JPH1031089A - Pellet converging device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a high-speed pellet converging device capable of reducing a time for converging pellets under the application of a simple structure. SOLUTION: This device is formed out of a plurality of line linear advance feeders 1 and 2, a converging line linear advance feeder 3, a slide mechanism 8 traveling in a direction orthogonal with the line linear advance feeders 1 and 2, and a transfer mechanism 9 having line claws 11 and 12, and line claw elevator cylinders 13 and 14 as well as a converging line claw 10, and having the capability of traveling back and forth along a pellet conveyance direction. In this case, pellets are conveyed from the line linear advance feeders 1 and 2 to the slide mechanism 8, and at the same time, from the slide mechanism 8 to the converging line linear advance feeder 3. As a result, a structure can be simplified and a time for converging the pellets can be shortened.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a pellet merging apparatus used in an automatic production line for transporting pellets for forming, sintering, grinding, and inspecting pellets in a process of manufacturing fuel pellets for a nuclear reactor. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Fuel pellets for a nuclear reactor are usually arranged in a grid on a dedicated dish and sintered, and then ground and inspected. FIG. 2A is a plan view of a conventional pellet merging apparatus, and FIG. 2B is a view in the direction of arrow B in FIG. Usually, pellets are mass-produced at one time, and are continuously conveyed on a production line by a straight feeder. However, various devices are arranged in each step, and the processing time for the pellets is also different. For this reason, a method has been adopted in which a place where a device having a long processing time is arranged is formed as a plurality of lines, and a waiting time in a device having a short processing time is reduced. At this time, it is necessary to combine the pellets transported on a plurality of lines into one line. It has a plurality of V-shaped conveying grooves 1a, 2a, and separates pellets individually and moves straight by electromagnetic vibration.
And a merging line straight feeder 3 for merging and transporting the pellets sent from the straight line feeder 1 for line 1 and the straight line feeder 2 for line 2, and a pellet sent from the straight line feeder 1 for line 1 and the straight line feeder 2 for line 2. And a pellet transfer mechanism 4 for taking out and transferring it to the merging line straight feeder 3. The straight line feeder 3 has a conveying groove 3a. The pellet transfer mechanism 4 has a hand 5 at the tip, and is moved up and down by a hand lifting cylinder 6.

Next, the operation of the conventional pellet merging apparatus will be described. The pellets individually separated by a pellet separator (not shown) are placed on the linear feeder 1 for the line 1 and the linear feeder 2 for the line 2, are given electromagnetic vibration, and are conveyed from left to right in FIG. Hand lifting cylinder 6 for operating hand 5 of pellet transfer mechanism 4
Move over the pellets to be merged. The hand lifting / lowering cylinder 6 moves up, and moves the pellet transfer mechanism 4 to the pellet transfer position on the merging line straight-ahead feeder 3. After moving to the predetermined position, the hand lifting cylinder 6
Is lowered, the hand 5 is opened, and the pellet 7 is placed on the merging line straight feeder 3, the hand lifting cylinder 6 is raised, and the merging of the pellet 7 is completed.

[0004]

In the conventional pellet merging apparatus, there are problems such as failure to grasp the pellet and breakage of the pellet due to the difference in the size of the pellet. In addition, even if there are a plurality of straight feeder lines, the conventional configuration cannot grasp a plurality of pellets at once,
Since the transfer is performed one by one, there is a problem that it takes a long time to join.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a pellet merging apparatus which has a simple structure, shortens the time for merging the pellets, and increases the speed.

[0006]

A linear feeder for a plurality of lines for transporting the pellets separated by the pellet separator, a merging line linear feeder disposed behind the linear feeder in the transport direction, and a feeder for the line. A mounting groove that matches the transfer groove of the straight-line feeder, and a mounting groove that matches the transfer groove of the merger line straight-line feeder, and a slide mechanism that moves in a direction perpendicular to the line-use straight feeder; A line claw and a line claw elevating cylinder for moving the pellets on the straight feeder to the slide mechanism and a merging line claw for moving the pellets on the slide mechanism to the merging line straight feeder are provided before and after the pellet transport direction. A transfer mechanism that moves, and the pellets are transferred from the straight line feeder to the slide mechanism. By transferring the pellets from the slide mechanism to the merging line straight feeder, the transfer of the pellets in the horizontal direction becomes unnecessary, the apparatus is simplified, and the pellets are transferred from the line straight feeder. At the same time that the pellets are transferred to the slide mechanism, the pellets previously transferred to the slide mechanism are transferred from the line straight feeder to the merging line straight feeder, so that the merging time is reduced.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1A is a plan view of a pellet merging apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. In the present invention, a straight feeder 1 for line 1 and a straight feeder 2 for line 2 for transporting pellets separated by a pellet separation device (not shown).
And a merging line rectilinear feeder 3 disposed at the rear of the line 1 linear feeder 1 and the line 2 linear feeder 2 in the conveying direction, and a mounting groove 8a coinciding with the conveying grooves 1a and 2a of the linear feeders 1 and 2. Conveying groove 3 of line straight feeder 3
a slide mechanism 8 having a mounting groove 8a that coincides with the line a, and moving in a direction perpendicular to the linear feeder 1 for line 1 and the linear feeder 2 for line 2, and the pellets on the linear feeder for line 1 to the slide mechanism 8. Claw 11 for moving line 1
And a line 1 claw elevating cylinder 13, and a line 2 claw 12 and a line 2 claw elevating cylinder 14 for moving the pellets on the line 2 linear feeder 2 to the slide mechanism 8.
And a transfer line 9 for moving the pellets on the slide mechanism 8 to the merging line straight feeder 3, and a transfer mechanism 9 moving back and forth in the pellet transport direction to constitute a pellet merging apparatus.

