JP4272878B2 - Electron beam irradiation device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention mainly relates to an electron beam irradiation apparatus that generates and uses high-energy electrons, and more particularly to an electron beam irradiation apparatus having a three-dimensional object transport mechanism.
[0002]
[Prior art]
The electron beam irradiation apparatus has a spread illumination windows laterally, the irradiation windows especially near, continuous paper passing below, is generally intended for continuously processing a sheet-like object to be irradiated consecutive like plastic film It is.
Electron beam irradiation is used for curing inks, coatings, adhesives, etc. applied to sheet-like objects, and for crosslinking and sterilizing plastic films themselves.
When irradiating such a continuous irradiation object, for example, as shown in FIG. 10, an angle is provided at the entrance to the processing chamber 22 for processing the irradiation object 20, and the irradiation object 20 introduced from the outside is guided to the guide roller. It is widely performed to guide to the processing chamber 21 or the like, irradiate the irradiated object 20 with an electron beam inside the processing chamber, and lead out again to the outside of the processing chamber with the guide roller 21 or the like.
This is intended to prevent leakage of electron beams and X-rays secondarily generated from the electron beam irradiation unit 11 from the processing chamber 22 to the outside.
In an electron beam irradiation apparatus used for the purpose of irradiating a continuous sheet-shaped object with an electron beam, an electron acceleration voltage is generally around 300 kV or less, and the generated X-rays are shielded. It is characterized by not leaking outside the structure 13.
In the figure, 10 is an electron beam generator, and 12 is a vacuum vessel.
[0003]
In the electron beam generator shown in FIG. 10, the electron beam is irradiated downward from the irradiation window. However, as shown in FIG. Is possible. Similarly, a structure in which irradiation is performed obliquely or from below is also possible. In any structure, the electron beam and the X-ray are not leaked to the outside, and this is possible because the irradiated object 20 has a thin continuous structure.
Regardless of the direction from which the electron beam is irradiated, the distance of the shielding structure from the irradiated portion 24 to the irradiated portion 25 is approximately 1 m or less, and the size of the shielding structure. Can be implemented in a compact design.
[0004]
A metal material is generally used as the material of the structure for shielding the electron beam and X-ray generated from the irradiation part of such an electron beam irradiation apparatus, but it is particularly composed of aluminum, iron, stainless steel, lead or the like. It is common to use a new member.
[0005]
On the other hand, when the object to be irradiated is not continuous and is three-dimensional, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, the object to be irradiated is transported on a conveyor that continuously moves, In this case, the electron beam is irradiated to the outside of the irradiation chamber.
In the case of an irradiation object having such a shape, unlike the thin continuous irradiation object described above, a space for the irradiation object to move in the irradiation chamber is increased, and the electron beam and X-ray generated in the irradiation unit are exposed to the outside. It becomes easy to leak.
In order to prevent the electron beam and X-ray from leaking to the outside, the shielding structure needs to have a maze structure, and there is a limit to downsizing the apparatus. As a result, the electron beam irradiation apparatus for irradiating a non-continuous and three-dimensional irradiated object has a shielding structure in which the distance of the shielding structure from the irradiated part to the carried-out part of the irradiated object is about 2 m or more. A body is required, and the installation space for the electron beam irradiation device is also increased. A similar technique for irradiating a discontinuous three-dimensional object is also disclosed in Patent Document 2, but has the same limit as to the size of the apparatus to be implemented.
[0006]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-8-94800 [Patent Document 2]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-1212
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
As described above, when a conventional electron beam irradiation apparatus irradiates a discontinuous and three-dimensional object, the necessary electron beam and X-ray shielding structure is continuous, such as paper or plastic film. Compared with the case of processing a sheet-like object, the space is larger, and the installation space for the electron beam irradiation apparatus is also increased. Further, the amount of use of members such as stainless steel and lead used in the structure for shielding X-rays is increased, and the weight of the apparatus is increased.
