JPH085539A - Evaluating apparatus for phase inversion of emulsion - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily observe a change with time in composition ratio of emulsion visually and continuously in real time and also improve workability in replacing and cleaning respective members when a type of the emulsion is changed for measurement. CONSTITUTION:Emulsion sample mounted on a plate 1 is rubbed by a chip to measure viscous resistance of the emulsion sample by means of a strain gage and also to observe a state change with viscous characteristics changed as a composition ratio varies by means of a CCD camera in real time. When the chip is to be replaced depending on a type of the emulsion sample or a contaminated chip is to be cleaned, an arm 19 for attaching the chip is rotated backward and supported by a hand, thereby replacing or cleaning the chip.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for evaluating the phase inversion of an emulsion, and more particularly, to a method for continuously measuring the change in mechanical properties in the phase inversion process of an emulsion whose composition ratio changes with time, The present invention relates to an emulsion phase change evaluation device capable of performing objective evaluation instead of human sensory evaluation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Emulsions, which are coexistent liquids that are immiscible with each other, such as oil and water, are not only familiar foods such as milk, mayonnaise, ice cream and cosmetic creams, but also paints and adhesives. , Pharmaceuticals, pesticides,
From industrial products such as microcapsules and asphalt (civil materials), they are widely used in society.

Generally, when an emulsion is left undisturbed, dispersed particles are separated from each other through unstable processes such as creaming, aggregation, and coalescence, and are separated into two original liquids. .

[0004] When such an emulsion is used in industry, it is of course required to be chemically stable, but it is also evaluated from the viewpoint of mechanical properties such as hardness, fluidity and deformation. Very important.

[0005] The viscosity in the steady state can be easily measured by an ordinary viscometer. However, in the case of an emulsion whose viscosity changes during use, the use condition of the emulsion is as follows.
It was common to rely on sensory tests based on the sensations of skilled panelists.

However, although human sensory organs have good sensitivity, they are greatly affected by health conditions, individual differences, environment, and the like, and the problem is that even skilled workers have large data variations and lack reliability. Had become.

In order to solve these problems, the applicant of the present application has disclosed Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 3-262941 and 4-43.
No. 941, JP-A-4-60438 or JP-A-5-60677, it is possible to quantitatively measure the viscosity of an emulsion that changes with time,
An emulsion phase change evaluation device capable of objectively evaluating the phase change process of an emulsion has been proposed.

[0008]

However, in the conventional apparatus disclosed in the above publication, a change in the composition ratio of the emulsion over time can be measured, but the change in the composition ratio can be visually observed in real time. It has been pointed out that it is difficult to continuously observe, and it is difficult to replace or wash each member when measuring by changing the type of emulsion.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a method for continuously real-time visual observation of changes in the composition ratio of an emulsion over time. It is an object of the present invention to provide an emulsion phase inversion evaluation apparatus which facilitates the observation of the emulsion and improves the workability of replacing and cleaning each member when measuring by changing the kind of the emulsion. .

[0010]

Means for Solving the Problems To achieve the above object, an apparatus for evaluating the phase inversion of an emulsion according to the present invention continuously changes the mechanical properties in the phase inversion process of an emulsion whose composition ratio changes with time. In the emulsion phase inversion evaluation device to be measured, a plate on which an emulsion specimen is placed, a chip that moves left and right while pressing the emulsion specimen placed on the plate and rubs the chip and the leaf spring And a pressing device that presses the chip onto the plate with a predetermined pressure, a blowing device that blows the surface of the emulsion specimen mounted on the plate, the chip and the pressing device, Affixed to the leaf spring connecting the two, and measures the rub resistance of the tip from the amount of deflection of the leaf spring. And over di-, and rubbing mechanism for the tip to reciprocate right and left in a state of being pressed against the plate,
An image receiving device for observing a change in the state of the emulsion specimen rubbed on the plate in real time.

When the measured value of the strain gauge exceeds an overload judgment value during the rubbing operation of the chip, the rubbing operation of the chip is stopped by a protection function controlled by a computer, and a driving device of the rubbing mechanism is further provided. , The leaf spring is returned, the load determination value of the strain gauge is returned to a no-load state, and an overload prevention mechanism for preventing damage to the rubbing mechanism is provided.

Further, an auxiliary plate is attached to a substantially intermediate portion of the arm to which the chip is attached, and a bifurcated guide formed at the tip of the auxiliary plate holds a predetermined gap between the left and right sides of the chip. The tip is exchanged and washed easily by rotating the arm backward.

