, and is shown in a left side view with respect to FIG. 3 is an elevation view of the hopper 1, the supply means 2, and the conveying means 5 in the embodiment according to the present invention shown in FIG. 1, and is a front view with respect to FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view of the hopper 1 and the supply means 2 in the embodiment according to the present invention shown in FIG. The filling line shown in FIG. 1 includes an input unit 4, a hopper 1, a supply unit 2, and a transport unit 5 as element members, and further, a control unit 3 is related to the supply unit 2 and the refrigerated product container A. Prepare.

First, as for the loading means 4, for example, a device called a lifter is used, which includes a base 29 provided at a predetermined position with a support column 30 erected vertically, and a guide supported and supported by the support column 30. The horizontal arm 31 is moved up and down, and the arm tip of the horizontal arm 31 is supported so as to be rotatable at an angle of about 135 ° to 180 ° with the arm tip as a rotation center, and is always maintained in a horizontal posture. This is an elevating / turning device constituted by the container holding member 32 to be dripped.
For example, the lifter 4 has a circulation container B in which an amount of granular dry ice required for keeping tens of refrigerated containers A is stored in advance and the top plate is removed and opened. After being held by the container holding member 32, it is lifted and lifted to the required height, moved forward and rotated about 135 ° to the posture shown in the two-dot chain line, and the entire amount of granular dry ice in the distribution container B is obtained. It operates so as to be put into the hopper 1 immediately below.

  The hopper 1 is a container having a volume capable of storing the entire amount of granular dry ice stored in the distribution container B, and includes a hopper body 6, a stirrer 11, and a hopper cylinder port 7 as main component members. . The hopper body 6 has a bottomed cylindrical shape (circular shape) having a top opening and an inner bottom surface of the bottom wall portion forming a flat surface by covering a rust-proof and low-temperature resistant material with a heat insulating material as a base material. It is formed in a container of a straight barrel shape. A hopper cylinder port 7 having a rectangular intake port 8 corresponding to the opening of the distribution container B is attached to the circular top opening by fitting. Although the details of the structure of the intake port 8 are omitted, the intake port 8 is formed so as to be able to be opened and closed in an adiabatic manner by a shield such as a roll screen. Further, the inner bottom surface of the hopper main body 6 is not limited to a flat surface, but may be a conical surface having a gentle uniform downward gradient from the center of the cylinder axis toward the bottom periphery.

  The hopper main body 6 has a predetermined shape, for example, a small quadrilateral extraction port 9 pierced at two locations on the wall side in contact with the bottom peripheral edge of the bottom wall portion and above the feeding side of the supply means 2. Yes. The outlet 9 is further clarified by the description of the combination structure with the supplying means 2 described later, but the central axis of the hopper body 6 (synonymous with the central axis of the boss portion of the stirring tool 11) and the conveying means 5 A pair of openings are formed at positions that are symmetrical with respect to the supply reference plane S (see FIGS. 1 and 4) including the reference point of the predetermined receiving position.

The take-out port 9 may be provided on the side wall portion in addition to the bottom wall portion, and in order to reliably and smoothly take out the granular dry ice and feed the supply means 2 to the feed side. It is necessary to open the wall part including the bottom peripheral edge of at least one of the side peripheral wall part and the bottom wall part and at a position located above the feeding side of the supply means 2. In the figure, reference numeral 28 denotes a lattice, which is attached to the top opening using a vertical beam lattice or a vertical and horizontal beam lattice, and plays a role of loosening and crushing the granular dry ice supplied in a state of being stuck in the distribution container B and gravity. It is a member provided from the role of interference of impact caused by dropping, prevention of accidents caused by operations such as putting a hand into the hopper body 6, and points on safety measures.

  The stirrer 11 is provided with two to four plural stirring rods 12 (two blade-shaped stirring rods in the present embodiment) extending radially symmetrically from the central boss portion, and is provided in the hopper body 6. Are arranged in a concentric arrangement at the bottom, and are rotatably provided around the central axis of the boss part in a state where the two stirring rods 12 are opposed to and close to the inner bottom surface and the inner peripheral surface thereof. In each figure, reference numeral 13 denotes a drive motor with a brake, which is provided at the center of the boss portion through a rotation shaft (not shown) pivotally supported through the center portion of the bottom wall of the speed reducer and the hopper body 6. It is connected.

