JPS63216705A - Manufacture of ceramic foam - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a ceramic foam used for exterior wall materials and the like.

(Prior Art) As is well known, ceramic foams have excellent lightness, durability, heat resistance, etc., and are widely used as building materials such as exterior wall materials.

This ceramic foam is manufactured by heating and foaming a raw material made by mixing a foaming agent with powder such as volcanic ash or glass.

If the above raw materials are heated and foamed freely without external restrictions, an uneven pattern will appear on the surface of the ceramic foam, and the center will be raised compared to the periphery, resulting in an unsightly appearance. It could not be used for products such as exterior wall materials. Therefore, conventionally, the surface of the ceramic foam was finished by cutting it flat, for example.

However, when the surface of a ceramic foam is cut in this way, the fine air bubbles formed inside the ceramic foam appear on the surface as holes, resulting in an unsightly appearance. The surface is painted. These cutting processes and painting processes complicate the manufacturing process of ceramic foams.

Therefore, for the purpose of simplifying the manufacturing process mentioned above,
A method disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 8-23204 has been devised. In this method, a press mechanism is installed in the heating furnace, and after the raw material is heated and foamed, the surface of the ceramic foam is press-formed to give it a flat surface or a predetermined pattern. I have to.

However, in this method, since the template of the press mechanism is separated from the heated ceramic foam, the surface of the ceramic foam peels off, resulting in an unsightly appearance.

In addition, the provision of a press mechanism not only makes the ceramic foam manufacturing equipment more complicated, making it difficult to manage the operation of the equipment, but also requires the press mechanism to operate in the high-temperature environment of a heating furnace. Special materials had to be used for various parts such as the drive section, which increased the cost of the device.

Therefore, as another method aimed at simplifying the manufacturing process, a roller is placed inside or outside the heating furnace, and this roller presses the surface of the ceramic foam to give it a flat surface or a patterned surface. A method has been devised by the inventors of the present application.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) According to the above-mentioned methods, the structure of the apparatus is simplified and the cost efficiency can be improved compared to the above-mentioned method using a press mechanism, but each method has the following disadvantages. was there.

That is, when the surface of the ceramic foam is pressed with a roller in the heating furnace or immediately after leaving the heating furnace, the pressing mechanism causes the roller to separate while the ceramic foam is still in the heated state. As in the case, the surface of the ceramic foam peels off.

Furthermore, if the surface of the ceramic foam is pressed with a roller after it has cooled down to a predetermined temperature after exiting the heating furnace, the surface of the ceramic foam will not peel, but the solidification of the ceramic foam has already progressed to some extent. Because of this, it was not possible to process the surface to a satisfactory level.

(Means for Solving the Problems) This invention was made to solve the above problems, and its main purpose is to place raw materials on a conveyor and pass through a heating furnace, and to heat the raw materials in the heating furnace. In a method of manufacturing a ceramic foam by foaming, a template is placed above the raw material so that it can be raised and lowered before the raw material is introduced into a heating furnace, and the raw material is pressed by the template as it passes through the heating furnace. While foaming,
Furthermore, the method for producing a ceramic foam is characterized in that the template is cooled while being placed thereon.

(Function) When the raw material is foamed in the heating furnace, the mold plate is automatically raised by the foaming force of the raw material while pressing the raw material in the middle of foaming. At this time, the surface of the ceramic foam is neatly finished according to the template.

Furthermore, since the mold plate is placed on the foamed ceramic foam without separating until the ceramic foam is cooled to a predetermined temperature, the template can be removed without peeling off the surface of the ceramic foam.

Therefore, the surface of the ceramic foam can be finished extremely neatly.

In addition, before the raw material placed on the conveyor is delivered to the heating furnace, the template is simply placed above the raw material so that it can be raised and lowered, so there is no need to complicate the manufacturing equipment for ceramic foam. It is also possible to simplify the manufacturing process.

(Embodiment) Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the drawings from FIG. 1 to FIG. 3.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a ceramic foam manufacturing apparatus used in this method invention.

The conveyor 2 of the ceramic foam manufacturing apparatus 1 has a conveyor bell 2a made of a fine mesh body made of heat-resistant metal such as stainless steel. When this conveyor bell (2a) travels on the lower side in the figure, a mold release agent 4 is applied to its surface by a coating device 3.

A raw material hopper 5 is arranged above the starting end side of the conveyor bell 2a.

Further, the conveyor bell 2a passes through a preheating furnace 6, a heating furnace 7, and a slow cooling furnace 8 in sequence when traveling on the upper side in the figure.

Furthermore, a cutting machine 9 is installed beyond the end of the conveyor bell) 2a.
is located.

Further, reference numeral 10 is a template used in this method invention,
As shown in FIG. 2, the lower side of the template 10 is a mold surface 11. This mold surface 11 has a peripheral edge 11a projecting downward at the periphery, a lattice part 11b connecting the peripheral edge 11a vertically and horizontally and formed at the same height as the peripheral edge 11a, and a lattice part 11b connected to the peripheral edge 11a and the lattice part 11b. It is constituted by a recessed portion 11c that is surrounded by a flat surface.

Next, a case will be described in which an exterior wall panel 200 for construction is manufactured using the ceramic foam manufacturing apparatus 1 and the template 10.

[First example]

Raw material 20 in this example includes the following composition plus 1 part water.
After adding 5 parts by weight and sufficiently kneading, it is made into granules with a particle diameter of 1.2 mm using a granulator, and the granules are sufficiently dried before use.

