JPH1039089A - End-packed collection apparatus for pellet - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an end-packed collection apparatus, for a pellet, whose structure is simple and which is low-cost by a method wherein a plurality of pellets are inspected collectively so as to remove defective pellets and good pellets in a definite quantity are collected in a product dish so as to be lined up. SOLUTION: An end-packed collection apparatus is constituted in such a way that a collection base 11 on which an inspected pellet 8 is placed temporarily is arranged between an inspection base 1 on which a pellet 8 is placed and a product dish 7 in which an inspected pellet 8 is housed, that only a row in which pellets 8 sent to a temporary placement position on the collection base 11 by using an inspection pusher 4 reach the prescribed number of pieces is moved to a part near the product dish 7 by using a collection pusher 9 and that the pellets are then sent to the product pellet 7 one row by one row by using a lining-up pusher 11. Thereby, the number of pellets housed in every row on the product dish 7 can be made always constant.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a process for producing pellets in a fuel production facility for a nuclear reactor, in which a plurality of pellets are collectively subjected to an appearance inspection in a process before the fuel pellets are inserted into a fuel cladding tube, and then to the next process. The present invention relates to an apparatus for collecting and aligning non-defective products in a product tray for sending and distributing pellets.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 4 is a front view of a conventional pellet collecting apparatus, and FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line V--V in FIG. The pellet collecting device includes an inspection table 1, a linear feeder 2, and a cutting-out mechanism 3.
, Inspection pusher 4, inspection device 5, pan support table 6
And a product tray 7. The inspection table 1 places the pellets 8 to the position of the inspection device 5 for inspecting the appearance of the pellets 8 such as scratches by an image detection sensor by a television camera or the like standing by the side of the inspection table 1 and slides in the direction of the arrow. In order to shorten the inspection time, a plurality of rows of mounting grooves 1a are provided. In the case of FIG. 4, the mounting grooves 1a are arranged in three rows as shown in FIG. Inspection table 1 mentioned above
In the supply of the pellets 8 to the respective grooves 1a, the pellets continuously sent from the rectilinear feeder 2 onto the cutting table 3a are separated into one by one by the cutting mechanism 3 and sent by the inspection pusher 4. . The above-mentioned cutting mechanism 3 has two claws 3b, 3b at the front and rear, and operates the pneumatic cylinder (not shown) so as to cut the pellet 8 by moving the claws 3b, 3b up and down.

[0003] The pellets 8 determined to be defective on the inspection table 1
Is the inspection table 1 at the position of the inspection device 5 indicated by the dotted line in FIG.
Eliminated from above. The pellets 8 determined to be non-defective by the inspection device 5 are returned to the original position on the inspection table 1, and the inspection pusher 4 is moved from the inspection table 1 to the product tray 7 placed on the plate receiving table 6. Send each column at once.
Next, the plate receiving table 6 is moved in the direction of the arrow to
The pellets 8 are sequentially stored in a. The inspection pusher 4 is provided with two scrapers 4 a, 4 a before and after in the transport direction for each row of the inspection table 1, and each row 2 arranged in two places on the cutting mechanism 3 and the inspection table 1. The individual pellets 8 are simultaneously moved by one feeding operation.

[0004] The product tray 7 is formed with a large number of grooves 7 a so that the pellets 8 can be aligned and accommodated. Although the dimensions vary depending on the type of fuel handled in the fuel manufacturing facility, the plane dimensions of the product tray 7 are approximately 220 mm × 280 mm and the grooves 7 a
Is generally about 15 to 18 rows. Next, when a predetermined amount of the pellets 8 after the inspection is collected, the product tray 7 is removed from the tray receiving table 6 and transported to the next step, and an empty product tray 7 is set on the tray receiving table 6 instead. Thus, the operation of collecting the pellets after the inspection is restarted in the same manner as described above.

