JPH10160070A - Transport pipeline for fine grain powder - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To drop fine grain powder from an upstream tank to a downstream tank based on gravity without leakage by arranging a detachable pipeline connection body having flexibility and elasticity on the way of a transport pipeline. SOLUTION: A transport pipe 10 for fine grain powder is composed of a feed out transport pipe 10a integrated with a lower end of a product tank as an upstream tank and extended downward, a receiving transport pipe 10b stood integrally on an upper portion of a primary tank of a charger as a downstream tank, connected and fixed thereto, and a tubular pipe connector 20c which connects the pipes 10a to 10b. The piping connector 20c is a tubular body having flexible extention/contraction performance and elasticity, and made of soft sponge rubber. Its inner diameter is a little smaller than outer diameters of the upper and lower pipes 10a, 10b. The piping connector 20 is widened, and elastically deformed for fitting the outer peripheries of the pipes 10a, 10b. It is bought into close contact with the pipes 10a, 10b due to its elasticity.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a transfer pipe for intermittently transferring fine powder from a tank on an upstream side to a tank on a downstream side in a gravitational direction. The present invention relates to an improvement in a conveyance path for fine powder which prevents the fine powder from being transported.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 2 shows a peripheral structure of a product tank for temporarily storing finished toner powder, which is a fine powder, and a filling machine for filling the finished toner into a product container. (a) is a left side view, and (b) is a front view.

As shown in FIG. 1, a hopper-shaped product tank 2 for storing the completed toner is installed on the second floor of a factory, and the product tank 2 holds a completed product manufactured by a toner manufacturing apparatus (not shown). The toner is sent through the supply pipe 4 and is dropped and supplied from the upper portion of the product tank 2 through a funnel-shaped sealed chute 6. Above the chute 6, a palback filter 8 for communicating the toner particles soaring and floating in the chute 6 with a small suction force is connected, and the palback filter 8 is connected to the third floor. It is installed in.

The above product tank 2 is No. 1 to No. No. 4 is provided, and different types of toner are supplied to each of them and stored.
1 to No. The chute 6, the supply pipe 4, and the palback filter 8 are individually provided for each product tank 2.

[0005] At the lower end of each product tank 2, although not shown, there is provided a powder cut-out device for cutting out a certain amount of toner stored therein and dropping and supplying it downward. It is supplied to a filling machine 12 installed on the first floor of the lower floor via a conveying pipe 10 extending vertically downward.

A filling machine 12 is a funnel-shaped primary tank 1 for receiving and storing toner dropped and supplied from a product tank 2.
4 and a small-capacity secondary tank 16 provided below the primary tank 14 and continuously supplied with toner from the primary tank 14, and a cutout provided at the lower end of the secondary tank 16. A predetermined amount of toner is sequentially filled in the product container by the device.

[0007] At the top of the primary tank 14, two receiving-side transfer pipes 10b are attached. The receiving-side transfer pipes 10b are connected to the delivery-side transfer pipes 10 from the product tanks 2 on the upstream side. It is adapted to be connected via a tubular conduit connector 20. That is, the transport pipeline 10 includes the delivery-side transport pipe 10a, the pipeline connecting body 20, and the receiving-side transport pipe 10b.

FIG. 2 (a) shows a receiving side transfer pipe 10b.
As shown in FIG. 1 and No. No. 2 serving as a supply source is disposed so as to correspond to the feed-side transfer pipe 10a of the product tank 2 of the product tank 2 and be located immediately below the pipe 10a. 1 or No. The connection is sequentially changed according to the product tank 2 and the connection is changed.
And No. 3 and No. 3 When the product tank 2 of No. 4 becomes the supply source, the filling machine 12 itself is moved to the side and these No. 3 and No. 3 4 is installed immediately below the product tank 2.

A pipe 22 is connected to the primary tank 14 for collecting the toner powder floating inside the primary tank 14 with a palback filter (not shown). The inside of the primary tank 14 is weak through the pipe 22. It is sucked by the suction force.