Anti-firestone 58 parts by weight Glass powder 25 parts by weight Bentonite 10 parts by weight Soda ash 5 parts by weight Urexide 2 parts by weight Silicon carbide powder 0.3 parts by weight The above raw material 20 is spread over the raw material hopper 5 (conveyor bell) 2a to a uniform thickness. supplied to

Before the raw material 20 is introduced into the preheating furnace 6, a mold plate 10 made of silicon carbide is placed with its mold surface 11 in contact with the raw material 20.

Then, the raw material 20 is transferred to the preheating furnace 6 by the main conveyor 2 on which the template 10 is placed. Heating furnace7. They are sequentially transported to the slow cooling furnace 8.

The raw material 20 is heated to about 1 in the heating furnace 7 at about 970°C.
It is heated for 5 minutes, during which time it foams to form ceramic foam 1.
It becomes 00. More specifically, when the raw material 20 is foamed, its foaming force lifts the template 10 upward. At the same time, the raw material 20 is
It is always in contact with the mold surface 11 and is uniformly pressed by the weight of the mold plate 10, so that it foams along the shape of the mold surface 11.

Therefore, the central part of the ceramic foam 100 does not swell, and the surface does not have an irregular pattern.

The ceramic foam 100 is cooled to a predetermined temperature in the lehr 8.

After leaving the lehr 8, the template 10 placed on the ceramic foam 100 is removed. At this time, the ceramic foam 100 has been sufficiently cooled and solidified, so the surface of the ceramic foam 100 that was in contact with the template 10 does not peel off.

Thereafter, the ceramic foam 100 is cut by the cutting machine 9 along the outside of the area where the peripheral edge of the template 10 was placed, and the exterior wall panel 200 is completed.

The drawing in FIG. 3 shows the exterior wall panel 200 manufactured in this way, and the surface of the exterior wall panel 200 has a pattern that precisely corresponds to the peripheral edge 11a and the grid portion 11b of the mold surface 11 of the template 10. A protrusion 200b that precisely corresponds to the recess 200a and the recess 11c of the mold surface 11 was formed. To these recesses 200a and protrusions [11+'X+, 1
+ / b , +, body crying minato 9 h 7
Each surface of the Chi-1 gauze was formed extremely smoothly. Therefore, the exterior wall panel 200 can be used as a product as it is, and there is no need for post-processing steps such as cutting the surface, which simplifies the manufacturing process.

The specific gravity of the outer wall panel 200 was 0.58.

[Second example]

Raw material 20 in this example includes the following composition plus 1 part water.
After adding 5 parts by weight and sufficiently kneading, it is made into granules with a particle diameter of 1.2 mm using a granulator, and the granules are sufficiently dried before use.

Whitebait 70 parts by weight Glass powder 25 parts by weight Soda ash 5 parts by weight Silicon carbide powder 0.25 parts by weight Further, the template 10 is made of stainless steel.

Using the raw material 20 and the template 10, and using the same ceramic foam manufacturing apparatus 1 as in the first embodiment,
7'1 below is Sera ≧1. The resulting exterior wall panel also had a sharp surface shape, and each surface was extremely smooth. Note that the specific gravity of this outer wall panel was 0.6.

This invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and various embodiments are possible.

For example, the mold surfaces of the template may be flat surfaces over the entire range, or may be curved surfaces, or may be formed with various patterns other than a lattice pattern.

Further, the template may be made of any material that does not deform when heated in a heating furnace, and is not limited to silicon carbide or stainless steel.

Furthermore, a frame with an open top is prepared separately from the template of the present invention, this frame is placed on a conveyor, raw material is accommodated inside the frame, and the template placed on the raw material is placed within the frame. It may be made to be able to move up and down freely, and the shape of the outer peripheral part of the ceramic foam may also be restricted by this frame.

Furthermore, in the case of the above-mentioned embodiment, the raw material contained in the frame is placed at a position slightly lower than the upper end of the frame, and a template is placed on the frame, so that during the initial stage of foaming, the template is The material may be separated from the raw material, and the raw material may come into contact with the template during foaming, and then be pressed by the template.

(Effects of the Invention) As explained above, according to the present invention, the central part of the ceramic foam can be formed into a desired shape without swelling, and the surface of the ceramic foam can be formed into a desired shape. It can be finished very neatly along the template. Therefore, the appearance of the ceramic foam is improved.

In addition, it is sufficient to simply arrange the template so that it can be raised and lowered above the raw material before it is carried into the heating furnace, and the structure of the manufacturing apparatus can be simplified.

Further, a post-treatment step is no longer necessary, which simplifies the manufacturing process of the ceramic foam.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings from FIG. 1 to FIG. 3 show one embodiment of this invention, and FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of a manufacturing apparatus used in this method invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic front view of a manufacturing apparatus used in this method invention. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a ceramic foam produced by this method invention. 2...Conveyor, 20...Raw material, 7...
Heating furnace, 10... Template, 100... Ceramic foam.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In a method of manufacturing a ceramic foam by placing raw materials on a conveyor and passing through a heating furnace and foaming the raw materials in the heating furnace, a mold is placed above the raw materials before the raw materials are carried into the heating furnace. A ceramic foam characterized in that the plates are arranged to be able to be raised and lowered, the raw material is foamed while being pressed by the template as it passes through a heating furnace, and further cooled with the template still placed. Production method.