[0005]

According to the above-mentioned conventional pellet collecting apparatus, the pellets 8 after the inspection are sent from the inspection table 1 to the product tray 7 simultaneously from the inspection table 1 by the inspection pushers 4, so that the pellets are judged to be defective. It is arranged on the row of the product tray 7 with a space portion without the pellets 8 that has been removed and removed. In the fuel manufacturing facility, the number of the grooves 7a for accommodating the pellets 8 provided in all the product dishes 7 and the length of the grooves 7a are made the same, and the quantity of the pellets 8 accommodated is made constant. It is considered that it is desirable for operation to count the number of pellets 8 to be handled by counting. However, in the conventional apparatus, the pellets 8 determined to be defective in the inspection stage and removed from the inspection table 1 are not refilled in the row, so that even if the number of the product trays 7 is counted, There is a problem that it is not possible to grasp the number of pellets. For this purpose, each groove 7a of the product dish 7
It is necessary to provide a device that counts the number of pellets 8 contained in each row for each row, or a special device for replenishing the pellets 8 that have been removed. Inevitably, there are problems in terms of equipment arrangement such as becoming expensive and economical problems.

An object of the present invention is to provide a simple and low-cost structure in which a plurality of pellets are collectively inspected, defective products are removed, and a certain amount of non-defective pellets are collected and aligned in a product dish. It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for collecting and recovering pellets.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a cutting mechanism for cutting pellets sent from a linear feeder on a cutting table, and placing the pellets separated by the cutting mechanism. Inspection table having a plurality of rows of pellet conveyance grooves, an inspection device for pellets arranged near the inspection table, a collection table arranged in front of the inspection table in the pellet conveyance direction, and an inspection table from the cutting table. An inspection pusher that sends the pellets to the pellet transport groove and sends each pellet in a plurality of rows after inspection by the inspection device from the inspection table to the recovery table for each row, and a plurality of inspection pushers arranged in front of the recovery table in the pellet transport direction. A product dish for collecting the inspected pellets having a groove, a dish receiving table on which the product dish is placed and moved in a direction perpendicular to the pellet conveying direction, A loading sensor for detecting that the number of pellets in each row on the collection table has reached a predetermined number, and when the pellets have reached a predetermined number on the collection table, the position of the pellets for each row is determined by the collection pusher. After being moved near the upper product tray, the pellets on the collecting table are sequentially fed by the alignment pusher into each row of the grooves of the product tray. As a result, the inspected pellets are sent to the collection table by the inspection pusher, moved to the product tray by a predetermined number of rows, and further sent to the product tray by the alignment pusher one row at a time. The pellets are regularly fed into the rows of product dishes, so that the number of pellets contained in the product dishes is always constant. Therefore, by counting the number of product dishes, it is possible to grasp the number of stored pellets.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 show a pellet end filling and collecting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
1 is a front view, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG. In FIGS. 1 and 2, the same parts as those in FIGS. 4 and 5 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted. In the pellet end filling and collecting apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention, after the inspection sent from the inspection table 1 by the inspection pusher 4 between the inspection table 1 and the product tray 7 on the plate receiving table 6, A collection table 11 for temporarily placing the pellets 8 is disposed. The collection table 11 is provided with a plurality of rows of the pellet conveying grooves 1 of the inspection table 1.
The table has a groove 11a connected to a, and is constituted by a fixed table provided with a load sensor 12 for detecting that the number of the pellets 8 stored in each row of the groove 11a has reached a predetermined number. I have. The presence sensor 12 includes a light-transmitting sensor including a light-emitting element and a light-receiving element, and determines that the number of the pellets 8 has reached a predetermined number when detecting that the head of the row of the pellets 8 blocks light. It is. The length of the collecting table 11 can temporarily store the number of pellets to be collected in the product tray 7 by one operation of the inspection pusher 4, and the same amount of the following pellets can be serially arranged in the transport direction. It has a length that can be placed in

A collecting pusher 9 is provided above the collecting table 11.
And an alignment pusher 10 are provided. Each pusher 9,
Raising and lowering scrapers 9a, 10a are respectively provided at the tip of 10, and both the collecting pusher 9 and the aligning pusher 10 are provided with the number of grooves 11a of the collecting table 11. The presence sensor 12 provided in each row below the collection pusher 9 detects a row in which the number of the pellets 8 reaches a predetermined number in each row of the collection pusher 9, and the collection above the row is performed. By operating a pneumatic cylinder (not shown) connected to the pusher 9, the scraper 9 a of the collecting pusher 9 is lowered to abut against the end of the pellet 8, and the horizontal operation thereafter causes the scraper 9 a on the same collecting table 11 to be moved. It moves to the delivery position to the product tray 7. The operation of the collecting pusher 9 by the above-described pneumatic cylinder is not limited to one row at a time. If there are a plurality of rows in which the number of pellets 8 reaches a predetermined number, the collecting pushers 9 are simultaneously operated by that number. .

