JPH02258502A - Filling method for viscous substance - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the mixing-in of bubbles during a filling by eliminating bubbles, which have surfaced, by suction when a viscous substance is discharged to a second container even when bubbles have been mixed in the viscous substance in a first container by a method wherein while the second container is being evacuated, the viscous substance in the first container is pressurized and pressure-fed into a filling container. CONSTITUTION:A ram 4 is inserted in a mixer container 1. After the inside of the mixer container 1 is evacuated by operating a vacuum pump 42, a valve 41 is closed. Also, in a vacuum container 2, a filling container 3 is placed, and the vacuum container 2 is sealed by a lid 20. By operating a vacuum pump 23, the vacuum container 2, filling container 3 and the inside of a hose 12 are evacuated. Under this condition, by operating a ram type extruder, the ram 4 is lowered to press an adhesive 100, and a valve 11 is opened. The pressurized adhesive 100 is pressure-fed in the filling container 3 from the valve 11 through the hose 12. At this moment, bubbles which are contained in the discharged adhesive 100 swell by the pressure difference, surface by breaking the wall of the adhesive 100, and are quickly discharged to the outside by the vacuum pump 23.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Industrial Application Field 1] The present invention relates to a method of filling a highly viscous material such as an adhesive for bonding an outer panel and an inner panel of an automobile door. This invention relates to a filling method that prevents the inclusion of air bubbles.

[Prior Art] Liquid materials such as adhesives are mixed using mixers, kneaders, etc., and then filled into containers such as drums and bales depending on the intended use. The filling method is
For example, the pouring method, in which the mixer container is turned over and poured into a filling container, the pumping method, in which the mixture is pumped up and forced, and the extrusion method, in which the material is pumped from the bottom of the mixer container using a ram extruder, etc., have been adopted.

For example, the adhesive used to bond the outer and inner panels of automobile doors is applied to the adherend in the form of a bead during use, and is pressed and heated to bond the adherend and provide sealing properties. I am planning to do so.

However, if air bubbles are mixed in the adhesive, the air bubbles may also be mixed in the bead, resulting in a decrease in sealing performance. Furthermore, when the bubbles were large, the beads were sometimes broken. Therefore, it is desired that the filled adhesive is free of air bubbles.

This type of adhesive has a very high viscosity, for example, 10,000 cps or more, and it is difficult to remove air bubbles once mixed in.

Therefore, it is necessary to prevent the inclusion of air bubbles during filling, and currently filling is performed exclusively by extrusion, as pouring or pumping methods, which tend to entrain air bubbles, cannot be used.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Air bubbles are also mixed when stirring and mixing in a mixer container or the like. Therefore, defoaming is carried out by reducing the pressure in the mixer container during stirring. However, before filling, it is necessary to return to normal pressure and take out the mixer from the highly viscous material, and air bubbles may be mixed in at this time. Even if such bubbles are filled by extrusion, they will be mixed into the high viscosity material in the filling container.

Furthermore, if the viscosity of the high-viscosity material is extremely high, the high-viscosity material pumped by extrusion may fill the filling container with voids remaining, and the voids may become bubbles.

Note that if the viscosity decreases when heated and the material flows, air bubbles can be prevented from being mixed in by filling the material in a heated state.

However, liquid adhesives and the like can only be heated to about 40 to 50'C at most in order to prevent reactions. Therefore, there has been a strong desire to establish a filling method that can solve the above-mentioned problems.

The present invention was made in view of these circumstances, and
The purpose is to prevent air bubbles from entering during filling.

[Means for Solving the Problems] A method for filling a high viscosity substance of the present invention that solves the above problems is a method for filling a high viscosity substance from a first container such as a mixer container into a second container such as a can. The method is characterized in that while the inside of the second container is suctioned under reduced pressure, the highly viscous material inside the first container is pressurized and then forced into the second container.

