JPH0763598A - Automatic dye liquor preparing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To shorten the non-measuring time so as to aim at efficiency by providing such mechanism as to proceed with the following measurement upon the termination of measuring in the position of one measuring means even in the process of measuring in the position of the other measuring means. CONSTITUTION:Plural receiving containers 6 are transferred to the meeting part of a main conveyor 11 and sub-conveyors 13, 15 by a transfer means. At this time, in the case of both electronic balances 7a, 7b being in measuring action, the containers 6 stand by at this meeting part until either electronic balance ends measuring. In the case of the non-measuring electronic balance being the balance 7a, the container 6 is transferred to the position of the balance 7a by a sub-conveyor 13, and in the case of the non-measuring electronic balance being the balance 7b, the container 6 is transferred to the position of the balance 7b by the sub-conveyor 15. The judgment control of measuring, stand-by and transfer is performed by the command of a microprocessor 18.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention automatically mixes a plurality of color matching dyeing liquids of various colors with high precision and efficiency by mixing various raw materials at an arbitrary ratio according to the purpose. It relates to a device that can be compounded. Furthermore, this device can be widely used in fields other than dyeing liquid preparation, such as measuring and mixing raw materials.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a dye liquor is prepared by empirically selecting several kinds of dyes constituting the components of the color of the color swatch for a desired color swatch to prepare a dye liquor, and It was dyed and compared with a color sample, and sometimes this operation was repeated several times or more to finally determine the formulation of the dye liquor. Recently, a method generally called computer color matching (CCM) has been developed in which color matching by a spectrophotometer and a digital computer is measured.

A color sample is analyzed by the CCM method,
It has become quick and easy to express a color sample with dye concentrations centered on the three primary colors. However, the dye mainly composed of the three primary colors used for such expression is selected from many commercially available dyes in consideration of the fastness of the dyeing material and the quality and economical efficiency such as cost, and the color sample It is indispensable as a color matching work to perform hue comparison for a perfect match with the naked eye, and the work of preparing a dye liquor using a selected dye is still a manual work. Such work requires high experience, skill, and a lot of labor.

Reflecting such a situation, in recent years, as an apparatus for automatically performing the above-mentioned blending operation, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. S55-1220
No. 68 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 57-66171, the so-called volumetric method for measuring the volume of the dye stock solution, or the weight of the dye stock solution described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 56-159342, The so-called gravimetric method has been proposed.

In the volume method, an error is likely to occur due to volume change due to temperature change, inclusion of bubbles, etc., and although it can contribute to speeding up of work and labor saving, there is still a problem to be solved in terms of accuracy. It is left.

On the other hand, in the gravimetric method, unlike the above volumetric method, highly accurate compounding is possible, but since the dye stock solution and other compounding raw materials are successively measured by an electronic balance and other measuring means, the compounding efficiency is improved. There are still problems to be solved in terms of. In order to solve this problem, an automatic dye liquor blending device having a plurality of measuring means is disclosed. However, in the dye liquor automatic blending device provided with a plurality of measuring means currently disclosed, due to the mechanism of the transfer means, the measurement in all of the plurality of provided measuring means must be completed.
The receiving container, which is a receiver for the weighed raw material, cannot be transferred from the position of the weighing means, and the next step of weighing cannot be started. In this respect, there still remains a problem to be solved regarding the improvement of the mixing efficiency.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve a problem in the above-mentioned conventional apparatus and to continuously provide a plurality of color matching dyeing liquids of various colors with high accuracy and high efficiency. It is an object of the present invention to provide a device that can automatically prepare a drug solution or a general-purpose drug solution preparing device.

[0008]

Means for Solving the Problems The inventors of the present invention have been earnestly studying the improvement of the mixing efficiency of an automatic dye liquor mixing device equipped with a plurality of measuring means by adopting the weight method. As a result, it has been found that the conventional automatic dye liquor blending apparatus has a long time in which the measuring means cannot measure even if it is provided with a plurality of measuring means as compared with the time in which the measuring is performed. Came to complete. That is, the above-mentioned object of the present invention has a means for supplying a plurality of dyeing liquid raw materials including a dyeing liquid concentrate, a dyeing auxiliary agent, water, and other raw materials (hereinafter also referred to as dyeing liquid raw materials), In an automatic compounding apparatus using a plurality of measuring means for converting a change into an electric signal, a predetermined receiving container among a plurality of receiving containers for receiving a raw material is replaced by an arbitrary measuring means among the plurality of measuring means. A transfer means is provided for transferring to a position or a receiving container at a position of an arbitrary measuring means to a predetermined position, and a predetermined receiving container is transferred to a position of a measuring means which is not currently measuring. The raw material is supplied to the receiving container which has been measured, and the mixing operation is performed by combining the transfer means, the supplying means, and the measuring means, which are one cycle of the transfer of the raw material to the predetermined position of the measuring container, which has finished the measurement, to another measuring means. Weighing at the position Without giving the sealed to or failure,
This is achieved by an automatic dye liquor blending device equipped with a control means for continuously performing a plurality of times.