The aligning pusher 10 is for sequentially feeding a predetermined number of pellets 8 waiting at the delivery position of the collecting table 11 by the collecting pusher 9 into the grooves 7a of the product tray 7. In order to store a predetermined number of pellets 8 in the groove 7a of the product dish 7, it is necessary to sequentially accommodate the pellets 8 from the row of the grooves 7a at the end of the product dish 7, so that the control is simple and easy.
Therefore, the pneumatic cylinder of the aligning pusher 10 is provided with only one scraper 1 of the aligning pusher 10 at the corresponding row.
The recovery pusher 9 is moved down to be brought into contact with the end of the pellet 8 in the same manner as the scraper 9a of the recovery pusher 9, and thereafter the horizontal movement is performed. The tray receiving table 6 is slid sequentially in the direction perpendicular to the conveying direction of the pellets 8 so as to be aligned with the groove 11a of the collecting table 11 fed from the alignment pusher 10 provided on the product tray 7. Has become.

As shown in FIG. 1, the collecting pusher 9 and the aligning pusher 10 are connected by a frame 13, and the operation in the horizontal direction is performed by one driving source (not shown). . As described above, the pellets 8 to be handled at the respective positions of the collection pusher 9 and the alignment pusher 10 are moved by the individual operation of the pneumatic cylinders provided respectively.

Next, the operation of the pellet end collecting and collecting apparatus will be described. FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing the operation of the pellet filling and collecting apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. In the example of FIG. 3, the number of grooves of the inspection table 1 and the collection table 11 is three, and the number of scrapers of the inspection pusher 4, the collection pusher 9, and the alignment pusher 10 is also three in accordance with the above. The case where the number of the pellets 8 accommodated in one row of the grooves 7a of the product dish 7 is 18 and the predetermined number of the pellets 8 temporarily placed on the collection table 11 is six will be described.

(A) The pellet 8 waiting for inspection separated by the cutting mechanism 3 and the pellet 8 after inspection on the inspection table 1 are simultaneously moved by one pitch by the inspection pusher 4.
As a result, the pellets 8 waiting for inspection are moved to the inspection table 1, and the pellets 8 after inspection are moved to the temporary placing position on the collection table 11. The inspection table 1 slides and moves to the inspection device 5 (see FIG. 2), where the pellets 8 determined to be defective are removed. When this operation is repeated six times, a row in which six pieces are aligned at the temporary storage position of the collection table 11 and a row in which the pieces are not aligned are mixed. In (A), there are six rows at both ends, but in the middle row, a defect was found and removed
This indicates a state where the number is insufficient.

(B) Of the recovery pushers 9, the pneumatic cylinders of the pushers at both ends indicated by black circles are operated to operate the scrapers 9a,
By moving the frame 13 (see FIG. 1) in the horizontal direction in this state, the pellets 8 are moved to a standby position where the pellets 8 are transferred to the product tray 7 by six pieces. And
At the same timing as the above-described operation, all three good pellets 8 are collected from the inspection table 1 by the inspection pusher 4 to the collection table 11.
In the middle row where one piece is missing, the number of pellets 8 is set to a predetermined number of six.

(C) Scrapers 9a, 9a of the recovery pusher 9
Is raised, the frame 13 is returned to the original position, the pneumatic cylinder at the end of the alignment pusher 10 represented by a black circle is operated to lower the scraper 10a, and then the horizontal push-down operation is performed to wait at the collection table 11. Six pellets 8 on one side inside
Are sent to the end row of the groove of the product tray 7. Simultaneously with this operation, the pneumatic cylinder of the middle pusher indicated by a black circle in the collection pusher 9 is operated to lower the scraper 9a, and the six middle rows of pellets 8 are moved to the standby position of the turntable 11. Let it.