  As is apparent from FIG. 4, each of the two stirring rods 12 has an arcuate shape, and its working surface rotates granular dry ice in the longitudinal direction extending in the radial direction. In order to sweep out toward the side peripheral wall of the hopper main body 6 at the time, it becomes a middle convex shape toward the downstream side with respect to the rotation direction indicated by the arrow line, and the lower edge portion is the hopper main body in the width direction in the vertical direction. 6 is formed in a curved surface having a rear inclined shape like a bowl for scooping up granular dry ice in a state of being opposed to and close to the inner bottom surface of 6. Each stirrer 12 in the stirrer 11 of the present embodiment is provided with two stirrer angles 14 attached upright at two points, the tip and the intermediate part in the longitudinal direction. The stirring action is further enhanced.

  About these two stirring rods 12 and 12, the shielding board material 16 is attached to the lower edge part of the front end side by fixing means such as welding or screwing. The shielding plate members 16 and 16 are provided in correspondence with the pair of take-out ports 9 and 9, and are members that function to open the openings 9 and 9 when the stirring rod 12 rotates and close them when stopped. From the above, each stirring bar is formed by a slightly large rectangular thin plate similar to the small square shape of the outlets 9 and 9 and is positioned so as to be covered directly above the outlets 9 and 9. 12 and 12 are attached.

  When the stirring rod 12 is stopped, the stirrer 11 configured as described above needs to be placed in a state where each shielding plate 16 is matched with each outlet 9 as a cover member. The stirrer 12 is controlled to automatically stop. That is, as an example, an encoder 33 as a detecting means for detecting the rotational dynamics of the rotating shaft of the drive motor 13 is attached, and the drive motor 13 is controlled to start and stop by a command signal from the encoder 33. This is possible by adopting the means, and during the stop operation, the take-out ports 9 and 9 can be easily and surely secured by the shielding plate members 16 and 16 by stopping the predetermined two stirring rods 12 and 12 at the required positions. Can be blocked.

  Next, with respect to the supply means 2, a pair of supply unit structures 2A and 2B having the same structure and the same supply capacity are provided in the element member, and a reference point for the central axis of the hopper body 6 and the predetermined receiving position of the conveying means 5 is provided. The supply reference plane S (see FIG. 1 and FIG. 4; represented by a straight line in the plane) includes a symmetrical relationship with respect to the dry ice take-out side of the hopper 1 and the dry ice filling point of the conveying means 5. Each is provided in between. Here, the reference point of the predetermined receiving position of the conveying means 5 will be described with reference to FIG. 1. First, regarding the predetermined receiving position of the conveying means 5, the conveying direction in the conveying means 5 for one supply unit structure 2 </ b> A. The filling point PA on the center line corresponds, and the other supply unit structure 2B also corresponds to the filling point PB on the center line in the transport direction, and both the filling points PA and PB are as close as possible on the center line in the transport direction. The reference point is preferably a midpoint equidistant from both the filling points PA and PB.

Various types of conveyors can be applied as the two supply unit structures 2A and 2B. In the illustrated embodiment, a screw conveyor in which a screw 17 is provided in a cylindrical outer casing 18 that is preferably heat-insulated. In the distribution and supply of granular dry ice, effective for filling in the unit of several kilograms is, for example, a screw conveyor having a cylinder diameter (inner diameter) of 125 mm and a screw pitch of 100 mm, while filling in units of several hundred grams. For example, a screw conveyor having a cylinder diameter (inner diameter) of 92 mm and a screw pitch of 80 mm can be used.

  As shown in the drawing, both supply unit structures 2A and 2B comprising a screw conveyor in the supply means 2 have an inlet 19 on the dry ice inlet side facing a screw shaft base end to which a variable speed drive motor 22 is connected. Directly connected by a duct 23 immediately below the take-out port 9 and facing a portion immediately before the delivery end 21 of the screw 17, a delivery port 20 provided in the cylindrical outer casing 18 is connected to the filling points PA and PB of the conveying means 5. The granular dry ice accommodated in the hopper 1 is received from the inlet 19 via the duct 23, which is arranged in a slanting shape with an elevation angle of about 25 degrees so as to be located at the upper part, and in the form of a front dent. After that, it is transported while being pushed up by the rotation of the screw 17, and is transported by the transport means 5, arrives directly below, and is placed in the container of the refrigerated product container A that needs to be placed. It provided so as to sequentially introduced and supplying a scan from the delivery opening 20.

