JP6688710B2 - Powder-granulating device and powder-granulating method - Google Patents

Description

  TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a powder and particle dispersal device and a powder and particle dispersal method using the same.

  In the production of various products, it is required to uniformly disperse the powder particles in the width direction of the continuously conveyed base material. Regarding the technology aiming to meet such a demand, for example, Patent Document 1 includes a hopper capable of temporarily storing powder and granules therein, and the powder and granules discharged from the hopper are continuously conveyed. In the powder-dispersion device capable of being sprayed on the base material, below the hopper, a screw conveyor for horizontally conveying the powder discharged from the hopper is arranged, and the screw conveyor is substantially A rotor for transporting the powder or granular material in the vertical direction is arranged below, and a gap adjusting mechanism for discharging the powder or granular material in a state where the powder or granular materials are vertically aligned one by one under the rotor. It is disclosed to arrange.

JP-A-6-92433

  The powdery- or granular-material spreading device described in Patent Document 1 aligns a large number of powdery or granular materials in a vertical direction immediately before spraying the powdery or granular materials onto a substrate that is continuously conveyed, and the powdery or granular materials are removed from a row of the powdery or granular materials. When the particles are sprayed on the base material one by one, such a spraying mechanism can be applied only to the case where the powdery particles are spherical and have a small particle size distribution. When a non-spherical powder or granular material or a granular material having a wide particle size distribution is dispersed by using the granular material dispersing device described in Patent Document 1, it is difficult to align the granular material in the vertical direction, and the powder in the apparatus The particles may be clogged, and the particles may not be sprayed with good quantitativeness.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a powdery- or granular-material spraying device capable of uniformly spraying a powdery or granular material in a widthwise direction of the base material, which is continuously conveyed, with good quantitativeness.

  DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a storage unit capable of temporarily storing powder and granules therein, a discharge port for discharging powder and granules in the storage unit, and a transfer unit for powder and granules connecting the storage unit and the discharge port. A hopper provided with a passage and a discharge space which is arranged with a gap from the discharge port, and conveys the granular material discharged from the discharge port in a predetermined direction and spreads it on a continuously conveyed substrate. In the plan view, the discharge port has a length in a direction orthogonal to a conveying direction of the powder or granular substance by the conveying unit in comparison with a length in the conveying direction. The moving path has a long width, the maximum width in the conveying direction is 2 times or more and less than 5 times the maximum particle diameter of the powder or granular material, and the length in the direction in which the powder or granular material is discharged is equal to or smaller than that of the powder or granular material. It is a powdery- or granular-material-dispersing device having a diameter of 1 time or more of the maximum particle diameter and the gap being 1 time or more of the maximum particle diameter of the powdery or granular material.

  Further, the present invention is a method for spraying a powder or granular material, which comprises using the powder or granular material spraying device of the present invention to spray the powder or granular material on a continuously conveyed substrate.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to evenly and quantitatively disperse a powder or granular material in a width direction of a base material that is continuously conveyed. In particular, since the powdery- or granular-material-dispersing device of the present invention can make the flow of powdery or granular material in the moving path for powdery or granular material provided in the device a steady flow and improve the fluidity of the powdery or granular material, Even if the particles are not spherical or have a relatively wide particle size distribution, clogging of the particles is unlikely to occur, and the particles are uniformly distributed in the width direction of the base material that is continuously conveyed. In addition to being able to be sprayed onto the base material, the base material can be sprayed quantitatively with high accuracy in the conveying direction of the base material.

FIG. 1 is a side view schematically showing an embodiment of the powdery or granular material spraying device of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a front view schematically showing a state in which the powdery- or granular-material spraying device shown in FIG. 1 is viewed from the downstream side in the transporting direction of the powdery- or granular material by the transporting means. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a hopper in the powdery- or granular-material spraying device shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a side view schematically showing the discharge port and its vicinity in the powdery- or granular-material spraying device shown in FIG. FIG. 5 (a) and FIG. 5 (b) are side views schematically showing main parts (conveying means) of another embodiment of the powdery- or granular-material spraying device of the present invention. 6 (a) and 6 (b) are plan views each schematically showing the discharge port of the powdery or granular material spraying device of the present invention. FIG. 7: is a graph which shows the spraying quantitative property at the time of spraying a granular material using the granular material spraying apparatus of Example 1 within the range of this invention. FIG. 8: is a graph which shows the spraying quantitative property at the time of spraying a granular material using the granular material spraying device of Example 2 within the range of this invention. FIG. 9: is a graph which shows the spraying quantitative property at the time of spraying a granular material using the granular material spraying apparatus of Example 3 within the range of this invention. FIG. 10: is a graph which shows the spraying quantitative property at the time of spraying a granular material using the granular material spraying device of Example 4 within the range of this invention. FIG. 11: is a graph which shows the spraying quantitative property at the time of spraying a granular material using the granular material spraying device of Example 5 within the scope of the present invention. FIG. 12 is a graph showing the spraying quantification property when the powdery or granular material is sprayed using the powdery or granular material spraying device of Comparative Example 1 which is outside the scope of the present invention. FIG. 13: is a graph which shows the spraying quantitative property at the time of spraying a granular material using the granular material spraying device of the comparative example 2 which is outside the scope of the present invention.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on its preferred embodiments with reference to the drawings. 1 to 4 show a powdery- or granular-material spraying device 1 which is an embodiment of the powder- or granular-material spraying device of the present invention. The powdery- or granular-material spraying device 1 conveys the hopper 2 capable of temporarily storing the powdery or granular material P therein, and the powdery or granular material P discharged from the hopper 2 in a predetermined direction indicated by a symbol X in the drawing, The carrier means 3 is provided for spraying on the base material 100 which is continuously carried. The base material 100 can be continuously transported by a known transport device such as a transport roll as shown in FIG. 1 or a belt conveyor. It should be noted that the base material 100 and the conveying device therefor do not constitute the powdery or granular material spraying device 1.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the hopper 2 is fixed to a position above the conveying means 3 (reception means 30) which is also fixed on the base plate 4 by a supporting member 5 provided upright on the base plate 4.

