JP7292252B2 - Kneaded material misalignment correction device - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a misalignment correcting device for a kneaded material, and more particularly, a misalignment for correcting a misalignment of a kneaded material (discontinuous kneaded material) after a continuous kneaded material extruded from a kneader is cut by a cutting unit. Relating to a correction device.

As a molding method for manufacturing a composite material by kneading a resin such as a thermoplastic resin and a fiber such as a carbon fiber, there is a LFT-D (Long Fiber Thermoplastics-Direct) method. In the LFT-D method, a continuous fiber material and a thermoplastic resin material are introduced into the cylinder of a kneader (extrusion device), and the thermoplastic resin is cut while cutting the continuous fiber material by rotating a screw arranged in the cylinder. A kneaded product (kneaded material) is produced by kneading with the material, this kneaded product is extruded outside the cylinder, and the kneaded product in the mold is pressed in a subsequent process to produce a fiber reinforced resin molded body. Such a fiber-reinforced resin molded product manufacturing apparatus includes a cutting device between the kneader and the molding device, and the kneaded material cut to a desired weight or size in the cutting device is placed in the mold. thrown in.

In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2018-69476 (Patent Document 1), in order to prevent the kneaded material cut by the cutting unit from shifting from a predetermined position, a grip that grips both sides of the cut kneaded material cut by the cutting unit and a transfer section that separates the cut and kneaded material from the uncut kneaded material by moving the gripping section that grips the cut and kneaded material forward.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2018-69476 (Patent No. 6645948)

According to the technique of Patent Document 1, since the gripping portion of the cutting and separating device grips both sides of the cut and kneaded material, even if the cut and kneaded material shifts sideways as the kneaded material is cut. However, the cut and kneaded material can be transferred to the next process while being centered. However, since the kneaded material discharged from the kneader is in a resin molten state (semi-solid state), it may be difficult to grip the cut kneaded material with the gripping portion as described above and transport it forward. There has been a demand for a technique that can more easily correct misalignment of the kneaded material.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a positional deviation correcting device capable of easily correcting the positional deviation of a kneaded material.

A kneaded material positional deviation correcting device according to one aspect of the present invention is a positional deviation correcting device for correcting the positional deviation of the kneaded material after cutting the continuous kneaded material extruded from the kneader by a cutting means, A pair of side guide members having abutting portions facing each other and provided above the conveying surface of the conveyer arranged downstream of the cutting means and on both sides of the conveying reference line, and a kneaded material on the conveyer. A guide control mechanism for moving at least one of the pair of side guide members in the direction of the conveyance reference line so as to press the contact portion from the side.

Preferably, the contact portion of the side guide member is configured to be movable along the transport direction of the transport conveyor. Specifically, it is desirable that the abutting portion is constituted by a conveyor belt, and the guide control mechanism includes a rotation drive means for rotating the conveyor belt in synchronization with the transfer conveyor.

Preferably, the guide control mechanism reciprocates the pair of side guide members between a working position in which the abutment portions contact the kneaded material and a retracted position in which the abutment portions do not abut the kneaded material. Including means.

In a configuration in which a heating device is provided for heating the kneaded material on the conveyer from above or below, the retracted position of the side guide member is a position that does not overlap the heating area of the heating device. is desirable.

Also, the outlet of the kneader may be replaceable. In this case, the working position of the lateral guide member is preferably set in advance based on the width of the outlet.

A kneaded material cutting apparatus according to another aspect of the present invention is a kneaded material cutting apparatus equipped with the kneaded material positional deviation correcting device described above, and is arranged upstream of the cutting means and cuts the continuous kneaded material extruded from the kneader. A first conveyor that receives the material from below, and a second conveyor that is arranged downstream of the cutting means in series with the first conveyor and discharges the cut kneaded material. there is

According to the present invention, since the kneaded material can be centered while being conveyed by the conveyer, the misalignment of the kneaded material can be easily corrected.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is a figure which shows typically schematic structure of the manufacturing apparatus of the fiber reinforced resin molding which concerns on embodiment of this invention. 1(A) and 1(B) are diagrams schematically showing a cutting device provided in the apparatus for producing a fiber-reinforced resin molded article according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is a perspective view which shows the structural example of the misalignment correction apparatus of the kneaded material which concerns on embodiment of this invention. 4(A) and 4(B) are diagrams schematically showing a configuration example of a side guide member included in the kneaded material misalignment correcting device according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. (A) and (B) are diagrams schematically showing the operation of the kneaded material misalignment correcting device according to the embodiment of the present invention. (A) and (B) are diagrams schematically showing situations in which a kneaded material can be displaced in a cutting device in a comparative example.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The same or corresponding parts in the drawings are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will not be repeated.