[0013]

The emulsion specimen placed on the plate is rubbed with a chip, and the viscous resistance of the emulsion specimen is measured with a strain gauge, and the state change in which the composition ratio changes and the viscosity characteristic changes is observed in real time with an image receiving device. be able to.

When an emulsion specimen which solidifies like an adhesive or the like is placed on a plate and rubbed with a chip, the rubbing operation can be stopped by an overload prevention mechanism. Thus, a wide range of viscosity characteristics can be measured without damaging the rubbing mechanism.

Further, when replacing chips or cleaning dirty chips depending on the type of the emulsion specimen, the chips mounted on the chips can be easily rotated by turning the arm to which the chips are mounted to the rear and supporting them by hand. Replacement work and cleaning work can be performed.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of an apparatus for evaluating the phase inversion of an emulsion according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway side view showing an embodiment of an emulsion phase change evaluation apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway front view of FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a rear view of FIG. 1 with a partially broken plan view.

An apparatus for evaluating the phase inversion of an emulsion according to the present invention comprises a plate 1 on which an emulsion specimen such as a cosmetic cream is placed, and a chip which moves left and right while rubbing the emulsion specimen placed on the plate 1 and rubs it. 2, a pressing device 3 for pressing the chip 2 onto the plate 1 with a predetermined pressure, a blowing device 4 for blowing air to the surface of the emulsion specimen placed on the plate 1, and a connection between the chip 2 and the pressing device 3. Affixed to both sides of the leaf spring 5
A pair of strain gauges 6 for measuring the rub resistance of the chip 2 from the amount of deflection of the leaf spring 5; a rubbing mechanism 7 for reciprocating the chip 2 left and right while pressing the chip 2 on the plate 1; And an image receiving device (in the present embodiment, constituted by the CCD camera 9) for observing the state change of the emulsion specimen in real time.

The plate 1 is made of a transparent sapphire slide glass or the like, and is mounted on a heat conductive plate 11 provided with a thermoelectric element exhibiting a Peltier effect. The thermocouple 12 is mounted on the upper surface of the plate 1. While measuring the temperature of the emulsion specimen on the plate 1, the temperature of the specimen can be controlled within an appropriate range. The plate 1 is installed on a thermo-module base 14 fixed on a base 13 of the entire apparatus.

In the upper part of the thermo module base 14, a cylindrical cavity 15 penetrating in the left-right direction is formed. A pair of mirrors 1 is provided at an intermediate portion in the cavity.
6a and 16b are provided, and an image receiving device is further provided.

That is, the light emitting device 8 composed of a laser diode is installed at one end side of the cavity 15 and
On the other end side, a CCD camera 9 for photographing a state in which the characteristics of the emulsion specimen changes in real time is installed. The upper walls of the mirrors 16a and 16b are provided with a light-transmitting portion 15a. The light-transmitting portion 15a irradiates the laser beam from the light emitting device 8 onto the emulsion specimen on the plate 1 and reflects the reflected light. Is incident on the CCD camera 9.

As described above, in this embodiment, the CCD camera 9 constitutes an image receiving device.

The pressing device 3 is mounted on a bearing 17 provided on the rubbing mechanism 7 side at a tip end of an arm 19 rotatably mounted via a support shaft 18. A shaft 21 movably provided within the shaft 20 and a magnet 22a fixed to an upper portion of the shaft 21
And a magnet 22b fixed to the upper side of the casing 20 and repelled by the magnet 22a on the shaft 21 side.

A joint 23 is attached to the lower end of the shaft 21 of the pressing device 3, and the joint 23 is prevented from rotating by a pin 24. And
A chuck 24 to which the upper end of the leaf spring 5 is fixed is attached to the joint 23 by a screw 25, and the tip 2 fixed to the lower end of the leaf spring 5 is balanced by the repulsive force of the magnets 22a and 22b. As described above, the upper end of the shaft 21 is suspended by a weight (not shown) or the like.

The blower 4 blows the surface of the emulsion specimen supplied on the plate 1 to promote evaporation of water and the like in the emulsion specimen.
As described above, the viscosity characteristic applied to the chip 2 is measured by the strain gauge 6 while the degree of drying of the emulsion specimen is adjusted by the blower 4.