  In this case, the forward indentation angle θ2 (intersection angle shown in FIG. 4) in both supply unit structures 2A and 2B is the distance between the take-out ports 9 and 9, the distance between the hopper 1 and the conveying means 5, and the distance between the filling points PA and PB. It is a value determined in the design according to the installation conditions. The duct 23 includes a flanged upper duct 24 provided integrally with the hopper body 1 at the take-out port 9 and a flanged lower duct 25 provided integrally with the cylindrical outer casing 18 at the inlet 19 part. The two flanges 24 and 25 are formed into a single duct 23 by flange connection.

  With respect to the supply means 2 described above, in the illustrated embodiment, the portion of the delivery end 21 of the screw 17 is held at a position immediately before the delivery port 20, and the delivery end surface is used as an angle of repose unique to the granular dry ice group. An angle of about 45 degrees is formed on an inclined surface held with respect to a perpendicular axis passing through the screw axis. By adopting such a structure, it is possible to suppress the filling error due to the stop position of the screw 17 as much as possible.

  3 will be further described with reference to FIG. 3. The screw 17 has a screw length so that the delivery end 21 can substantially match the position of the virtual inclined surface D. It is set and provided in the cylindrical outer casing 18. The virtual inclined surface D in this case is an angle of repose unique to the granular dry ice group by intersecting the virtual vertical surface C including the horizontal line orthogonal to the screw axis and passing through the immediately preceding position of the delivery port 20 at the immediately preceding position. Is an inclined surface inclined to the rear of the angle θ1 corresponding to about 45 degrees. In addition, the effect | action and effect which a screw conveyor provided with such a structure show | plays later.

  With respect to the supply means 2 having the above-described configuration, the pair of supply unit structures 2A and 2B is positioned close to the front and rear of the transfer direction, directly above the filling points PA and PB of the transfer means 5 and facing downward. For each of the outlets 20, 20 that are open to the bottom, a filling base 26 having a cylindrical shape with an expanded base is provided to hang down so as to be connected to the opening and surround the filling points PA, PB. (See FIGS. 2 and 3). An example of the structure of this filling cap 26 is shown in FIG. It is formed in a prone hem-spreading elliptical cylindrical shape located directly above, and a mountain fold strip 27 is bridged along the short diameter portion of the lower end opening.

  The filling cap 26 thus provided functions as a cover in a shielded state surrounded by the granular dry ice dropped from the delivery port 20 into the refrigerated product container A directly below. The inconvenience that a part of granular dry ice scatters and overflows outside the refrigerated product container A does not occur, and stable distribution and supply are possible. In addition, while the filling base 26 has an elliptical arrangement in which the longer diameter side is in the same direction as the conveyance direction of the refrigerated product container A, the mountain fold strip 27 bridges along the shorter diameter portion of the lower end opening. Since it is provided, it acts to uniformly disperse and distribute the granular dry ice falling for filling into the container, and the inconvenient situation of filling such that it piles up in one place is eliminated.

  On the other hand, the control means 3 provided in relation to the supply means 2 is provided with the screw 17 of the screw conveyor as the supply means 2 in accordance with the amount of dry ice charged into the individual refrigerated containers A that are sequentially conveyed by the conveyance means 5. The operating conditions are controlled to adjust the rotational speed and rotational speed including starting and stopping, and are electrically connected to the detection means 34 and the drive motor 22, respectively. As the detection means 34 in this case, for example, an encoder that is attached to the shaft end of the screw 17 and detects the shaft rotation angle is preferable. Of course, the control means 3 may be electrically associated with its drive motor (not shown) in order to adjust the operation of the transport means 5 together.

