JPH0343383B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] This invention relates to a continuous cutting machine for fibers, and in particular, hollow fibers with permselectivity used in ultrafiltration, dialysis, reverse osmosis, etc. or optical hollow fibers. This relates to a cutting machine that continuously cuts such materials.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, continuously produced monofilament or multifilament continuous fibers are woven into hexagonal skeins 100 shown in FIG. 7 to form thick annular fiber bundles 101. After wrapping the convergence tape 102 around both ends of each side, the convergence tape 1
The fiber bundle 101 was cut at the outside 103 of the fiber bundle 102 to obtain a fiber bundle 104 shown in FIG. 8 (see, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 30057/1983). The fiber bundle 104
For example, in the case of hollow fibers having permselectivity, the open ends of the hollow fibers are temporarily sealed with an adhesive, the fibers are housed in a cylindrical casing, and the ends of the hollow fibers and the inner wall of the casing are sealed with a material such as polyurethane. It was sealed with an adhesive, and the adhesively sealed portion was cut (at this time, the wrapped portion of the convergence tape was removed) to form an open end of the hollow fiber to form a membrane module.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the above-mentioned prior art, since the annular fiber bundle 101 shown in FIG. 7 is kept wound around the skeins 100 for a long time, 105
A curl occurs in the fiber bundle 101 wound around the portion. Therefore, this portion has to be discarded as waste yarn, resulting in poor yield.

Furthermore, after cutting the first part on the skein 100, the tension is released and the remaining fibers hang down, making the cutting process difficult. Each end 106 of 104
They tend to become uneven or have a tendency to cut. In other words, since accurate cutting cannot be performed, it is difficult to obtain fiber bundles 104 of uniform quality. Furthermore, such a fiber bundle 104 may be difficult to accommodate, for example, in a cylindrical casing, or its quality may deteriorate.

On the other hand, a fiber bundle fixing member for fixing the fiber bundle is provided at each corner of the skein frame, and the fiber bundle is cut with a knife between the two fiber bundle fixing members, and the cut fiber bundle is dropped. Cutting devices are known (for example, see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 58-91863).

In this fiber bundle cutting device, as in the conventional example described above, the portion of the fiber bundle fixed by the fiber bundle fixing member of the skein frame must be discarded as waste yarn, and therefore the yield is poor.

Further, the portion of the fiber bundle (waste thread portion) fixed by the fiber bundle fixing member remains on the fiber bundle fixing member as it is even after cutting, and therefore, a waste thread removal operation is required. Therefore, manufacturability is poor.

Moreover, each cut hollow fiber is light, so
The air resistance it experiences while falling causes it to fall unstable. Therefore, the hollow fibers are easily scattered, making it difficult to collect them.

As a means for solving such problems, a method for producing fiber bundles described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 175519/1980 has been known. In this conventional manufacturing method, first, a plurality of continuously flowing hollow fibers are gripped by first gripping pieces in the vicinity of both sides of a cutting point, and are horizontally cut into a set length while being pulled together. Next, the vicinity of both ends of the cut hollow fibers are gripped by a second gripping piece inside the first gripping piece, and the hollow fibers are conveyed to a receiving member below. By repeating these operations, a large number of hollow fibers are accumulated.

According to this conventional manufacturing method, since the hollow fibers are gripped by the first gripping pieces near both sides of the cutting location, the cutting workability is good and the cutting can be performed accurately. Furthermore, since the yarn is not wound into a skein, relatively little portion is removed as waste yarn, and the yield is slightly improved. Furthermore, instead of dropping the hollow fibers, the hollow fibers are gripped by the second gripping piece,
Since the hollow fibers are conveyed to the receiving member below, the problem of fiber scattering does not occur.

However, in order to transport cut hollow fibers,
Since the second gripping piece grips the inner side of the first gripping piece, it is inevitable that some of the many hollow fibers gripped by the second gripping piece will be damaged, and the damaged portion will become longer. Therefore, the amount of yarn to be discarded as waste yarn is not sufficiently reduced, and therefore the yield is not improved any further.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a continuous fiber cutting machine that can accurately cut fibers at a high yield without causing a decrease in productivity.

