JPH11279999A - Production of porous molding product and production apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for producing a porous molding product by which not only a filling and drying operations but also the whole molding operations such as a heating operation are carried out by one molding mold, and further to provide a production apparatus. SOLUTION: This method for producing a porous molding product comprises a molding material-supplying step for pouring a slurry including a granular and/or short-fibrous molding material into a molding mold 4 having a discharging hole at least at a part of a mold face, capable of passing a liquid, and discharging a part of the liquid component in the slurry from the discharging hole to charge the interior of the molding mold with a prescribed amount of molding material, and a dehydrating and drying step for forcibly discharging the liquid component remaining in the molding materials or among the molding materials by blowing air into the interior of the molding mold with the supplied prescribed amount of the molding material.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for producing a porous molded body. More specifically, the present invention relates to a manufacturing method and a manufacturing apparatus suitable for manufacturing a porous molded body such as a filter having a three-dimensional shape.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A porous molded article such as a fiber molded article having a three-dimensional shape, such as that disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-25800, is usually formed by a suction molding method. .

In the suction molding method, a slurry in which a granular or fibrous molding material is dispersed in a liquid is poured into a suction molding die having a porous mold surface, and a suction molding provided behind the molding die surface is provided. A liquid component of the slurry is sucked from the mold by a pump, and a molding material is deposited on the mold surface of the mold to form a molded article along the mold surface.

[0004] Further, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-51565, a method is employed in which a molding die is immersed in a container filled with slurry and the slurry is suction-filled into the mold to perform molding. Have been.

[0005] The molding material filled and molded by the above-mentioned suction molding method is taken out of the mold and dehydrated and dried. Further, a material containing a binder such as a thermoplastic resin fiber is transferred to a heating device after filling and heated, and the binder joins the molding materials to form a porous molded body having a predetermined shape.

[0006]

However, in the above-mentioned suction molding method, since the dehydration drying treatment and the heat treatment cannot be performed in the molding die, the filled material is taken out of the molding die in a soft and dry state. Must be moved to another device such as a drying device. For this reason, it is easily damaged during movement. In addition, it is difficult to automate the process because it is easily damaged, and the production efficiency is low.

In addition, if a dehydration drying step or a heat treatment is performed in a state where the molded article is taken out of the mold, the molded article is greatly deformed during these steps, and the dimensional accuracy of the molded article is greatly reduced.

In addition, in the suction molding method, since the molding material is almost uniformly laminated on the surface of the molding die, it is difficult to produce a molded product having different wall pressures in each part or a molded product having irregularities.

Particularly, when a three-dimensional molded product is formed from a short-fiber shaped molding material which is easily entangled, a large density difference occurs in each part of the molded product due to the flow of the slurry. It had to be formed, and it was difficult to manufacture a mold. For this reason, it was impossible to form a complicated three-dimensionally shaped porous molded product using a fiber material.

The present invention has been conceived in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and solves the above-mentioned conventional problems. One molding die can perform not only filling and drying but also heating and other molding operations. Everything can be done, production efficiency and dimensional accuracy are high,
Moreover, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method and an apparatus for manufacturing a porous molded body that can be applied to porous molded articles of various shapes.

[0011]

Means for Solving the Problems To solve the above problems, the present invention takes the following technical means. According to the invention described in claim 1 of the present application, a slurry containing a powdery or granular and / or short fiber-shaped molding material is injected into a molding die provided with a discharge hole through which a liquid passes through at least a part of the mold surface. A molding material filling step of filling the molding die with a predetermined amount of molding material while discharging the liquid component in the slurry from the discharge hole, and blowing air into the molding die filled with the predetermined amount of molding material. A dewatering / drying step of forcibly discharging the molding material or a liquid component remaining between the molding materials from the discharge hole.

In the present invention, after the molding material is filled in the molding die, dehydration and drying are performed as it is. Therefore, since the shape retention of the molding material is enhanced by the dehydration treatment, the molding material can be removed from the molding die. Therefore, it is not necessary to remove the raw material from the mold to perform these processes, and the molding material is not damaged. In addition, the number of manufacturing steps can be significantly reduced.