  Next, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the conveying means 5 is arranged next to the hopper 1 and the supplying means 2 in order to sequentially convey the refrigerated product containers A. For example, a horizontal roller conveyor is used. The dry ice filling points PA and PB on the conveyor are arranged so as to be directly below the delivery outlets 20 of the screw conveyor as both supply unit structures 2A and 2B in the supply means 2. In addition, immediately below the conveying surface of the filling point of the conveyor, for example, a load cell for detecting the necessary amount of granular dry ice to be put into the refrigerated product container A (hereinafter referred to as dry ice charging amount). A detecting means 35 is provided as needed to increase the reliability of the weighing accuracy.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the transport means 5 is a single large refrigerated container A1 with a relatively large capacity, and a single small refrigerated container A2 with a relatively small capacity. Both supply units 2 supply the refrigerated product containers A sequentially in the form of two adjacent two in front and rear, sequentially transported to a predetermined receiving position, and temporarily stopped in accordance with the filling points PA and PB. It is possible to wait for supply of dry ice from the unit structures 2A and 2B. In the case of a single unit, dry ice is charged simultaneously from both supply unit structures 2A and 2B. On the other hand, in the case of two units in series, individual units are supplied from the supply unit structures 2A and 2B (see FIG. 1). ) Is put into dry ice. Thereby, supply of the granular dry ice by a pair of supply unit structure 2A * 2B is performed with respect to the two refrigeration container A adjacent to the one or two back and front adjoined to the said predetermined position, and to large and small containers Appropriate amount of granular dry ice is added. Therefore, it is possible to improve the efficiency of the distribution supply work while responding to various needs for distribution supply.

  In the granular dry ice filling line having the above-described structure, the distribution container B in which a predetermined amount of granular dry ice is accommodated and the lid is removed is brought to a position directly above the hopper 1 by the charging means 4 and turned over. The whole amount of granular dry ice in the distribution container B is put into the hopper 1. While stirring the granular dry ice loaded on the inner bottom portion of the hopper 1 with the agitator 11, the appropriate amount is simultaneously fed out by the supply means 2 and charged into the refrigerated product container A that is sequentially conveyed.

Throughout this supply operation, each stirring rod 12 of the stirring tool 11 functions to sweep up the granular dry ice and sweeps it toward the side peripheral wall of the hopper main body 6, and performs effective stirring. Since the operation for guiding while loosening is continued, the granular dry ice in the hopper 1 is prevented from bridging due to solidification due to its own pressure, etc., so that the granular dry ice in a normal state loosened individually can be prevented. The required amount can be smoothly fed out through the duct 23 to the inlet 19 on the inlet side of the supply means 2.

  The granular dry ice fed into the inlet 19 of the supply means 2 is driven by the operation of the control means 3 based on a command from the encoder as the detection means 34 attached in association with the shaft end of the screw 17. Since the start / stop, rotation and speed control of the motor 22 are appropriately controlled, the required amount adapted to the amount of dry ice is supplied from the delivery ports 20 and 20 of the supply unit structures 2A and 2B on the delivery side. Sequentially charged and supplied into the refrigerated product container A directly below. In this case, the delivery end 21 portion of the screw 17 is held at a position immediately before the delivery port 20, for example, and an angle of about 45 degrees as an angle of repose unique to the granular dry ice group passes through the screw axis. Since it forms in the inclined surface hold | maintained with respect to the perpendicular axis | shaft, the filling error by the difference in the phase angle at the time of the stop of the screw 17 is almost eliminated, and a filling precision can be improved.

  On the other hand, when dry ice is supplied to the hopper 1 and when supply of the supply means 2 is interrupted, the take-out ports 9 and 9 are closed by the shielding plate materials 16 and 16 simultaneously with the stop of stirring by the stirring tool 11, Clogging due to excessive supply of dry ice or the like in the distribution channel including the supply means 2 is reliably prevented, and stable filling is achieved. In particular, in the case of the present embodiment, the shielding plate material 16 is positioned on the rear side of the stirring rod 12 and attached, so that the shielding plate material is provided at the take-out port 9 immediately after the granular dry ice is scraped off by the stirring rod 12. Since 16 is operated so as to be closed by sliding movement, there is no inconvenience that some of the granular dry ice is obstructed and obstructed by this and it becomes difficult to seal the take-out port 9. A good seal.

  With respect to the supply means 2, as shown in FIG. 3, a screw 17 is rotatably provided in a cylindrical outer casing 18 having an inlet 19 on the dry ice inlet side and an outlet 20 on the dry ice outlet side. While being formed by a screw conveyor, the screw 17 intersects the virtual vertical plane C passing through the position immediately before the delivery port 20 including the horizontal line orthogonal to the screw axis at the position immediately before to form a granular dry ice group The delivery end 21 is placed in a region from the foremost position of the virtual inclined surface D that is inclined rearward by an angle θ corresponding to about 45 degrees as a specific repose angle to the rearmost position that is two pitches behind in terms of screw pitch. The control means 3 is rotated once in accordance with the dry ice supply amount corresponding to the required filling amount of the refrigerated product container A. The rotation amount of the screw 17 is controlled by the following small rotation unit.