(D) Next, the tray receiving table 6 is moved by one row of the groove 7a in the direction of the arrow, and the middle pneumatic cylinder represented by a black circle in the aligning pusher 10 is operated to operate the middle pusher. The row of pellets 8 was pushed after the six pellets 8 sent into the end row of the groove 7a of the product tray 7, and (E) the tray receiving table 6 was further moved in the same manner as in (D). Then, by operating the pneumatic cylinder of the next pusher, the six pellets 8 are sequentially pushed in in the same manner as described above, and the 18 pellets 8 are accommodated in one row at the end of the groove 7a of the product tray 7. Let it.

(F) Next, the tray receiving table 6 is aligned with the second groove 7a from the end of the product tray 7 so that the pressure 10 is aligned with the groove 11a at the position of the collecting table 11 where the pellets 8 are to be fed. It moves and repeats the above-described operations (A) to (E).

It should be noted that even during the operation of accommodating six pellets 8 in the above-mentioned product dish 7, the inspection table 1 holds the pellets 8.
Are performed in the same cycle, and are sequentially sent to the temporary placement position of the collection table 11. However, during the six cycles in which six pieces are moved to the temporary storage position, the collection table 11
Since the three rows of pellets 8 at the upper standby position can be processed in three cycles of operation, the operation is not congested. Therefore, the relationship between the number of the grooves 1a of the inspection table 1 and the number of the pellets 8 temporarily placed on the collection table 11 is set so as not to cause congestion as described above. At this time, the predetermined number of the pellets 8 temporarily placed on the collection table 11 is as follows:
If the number is set to be a divisor of the number accommodated in one groove 7a of the product tray 7, the operation control of the device for collecting the pellets 8 becomes easy.

[0019]

As described above, the present invention provides an inspection table on which a plurality of pellets are placed for inspecting the plurality of pellets,
Arrange a collection stand to temporarily place the pellets after inspection between the product tray on the tray receiving table that contains the pellets after inspection,
The pellets sent to the temporary placement position on the collection table by the inspection pusher are moved by the collection pusher to the product tray by the number of rows that have reached the predetermined number, and then sent to the product tray by the alignment pusher one row at a time. A predetermined number of pellets are sequentially and regularly fed into a row of product dishes. Therefore, the number of pellets stored in the product dish is always constant, and the number of pellets can be grasped by counting the number of product dishes. It is possible to easily control the number of pellets without preparing a special device for performing the operation.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a pellet end filling and collecting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing the operation of the pellet filling and collecting apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a front view of a conventional pellet collecting device.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line VV of FIG. 4;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Inspection stand 2 Straight feeder 3 Cutting-out mechanism 4 Inspection pusher 5 Inspection device 6 Dish receiving table 7 Product dish 8 Pellet 9 Recovery pusher 9a Scraper 10 Alignment pusher 10a Scraper 11 Recovery pedestal 12 Loading sensor 13 Frame

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A cutting mechanism for cutting pellets sent from a linear feeder on a cutting table, an inspection table having a plurality of rows of pellet conveying grooves on which the pellets separated by the cutting mechanism are placed, and a vicinity of the inspection table. The inspection device for the pellets arranged in the, the recovery table disposed in front of the inspection table in the pellet transport direction, and the pellets from the cutting table to the pellet transport groove of the inspection table and after inspection by the inspection device from the inspection table An inspection pusher for sending each of the plurality of rows of pellets onto the collection table for each row, a product tray disposed in front of the collection table in the pellet transport direction and collecting the inspected pellets having a plurality of grooves, and a product dish. A tray receiving table on which the tray is placed and moves in a direction perpendicular to the direction of transporting the pellets,
And a loading sensor for detecting that the number of pellets in each row on the collection table has reached a predetermined number.When the number of pellets on the collection table has reached a predetermined number, the position of the pellets in each row is collected by a collection pusher. An apparatus for edge-packing and recovering pellets, wherein the pellets on the collecting table are sequentially fed by the aligning pusher for each row of the grooves on the product table after being moved to a position near the product tray on the table. 2. The pellet end-filling and collecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the collecting pusher and the aligning pusher each have a vertically moving scraper at a tip thereof, and the lowered scraper is applied to an end face of the pellet. A pellet filling and collecting apparatus for transferring pellets to predetermined positions on a collecting table and a product tray by contacting and moving in a transport direction.