A feature of the present invention is that in an automatic dye liquor blending device equipped with a plurality of weighing means, the time during which the weighing means cannot perform weighing is shortened as much as possible, and the blending efficiency is improved.

The measuring means of the present invention is not particularly limited as long as it converts the weight change of the object to be measured into an electric signal, but an electronic balance is generally known. In addition, it is essential that the number of measuring means used in the present invention is plural, and the present invention cannot be realized with only one. And
The larger the number of measuring means, the more advantageous it is to improve the mixing efficiency, but it should be decided in consideration of the apparatus cost.

In the present invention, a receiving container for receiving the dye liquor raw material is required, but the number, size and material of the receiving containers are not limited. However, regarding the shape, the bottom is preferably flat because the weight is measured by the weighing means, and the shape is preferably such that the bottom is not easily fallen because it is transferred by the transfer means. However, by mounting the receiving container on an attachment having a flat bottom and a shape that does not easily fall, it is possible to eliminate the restriction on the shape of the receiving container.

In the present invention, a raw material container for storing the dye liquor raw material is required, but there is no limitation on the number, shape, size, material, installation position, or any other condition.

The present invention requires a raw material supply means for taking out the dyeing liquid raw material from the raw material container and supplying it to the receiving container. Further, the raw material supply means requires a raw material supply control means capable of supplying the dyeing liquid raw material to the receiving container at a desired time or stopping the supply. The raw material supply control means is not particularly limited as long as it can supply the dyeing liquid raw material to the receiving container or stop the supply at a desired time, but generally, a solenoid valve is known. Here, the raw material supply means can be composed of only the raw material supply control means, but generally, both of these means can supply a dyeing liquid raw material, for example, a pipe, a tube, etc. The means and a raw material supply control means represented by a solenoid valve are connected to each other. Here, there is no particular limitation on how to connect the raw material supply means and the raw material supply control means, and the raw material supply control means may be a raw material container side end (suction end) or a receiving container side end (outflow end). ), Or in the middle. Also,
Also regarding the installation position of the raw material supply means, when supplying the dyeing liquid raw material to the receiving container, the suction end of the raw material supplying means is in a position where the dyeing liquid raw material can be transferred from the raw material container, and the outflow end is the receiving container. It is sufficient that the dyeing liquid raw material can be surely supplied to all positions, and it may be fixed to a fixed place or moved to a necessary place when necessary.

In the present invention, the number of raw material containers, raw material supply means, raw material supply control means, and measuring means is one or more for each raw material container and raw material supplying means, and two for the measuring means.
There is no limit except that you need more than one. The raw material supply means and the raw material supply control means are usually provided in the same number. Also, as one of the methods to maximize the mixing efficiency,
There is a method of combining raw material supply means and raw material supply control means in the same number as the number of measuring means in each raw material container. Although the above method is a highly efficient method, in the present invention, the number of raw material supply means and raw material supply control means provided in the raw material container may be arbitrarily set to one or more up to the number of measuring means.

In the present invention, it is not necessary to weigh all the dye liquor raw materials by the weighing means for converting the weight change of the object to be weighed into an electric signal. For example, when the dyeing aid, water, etc. do not require highly accurate weighing, these may be measured by means other than the weighing means for converting the weight change of the weighing object into an electric signal, for example, by a timer. Then, in this case, as long as the condition that all the measured dyeing liquid raw materials are surely supplied to the receiving container is satisfied, there is no limitation on the position where the measurement is performed and the state of the receiving container at that time.

In the present invention, when the dyeing liquid raw material which needs to be weighed by the weighing means for converting the weight change of the weighing object into the electric signal is supplied to the receiving container by the raw material supplying means, the dyeing liquid raw material to be supplied is All must be reliably delivered to the receiving container. Moreover, at that time, the receiving container to which the dyeing liquid raw material is supplied must be in a position and in a state where it can be surely measured by the measuring means.

