JP5371526B2 - Kneading machine and extrusion molding device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a kneader capable of ejecting kneaded objects connecting them in a given amount or more kneaded at one time. <P>SOLUTION: The kneader is equipped with a kneading part, a buffer part 10, and an ejection part 11, wherein the kneading part can circulate the given amount of kneaded objects in a kneading space and eject a fluid W1 of kneaded objects from a kneading part outlet, the buffer part 10 can reserve the given amount or more of the fluid ejected from the kneading part outlet, and the ejection part 11 ejects the fluid, reserved in the buffer part, outside the apparatus. The kneading part is equipped with a shaft-like kneading screw 14, a kneading screw drive 15 for rotating the kneading screw, a kneading cylinder part 17 equipped with the kneading part outlet 16 for ejecting the kneaded objects kneaded in the kneading space while forming the kneading space S which surrounds the kneading screw and kneads the kneading object W between the kneading screw, a kneading part opening/closing mechanism 18 for opening and closing the kneading part outlet, and a circulation pass 19 for circulating the kneaded objects in the kneading space. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a kneader and an extrusion molding apparatus for circulating and kneading a material to be kneaded.

Conventionally, in order to improve the characteristics of industrial materials and medical materials, various apparatuses for kneading a plurality of polymers or materials to be kneaded such as polymers and organic powders or inorganic powders have been studied. As one of such devices, as shown in Patent Document 1, a through hole (circulation flow path) is formed in a screw (kneading screw) to connect the distal end surface and the side surface on the proximal end side to form an internal feedback type. A kneading machine using a screw is known.
According to this kneading machine, by rotating the screw at a high speed, the introduced material to be kneaded is melted by applying a strong shearing force to the material to be kneaded, and the dispersed phase size of the material to be kneaded is several tens of nanometers. It is said that an extrusion-molded product dispersed so as to be reduced to an extent can be produced.

JP-A-2005-313608

  However, in the conventional kneader, since a certain amount of the material to be kneaded is circulated and kneaded into a fluid, it is necessary to discharge the kneaded material to be kneaded before the next kneading. For this reason, it is impossible to take out the kneaded material to be kneaded as a fluid of a certain amount at a time, and extrusion molding that requires a certain amount or more when performing extrusion molding with the fluid discharged from the kneader. The product could not be manufactured.

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and provides a kneading machine capable of discharging a predetermined amount or more of materials to be kneaded at once and an extrusion molding apparatus using the same. Is.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention proposes the following means.
The kneading machine according to the present invention forms a shaft-shaped kneading screw, a kneading screw driving unit for rotating the kneading screw, and a kneading space for kneading the material to be kneaded between the kneading screw and the kneading screw. And a kneading cylinder portion provided with a kneading portion discharge port for discharging the material to be kneaded kneaded in the kneading space, a kneading portion opening / closing mechanism for opening and closing the kneading portion discharge port, and the kneading portion in the kneading space. A circulation passage for circulating the kneaded product, and a kneading unit that circulates a certain amount of the kneaded material in the kneading space so that the fluid of the kneaded material can be discharged from the outlet of the kneading unit. Part, a buffer part provided so as to be able to store the fluid discharged from the kneading part outlet more than the predetermined amount, and a discharge part for discharging the fluid stored in the buffer part to the outside of the apparatus And For example, the discharge part includes a discharge passage communicating with the buffer unit, by exhaust Izuru path, a discharge screw for conveying said fluid, and a discharge screw driver for rotating the said discharge screw, the discharge screw A discharge portion discharge port provided on the downstream side in the transport direction, and the discharge screw is provided on the side on the upstream side in the transport direction so that an opening communicating with the buffer portion is located in the discharge flow path. A buffer unit opening / closing mechanism that regulates a size of the opening between the buffer unit and the discharge channel and regulates an outflow amount of the fluid in the buffer unit to the discharge channel. It is characterized by being provided .

According to this invention, in the kneading part, the kneading screw can be rotated by the kneading screw driving part and circulated in the kneading space between the kneading screw and the kneading cylinder part to knead the material to be kneaded in a certain amount. The material to be kneaded can be discharged as a fluid from the kneading part discharge port by opening the kneading part discharge port by the kneading part opening / closing mechanism. By repeating these in order, a certain amount or more of the fluid that has been kneaded from the kneading section can be stored in the buffer section. Then, the fluid stored in the buffer unit is discharged outside the apparatus by the discharge unit.
In this way, since a certain amount or more of the fluid can be stored and discharged in the buffer section, it is possible to adjust the timing of discharging the fluid, and a certain amount or more of the material to be kneaded that is kneaded at once in the kneading section. The fluid of the product can be discharged together.
Further, the fluid of the material to be kneaded can be pressurized by the discharge screw and continuously discharged from the discharge port.
Moreover, the speed | rate at which the fluid of the to-be-kneaded material stored by the buffer part is discharged | emitted by the discharge flow path can be adjusted by controlling the magnitude | size of an opening with a buffer part opening / closing mechanism.

