JPH0599667A - Liquid injecting device for standard level vial - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To allow 21 highly efficient and highly precise injection with a simple operation by injecting a liquid while holding a level vial in a determined position, and detecting the level position to control the injecting quantity of the liquid. CONSTITUTION:The power source switch 6a of a liquid injection control means 6 is turned on to light an illuminating light source 4, and the means 6 is laid in operation waiting state. On the other hand, a level vial 7 is inserted to a level vial holding part 1b with its opening end up, and the top end part of a hollow needle 2e is inserted to the level vial 7 by a liquid injecting means 2. A start button 3a for liquid injection start is then pushed to inject a liquid to the level vial 7 through the needle 2e. The liquid level in the level vial is raised while generating the scattered state of the light from the light source 4. When it reaches a determined height determined by the setting by a liquid level detecting means 5, the means 5 detects this and transmits a signal to the means 6. The means 6 lights a LED 6b on the basis of this detection signal to inform that the liquid level is in a determined position and also stop the injection of the liquid. Thus, one cycle of the liquid injecting work to the level vial 7 is terminated.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a liquid injection device used in a manufacturing process of a bubble tube suitable for a standard device such as a level or an angle measuring device, and in particular, it can efficiently inject a required liquid,
The present invention also relates to a standard tube bubble tube liquid injection device capable of manufacturing a bubble tube having a predetermined bubble length.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A bubble tube formed by enclosing (injecting) a liquid such as alcohol while leaving a certain amount of bubbles is generally widely used in a level or an angle measuring instrument. By the way, this type of bubble tube is generally manufactured as follows. That is, first, prepare a glass tube whose one end is sealed and a part of the opening side of the other end is reduced in diameter,
After injecting a required liquid, for example, alcohol, to the reduced diameter portion of the glass tube, a part of the reduced diameter portion is extracted in consideration of the bubble length or the amount of bubbles to be left (encapsulated), and then the reduced diameter portion of the glass tube is melted and cut. The required bubble tube is manufactured by sealing.

[0003]

However, injecting and sealing alcohol or the like in the above-mentioned bubble tube manufacturing process has the following inconvenient problems. That is, in the case of the above liquid injecting means, a step of injecting a required liquid up to the reduced diameter portion of the glass tube and then withdrawing a part of the infused liquid in consideration of the bubble length or bubble amount to be left (enclosed) Is taking. Therefore, not only does the process become complicated and the efficiency deteriorates, but it is also difficult to maintain the accuracy of the amount of liquid to be injected or sealed, in other words, the bubble length or the amount of bubble with high accuracy, resulting in poor reproducibility. There is.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a means for injecting a fixed amount by using a commercially available fixed amount discharging device can be considered, but when the constant amount discharging device is expensive, and in the case of a low-viscosity liquid such as alcohol, the discharge amount control accuracy is high. However, there are still problems such as that the amount of injected liquid tends to vary due to variations in glass tube length (variation in bubble length is large).

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a liquid injection device for a bubble tube for a standard instrument, which is easy to operate and can efficiently inject a required amount of a fixed amount of liquid.

[0006]

A liquid injection device for a standard instrument bubble tube according to the present invention comprises a position adjustable bubble tube holding mechanism for holding a standard instrument bubble tube having one end opened with its opening at the upper end side. , Liquid injection means having a hollow needle whose tip is inserted into the bubble tube held by the bubble tube holding mechanism to inject a desired liquid, and a hollow needle tip of the liquid injection means is inserted into the bubble tube to inject the liquid Liquid injection starting means for performing
A light source for irradiating the liquid surface of the liquid to be injected into the bubble tube by starting the liquid injecting means, and a liquid surface detecting means for detecting a predetermined liquid surface position by the scattered light of the liquid surface by the irradiation of the light source,
And a control unit for stopping the liquid injection by the hollow needle when the predetermined liquid level position is detected by the liquid level detection unit.

