JPS61254214A - Metal fiber aggregate and its preparation - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a filter having a porous structure almost uniform in a three-dimensional direction capable of forming a large desired space even in a lateral direction, by preparing a flat plate shaped aggregate wherein at least a part of long metal fibers are arranged in the thickness direction. CONSTITUTION:A cylindrical metal net 4 is formed of long metal fibers 2. At this time, the angle theta of inclination of the long fibers 2 is set so as obtain a desired value. The cylindrical metal net 4 is collapsed under pressure so as to form a flat shape and folded into a zigzag shape to form a disc wherein the folds 5, 6 in both sides of the metal net form upper and lower surfaces. The whole is compressed in the thickness direction to form an aggregate having strength withstanding predetermined load. By this method, the whole of the long fibers is prevented from collapsing horizontally and a large space is left in the lateral direction.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a metal fiber aggregate suitable for use as a filter, a reinforcing material for a filter, etc., and a method for manufacturing the same.

Conventional technology BACKGROUND ART Sintered bodies using long metal fibers have been known.

This sintered body is usually manufactured by stacking a large number of wire meshes and sintering them, or by sintering long metal fibers arranged horizontally and randomly.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, since the above-mentioned conventional sintered body is made by layering wire mesh or long fibers horizontally and sintering them, there is a problem in the vertical direction (when viewed from above or below). Can be manufactured with any pore size, but in the lateral direction (parallel to the upper and lower surfaces)
The fibers are in close contact with each other, and therefore only those with extremely small pore diameters can be manufactured. For this reason, the pores in the sintered body have directionality, and the overall porosity is smaller than when homogeneous pores are formed in three dimensions, making it difficult to use the sintered body as a filter. The problem is that it has a high resistance, easily clogs, and has a short lifespan. Furthermore, since conventional sintered bodies have small pore diameters in the lateral direction, there is a problem that passage resistance when passing fluid in the lateral direction is extremely large, making it impossible to actually use the sintered body to allow fluid to pass in the lateral direction.

The present invention aims to solve these conventional problems.

The object of the present invention is to provide an aggregate of metal long fibers (which may be sintered if necessary) having a large pore diameter in three dimensions, and a method for producing the same.

Means to solve problems The present invention will be explained in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of an aggregate of long metal fibers according to the present invention, and is an enlarged side view of FIG. 2.

The aggregate 1 is formed by aggregating long metal fibers 2 into a flat plate shape (in this example, a disk shape), compressing it, and sintering it if necessary.As can be clearly seen from FIG. , at least a part of the long fibers are arranged in the thickness direction of the aggregate l. 2 In this specification, the thickness direction does not mean only the thickness direction in the strict sense, that is, the direction perpendicular to the upper and lower surfaces IA and IB of the aggregate 1, but also the direction that intersects the upper and lower surfaces IA and IB. It means. As a result of the long fibers 2 being arranged in the thickness direction of the aggregate 1 in this manner, large pores 3 can be formed between the long fibers 2, as can be understood from FIG. This hole 3
can be variously changed depending on the wire diameter, slope, density, etc. of the long fibers 2. Therefore, the aggregate 1 has extremely large pores in its lateral direction, and the pores can also be made as desired.

Next, a method of manufacturing the assembly 1 having the above structure will be explained. First 2
The long metal fibers 2 form a cylindrical shape of gold as shown in Figure 3! ! 4
form 4. The wire mesh 4 may be woven or knitted. In the illustrated embodiment, it is shown as woven. Long fiber 2 at this time
The inclination angle θ affects the inclination angle φ in FIG.
Alternatively, after appropriately weaving, stretch the wire mesh 4 to the entire surface,
(II Adjust the oblique angle θ. Next, crush the cylindrical gold m4 flat and fold it in a zigzag pattern as shown in Figure 4. At this time, the folds 5 and 6 on both sides of 1 are in the longitudinal direction of the wire mesh. (The axial direction of the cylindrical wire mesh shown in FIG. 3) is folded. Next, the wire mesh 4 folded in a zigzag manner is placed in the annular recess of the mold 10 shown in FIGS. 5 and 6.

