JPH0790106A - Method and apparatus for processing foam - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the title method and apparatus by which cells of a foam used for a filter are completely interconnected while leaving a skeletal structure intact. CONSTITUTION:A foam 1 is conveyed at a specified speed on a conveyor belt 24 of a foam-processing apparatus 10. The pressure of the air compressed by a compressor 44 is adjusted with a pressure-adjusting means 46 according to the thickness, material, etc., of the foam. The adjusted high-pressure air is ejected against the foam 1 through a nozzle member 38 which is in direct contact with the surface of the foam 1. The air ejected proceeds along the thickness direction while breaking and removing thin cell membranes only of the foam 1 and leaving a skeletal structure intact. The air reaching the backside of the foam 1 is discharged, together with the thin membrane fragments removed as above, through meshes of a net of the conveyor 24 to the underside of the conveyor 24.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for processing a foam, and more particularly to a method and an apparatus for processing a foam for use as a filter.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As shown in FIG. 9, a foam 1 of a polymer compound such as foamed polyurethane foam or urethane foam contains a large number of cells 2. Each bubble 2 is completely surrounded by the partition wall 3. The partition wall 3 is composed of a branched branch portion 4 which is a skeleton of each bubble and which has a complicated structure, and a thin film 5 which is formed between the branch portions 4 and separates each bubble. Such a foamed body 1 does not have air permeability as it is because each cell 2 is completely surrounded by the partition walls 3 and is independent. Therefore, in order to use such a foam 1 as a filter, it is necessary to process only the thin film 5 of the partition wall 3 that surrounds the bubbles 2 so that the bubbles 2 communicate with each other. As this processing method, for example, a method of crushing the foam 1 with a pressing roller to destroy the thin film 5 and a method of piercing the thin film 5 with a needle-shaped member are known.

[0003]

However, in these methods, it is not possible to completely destroy only the thin film of the partition wall surrounding the bubbles of the foam, and the communication of the bubbles is incomplete.
It was not possible to obtain a foam having the desired breathability. Therefore, the filter made of such a foam body does not have satisfactory filter characteristics.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a method for processing a foam and a processing apparatus for the foam, which allows the bubbles of the foam for use as a filter to be completely communicated with each other while leaving a branch portion. To do.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A first invention is the processing of a foam, which comprises the steps of preparing the foam and injecting a high pressure fluid into the foam to bring the bubbles of the foam into communication with each other. Is the way.

A second aspect of the present invention is an apparatus for processing a foam, which includes compression means for compressing the fluid to a high pressure and injection means for injecting the fluid whose pressure is increased by the compression means into the foam. Is.

[0007]

The high-pressure fluid obtained by the compression means is jetted onto the foam by the jetting means. The jetted high-pressure fluid continuously breaks only the thin film of the partition wall that surrounds the bubbles of the foam, and the bubbles are completely communicated with each other leaving the branch portion.

[0008]

According to the present invention, the bubbles of the foam can be completely communicated with each other while leaving the branch portion, and a desired breathable foam can be obtained. Further, when this foam is used for a filter, since all the branched portions of the completely communicating bubbles serve as a bed for adhering foreign matter, it is possible to obtain an excellent filter having high air permeability and a lot of adhering floor for foreign matter. it can.

The above-mentioned objects, other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the embodiments with reference to the drawings.

[0010]

1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention. The foam processing apparatus 10 includes a pedestal 12. Stand 1
2 includes a rectangular frame member 14 supported substantially horizontally with the ground. The frame member 14 is provided with a transporting means 16 for transporting the foam 1. The transport means 16 includes a first roller 18. The first roller 18 is arranged near one end of the frame member 14 in the longitudinal direction and in parallel with the width direction of the frame member 14. Further, the first roller 18 is rotatably supported on the inner wall of the frame member 14 via a bearing member and the like. Then, the first roller 18 is connected to the drive motor 20 provided outside the frame member 14.

Further, the conveying means 16 has a second roller 22.
including. The second roller 22 is arranged near the other end of the frame member 14 in the longitudinal direction in parallel with the first roller 18, and is rotatably supported by the inner wall of the frame member 14. First roller 1
A conveyor belt 24 for conveying the foam 1 is looped around the 8 and the second roller 22 in an annular shape. Conveyor belt 2
4 is made of a material having air permeability such as a wire mesh.

Inside the conveyor belt 24, the conveyor belt 2
4 and a plurality of support rollers 26 for supporting the conveyed foam 1 from below. The plurality of support rollers 26 are composed of the first roller 18 and the second roller 22.
And the frame member 14 while keeping a predetermined distance from each other.
Is arranged parallel to the width direction of the frame member and is rotatably supported by the inner wall of the frame member 14.

A plurality of pressing rollers 28 for preventing the foam 1 blown by high-pressure air from moving vertically are arranged above the conveyor belt 24 while substantially corresponding to the supporting rollers 26. These pressing rollers 28 are rotatably supported on the inner wall of the frame member 14 while having a predetermined space corresponding to the thickness of the foam 1 to be transported on the upper side of the transport belt 24.

