JP7305238B1 - Deaerator - Google Patents

Abstract

A new defoaming device with a simple configuration is provided. A defoaming device (10) separates air bubbles from a liquid agent containing air bubbles (B). This defoaming device includes a liquid agent supply port 16a to which a liquid agent is supplied from the outside, a liquid agent discharge port 14a for discharging the liquid agent from which bubbles B are separated toward the dispenser, a flow path X connecting the liquid agent supply port 16a and the liquid agent discharge port 14a, a space S formed in the flow channel X where bubbles separated from the liquid agent gather, a nozzle 24 protruding from the liquid agent supply port 16a toward the space S, and discharging the bubbles B collected in the space S to the outside. A housing having a bubble discharge port 12a and a valve for controlling the discharge of the bubbles B provided between the space S and the bubble discharge port 12a is provided. The bubble outlet 12 a is arranged above the nozzle 24 , and the liquid agent outlet 14 a is arranged below the opening 24 a of the nozzle 24 . [Selection drawing] Fig. 2

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a defoamer, and for example, to a technology for separating air bubbles contained in a highly viscous liquid material.

Conventionally, as devices for performing gas-liquid separation such as defoaming and degassing, there are known methods such as a method of heating or decompressing a container containing a liquid, a method of using a separation membrane that allows only gas to pass, and a method of centrifugal separation. . For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a gas-liquid separation device that separates gas and liquid by centrifugal force of an impeller attached to a rotating shaft in a casing having a fluid inlet, a fluid outlet, and an exhaust port. ing.

Japanese Patent No. 6813361

However, the gas-liquid separation device described above requires a space for the impeller to rotate inside the casing, and also requires a mechanism for rotating the impeller, resulting in a complicated and large-sized device. Therefore, development of a defoaming device with a simple configuration is desired.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and one of its exemplary purposes is to provide a new defoaming device with a simple configuration.

In order to solve the above problems, a defoaming device according to one aspect of the present invention is a defoaming device that separates bubbles from a liquid agent containing bubbles, comprising a liquid agent supply port to which the liquid agent is supplied from the outside, and an air bubble. a liquid agent outlet for discharging the separated liquid agent toward the dispenser, a channel connecting the liquid agent supply port and the liquid agent outlet, a space formed in the channel where bubbles separated from the liquid agent gather, A nozzle protruding from the liquid material supply port toward the space, a bubble discharge port for discharging bubbles collected in the space to the outside, and a valve provided between the space and the bubble discharge port for controlling discharge of the bubbles. a housing having a The bubble outlet is arranged above the nozzle, and the liquid agent outlet is arranged below the opening of the nozzle.

According to this aspect, the bubbles collected in the space are smoothly discharged to the outside from the bubble outlet arranged above. On the other hand, since the liquid agent from which the air bubbles are removed moves toward the liquid agent outlet located below by its own weight, the liquid agent can be efficiently discharged toward the dispenser.

The nozzle may have an opening facing upward. As a result, air bubbles separated from the liquid agent ejected from the nozzle are less likely to be mixed with the liquid agent again.

The valve may be provided so as to face the opening. As a result, air bubbles in the space are smoothly discharged to the outside through the valve.

The cross-sectional area of the opening is smaller than the cross-sectional area of the liquid agent supply port. As a result, the flow velocity of the liquid agent increases, and bubbles are easily separated from the liquid agent due to the flow velocity fluctuation of the liquid agent discharged from the nozzle toward the space.

The cross-sectional area of the communicating passage from the space to the valve is smaller than the cross-sectional area of the opening. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the liquid agent from being unintentionally discharged from the bubble discharge port when the valve is opened.

The valve may be a normally closed solenoid valve capable of controlling a single opening time in the range of 10-100 ms. Thereby, only bubbles can be selectively discharged from the bubble discharge port.

The liquid formulation may have a viscosity ranging from 10,000 to 300,000 cps.