<Schematic configuration of manufacturing apparatus for fiber-reinforced resin molding>
First, with reference to FIG. 1, a schematic configuration of a fiber-reinforced resin molded product manufacturing apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, an apparatus 1 for manufacturing a fiber-reinforced resin molded product includes a kneading device 2 for kneading fibers and a thermoplastic resin, and a continuous kneaded product (continuously kneaded product) K1 discharged from the kneading device 2. a transfer device 5 for transferring the cut kneaded material (discontinuous kneaded material) K2 to a mold 80; and a molding device 8 having the mold 80. In the drawing, the kneaded materials K1 and K2 are indicated by hatching.

The kneading device 2 is a device for producing a kneaded material as a molding material in which fibers are mixed in a thermoplastic resin. The kneading device 2 includes, for example, a first kneader 21 for kneading a thermoplastic resin and fibers, and a thermoplastic resin introduced into the first kneader 21 for kneading with the fibers in the first kneader 21. It includes a second kneader 22 for kneading and melting, and a fiber supply unit (not shown) for supplying fibers to the first kneader 21 . The kneaded material K1 extruded from the first kneader 21 is sent to the cutting device 3. Note that the kneading device 2 (first kneader 21) may be any device as long as it produces a molding material containing a thermoplastic resin, and may knead a material other than fibers with a resin.

The cutting device 3 is a kneaded material cutting device, and includes a first conveyor 31 that receives the kneaded material K1 extruded from the first kneader 21 from below and conveys the kneaded material K1 in one direction, and the kneaded material that is conveyed by the first conveyor 31. It is composed of a cutting blade 33 for cutting K1 and a second conveyor 32 for conveying in one direction the kneaded material K2 cut by the cutting blade 33 and discharging the kneaded material K2. The first and second conveyors 31 and 32 are belt conveyors including rotating belts having heat resistance, and the upper surfaces of the belts constitute the conveying surfaces of the kneaded materials K1 and K2. The second conveyor 32 is arranged in a row with the first conveyor 31, and the conveying surfaces (upper surfaces) of the first and second conveyors 31 and 32 are arranged flush. The cutting means for cutting the kneaded material K1 is not limited to the cutting blade 33, and a laser or the like may be used, for example.

A heating device 36 is provided on the conveying path of the first and second conveyors 31 and 32 to suppress cooling of the kneaded materials K1 and K2. The heating devices 36 are provided below and above the conveying surfaces (upper surfaces) of the first and second conveyors 31 and 32, respectively. As a result, the kneaded materials K1 and K2 are heated from above and below, so that the kneaded materials K1 and K2 can be conveyed in a resin melted state (plastic state). The heating device 36 is composed of, for example, an infrared heater. The same applies to the heating device described below.

The cutting device 3 includes a load cell (weight detection means) 34 attached to at least one of the first and second conveyors 31 and 32, and a control means (see FIG. 2) for controlling the cutting blade 33 based on the detection signal of the load cell 34. "CTL33a"). Thereby, the cutting device 3 can cut the kneaded material K1 discharged from the first kneader 21 while measuring it. The weight of the kneaded material K2 is predetermined according to the cutting order, and the cutting device 3 cuts the kneaded material K1 each time it reaches the predetermined weight, and cuts the kneaded material K1 into a plurality of sizes (weight, length). to the downstream side.

In this embodiment, the cutting device 3 is equipped with a misalignment correction device 4 for correcting misalignment of the kneaded material K2 after cutting. The positional deviation correcting device 4 will be described in detail later.