[Means for solving problems]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention comprises a pair of cutting devices that reciprocate in the flow direction of continuously flowing hollow fibers and alternately cut the hollow fibers. This retraction cutting device includes a pincher that plastically deforms the pinched portion by pinching the hollow fiber near the cutting point, a cutter that cuts the hollow fiber, and a cutter that cuts the hollow fiber in the direction of the flow direction. and a support device provided on the downstream side of the hollow fiber. After that, it is cut horizontally to the set length using a cutter. This cut hollow fiber is supported in a horizontal state by the support device to prevent it from hanging down, and is also released from the support before being released from the grip by the pincher of the other retractable cutting device. and fall into place.

[Effect]

According to this invention, since the fibers that are continuously flowing are cut, there is no need to wind the fibers into skeins, unlike the conventional method, and there is no risk of the fibers becoming curly, thereby improving the yield.

Furthermore, since the portion where the hollow fibers are sandwiched is plastically deformed, the hollow portion is crushed and the plurality of hollow fibers are bitten into each other and integrated at the sandwiched portion.
Therefore, since one lightweight hollow fiber falls in a state where it is integrated into a plurality of fibers, the posture at the time of the fall is stable, and the hollow fibers are less likely to be scattered. Moreover, since a pair of drawing cutting devices are provided, continuously flowing fibers can be continuously cut. Therefore, it has excellent manufacturability.

[Example] Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. As an example, hollow fibers (hereinafter referred to as fibers) having permselectivity used in artificial kidneys and the like will be described.

First, in FIG. 1, which shows an outline of the entire method for manufacturing a fiber bundle according to the present invention, f is one or more fibers that are continuously manufactured or taken out from a bobbin, such as cellulose, polyvinyl alcohol, Fibers made of ethylene-vinyl alcohol, polyacrylonitrile, polymethyl methacrylate, polysulfone, etc. In addition, in this example, the fiber f is a thermoplastic resin.

A is a cutting process, in which the fibers f continuously flowing in the direction of arrow B are pulled together and cut into a set length in a horizontal state. C is an accumulation process, in which a large number of cut fibers f are stacked. D is a forming step, which consists of a step Da in which both ends of the accumulated fiber bundle F are bundled into a predetermined shape in the radial direction, and a step Db in which the ends of the bundled fibers F are fixed together. In FIG. 1, while the fiber bundle F is being rotated in the direction of the arrow E, the ends of the fiber bundle F are fixed by applying adhesive d to both end faces Fa by discharging it from a nozzle. To fix both ends of the fiber bundle F, tape or a rubber band may be wound around the ends of the bundled fiber bundle F. Furthermore, in FIG. 1, both ends of the fiber bundle F are bundled and fixed, but in the case of a fiber bundle F for external pressure overload, only one end is fixed. G is the extraction process;
This is the process of taking out the fiber bundle F to the next process. K is a boxing process, in which the taken out fiber bundle F is packed into a box b.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing a part of the fiber bundle manufacturing apparatus, and FIG. 3 is a plan view thereof. In Figure 3,
The above manufacturing equipment mainly uses arrow B to move a large number of fibers f.
A continuous cutting machine consisting of a feeding device 1 that continuously feeds in a direction, a pair of left and right pulling cutting devices 2 and 3 that pull the continuously flowing fibers f and cut them into a set length, and a fiber cut into a set length. It consists of a large number of buckets 4 in which the fiber bundles F are accumulated, a transfer device 5 that transports the buckets 4 shown in FIG. 2, a convergence device (not shown) that bundles the fiber bundles F, and the like. The entire manufacturing apparatus for the fiber bundle F is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application No. 1983-
Described in No. 196405.

In FIG. 3, the feeding device 1 includes a guide roller 11 and a dancer roller 12 that swings in the vertical direction.