The rubbing mechanism 7 includes an electric motor 26 as a driving device, a swing mechanism 28 driven by the electric motor 26 via a belt 27, and an arm 19 by the swing mechanism 28.
When the electric motor 26 is driven, the screw shaft 30 of the oscillating mechanism 28 rotates and the screw shaft 30 The screwed bearing 17 reciprocates right and left at a predetermined feed speed.

The rubbing mechanism 7 has an overload preventing function. When measuring an emulsion specimen such as an adhesive which solidifies over time, the rubbing resistance becomes extremely large. To prevent the device from being destroyed. That is, when the rub resistance measured by the strain gauge 6 exceeds a predetermined range, the chip 2 can be returned to the no-load state and the electric motor 26 can be stopped.

On the other hand, the base end of the arm 19 is
It is rotatably supported by the support shaft 18 together with the housings 31a and 31b assembled to the housing 7, and has a detent so as to be able to rotate backward by 90 degrees. An auxiliary plate 32 is attached to a substantially intermediate portion of the arm 19, and a bifurcated guide portion 33 formed at the tip of the auxiliary plate 32 holds a predetermined gap between the left and right sides of the chip 2. It is designed to guide. For this,
Change the tip 2 according to the emulsion specimen,
In the case of washing, the arm 19 is rotated backward by 90 degrees, and the tip 2 can be appropriately replaced or washed with the hand attached to the auxiliary plate 32.

In the above arrangement, the rubbing operation of the chip 2 is entirely controlled by a computer, so that the emulsion specimen is always scraped to the center during the rubbing operation of the emulsion specimen by the reciprocating movement of the chip 2. The chip 2 performs the rubbing operation while reciprocating as shown in FIG.

That is, the chip 2 rubs from the point a to the point b within the range of the limit positions A and B of the lateral movement amount, rises from the point b at the end to the point c, and moves from the point c to the point d. It moves sideways to the point, descends at the point d, and contacts the plate 1 again at the point e. Then, it rubs from point e through point b to point a, rises to point f at point a, moves laterally from point f to point g, descends at point g, and returns to plate 1 again at point h. By contacting and passing the point a from the point h, the above-described operation is repeated, so that the rubbing operation is effectively performed while constantly rubbing the emulsion specimen toward the center.

Further, in order to obtain an objective evaluation of the emulsion specimen, a change in the viscosity characteristic during the reciprocation of the chip 2 while rubbing the emulsion specimen on the plate 1 is measured by a strain gauge 6, and By observing, in real time, a state change in which the viscosity ratio changes due to a change in the composition ratio, it is possible to obtain an objective evaluation of a change in mechanical characteristics in the phase inversion process of the emulsion specimen.

The operation of the apparatus for evaluating the phase inversion of an emulsion according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, an emulsion specimen is placed on the plate 1 of the apparatus, and the operation is started after the chip 2 is brought into contact with a predetermined pressure. When the device operates, step S
According to 601, the set number N, the rubbing speed of the chip 2, the distance,
A set value such as a temperature is input, and the process proceeds to step S602.

The process proceeds to step S603 after the number of measurements N is counted at step S602, the load measurement value P overload judgment value by the strain gauges 6 whether in the range of (limit value) P _L is determined is made , when the load measurement value P by the strain gauge 6 is within the range of the overload determination value P _L, the process proceeds to step S604.

[0035] In the step S604, the by measuring the number of times N is counted, whether measured number N becomes measurement end count N _n is determined, but the operation is terminated if the measured end count N _n, the measurement end returning to step S602. If it is judged the number n _n, thereby repeating the operation described above.

Further, in step S603, stops the rubbing mechanism 7 of the chip 2 when the load measurement value P exceeds the range of the overload determination value P _L, the process proceeds to the feedback loop of steps S605 and step S606 . In step S605, “load measurement value P = 0” is given as a condition.

In step S606, the measured load value P
It is determined whether or not the load is in a no-load state.
If not, the process returns to step S605,
The operations of steps S605 and S606 are repeated while the electric motor 26 of the rubbing mechanism 7 is rotated in the reverse direction until the measured load value P = 0, and the operation ends when the measured load value P becomes a no-load state.

FIG. 7 is a schematic view showing the state of the rubbing operation of the chip 2, wherein (1) is an initial state in which the chip 2 performs the rubbing operation, and (2) is an overload judgment value of the chip 2. P
The state during the rubbing operation in the range of _L is shown. Further, (3), as shown in shows a state in which the measured value of the strain gauge 6 in operation rubbing of the chip 2 exceeds the overload determination value P _L, at this time (4), the chip 2 rubbing operation Is stopped, and the electric motor 26 of the rubbing mechanism 7 rotates in the reverse direction to return the leaf spring 5 to the state of (5), and the load measurement value P by the strain gauge 6 is set to the no-load state.