(transfer device)
The transfer device 5 is provided in series with the second conveyor 32 of the cutting device 3, and is provided between a transfer conveyor 51 that conveys the cut kneaded material K2 in one direction and between the transfer conveyor 51 and the molding device 8. It includes a mounting table 52 and a transfer robot 53 that puts (inserts) one or more kneaded materials K2 placed on the mounting table 52 into the mold 80 . The transfer robot 53 has a gripper 54 that grips the kneaded material K2. The grasping part 54 is typically a needle gripper, and includes a plurality of needle-like members and an advancing/retreating member that advances and retracts the plurality of needle-like members.

A heating device 56 for heating the kneaded material K2 from above and below is also provided on the conveying path of the kneaded material K2 by the transfer conveyor 51 . Moreover, it is desirable that the mounting table 52 is also provided with a heating device 57 that heats the kneaded material K2 at least from below.

As a form not shown, a transfer robot for transferring the kneaded material K2 from the transfer conveyor 51 to the mounting table 52 may be provided separately. Alternatively, the transfer robot 53 may pick up the kneaded material K2 directly from the transfer conveyor 51 without the placement table 52 .

(Molding equipment)
The molding device 8 is located on the downstream side of the transfer device 5 and press-forms the kneaded material K2 placed in the mold 80 to manufacture a fiber-reinforced resin molded body as a final molded product (product). The mold 80 is a mold, and is composed of a lower mold 81 on which the kneaded material K2 is placed and an upper mold 82 arranged to face the lower mold 81 . The upper die 82 is provided at the lower end of the slider 83 . After one or a plurality of kneaded materials K2 are inserted into the lower mold 81 by the transfer robot 53, the molding device 8 closes the upper mold 82 and the lower mold 81, thereby forming a fiber-reinforced kneaded material corresponding to the shape of the mold 80. Mold a resin molding.

The manufacturing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment may have a replaceable discharge port of the kneading apparatus 2 so as to be compatible with various final products (fiber-reinforced resin molded articles). In this case, a kneaded material K1 having a size (cross-sectional area) corresponding to the size of the discharge port is extruded from the kneading device 2, and cut into kneaded materials K2 of various lengths by the cutting device 3.

<Regarding the device for correcting misalignment of the kneaded material>
As described above, the cutting device 3 is equipped with the kneaded product positional deviation correcting device 4 . Prior to the description of the positional deviation correcting device 4, positional deviation of the kneaded material that can occur when the cutting device 3 is not equipped with the positional deviation correcting device 4 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 6(A) is a top view schematically showing the cutting device 103 in the comparative example, and FIG. 6(B) is a cutting blade 33 and the second conveyor viewed from the VIB-VIB direction in FIG. 6(A). 32 is a diagram schematically showing 32. FIG. In addition, in FIG. 6, the kneaded materials K1 and K2 are hatched for easy understanding.

Referring to FIG. 6(A), the continuous kneaded material K1 extruded from the kneading device 2 has an unstable shape because the resin is in a molten state, and flows on the first conveyor 31 while meandering. Sometimes. If the kneaded material K1 is cut by the cutting blade 33 in this state, the cut kneaded material K2 may deviate from the conveying reference line BL of the second conveyor 32 . The conveying reference line BL is a line passing through the center of the kneaded material K2 at the normal position (centering position), and is an imaginary straight line parallel to the conveying direction of the second conveyor 32 . The conveyance reference line BL typically corresponds to the center position of the second conveyor 32 in the width direction. Note that the transport reference line BL may be variable.

As shown in FIG. 6B, when the upper standby position of the cutting blade 33 is offset from the conveyance reference line BL to one side in the width direction (right side of the paper surface), the cutting blade 33 is obliquely downward when viewed in the conveyance direction. In such a case, the kneaded material K1 cut by the cutting blade 33 tends to be biased toward the other side in the width direction (left side of the paper surface) from the conveyance reference line BL, and the position of the kneaded material K2 more likely to deviate.

The cutting device 3 of the present embodiment includes a positional deviation correction device for correcting such a positional deviation of the kneaded material K2 and returning (centering) it to the transfer reference line BL. As a result, the kneaded material K2 at the correct position can be discharged from the cutting device 3, so that subsequent transfer processing and forming processing can be performed appropriately. Therefore, according to the manufacturing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, it is possible to manufacture a good fiber-reinforced resin molded product.