A substantially U-shaped column member 30 is formed at a substantially central portion of the upper surface of the frame member 14 so as to extend substantially vertically from the frame member 14. The pillar member 30 is integrally formed with the frame member 14 by using, for example, a metal material. This pillar member 3
0 is for supporting the jetting means 32 for jetting high-pressure air to the foam 1 above the conveying means 16.

The jetting means 32 includes a cylinder 34 for holding a nozzle member, which will be described later, and for vertically shifting the nozzle member at a predetermined pitch. The cylinder 34 is placed substantially vertically on the upper surface of the column member 30 at substantially the center thereof. Cylinder 3
The piston rod 36 of No. 4 moves from the cylinder 34 to the column member 3
0 is inserted, and it is arrange | positioned so that it may extend below. Inside the piston rod 36, a conduit 36a is formed which serves as a passage for high pressure air. One end of the conduit 36a opens to the side wall of the piston rod 36, and the other end opens to the lower end of the piston rod 36.

The jetting means 32 also includes a substantially rectangular nozzle member 38 for jetting high pressure air to the foam 1.
The nozzle member 38 is fixed to the lower end of the piston rod 36 and communicates with the lower end of the conduit 36 a of the piston rod 36. The nozzle member 38 is arranged so that the lower end thereof directly contacts the upper surface of the foam body 1 conveyed by the conveying means 16. The length of the nozzle member 38 is at least equal to the width of the foam 1 to be processed, or longer than the width of the foam 1. As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, a substantially cylindrical cavity 40 is formed inside the nozzle member 38 from one end to the other end in the longitudinal direction. The hollow portion 40 communicates with the conduit 36a at a substantially central upper portion thereof. In addition, a plurality of nozzle holes 42 having a circular cross section are formed in the lower portion of the hollow portion 40 at a substantially central portion in the width direction thereof and having a predetermined interval from one end to the other end in the longitudinal direction.
Is formed. As shown in FIG. 2C, the plurality of nozzle holes 42 are opened in a line on the bottom surface of the nozzle member 38. The nozzle hole 42 is not limited to a hole having a circular cross section, and as shown in FIG. 2D, the nozzle hole 42 may be formed as a hole having a rectangular cross section that communicates from the vicinity of one end to the vicinity of the other end of the bottom surface of the nozzle member 42. Good.

Further, the foam processing apparatus 10 includes compression means 44 such as a compressor. The compression means 44 in this embodiment is especially for compressing air to a high pressure. A pressure adjusting means 46 for adjusting the pressure is connected to the output of the compressing means 44. The output of the pressure adjusting means 46 is connected to one end of a conduit 36a opened on the side wall of the piston rod 36 via a pressure-resistant hose 48 such as a rubber hose or a flexible tube. Therefore, the high pressure air compressed by the compression means 44 is adjusted to a predetermined pressure by the pressure adjustment means 46, and the piston rod 36 is passed through the pressure resistant hose 48.
From the inside, it is fed into the cavity 40 inside the nozzle member 38, and is further jetted from the nozzle hole 42 to the foam 1 at high speed.

Next, a foam processing method using the foam processing apparatus 10 of this embodiment will be described. First, a sheet-shaped foam body 1 made of, for example, foamed polyurethane foam or urethane foam is prepared. The prepared foam 1 is conveyed by the conveying means 16. In the conveying unit 16, the first motor 18 is rotated by the drive motor 20, and the annular conveying belt 24 and the second roller 22 are rotated accordingly. The foam 1 is placed on the rotating conveyor belt 16 from one end of the foam processing apparatus 10 and conveyed at a predetermined speed. At this time, in order to prevent the foam 1 from moving vertically,
The lower surface of the foam 1 is supported by the transport belt 24 and the supporting roller 26 having air permeability, and the upper surface of the foam 1 is pressed by the pressing roller 28.

Further, the process proceeds to the step of injecting a high-pressure fluid onto the foam 1 conveyed on the conveyor belt 24. That is, the pressure of the air compressed by the compression unit 44 is controlled by the pressure adjusting unit 46 so that the thickness and the material of the foam 1 are so determined that the branch portion 4 of the foam 1 is not destroyed and only the thin film 5 is destroyed. Will be adjusted accordingly. The adjusted high-pressure air is jetted to the foam 1 from the nozzle member 38 that is in direct contact with the surface of the foam 1. Since the foam 1 is carried by the carrying means 16, the high-pressure air jetted from the nozzle member 38 is blown over the entire surface of the foam 1. The high-pressure air blown on the surface of the foam 1 continuously breaks only the thin film 5 of the foam 1 to make the bubbles 2 communicate with each other,
It proceeds in the thickness direction of the foam 1. At this time, the thin film 5 of the foam 1 is ruptured or blown off by the pressure of the high-pressure air and destroyed. Thus, the bubbles 2 of the foam 1
The high-pressure air that has reached the back surface while communicating with each other is discharged to the lower side of the transport belt 24 through the mesh of the transport belt 24 together with the thin film 5 that has been blown off and removed.