According to the present invention, a predetermined receiving container of the plurality of receiving containers is moved to a position of an arbitrary measuring means of the plurality of measuring means, or a receiving container located at the position of the arbitrary measuring means. Must be equipped with a transfer means that can transfer the product to a predetermined position. The transfer means is not limited in its system as long as it has the above-mentioned function, but can be realized by, for example, a plurality of conveyors and its driving device,
It can be realized by a robot arm or the like.
The operation of the transfer means is based on a command from the control means as a part of the control of the blending operation.

According to the present invention, even if any weighing means is in the middle of weighing, the weighing means does not stop or interfere with the weighing means, and the weighing means is not measuring at a predetermined position. Transferring the receiving container-Supplying the raw material to the transferred receiving container, weighing-Mixing operation combining the transferring means, the supplying means, and the measuring means in one cycle to transfer the receiving container that has finished weighing to a predetermined position. It must be equipped with a control means that can be carried out several times in succession.
The control means is not limited in its system as long as it has the above-mentioned functions, but for example, in a system in which a plurality of microprocessors are used and one microprocessor is allocated to each block that needs to be controlled. It can also be realized, or can be realized by using one microprocessor and installing software called a real-time monitor that can execute a plurality of programs as if they were executing at the same time. Although an example in which a microprocessor is used as the control means is given here, this may be a device using the microprocessor instead of the microprocessor itself, for example, a personal computer or a sequencer.

In the present invention, all the preparations of the dyeing liquid raw materials to be weighed and prepared in one receiving container are transferred to a predetermined receiving container to the position of the measuring means which is not currently measured.
Feeding the raw material to the transferred receiving container, weighing-complete the blending operation by combining the transferring means, the feeding means, and the measuring means, which is one cycle, to transfer the measured receiving container to the predetermined position in one cycle. However, it is also possible to complete the preparation of all of the dyeing liquid raw materials to be metered into one receiving container by performing the above-described series of preparation operations a plurality of times. In this case, the position of the weighing means to be transferred by the operation of the receiving container may be the same each time, or may be different each time, and this is usually the case.

As will be described later, in the present invention, it is also necessary to control the order of taking out the plurality of receiving containers that have been prepared, and this is also included in the control means. Specifically, this control can be realized by issuing a command to take out in the order of the blending command or a command to perform marking such as an ink jet printer or a labeling mechanism by the operation of the microprocessor described above.

[0021]

The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings showing the embodiments thereof.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall dyeing liquid automatic mixing apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention (an example in which an electronic balance is used as a measuring means and two of these are used). Further, FIG. 2 is a plan view showing only the transfer means (main conveyor and sub-conveyor) in this embodiment. In FIG. 2, the receiving container 6 is placed on a jig arranged on each conveyor having an opening that can be moved up and down without the mounting portion of the electronic balance A7a or the electronic balance B7b coming into contact with each other. A jig for transferring the receiving container at the meeting portion is also provided, but none of them is shown.

Here, the electronic balance A7a and the electronic balance B7b, which are the measuring means, are the sub-conveyor A13 and the sub-conveyor B.
One is provided below each of 15. Further, of the tube 2, which is the raw material supply means and the raw material supply control means, the solenoid valve 3 and the outflow pipe 4, the outflow pipe 4 has its tip (outflow end).
A receiving container 6 for receiving the dyeing liquid raw material is arranged right above these electronic balances with a height such that they do not come into contact with the electronic container even when they are sent to a position on the electronic balance. Here, there is no limitation on the number of the raw material container 1 for storing the dye liquor raw material, the number of raw material supply means and raw material supply control means connected to the raw material container 1, and the combination of these with the electronic balance. The most efficient way is to
The number of electronic balances in one raw material container 1 (2 in this embodiment)
The raw material supply means and the raw material supply control means,
The method of arranging the outflow end portions one by one above each electronic balance is adopted. Further, the outflow end portion adopts a method in which those from a plurality of raw material containers 1 are converged by a nozzle holder 5 and fixed, and this state is shown in FIG.