  The hopper 2 has a trapezoidal shape in which the upper bottom is longer than the lower bottom in a side view as shown in FIG. 1, that is, when viewed from a direction orthogonal to the conveying direction X of the powder or granular material P by the conveying means 3. It is configured to include a portion 20 and a rectangular parallelepiped discharge portion 21 that is connected to the lower end of the storage portion 20 and has a rectangular shape in the side view. The storage unit 20 has a space inside which the powder P can be stored, and the powder P can be temporarily stored in the internal space. The powder P is supplied from the upper opening of the storage unit 20 to the internal space of the storage unit 20 by the powder supply device 90. The discharge part 21 has a movement path 22 for the powder P therein, and a discharge port 23 for the powder P is formed at the lower end of the discharge part 21 (the end opposite to the storage part 20 side). Therefore, the internal space of the storage unit 20 and the discharge port 23 communicate with each other via the moving path 22. With such a configuration, the hopper 2 can discharge the powder particles P temporarily stored therein from the discharge port 23 via the moving path 22.

  The hopper 2 will be described in detail. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, an inner side wall 20i that defines an internal space of the storage unit 20 has an inclined inner side wall, a part of which extends in a direction intersecting both the horizontal direction and the vertical direction. 20is, and the rest of the inner wall 20i is a vertical wall extending in the vertical direction orthogonal to the horizontal direction. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, the internal space of the storage unit 20 that stores the powder or granular material P is defined by four inner side walls 20i and 20is, and each inner side wall 20i and 20is is One of the four inner side walls 20i, 20is, which is connected to the inner side wall 21i that defines the moving path 22 of the granular material P, is located on the most downstream side or the most upstream side in the transport direction X. All of the remaining three inner side walls 20i, except the inner side wall 20is, are vertical walls extending in the vertical direction. Since the hopper 2 has such a structure, when the aggregate of the powder or granular material P flows from the storage unit 20 into the discharge unit 21, the central portion in the direction orthogonal to the flow direction of the aggregate is more than the peripheral portion. Since the increase in the flow rate is suppressed, it is advantageous for the uniform distribution of the powder P.

  Moreover, in the discharge part 21, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 3, all of the inner side walls 21i that define the moving path 22 of the granular material P are vertical walls extending in the vertical direction orthogonal to the horizontal direction. There is. In other words, the moving path 22 which is the internal space of the discharging unit 21 is directed in the transport direction X and the direction orthogonal to the transport direction X from the end of the discharging unit 21 on the side of the connecting portion with the storage unit 20 toward the discharging port 23. It has a rectangular parallelepiped shape having the same length for any Y. Therefore, in the hopper 2 of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, in the transport direction X, the length of the upper bottom of the storage unit 20 is longer than the length of the discharge port 23, and the direction Y is orthogonal to the transport direction X. As for the above, the length of the upper bottom of the storage unit 20 is the same as the length of the discharge port 23. This structure makes it easy for the hopper 2 to stably and quantitatively discharge the powder P from the discharge port 23.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the conveying means 3 is configured to include a receiving means 30 that receives the granular material P discharged from the hopper 2, and a vibration generating means 31 that vibrates the receiving means 30. The conveying means 3 is arranged with a gap G with respect to the discharge port 23 located at the lower end of the hopper 2, and more specifically, the upper surface 30a of the receiving means 30, that is, the powder discharged from the hopper 2. It is arranged so that a predetermined gap G is formed between the surface 30a that receives and conveys the granules P and the discharge port 23. The vibration generating means 31 is fixed to the lower surface 30b of the receiving means 30. In the receiving means 30, the part (contact with the powder P) used for receiving and transporting the powder P is the portion located below the hopper 2 (discharge port 23) and its vicinity, and other than that. The portion of (1) is basically a non-contact portion of the granular material that does not come into contact with the granular material P, and the vibration generating means 31 is fixed to the lower surface 30b of the non-contact portion of the receiving means 30.