It is wound spirally and attached to form a disc with the folds 5.6 of the gold m4 serving as the top and bottom surfaces. After that, the disk in the mold 10 is
Thickness direction (vertical direction) by the mold 11 shown by the two-dot chain line in the figure.
It is then compressed into an aggregate that has the strength to withstand a predetermined load. If high strength is required, sintering is performed using molds 10° and 11. Thus, the aggregate 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2
is manufactured. Although FIG. 2 shows that almost the entire long fiber 2 is inclined at an approximately uniform angle with respect to the upper and lower surfaces IA and IB, this is for illustration only, and in reality, It is crushed by compression and becomes curved and takes on various angles. However, the entire long fibers are not crushed horizontally, and some of the long fibers are still arranged in the thickness direction, so that large pores are left in the lateral direction.

The vertical pore diameter of the aggregate 1 made by the above method is:

It can be adjusted by adjusting the wire diameter of the gold M44, the size of the wire mesh, the winding density when the wire mesh is spirally wound, etc. Further, the lateral pore diameter can be adjusted by adjusting the wire diameter 1w4 of the gold m4, the inclination angle θ (becomes φ after compression molding), and the like. By appropriately setting these, the pore diameters in the vertical and lateral directions can be made uniform. In other words, uniform pores can be formed in three dimensions. The shape of the lateral holes formed in the aggregate 1 can be changed depending on the weaving method 1 of the wire mesh 4. For example, when loop-knitted wire mesh is used, a side assembly 1 as shown in FIG. 7 is obtained. Also in this example, a part of the long fibers 2 extending from the upper surface to the lower surface of the aggregate 1 is in the thickness direction, and therefore large pores 3 are formed. The metal fibers constituting the aggregate 1 may be of uniform diameter or may be used in combination of wires of different diameters.A wire mesh is formed with long metal fibers of different wire diameters, and The fiber aggregate formed by this procedure has a large reinforcing effect because the long fibers have a large wire diameter.

It has the advantage of high compressive strength.

The above explanation is for manufacturing a disk-shaped aggregate 1, but instead of spirally winding the wire mesh folded in a zigzag manner as shown in FIG. It is also possible to manufacture bodies.

It is also possible to manufacture thick aggregates by arranging wire mesh folded in a zigzag pattern into two or three layers, or to manufacture a laminate by interposing an intermediate layer such as a coarse wire mesh between each layer. be. In addition, in the method described above, a cylindrical metal mesh was used as the gold m4, but the present invention is not limited to a cylindrical metal mesh, and an ordinary flat metal mesh may also be used.However, as in the above embodiment, When a cylindrical wire mesh 4 is used.

The fibers 2 are continuous even on both sides 4B of the wire mesh (see FIG. 4), so there are very few fiber ends in the aggregate 1.
When the aggregate is compressed and molded, the fiber ends are less likely to get stuck in the pores and obstruct the pores, and there is an advantage that extremely uniform pores can be formed.

Since the aggregate of the present invention can form arbitrary pores not only in the vertical direction but also in the lateral direction, uniform pores can be formed in three-dimensional directions. As a result, compared to conventional sintered bodies in which only extremely small pores can be formed in the lateral direction, the overall porosity can be made extremely large (for example, 60 to 80%), and therefore this aggregate has a large ability to trap foreign matter and is extremely suitable for use as a filter. Furthermore, since the resistance to passage of fluid is low, it is suitable for use as a support or reinforcement for filter material. Especially 5
Since large pores can be formed in the lateral direction, it can be suitably used when it is necessary to flow fluid in the lateral direction.

FIGS. 8 and 9 show an example in which the assembly 1 shown in FIG. 1 is used as a reinforcing body for a filter applied to polymer filtration in the production of synthetic fibers or synthetic resin films.

In the same figure, the casing device, designated as a whole by the reference numeral 21, has a cylindrical casing (not shown) and a polymer tube 22 extending vertically from the center thereof, and around the polymer tube 22 are a number of disc-shaped leaves. Filters 23 are stacked. Note that, if necessary, radial spokes may be arranged between each leaf filter to guide the polymer inward from the outer circumferential side. As shown in an enlarged view in FIG. 9, the leaf filter 23 includes a central bubbling ring 242, a disc-shaped support plate 25. Filters 26 placed on both sides. and a means for closing the outer periphery of these, such as a welding portion 27. filter 26
It is a wire mesh with fine openings.