Next, an explanation will be given based on a series of movements of the blending operation in this embodiment. First, the plurality of receiving containers 6 for receiving the dyeing liquid raw material are the main conveyor A9, the sub-conveyor A13, and the sub-conveyor B1 by the transfer means including the motor 10 for the main conveyor A and the main conveyor A9.
It is transferred from the left in FIG. 1 or FIG. At this time, when both the electronic balance A7a and the electronic balance B7b are measuring, the transferred receiving container 6 waits at this association unit until any one of the electronic balances finishes measuring. If the unbalanced electronic balance is the electronic balance A7a, the sub-conveyor A13 is used. If the unbalanced electronic balance is the electronic balance B7b, the sub-conveyor B15 is used. Are transported. The determination control of whether or not this weighing is performed, whether to wait, or which electronic balance should be transferred, and transfer are performed by the instruction of the microprocessor 18, which is the control means, by the motor 14 for the sub-conveyor A and the sub-conveyor A13. Transfer means, or motor 16 for sub-conveyor B and sub-conveyor B1
5 is carried out by the transfer means.

Receiving container 6 transferred to the position of electronic balance
Then, the desired dyeing liquid raw material is weighed in a desired amount by an electronic balance and is received while being controlled by opening / closing of the corresponding solenoid valve 3. The opening / closing control of the solenoid valve 3 is of course based on a command from the microprocessor 18. Here, depending on the structure of the sub-conveyor, the receiving container is placed on the electronic balance,
Sometimes there is no need for a mechanism to remove the receiving container from the sub-conveyor for weighing.
In the present embodiment, a method is adopted in which the receiving container is placed on the electronic balance by raising the electronic balance by the lifting device 8 during weighing, and at the same time the receiving container is removed from the sub-conveyor. The raising / lowering operation is also controlled by the microprocessor 18.

In this way, the receiving container 6 which has received all the desired dye liquor raw materials for one receiving container moves again to the right in FIG. 1 or 2 by the sub-conveyor, and the sub-conveyor A13, the sub-conveyor B15 and the main conveyor B11.
Is transferred to a meeting portion (on the right side in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2), and is then transferred to a predetermined position by a transfer unit composed of the main conveyor B motor 12 and the main conveyor B11. At this time, the main conveyor A9 and the sub-conveyor A
13. If there is a receiving container waiting at the meeting part (left side in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2) with the sub-conveyor B15, at the same time, the waiting receiving container is vacant after the weighing is completed. It is transferred to the position of the balance by the corresponding sub-conveyor. Here, in the present embodiment, the main conveyor is divided into two, A and B, but this may be a circulating conveyor connected in one. It goes without saying that the movements of the sub-conveyor and the main conveyor after the above-mentioned weighing is of course also controlled by the microprocessor 18.

In this embodiment, for example, even when the electronic balance A7a is being weighed, it has nothing to do with it, and it does not stop it or damage it. Operation is performed by main conveyor A9, sub-conveyor B15, electronic balance B7b, and main conveyor B11.
Although it can be continuously performed by using the single microprocessor 18 as a means for controlling this series of movements, it is called a real-time monitor.
This is achieved by installing software that allows multiple programs to be executed at the same time as if they were running at the same time. In addition, this does not require the use of a real-time monitor, but a plurality of microprocessors, for example, in the case of the present embodiment, one microprocessor for the electronic balance A7a,
It can also be realized by using one microprocessor for the electronic balance B7b and one microprocessor for the conveyor-related items, that is, three microprocessors in total.

The example in which the receiving container is transferred from left to right has been described above with reference to FIG. 1 or FIG. 2, but it goes without saying that the direction may be reversed. Further, for example, even when the compounding is performed by the transfer from left to right in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2 as a whole as in the present embodiment, the individual conveyors themselves travel in the opposite direction during compounding. There are times when you want to let. That is the case when the particular outflow pipe of the dyeing liquid raw material is arranged only on the particular electronic balance (for example, 7b in FIG. 1). At this time, electronic balance A
After weighing and blending with 7a, the sub-conveyor A13 is run in the reverse direction to return the receiving container to the meeting part with the main conveyor A9 (the receiving container waiting at the meeting part is removed from the waiting by the reverse running of the main conveyor A9). ) Then, the receiving container measures the specific dyeing liquid raw material by the electronic balance B7b by the forward running of the sub-conveyor B15, and is transferred to the main conveyor B11.