The most important feature of the present invention is that the highly viscous material in the first container is pressurized and pumped while the second container is suctioned under reduced pressure. The degree of pressure reduction in the second container is desirably low, but can be determined depending on the viscosity of the highly viscous material so that the highly viscous material is not sucked. Therefore, the higher the viscosity of the highly viscous material, the lower the pressure can be applied. Note that it is desirable that the pressure of the second container be reduced by continuously driving a vacuum pump. Although it is possible to drive the vacuum pump intermittently, the pressure inside the second container increases with filling, and sufficient defoaming may not be possible. Note that the second container may be placed in a vacuum container to reduce the pressure, or the second container itself may be configured to double as a vacuum container.

Then, while the inside of the second container is being suctioned under reduced pressure, the highly viscous material is pumped out from the first container. This pressure feeding is performed by pressurizing the highly viscous material in the first container, and for example, a ram extruder or the like can be used. At this time, it is preferable that the pressure inside the first container is also reduced before the start of filling.

This prevents air from flowing into the second container.

In the second container, it is desirable that the gap between the discharge port of the pumped high viscosity material and the surface of the filled high viscosity material be as small as possible. For example, initially, the discharge port is placed close to the bottom surface of the second container, and the discharge port is raised in synchronization with the rate at which the highly viscous material is filled. In this way, the high viscosity substance will be densely packed into the second container from the bottom,
Filling with voids left is prevented.

It is preferable that the discharge port for the high viscosity material opened into the second container has a slit shape so that the high viscosity material can be discharged in a thin strip shape. This makes it easier for air bubbles contained in the discharged high viscosity material to come out, making defoaming even easier.

[Operations and Effects of the Invention] In the filling method of the present invention, the second container is suctioned under reduced pressure, while the highly viscous material in the first container is pressurized and pumped into the second container. Here, when the highly viscous material is discharged into the second container, the surface area discharged from the discharge port becomes relatively large, and the bubbles contained therein are likely to be exposed. Furthermore, when being pumped, the bubbles are compressed and have a small volume, but when discharged into the second container, the bubbles expand greatly, and the expansion force causes them to break through the walls of the surrounding high-viscosity material and come out. Therefore, even if air bubbles are mixed in the highly viscous material in the first container, they are exposed and sucked out when being discharged into the second container and are removed.

This effect is most significant when the highly viscous material is discharged in the form of a thin strip. Note that the expansion of the bubbles during discharge increases as the difference in pressure before and after the expansion increases. In the present invention, the highly viscous material is pressurized when it is in the first container, and is discharged into a reduced pressure atmosphere in the second container, so the difference in pressure is extremely large and high defoaming performance can be ensured.

Therefore, according to the filling method of the present invention, even if it is a highly viscous material that is difficult to heat and has an extremely high viscosity, air bubbles can be smoothly removed during filling, and the high viscosity material filled in the second container can be filled with air bubbles. does not contain air bubbles. If the present invention is applied to the filling of adhesive for automobiles, when it is applied in a bead shape during use, it will not contain air bubbles and will not break up.
Ensures uniform adhesion and high sealing performance.

[Example] Hereinafter, the present invention will be specifically explained using examples. In the following embodiments, the present invention is applied to the case of filling a one-component adhesive having a viscosity of about 1 million cps at the time of filling. Components having the same functions in each embodiment will be explained using the same figure numbers.

(Example 1) FIG. 1 shows the above-mentioned adhesive filling device. To explain this filling device, an adhesive 100 is stirred and mixed and stored in a mixer container 1. A pressure feed port 10 is provided at the bottom of the mixer container 1, and a pressure feed hose 12 is connected via a valve 11. The other end of the hose 12 is airtightly fixed to M2C of the vacuum container 2, and a nozzle 13 that opens into the vacuum container 2 is fixed to the tip.

A filling container 3 is arranged inside the vacuum container 2, and a nozzle 1
The discharge port at the tip of 3 opens toward the bottom of the filling container 3. A vacuum pump 23 is connected to the vacuum container 2 via a suction passage 21 and a valve 22.

Further, a ram 4 of a ram type extruder is engaged with the mixer container 1, so that the adhesive 100 can be pumped through the pressure feeding port 10. This ram 4 includes a suction passage 40 and a valve 4.
A vacuum pump 42 is connected via 1.