Next, the operation of the pellet merging apparatus will be described. The pellets 7 individually separated by the pellet separation device are conveyed to a predetermined transfer position on the linear feeder 1 for line 1 in FIGS. 1 (A) and 1 (B). The slide mechanism 8 has been moved in advance to a position where the mounting groove 8a coincides with the transport groove 1a on the line 1 linear feeder. At this time, the other mounting groove 8a of the slide mechanism 8 coincides with the transport groove 3a on the merging line straight feeder 3. The difference between the position of the origin on the support table and the position to be moved is input as a pulse to the slide mechanism 8, and the slide mechanism 8 moves in response to the pulse. After confirming that the pellet 7 is present on the linear feeder 1 for line 1 by a pellet confirmation sensor (not shown), the claw lifting cylinder 13 for line 1 provided in the transfer mechanism 9 is lowered, and the transfer mechanism 9 is moved in the pellet transport direction. The pellet 7 is moved by the claw 11 for line 1
Is transported from the linear feeder 1 for line 1 to the slide mechanism 8. The transfer mechanism 9 is driven by a pulse motor or a servomotor and moves by a ball screw. The presence of the pellet 7 on the slide mechanism 8 is previously confirmed by a pellet confirmation sensor. After the transfer mechanism 9 moves to a predetermined position, the claw lifting cylinder 13 for line 1 rises and returns to the original position. At the same time, the slide mechanism 8 moves to a position corresponding to the position of the transport groove 2a on the line 2 linear feeder 2. As a result, the pellets 7 sent from the line 1 linear feeder 1 on the slide mechanism 8 coincide with the lines of the conveying grooves 3a of the merging line linear feeder 3. After confirming the pellet 7 on the slide mechanism 8 by the pellet confirmation sensor, the lifting cylinder 14 for the line 2 provided in the transfer mechanism 9 is lowered. At this time, the pellets 7 separated by the pellet separation device are waiting at the pellet transfer position on the line 2 linear feeder 2. Next, the claw 12 for line 2 is lowered by the claw elevating cylinder 14 for line 2, and the transfer mechanism 9 is moved in the transport direction to move the pellet 7 on the linear feeder for line 2 to the slide mechanism 8
Move to At the same time, the pellets 7 previously moved to the slide mechanism 8 are moved onto the merging line straight feeder 3. After the movement on the merging line straight-ahead feeder 3 is completed, the claw 12 for the line 2 is raised, and the transfer mechanism 9 moves to the original position. At that time, the slide mechanism 8 moves to a position that coincides with the transport groove 1a of the linear feeder 1 for line 1. By repeating the above operations, the pellets 7 are alternately transported from the straight line feeder 1 for line 1 and the straight line feeder 2 for line 2 to the merging line straight line feeder 3. FIG. 1 shows an example in which there are two line feeders, but the apparatus can be applied to three or more line feeders. In this case, the mounting grooves 8a of the slide mechanism are provided at intervals between the adjacent linear feeders, and one mounting groove 8a coincides with the transport groove 1a of the linear feeder and the other mounting groove 8a.
Is configured to coincide with the transport groove 3a of the straight line feeder. It is used as if two sets of straight line feeders were combined. According to the present invention, the pellets 7 are conveyed from the line feeders 1 and 2 to the slide mechanism 8 and the pellets 7 previously conveyed to the slide mechanism 8 are conveyed to the merging line straight feeder 3 at the same time. You can save time.

[0009]

According to the present invention, in order to merge the pellets from the plurality of transport lines to the merging line, a plurality of straight line feeders, one merging line straight line feeder, and a direction perpendicular to the line straight line feeder are provided. And a transfer mechanism that moves back and forth in the pellet transport direction to form a pellet merging device.The pellets are sent from the straight line feeder to the slide mechanism, and the pellets are sent from the slide mechanism to the straight line feeder. The mechanism is simplified, and the transfer mechanism can simultaneously transfer the pellets arranged in multiple grooves by moving in the transport direction according to the grooves, so that the time required for merging can be reduced and the pellets can be merged at high speed. Can be.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1A is a plan view of a pellet merging apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a view taken in the direction of arrow B in FIG.

FIG. 2A is a plan view of a conventional pellet merging apparatus,
(B) is a view in the direction of arrow B in (A).

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Straight feeder for line 1 2 Straight feeder for line 2 3 Straight feeder for merging line 4 Pellet transfer mechanism 5 Hand 6 Hand lifting cylinder 7 Pellet 8 Slide mechanism 9 Transfer mechanism 10 Claw for merge line 11 Claw for line 1 12 For line 2 Claw 13 Claw lifting cylinder for line 1 14 Claw lifting cylinder for line 2

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on front page (72) Inventor Shinichi Murakami 4-33 Muramatsu, Tokai-mura, Naka-gun, Ibaraki Pref.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A linear feeder for a plurality of lines for transporting pellets separated by a pellet separator, a merging line linear feeder disposed behind the linear feeder in the transport direction, and a transport of the linear feeder for the line. A slide mechanism that includes a mounting groove that matches the groove, and a mounting groove that matches the transfer groove of the merging line straight-line feeder, and that moves in a direction perpendicular to the line straight-line feeder; A transfer mechanism that includes a line claw and a line claw elevating cylinder for moving pellets to the slide mechanism, and a confluence line claw for moving the pellets on the slide mechanism to the merging line straight feeder; And transporting the pellets from the straight line feeder to the slide mechanism. Moni, pellets merging apparatus characterized by transporting the pellets from the slide mechanism to the merging line straight feeder.