Further, since the dehydration and drying treatment is performed by blowing air into the mold, the molded article does not separate from the mold surface until it is dried, and a highly accurate molded article can be manufactured. Further, the time required for the dehydration / drying process can be greatly reduced. Therefore, production efficiency is greatly improved. The discharge hole may be provided in at least a part of the mold surface of the mold, and can be set according to the shape of the molded product. Also, the number of discharge holes is not limited.

After the dehydration / drying step, a molded product can be formed by applying a conventional method.

[0015] The invention described in claim 2 of the present application includes an in-mold molding step of forming the porous molded body by joining the filled molding materials to each other in a molding die.

In the present invention, a dehydration / drying step can be performed in a mold. Therefore, when the molding materials are bonded to each other due to evaporation of water, a final molded body can be formed in a molding die into which the material has been injected. Further, even when an aqueous binder or the like is included in the slurry, the binder can be hardened in the dehydration / drying step, so that the molding material can be joined in the molding die to form a molded body.

The invention described in claim 3 of the present application is characterized in that the molding material is injected into the molding die while moving an injection port.

In the conventional molding method, the thickness and the shape in which the molding material can be filled at a uniform density are limited, and it is difficult to produce a molded body having an outer surface shape having irregularities or the like. In the present invention, since the molding material is injected into the mold while moving the injection port, the amount of the molding material to be laminated can be controlled according to the shape of the mold surface of the mold. For example, while the molding material is intensively filled in the concave portion of the mold surface, the filling amount of the flat surface and the convex portion can be reduced.

Further, since the molding material can be injected in anticipation of the flow of the slurry in the molding die, it is not necessary to provide a discharge hole on the entire surface of the molding die. For this reason, the fabrication of the mold becomes extremely easy.

Further, since the molding material can be reliably filled into every corner of the molding die, it is possible to form a complicated three-dimensionally shaped porous body. In addition, it is possible to fill the molding tool with a fibrous molding material that is easily entangled in every corner of the mold, and a complicated three-dimensional porous molded body that aggregates short fibers that was impossible with the conventional manufacturing method Can be easily formed.

The invention described in claim 4 of the present application is characterized in that the slurry is injected into the mold while changing the injection amount of the slurry and / or the moving speed of the injection port.

By changing the injection amount of the slurry and / or the moving speed of the injection port, the material packing density of a specific portion of the mold can be increased. For this reason, it becomes possible to uniformly fill the molding material into a portion where the molding material is difficult to be filled, and it is possible to cope with a molded product having a complicated shape. Further, it is also possible to form a molded body having different packing densities in each part, and it is possible to obtain an unprecedented porous molded body.

According to the invention described in claim 5 of the present application, after filling the molding material, a liquid binder is injected into the molding die, and excess air is blown into the molding die to remove the excess binder from the discharge hole. This includes a binder injecting step of forcibly discharging.

The invention described in this claim is to add a binder after filling a molding material into a molding die. It can be applied when it is difficult to prepare a slurry containing a binder. Further, not only an aqueous binder but also an organic binder or a gaseous binder can be applied, and the range of binder selection can be expanded.

Further, it is possible to add as much liquid binder as necessary for joining the molding material to the molding material, and the porous molding is performed by an excessive binder as in the case where the molding is immersed in a vanida solution. The porosity of the body is not reduced. In addition, a porous molded body that sufficiently exhibits the properties of the molding material can be formed.

For example, a molding material is filled with a slurry mainly composed of water, and after dehydration and drying, a resin emulsion or the like as a binder is injected into a molding die. Then, air is blown to force excess resin emulsion to be discharged from the discharge holes. Thereafter, it is possible to wait for the upper emulsion to harden spontaneously, or to forcibly harden by blowing heated air or the like.

In the invention described in claim 6 of the present application, the slurry contains a powdery or granular and / or short fibrous thermoplastic resin binder, and the in-mold forming step is performed by filling the inside of the mold. This is performed by heating the material and joining the molding material via the thermoplastic resin binder.