[0010]

By the way, in the prior art, in order to eliminate the gap of the connecting portion and to prevent the detachability from being hindered, the pipe connecting member 20 of the conveying pipe 10 is not shown in FIG. ) And (b), a hard synthetic rubber cylinder 20a or a metal cylinder 20b is used for the upper and lower transfer pipes 10a and 10b, and a synthetic rubber cylinder 20a is used for a connection portion. In this case, the metal ring 24 is used, and in the case of the metal cylinder 20b, the ferrule joint 26 is used.

However, if the toner is cut out from the product tank 2 by a fixed amount and dropped and supplied intermittently, the pressure in the pipeline downstream of the lump of toner powder falling in the transport pipeline 10 increases, while the pressure in the upstream increases. Since the internal pressure of the side pipe decreases, toner leakage easily occurs in the synthetic rubber cylindrical body 20a due to the internal / external pressure difference.

Further, in order to achieve both the adhesion and the detachability of the pipe connecting member 20, improvement has been required particularly in terms of the detachability.

Although the inside of the primary tank 14 is sucked into the palback filter through the pipe 22 as described above, the suction force is weak and the pressure fluctuation in the transport pipe 10 due to the above-mentioned toner drop supply is eliminated. Not something you can do.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to remove and attach fine particles from the upstream tank to the downstream tank in a gravity direction without leaking. It is an object of the present invention to provide a finely-pulverized powder conveying pipe having good properties.

[0015]

In order to achieve the above object, a fine powder such as a toner having a volume average particle diameter of 20 μm or less is supplied from an upstream tank in a conveying path for fine powder according to the present invention. A detachable pipe connecting body having elasticity and elasticity is interposed in the middle of a transport pipe for intermittently transporting a fixed amount to the downstream tank in the direction of gravity.

Here, it is desirable to employ sponge rubber for the pipe connection body.

Further, the fine powder is a toner powder containing a resin as a main component, and the upstream tank is a tank for temporarily storing the toner powder produced by the toner producing apparatus.
The downstream side tank is a primary tank of a filling machine for filling a toner powder into a container, and the sponge rubber has an elongation of 50%.
The stress at the time of 100% tensile at 0% is 0.9 kgf / cm ² ,
A CR sponge having elasticity and elasticity with a stress at the time of 300% tension of about 2.5 kgf / cm ² can be obtained.

According to the fine-powder conveying pipe having such a configuration, even if a minute amount of the fine powder is intermittently dropped and supplied in the direction of gravity from the upstream tank to the downstream tank,
Since the pipe connection body is an elastic cylinder made of sponge rubber or the like, fine particles can be formed without causing toner leakage from the connection part against pressure fluctuations in the transport pipe due to the falling movement of the fine powder. The transfer of the powder is performed. In addition, since the pipeline connection body has flexible elasticity, it is easy to connect the pipeline connection body to the upper and lower transport pipes while ensuring good adhesion.

[0019]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a main part of a fine-powder conveying pipe according to the present invention. The overall configuration around the same is the same as that of FIG. 2 of the prior art described above. 2
And is omitted here.

As shown in FIG. 1, the delivery pipe 10 for the fine powder is also attached to the lower end of the product tank 2 which is the upstream tank and extends downward as in the prior art. 10a and a filling machine 1 as a downstream tank
The receiving-side transfer pipe 10b which is integrally erected and fixed on the upper part of the second primary tank 14, and a tubular pipe connecting body 20 for interconnecting the two transfer pipes 10a, 10b.
c.

Here, the present invention is different from the conventional one in that the pipeline connecting member 20c is a cylindrical body having flexible elasticity and elasticity.

That is, in the present embodiment, a sponge rubber material (CR sponge) is used for the pipe connection member 20c. More specifically, NL (trade name) manufactured by National Rubber Co., Ltd. is used, in which chloroprene rubber is used as a main component and a filler, a foaming agent, an antioxidant, and an accelerator are added to additives. It has become. The physical properties are based on the JIS-K6301 test method.
The following table shows the SB type test pieces.