The arrangement order on the outlet side (right side in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2) of the receiving containers thus prepared depends on the difference in the time required for weighing in each receiving container.
For example, the receiving container placed on the main conveyor A9 in the order of a, b, ha ...
There is a possibility that 11 will be transferred side by side in order such as B, C, A, and so on. In order to solve this problem, the ink jet printer 17 is used in this embodiment.
By printing the weighing information directly on the receiving container, the user can clearly see the change in the arrangement order. The work of printing on the receiving container is also controlled by a command by the take-out sequence control function of the microprocessor 18 as shown in the drawing. Further, this method is not limited to the ink jet printer, and can be realized by, for example, a labeling mechanism or the like that attaches a label on which weighing information and the like are printed to a receiving container. Furthermore, for example, by providing the sub-conveyor a between the sub-conveyor A and the main conveyor B, the sub-conveyor b between the sub-conveyor B and the main conveyor B, and using the sub-conveyor a and the sub-conveyor b as buffers, Even if the measurement is finished in the order of b, c, a ... If the feeding to the main conveyor B on the sub-conveyor a and the sub-conveyor b is adjusted, the main conveyor B is a, b, c ...
It is also possible to say that they can be arranged in the order of.

A method in which marking is not performed by a device such as an ink jet printer or a labeling mechanism may be adopted, although the mixing efficiency may be slightly lowered. In this case, for receiving containers on multiple electronic balances,
Each time the preparation of one of the receiving containers is completed, it is judged whether the order of preparation of the receiving container is the youngest in comparison with the order of preparation of the receiving container on another electronic balance, and if it is acceptable, If there is no command for the transfer for sending out the weighed receiving container and the transfer for waiting container at the meeting unit, if not, then the command to keep waiting is issued, and the receiving container waiting for weighing is If there is, the transfer order for judging the mixing instruction order of the receiving container and the receiving container on the other electronic balance, and if it is the youngest, transfer for sending this and transfer for measuring the receiving container waiting at the meeting part Is issued from the control means. As a result, the receiving containers that have been mixed are lined up in the order of the mixing instruction.

In the case of using three weighing means, the sub-conveyor C may be added to achieve the purpose.

[0032]

As described above, in the above-described automatic dye liquor blending apparatus according to the present invention, when the measurement is completed at the position of a certain measuring means, even if the measurement is carried out at the position of another measuring means, the next measurement is carried out. By providing a mechanism capable of efficiently using a plurality of measuring means by minimizing the time during which the measuring is not performed, a plurality of various dyeing liquids can be used according to the input formulation. It is possible to successively perform automatic preparation without problems such as preparation accuracy, preparation time, and trouble. The fact that such a device can be provided is a remarkable effect of the present invention. The apparatus of the present invention is not limited to the dye liquor blending, but can be widely used for measuring and blending raw materials.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall block diagram showing an automatic dyeing liquid preparation apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing only a transfer means of an automatic dye liquor blending apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Raw material container 2 Tube 3 Solenoid valve 4 Outflow pipe 5 Nozzle holder 6 Receiving container 7a Electronic balance A 7b Electronic balance B 8 Lifting device 9 Main conveyor A 10 Main conveyor A motor 11 Main conveyor B 12 Main conveyor B motor 13 Sub Conveyor A 14 Sub-conveyor A motor 15 Sub-conveyor B 16 Sub-conveyor B motor 17 Inkjet printer 18 Microprocessor

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (72) Takuro Hayahara 4-7-1 Kasuga-cho, Toyonaka-shi, Osaka (72) Haruo Katahira 31-31 Suehiro-cho, Kadoma-shi, Osaka 12-705

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of measuring means for supplying a dyeing liquid raw material, a dyeing auxiliary agent, water, and a plurality of other dyeing liquid raw materials, and converting the weight change of the dyeing liquid raw material into an electric signal. In a device for automatic preparation using, a predetermined receiving container of a plurality of receiving containers for receiving raw materials is moved to a position of an arbitrary measuring device of the plurality of measuring devices, or a position of an arbitrary measuring device. Is provided with a transfer means for transferring the receiving container to a predetermined position, and the predetermined receiving container is transferred to the position of the measuring means which is not measuring at that time-supplying the raw material to the received receiving container and measuring- Transfer means for transferring the receiving container, which has been weighed, to a predetermined position in one cycle,
A control means is provided for performing a blending operation in which the supply means and the weighing means are combined, continuously and a plurality of times without stopping or disturbing the weighing performed at the position of the other weighing means. Dye liquor automatic blender.