By making the slurry contain a granular or / and short fiber thermoplastic resin binder, the molding material and the binder can be simultaneously filled in the molding die. The thermoplastic resin binder is not particularly limited, and binder fibers or the like in which a fibrous body or a granular body is covered with a binder resin may be used.

In the present invention, since dehydration and drying can be sufficiently performed in the mold, it is possible to obtain a molded article by heating the resin in the mold as it is to melt the thermoplastic resin binder and joining the molding materials. it can. Therefore, not only the number of steps can be reduced, but also the production efficiency can be greatly improved.

The heating method is not particularly limited, and the mold can be heated with a heater or the like, or electromagnetic induction heating or the like can be used.

In the invention described in claim 7 of the present application, the in-mold forming step is performed by blowing heated air or heated gas at a temperature higher than a temperature at which the binder is melted into the mold.

The blowing of the heated air or the like may be performed from the side where the molding material is injected, or may be performed from the side of the discharge hole. Further, a blowing hole for blowing heated air may be separately provided. Since the binder can be melted in the mold and the molding material can be joined, the material can be molded along the mold surface. Therefore,
It is possible to form a molded product having high dimensional accuracy and high shape accuracy.

Further, since all the steps from the filling of the material to the heat molding can be performed in one molding die, the production efficiency can be greatly improved.

The gas to be blown can be selected according to the molding material and the like, and not only heated air but also an inert gas such as nitrogen can be used according to the characteristics and the like of the molding material.

The invention described in claim 8 of the present application includes a press shaping step of pressing a molding material filled in a molding die to adjust the molding material to a predetermined shape or a predetermined density.

Even if pressure is applied to a powdery or short fiber-like molding material uniformly filled in the entire molding die, the molding material cannot be uniformly pressed. For example, since the influence of the press does not reach the inner part of the mold, the density of the pressed surface is higher than the density of the inner part. For this reason, when forming a porous material, operations such as pressing were rarely added. In addition, the vicinity of the injection port for injecting the molding material is often left in an irregular shape until the final step, and it is necessary to perform secondary processing such as cutting after completion of the molding.

In the present invention, the filling density of the molding material filled in each part of the mold can be changed in each part of the mold. For this reason, it is possible to perform a press shaping process by filling the molding material in consideration of compression shaping by a press. Also,
The vicinity of the injection port can be shaped, and the necessity of secondary processing is eliminated.

According to the present invention, the press shaping step is performed in parallel with one or more of the molding material filling step, the dehydration / drying step, and the in-mold forming step. Alternatively, it can be performed between these steps.

That is, in a state where a part of the molding material is injected into the molding die, a press molding process is performed to determine the density and the density of the filling material.
The shape and the like are adjusted, and the molding material is filled again. Thereby, the density of a desired portion of the molded article can be adjusted. Further, by repeating the molding material filling step and the press shaping step a plurality of times, a porous molded body having a more uniform filling density can be obtained. Also, the press shaping step can be performed while blowing dry air or blowing heated air. Thereby, it is possible to form a porous molded body having a highly accurate three-dimensional shape, and it is possible to form a porous molded body having an unprecedented shape.

The tenth aspect of the present invention employs a fibrous activated carbon as the molding material, and performs molding using a slurry generated by dispersing the activated carbon in water.

An eleventh aspect of the present invention relates to a porous body produced by the method for producing a porous body according to any one of the first to tenth aspects.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, a molding die which forms a molding space and has a discharge hole having a liquid-permeable filter in a part thereof is moved relative to the molding die. A slurry injection device provided with an injection nozzle for injecting a slurry containing a molding material into the molding die.

The number, size and the like of the nozzles and the slurry injecting device are not limited, and may be set according to the forming die and the like. The number and size of the discharge holes are not limited, and can be changed according to the shape of the mold, the density of the molded product, and the like.

It is sufficient that the above-mentioned nozzle is relatively movable with respect to the molding die, and it is sufficient if one or both of the molding die and the nozzle can be moved. The movement locus can also be set according to the shape of the molded product and the filling density of the molding material.