When the foam 1 is relatively thick and the bubbles 2 cannot be completely communicated by simply blowing high pressure air, the nozzle member 38 is moved up and down by the cylinder 34. Then, the nozzle member 38
Is a state in which the nozzle member 38 is in contact with the surface of the foam 1 as shown in FIG. 3 (A) while the high-pressure air is being jetted to the foam 1 being conveyed, and a nozzle member as shown in FIG. 3 (B). Three
8 repeats the state in which the foam 1 is compressed.
By doing so, even if the thickness of the foam 1 is relatively large, the pressure is uniformly applied to the inside of the foam 1.
While continuously destroying the thin film 5 of the bubbles 2 inside, the high-pressure air can be passed in the thickness direction of the foam 1, and the bubbles 2 can be completely communicated.

As shown in FIG. 8, the foam body 1 which has undergone the above-described steps should be a bed for adhering foreign matter by removing only the thin film 5 of the partition wall 3 surrounding the bubbles 2 so that the bubbles 2 are completely communicated with each other. Only the branching portion 4 remains. By cutting the foam 1 thus obtained to a desired size, a filter having desired air permeability can be obtained. Thus, according to this embodiment, it is possible to easily and inexpensively obtain a filter having desired air permeability and having a lot of foreign matter adhering floor.

In this embodiment, the pressure of the high-pressure air is adjusted by the pressure adjusting means 46 so as to completely destroy the thin film 5, but the pressure adjusting means 46 is not limited to this.
By adjusting the high-pressure air to a predetermined pressure by using, the degree of destruction of the thin film can be freely controlled.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5,
The height of the pressing roller 28 may be adjustable.
Hanger 5 for adjusting the mounting height of the pressure roller 28
0 is fixed to the inner wall surface of the frame member 14. Hanger 50
Includes a main body 50a. The main body 50a has a substantially J-shaped roller holding member 50b at a predetermined interval in the longitudinal direction.
Are provided in plural. The roller holding member 50b is for rotatably holding the pivot 28a of the pressing roller 28. By providing the hanger 50, the pressing roller 28 can be replaced according to the thickness of the foam material 1 placed on the conveyor belt 24 and conveyed, and the pressing roller 2 can be replaced.
The height of 8 can be adjusted.

Further, in order to improve the processing efficiency, a plurality of jetting means 32 may be provided, or both upper and lower surfaces of the foam 1 may be provided. Further, as a means for detecting the presence or absence of the foam 1,
A pressure sensor may be provided so as to correspond to the ejecting means, and a sensor such as a photoelectric sensor may be provided near the conveying means 16. Furthermore, control means for determining the presence or absence of the foam 1 and automatically controlling the drive of the cylinder 34 and the compression means 44 may be provided.

6 (A), 6 (B) and 7
7A and 7B are schematic views showing a nozzle member 38 of another embodiment of the present invention. The substantially cylindrical nozzle member 38 shown in FIGS. 6 (A) and 6 (B) is for a worker to work by hand. The nozzle member 38 has a cavity 40 formed therein. A nozzle hole 42 having a substantially circular cross section is formed at the lower end of the nozzle member 38 so as to communicate with the cavity 40. A pressure resistant hose (not shown) for supplying high pressure air from the compressor is connected to the upper end of the nozzle member 38. In addition, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 7B, a large number of nozzle holes 42 may be provided. When the foam 1 to be processed is relatively small, the operator is required to perform the operation shown in FIG. 6 (A), FIG. 6 (B), FIG. 7 (A), FIG.
High-pressure air may be jetted to the foam body 1 by using the nozzle member 38 shown in (B) to communicate the bubbles 2 of the foam body 1.

In the above embodiment, the cheapest available air is used as the fluid, but the present invention is not limited to this, and other gas such as nitrogen gas or liquid such as water may be used. Further, even if the fluid contains fine powder, the same effect as described above can be obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

2 (A) is a front view solution view showing a nozzle member of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 2 (B) is a side view solution view thereof.
(C) is the bottom view solution figure. Further, (D) is a bottom view solution diagram showing a modified example of the nozzle member.

3 is an illustrative view showing an operating condition of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 4 is a front view solution diagram showing a hanger for adjusting the mounting height of a pressing roller and a usage state thereof.

FIG. 5 is a side view solution view of the hanger shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6A is a side view showing a nozzle member of another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6B is a bottom view showing the nozzle member.

7 (A) is a side view solution showing a modified example of the nozzle member shown in FIG. 6, and FIG. 7 (B) is a bottom view solution thereof.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged schematic view of a foam after being processed according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged schematic view of a foam before being processed according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Foam Processing Machine 12 Frame 14 Frame Member 16 Conveying Means 18 First Roller 20 Drive Motor 22 Second Roller 24 Conveying Belt 26 Supporting Roller 28 Pressing Roller 30 Pillar Member 32 Injecting Means 34 Cylinder 36 Piston Rod 38 Nozzle Member 44 Compressor 46 Pressure adjusting means 48 Pressure resistant hose

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A method of processing a foam comprising the steps of preparing a foam and injecting a high pressure fluid into the foam to communicate adjacent cells of the foam with each other. 2. An apparatus for processing a foam, comprising compression means for compressing a fluid to a high pressure, and injection means for injecting the fluid, which has been increased in pressure by the compression means, to the foam.