[0008]
The present invention has been invented in view of the above-mentioned points, and has a downsized transport mechanism when irradiating an electron beam to a discontinuous three-dimensional object, and further downsized a shielding structure, and thus an electron beam irradiation device, It is another object of the present invention to provide an electron beam irradiation apparatus having effects such as weight reduction.
[0009]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention according to claim 1 is characterized in that a vacuum container in which an irradiation window for irradiating an electron beam generated by an electron beam generator housed inside is formed, and the irradiation window In the electron beam irradiation apparatus provided with a transport mechanism that transports an object to be irradiated to an electron beam irradiation position corresponding to the above, the transport mechanism is formed in a circular or polygonal shape that can rotate around its rotation axis. with its on an outer peripheral surface is recessed in Jo Tokoro intervals irradiated object receiving space of a suitable number in the circumferential direction of the holding storage of the irradiated object, the object to be irradiated is transported to the electron beam irradiation position Sometimes a shielding structure that prevents the electron beam emitted from the irradiation window from leaking to the outside extends along the outer peripheral surface of the conveyance mechanism body on the left and right sides from the irradiation window. Characterized by being surrounded by all or part of the body It is.
[0010]
According to the second aspect of the present invention, an appropriate number of vertically long irradiation windows are formed on the outer peripheral surface of the vacuum vessel.
[0011]
In the invention according to claim 3, the transport mechanism for transporting the object to be irradiated is continuously or intermittently circulated.
[0012]
The invention according to claim 4 is configured such that the electron beam is irradiated only when the irradiated object is transported to the electron beam irradiation position.
[0013]
In the first and second aspects of the invention , the size of the irradiation chamber and the shielding structure for allowing the discontinuous and three-dimensional irradiation object of the electron beam irradiation apparatus to pass through is reduced and further used for the shielding structure. This has the effect of reducing the amount of members to be removed.
[0014]
In this invention of Claim 3, there exists an effect which improves the efficiency of the electron beam irradiation to a to-be-irradiated object, and the conveyance efficiency of a to-be-irradiated object.
[0015]
In the present invention described in claim 4, by controlling the output of the electron beam so as to irradiate the irradiated object with the electron beam for a necessary time, the shielding structure can be simplified or the efficiency of the electron beam can be achieved. There is an effect that achieves effective use.
[0016]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of an embodiment in the invention of claim 1. The electron beam generated by the electron beam generator 10 in the vacuum vessel 12 is taken out from the irradiation window 11.
A transport mechanism 40 is installed at a position facing the irradiation window 11. In the transport mechanism 40, an irradiated object storage space 41 capable of storing a discontinuous and three-dimensional irradiated object 50 is recessed in the outer peripheral surface thereof, and an irradiated object holding portion 42 is provided in the irradiated object storage space 41. Thus, the irradiated object 50 is held by the irradiated object holding part 42.
The transport mechanism body 40 circulates around the rotation shaft 45 and sequentially feeds the irradiated object 50 toward the irradiation window 11.
At this time, the transport mechanism 40 rotates, for example, by connecting the drive motor 46 and the rotating shaft 45 to the pulley and the belt. The conveyor mechanism 40 is rotated clockwise in the embodiment of FIG. The drive mechanism is not limited to the same structure and may be another mechanism.
In addition, the object to be irradiated is placed on the transport mechanism body 40 and sequentially sent, irradiated with an electron beam at the electron beam irradiation position corresponding to the irradiation window 11, and further discharged around the transport mechanism body 40.
Further, shielding structures 13 are extended on the front and rear sides of the irradiation window 11 along the rotation direction of the transport mechanism 40, and the entire or part of the transport mechanism 40 is surrounded by the shield structure 13.