(Configuration example of misregistration correction device)
2A and 2B are diagrams schematically showing the cutting device 3 according to the present embodiment, where (A) is a side view and (B) is a top view. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a configuration example of the positional deviation correcting device 4. As shown in FIG. 2 and 3 indicate the conveying direction of the first and second conveyors 31 and 32, and the arrow A2 indicates the width direction of the first and second conveyors 31 and 32. As shown in FIG. An arrow A3 points upward. The width direction of the first and second conveyors 31 and 32 is a direction intersecting (perpendicular to) the conveying direction, and is also called a left-right direction.

Referring to FIGS. 2A and 2B, the positional deviation correction device 4 is provided above the second conveyor 32 arranged downstream of the cutting blade 33 . The positional deviation correcting device 4 includes a pair of side guide members 41 and a guide control mechanism 42 .

A pair of side guide members 41 are provided above the conveying surface 32a of the second conveyor 32 and on both sides of the conveying reference line BL. The pair of side guide members 41 extend along the conveying direction of the second conveyor 32 and are arranged substantially parallel to the conveying reference line BL. Each of the pair of side guide members 41 has a contact portion 41a facing each other. As shown in FIG. 2B, the pair of side guide members 41 are arranged symmetrically with respect to the conveyance reference line BL of the second conveyor 32 . Although not shown in FIG. 2A, each side guide member 41 is arranged with a slight gap from the conveying surface 32a of the second conveyor 32. As shown in FIG.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the side guide member 41 extends from the upstream end of the second conveyor 32 to the downstream end (abbreviation of the second conveyor 32). along its entire length). In this case, the length dimension of the contact portion 41a in the longitudinal direction is 2/3 or more of the total length of the second conveyor 32, and preferably 3/4 or more.

Each contact portion 41 a is configured to be movable along the conveying direction of the second conveyor 32 . In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the contact portion 41a is composed of a conveyor belt 64. As shown in FIG. The conveyor belt 64 is provided perpendicular to the rotating belt of the second conveyor 32 so as to surround the outer peripheral portion of the side guide member 41 . A part of the rotating conveyor belt 64 (the part facing the center in the width direction of the second conveyor 32) constitutes the contact part 41a, and the other part (including the part facing the outside in the width direction of the second conveyor 32) is It is a non-contact portion.

The guide control mechanism 42 is a width gathering mechanism, and moves at least one of the pair of side guide members 41 along the conveyance reference line BL so that the contact portion 41a is pressed against the kneaded material K2 on the second conveyor 32 from the side. move in the direction of The guide control mechanism 42 in this embodiment is configured to reciprocate both of the pair of side guide members 41 along the width direction of the second conveyor 32 (simultaneously). It includes advance/retreat driving means 44 provided for each. In this case, the guide control mechanism 42 includes a pair of advance/retreat drive means 44 and a pair of connecting members 43 that connect the pair of advance/retreat drive means 44 and the pair of side guide members 41, respectively. The advance/retreat driving means 44 is typically composed of an electric actuator. Thereby, the start position and stop position of the reciprocating movement can be arbitrarily determined.

The connecting member 43 includes, for example, a vertical member 431 whose lower end is connected to the side guide member 41 and extends in the vertical direction, and a horizontal member 432 which is connected to the upper end of the vertical member 431 and is connected to the advancing/retreating driving means 44 . including. The horizontal member 432 is arranged directly above and parallel to the side guide member 41 , and the advancing/retreating driving means 44 is connected to the central portion of the horizontal member 432 in the longitudinal direction. Also, the longitudinal ends of the horizontal member 432 and the side guide member 41 are connected by the vertical member 431 .

As shown, guide rails 45 may be provided to guide the widthwise movement of the horizontal member 432 . The guide rail 45 extends along the width direction of the second conveyor 32 and has a receiving groove 45a that receives an engaging portion 432a that protrudes from the lower surface of the horizontal member 432, for example. The advancing/retreating driving means 44 and the guide rails 45 are attached to, for example, a device frame (not shown) of the cutting device 3 via crosspiece members 49 as shown in FIG. 2(A).

Based on a signal from the control means 47, each advance/retreat driving means 44 advances/retreats the connecting member 43 by a predetermined amount along the width direction, thereby moving the side guide member 41 and the contact portion 41a to the kneaded material K2. The contact portion 41a is reciprocatingly moved between a working position in which the contact portion 41a contacts the kneaded material K2 and a retracted position in which the contact portion 41a does not contact the kneaded material K2. The position of the side guide member 41 shown in FIG. 2(B) corresponds to the retracted position.