A method of filling using this filling device will be explained.

First, the mixer container 1 from which the mixer has been removed is set in a ram type extruder, and the ram 4 is inserted into the mixer container 1. Then, open the valve 41 and drive the vacuum pump 42,
After reducing the pressure inside the mixer container 1, the valve 41 is closed.

Further, the filling container 3 is placed inside the vacuum container 2 and sealed with a lid 20. Then, the valve 22 is opened and the vacuum pump 23 is driven to reduce the pressure in the vacuum container 2, filling container 3, and hose 12.

In this state, the ram type extruder is driven, the ram 4 is lowered, the adhesive 100 is pressurized, and the valve 11 is opened. The pressurized adhesive 100 is pumped from the valve 11 through the hose 12 into the filling container 3 . Here, the bubbles contained in the adhesive 100 discharged from the nozzle 13 expand due to the pressure difference, break through the wall of the adhesive 100, and are exposed. In addition, some air bubbles are already exposed at the time of discharge. The air constituting these bubbles is then quickly exhausted to the outside by the vacuum pump 23.

After filling is completed, valve 11 and valve 22 are closed,
Air is introduced into the vacuum container 2, and the filled container 3 filled with the adhesive 100 is taken out.

Therefore, the adhesive 100 filled in the filling container 3 according to this embodiment does not contain air bubbles, thereby preventing the sealing performance from deteriorating during use.

(Example 2) In this example, filling was performed in the same manner as in Example 1 using the same apparatus except that the shape of the nozzle 13 was different. The front and bottom views of the nozzle used are shown in Figures 2 and 3, respectively.
As shown in the figure. This nozzle 13 has a slit-shaped discharge port 13a at its tip, and is configured to discharge adhesive in a thin strip.

Therefore, since the adhesive 100 discharged into the filling container 3 in this embodiment is thin, the air bubbles inside are easily exposed.
Compared to Example 1, defoaming can be performed more efficiently.

(Example 3) In this example, filling was performed using the same apparatus as in Example 1 except that the configurations of the nozzle 13 and the vacuum container 2 were different. FIG. 4 shows the nozzle 13 and vacuum container 2 of the filling device used in this example. The nozzle 13 is M2 of the vacuum container 2.
The nozzle 13 is held airtightly by the gasket 24 through the gasket 24, and can freely move toward and away from the bottom of the filling container 3 while maintaining the airtight state. At the same time, it is held by a drive device (not shown) and is configured to rise in synchronization with the descent of the ram 4.

That is, immediately before filling, the discharge port of the nozzle 13 is connected to the filling container 3.
The nozzle 13 rises as the ram 4 descends.

The rising speed of the nozzle 13 is adjusted according to the inner diameter of the filling container so that the discharge port is slightly above the filled adhesive. Of course, at this time, the inside of the vacuum container 2 is suctioned by the vacuum pump 23 and is in a reduced pressure state.

According to this embodiment, since the discharge port of the nozzle 13 is always in a position close to the surface of the filled adhesive, the adhesive is densely filled from the bottom, leaving few gaps, and This further prevents air bubbles from being drawn in.

(Example 4) This example is the same as Example 3 except that the vacuum container 2 is not used and the filling container 3 itself also serves as a vacuum container. That is, as shown in FIG. The nozzle 13 is fixed to the lid member 30. A suction passage 21 is opened in the lid member 30. Similarly, it is held by a drive device (not shown) and is configured to rise in synchronization with the descent of the ram 4.

This embodiment also has the same effects as the third embodiment, and is superior in workability since the vacuum container 2 is not used.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of the configuration of a filling device used in an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a front view of the nozzle used in the second embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a bottom view thereof. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the configuration of the nozzle and vacuum container used in the third embodiment. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the structure of the filling container used in the fourth embodiment. 1...Mixer container (first container)

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A method of filling a high viscosity substance from a first container such as a mixer container into a second container such as a can, wherein the high viscosity substance in the first container is suctioned under reduced pressure. A method for filling a highly viscous substance, the method comprising pressurizing the substance and force-feeding the substance into the second container.