Another kneading machine of the present invention includes a shaft-shaped kneading screw, a kneading screw driving unit that rotates the kneading screw, and a kneading space that surrounds the kneading screw and kneads an object to be kneaded between the kneading screws. And a kneading cylinder opening provided with a kneading part discharge port for discharging the material to be kneaded kneaded in the kneading space, a kneading part opening / closing mechanism for opening and closing the kneading part discharge port, A circulation flow path for circulating the material to be kneaded, so that a certain amount of the material to be kneaded is circulated in the kneading space so that the fluid of the material to be kneaded can be discharged from the discharge port of the kneading unit. The kneading part, the buffer discharged from the kneading part discharge port, the buffer part provided so as to be stored in a predetermined amount or more, and the fluid stored in the buffer part are discharged to the outside of the apparatus. With the discharge section The discharge unit includes: a discharge channel communicating with the buffer unit; a discharge screw that conveys the fluid in the discharge channel; a discharge screw driving unit that rotates the discharge screw; and the discharge A discharge portion provided on the downstream side of the screw in the conveying direction, and a transfer mechanism for transferring the fluid in the buffer portion to the discharge flow path is provided, and the transfer mechanism has a check valve. By moving the piston back and forth, the fluid in the buffer unit is transferred to the discharge channel side.
According to this invention, the fluid stored in the buffer unit can be more reliably transferred to the discharge channel.
Further, since the transfer mechanism is configured to reciprocate the piston having the check valve within the buffer portion, the apparatus configuration can be made compact as compared with the case where the transfer mechanism is provided outside the buffer portion.

Another kneading machine of the present invention includes a shaft-shaped kneading screw, a kneading screw driving unit that rotates the kneading screw, and a kneading space that surrounds the kneading screw and kneads an object to be kneaded between the kneading screws. And a kneading cylinder opening provided with a kneading part discharge port for discharging the material to be kneaded kneaded in the kneading space, a kneading part opening / closing mechanism for opening and closing the kneading part discharge port, A circulation flow path for circulating the material to be kneaded, so that a certain amount of the material to be kneaded is circulated in the kneading space so that the fluid of the material to be kneaded can be discharged from the discharge port of the kneading unit. The kneading part, the buffer discharged from the kneading part discharge port, the buffer part provided so as to be stored in a predetermined amount or more, and the fluid stored in the buffer part are discharged to the outside of the apparatus. With the discharge section The discharge unit includes a discharge unit discharge port communicating with the buffer unit, and a discharge unit opening / closing mechanism that controls a discharge amount of the fluid in the buffer unit by regulating a size of the discharge unit discharge port It is characterized by providing these.
According to this invention, the speed at which the fluid of the material to be kneaded stored in the buffer part is discharged to the outside of the apparatus can be adjusted by regulating the size of the discharge part discharge port by the discharge part opening / closing mechanism. .

An extrusion molding apparatus according to the present invention includes any of the kneaders described above, and performs molding by extruding the fluid from a discharge portion of the kneader into a mold .
According to the present invention, the same effects as described above can be obtained.

  According to the kneading machine and the extrusion molding apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to discharge a predetermined amount or more of materials to be kneaded that are kneaded at a time.

It is sectional drawing of the axial direction of the extrusion molding apparatus of 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the structure and operation | movement of a piston of the extrusion molding apparatus of 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows operation | movement of the extrusion molding apparatus of 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows operation | movement of the extrusion molding apparatus of 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing of the axial direction of the extrusion molding apparatus of 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing of the axial direction which shows the modification of the extrusion molding apparatus of 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing of the axial direction of the kneading machine of 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing of the axial direction of the extrusion molding apparatus using the kneading machine of 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a top view which illustrates typically the composition of the extrusion-molded article obtained with the extrusion-molding device of each embodiment of the present invention.

(First embodiment)
Hereinafter, a first embodiment of an extrusion molding apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. FIG. 1 is an axial sectional view of an extrusion molding apparatus.
The extrusion molding apparatus 1 includes a kneader 2 for kneading the material to be kneaded W, a mold 3 attached to the kneader 2, and a roller 4 for adjusting the direction of an extruded product W5 extruded from the mold 3. And a water tank 5 in which water circulates and a take-up machine 6 having a rotating part 6a that can rotate at a constant speed, and the material to be kneaded kneaded in the kneader 2 is extruded into the mold 3. This is an apparatus for winding and extruding the extruded molded product W5 cooled in the water tank 5 while being pulled by the rotating portion 6a of the take-up machine 6.
The kneader 2 is installed so that the direction D1 is downward in the vertical direction in normal use. In this embodiment, the material to be kneaded W is composed of two kinds of materials consisting of a polymer material and powder particles.

  The material to be kneaded W of the polymer material is not particularly limited as long as it is a thermoplastic material. For example, polyethylene (low density / high density / linear low density / ultra high molecular weight), ionomer resin (For example, ethylene-methacrylic acid copolymer ionomer resin), polypropylene (homo, random, block, atactic, syndiotactic), ultrahigh molecular weight polypropylene, polybutene, 4-methylpentene-1 polymer, cyclic polyolefin resin, styrene resin (Polystyrene, butadiene-styrene resin, acrylonitrile-styrene resin, acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) resin, etc.), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyvinylidene chloride, polycarbonate, polyacetal, polyphenylene oxide, polyacetic acid Nyl, polyvinyl alcohol, polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), cellulose acetate, polyester (for example, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), polytrimethylene terephthalate, etc.), polyamide resin, polyimide resin, fluorine resin, polysulfone , Polyethersulfone, polyarylate, polyetheretherketone (PEEK), liquid crystal polymer, thermoplastic polyurethane, thermoplastic elastomer, biodegradable polymer, and a copolymer thereof can be used.