  The conveying means 3 is capable of conveying the powder or granular material P on the receiving means 30 in a predetermined direction by operating the vibration generating means 31 to vibrate the receiving means 30. The powdery or granular material spraying device 1 includes a vibration control unit (not shown) that controls the voltage and frequency applied to the vibration generating unit 31, and the vibration control unit controls the frequency and amplitude of the receiving unit 30. Then, by extension, the conveyance state of the powder P on the receiving means 30 is controlled. That is, under the control of the vibration control section, when the vibration generating means 31 is not in operation, the receiving means 30 is not vibrating, so that the transportation of the powder P on the receiving means 30 is stopped or suppressed. When the vibration generating means 31 is actuated from the above-mentioned state, the receiving means 30 starts to vibrate, so that the suspension or suppression of the granular material P on the receiving means 30 is released, and the granular material P is denoted by X in the figure. 1, and finally, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the base material 100 drops from the tip of the receiving means 30 in the conveying direction X and is continuously conveyed below the receiving means 30. Sprinkled on.

  The receiving means 30 is preferably a flat plate from the viewpoint of appropriately transmitting the vibration generated by the vibration generating means 31 to the powder or granules P on the receiving means 30, and more specifically, FIG. A flat plate member as shown is preferred. The material of the receiving means 30 composed of such a flat plate member is not particularly limited, but examples thereof include iron, stainless steel, aluminum, and plastic.

  In addition, a guide member that stands up from the upper surface 30a toward the upper side (the hopper 2 side) may be provided at the side edge portion of the receiving means 30 along the transport direction X. By providing such a guide member in the receiving means 30, it becomes possible to more reliably receive the powdery or granular material P discharged from the discharge port 23 of the hopper 2 by the receiving means 30, and the received powdery or granular material is received. Until the body P is sprayed on the base material 100, it is possible to more reliably keep the body P on the upper surface 30a without spilling from the upper surface 30a of the receiving means 30. The inconvenience of spraying the powder or granules P from the direction is avoided, and it becomes possible to surely spray the powder or granules P from the tip of the receiving means 30 in the transport direction X onto the base material 100.

  The vibration generating means 31 may be any as long as it can generate a vibration component capable of transporting the powder or granular material P on the receiving means 30 in a desired one direction. For example, a piezoelectric element such as a piezoelectric ceramic, a vibration feeder, or the like. Known vibration generating means can be used. Above all, the vibration feeder is preferably used as the vibration generating means 31. The frequency of vibration of the vibration generating means 31 is not particularly limited, but from the viewpoint of the transportability of the powder and granules and the uniformity and quantitativeness of the dispersion, etc., preferably 50 Hz or higher, more preferably 100 Hz or higher, and preferably 500 Hz. Or less, more preferably 300 Hz or less, more specifically 50 to 500 Hz, and further preferably 100 to 300 Hz.

The powdery- or granular-material spraying device 1 of the present embodiment has a width direction of the powdery or granular material P (direction orthogonal to the transporting direction of the base material 100. In the direction indicated by Y.), the main problem is to spray with excellent uniformity and with good quantitativeness, and the following (1) to (4) are adopted in order to solve such problems.
(1) The discharge port 23 has a length in a direction (width direction Y) orthogonal to the transport direction X of the powder or granular material P by the transport means 3 in a plan view (cross-sectional view orthogonal to the discharge direction of the powder or granular material P). The length W (see FIG. 3) is longer than the length D in the transport direction X (see FIGS. 1, 3 and 4).
(2) The maximum width D in the transport direction X of the moving path 22 is not less than 2 times and less than 5 times the maximum particle diameter r of the powder P (see FIG. 4) (2 ≦ D / r <5).
(3) The length H (see FIGS. 2 and 3) of the moving path 22 in the discharging direction of the powder P is 1 or more times the maximum particle diameter r of the powder P (r ≦ H).
(4) The gap G (see FIG. 1, FIG. 2, and FIG. 4) is at least 1 time the maximum particle diameter r of the powder P (r ≦ G).

  The maximum particle diameter r of the powder P can be measured by a known method, and specifically, for example, dry sieving method (JIS Z8815-1994), dynamic light scattering method, laser diffraction method, centrifugal sedimentation method, A gravity sedimentation method, an image imaging method, an FFF (field flow fractionation) method, an electrostatic detection method, a Coulter method and the like can be mentioned. Among these, it is preferable to use the maximum particle size r measured by the laser diffraction method or the Coulter method from the viewpoint of reproducibility and accuracy. Particularly, when the shape of the target powder or granule is irregular, or when the particle diameter of the powder or granule is about 5 mm or less, the maximum particle size r of the powder or granule is measured by using the laser diffraction method. It is preferable.

  Regarding the above (1), the plan view shape of the discharge port 23 located at the lower end of the discharge unit 21 has a considerable influence on the flow of the powder or granular material P in the moving path 22 in the discharge unit 21. According to the knowledge of the present inventors, when the shape of the outlet 23 in a plan view is a rectangular shape or a shape similar thereto, that is, a “long shape in one direction”, as compared with the case of a perfect circle shape or a square shape. Thus, the flow of the powder or granular material P in the moving path 22 is likely to be a steady flow, which leads to the solution of the above problems. The above (1) is adopted based on such knowledge, and the discharge port 23 has a size relation of “length W in the width direction Y> length D in the transport direction X”. The ratio of the length W to the length D, as W / D, is preferably 2 or more, more preferably 5 or more, and preferably 1000 or less, more preferably 100 or less, and more specifically, 2 ˜1000, more preferably 5 to 100. The length W means the maximum length of the discharge port 23 in the width direction Y.