  By forming such a distribution supply device, when controlling the distribution supply amount of granular dry ice in a small rotation unit of one rotation or less, that is, a unit of several hundred grams, with the rotation amount of the screw as a control target, The amount of granular dry ice adhering to the end is dropped due to the difference in the phase of the screw end when supply is stopped, or a part of the dry ice is left undropped, resulting in a slight drop However, the filling amount error is eliminated by adopting the above-described configuration in which the delivery end 21 of the screw 17 is placed in the above-described predetermined region. The distribution and supply of granular dry ice can be performed under highly accurate weighing control.

  Furthermore, the inlets 19 of the pair of supply unit structures 2A, 2B are formed wider than the corresponding outlets 9 of the hopper 1 and open to positions immediately below the outlets 9; and Any part of the inner peripheral wall surface that is connected to the take-out port 9 by a duct 23 that is suspended in a straight tube shape or a tube shape that is widened to the bottom, when the duct 23 is seen through vertically from the take-out port 9 side. Since it has a structure in which it is suspended while maintaining a steady posture so as not to cause the accumulation of granular dry ice, the granular dry ice is fed from the hopper 1 to the supply means 2. It can be stably realized so that there is no clogging (crosslinking) and no excess or deficiency occurs.

It is a top view which shows the system outline | summary of the granular dry ice filling line which uses one Embodiment which concerns on the distribution supply apparatus of this invention. FIG. 1 is an elevational view of the hopper 1, the supply means 2 and the charging means 4 in the embodiment according to the present invention shown in FIG. 1, and is a left side view of FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is an elevation view of the hopper 1, the supply unit 2, and the transport unit 5 in the embodiment according to the present invention illustrated in FIG. 1, and is a front view of FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of a hopper 1 and a supply means 2 in the embodiment according to the present invention shown in FIG. 1. FIGS. 1A and 1B are structural views of the filling cap 26 of the conveying means 5 according to the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 1, wherein FIG. 1A is a plan view and FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Hopper, 2 ... Supply means, 2A * 2B ... Supply unit structure, 3 ... Control means, 4 ... Input means, 5 ... Conveyance means, 6 ... Hopper main body, 8 ... Intake port, 9 ... Extraction port, 11 ... Stirring tool, 12 ... stirring rod, 13 ... drive motor, 14 ... stirring angle, 16 ... shielding plate material, 17 ... screw, 18 ... cylindrical outer casing, 19 ... delivery port, 20 ... delivery port, 21 ... delivery end, 23 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS ... Duct, 26 ... Filling cap, 27 ... Mountain folded strip, A ... Refrigerating container, B ... Distribution container, C ... Virtual vertical surface, D ... Virtual inclined surface, S ... Supply reference surface, [theta] 1, [theta] 2 ... Angle, PA ... filling point, PB ... filling point .

Claims (6)