[0007]

In the liquid injecting device for a standardized bubble tube according to the present invention, the bubble tube (glass tube) is held at a predetermined position by the position adjustable bubble tube holding mechanism, and is held and set at this predetermined position. Then, the liquid injection means is started in the bubble tube to inject the liquid, and the liquid surface position of the injected liquid is detected by the liquid surface detection means to control the injection liquid amount. In other words, since the amount of liquid corresponding to the position selected and set in advance is constantly and automatically injected into the bubble tube (glass tube), the desired bubble length can be efficiently achieved. A bubble tube can be manufactured.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the outline of the structure of a liquid injection device for a standard instrument bubble tube according to the present invention. Reference numeral 1 is a position for holding a standard instrument bubble tube having one end opened with its opening at the upper end side. An adjustable bubble tube holding mechanism, 2 is a liquid injection means having a hollow needle whose tip is inserted into the bubble tube held by the bubble tube holding mechanism 1 to inject a desired liquid, 3
Is liquid injection starting means for inserting the hollow needle tip of the liquid injection means 2 into the bubble tube to inject the liquid, and 4 is irradiation for irradiating the liquid surface of the liquid injected into the bubble tube by the start of the liquid injection means 2. A light source 5 is a liquid level detection means for detecting a predetermined liquid level position by scattered light from the liquid level due to the irradiation of the irradiation light source 4, 6
Is liquid injection control means for stopping the liquid injection by the hollow needle when the liquid level detection means 5 detects a predetermined liquid level position. The standard bubble tube with the one end opened is
In general, as shown in a sectional view in FIG. 2, one end is sealed and a part of the other end on the opening side is made of a glass tube 7 having a reduced diameter 7a in advance.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a structural example of the liquid injection device for a bubble tube for a standard device. The liquid injection means 2 equipped with the hollow needle comprises an air cylinder 2a, which can move up and down,
A mechanical valve 2b for switching the vertical movement of the air cylinder 2a, a holder 2c attached to the air cylinder 2a,
It is composed of an injection liquid storage valve 2d attached to the holder 2c and a hollow needle 2e fluid-tightly connected to the injection liquid storage valve 2d. The hollow needle 2e corresponds to the vertical movement of the air cylinder 2a. 2e moves up and down. Further, referring to FIG. 4, the liquid injection mechanism by the hollow needle 2e that is liquid-tightly connected to the injection liquid storage valve 2d will be described. The injection liquid storage valve 2d is provided with a tube 2f for supplying liquid, The required liquid is supplied from the pressurized discharge type liquid tank 2g, while a pair of air tubes are provided on the ON and OFF sides of the valve opening / closing piston (not shown) of the injection liquid storage valve 2d.
The solenoid valve 2i is connected via 2h, and the solenoid valve 2i opens and closes the valve of the injection liquid storage valve 2d to discharge a required liquid from the hollow needle 2e.
In addition, the pressurized discharge type liquid tank 2g has a tube for air.
Through the 2h ', the regulator can be appropriately decompressed and regulated to pressurize the pressurized discharge type liquid tank 2g, and the air tube 2h' can be branched to supply high pressure air to the solenoid valve 2i. Is configured.

Further, in FIG. 3, 3a is a start button of the liquid injection starting means 3, and the injection liquid accommodating valve 2d.
Is electrically connected to the solenoid valve 2i involved in opening and closing and the liquid injection control means 6 by a lead wire. On the other hand, the liquid level detection means 5 is provided with a lens 5a for capturing light scattering on a predetermined liquid surface as an image, and an optical sensor (not shown) for detecting the image captured by the lens 5a. Further, when the liquid level detecting means 5 detects a predetermined liquid level position, the hollow needle
The liquid injection control means 6 for stopping the liquid injection by 2e includes a power switch 6a, an LED 6b, a manual stop button 6c, and the like, and the liquid level detection means 5 and the injection liquid storage valve 2d are opened and closed. Is electrically connected to the solenoid valve 2i involved in.

FIG. 5 shows a side view of the outline of the structure of the bubble tube holding mechanism 1 for holding the bubble tube 7. The bubble tube holding portion 1b for holding and fixing the bubble tube 7 is made of, for example, a leaf spring. The receiving member 1c of the bubble tube holding portion 1b, a vertically movable plate 1d for fixedly supporting the receiving member 1c, and a mount 1e for mounting the vertically movable plate 1d, the vertically movable plate 1d is The position of the bubble tube 7 held by the bubble tube holding mechanism 1 can be appropriately adjusted by the vertical movement bolt 1f. The plate 1d that can move up and down when the position is adjusted appropriately is fixed by a fixing bolt (not shown). Note that FIG. 6 is a circuit diagram showing an outline of the electric circuit in the above configuration. Next, the operation or use example of the liquid injection device for a bubble tube having the above-described configuration will be described.