  Regarding the above (2), if the maximum width D of the moving path 22 is less than twice the maximum particle diameter r of the granular material P, the granular material P may be clogged in the moving path 22. When the maximum width D of 22 is 5 times or more of the maximum particle diameter r of the powder P, it becomes difficult to make the flow of the powder P in the moving path 22 a steady flow, and the powder 100 with respect to the base material 100 becomes difficult. P cannot be uniformly sprayed in the width direction Y with good quantitativeness. The maximum width D of the moving path 22 is preferably 3 times or more and less than 4 times, based on the maximum particle diameter r of the powder P.

  Regarding the above (3), if the length H of the moving path 22 is less than 1 times the maximum particle diameter r of the powder P, the flow of the powder P may not be steadily flowed in the moving path 22, The powder particles P cannot be uniformly sprayed in the width direction Y on the material 100 with good quantitativeness. The length H of the moving path 22 is preferably 5 times or more, more preferably 10 times or more, based on the maximum particle diameter r of the powder P. The upper limit value of the length H of the moving path 22 is not limited from the viewpoint of the steady flow of the powder P, but can be determined from the viewpoint of the proper size of the device. It is preferably 100 times or less of the maximum particle diameter r of the body P.

  Regarding the above (4), when the gap G between the discharge port 23 of the hopper 2 (discharge unit 21) and the upper surface of the conveying unit 3 (receiving unit 30) is smaller than 1 times the maximum particle size r of the powder P, The powder particles P may be clogged in the gap G, and the powder particles P cannot be uniformly sprayed on the base material 100 in the width direction Y with good quantitativeness. In this regard, even if the gap G having an average particle size of the powder or granular material P or more is provided, when the powder or granular material spraying device 1 is operated for a long time, clogging between the discharge port 23 and the conveying means 3 occurs. It is not suitable for mass-produced products because it may cause inconvenience. The gap G is preferably 1.5 times or more, more preferably 2 times or more, and preferably 10 times or less, more preferably 5 times or less, based on the maximum particle diameter r of the powder P, and more specifically. It is preferably 1.5 times or more and 10 times or less, more preferably 2 times or more and 5 times or less. When the gap G is 10 times or less of the maximum particle diameter r of the powder or granule P, it is easy to keep the discharge speed of the powder or granule P constant. Particularly, when the conveying means 3 is provided with the vibration generating means 31, the discharge amount of the powder P can be controlled by the amplitude or the frequency of the vibration generating means 31, but the gap G is 10 times or less of the maximum particle diameter r. It is preferable that the discharge amount of the powder P that is discharged from the discharge port 23 of the hopper 2 is easily controlled.

  In addition to the provision of the above (1) to (4), from the viewpoint of achieving a steady flow of the powder P in the hopper 2 and further improving the fluidity, the powder P in the hopper 2 is further provided. The angle of the inner surface in contact with the horizontal direction is preferably equal to or greater than the angle of repose θ of the powder P (see FIG. 4). In the present embodiment, the side walls of the hopper 2 are all vertical walls extending in the vertical direction orthogonal to the horizontal direction except for the inclined side walls 20s (see FIGS. 1 and 2) of the storage unit 20, and the inner surfaces of the vertical walls. Is 90 ° with respect to the horizontal direction and is larger than the angle of repose θ of the powder P, and the angle of the inner surface of the inclined side wall 20s of the storage unit 20 with respect to the horizontal is the angle of repose θ of the powder P. Made the same or larger. When the “angle of the inner surface of the hopper in contact with the granular material with respect to the horizontal direction” is θ1, the ratio of θ1 to the repose angle θ of the granular material is θ1 / θ, preferably 1.2 or more, and more preferably Is 1.5 or more. Further, θ1 is preferably 1.2θ or more and 90 ° or less, more preferably 1.5θ or more and 90 ° or less.

  Further, from the viewpoint of stably improving the spraying accuracy of the powder P on the base material 100, in addition to the provision of the above (1) to (4), referring to FIG. An intersection point 23A between the imaginary straight line VL extending in the vertical direction through the center and the conveying means 3 (the upper surface 30a of the receiving means 30) has a relation between the gap G and the repose angle θ of the granular material P. It is preferably located in the range of G / tan θ or more and 15 G or less from the downstream end 3DE in the direction X. In other words, the separation distance L between the downstream end 3DE of the conveying means 3 (reception means 30) and the intersection 23A is preferably G / tan θ or more and 15 G or less. The shorter the separation distance L is, the more preferable in terms of the accuracy of spraying the powder particles P. However, if the separation distance L is too short, the powder particles P discharged from the discharge port 23 do not come into contact with the conveying means 3. Alternatively, the angle of repose of the powder or granules P may collapse, and the powder P may be directly sprayed on the base material 100 located therebelow, which may rather hinder stable improvement of spraying accuracy. The distance L is more preferably G / tan θ or more and 10 G or less.