[0017]
With the above configuration, the size of the discontinuous and three-dimensional irradiation object 50 stored in the irradiation object storage space 41 is, for example, 2 cm to 3 cm, and the gap with the shielding structure body 13 surrounding the transport mechanism body 40 is set. When it is about 1 cm, the diameter of the conveyance mechanism body 40 is about 80 cm. At this time, the size of the shielding structure 13 provided around the transport mechanism 40 to shield the electron beam and the X-ray is approximately 1 m.
According to the same structure shown in FIG. 1, even if the irradiation window 11, the transport mechanism 40, and the shielding structure 13 are configured in a small size, these actually constitute a labyrinth structure for shielding. X-rays will not leak to the outside. In this embodiment, the transporting mechanism body 40 is circular, but the transporting mechanism body 40 is polygonal if there is no problem with the shape of the irradiated object 50 or the irradiated object storage space 41 or if there is no problem with shielding. Also good.
[0018]
When the object 50 circulates and is transported to the electron beam irradiation position, the distance between the object 50 and the irradiation window 11 is about 1.5 cm in this embodiment.
In this embodiment, this distance can be adjusted in the range of about 1 cm to about 6 cm.
If the distance is small, the irradiated object 50 approaches the irradiation window 11 and the irradiated electron beam can be used efficiently. However, there is a possibility that the irradiated object having a large outer shape is not uniformly irradiated with the electron beam.
Further, if the distance is small, the gap between the transport mechanism 40 and the shielding structure 13 can be reduced, which is advantageous for shielding.
On the other hand, if the distance is large, it is easy to uniformly irradiate a large irradiated object with an electron beam, but the energy of the electron beam is attenuated before reaching the irradiated object, and the use efficiency of the electron beam may be lowered.
Therefore, it is important to appropriately set the distance between the irradiation object 50 and the irradiation window 11 in consideration of the size of the irradiation object, the acceleration energy of the electron beam, the shielding structure, and the like.
[0019]
In Figure 1, the introduction is taken out to the irradiated object receiving space 41 of the irradiation object 50 is being performed at the furthest corresponding position from the irradiation window, if location other than the irradiation window 11 is not limited to this position , Can be set at a desired location.
In the structure in which the entire periphery of the transport mechanism 40 is covered with the shielding structure 13, it is necessary to provide a structure in which an opening / closing door for introducing and removing the irradiated object 50 is provided in a part of the shielding structure 13.
[0020]
2 and 3 are a plan view and a side view, partly omitted, of an embodiment of the invention of claim 2 .
A vertically long irradiated object 50 a is held by an irradiated object holding part 42 that is a part of the transport mechanism 40. The conveyance mechanism body 40 circulates and sequentially sends the irradiated object toward the irradiation window 11. The irradiated object 50a that is sequentially supported and transported by the transport mechanism body 40 is irradiated with an electron beam when transported to the electron beam irradiation position corresponding to the irradiation window 11, and then the transport mechanism body 40 circulates. Thereby, the irradiation window 11 passes through the irradiation window 11 and the electron beam irradiation operation process is completed.
[0021]
2 and 3, the electron beam generator 10, the irradiation window 11, and the vacuum vessel 12 are arranged vertically corresponding to the vertically long object 50a. A power feeding unit 15 that supplies power to the electron beam generating unit 10 is connected to the irradiation window 11 in the vicinity of the center on the back side of the electron beam generating unit 10.
According to this, since the electric power feeding part 15 maintains the mechanical balance in the center of the electron beam generation part 10, there exists a special effect that the mechanical stress concerning a connection part becomes small and brings about mechanical stability of an apparatus. Furthermore, since the electron beam generating unit 10 is reduced in size and the vacuum container can be made smaller, the amount of shielding members used in the vacuum container is reduced, and the apparatus weight is reduced. Further, since the power supply device can be connected to the side opposite to the electron beam irradiation unit (see FIG. 5), the space near the irradiation window 11 can be used effectively, and the size of the irradiation object and the design of the irradiation object transport mechanism 40 can be used. It has the effect of giving a large degree of freedom.