Further, the material to be kneaded W of powder particles is not particularly limited as long as it is a material that can be combined with a molecular material. For example, inorganic materials include metal inorganic salts such as barium sulfate and calcium carbonate, metal oxides such as alumina, and the like. , Nitrogen compounds such as boron nitride, single or composite materials such as powdered carbon, acicular carbon, carbon nanotubes, fullerenes, and organic matter can be added polytetrafluoroethylene powder, ultrahigh molecular weight powder, polyimide powder, etc. Good. It may be a composite particle of an inorganic substance and an organic substance. Further, the amount of the powder particles added is not particularly limited as long as the amount can be combined with the polymer material. Furthermore, when compounding powder particles made of an inorganic substance and an organic substance, the inorganic substance used may be a single substance or a composite of two or more kinds.
Further, various additive components commonly used as components to be dispersed in the resin mixture in the material to be kneaded W, such as a compatibilizing agent, a crystal nucleating agent, a coloring inhibitor, an antioxidant, a release agent, a plasticizer, a heat stabilizer, and a lubricant Additives such as ultraviolet ray inhibitors, colorants, and flame retardants may also be used.

The kneading machine 2 according to the present embodiment includes a kneading unit 9 that kneads a certain amount of the material W to be kneaded, transports it in the first transport direction E1 in the horizontal direction E, and discharges it. The buffer part 10 provided so that the fluid W1 of the discharged to-be-kneaded material W can be stored more than a certain amount, the discharge part 11 for extruding the fluid stored in the buffer part 10 into the mold 3, and the buffer part And a transfer mechanism 12 that transfers the material to be kneaded 10 in the discharge unit 11 to the discharge unit 11.
The kneading part 9, the buffer part 10 and the discharge part 11 are respectively formed inside the rectangular parallelepiped base body 8 whose interior is controlled to a constant temperature at which the material to be kneaded W is melted by temperature control means (not shown). The kneading part 9 is formed above the inside of the base body 8, the buffer part 10 is formed below the kneading part 9 on the first transport direction E1 side, and the discharge part 11 is formed below the kneading part 9. .

  The kneading unit 9 includes a substantially cylindrical kneading screw 14, a kneading screw driving unit 15 that rotates the kneading screw 14, and a kneading space that surrounds the kneading screw 14 and kneads the material W to be kneaded therebetween. Kneading cylinder part 17 provided with kneading part discharge port 16 for discharging fluid W1 of material W to be kneaded while forming S, and kneading part opening / closing mechanism for opening and closing kneading part discharge port 16 18 and a circulation channel 19 for circulating the material to be kneaded W in the kneading space S.

The kneading cylinder portion 17 of the present embodiment is formed in the base body 8 so as to extend in the horizontal direction E as a cylindrical hole portion. Further, the kneading screw 14 has a spiral screw 14 c formed on the outer peripheral portion, and is disposed coaxially with the kneading cylinder portion 17 inside the kneading cylinder portion 17. Thereby, the kneading screw 14 can convey the material W to be kneaded in the first conveying direction E1.
The kneading part discharge port 16 is formed below the end of the kneading cylinder part 17 on the first transport direction E1 side.
Further, the circulation channel 19 of the present embodiment is formed inside the kneading screw 14. That is, the circulation flow path 19 is connected to the kneading screw 14 in the second conveying direction E2 opposite to the first conveying direction E1 from the tip 14a that is the end of the kneading screw 14 on the first conveying direction E1 side. A tip-side circulation channel 19a extending to the inside, and an outer peripheral portion 14b of the kneading screw 14 extending from the end of the tip-side circulation channel 19a on the second conveying direction E2 side in a direction perpendicular to the tip-side circulation channel 19a. The base end side circulation channel 19b communicates with at least one place (two places in the figure).

The kneading screw drive unit 15 is attached to the side surface 8a of the base body 8 on the second conveying direction E2 side on the second conveying direction E2 side of the kneading screw 14, and rotates the kneading screw 14 at, for example, two stages. It is possible to make it.
The kneading part opening / closing mechanism 18 includes a plate-like kneading shutter 22 that can move in the horizontal direction E and close the flow path of the kneading part discharge port 16, and a base body on the first conveying direction E 1 side of the kneading shutter 22. 8 and a kneading shutter opening / closing portion 23 attached to the side surface 8b on the first transport direction E1 side and moving the kneading shutter 22 forward and backward with respect to the kneading portion discharge port 16.
The base body 8 is formed with a material charging port 8d extending downward from the top surface 8c and communicating with the second conveying direction E2 side of the kneading cylinder portion 17, and the material to be kneaded W is stored in the material charging port 8d. A hopper 24 to be fed to the material input port 8d is attached.