The retraction cutting devices 2 and 3 have the same structure and are symmetrical to each other, and each includes a vertical feed device 21, 31, and a slide block 22, 32 that is reciprocated in the vertical direction by the vertical feed device 21, 31, as shown in FIG. cam devices 23, 33, and pinchers 24, 34 in FIG.
, cutters 25, 35, and dispensing devices 26, 36
It is mainly composed of , and clamping plates (supporting devices) 20 and 30. FIG. 4 mainly shows the scissors 24 in the retractable cutting device 2 on the left, and the cutter 35 and the wiper 36 in the retractable cutting device 3 on the right.

The vertical feeding devices 21 and 31 in FIG.
Its threaded rods 21b, 31b and guide rod 21
c, 31c are fixed to the device frame 88 in the axial direction, and the slide blocks 22, 32,
The threaded rods 21b, 31b are inserted through and connected to stepping motors or servo motors 21a, 31a. The slide blocks 22, 32 are reciprocated in the vertical direction by the vertical feeding devices 21, 31. The cam devices 23 and 33 in FIG. 4 are mounted on rails 23a and 33a extending in the transverse direction, respectively.
Inverted T-shaped cam bases 23b and 33b are provided to be able to reciprocate in the lateral direction by the operation of air cylinders 23c and 33c. The above cam base 23b, 3
Heater cams 23d, 33d and aperture cam 2 are installed in 3b.
3e, 33e and brushing cams 23f, 33f are provided in a protruding manner.

The above-mentioned scissor 24, cutter 35 and removal device 3
6 are the sliding rods 24a and 35a, respectively.
and cam rollers 24c, 35c, and 36c, which are inserted into slide blocks 22, 32 and slidably supported in the lateral direction, and rotatably supported by brackets 24b, 35b, and 36b.
rolls along each of the cams 23d, 33e and 33f. Coil springs 24d, 35d and 36d are provided between the slide blocks 22 and 32 and the brackets 24b, 35b and 36b, and are connected to the cam rollers 24c, 35c and 36.
c to each cam 23d, 33e and 33d, respectively.
Pressing to the side.

In this embodiment, the cutter 35 has a fiber f
It is equipped with a hot plate 37 that thermally melts and cuts the hot plate 37.
It may be equipped with a knife instead. The above hot plate 37
is fixed to the tip of the sliding rod 35a, and is T-shaped, with the tip 37a having a thin wall as shown in FIG.

Reference numeral 38 denotes a discharging member, which is formed into two prongs, and its tip portions 38a, 38a are connected to the tip portion 37 of the hot plate 37.
It is close to both side surfaces 37b of the rod 37a and is fixed to the tip of the sliding rod 36a shown in FIG. This cleaning member 3
8 is provided with a U-shaped notch 38b that comes into contact with the fibers and brushes them off.

In the above-mentioned clamping machine 24, a pair of mutually symmetrical racks 24e, 24e are fixed to the tip of a sliding rod 24a, and a pinion 24 is attached to the racks 24e, 24e.
f and 24f are engaged. The above pinion 24
f and 24f are engaged with each other and are rotatably supported by the slide block 22. These pinions 24f, 24f have arms 24g, 24
As shown in FIG. 3, sandwiching members 29A and 29B are provided at the position of the hot plate 27 via g.

In FIG. 5, the sandwiching members 29A and 29B are
Two mutually parallel flat plates 29Ab and 29Bb are integrally formed on the bases 29Aa and 29Ba,
These flat plates 29Ab and 29Bb engage with each other vertically. The flat plates 29Ab, 29Ab, 29Bb, 29Bb include
Guide parts 29Ac and 29Bc cut out in a V-shape,
U-shaped notches 29Ad and 29Bd are provided. That is, the clamping machine 24 clamps the fiber f with the clamping parts 29Ab and 29Bd near both sides of the cut point on the hot plate 27, thereby plastically deforming it.
In addition, when cutting with a knife instead of the hot plate 27,
It is also possible to pinch only the vicinity of at least one side of the cutting location.