First, the power switch 6a of the liquid injection control means 6
When is turned on, the irradiation light source 4 is turned on and the liquid injection control means 6 waits for operation. Then, air tube 2h ′
High pressure air is supplied to the pressurized discharge type liquid tank 2g via. The supplied high-pressure air is appropriately decompressed and regulated by a regulator to pressurize the pressurized discharge type liquid tank 2g, and this air pressure causes the liquid required for the injecting liquid storage valve 2d via the liquid supply tube 2f. Is supplied. At this time,
The high-pressure air supplied to the solenoid valve 2i side is supplied to the OFF side of the liquid discharge valve opening / closing piston of the injection liquid storage valve 2d by the solenoid valve 2i to maintain the closing operation of the liquid discharge valve of the injection liquid storage valve 2d.

On the other hand, the bubble tube (glass tube) 7 is attached to the bubble tube holding portion 1b of the bubble tube holding mechanism 1 whose position can be adjusted with the opening end side facing upward, and the mechanical valve of the liquid injection means 2 is mounted.
Operate 2b to lower (lower) the air cylinder 2a,
The tip of the hollow needle 2e is inserted into the bubble tube (glass tube) 7. At this time, the position of the bubble tube is performed by driving the vertically movable plate 1d by the operation of the vertical movement bolt 1f, and the position of the tip of the hollow needle 2e is set to the predetermined liquid of the liquid to be injected into the bubble tube (glass tube) 7. Selected higher than the face. In this state, when the start button 3a of the liquid injection starting means 3 is pressed, the solenoid valve 2i of the liquid injection means 2 operates to activate the liquid discharge valve opening / closing piston of the liquid injection valve 2d (open the valve), The liquid supplied from the pressurized discharge type liquid tank 2g is injected into the bubble tube 7 through the hollow needle 2e. At this time, in order to prevent foaming of the liquid injected into the bubble tube 7, the tip of the hollow needle 2e
Bend (2 to 3 mm) about 30 to 45 degrees, and inject the liquid into the bubble tube 7.
It is preferable that the liquid is injected along the inner wall surface of the liquid injection device, and the injection speed of the injection liquid is adjusted by the pressure of the pressurized air into the liquid injection valve 2d.

As the liquid is injected into the bubble tube 7 through the hollow needle 2e (elapse of injection time), the liquid surface in the bubble tube 7 causes a scattering state of the light emitted from the irradiation light source 4. While rising. Then, when the liquid level reaches a predetermined height (position) determined by the installation position of the liquid level detection unit 5, an optical sensor (not shown) built in the liquid level detection unit 5 is provided.
Detects the light scattering on the liquid surface via the lens 5a and sends a detection signal to the liquid injection control means 6. At this time, the liquid injection control means 6 is built in based on the received detection signal.
The LED 6b is turned on to notify that the liquid level in the bubble tube 7 is at a predetermined position, and at the same time, the solenoid valve 2i of the liquid injection means 2 is operated to operate the liquid discharge valve opening / closing piston of the liquid injection valve 2d. Then, the valve is closed and the liquid injection into the bubble tube 7 is stopped. By this series of operations or operations, one cycle of the liquid injection work into the bubble tube 7 is completed. Of course, by driving the stop button 6c for stopping the liquid injection control means 6,
The liquid injection operation is stopped.

The detection of the liquid level in the liquid injection operation into the bubble tube 7 will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8. First, as shown in FIG. 7, when light is emitted from the irradiation light source 4, light scattering occurs on the plate-shaped liquid surface due to the difference in refractive index between the air and the injected liquid. The scattered light is imaged on the slit plate 5b by the lens 5a, and the optical signal is converted into an electric signal by the photoelectric converter 5c arranged near the slit plate 5b. On this occasion,
The light scattering image moves on the slit plate 5b with the injection of the liquid, and the light scattering image changes depending on whether the light scattering image is on the slit plate 5b or on the slit. Therefore, the converted electric signal changes as shown in FIG. Then, the comparator 5d binarizes the electric signal with the intermediate value of these signals as a boundary, and the binarized electric signal is passed through the control output circuit 5e to the liquid injection control means 6
Is standardized so that it can be input to and output as a detection signal.