  As the powder P, water absorbent polymer particles, sugar, activated carbon, wheat flour, PE pellets, PP pellets, PET chips, PC chips, PE granules, PBA beads, and other organic substance powders, metal powder, chloride Inorganic powders such as sodium, potassium chloride, calcium chloride, magnesium chloride, glass and lime can be used. The shape of the powder P is not particularly limited, and examples thereof include a spherical shape, a go-stone shape, an elliptical shape, an elliptic cylinder, a needle shape, and a cubic shape. According to the powdery or granular material spraying device 1, not only when the powdery or granular material P has a true spherical shape, but also when the powdery or granular material P has a shape other than a true spherical shape, it is possible to uniformly spray the base material 100 in the width direction Y with good quantitativeness. You can

  As a material for the inner sidewalls 20i, 20is, 21i of the hopper 2 that comes into contact with the powder P, it is preferable that the powder P is not easily attached to the inner walls 20i, 20is, 21i. For example, in the case of using a deliquescent material such as sodium chloride as the powder or granules, or a material such as a water-absorbing polymer that is modified by absorption of water, the inner wall of the hopper 2 has a high thermal conductivity. It is preferable to use a relatively low material. As for the thermal conductivity, it is preferable to use one having a thermal conductivity of 25 W / m · K or less at the temperature during the operation of spraying the powder and granules. By using a material having low thermal conductivity as the inner side wall of the hopper 2, it becomes easy to prevent dew condensation in the hopper 2. Further, as the material of the inner wall of the hopper 2, it is also possible to select a material having lower thermal conductivity than the outer wall which is located on the opposite side of the inner wall and constitutes the outer surface of the hopper 2. . When such an inner wall having a relatively low thermal conductivity is adopted for the hopper 2, particularly when a water-absorbent polymer is used as the powder or granular material, the water-absorbent polymer expands due to water absorption or has an adhesive property. Since the disadvantage that they are expressed and stick to each other is less likely to occur, it is preferable from the viewpoint of more reliably exhibiting the effects of the present invention described below. In addition, the material of the inner wall 20 of the hopper 2 is preferably one that is less likely to cause corrosion due to the granular material, and specifically, for example, a ceramic material such as stainless steel, glass, zirconia, or silicon nitride. Etc. Further, for example, a non-conductive material such as a resin powder, which is capable of generating static electricity between the particles P or between the particles P and the inner sidewalls 20i, 20is, 21i, is used as the particles P. In this case, it is desirable to use a conductive material for the inner side walls 20i, 20is, 21i of the hopper 2. This is because static electricity can be prevented by using a conductive material as the inner wall of the hopper. Examples of such a material include metallic materials such as stainless steel, aluminum, and copper, conductive ceramics, and materials having conductivity such as a conductive resin.

  Further, it is preferable that the inner wall surfaces 20i, 20is, 21i of the hopper 2 have a surface texture that allows the powder P to smoothly flow out to the discharge port 23. Therefore, it is preferable that the inner wall of the hopper 2 has a smooth surface and a low coefficient of dynamic friction. In particular, it is preferable that, among the inner side walls, the inclined inner side wall 20is extending in a direction intersecting both the horizontal direction and the vertical direction has such a property. Specifically, the surface roughness (Ra) of the inner side walls 20i, 20is, 21i of the hopper 2 is a value measured according to JIS B 0601-2001, and is preferably 10 μm or less, and particularly preferably 1 μm or less.

  The base material 100 is preferably a sheet-shaped base material, but is not limited to the sheet-shaped base material. Examples of the sheet-shaped base material include non-woven fabrics, resin films, woven fabrics, knitted fabrics, papers, and the like produced by various manufacturing methods, and a laminated body in which a plurality of the same or different types of these are laminated.

  Examples of the base material 100 include a sheet-shaped material on which a functional material or composition is laminated. For example, the substrate 100 may be a sheet-shaped material such as a film or a non-woven fabric, which is arranged by applying a heat-generating composition containing an oxidizable metal and water. As an example of such a form, an example of "a method for applying a powder or granular material, in which the powder or granular material is sprayed on a continuously conveyed sheet-like base material by using the powder or granular material spraying device of the present invention" As the particles of the oxidizable metal, and when producing a heat-generating sheet containing water, on a sheet-shaped substrate made of a fiber sheet that is continuously conveyed, superabsorbent polymer particles, metal particles, solid electrolyte And the like, or a method of forming an exothermic composition by spraying one or more of the above. By applying a powder or granular material such as an electrolyte such as sodium chloride or a water-absorbing polymer to the heat-generating composition layer of the base material 100 using the powder or granular material spraying device of the present invention, these powder or granular materials are made uniform. It is possible to obtain a heating element arranged in a state. With such a heating element, it can be expected that excellent heating characteristics with less uneven heating can be obtained. The powdery- or granular-material spraying device and the powdery- or granular-materials spraying method of the present invention are preferable in the method for manufacturing a heating element, but can be applied to other methods for manufacturing functional sheets. For example, particles of a super absorbent polymer can be dispersed on a sheet-shaped substrate made of a continuously conveyed fiber sheet to produce a absorbent sheet.