The invention described in claim 13 of the present application is provided with a blowing device for blowing air or gas into the mold.

The shape and quantity of the blowing device are not limited, and may be set according to the size and shape of the molding die. For example, a nozzle-shaped blowing device can be provided. In addition, air or the like can be blown while moving one blow nozzle.

The invention described in claim 14 of the present application is provided with a heated air blowing device for blowing heated air into the mold.

The above-mentioned heated air blowing device is, for example,
It can be formed with one or more blowing nozzles. The shape and quantity of the nozzle may be set according to the size and shape of the mold. Further, the temperature of the heated air can be set according to the melting temperature of the binder and the like. In addition, a heating device may be combined with the blowing device described in claim 13.

[0049]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings.

In the present embodiment, the present invention is applied to a case where a stepped cylindrical porous body is formed using fibrous activated carbon and a fibrous resin binder. FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of the entire manufacturing apparatus according to the present embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1, a manufacturing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment includes a slurry adjusting tank 2 for adjusting an aqueous slurry.
A pump 3 for transporting the aqueous slurry adjusted in the slurry adjusting tank 2, a molding die 4 into which the aqueous slurry is injected, and a slurry injection device 5 for injecting the aqueous slurry into the molding die 4. It is roughly composed.

The slurry adjusting tank 2 is configured so that the fibrous activated carbon and the fibrous binder can be dispersed in water by a stirring mechanism (not shown).

The slurry injection device 5 includes an on-off valve and a measuring device (not shown) and an injection nozzle 6, and discharges the aqueous slurry while moving the injection nozzle 6 along a predetermined locus. It is configured to be able to.

The molding die 4 is composed of a lower die 4b and an upper die 4a. The lower die 4b and the upper die 4a are fitted together to form a molding space corresponding to a porous molded product. it can.

Further, in the present embodiment, the upper mold 4a
, An air pump 7 capable of blowing dry air into the mold and an air heating device 8 for heating the air are provided.

In the present embodiment, a short fibrous activated carbon having an average fiber length of 3 mm and a thickness of 5 μm was employed as a molding material. On the other hand, as a binder for joining the fibrous activated carbon, a polyester fiber having a fiber length and thickness almost the same as that of the fibrous activated carbon and a softening point of 110 ° C. was used.

In the slurry adjusting tank 2, 100 parts of the fibrous activated carbon and 5 parts of the polyester fiber were
It was mixed and dispersed in 5000 parts of water to prepare an aqueous slurry containing a molding material and a fibrous binder.

As shown in FIG. 1, the aqueous slurry is guided from a slurry adjusting tank 2 to a slurry injection device 5 using a slurry pump 3, and is discharged from an injection nozzle 6 into a molding die 4.

FIG. 2 shows the appearance of a porous molded body 9 formed by the manufacturing apparatus according to the present embodiment. As shown in this figure, the porous molded body 9 is formed in a stepped cylindrical shape in which cylinders having different diameters are stacked in two steps. It was difficult to inject a molding material at a uniform density into the portion 9b, and large distortion and deformation often occurred. In particular, since a corner is formed at the joint portion between the large-diameter cylindrical portion 9b and the small-diameter cylindrical portion 9a, there is a problem that this portion is greatly shrunk and the external shape is largely collapsed.

As shown in FIG. 7, a molding die 4 according to the present embodiment has a lower die 4b having a stepped cylindrical molding space.
And an upper mold 4a fitted into the upper opening of the lower mold 4b to form a molding space corresponding to the molded body.

The lower die 4b has a stepped portion 10 at the bottom of the large-diameter cylinder and a portion corresponding to the bottom 11 of the small-diameter cylinder,
A large number of discharge holes 12 for passing a liquid are formed. In the present embodiment, in order to explain the operation, the diameter of the discharge hole 12 is larger than the actual diameter.

On the other hand, the upper die 4a is provided with a lower member 14 fitted into an upper opening of the lower die 4b and the air pump 7a.
And an upper member 15 connected to the air heating device 8.