The buffer unit 10 is formed below the kneading unit discharge port 16 of the kneading unit 9 so as to communicate with the kneading unit discharge port 16. And in this embodiment, the buffer part 10 is set so that it may have the volume of the fixed amount with which the to-be-kneaded material W is knead | mixed at once by the kneading part 9, for example about 2 times.
The discharge unit 11 is a columnar hole communicating with the buffer unit 10, and a discharge screw 27 formed in the outer periphery of the discharge channel 27 to convey the fluid W <b> 1 in the discharge channel 27. A cylindrical discharge screw 28, a discharge screw drive unit 29 that rotates the discharge screw 28, and a discharge unit discharge port 30 provided on the second conveying direction E <b> 2 side of the discharge screw 28 are provided.
The discharge channel 27 is formed on the second transport direction E2 side of the buffer unit 10 so as to extend in the horizontal direction E adjacent to the kneading cylinder unit 17. The discharge screw 28 is disposed coaxially with the discharge flow path 27 inside the discharge flow path 27, and is rotatably supported on the end side connected to the discharge screw drive unit 29.
The discharge screw drive unit 29 is attached to the side surface 8 a of the base body 8 on the second conveyance direction E2 side of the discharge screw 28.
The discharge part discharge port 30 extends downward from the end of the discharge flow path 27 on the second transport direction E2 side to the bottom surface 8e of the base body 8. A mold 3 is attached to the opening on the bottom surface 8 e side of the discharge flow path 27.

The transfer mechanism 12 includes a piston 34 having a check valve 33 movably provided between the inside of the buffer unit 10 and the end of the discharge screw 28 on the first transport direction E1 side, and the piston 34 in the horizontal direction. And a rod-shaped shaft portion 39 that extends in the horizontal direction E and connects the piston 34 and the piston transfer portion 35.
The piston transfer portion 35 is attached to the side surface 8b of the base body 8 on the first conveyance direction E1 side of the piston 34.
The operations of the kneading screw driving unit 15, the discharge screw driving unit 29, the kneading shutter opening / closing unit 23, and the piston transfer unit 35 are controlled by a control unit 36 connected to each of them and attached to the side surface 8a of the base body 8. .

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the configuration of the piston 34. FIG. 2A shows a state where the transfer mechanism 12 moves the piston 34 in the second transport direction E2, and FIG. The state when moving to the 1 conveyance direction E1 side is shown. Then, the check valve 33 included in the piston 34 is configured so that the fluid W1 flows only in the second transport direction E2 as described below.
As shown in FIG. 2A, the columnar piston 34 is formed with a plurality of main body side locking holes 34 a and transfer holes 34 b penetrating in the direction along the axis C <b> 1 of the piston 34.
The check valve 33 has a disc portion 33a having a slightly smaller diameter than the piston 34, and protrudes in a direction along the axis C1 from the disc portion 33a to a piston-side engagement hole 34a of the piston 34 in a direction along the axis C1. And a check valve side locking portion 33b inserted so as to be able to advance and retreat.

When the transfer mechanism 12 moves the piston 34 to the second transport direction E2 side as shown in FIG. 2 (a), the piston 34 configured in this way has a second check valve 33 as described later. The fluid W1 arranged on the conveyance direction E2 side pushes the check valve 33 toward the first conveyance direction E1 side. For this reason, since the check valve 33 is in close contact with the piston 34 and the transfer hole 34b is closed, the fluid W1 can be prevented from flowing toward the first transport direction E1.
Further, as shown in FIG. 2B, when the transfer mechanism 12 moves the piston 34 to the first transport direction E1 side, the fluid disposed on the first transport direction E1 side of the piston 34 as described later. W1 flows from the transfer hole 34b and pushes the check valve 33 toward the second transport direction E2. Therefore, the check valve 33 is moved together with the piston 34 in a state where the check valve side locking portion 33b of the check valve 33 is locked in the piston side locking hole 34a of the piston 34. As a result, the fluid W1 can flow to the second transport direction E2 side through the gap formed between the piston 34 and the check valve 33 via the transfer hole 34b.

Next, the operation of manufacturing the extruded product W5 having a desired length by the extrusion molding apparatus 1 configured as described above will be described focusing on the operation of the kneader 2. 3 and 4 are explanatory views showing the operation of the extrusion molding apparatus 1.
FIG. 1 shows a state where a certain amount of the kneaded fluid W1 of the material W to be kneaded is discharged from the kneading part discharge port 16 of the kneading part 9 and stored in the buffer part 10.
In addition, each figure has shown the state in the middle of the extrusion molding apparatus 1 which operate | moves continuously, The fluid W1 illustrated in the discharge flow path 27 and the discharge part discharge port 30 does not exist at the time of the start of extrusion molding. is there.
From the state shown in FIG. 1, the control unit 36 causes the kneading shutter opening / closing unit 23 to advance the kneading shutter 22 to the kneading unit discharge port 16 to close the kneading unit discharge port 16 to knead the material W to be kneaded. The kneading screw drive unit 15 rotates the kneading screw 14 at the second rotation speed, which is the higher of the two speeds. Then, a predetermined amount of the material to be kneaded W stored in the hopper 24 and kneaded in the kneading unit 9 at a time is charged into the kneading cylinder unit 17 through the material charging port 8d.