The guide control mechanism 42 further includes rotary drive means 46 for rotating the conveyor belt 64 of each lateral guide member 41 . The rotation drive means 46 rotates the conveyor belt 64 in synchronization with the second conveyor 32 based on a signal from the control means 47 . The rotary drive means 46 is typically an electric motor and may include a speed reducer that reduces the rotation of the electric motor.

As shown in FIG. 3, the rotation driving means 46 is provided on the side of the non-contact portion of the side guide member 41, and its upper end is connected to the horizontal member 432 of the connecting member 43 via the mounting member. there is Therefore, the rotation driving means 46 moves along the width direction of the second conveyor 32 together with the side guide member 41 as the forward/backward driving means 44 operates. Note that the control means 47 for controlling the advance/retreat driving means 44 and the rotation driving means 46 is implemented by a computer such as an MCU (Micro Controller Unit) including a memory and a processor. Control means for controlling the advance/retreat drive means 44 and the rotation drive means 46 may be provided separately.

A rotation mechanism for rotating the conveyor belt 64 of the side guide member 41 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing a configuration example of the side guide member 41. As shown in FIG. 4A is a cross-sectional view showing the internal structure of the upper portion of the side guide member 41, and FIG. 4B shows the rotating portion (conveyor belt 64, chain belt 61) of the side guide member 41. is a side view showing.

The side guide member 41 includes a chain belt 61 that engages with a sprocket 46a that is the rotating shaft of the rotation drive means 46, and a plurality of chain belts that engage with the chain belt 61 and rotate (rotate) as the chain belt 61 rotates. It has a sprocket 62, a plurality of guide plates 63 for preventing bending of the chain belt 61, and a conveyor belt 64 located below the chain belt 61 and connected to the chain belt 61 at its upper end.

The plurality of sprockets 62 are provided on the back side of the chain belt 61 at intervals in the longitudinal direction when the center side in the width direction of the second conveyor 32 (the direction of the kneaded material K2) is the front side of the chain belt 61. . A guide plate 63 is provided between adjacent sprockets 62 .

Since the chain belt 61 and the conveyor belt 64 are connected so as not to move relative to each other, the conveyor belt 64 rotates as the chain belt 61 rotates. That is, each rotation drive means 46 rotates the conveyor belt 64 connected to the chain belt 61 by rotating the chain belt 61 . As shown in FIG. 4(B), the conveyor belt 64 has a caterpillar structure including plate-shaped members in the form of vertical lattices, and the plate-shaped members are preferably made of heat-resistant members such as metal. .

Each rotation driving means 46 rotates the chain belt 61 and the conveyor belt 64 based on a signal from the control means 47 so as to have the same speed as the conveying speed of the second conveyor 32 . As a result, friction between the kneaded material K2 on the second conveyor 32 and the conveyor belt 64 can be prevented, so that the kneaded material K2 can be conveyed and centered appropriately.

(Operation of misalignment correction device)
Further referring to FIGS. 5A and 5B, the operation of the positional deviation correcting device 4 will be described. The positional deviation correcting device 4 starts operating when the cutting device 3 starts operating. The control means 47 of the positional deviation correcting device 4 controls the rotation driving means 46 before the kneaded material K1 is discharged from the discharge port 23 of the kneading device 2 (first kneader 21), and the lateral guide The rotation of conveyor belt 64 of member 41 is initiated. Specifically, the conveyor belt 64 is rotated at the same speed as the rotation speed of the second conveyor 32 .

Further, the control means 47 determines in advance the stroke of the advancing/retreating driving means 44 according to the width of the discharge port 23 (that is, according to the width of the kneaded material K2 discharged from the discharge port 23). That is, the movement amount D1 (FIG. 3) of the side guide member 41 is determined in advance. The movement amount D1 corresponds to the distance between the retracted position P1 and the working position P2. Thus, the working position P2 is preset based on the width of the outlet 23 . The width of the ejection port 23 can be specified by input from the user, for example.