[0024]

[Table 1] As shown in FIG. 1, the pipe connection body 20c of the present embodiment is formed in a cylindrical shape using a flexible sponge rubber having the above-described physical properties, and the inner diameter d1 of the pipe connection body 20c is the upper and lower transport pipes. It is formed slightly smaller than the outer diameter of 10a, 10b. The upper and lower transfer pipes 10a and 10b are expanded and elastically deformed and fitted to the outer peripheral portion thereof.
a, 10b.

Here, in the present embodiment, the pipeline connecting member 20c
Is the effective connection length 1 = 240 mm and the upper inner diameter d1 = 13
7 to 163 mm, lower inner diameter d2 = 170 mm, thickness =
It is formed to 5 mm. In the illustrated example, a metal ring hose band 28 is mounted to further improve the adhesion of the connection portion.

In the fine-powder conveying pipe 10 constructed as described above, the sponge rubber of the pipe connecting member 20c has a tensile strength of 7.5 kgf / cm ² and a tear strength of 2. 0 kgf / cm, 500% elongation, 100% tensile stress M ₁₀₀ is 0.9 kgf / cm ² , 300% tensile stress M ₃₀₀ is 2.5 kgf / cm ^2. Because it is equipped, the upper and lower transport pipes 1
Connection to 0 and 10b can be easily performed, and the adhesion is excellent. Therefore, No. 1 to No. 4, the connection between the product tank 2 and the primary tank 14 of the filling machine 12 can be easily changed in a short time, and toner leakage from the connection portion can be sufficiently prevented.

[0027]

As described in detail in the above embodiments, according to the present invention, fine powder such as toner having a volume average particle diameter of 20 μm or less is intermittently moved in the direction of gravity from the upstream tank to the downstream tank. In the middle of the transfer pipe for constant-quantity transfer, a detachable pipe connecting body made of sponge rubber etc. having elasticity and elasticity was interposed, so that fine powder was transferred from the upstream tank to the downstream tank. Even if it is intermittently dropped and supplied in the gravitational direction by a fixed amount at a time, the toner may leak from the connection part due to the pressure fluctuation in the transport pipeline caused by the falling movement of the fine powder. The transfer of fine powder can be performed without the need. In addition, since the pipe connection body has a flexible elasticity and elasticity, it can be easily connected while connecting the pipe connection body to upper and lower pipes while ensuring good adhesion, and connection can be changed. Can be done in a short time.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view showing a main part of an embodiment of a conveying path for fine powder according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an overall view showing a peripheral configuration of a product tank for storing completed toner and a filling machine for filling the completed toner into a product container, which is common to the present invention and the related art.

FIG. 3 is a view showing a main part of a conventional fine-powder conveying pipe.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Product tank (upstream tank) 10 Transport pipeline 10a Delivery pipeline 10b Receiving pipeline 12 Filling machine 14 Primary tank (downstream tank) 20c Pipe connection

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A stretch pipe having elasticity and elasticity in the middle of a transport pipe for intermittently transporting fine powder such as toner having a volume average particle diameter of 20 μm or less from an upstream tank to a downstream tank in a gravitational direction intermittently. A conveying line for fine powder, wherein a detachable line connecting member having: is interposed. 2. The conduit for conveying fine powder according to claim 1, wherein said conduit connection member is sponge rubber. 3. The fine powder is a toner powder containing a resin as a main component, and the upstream tank is a tank for temporarily storing the toner powder manufactured by a toner manufacturing apparatus.
The downstream tank is a primary tank of a filling machine for filling a toner powder into a container, and the sponge rubber has an elongation of 5%.
Stress at 100% tension at 00% is 0.9kgf / c
m ^2, fine powder conveying pipe of claim 2, wherein it is a CR sponge 300% tensile when stress has a 2.5 kgf / cm ² about stretchability and elasticity.