Then, as shown in FIG. 3, the material to be kneaded W put into the kneading cylinder portion 17 is extruded in the first conveying direction E1 by the rotation of the screw 14c of the kneading screw 14, and kneaded through the kneading space S. The screw 14 is moved toward the tip 14a side.
During this time, the material to be kneaded W receives shearing force from the kneading screw 14 in the kneading space S to generate heat and melt, and the material to be kneaded W becomes a fluid W1 and is kneaded. The fluid W1 that has reached the distal end portion 14a flows into the distal end side circulation channel 19a while receiving a large shearing force between the distal end portion 14a and the kneading cylinder portion 17, and the distal end side circulation channel 19a and the proximal end side It passes through the circulation channel 19b in this order, returns to the outer peripheral portion 14b of the kneading screw 14, and is again extruded through the kneading space S toward the tip portion 14a of the kneading screw 14. Thus, a certain amount of the material W to be kneaded is repeatedly kneaded as a fluid W1 while circulating through the kneading space S and the circulation channel 19.

In this way, until the material to be kneaded is kneaded for a certain period of time and the first kneading is completed, as shown in FIG. 4, the control unit 36 moves the piston 34 to the second kneading unit discharge port 16. It moves to the conveyance direction E2 side, and it is set as the state by which the lower part of the kneading part discharge port 16 was open | released. Then, the rotational speed of the kneading screw 14 is decreased to the first rotational speed, the first shutter 22 is retracted from the kneading part discharge port 16 by the first shutter opening / closing part 23, and the kneading part discharge port 16 is moved to the buffer part 10. Communicate with.
As a result, as shown in FIG. 1, a certain amount of fluid W1 in the kneading unit 9 is sequentially conveyed to the tip end portion 14a side by the rotation of the kneading screw 14, and when the fluid W1 reaches the tip end portion 14a, the kneading is performed. It drops downward through the part discharge port 16 and is stored in the buffer part 10.

When a certain amount of the fluid W1 is discharged into the buffer unit 10, the control unit 36 drives the first shutter opening / closing unit 23 to close the kneading unit discharge port 16 by the first shutter 22. Then, the kneading unit 9 performs kneading with the following fixed amount of the material W to be kneaded in the same manner as described above.
On the other hand, on the side of the buffer unit 10 and the transfer mechanism 12, the control unit 36 moves the piston 34 to the first transport direction E1 side by the piston transfer unit 35, and a certain amount of flow stored in the buffer unit 10 is reached. The body W1 is moved to the second conveying direction E2 side of the check valve 33 through the transfer hole 34b formed in the piston 34.

Next, as shown in FIG. 3, the control unit 36 causes the piston transfer unit 35 to move a fixed amount of the fluid W1 to the second transport direction E2 side by the piston 34. At this time, as described above, the fluid W1 is prevented from flowing through the piston 34 toward the first transport direction E1.
At this time, the discharge screw 28 is rotated by the discharge screw drive unit 29 at a constant rotational speed necessary for extrusion molding. Therefore, a certain amount of the fluid W1 transferred from the buffer unit 10 by the piston 34 is transported in the second transport direction E2 within the discharge flow path 27 by the discharge screw 28 as shown in FIG. It is conveyed to the discharge port 30 at a constant speed.

The controller 36 causes the piston transfer unit 35 to press the fluid W1 with the piston 34 at a constant pressure in the second transport direction E2 so that the fluid W1 is stably discharged from the discharge screw 28.
And the fluid W1 conveyed to the discharge part discharge port 30 is extruded to a fixed shape through the discharge part discharge port 30 and the metal mold 3 as shown in FIG. And is wound up while being pulled by the rotating portion 6a of the take-up machine 6.

Thus, in the state where the kneading unit discharge port 16 is closed, the kneading unit 9 side is disconnected from the buffer unit 10 and the transfer mechanism 12 side, and each operates independently. When the second and subsequent kneading operations are completed in the kneading unit 9, the piston 34 is retracted in advance in the second conveying direction E2 side of the kneading unit discharge port 16, and the kneading unit discharge port 16 is moved to the buffer unit 10 in advance. A certain amount of the fluid W1 is discharged into the buffer unit 10. The fixed amount of fluid W1 stored in the buffer unit 10 is conveyed to the discharge screw 28 side by the piston 34 as described above, but the discharge screw 28 is provided so that the fluid W1 supplied to the discharge screw 28 is not interrupted. A certain amount of fluid W1 is conveyed to the discharge screw 28 before the fluid W1 at the end on the first conveying direction E1 side is eliminated, and is conveyed to the fluid W1 that has already been conveyed by the discharge screw 28. The fluid W1 is attached and integrated.
And the control part 36 repeats the series of operation | movement demonstrated above until it manufactures the extrusion molded product W5 of desired length, Then, operation | movement of the kneading screw drive part 15, the discharge screw drive part 29 grade | etc., Is stopped.