The bottom surface of the lower member 14 is formed with a mold surface 13 which cooperates with the lower mold 4b to partition a molding space, and a circular concave portion 16 is formed at an upper portion.
6, a number of holes communicating with the mold surface 13 are formed. The upper member 15 is connected to the lower member 14 so as to cover the circular recess 16 and has an air inlet 18 at the center.

The slurry injection device 5 according to the present embodiment
Is configured so that the aqueous slurry can be injected into the mold while moving the injection nozzle along a desired trajectory using a numerical control drive mechanism (not shown).

FIGS. 3 to 6 show an embodiment in which the aqueous slurry 19 containing the molding material is filled. As shown in FIG. 3, the injection nozzle 6 first starts filling the molding material from the bottom of the small-diameter cylindrical molding space. The injection nozzle 6 is inserted into the small-diameter cylindrical portion, and injects the aqueous slurry while moving upward while drawing a circular locus in plan view along the outer peripheral wall. Thereby, the molding material can be sufficiently injected to the corners of the molding die. When the aqueous slurry is injected into the mold, most of the water 20 is discharged from the discharge holes 12 formed on the bottom surface, and as shown in FIG. 4, only the molding material 21 composed of fiber components is accumulated in the mold. .

When the filling of the molding material 21 into the small-diameter cylindrical portion is completed, the slurry is injected into the large-diameter cylindrical portion as shown in FIG. In this large-diameter cylindrical portion, the injection nozzle 6
Is gradually moved upward while alternately drawing a spiral trajectory inward in the radial direction and a spiral trajectory in the radially outward direction. By moving the injection nozzle 6, the molding material can be almost uniformly filled. During the filling step, the water contained in the slurry is supplied to the stepped portion 1 in the same manner as described above.
It is discharged from a discharge hole 12 formed in the bottom portion 11 and the bottom portion 11.

As shown in FIG. 6, after the filling of the molding material into the lower mold 4b is completed, the upper mold 4a is inserted into the upper opening of the lower mold 4b.
Is fitted. The upper portion of the filled molding material is pressed by the upper mold 4a, and shaped into a predetermined molded product shape.

When the molding material 21 is merely filled in the molding die, a large amount of water is held between the fibers of the molding material or in each fiber. In the present embodiment, the upper mold 4
The dry air is introduced into the molding space through the holes 17 formed in the mold surface 13 while introducing the dry air into the air inlet 18 of FIG. When the dry air 22 is blown, the moisture retained between the fibers constituting the molding material 21 is forcibly removed from the discharge holes 12, and the moisture remaining inside the fibrous activated carbon fibers is also evaporated. Discharged,
The molding material is dehydrated and dried.

Next, the air heating device 8 is operated to blow heated air at a temperature of about 130 ° C. When the above-described heated air is blown, the fibrous binder mixed in the molding material is melted, and the fibrous activated carbon is bonded to each other. This allows
The fibrous activated carbon is joined via the binder to form a porous molded body.

Further, in this embodiment, after the fibrous binder is melted and the fibrous activated carbon is joined, the molded body and the mold are cooled by blowing cooling air. Thereafter, the porous shaped body is taken out of the mold 4. In the embodiment, since the lower mold 4b is configured to be able to be divided into a large-diameter cylindrical part and a small-diameter cylindrical part, the molded body can be easily taken out of the molding space by dividing these parts. .

In the present embodiment, the molding material can be filled in the molding die without uneven density, and the dehydration / drying process and the heat molding step can be performed in the molding die. For this reason, it is possible to complete the molded body in one apparatus, and it is possible to greatly reduce the number of working steps as compared with a conventional molding method such as a suction molding method.

Further, since there is no need to remove the molded product from the mold during molding, there is no risk of deformation or damage during transportation.

Further, since all the processing steps can be performed in one mold, the manufacturing steps can be easily automated, and the production efficiency can be greatly increased.

Also, molded articles having different wall pressures in each part,
It is easy to manufacture a molded article having irregularities.

Further, by adjusting the movement trajectory and speed of the injection nozzle, it is possible to cope with a complicated three-dimensional shape.