When the kneaded material K1 is discharged from the kneading device 2 and cut by the cutting blade 33 in a state where the kneaded material K1 straddles the first conveyor 31 and the second conveyor 32, the cut (discontinuous) The kneaded material K2 is conveyed by the second conveyor 32 as it is. In the example shown in FIG. 5A, the kneaded material K2 is deviated from the conveyance reference line BL to one side in the width direction (lower side of the paper surface) and meanders. In this state, the control means 47 controls the advancing/retreating driving means 44 to simultaneously move the pair of side guide members 41 from the retracted position P1 by the amount of movement D1 and move them in parallel to the working position P2.

As a result, the surface portions of the conveyor belts 64 of the pair of side guide members 41 move in the same direction and at the same speed as the second conveyor 32 (that is, while following the movement of the kneaded material K2). It is pressed against the kneaded material K2 on the second conveyor 32 from both sides. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5B, the misaligned kneaded material K2 is centered so that the transfer reference line BL is at the center position, and the shape is adjusted.

Here, as described above, the cutting device 3 is provided with the heating device 36 for heating the kneaded material K2 on the second conveyor 32 from above or below. A wide area of the surface 32 a is a heating area 36 a by the heating device 36 . The heating region 36a is a region that overlaps with the heating device 36 in plan view. Therefore, the retreat position P1 is set outside the conveying surface 32a of the second conveyor 32 so as not to overlap the heating area 36a, as shown in the drawing. On the other hand, since the working position P2 overlaps with the heating region 36a, if the side guide member 41 is positioned at the working position P2 for a long time, the side guide member 41 and the guide control mechanism 42 will not move to the heating device 36. may be damaged by exposure to heat.

Therefore, it is desirable to repeat the movement of the pair of side guide members 41 (movement from the retracted position P1 to the working position P2) by the advancing/retreating driving means 44 in a short time. In other words, the advance/retreat driving means 44 reciprocates the pair of side guide members 41 between the retracted position P1 that does not overlap the heating area 36a and the working position P2 that overlaps the heating area 36a in a constant cycle. is desirable. Even in this case, since the conveyor belt 64 is pressed against one kneaded material K2 a plurality of times, it is possible to properly center the kneaded material K2 in the melted resin state while adjusting the shape thereof. By doing so, it is possible to prevent the side guide member 41 and the guide control mechanism 42 from being damaged by heat.

When the rotation speed of the second conveyor 32 is changed while the cutting device 3 is in operation, the rotation speed of the conveyor belt 64 is changed by the rotation driving means 46 so as to follow the change. It can be assumed that the second conveyor 32 becomes slow during cutting by the cutting blades 33 and becomes high speed after cutting by the cutting blades 33 . As a result, the cut kneaded material K2 can be separated from the continuous kneaded material K1. In such a case, the second conveyor 32 is composed of a plurality of conveyors connected in the conveying direction, and the cutting control means 33a shown in FIG. The configuration may be such that the cutting blade 33 is operated according to the detected weight.

As described above, the positional deviation correcting device 4 according to this embodiment is incorporated in the cutting device 3 . Therefore, there is no need to provide a separate centering process, and the misalignment of the kneaded material K2 can be easily and efficiently corrected in the cutting process, and the kneaded material K2 with high positional accuracy can be discharged to the next section (transfer device 5). can.

In addition, since the pair of side guide members 41 has a length approximately equal to that of the second conveyor 32, the kneaded material can be reliably centered regardless of the position of the kneaded material on the second conveyor 32. can do.

Further, since the contact portions 41a of the pair of side guide members 41 are constituted by the conveyor belts 64 that move in synchronization with the second conveyor 32, friction with the kneaded material can be prevented. As a result, it is possible to prevent the side surface of the kneaded material from being damaged and the conveyance of the kneaded material from being disturbed due to being caught by the contact portion 41a. That is, the shape of the kneaded material can be stabilized, and centering and transportation can be performed.

<Modification>
In the present embodiment, the pair of side guide members 41 of the positional deviation correcting device 4 extends substantially over the entire length of the second conveyor 32, but the present invention is not limited to such an example. For example, when the second conveyor 32 is composed of a plurality of conveyors, the side guide member 41 may not be arranged on the conveyor closest to the cutting blade 33, and may be arranged only on other conveyors. In any case, it is desirable that the length of the side guide member 41 in the longitudinal direction (conveyance direction) is equal to or longer than the length (maximum length) of the kneaded material K2.