Thus, according to the extrusion molding apparatus 1 of the first embodiment of the present invention, the kneading screw 14 is rotated by the kneading screw driving unit 15 in the kneading unit 9, and the kneading space S between the kneading screw 14 and the kneading cylinder unit 17. The material to be kneaded W can be melted and kneaded by a certain amount by circulating in the above. And the to-be-kneaded material W can be discharged | emitted as the fluid W1 from the kneading part discharge port 16 by opening the kneading part discharge port 16 by the kneading part opening / closing mechanism 18. Then, by repeating these steps in sequence, a certain amount or more of the fluid W1 that has been kneaded from the kneading unit 9 can be stored in the buffer unit 10.
Further, since the fluid W1 stored in the buffer unit 10 is moved by the piston 34 of the transfer mechanism 12, there is no transfer mechanism 12, and the fluid W1 flows out of the buffer unit 10 and moves to the discharge channel 27. In comparison, the fluid W1 can be more reliably transferred to the discharge flow path 27.

In addition, since the transfer mechanism 12 is configured to reciprocate the piston 34 having the check valve 33 in the buffer unit 10, the apparatus configuration can be made compact compared to the case where the transfer mechanism is provided outside the buffer unit 10. Can do.
Moreover, since this discharge part 11 is equipped with the discharge flow path 27, the discharge screw 28, the discharge screw drive part 29, and the discharge part discharge port 30, the fluid W1 is pressurized with the discharge screw 28, and the discharge part It is possible to continuously extrude from the discharge port 30.

  In the present embodiment, every time a fixed amount of fluid W1 is discharged from the kneading unit 9 to the buffer unit 10, the transfer mechanism 12 discharges the fixed amount of fluid W1 from the buffer unit 10 into the discharge channel 27. It was transferred to the screw 28 side. However, depending on the speed at which the fluid W1 is discharged from the discharge portion discharge port 30, the operation timing of the transfer mechanism 12 is changed to store the fluid W1 in the buffer portion 10 more than twice a certain amount, and then the transfer mechanism 12 is stored. Thus, the fluid W1 may be collectively transferred from the buffer unit 10 to the discharge screw 28 side.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment according to the present invention will be described. The same parts as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, the description thereof will be omitted, and only different points will be described.
As shown in FIG. 5, the kneader 52 of the extrusion molding apparatus 51 of the present embodiment is provided with a discharge unit 54 in place of the discharge unit 11 by deleting the transfer mechanism 12 of the kneader 2 of the above embodiment.
The discharge portion 54 includes a discharge passage 55 extending in the horizontal direction E and having an opening 55a formed at an end portion on the first transport direction E1 side communicating with a lower portion of the buffer portion 10, and an inside of the discharge passage 55. Are disposed coaxially with the discharge flow path 55, the discharge screw 56 whose end on the first transport direction E1 side extends to the lower side of the opening 55 a, the discharge screw drive unit 29 that rotates the discharge screw 56, and the discharge flow path 55 And a discharge portion discharge port 30 provided on the second transport direction E2 side.

The operation of the kneader 52 is different from the operation of the kneader 2 in the above embodiment only in the following points. That is, in the kneader 2 in the above embodiment, the fluid W1 is transported to the discharge screw 28 by the transfer mechanism 12 before the fluid W1 at the end of the discharge screw 28 on the first transport direction E1 side disappears. On the other hand, in the kneading machine 52 of the present embodiment, before the fluid W1 on the end of the discharge screw 56 on the first conveying direction E1 side disappears, a constant amount is discharged from the kneading unit discharge port 16 of the kneading unit 9. The fluid W1 is discharged.
According to the extrusion molding apparatus 51 of the second embodiment of the present invention, the fluid W1 stored in the buffer unit 10 without using the transfer mechanism 12 is discharged by the gravity acting on the fluid W1. Can be moved to.

Next, a modification of this embodiment will be described. As shown in FIG. 6, in addition to the configuration of the kneader 52 of the above-described embodiment, the kneader 60 of the present modification regulates the size of the opening 55a at the lower part of the buffer unit 10 to A buffer unit opening / closing mechanism 57 is provided that regulates the amount of fluid W1 flowing into the discharge channel 55.
The buffer section opening / closing mechanism 57 includes a plate-shaped buffer shutter 58 that can move in the horizontal direction E and close the flow path of the opening 55a, and the side surface of the base body 8 on the first transport direction E1 side of the buffer shutter 58. A buffer shutter opening / closing portion 59 attached to 8b for moving the buffer shutter 58 forward and backward with respect to the opening 55a. The buffer shutter opening / closing unit 59 is connected to the control unit 36 and its operation is controlled.

The operation of the kneader 60 is different from the operation of the kneader 52 in the above embodiment only in the following points. That is, in the kneading machine 52 in the above-described embodiment, the fluid W1 discharged from the kneading part discharge port 16 of the kneading part 9 is on the end of the discharge screw 56 on the first conveying direction E1 side due to gravity acting on itself. Moved to. On the other hand, in the kneading machine 60 of this modification, the fluid W1 discharged from the kneading part discharge port 16 moves to the discharge screw 56 after passing through the opening 55a whose size is regulated.
According to such an extrusion molding apparatus 51 of this modification, the fluid W1 stored in the buffer unit 10 is discharged to the discharge channel 55 by regulating the size of the opening 55a by the buffer unit opening / closing mechanism 57. Speed can be adjusted.