A plurality of rotating blades are formed on the inner bottom of a bottomed cylindrical hopper body (6) having an opening (8) at the top, a pair of outlets (9) and (9) at the bottom, respectively. A stirrer (11) having a stirrer (12) is concentrically housed, and a hopper (1) capable of storing a predetermined amount of granular dry ice under stirring and a refrigerated container (A) required. The transport means (5) adjacent to the hopper (1) for sequentially transporting to the predetermined receiving position, the central axis of the hopper body (6) and the reference point of the predetermined receiving position of the transport means (5). The granular dry ice sequentially taken out from the take-out ports (9) and (9) is received by a pair of supply unit structures (2A) and (2B) arranged symmetrically with respect to the supply reference plane (S) including One piece or the front and rear fed to the predetermined receiving position Supply means (2) for supplying the two refrigerated containers (A) to be adjusted so that the supply amount can be adjusted, and required filling for one or two adjacent refrigerated containers (A) adjacent to each other. It comprises control means (3) for driving and controlling the pair of supply unit structures (2A) (2B) of the supply means (2) according to the dry ice supply amount corresponding to the quantity, and the hopper (1) The take-out ports (9) and (9) are opened at predetermined positions that are symmetric with respect to the supply reference plane (S) and are in contact with the outer peripheral edge of the bottom wall. (6) Each stirrer (12) is provided close to the inner bottom surface and the inner peripheral surface of the hopper body (6) so as to be able to rotate around the central axis so as to sweep the granular dry ice inside toward the side peripheral wall. The stirrer (11) is stopped in the hopper (1) The outlet (9) (9) Ri Na respectively provided in relation to the shielding plate for closed (16) (16) The outlet (9) (9), said feeding means when the Each of the pair of supply unit structures (2A) and (2B) in (2) has a feed port (19) below the take-out port (9) on the dry ice feed side and a feed port (20) on the dry ice feed side. A screw conveyor having a screw (17) rotatably provided in a cylindrical outer casing (18) respectively provided above the predetermined receiving position, and a dry ice inlet side inlet ( 19) is directly connected by a duct (23) immediately below the outlet (9) and faces the portion immediately before the delivery end (21) of the screw (17) so as to be provided in the cylindrical outer casing (18). The outlet (20) is the predetermined receiver of the conveying means (5). It is arranged in a slanted shape at a predetermined elevation angle and in a front dent shape so as to be located directly above the filling point (PA) (PB) at the take-off position, and is accommodated in the hopper (1). After the granular dry ice is received from the inlet (19) through the duct (23), it is transported while being pushed up by the rotation of the screw (17), and is transported by the transport means (5) and arrives directly below and is stationary. or two adjacent back and forth refrigerated goods container (a) of the delivery port an appropriate amount of granular dry ice in the vessel (20) sequentially from provided so as to inject and supply of granular dry ice, wherein Rukoto Distribution supply device.   The hopper (1) is formed such that the inner bottom surface of the bottom wall portion of the hopper main body (6) is a flat surface or a conical surface having a gentle downward slope from the axial center toward the bottom periphery, and the stirring tool (11) Each of the working surfaces of the plurality of stirring rods (12) extending radially has a middle convex shape that swells downstream with respect to the rotational direction in the longitudinal direction, and is close to the inner bottom surface in the lateral direction, while being granular dry ice. The stirrer (11) has a plurality of stirring rods (12) corresponding to the outlets (9) and (9). The plate-shaped shielding plate material (16) (16) is attached to the tip of (12), and when the stirring is stopped, the shielding plate material (16) (16) is attached to the outlet (9) (9). Claims that are stationary controlled so as to match each 1 particulate dry ice dispensing device as claimed. Before Kiss clew (17) is specific to the particulate dry ice group intersect with the straight front position with respect to a virtual vertical plane passing through the immediately preceding position (C) of the outlet comprise a horizontal line that directly intersects the screw axis (20) The feed end in the region from the foremost position of the virtual inclined surface (D) inclined backward (θ1) corresponding to about 45 degrees as the angle of repose to the last position after 2 pitches in terms of screw pitch (21) is placed in the cylindrical outer casing (18), while the control means (3) corresponds to the dry ice supply amount corresponding to the required filling amount of the refrigerated product container (A). The granular dry ice distribution and supply device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the supply is performed by controlling the amount of rotation of the screw (17) in small rotation units of one rotation or less.   The inlet (19) of the supply unit structure (2A) (2B) in the supply means (2) is formed wider than the corresponding outlet (9) of the hopper (1), and the outlet (9 ) To the take-out port (9) by a duct (23) that opens to a position immediately below it and hangs down in a straight cylinder shape or a cylindrical shape that is widened to the bottom. The duct (23) When suspended through vertically from the take-out port (9) side, no part of the inner peripheral wall surface is projected, and is suspended while maintaining a steady posture that does not cause accumulation of granular dry ice. The distribution supply apparatus of the granular dry ice of Claim 3 which becomes.   The delivery unit (2) of the supply unit structure (2A) (2B) in the supply means (2) is directly above and below the transport direction in the transport direction center line of the predetermined receiving position of the transport means (5). The granular dry ice according to claim 3 or 4, further comprising a filling base (26) which is located close to and is opened downward and is connected to the opening and is suspended in a cylindrical shape with an expanded base. Distribution feeder.   The filling base (26) has an elliptical horizontal cross-sectional shape, and a long-diameter portion is formed in an elliptical cylindrical shape that is located directly above the center line in the transport direction and has a short bottom opening. A mountain fold strip (27) is bridged along the diameter, and the refrigerated product is required to distribute the granular dry ice delivered from the delivery port (20) uniformly in the major axis direction which is the conveying direction. The granular dry ice distribution and supply device according to claim 5, which can be stably supplied to the container (A).