Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
  • G01N—INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
  • G01N11/00—Investigating flow properties of materials, e.g. viscosity, plasticity; Analysing materials by determining flow properties
  • G01N11/02—Investigating flow properties of materials, e.g. viscosity, plasticity; Analysing materials by determining flow properties by measuring flow of the material
  • G01N11/04—Investigating flow properties of materials, e.g. viscosity, plasticity; Analysing materials by determining flow properties by measuring flow of the material through a restricted passage, e.g. tube, aperture

Definitions

• the invention relates to a method and an apparatus for measuring the flow properties of flowable media, e.g. B. liquids, melts and viscous masses, in particular made of plastic, according to the preamble of claim 1.
• flowable media e.g. B. liquids, melts and viscous masses, in particular made of plastic
• Measuring the flow properties, e.g. B. of plastics, is required in the manufacture of plastics in order to be able to correct the manufacturing process as early as possible in the event of defects in the plastics.
• the so-called melt index is determined specifically as a characteristic of the flow.
• such measurements are common when processing plastics when it is a question of determining the flow properties under special processing conditions, zJ3.
• different shear rates which are then displayed in a curve (flow curve) for different values of the shear rate.
• the melt index has been determined so far that a measurement sample of the plastic in question, which is taken from a sample container marked with regard to its content, is melted in a measuring cylinder and pressed out of it by means of a pressure piston through a nozzle.
• the measuring cylinder is heated for this purpose and is kept at a certain temperature, which then also accepts the melted measuring sample.
• measurement of the piston travel and the resultant elapsed displacement time determines the piston speed.
• the volumetric throughput or the mass throughput of the melt index can be calculated from the piston speed together with the piston cross section and the known density of the plastic of the test sample. Instead of the decision of the sample would take from a sample container can 'perform this directly from a production line of the respective measuring equipment.
• a sample identification of the sample container is entered into a computer and stored in it, which controls a conveying device and treatment devices carrying the measuring cylinder step by step in such a way that a measuring cylinder which is provided in a loading station is filled with the measuring sample by a filling device, thereupon this measuring cylinder is conveyed into a measuring station in which the pressure piston is displaced and a measurement result is determined by the computer from the measured quantities (z. B. EL displacement distance, displacement time, pressure in front of the nozzle), which is then the conveyor for transporting the measuring cylinder into a Cleaning station advances and after cleaning by a cleaning device in a further transport step in the loading station for renewed loading, whereby the computer with the sample identification transmitted to it with the
• the computer-controlled conveyor including the cleaning of the measuring cylinder used in each case, results in an automatic process sequence in which, based on the material identifier entered into the computer, an output from Calculator is done that directly indicates either the melt index or the flow curve.
• an output from Calculator is done that directly indicates either the melt index or the flow curve.
• the sample container is. Regarding its content. marked accordingly. If it is a label that can be read directly by an operator, then this label can be entered by the operator into the computer, e.g. B. can be entered using a keyboard. However, it is also possible to use Mer for digital identification, e.g. B. to use a so-called BAR code, and in this case the digital material identification of the sample container is expediently read in front of the loading station by means of a reading device and entered into the computer.
• test sample from a production line and to feed it to the loading station.
• a measuring cylinder for each treatment is provided in each station (loading station, measuring station, cleaning station).
• the processing required in each station can then also be carried out on an existing measuring cylinder in each station.
• the conveying device expediently leads this measuring cylinder back into the loading station against the previous conveying direction. It is hereby achieved that the conveying device to a certain extent carries out a back and forth movement, possibly on a circular path, with the result that electrical connections to the measuring cylinders do not have to be made via sliding contacts, since they are only due to one of them given flexibility to follow this float.
• the device for carrying out the method according to the invention is expediently designed in such a way that the conveying device is designed as a series of individual carriers running through the individual stations, each for a measuring cylinder. Each carrier then transports a measuring cylinder assigned to it.
• a special kind of this sequence is a K-arusell, to which the individual carriers can be combined, i.e. which is gradually rotated by an actuator controlled by the computer.
• the loading device is advantageously preceded by the reading device and a memory for the sample container, from which a sample container can be removed under the control of the computer.
• a transfer device is then assigned between the memory and the carrier assigned to the loading station transferring each sample taken from the memory to the carrier while passing the reader.
• FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of the organs required for the course of the method, namely in particular the conveying device and the computer as well as the necessary control lines,
• FIG. 2 shows a plan view of the entire device with conveying device and storage for the measuring cylinders provided, 3 a and 3 b the storage device with its transfer organs,
• FIG. 4 shows a device for loading a measuring cylinder either from a sample container or from a feed line branching off a production line
• FIG. 6 a measuring cylinder in the cleaning station
• FIG. 7 the mode of operation in the cleaning station
• Figure 8a and 8b a device for inserting a new nozzle.
• FIG. 1 shows schematically the relationship of the organs interacting in the method.
• the conveyor 1 Shown is the conveyor 1, which is rotated as a carousel around its center.
• the conveyor 1 carries 3 measuring cylinders 2, 3 and 4, each of which can be transported in 3 stations, namely the loading station, the measuring station and the cleaning station.
• the measuring cylinder 2 is filled in the measuring station with a measuring sample, which is shown in detail in FIG. 4.
• the measuring cylinder 4 located there which had just passed through the measuring station, is cleaned in the cleaning station.
• the measuring station is shown in detail in FIGS. 5a to c and the cleaning station in FIGS. 6, 7 and 8. - 6 - >
• the conveyor device 1 designed here as a carousel is rotated by means of the actuating device 5, which is a gearwheel driven by a motor that engages in a corresponding toothing on the periphery of the conveyor device.