A sintered body of metal fiber nonwoven fabric or the like is used. The support plate 25 is a reinforcing body that supports the filter 26 against filtration pressure, and the assembly 1 shown in FIG. 1 is used as the support plate 25. The pore diameter of the aggregate 1 used here is larger than the opening of the filter 26 in order to reduce the passage resistance of the polymer. In the filtration device having the above structure, the polymer to be filtered flows from the outer circumferential side into the gaps between the leaf filters 23 as shown by the arrows in FIG. 25 , flows radially inward through the support plate 25 , and is collected and pumped out of the central bubbling ring 24 into the polymer tube 22 . As described above, 5 aggregates of the present invention 1
can form large pores in the lateral direction, allowing high viscosity polymer to flow well in the lateral direction (radial direction).

Note that the example of use in FIG. 8 shows the leaf filter 23 in which the support plate 25 and the filter 26 are integrally constructed.

The support plate 25 and the leaf filter 26 may be separable parts. 10 and 11 show an example of use in that case, where the assembly l shown in FIG.
A support plate 32 formed of a filter and a leaf filter 33 formed of a filter that performs predetermined filtration are alternately stacked. In this filtration device, polymer flows from a polymer tube 31 into a space inside a leaf filter 33.

From this space, it flows into the support plate 32 through the filter supported by the support plate 32, and further flows radially outward within the support plate 32 and is sent out.

FIG. 12 is a sectional view showing a modification of the fiber aggregate of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 4, this fiber aggregate 35 is made by arranging gold m4 folded in a zigzag pattern one above the other, inserting a coarse wire mesh 3G in the middle, and compressing and sintering the whole into one piece. This fiber assembly 35 is very suitable for use as a support plate 25, 32 of the filter device shown in FIGS. 8-11. That is, in the fiber aggregate 35.

The part made up of the wire mesh 4 on the upper and lower surfaces supports the filter, and the coarse gold 1i136 part in the center serves as a passage for the polymer, so it supports the filter well and allows the polymer to flow more easily in the lateral direction. It has the advantage of being

Effects of the Invention As explained above, according to the method of the present invention, it is possible to produce a flat plate-like aggregate in which a small number of long metal fibers (or some of them are arranged in the thickness direction). The aggregate of the present invention can form pores of a desired size in the lateral direction, even though it is an aggregate of long metal fibers.

A substantially uniform porous structure in three dimensions can be obtained. As a result, it is suitable as a filter or as a reinforcement for a filter, particularly when fluid flows laterally (parallel to the upper and lower surfaces) within the assembly.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a part of the side surface thereof, and FIGS. 3 to 6 are views explaining the manufacturing method of the present invention. , FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the wire mesh 4, FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the wire mesh 4 folded in a zigzag pattern, and FIG. 5 is a state in which the gold 1I44 shown in FIG. Top view, Figure 6 is its ■-■ cross-sectional view,
FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of a part of the side surface of a modification of the assembly 1, and FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of an essential part of a polymer filtration device 21, showing an example of how the assembly shown in FIG. 1 is used. figure. FIG. 9 is a sectional view of a part of the leaf filter 23 used in the filtration device 21, FIG. 10 is a sectional view of a main part showing a modification of the filtration device, and FIG. 11 is a leaf used in the filtration device of FIG. FIG. 12 is a partial cross-sectional view of a modified example of the fiber aggregate of the present invention. l-・Aggregation 2-Metal long fiber 3-・Vacancy 4-
・Wire mesh 5.6-・Fold 10.11-type Patent applicant Sintered Metal Industry Co., Ltd. Agent Patent attorney Kyo Matsu Sanga 3 Figure 5 Off view

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) A metal fiber aggregate, which is an aggregate formed by aggregating and compressing metal long fibers into a flat plate shape, wherein at least a portion of the long fibers are arranged in the thickness direction of the aggregate. (2) A metal fiber characterized by preparing a wire mesh made of long metal fibers, folding the wire mesh in a zigzag pattern to form a flat plate with the folds on both sides serving as the top and bottom surfaces, and compression molding the entire flat plate in the thickness direction. Method of manufacturing the aggregate. (3) The method for manufacturing a metal fiber aggregate according to claim 2, wherein the wire mesh has a cylindrical shape. (4) The method for producing a metal fiber aggregate according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the flat plate is a disk made by folding a wire mesh in a zigzag pattern and winding it in a spiral shape.