The specifications of the apparatus for evaluating the phase inversion of emulsion according to the present invention are as follows. According to the experimental results, the temperature control range of the emulsion specimen is 10 to 40 degrees Celsius, the rubbing movement range of the chip 2 is 15 mm, the overload judgment value. 22m a range of P _L
m, the contact pressure of the tip 2 is about 5 g, the rubbing mechanism 7 of the tip 2
Is preferably 3 to 30 mm per second.

[0040]

Since the present invention is configured as described above, it has the following effects.

The emulsion sample placed on the plate is rubbed with a chip, and the viscosity resistance of the emulsion sample is measured with a strain gauge, and the state change in which the composition ratio changes and the viscosity characteristics change can be observed in real time with an image receiving device. With such a configuration, it is possible to objectively evaluate the change in mechanical properties in the phase inversion process of the emulsion specimen very accurately and objectively. In other words, the amount of deflection of the leaf spring during the rubbing operation of the chip can be detected by a strain gauge to measure the viscosity characteristics, and the state change in which the composition ratio changes and the viscosity characteristics change is observed in real time by the image receiving device. Is what you can do.

Further, the contact pressure of the chip rubbing the emulsion specimen during measurement can be set to a constant load by the repulsive force of the magnet, and the degree of drying of the emulsion specimen can be adjusted appropriately by controlling the measurement temperature range and adjusting the air volume. Can be set to a value.

Further, the viscosity is measured during the rubbing operation of the chip. By raising the chip at the end portion of the rubbing operation, the emulsion specimen can be scraped to the center and rubbed evenly.

Further, when replacing chips or cleaning dirty chips depending on the type of the emulsion specimen, the chips are easily rotated by rotating the arm on which the chips are mounted backward and supporting them with the hand. Replacement work and cleaning work can be performed.

Further, when rubbing an emulsion specimen which solidifies like an adhesive, the rubbing operation can be stopped by an overload prevention function, so that the rubbing mechanism is not damaged and a wide range of measurement of viscosity characteristics can be performed. Becomes possible.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially broken side view showing an embodiment of an apparatus for evaluating phase inversion of an emulsion according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partially broken front view of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the driving unit of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a rear view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an operation of a chip according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the emulsion phase change evaluation apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a chip rubbing operation.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 plate 2 chip 3 pressing device 4 blowing device 5 leaf spring 6 strain gauge 7 rubbing mechanism 8 light emitting device 9 CCD camera 15 cavity 16a mirror 16b mirror 19 arm 26 limit switch 32 auxiliary plate

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An emulsion phase inversion evaluation apparatus for continuously measuring a change in mechanical properties in a phase inversion process of an emulsion in which a composition ratio changes with time, comprising: a plate on which an emulsion specimen is placed; A chip that moves left and right while rubbing the mounted emulsion specimen and rubs it, and a pressing device that is connected to the chip via a leaf spring and presses the chip onto the plate with a predetermined pressure; A blower that blows the surface of the emulsion specimen mounted on the plate; and a chip attached to the leaf spring that connects the tip and the pressing device, and the tip is bent based on a deflection amount of the leaf spring. A strain gauge that measures the rubbing resistance of the chip, and a rubbing mechanism that reciprocates left and right while the chip is pressed onto the plate. An image receiving device for observing, in real time, a change in the state of the emulsion specimen rubbed on the plate. 2. When the measured value of the strain gauge exceeds an overload determination value during the rubbing operation of the chip, the rubbing operation of the chip is stopped by a protection function controlled by a computer.
2. An overload prevention mechanism for reversing a driving device of the rubbing mechanism to return the leaf spring to return a load determination value of the strain gauge to a no-load state and preventing damage to the rubbing mechanism. Evaluator for phase inversion of emulsion. 3. An auxiliary plate is attached to a substantially intermediate portion of the arm to which the chip is attached, and a bifurcated guide formed at the tip of the auxiliary plate holds a predetermined gap between the left and right sides of the chip. The phase change evaluation of the emulsion according to any one of claims 1 and 2, wherein the tip is configured to be guided and the arm is rotated rearward to facilitate replacement and cleaning of the chip. apparatus.