  Further, when the base material 100 contains a composition containing water or the like, it is difficult for the powder or granules dispersed on the base material 100 to move on the base material 100 immediately after the dispersion. Therefore, it is important that the powder particles are uniformly sprayed from the discharge port 23. From that point of view, the powdery or granular material spraying device of the present invention is very useful.

  FIG. 5 shows a main part of another embodiment of the powdery- or granular-material spraying device of the present invention. Regarding other embodiments to be described later, a description will be mainly given of components that are different from those of the powdery or granular material spraying device 1, and the same components will be denoted by the same reference numerals. The description of the powder-particle dispersal device 1 is appropriately applied to components that are not particularly described.

The powdery- or granular-material-dispersing apparatuses 1A and 1B shown in FIG.
The conveying means 3A in the powdery- or granular-material-dispersing apparatus 1A shown in FIG. 5 (a) is arranged below the discharge port 23 of the hopper 2 and includes a cylindrical conveying roll 32 that rotates around a rotation axis. The powder particles P discharged from the discharge port 23 are received by the outer peripheral surface of the transport roll 32, and are rotated from the receiving position toward the base material (not shown) located below the transport roll 32. It is made to fall and is sprayed on the said base material.
The conveying means 3B in the powdery- or granular-material-dispersing apparatus 1B shown in FIG. 5B is configured to include an endless conveyor belt 35 that is stretched around a driving roll 33 and a driven roll 34, and is discharged from the discharge port 23. The conveyed powder 35 is received by the conveyor belt 35, and the conveyor belt 35 is moved from the receiving position to be dropped toward a base material (not shown) located below the conveyor belt 35 to be sprayed on the base material. It is designed to do.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment and can be modified as appropriate.
The shape of the discharge port 23 of the discharge portion 22 of the hopper 2 in plan view is not limited to the rectangular shape shown in FIG. 3, and can be arbitrarily set to a circular shape, an elliptical shape, a polygonal shape, or the like. The shape may be an elliptical shape as shown in a) or a polygonal shape having pentagons or longer that is long in one direction as shown in FIG. However, as described above, the shape of the discharge port 23 in plan view is such that the length in the width direction Y orthogonal to the transport direction X of the powder or granular material P by the transport means 3 is longer than the length in the transport direction X. , “Long in one direction”, and the discharge port 23 shown in FIGS. 3 and 6 is a specific example.
In addition, the discharge port 23 may be divided into a plurality of sections in the width direction Y, and the discharge section 21 may have a plurality of moving paths 22 that correspond to the plurality of sections on a one-to-one basis. The above items (2) to (4) are adopted in each of the moving paths 22 (exhaust ports 23).
Regarding the above-described embodiment of the present invention, the following supplementary notes are further disclosed.

<1> A storage unit capable of temporarily storing the granular material therein, a discharge port for discharging the granular material in the storage unit, and a moving path for the granular material connecting the storage unit and the discharge port A hopper provided with a hopper, and a conveying means that is arranged with a gap from the discharge port, conveys the powder or granular material discharged from the discharge port in a predetermined direction, and disperses it on a substrate that is continuously conveyed. A powdery or granular material spraying device comprising:
In a plan view, the discharge port has a shape in which a length in a direction orthogonal to a conveying direction of the powder or granular material by the conveying means is longer than a length in the conveying direction,
The moving path has a maximum width in the carrying direction of 2 times or more and less than 5 times the maximum particle diameter of the powder or granular material, and a length in the direction in which the powder or granular material is discharged is the maximum particle diameter of the powder or granular material. More than 1 times
The powder-granule-dispersing device, wherein the gap is at least 1 times the maximum particle size of the powder-granulate.
<2> The powder-granule-dispersing device according to <1>, wherein the gap is 10 times or less the maximum particle diameter of the powder-granulate.
<3> The hopper is connected to the storage unit and includes a discharge unit having the discharge port at a lower end, and an inner wall defining an internal space of the storage unit is obliquely downward toward the discharge unit. The powdery- or granular-material spreading device according to <1> or <2>, further including an inclined inner wall extending in the vertical direction and a vertical wall extending in the vertical direction.
<4>
The powdery or granular material spraying device according to any one of <1> to <3>, wherein all of the inner walls of the discharge portion that define the movement path are vertical walls extending in a vertical direction.
<5>
The storage portion has a trapezoidal shape in which the upper bottom is longer than the lower bottom when viewed from a direction orthogonal to the transport direction,
Regarding the transport direction, the length of the upper bottom of the storage section is longer than the length of the discharge port, and regarding the direction orthogonal to the transport direction, the length of the upper bottom of the storage section is the length of the discharge port. The powdery- or granular-material spraying apparatus according to <4>, which is the same as the above.
<6>
The ratio of the length (W) in the direction orthogonal to the carrying direction and the length (D) in the carrying direction at the outlet is preferably 2 or more and 1000 or less, more preferably 5 or more as W / D. The powdery or granular material spraying device according to any one of <1> to <5>, which is 100 or less.