The pressure of the liquid agent supply port may be 0.3-1.2 MPa. Accordingly, while the liquid agent is appropriately discharged from the liquid agent discharge port, the air bubbles can be properly discharged from the bubble discharge port.

The space may have a first region whose diameter gradually widens downward from the nozzle opening and a second region whose diameter gradually narrows upward from the nozzle opening. As a result, air bubbles tend to gather above the nozzle, while the liquid agent tends to move downward without stagnation.

It should be noted that any combination of the above-described components, and conversion of the expressions of the present invention between methods, devices, systems, etc. are also effective as aspects of the present invention.

ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the new defoaming apparatus of a simple structure can be provided.

1 is a front view of a defoaming device according to an embodiment; FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG. 1; FIG. FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the vicinity of the nozzle in FIG. 2;

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on embodiments with reference to the drawings. The same or equivalent constituent elements, members, and processes shown in each drawing are denoted by the same reference numerals, and duplication of description will be omitted as appropriate. Moreover, the embodiments are illustrative rather than limiting the invention, and not all features and combinations thereof described in the embodiments are necessarily essential to the invention.

The defoaming device according to the present embodiment is provided in the middle of a pipe (path) for supplying a liquid agent stored in a container such as a tank to a liquid metered application device (dispenser). If the liquid medicine is supplied to the dispenser without the air bubbles being separated, even if an attempt is made to apply a fixed amount of the liquid medicine with the dispenser, the measurement accuracy of the liquid medicine is lowered due to the existence of the air bubbles. Therefore, the defoaming device according to the present embodiment can separate air bubbles from a liquid agent containing air bubbles in the process of supplying the liquid agent from which air bubbles are not separated while being stored in the container to the dispenser.

The liquid agent is, for example, a highly viscous liquid containing air bubbles that are difficult to separate when left to stand. The viscosity of the liquid agent is such that it can maintain a bubble-containing state, and is, for example, 10000 cps or more, 20000 cps or more, or 30000 cps or more. Further, the viscosity of the liquid agent is such that it can be moved through the supply path to the dispenser by pumping.

FIG. 1 is a front view of a defoaming device according to this embodiment. FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the essential part of FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the vicinity of the nozzle in FIG. 2. FIG. The defoamer 10 of FIG. 2 comprises a housing 18 in which a plurality of blocks 12, 14, 16 are combined. A liquid agent supply port 16a to which the liquid agent L is supplied from the outside is formed in the block 16, and a joint 20 is connected to the liquid agent supply port 16a. The inner diameter of the joint 20 is, for example, in the range of 15-25 mm. A side face of the block 14 is formed with a liquid agent outlet 14a for discharging the liquid agent L' from which bubbles are separated toward the dispenser, and a joint 22 is connected to the liquid agent outlet 14a.

Further, inside the block 14, a channel X is provided that connects the liquid agent supply port 16a and the liquid agent discharge port 14a. In the middle of the flow path X, a space S is provided in which bubbles B separated from the liquid agent L gather. Further, in the space S, a nozzle 24 is provided that protrudes toward the space S from the liquid agent supply port 16a.

A bubble discharge port 12a is formed on the side surface of the block 12 to discharge the bubbles B collected in the upper part of the space S to the outside, and a joint 26 is connected to the bubble discharge port 12a. The block 12 has a columnar space S1 in which the shaft 30 of the normally closed electromagnetic valve 28 advances and retreats, and the space S1 communicates with the air bubble discharge port 12a. Below the space S<b>1 of the block 12 , a valve seat 32 is provided that switches between the valve closed state and the valve open state as the shaft 30 comes into contact with and separates from the valve seat 32 . In the present embodiment, a valve is constituted by the shaft 30 and the valve seat 32, and the discharge of the air bubbles B is controlled by providing this valve between the space S and the air bubble discharge port 12a. A central through-hole 32 a of the valve seat 32 is connected to the space S via a communicating passage 14 b formed in the upper portion of the block 14 .