The pinching plates 20, 30 in FIG. 3 are the pinching machine 24,
34 and cutters 25, 35 on the downstream side in the flow direction B, and pinions 24f, 2 in FIG.
4f, and as shown in Figure 2, the cross section L
It is composed of two upper and lower plates shaped like letters. This clamping plate 20 is a clamping member 29 shown in FIG.
When A and 29B are sandwiching the fiber f, the fiber f
The cut fiber f
This prevents the distal end side fa in Fig. 1 from hanging downward.

In FIG. 2, a primary reservoir 40 is provided directly below the fibers f to be cut, receives the fibers f falling after being cut, and counts them with a detector (not shown). A shutter 40a is provided at the lower part of the primary reservoir 40, and the opening operation of the shutter 40a causes the fibers f to fall into the secondary reservoir 41. This secondary storage device 41 stores the fallen fibers f for several times, and is similar to the shutter 40a.
1a is provided.

The bucket 4 is connected to the chain 51 of the transfer device 5.
A large number of them are fixed at equal pitches P, as shown in Figure 3.
The fiber f is divided into two parts in the axial direction. Reference numeral 42 denotes an end aligning device that taps lightly to align the ends of the fibers f that become uneven during falling or transportation. The edge alignment device 42 includes a pair of air cylinders 42a.
A disk 42b is fixed to the inside of the holder, and as shown in FIG.
It is provided in the bucket cart 4 at the accumulation position Pa and the intermediate position Pb.

The transfer device 5 includes a pair of buckets 4 in FIG.
A four-thread chain 51 for fixing is engaged with four driving sprockets (not shown) and a driven sprocket 53 shown in FIG. 2 to form an endless chain.
This transfer device 5 is of an intermittent drive type in which a drive motor (not shown) that rotates forward and backward is connected to the drive sprocket and sends the chain 51 by a pitch P.
At times other than when feeding, the drive motor is slightly rotated in forward and reverse directions to feed the bucket 4 through the chain 51.
is swung from side to side.

Next, the operation will be explained.

First, the air cylinder 23 of the right cam device 23
c is contracted as shown in Fig. 4, and the cam base 2
3b moves to the right end along the rail 23a. On the other hand, the slide block 22 moves downstream in the flow direction B of the fibers f as the threaded rod 21b rotates in the normal direction due to the normal rotation of the stepping motor 21a in FIG. During this movement, the cam roller 24c in FIG. 4 comes into sliding contact with the aperture cam 23e, thereby causing the sliding rods 24a, 24a to move to the right against the coil spring 24d. With this movement, the racks 24e and 24e are moved to the pinion 24.
Move to the right while rotating f and 24f. With the rotation of the pinions 24f and 24f, the pinching member 2
9A and 29B rotate around pinions 24f and 24f from the position indicated by the dashed line to the position indicated by the solid line, and
As shown in the figure, two flat plates 29Ab and two flat plates 2
9Bb are in sliding contact with each other to grip the fiber f while applying pincer force to the fiber f. In other words, one of the clamping machines 24 operates at a first position P1 set on the upstream side in the flow direction B of the fiber f in FIG.
Grasp and hold near both sides of the cut point. As a result, the hollow portion of the fiber f is crushed and plastically deformed in the vicinity of the above (sandwiched portion). At the same time, the pinching plate 20 shown in FIG. 2 closes, and the fiber f
Support it by lightly pinching it.

The left pulling cutting device 2 grips the fiber f.
The sandwiching machine 24 (see Fig. 4) is used to pick up the fiber f in Fig. 1.
A second position P set on the downstream side of the flow direction B of
2, and this movement attracts the fiber f. During this movement, the clamping members 39A and 39B of the retraction cutting device 3 on the right side in FIG.
Return to position P1, grip the fiber f in the same manner as the above-mentioned left-hand pincher, and pull it. In other words,
The pinching plate 30 on the right side of FIG. 3 is the pinching machine 24 on the left side.
supports the fiber f before it is released from its grip.