[0022]
FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view of an embodiment in the third aspect of the present invention.
Discontinuous and three-dimensional irradiated objects 50b to 50g are placed on the irradiated object holding part 42 provided in the transport mechanism 40. The transport mechanism 40 circulates in a certain direction. However, when the irradiated object 50e approaches the irradiation window 11, the transport mechanism 40 temporarily stops, or the rotating speed is reduced to provide sufficient electrons for the irradiated object 50e. After the beam irradiation, the transport mechanism 40 continues to circulate in the same direction, and the next object 50d circulates again to the electron beam irradiation position corresponding to the irradiation window 11.
When the next object to be irradiated 50d approaches the irradiation window 11, similarly, the transport mechanism 40 is temporarily stopped, or the circulation speed is reduced, and the object 50e is irradiated with sufficient electron beams.
The circulation speed of the circulating transport mechanism body 40 or the control of the circulation and the temporary stop is performed by a drive motor 46 that is connected to the rotating shaft 45 and rotates the transport mechanism body 40.
[0023]
FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view of an embodiment in the third aspect of the present invention.
The irradiated object 50 held by the irradiated object holding part 42 of the transport mechanism 40 is transported to the electron beam irradiation position corresponding to the irradiation window 11 while circling, and sequentially irradiated with electron beams. The electron beam generation unit 10 is connected to a power supply device 17 for generating an electron beam through the power supply unit 15.
The electron beam taken out from the irradiation window 11 can be controlled in intensity and on / off by electrically controlling the power supply device 17.
Thereby, the electron beam taken out from the irradiation unit 11 is turned on with an output necessary for irradiation only when the irradiated object 50 is transported to the electron beam irradiation position corresponding to the irradiation window 11, and otherwise, the irradiation unit The electron beam is turned off so that there is no electron beam extracted from 11, or the output is reduced so that the extracted electron beam becomes weak.
[0024]
FIG. 6 is a schematic plan view of another embodiment of the present invention .
In this example, together with the shielding structure 13 installed so as to surround all or part of the transport mechanism body 40, the entire interior (shaded portion) or part of the transport mechanism body 40 in FIG. Constitute.
In a configuration in which a part of the shielding member 40a is used, for example, the rectangular U-shaped portion of the vertical wall that constitutes the irradiated object storage space 41 is configured by the shielding member, and the outer peripheral arc portion is configured by other than the shielding member. By comprising in this way, the leakage of an electron beam and an X-ray can be prevented reliably.
Thus, by providing the shielding mechanism also to the transport mechanism body 40, the transport mechanism body 40 is downsized, and as a result, there is a special effect that the electron beam irradiation apparatus can be downsized and reduced in weight.
[0025]
Another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 7 according to the present invention and FIGS. 8 and 9 showing a conventional structure.
FIG. 7 shows an embodiment of the present invention, in which an electron beam generator 10, an irradiation window 11, and a vacuum vessel 12 are arranged vertically.
A power feeding unit 15 that supplies power to the electron beam generating unit 10 is connected to the irradiation window 11 in the vicinity of the center on the back side of the electron beam generating unit 10.
The power supply device 17 supplies power to the electron beam generation unit 10 through the power supply unit 15. FIG. 8 is the same as FIG. 7, but is an example in which the power feeding unit 15 is connected below the electron beam generating unit 10.
Similarly, in FIG. 9, the power feeding unit 15 is attached to the lower surface of the electron beam generating unit, and the power supply device 17 is connected below the vacuum vessel 12 accordingly.
[0026]
In FIG. 7, the ratio of the length D of the vacuum vessel 12 in the vertical direction to the length d of the irradiation window 11 arranged vertically is d / D.
When the similar ratio is obtained in FIG. 8 which is the conventional technique, it is d / D ′. However, since the power feeding unit 15 is attached below the electron beam generating unit 12 in this case, the longitudinal direction of the electron beam generating unit 10 is The length is longer than that in the example of FIG. 7, and therefore the length D ′ of the vacuum vessel 12 is also longer.