(Third embodiment)
Next, a third embodiment according to the present invention will be described. The same parts as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, description thereof will be omitted, and only different points will be described.
As shown in FIG. 7, the kneading machine 62 of the present embodiment is provided with a discharge unit 67 in place of the discharge unit 11 by deleting the transfer mechanism 12 of the kneader 2 of the above embodiment.
The discharge part 67 regulates the size of the discharge part discharge port 65 formed so as to penetrate from the buffer part 10 to the bottom surface 8e of the base body 8 in the lower part of the buffer part 10, and the discharge part discharge port 65, A discharge portion opening / closing mechanism 66 that regulates the discharge amount of the fluid W1 in the buffer portion 10.
The discharge part opening / closing mechanism 66 is a plate-like discharge part shutter 70 that can move in the horizontal direction E and close the discharge part discharge port 65, and the base body 8 on the first conveyance direction E 1 side of the discharge part shutter 70. A discharge portion shutter opening / closing portion 71 that is attached to the side surface 8b and advances and retracts the discharge portion shutter 70 with respect to the discharge portion discharge port 65. The discharge unit shutter opening / closing unit 71 is connected to the control unit 36 and its operation is controlled.

The operation of the kneader 62 is different from the operation of the kneader 2 in the above embodiment only in the following points. That is, in the kneader 2 in the above embodiment, the fluid W1 stored in the buffer unit 10 is conveyed to the discharge screw 28 by the transfer mechanism 12. On the other hand, in the kneading machine 52 of the present embodiment, when the fluid W1 that is about twice as much as a predetermined amount in which the material to be kneaded is kneaded at a time is stored in the buffer unit 10, the discharge unit shutter opening / closing unit 71 By moving the discharge unit shutter 70 forward and backward, the size of the discharge unit discharge port 65 is regulated, and the fluid W1 is discharged from the discharge unit discharge port 65.
According to the kneader 62 of the third embodiment of the present invention as described above, the size of the discharge part discharge port 65 is regulated by the discharge part opening / closing mechanism 66, so that the to-be-kneaded object W stored in the buffer part 10 is reduced. The speed at which the fluid W1 is discharged to the outside of the apparatus can be adjusted.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 8, after supplying the fluid W1 discharged | emitted from the discharge part discharge port 65 of the kneading machine 62 of this embodiment to the extrusion mechanism 75 shown below, it extrudes to the metal mold | die 3, An extrusion molded product W5 can be manufactured by the extrusion molding apparatus 61 using the kneader 62.
As the extruding mechanism 75, the discharge screw 56 may be rotated to extrude the fluid W1 as in the discharge portion 54 shown in FIG. 5, or the fluid W1 may be pushed using a constant volume pump or the like. It may be a thing to issue.

Although the first to third embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail with reference to the drawings, the specific configuration is not limited to this embodiment, and the configuration does not depart from the gist of the present invention. Changes are also included.
For example, in the first to third embodiments, the circulation channel 19 is formed inside the kneading screw 14, but the circulation channel may be formed in the base body 8.

In the first to third embodiments, the direction D1 is set to face downward in the vertical direction. However, the direction D1 may face an arbitrary direction.
If the amount of the fluid W1 of the material W to be kneaded accommodated in the kneading cylinder portion 17 increases, the fluid W1 overflows from the kneading cylinder portion 17 and is discharged from the kneading portion discharge port 16. Accordingly, the direction D1 may be set to face an arbitrary direction.
In the first embodiment, when the direction D1 is in an arbitrary direction, the fluid W1 is moved from the tip portion 14a of the kneading screw 14 to the buffer portion 10 in order to move the fluid W1 more reliably. A fluid moving mechanism may be provided. In the second embodiment as well, a fluid moving mechanism that moves the fluid W1 from the tip end portion 14a of the kneading screw 14 to the discharge screw 56 may be provided.
In the first to third embodiments, the kneading part opening / closing mechanism 18, the buffer part opening / closing mechanism 57, and the discharge part opening / closing mechanism 66 are mechanisms for moving the shutter forward and backward to block the flow path. It may be a mechanism for opening and closing a valve attached to the.

  In the first to third embodiments, the completion of the kneading of the material to be kneaded W is detected by the kneading time. However, as will be described below, the time for completing the kneading is judged from the test results obtained by performing the injection molding while changing the time for kneading the material W to be kneaded in advance under the same conditions such as the rotational speed of the kneading screw 14. May be.

In the case of an extruded product W5 produced by kneading two or more kinds of materials to be kneaded W, as shown in FIG. 9, a sample W6 cut out from the extruded product W5 is a basic phase W7 called a matrix, And a dispersed phase W8 called a domain. Here, for example, a sample W6 having a predetermined size of 10 mm × 10 mm and a thickness of 1 mm is cut out from the extruded product W5, and the size of the particles of the dispersed phase W8 is measured. Then, the particle size in the direction in which the diameter of each particle of the dispersed phase W8 is the largest is defined as the dispersed phase particle size W9, and the average value μ and the standard deviation σ of the dispersed phase particle size W9 are obtained.
Then, a variation coefficient K expressed by the following equation is obtained. The coefficient of variation K shows a smaller value as the dispersibility of the material W to be kneaded becomes higher.
K = σ / μ × 100 (%) (1)