After the right pull-cutting device 3 in FIG. 4 has pinched the fiber, before the left pull-cutting device 2 reaches the second position P2 (see FIG. 1), 2 is the heater cam 23d
The cam roller 25c in FIG. 3 slides into contact with the cam roller 25c in FIG. 3, and the heating plate 27 advances to the right as shown in FIG. To melt. By this thermal cutting, the ends of the many fibers f are thermally welded to each other. Immediately after the hot plate 27 shown in FIG. 6 advances to the right, the cam roller 26c shown in FIG. 2 comes into sliding contact with the sweeping cam 23f shown in FIG. 4, and the sweeping member 28 shown in FIG. The letter-shaped notch 28b is close to the fiber. On the other hand, the hot plate 27 is a heater cam 23d in FIG.
along the line, it retreats to the left in FIG. 6 by the spring force of a coil spring (not shown). During this retreat,
The heat-fused and attached to the hot plate 24, the hot plate 27
The fibers moving to the left with the blowing member 28
It comes into contact with the U-shaped notch 28b and is swept away.

After this, the air cylinder 23c in FIG. 4 is extended, the cam base 23b is retracted to the left, and the rack 2
As 4e retreats to the left, the clamping member 2
9A, 29B and the clamping plates 20 in FIG. 3 open as shown in the dashed lines in FIG. 4 and in FIG. 2, respectively. As a result, the cut fiber f in FIG.
After the support is released and the beads fall into the primary reservoir 40 of FIG. 2, and are counted, both end surfaces are tapped by the edge aligning device 42 to position them in the axial direction.

On the other hand, the retraction cutting device 2 on the left side returns slightly upstream from the first position P1 in FIG. 1 by the reverse rotation of the stepping motor 21a in FIG. 3, and cuts the fiber f again at the first position P1. Sandwich. After this clamping, the pull cutting device 3 on the right side of FIG. 3 thermally cuts the fiber f at the second position P2 of FIG. 1. In other words, both the retraction cutting devices 2 and 3 shown in FIG. 2 cut the fibers f alternately.

Fiber f positioned within the primary reservoir 40
When the shutter 40a is opened, the particles fall into the secondary storage device 41, where they are repositioned in the axial direction, and after the number of falls reaches m, the shutter 41a is opened and the accumulation position Pa is moved. It falls into Bucket 4. This dropping into the bucket 4 is repeated a predetermined number n times, and a predetermined number of fibers f, in this example, 30×m×n fibers f, are accumulated. Further, the secondary reservoir 41 receives the fibers f falling from the primary reservoir 40 while the bucket 4 is moving, and after the bucket 4 completes movement,
The shutter 41a is opened and the fibers f are dropped all together into the next bucket 4.

The collected fiber bundles F are intermittently transported in pitches P by the transport device 5 from an intermediate position Pb to a convergence position (not shown). At each stop position of the bucket 4, the drive motor of the transfer device 5 rotates in small forward and reverse directions, and the bucket 4 is slightly swung from side to side. will be stored in. On the other hand, the bundle F is at the accumulation position Pa and the intermediate position Pb,
The air cylinder 42a of the edge aligning device 42 shown in FIG. 3 expands and contracts in the axial direction of the bundle F, and the disc 42b taps both end faces Fa of the bundle F, thereby adjusting the axial position that occurs when falling and conveying. The deviation is corrected.

Thereafter, the bundle F passes through the forming process D and the removing process G shown in FIG. , 29Bb is cut and removed.

In the above structure, since the present invention cuts the fiber f in FIG. 1 to a set length while drawing it, there is no need to wind it into a skein as in the conventional method. Moreover, since the fibers f are dropped and accumulated, the sandwiching machines 24, 34
There is no need to grasp and transport the sandwiched part and another part. Therefore, the portion that becomes waste yarn can be reduced, so that the yield is improved.

Furthermore, since the fiber f is gripped near the cutting point by the scissor 24 shown in FIG. 5, the fiber at the cutting point is stably held and can be easily cut. Therefore, since the cutting workability is good and the cutting can be performed accurately, the uniform fiber bundle F shown in FIG. 1 can be manufactured.

Further, since the continuous fiber cutting machine of the present invention has a pair of retraction cutting devices 2 and 3 as shown in FIG. 3, it is possible to continuously cut the continuously flowing fibers f. , excellent manufacturability.