Further, in the present embodiment, the stroke of the advance/retreat driving means 44 is made variable, and the movement amount D1 (FIG. 3) of the side guide member 41 is adjusted according to the width of the discharge port 23. Examples are not limiting. In other words, the working position P2 may be set to match the width of the discharge port 23 by fixing the stroke of the forward/backward driving means 44 (that is, fixing the movement amount D1) and adjusting the retracted position P1.

Moreover, in this embodiment, while the second conveyor 32 is in operation, the pair of side guide members 41 are repeatedly reciprocated in a constant cycle, but the present invention is not limited to such an example. For example, the pair of side guide members 41 may be kept on standby at the retracted position P1 and moved to the working position P2 when the displacement of the kneaded material K2 is detected.

Further, in the present embodiment, the contact portion 41a of the side guide member 41 is configured by the conveyor belt 64 driven by the rotation driving means 46, but the present invention is not limited to such an example. For example, it may be a conveyor that moves along with the movement of the kneaded material K2 being conveyed by the second conveyor 32 (by coming into contact with the kneaded material K2). Such conveyors may consist of a plurality of movable rollers.

In this embodiment, the misregistration correction device 4 is mounted on the second conveyor 32 of the cutting device 3, but the present invention is not limited to this example. The conveyer on which the misregistration correction device is mounted may be arranged downstream of the cutting blade 33 and upstream of the molding device 8 . For example, it may be mounted on the transfer conveyor 51 of the transfer device 5 .

It should be considered that the embodiments disclosed this time are illustrative in all respects and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is indicated by the scope of the claims rather than the above description, and is intended to include all modifications within the scope and meaning of equivalents of the scope of the claims.

2 kneading device 3,103 cutting device 4 misalignment correcting device 23 discharge port 31 first conveyor 32 second conveyor 33 cutting blade 36 heating device 41 side guide member 41a contact portion 42 guide control mechanism, 44 advancing/retreating driving means, 46 rotating driving means, 64 conveyor belt, BL conveying reference line, K1, K2 kneaded material, P1 retreat position, P2 working position.

Claims (4)

A misalignment correcting device for correcting misalignment of a continuously kneaded product in a molten resin state extruded from a kneader for kneading fibers and a thermoplastic resin, and cutting the kneaded product by a cutting means,
a pair of side guide members having contact portions facing each other, provided above the conveying surface of the conveyer arranged downstream of the cutting means and on both sides of the conveying reference line;
a guide control mechanism for moving both of the pair of side guide members in the direction of the conveyance reference line so as to press the contact portion against the kneaded material on the conveyance conveyor from the side,
The contact portion of the side guide member is composed of a movable member movable along the conveying direction of the conveyer so as to follow the movement of the kneaded material on the conveyer,
A heating device is provided for heating the melted resin kneaded material on the conveyer from above or below,
The guide control mechanism moves the pair of side guide members to a working position where the abutment portions contact the kneaded material, and the A device for correcting misalignment of kneaded materials, comprising forward/backward drive means for reciprocating between a retracted position in which the abutment portion does not come into contact with the kneaded materials and does not overlap the heating area of the heating device. The guide control mechanism includes a connecting member that connects each of the pair of side guide members and the forward/backward driving means,
The connecting member includes a first member that is connected to the side guide member and extends in the vertical direction, and a first member that is connected to the first member and arranged parallel to the side guide member directly above the side guide member. and a second member;
2. The kneaded material positional deviation correcting device according to claim 1, wherein said advancing/retreating driving means is connected to said second member. the movable member includes a conveyor belt perpendicular to the conveyor ;
The guide control mechanism includes rotation driving means for rotating the conveyor belt in synchronization with the conveyer,
2. The kneaded material positional deviation correcting device according to claim 1 , wherein said rotational driving means is provided on the non-contact portion side of said side guide member . A cutting device equipped with the kneaded material positional deviation correction device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
a first conveyor arranged upstream of the cutting means and receiving from below the continuously kneaded material extruded from the kneader;
a second conveyor arranged in series with the first conveyor on the downstream side of the cutting means and discharging the kneaded material after cutting,
The kneaded material cutting device, wherein the transfer conveyor is configured by the second conveyor.

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