As a result, d / D ′ becomes smaller than d / D, and the vacuum container 12 becomes larger with respect to the size of the irradiation window 11. Furthermore, in the example of FIG. 9, the length of the electron beam generator 12 is similarly increased, and therefore d / D ′ is reduced.
In FIG. 7, the power supply device 17 is located on the opposite side across the irradiation window 11 and the vacuum vessel 12, but in FIG. 9, the power supply device 17 is located below the irradiation unit 11.
As a result, the entire electron beam irradiation apparatus according to the present invention shown in FIG. 7 can be made smaller than the conventional electron beam irradiation apparatus shown in FIGS.
[0027]
【The invention's effect】
According to the first and second aspects of the present invention, the shielding structure and the entire apparatus are simplified, the entire apparatus is downsized, the amount of the shielding member used is reduced, and the total weight of the entire apparatus is reduced. Has a special effect.
[0028]
According to the third aspect of the present invention , the object to be irradiated is irradiated by the electron beam irradiation unit by changing the speed of the circular motion of the transport mechanism that transports the object to be irradiated while rotating, and in some cases temporarily stopping. There is a special effect that the irradiation efficiency of the electron beam can be improved by changing the irradiation time of the electron beam irradiated to the electron beam. In addition, there is an effect that it is easy to adjust the operation of a separate process such as introducing or taking out the irradiated object from the transport mechanism by changing the rotation speed.
[0029]
According to the invention described in claim 4 described above, since the control is performed so that the electron beam is output only when the irradiated object approaches the electron beam irradiation unit, the special effect of achieving efficient use of the electron beam is achieved. is there.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of an electron beam irradiation apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of an electron beam irradiation apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a schematic side view of an electron beam irradiation apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view of an electron beam irradiation apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view of an electron beam irradiation apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a vacuum container and a transport mechanism body of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a side view showing the positional relationship between the vacuum container and the power supply device of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a side view showing a positional relationship between a vacuum container and a power supply device of a conventional electron beam irradiation apparatus.
FIG. 9 is a side view showing a positional relationship between another vacuum container and a power supply device of a conventional electron beam irradiation apparatus.
FIG. 10 is a partially enlarged plan view of a conventional electron beam irradiation apparatus.
FIG. 11 is a partially enlarged plan view of another conventional electron beam irradiation apparatus.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Electron beam generation part 11 Irradiation window 12 Vacuum container 13 Shielding structure 15 Power feeding part 17 Power supply device 40 Conveyance mechanism body 46 Drive motor 50 Irradiation object

Claims (4)

A vacuum vessel in which an irradiation window for irradiating an electron beam generated by an electron beam generation unit housed inside is formed, and a transport mechanism for transporting an object to be irradiated to an electron beam irradiation position corresponding to the irradiation window In the electron beam irradiation apparatus provided,
The transport mechanism body is formed in a circular or polygonal cross section that can rotate around its rotation axis, and an appropriate number of irradiated object storage spaces for storing and holding the irradiated object are provided in the circumferential direction on the outer peripheral surface thereof. It is recessed in Jo Tokoro intervals along,
A shielding structure that prevents the electron beam irradiated from the irradiation window from leaking to the outside when the irradiated object is transferred to the electron beam irradiation position is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the transfer mechanism body on the left and right sides from the irradiation window. along been extended, an electron beam irradiation apparatus characterized by all or part of the conveying mechanism is surrounded by the shield structure. The electron beam irradiation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an appropriate number of vertically long irradiation windows are formed on an outer peripheral surface of a vertically long vacuum vessel.   The electron beam irradiation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transport mechanism that transports the object to be irradiated is continuously or intermittently circulated.   2. The electron beam irradiation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the electron beam is irradiated only when the object to be irradiated is transported to the electron beam irradiation position.

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