<7> The granular material according to any one of <1> to <6>, wherein an angle of the inner surface of the hopper in contact with the granular material with respect to the horizontal direction is equal to or more than the repose angle of the granular material. Spraying device.
<8> The conveying means includes a flat plate-like receiving means for receiving the powdery or granular material discharged from the hopper, and a vibration generating means for vibrating the receiving means, and operates the vibration generating means. And vibrating the receiving means to convey the powder or granular material on the receiving means in the one direction,
When the size of the gap is G and the repose angle of the granular material is θ, the intersection of the virtual straight line extending in the vertical direction through the center of the discharge port and the transport means is the transport in the transport means. The granular material dispersion device according to any one of <1> to <7>, which is located in a range of G / tan θ or more and 15 G or less from a downstream end in the direction.
<9>
The powdery or granular material spraying device according to any one of <1> to <8>, wherein the powdery or granular material absorbs water or has deliquescent property.

<10>
The material of the inner wall of the hopper has a thermal conductivity of 25 W / m · K or less at a temperature during the operation of spraying the powder or granular material, and the material is any one of <1> to <9> above. The powdery or granular material spraying device according to item 3.
<11>
The material of the inner wall of the hopper is one or more selected from the group consisting of stainless steel, glass, zirconia, silicon nitride, and other ceramic materials, according to any one of <1> to <10> above. Powder and dusting device.
<12>
The powdery or granular material spraying device according to any one of <1> to <9>, wherein the powdery or granular material is a non-conductive material.
<13>
The material for the inner wall of the hopper is the powdery or granular material spraying device according to <12>, which is a material having conductivity.
<14>
The material for the inner wall of the hopper is the powdery or granular material spraying device according to <13>, which is at least one selected from the group consisting of metal materials, alloy materials, conductive ceramics, and conductive resins.
<15>
The material for the inner wall of the hopper is a powdery or granular material spraying device according to any one of <1> to <14>, wherein the material is stainless steel.

<16>
Θ1 / θ, which is the ratio of the angle of repose (θ) of the powder and granules to the angle (θ1) of the inner surface of the hopper in contact with the powder and granules with respect to the horizontal direction, is preferably 1.2 or more, and more preferably Is 1.5 or more, The powdery- or granular-material spreading apparatus as described in any one of said <1>-<15>.
<17>
The angle (θ1) with respect to the horizontal direction of the inner surface of the hopper in contact with the powder or granular material is preferably 1.2θ or more and 90 ° or less, more preferably 1.5θ or more and 90 ° or less <16> The powdery- or granular-material spreading apparatus as described in 16>.
<18>
The surface roughness Ra of the inner wall of the hopper, that is, the inner surface of the hopper in contact with the powder or granular material, is a value measured according to JIS B 0601-2001, preferably 10 μm or less, more preferably 1 μm or less. The powdery or granular material spraying device according to any one of <1> to <17>.
<19>
The inner wall of the hopper has a ridge shape in which the surface, that is, the inner surface of the hopper that comes into contact with the powder or granular material, has ridges and grooves extending in a predetermined direction alternately arranged in a direction orthogonal to the predetermined direction. The powdery- or granular-material spreading apparatus as described in any one of said <1>-<18> which has.
<20>
The inner wall of the hopper has a surface, that is, an inner surface of the hopper that comes into contact with the powder or granular material, is covered with a fluororesin, and the powder or granular material spraying device according to any one of <1> to <19>. .

<21>
The conveying means is a flat plate-shaped receiving means for receiving the powder or granular material discharged from the hopper, a vibration generating means for vibrating the receiving means, and a vibration control for controlling a voltage and a frequency applied to the vibration generating means. And a vibration control section for controlling the frequency and amplitude of the receiving means, and further for controlling the conveying state of the granular material on the receiving means. The powdery- or granular-material spreading apparatus as described in any one of <20>.
<22>
The vibration frequency of the vibration generating means is preferably 50 Hz or more and 500 Hz or less, more preferably 100 Hz or more and 300 Hz or less, and the powdery or granular material scattering device according to <21>.
<23>
The powder or granular material has an amorphous shape, and the maximum particle diameter of the powder or granular material having the amorphous shape is measured by a laser diffraction method. <1> to <22> Of powder and granular material.

<24>
A method for spraying a powder or granular material, which comprises using the powder or granular material spraying device according to any one of <1> to <23> to spray the powder or granular material onto a continuously conveyed substrate.
<25>
A method for producing a functional article, which comprises a step of spraying a water-absorbent polymer or an electrolyte as the powdery particles on a substrate using the spraying method described in <24>.
<26>
The base material is one in which a heat-generating composition containing an oxidizable metal and water is disposed on one surface of a sheet-shaped material, and the water-absorbing polymer or electrolyte from the conveying means is placed on the heat-generating composition. The method for producing a functional article according to <25>, wherein the functional article is supplied by spraying.
<27>
The method for producing a functional article according to <25>, wherein the powder and granular material is a water absorbent polymer, and the functional article is a water absorbent sheet.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described more specifically by way of examples, but the present invention is not limited to the examples.