In addition, since the cut fibers f are supported in a horizontal state by the clamping plate 20 in FIG. can be integrated into. Therefore, in this respect as well, manufacturability is good.

By the way, even if one fiber f cut to the set length shown in Fig. 1 is dropped horizontally,
Since it is light, the air resistance it receives while falling may cause it to fall unstable. here,
In this invention, a large number of fibers f are pinched by the pincher 24 shown in FIG. Unify in places. Therefore, since one lightweight fiber f falls in a state where it is integrated into many fibers, the posture at the time of the fall is stabilized. In particular, the hot plate 27
When the fibers f are thermally fused, the ends of the fibers f are welded to each other, and their falling becomes more stable.

Furthermore, since the fibers f are pinched and plastically deformed near the cut point as described above, the openings at both ends are closed, so there is no risk of foreign matter getting into the interior. Therefore, for example, when used as an element of an artificial kidney, not only can a high-quality product be supplied, but also the adhesive d applied to both end faces Fa in Fig. 1 or the bundle F can be used artificially. There is no risk that the adhesive fixed to the kidney container will accidentally enter the hollow part of the fiber f.

In addition, the manufacturing apparatus according to this embodiment stores the fibers f evenly in the bucket 4 without being biased in the bucket 4 by swinging the bucket 4 shown in FIG.
This facilitates the subsequent focusing process.

In addition, in the manufacturing apparatus shown in this example,
When changing the cutting length of the fiber f, the timing of forward and reverse rotation of the stepping motors 21a and 31a shown in FIG. An adjustment mechanism may be provided.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, since the pincher pinches and grips a plurality of hollow fibers near the cutting point, the cutting workability is good and accurate cutting is possible. Moreover, since the sandwiched part is plastically deformed, the hollow part is crushed and the single lightweight hollow fiber falls in a state where it is integrated into many fibers, so there is a risk that the hollow fibers will be scattered when they fall. do not have.
Therefore, manufacturability is good.

In addition, since the continuously flowing hollow fibers are drawn and cut, there is no need to wrap the hollow fibers around the skein, and since the cut hollow fibers are dropped, they are separated from the part held by the scissors when cutting. There is no need to hold it. Therefore, the portion that becomes waste yarn is reduced, so that the yield is sufficiently improved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a schematic process diagram of the entire fiber bundle manufacturing method according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a front view showing a part of the entire fiber bundle manufacturing apparatus, Fig. 3 is a plan view of the same, and Fig. 4 is a continuous flow diagram. A longitudinal cross-sectional view of the cutting machine, FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the positional relationship between the spacing machine, the hot plate, and the removing member, FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the heating plate and the removing member, and FIGS. 7 and 8. 7 shows a conventional method for producing a fiber bundle, FIG. 7 is a plan view of a ring-shaped fiber bundle wound into a skein, and FIG. 8 is a plan view of the fiber bundle. 2, 3... Retractable cutting device, 20, 30... Support device (snipping plate), 24, 34... Sandwiching machine, 25,
35...Katsuta, B...Flow direction (arrow), f...
...(hollow) fiber, P1...first position, P2...
Second position.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A continuous hollow fiber cutting machine comprising a pair of retraction cutting devices that reciprocate in the flow direction of a plurality of continuously flowing hollow fibers to alternately cut the hollow fibers, the machine comprising: The retraction cutting device pinches and grips the hollow fiber near the cutting point at the first position in the flow direction, thereby plastically deforming the pinched portion and moves the gripped hollow fiber in the flow direction. a cutter that cuts the hollow fiber into a set length in a horizontal state after the hollow fiber is drawn to a second position set on the downstream side; The hollow fibers to be cut are supported in a horizontal state so that the hollow fibers hang down before the gripping by the pincher of the other pull-in cutting device, which is provided downstream of the cutter in the flow direction, is released. A continuous cutting machine for hollow fibers, comprising a support device that prevents the above-described support from occurring and causes the cut hollow fibers to fall to a predetermined position. 2. The continuous cutting machine for hollow fibers according to claim 1, wherein the pincher pinches the vicinity of both sides of the cutting location.