The scope of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. In the embodiment, the present invention is applied to the stepped columnar shaped body, but may be applied to other shapes.

In the embodiment, the slurry is injected while moving the injection nozzle. However, the mold and the injection nozzle may be moved relatively, and one of the mold and the injection nozzle may be moved.
Or both can be moved. Further, the moving direction and the like are not limited to the embodiment.

In the embodiment, fibrous activated carbon is used as a molding material, but various molding materials having other forms can be used. Also, it is not necessary to disperse in a liquid, as long as it can be transported in a liquid flow and filled in a molding die,
Granular stone materials, metals, resins and the like can be employed. In addition, solid waste can be crushed and used.

Further, in the embodiment, the molded body is formed by using one type of molding material. However, a plurality of types of molding materials having different particle sizes, types, etc. are sequentially filled in a molding die to form a porous layer having a plurality of layers. A molded article can be formed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an external shape of a molded body manufactured in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state in which a lower mold is filled with a molding material.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state where a molding material is being filled in a lower mold.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state in which a lower mold is filled with a molding material.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state in which a lower mold is filled with a molding material.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state where the upper mold is fitted to the lower mold.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Manufacturing apparatus 2 Slurry preparation tank 4 Mold 5 Slurry injection apparatus 6 Injection nozzle (injection port) 7 Air pump (blowing apparatus) 8 Heating apparatus

Claims (14)

[Claims] 1. A slurry containing a powdery or granular and / or short-fiber molding material is injected into a molding die provided with a discharge hole through which a liquid passes through at least a part of a mold surface, and a slurry is discharged from the discharge hole. A molding material filling step of filling a predetermined amount of the molding material into the molding die while discharging the liquid component therein, and blowing the air into the molding die filled with the predetermined amount of the molding material, thereby forming the molding material or the molding material. A dewatering / drying step of forcibly discharging the liquid component remaining therebetween through the discharge hole. 2. The method for producing a porous molded article according to claim 1, further comprising an in-mold molding step of joining the filled molding materials to each other in the molding die to form a porous molded article. 3. The molding material is injected into the mold while moving an injection port.
Or the manufacturing method of the porous molded object in any one of Claim 2. 4. The method for producing a porous molded body according to claim 3, wherein the slurry is injected into the mold while changing the amount of the slurry and / or the moving speed of the injection port. 5. A step of injecting a liquid binder into the molding die after filling the molding material, and forcibly discharging excess binder from the discharge holes by blowing air into the molding die. Claims 1 to 4
The method for producing a porous body according to any one of the above. 6. A method according to claim 6, wherein said slurry contains a powdery or granular and / or short fibrous thermoplastic resin binder, and said in-mold forming step heats a material filled in said molding die to form said thermoplastic resin. The method for producing a porous body according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the method is performed by joining molding materials via a binder. 7. The porosity according to claim 5, wherein the in-mold forming step is performed by blowing heated air or heated gas having a temperature higher than a temperature at which the binder is melted into the mold. Production method of the body. 8. The porous material according to claim 1, further comprising a press shaping step of pressing a molding material filled in a molding die to adjust the molding material to a predetermined shape or a predetermined density. How to make the body. 9. The press shaping step is performed in parallel with, or between, one or more of the molding material filling step, the dehydration / drying step, and the in-mold molding step. A method for producing a porous body according to any one of claims 1 to 8. 10. The molding material is a fibrous activated carbon,
The method for producing a porous body according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein a slurry is formed by dispersing the activated carbon in water. 11. A porous body produced by the method for producing a porous body according to any one of claims 1 to 10. 12. A molding die forming a molding space and having a discharge hole partially having a liquid-permeable filter, and a slurry containing a molding material while moving relative to the molding die. And a slurry injection device provided with an injection nozzle for injecting into the inside. 13. The apparatus for producing a porous molded body according to claim 12, further comprising a blowing device for blowing air or gas into the molding die. 14. The apparatus for producing a porous molded body according to claim 12, further comprising a heated air blowing device for blowing heated air into the molding die.