Then, the dispersibility is evaluated by the coefficient of variation K, and when the coefficient of variation K becomes smaller than a predetermined value, it is determined that the kneading is completed.
A plurality of extrusion-molded products W5 are manufactured from the material to be kneaded W, in which only the kneading time is changed, with the rotational speed of the kneading screw 14 being the same. A sample W6 is cut out from each of the plurality of extruded products W5, and the coefficient of variation K for each sample W6 is obtained using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and a transmission electron microscope (TEM). Find the change in K.
The time for kneading the material to be kneaded required for the coefficient of variation K to be smaller than a predetermined value is obtained, and in the subsequent extrusion molding, the material to be kneaded W is kneaded for the obtained time, so that the coefficient of variation K is It is possible to produce an extruded product W5 that is smaller than the predetermined value and has high dispersibility.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 51, 61 Extrusion molding apparatus 2, 52, 60, 62 Kneading machine 9 Kneading part 10 Buffer part 11, 54, 67 Discharge part 12 Transfer mechanism 14 Kneading screw 15 Kneading screw drive part 16 Kneading part discharge port 17 Kneading cylinder part DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 18 Kneading part opening / closing mechanism 19 Circulation flow path 27, 55 Discharge flow path 28, 56 Conveying screw 29 Conveying screw drive part 30, 65 Discharge part discharge port 33 Check valve 34 Piston 57 Buffer part opening / closing mechanism 66 Discharge part opening / closing mechanism S Kneading | mixing Space W Material to be kneaded W1 Fluid

Claims (4)

An axial kneading screw, a kneading screw driving section for rotating the kneading screw, and a kneading space surrounding the kneading screw to knead the material to be kneaded are formed and kneaded in the kneading space. A kneading cylinder part provided with a kneading part discharge port for discharging the kneaded part, a kneading part opening / closing mechanism for opening and closing the kneading part outlet, and a circulating flow for circulating the kneading substance in the kneading space. A kneading section having a path, and allowing a fluid of the kneaded material to be discharged from the kneading section discharge port by circulating a certain amount of the kneaded material in the kneading space;
The fluid discharged from the kneading part outlet, the buffer part provided so as to be able to store the fixed amount or more, and
E Bei and a discharge portion for discharging the fluid material stored in the buffer unit to the outside of the apparatus,
The discharge part is
A discharge channel communicating with the buffer unit;
A discharge screw for conveying the fluid in the discharge channel;
A discharge screw drive for rotating the discharge screw;
A discharge portion discharge port provided on the downstream side in the transport direction of the discharge screw,
The discharge screw is provided on the side upstream in the transport direction so that an opening communicating with the buffer unit is located in the discharge flow path.
Between the buffer unit and the discharge channel, there is provided a buffer unit opening / closing mechanism that regulates the size of the opening and regulates the flow amount of the fluid in the buffer unit to the discharge channel. A kneader characterized by that . An axial kneading screw, a kneading screw driving section for rotating the kneading screw, and a kneading space surrounding the kneading screw to knead the material to be kneaded are formed and kneaded in the kneading space. A kneading cylinder part provided with a kneading part discharge port for discharging the kneaded part, a kneading part opening / closing mechanism for opening and closing the kneading part outlet, and a circulating flow for circulating the kneading substance in the kneading space. A kneading section having a path, and allowing a fluid of the kneaded material to be discharged from the kneading section discharge port by circulating a certain amount of the kneaded material in the kneading space;
The fluid discharged from the kneading part outlet, the buffer part provided so as to be able to store the fixed amount or more, and
E Bei and a discharge portion for discharging the fluid material stored in the buffer unit to the outside of the apparatus,
The discharge part is
A discharge channel communicating with the buffer unit;
A discharge screw for conveying the fluid in the discharge channel;
A discharge screw drive for rotating the discharge screw;
A discharge portion discharge port provided on the downstream side in the transport direction of the discharge screw,
A transfer mechanism for transferring the fluid in the buffer section to the discharge channel,
The kneading machine is characterized in that the transfer mechanism is configured to transfer the fluid in the buffer section to the discharge channel side by reciprocatingly driving a piston having a check valve . An axial kneading screw, a kneading screw driving section for rotating the kneading screw, and a kneading space surrounding the kneading screw to knead the material to be kneaded are formed and kneaded in the kneading space. A kneading cylinder part provided with a kneading part discharge port for discharging the kneaded part, a kneading part opening / closing mechanism for opening and closing the kneading part outlet, and a circulating flow for circulating the kneading substance in the kneading space. A kneading section having a path, and allowing a fluid of the kneaded material to be discharged from the kneading section discharge port by circulating a certain amount of the kneaded material in the kneading space;
The fluid discharged from the kneading part outlet, the buffer part provided so as to be able to store the fixed amount or more, and
E Bei and a discharge portion for discharging the fluid material stored in the buffer unit to the outside of the apparatus,
The discharge unit includes a discharge unit discharge port communicating with the buffer unit,
A kneading machine comprising: a discharge part opening / closing mechanism that regulates a size of the discharge part discharge port and restricts a discharge amount of the fluid in the buffer part . A kneader according to any one of claims 1 to 3 ,
An extrusion molding apparatus that performs molding by receiving the fluid from the discharge unit of the kneader.

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