As described above, in the defoamer 10 according to the present embodiment, the bubble discharge port 12a is arranged above the nozzle 24, and the liquid agent discharge port 14a is arranged below the opening 24a of the nozzle 24. . As a result, the air bubbles B collected in the space S are smoothly discharged to the outside from the air bubble discharge port 12a arranged above. On the other hand, the liquid agent L' from which the air bubbles B have been defoamed is directed toward the lower liquid agent discharge port 14a by its own weight, so the liquid agent L' can be efficiently discharged toward the dispenser.

The nozzle 24 is formed upward with an opening 24a serving as an orifice. As a result, the air bubbles B separated from the liquid agent L ejected from the nozzle 24 are less likely to mix with the liquid agent L again. A flange portion 24b is formed at the bottom of the nozzle 24, and this flange portion 24b is attached to a circular opening 14c formed at the bottom of the block 14 with a seal 34 interposed therebetween.

The valve (including shaft 30 and valve seat 32) according to the present embodiment is provided so as to face opening 24a. As a result, the bubbles B separated in the space S1 are smoothly discharged to the outside through the valve.

A cross-sectional area C1 (eg, φ3 to 5 mm) of the opening 24a is smaller than a cross-sectional area C2 (eg, φ5 to 7 mm) of the nozzle 24 on the flange portion 24b side. Further, the cross-sectional area C3 (for example, φ6 to 20 mm) of the inner periphery of the flange portion 24b is smaller than the cross-sectional area C4 (for example, φ15 to 25 mm) of the liquid agent supply port 16a. As a result, the cross-sectional area of the path gradually decreases in the direction in which the liquid agent travels, so that the flow velocity gradually increases, and the fluctuation in the flow velocity of the liquid agent discharged from the nozzle 24 toward the space facilitates the separation of air bubbles from the liquid agent. .

In addition, the cross-sectional area of the flow path X of the space S is preferably at least twice the cross-sectional area of the nozzle 24 . In this case, accumulation of the separated air bubbles and discharge of the liquid agent from which the air bubbles are separated are performed in a well-balanced manner. On the other hand, if the cross-sectional area of the flow path X of the space S is too large than the flow path cross-sectional area of the nozzle 24, the size of the defoaming device 10 will increase and the amount of the liquid agent that stays in the space will increase. The cross-sectional area of X may be four times or less the cross-sectional area of the nozzle 24 .

Further, the cross-sectional area C5 (for example, φ1 to 3 mm) of the communicating passage 14b extending from the space S to the valve is smaller than the cross-sectional area C1 of the opening 24a. As a result, it is possible to suppress the amount of the liquid agent that is unintentionally discharged from the bubble discharge port 12a when the valve is opened.

Also, the solenoid valve 28 is a normally closed valve that can control the opening time of one time within the range of 10 to 100 ms. The valve opening/closing timing and the valve opening time can be adjusted by controlling the energization of the solenoid of the electromagnetic valve 28 by the control device 36 . If the valve opening time is too short, the air bubbles B cannot be discharged sufficiently. On the other hand, if the valve opening time is too long, not only the air bubbles B but also part of the liquid agent flowing in the space S may flow out from the communicating passage 14b into the space S1, and the pressure in the space S may become higher than the appropriate pressure. is also likely to decline. Therefore, it is preferable that the solenoid valve 28 is a normally closed valve that can control the opening time of one valve within the range of 10 to 100 ms. Thereby, only the bubble B can be selectively discharged from the bubble discharge port 12a.

It should be noted that the pressure of the liquid agent supply port 16a is preferably in the range of 0.3 to 1.2 MPa. Similarly, the pressure at the liquid agent outlet 14a is preferably in the range of 0.3 to 1.2 MPa. As a result, even without providing a valve structure such as a check valve in the flow path X, it is possible to appropriately discharge the liquid agent from the liquid agent discharge port 14a and appropriately discharge the bubbles B from the bubble discharge port 12a. Note that the outlet of the joint 26 connected to the air bubble outlet 12a is at atmospheric pressure. Even in such a case, by controlling the valve opening time of the solenoid valve 28 to be short, almost no fluctuation was observed in the pressure gauge provided on the liquid agent supply side.