The liquid injection device for a bubble tube for a standard device according to the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned configuration example. For example, the air cylinder 2a of the liquid injection means 2 is driven by a solenoid valve,
Alternatively, the limit sensor may be installed so as to operate at the lowest position of the air cylinder 2a. When this limit sensor is installed, the series of liquid injection can be automatically performed only by attaching the bubble tube 7 to the bubble tube holding mechanism 1 and operating the start button 3a of the liquid injection starting means 3. The vertical drive mechanism may be an oil cylinder or an air cylinder with an auto switch instead of the air cylinder 2a.

A rotary pump may be used in place of the pressurized discharge type liquid tank 2g in the above construction, and the opening / closing valve of the injecting liquid storage tank 2d may be a 2-port solenoid valve instead of the piston valve. Good. Further, the structure of the position adjusting means 1a of the bubble tube holding portion 1b of the bubble tube holding mechanism 1 is also such that the vertically movable plate 1d is fixed to one vertical moving bolt type column or a plurality of columns such as sprockets. The plate may be movable up and down by rotating those columns via the. Furthermore,
The detection signal from the light-scattering image may be obtained using, for example, image processing or an image sensor.

[0019]

As described above, according to the liquid injection device for a bubble tube for a standard instrument according to the present invention, the liquid level in the bubble tube to be injected can be detected with high accuracy. In other words, since the liquid level detection means is also provided and provided, not only is it possible to efficiently inject the liquid with a single operation of injecting, but also the inner diameter (internal volume) of the bubble tube for injecting the liquid, etc. It is possible to perform highly accurate liquid level injection without being affected by variations. Moreover, the operation is simple as described above, and even if the specifications are different (such as the amount of liquid to be injected), the position of the bubble tube for injecting the liquid can be easily adjusted and controlled, and the liquid injection can be automated. In combination with what is possible, it can be said that it brings many practical advantages.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a main part of a liquid injection device for a bubble tube for a standard device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a structural example of a bubble tube for injecting a liquid.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration example of a main part of a liquid injection device for a bubble tube for a standard device according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a liquid injecting means in a liquid injecting device for a bubble tube for a standard device according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing a schematic configuration example of a bubble tube holding mechanism in a liquid injection device for a bubble tube for a standard device according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a circuit diagram showing an electrical circuit example of a liquid injection device for a bubble tube for a standard device according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of liquid level detection means in a liquid injection device for a bubble tube for a standard device according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a curve diagram showing an example of detection by the liquid level detection means in the liquid injection device for a bubble tube for a standard device according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Position controllable bubble holding mechanism 1a ... Position adjusting means 1b ... Bubbling tube holding portion 1c ... Bubbling tube holding portion receiving member
1d ... Plate that can move up and down 1e ... Stand 1f ... Vertical movement bolt 2 ... Liquid injection means 2a ... Air cylinder 2b ... Mechanical valve 2c ... Holder 2d
Injection liquid storage valve 2e ... Hollow needle 2f ... Liquid supply tube 2g ... Pressurized discharge type liquid tank
2h, 2h '... Air tube 2i ... Solenoid valve 3 ... Liquid injection starting means 3a ... Start button 4 ... Irradiation light source
5 ... Liquid level detecting means 5a ... Lens 5b ... Slit plate
5c ... Photoelectric converter 5d ... Comparator 5e ... Control output circuit 6 ... Liquid injection control means 6a ... Power switch
6b ... LED 6c ... Stop button for manual stop 7
... Bubble tube 7a for injecting liquid ... Reduced diameter part

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A bubble tube holding mechanism having an adjustable position for holding a bubble tube for a standard instrument having one end opened with its opening as an upper end side, and a tip inserted into the bubble tube held by the bubble tube holding mechanism. A liquid injection means having a hollow needle for injecting the liquid, a liquid injection starting means for inserting a hollow needle tip of the liquid injection means into a bubble tube to inject the liquid, and a bubble tube by starting the liquid injection means. An irradiation light source that irradiates the liquid surface of the liquid to be injected, a liquid surface detection unit that detects a predetermined liquid surface position by the scattered light of the liquid surface due to the irradiation of the irradiation light source, and a liquid surface detection unit that has a predetermined liquid surface position And a liquid injection control means for stopping the liquid injection by the hollow needle when the above is detected.