[Examples 1 to 5 and Comparative Examples 1 to 3]
1 to 4 except that the dimensions and the like of some of the constituent members are changed as shown in Table 1 below, the powder and granular material having the same configuration as the powder and granular material distribution device 1 Using a spraying device, the powder and granules were sprayed on a substrate (nonwoven fabric, transport speed 40.95 m / sec) that was continuously transported in one direction (Examples 1 to 5 and Comparative Examples 1 and 2).
In addition, the granular material was dispersed on the base material under the same conditions as in Example 1 except that the gap G was set to almost 0 in Example 1 (Comparative Example 3).
As the powdery particles, water-absorbent polymer particles or sodium chloride having a maximum particle size and an angle of repose within the ranges shown in Table 1 below were used. The maximum particle size of the powdery particles was measured by the dynamic light scattering method, and a laser diffraction / scattering particle size distribution measuring device LA950V2 manufactured by HORIBA was used as a measuring device. In addition, the hopper in the powder and granular material spraying device of each of the examples and comparative examples is formed of stainless steel on the entire inner and outer surfaces including the inner wall.

〔Evaluation test〕
In each of the examples and comparative examples, the weight of the powder or granular material sprayed on the substrate was measured at intervals of 0.1 seconds using a commercially available load cell (manufactured by A & D) according to a conventional method. The results are shown in FIGS. In Examples 1 to 5 (Figs. 7 to 11), compared with Comparative Example 1 (Fig. 12) and Comparative Example 2 (Fig. 13), the change in the amount of the powder or granular material applied over time was small, and the spraying quantitativeness was good. It is clear that it is superior to. In particular, from the comparison between Comparative Example 1 and each Example, in order to improve the quantitative distribution of the granular material, the storage unit 20 for the granular material and the discharge port 23 in the granular material dispersion device are connected. The maximum width D of the moving path 22 in the powder or granular material conveying direction X is 2 times or more and less than 5 times the maximum particle diameter r of the powder or granular material, that is, a magnitude relationship of “2 ≦ D / r <5” is established. It turns out that it is effective. Further, from the comparison between Comparative Example 2 and each Example, in order to improve the spraying quantitativeness of the powdery particles, the length H of the moving path 22 in the powdery particle discharging direction is the maximum particle diameter r of the powdery particles. It can be seen that it is also effective to establish a magnitude relation of 1 or more, that is, “r ≦ H”.
Incidentally, in the powdery- or granular-material spraying device of Comparative Example 3, the powdery- or granular material was not discharged to the conveying means 3 from the discharge port. Therefore, for Comparative Example 3, it was not possible to create a graph showing the spraying quantitativeness as shown in FIGS. 7 to 13.

1, 1A, 1B Powder and Granule Dispersion Device 2 Hopper 20 Storage Section 21 Discharge Section 22 Moving Path 23 Discharge Port 3, 3A, 3B Conveying Means 30 Receiving Means 31 Vibration Generating Means 32 Conveying Rolls 33 Driving Rolls 34 Driven Rolls 35 Conveying Belts 100 Base material P Powder / granular material X Transporting direction of powder / granular material by transporting device Y Direction (direction of width of base material) orthogonal to the transporting direction of powder / granular material

Claims (7)

A storage part capable of temporarily storing the powder and granules, a discharge port for discharging the powder and granules in the storage part, and a movement path for the powder and granules connecting the storage part and the discharge port are provided inside. A hopper, and a conveying means arranged with a gap from the discharge port, for conveying the powder or granular material discharged from the discharge port in a predetermined direction, and spraying it on a continuously conveyed substrate. A powder and granular material spraying device,
In a plan view, the discharge port has a shape in which the length in the direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the powder or granular material by the transport means is longer than the length in the transport direction,
The movement path has a maximum width in the carrying direction of 2 times or more and less than 5 times the maximum particle diameter of the powder or granular material, and a length in the direction in which the powder or granular material is discharged is 1 of the maximum particle diameter of the powder or granular material. More than double,
The powder-granule-dispersing device, wherein the gap is at least 1 times the maximum particle size of the powder-granulate.   The powdery- or granular-material spraying device according to claim 1, wherein the gap is 10 times or less the maximum particle size of the powdery or granular material.   The powdery- or granular-material spreading apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein an angle of the inner surface of the hopper, which is in contact with the powdery or granular material, with respect to the horizontal direction is equal to or more than the repose angle of the powdery or granular material. The conveying means includes a flat plate-like receiving means for receiving the powder or granular material discharged from the hopper, and a vibration generating means for vibrating the receiving means, and the receiving means by operating the vibration generating means. By vibrating the, it is possible to convey the powdery particles on the receiving means in the one direction,
When the size of the gap is G and the repose angle of the granular material is θ, the intersection of the virtual straight line extending in the vertical direction through the center of the discharge port and the transport means is the transport direction in the transport means. The powdery or granular material spraying device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, which is located in a range of G / tan θ or more and 15 G or less from the downstream end of the.   A method of applying a powder or granular material, comprising: using the powder or granular material spraying device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, spraying the powder or granular material onto a substrate that is continuously conveyed.   A method for producing a powdery or granular material-containing article, comprising the step of spraying the powdery or granular material on a substrate that is continuously conveyed by the method for spraying the powdery or granular material according to claim 5.   A method for producing a functional article, comprising the step of spraying a water-absorbent polymer or an electrolyte as the powder or granules on a substrate by the method for spraying the powder or granules according to claim 5.

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