As shown in FIG. 2, the space S consists of a first region R1 whose diameter gradually widens downward from the opening 24a of the nozzle 24 and a second region whose diameter gradually narrows upward from the opening 24a of the nozzle 24. and R2. As a result, the air bubbles B tend to gather above the nozzle 24, while the liquid agent L' tends to move below the nozzle 24 without remaining there. The first region R1 has a truncated cone shape. The second region R2 has a truncated conical lower portion (taper angle α), a conical upper portion (taper angle β>α), and is connected to the communicating path 14b at the top.

(Example)
300 cc of copper paste of 200,000 cps was put into a container on the liquid supply side, and a very small amount (approximately 1/4 of a grain of rice: 3 to 10 μL) was discharged from the dispenser, and an experiment was conducted to see if empty shots would occur. In this case, blank firing did not occur until the copper paste was in short supply. In other words, it was found that bubbles were sufficiently separated by the defoamer 10, and the liquid agent L' delivered from the liquid agent outlet 14a to the dispenser contained almost no air bubbles.

(Modification)
In the defoaming device 10 shown in FIG. 1, the opening 24a of the nozzle 24 faces upward and the liquid agent discharge port 14a faces sideways, but the layout is not necessarily limited to this. For example, a defoaming device in which a liquid agent supply port is provided on the side of the block 14, a nozzle protruding from the liquid agent supply port toward the space S is arranged, and a liquid agent discharge port is provided so as to penetrate below the block 16. good too. Alternatively, the block 16 has a liquid agent supply port as it is, but a liquid agent discharge port is provided in the block 16 so as to be aligned with the liquid agent supply port, and the liquid agent ejected from the nozzle and from which bubbles are separated is discharged downward. good too.

As described above, the line defoaming unit provided with the defoaming device 10 according to the present embodiment is a mechanism that is installed in the transfer line of the liquid agent and periodically operates the solenoid valve 28 when the liquid agent flows. The defoaming device 10 ejects the liquid agent upward from a nozzle (ejection port) installed in the housing, and causes the liquid agent to flow out into a space larger than the cross-sectional area of the nozzle. specific gravity) to change the flow downward. At that time, the unit has a mechanism that utilizes the phenomenon that bubbles gather at the upper part of the nozzle due to the difference in specific gravity from the liquid agent, and a valve that periodically discharges the bubbles separated and accumulated at the upper part from the line. Especially in the case of high-viscosity liquids, etc., when air bubbles float up and it is difficult to separate them from the liquid agent even if they are allowed to stand naturally, by connecting this defoaming device in the middle of the line, the accuracy of fixed quantity discharge by a dispenser or the like is improved.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the above-described embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be applied to any suitable combination or replacement of the configurations of the embodiments. It is included in the present invention. Further, it is also possible to appropriately rearrange the combinations and the order of processing in the embodiments based on the knowledge of a person skilled in the art, and to add modifications such as various design changes to the embodiments. Embodiments described may also fall within the scope of the present invention.

10 defoaming device 12 block 12a air bubble outlet 14 block 14a liquid agent outlet 14b communicating passage 14c opening 16 block 16a liquid agent supply port 18 housing 20 joint 22 joint 24 nozzle 24a opening, 24b flange portion, 26 joint, 28 electromagnetic valve, 30 shaft, 32 valve seat, 32a through hole, 34 seal, 36 control device.

Claims (7)

A defoaming device for separating air bubbles from a liquid agent containing air bubbles,
a liquid material supply port to which liquid material is supplied from the outside;
a liquid agent outlet for discharging the liquid agent from which air bubbles have been separated toward the dispenser;
a channel connecting the liquid agent supply port and the liquid agent outlet;
a space formed in the middle of the channel where air bubbles separated from the liquid agent gather;
a nozzle protruding from the liquid agent supply port toward the space;
a bubble discharge port for discharging bubbles collected in the space to the outside;
a housing provided between the space and the air bubble outlet and having a valve for controlling the discharge of air bubbles;
The bubble outlet is arranged above the nozzle,
The liquid agent outlet is arranged below the opening of the nozzle,
A defoaming device , wherein the nozzle has an opening facing upward . 2. The defoaming device according to claim 1 , wherein the valve is provided so as to face the opening. A defoaming device for separating air bubbles from a liquid agent containing air bubbles,
a liquid material supply port to which liquid material is supplied from the outside;
a liquid agent outlet for discharging the liquid agent from which air bubbles have been separated toward the dispenser;
a channel connecting the liquid agent supply port and the liquid agent outlet;
a space formed in the middle of the channel where air bubbles separated from the liquid agent gather;
a nozzle protruding from the liquid agent supply port toward the space;
a bubble discharge port for discharging bubbles collected in the space to the outside;
a housing provided between the space and the air bubble outlet and having a valve for controlling the discharge of air bubbles;
The bubble outlet is arranged above the nozzle,
The liquid agent outlet is arranged below the opening of the nozzle,
The cross-sectional area of the opening is smaller than the cross-sectional area of the liquid agent supply port,
A defoaming device, wherein a cross-sectional area of a communicating passage extending from the space to the valve is smaller than a cross-sectional area of the opening. A defoaming device for separating air bubbles from a liquid agent containing air bubbles,
a liquid material supply port to which liquid material is supplied from the outside;
a liquid agent outlet for discharging the liquid agent from which air bubbles have been separated toward the dispenser;
a channel connecting the liquid agent supply port and the liquid agent outlet;
a space formed in the middle of the channel where air bubbles separated from the liquid agent gather;
a nozzle protruding from the liquid agent supply port toward the space;
a bubble discharge port for discharging bubbles collected in the space to the outside;
a housing provided between the space and the air bubble outlet and having a valve for controlling the discharge of air bubbles;
The bubble outlet is arranged above the nozzle,
The liquid agent outlet is arranged below the opening of the nozzle,
A defoaming device, wherein the valve is a normally closed electromagnetic valve capable of controlling a single valve opening time within a range of 10 to 100 ms. A defoaming device for separating air bubbles from a liquid agent containing air bubbles,
a liquid material supply port to which liquid material is supplied from the outside;
a liquid agent outlet for discharging the liquid agent from which air bubbles have been separated toward the dispenser;
a channel connecting the liquid agent supply port and the liquid agent outlet;
a space formed in the middle of the channel where air bubbles separated from the liquid agent gather;
a nozzle protruding from the liquid agent supply port toward the space;
a bubble discharge port for discharging bubbles collected in the space to the outside;
a housing provided between the space and the air bubble outlet and having a valve for controlling the discharge of air bubbles;
The bubble outlet is arranged above the nozzle,
The liquid agent outlet is arranged below the opening of the nozzle,
The defoaming device, wherein the liquid agent has a viscosity in the range of 10,000 to 300,000 cps. 6. The defoaming device according to any one of claims 1 to 5 , wherein the pressure of the liquid material supply port is 0.3 to 1.2 MPa. A defoaming device for separating air bubbles from a liquid agent containing air bubbles,
a liquid material supply port to which liquid material is supplied from the outside;
a liquid agent outlet for discharging the liquid agent from which air bubbles have been separated toward the dispenser;
a channel connecting the liquid agent supply port and the liquid agent outlet;
a space formed in the middle of the channel where air bubbles separated from the liquid agent gather;
a nozzle protruding from the liquid agent supply port toward the space;
a bubble discharge port for discharging bubbles collected in the space to the outside;
a housing provided between the space and the air bubble outlet and having a valve for controlling the discharge of air bubbles;
The bubble outlet is arranged above the nozzle,
The liquid agent outlet is arranged below the opening of the nozzle,
The space is
a first region whose diameter gradually widens downward from the opening of the nozzle;
a second region whose diameter gradually narrows upward from the opening of the nozzle;
A defoaming device comprising:

Images