• the actuating device 5 is a gearwheel driven by a motor that engages in a corresponding toothing on the periphery of the conveyor device.
• the conveying device 1 In order to transfer the relevant measuring cylinder (taer measuring cylinder 4) from the cleaning station into the loading station, the conveying device 1 is now turned back in the opposite direction of rotation until the measuring cylinder located in the cleaning station has reached the loading station. It is the course of a cycle of the method and the transfer to the starting position, that is, a kind of back and forth movement, represented by the double arrows in the actuator 5 and next to it, which means that the individual measuring cylinders 2, 3 and 4 in Connected electrical lines do not have to be routed via sliding contacts.
• the actuating device 5 is controlled via the control line 6 by the controller 8 located in a computer 7, step by step in the sense set out above, the controller 8 delivering a command to adjust the actuating device 5 when the 3 stations use the Signal lines 9, 10 and 11 the controller has been informed that the relevant function is completed in each of the 3 stations.
• the 3 stations also receive their commands for executing the respective function from the measuring station via these signal lines, and the measured values determined in the measuring station are also transmitted via the measuring line 12 to the measured value acquisition 13 located in the computer 7.
• the heating control lines 14, 15 and 16 are provided, which receive their commands from the controller 8, which ensures that the 3 measuring cylinders 2, 3 and 4 are each kept at a certain temperature level, in which, for. B. a plastic entrained by the measuring cylinders is kept in the melt state.
• the three measuring cylinders 2, 3 and 4 are heated by the surrounding heating sleeves 17.
• the measured variables recorded by the measured value acquisition 13 are converted in the evaluation 18 in the computer 7 into a measurement result which can represent the melt index or points of a flow curve.
• This measurement result determined by the evaluation 18 is then transferred with the identification 23 of the measurement sample to the monitor 19 or the printer 20, so that the measurement result can be read directly on the monitor 19 and recorded by the printer 20.
• the material identification of the measurement sample in question can be determined by means of the reading device 21, which reads a digital identification 23 attached to the sample container 22 in a known manner and feeds the read identification in digital form to the evaluation 18.
• the evaluation 18 then, together with the measurement result determined by it, also transmits the relevant material identification on the monitor 19 or printer 20.
• the arrangement shown in FIG. 1 also allows the respective material identification to be entered via the keyboard 24.
• FIG. 2 shows a top view of the device operating according to the method described above, but without the computer 7.
• the base frame 25 mounted conveyor 1, which carries the three measuring cylinders 2, 3 and 4.
• the memory 26 is provided for a number of sample containers 22, which are described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 3a and 3b for Loading of the loading station 2 can be recorded individually and can be emptied into the measuring cylinder 2 located in the loading station 2.
• the store 26 is provided with the gripper 27 provided that detects an opened sample container 28, pivoted and emptied into the chute 29.
• the material sample in question arrives from the chute 29 into the shaft 30, from which the measuring cylinder 2 is then filled in a manner described in FIG.
• a metering device 31 shown in more detail in FIG. 4 is also used
• the cap 32 had previously been removed from the respective sample container 28 gripped by the gripper 27 by any known device. Since this device has nothing to do with the invention described in the Mer, it will not be discussed in more detail in this context.
• the waste container 33 is also provided, which is arranged below the measuring cylinder 3 and which collects sample material printed out of the measuring cylinder 3.
• Figure 3a shows a storage slot from the plurality of storage slots shown in Figure 3b.
• a plurality of sample containers 22 are placed one above the other, which are held at the lower end of each storage shaft by a prong 35 of a rake 36.
• the clamping plunger 37 is also provided, which by pressing on the cap 32 of the concerned sample container 22 ensures that the sample container in question cannot slide down out of the storage shaft 34 even when the rake 36 is laterally displaced into an open position.
• the following functional sequence is provided for removing a sample container 22 from the memory.
• the rake 36 When the storage chamber 34 is filled with individual sample containers 22, the rake 36 is in the position shown in FIGS. 3a and 3b, in which the prongs 35 hold the lowest sample container 22 in each case.
• the clamping plungers 37 acting on the lowest sample containers in the storage spaces 34 are extended and thus clamp all the lowest sample containers, whereupon the rake 36 moves in its open position (shifting to the left in FIG. 3b) becomes.
• the clamping plunger 37 that is assigned to the sample container to be dispensed (sample container in FIG. 3 b) is then released. All the other lowest sample containers remain in their clamped position.
• the rake 36 can then be moved back into the position shown in FIG. 3b, in which it closes the stores 34 at the bottom.
• the sample container 38 shown in FIG. 3b is caught by the collecting device 40 carried by the slide 39, which essentially consists of two jaws 41, between which the sample container 42 comes to rest. So that the sample containers located above them cannot slide through the collected sample container 42 when the clamping plunger 37 is loosened (see FIG. 3a), lever plunger 43 is provided in the collecting device 40, which is raised so far in the collecting position (not shown) that a collected sample container holds the sample container located above it as the lowest sample containers in the storage layers 34 are shown in FIGS. 3 and 3b. After collecting the sample container 42, the lever plunger 43 is then lowered into the position in FIG. 3b. The carriage 39 is then moved into the position shown on the left in FIG.
• the gripper 27 reaches through spaces, not shown, between the jaws 41.
• the gripper 27 is one of a known so-called handling device, with which objects can be rotated and turned in a known manner while being gripped.
• the double arrows drawn in next to the jaws 41 and the gripper 27 indicate how the gripper 27 does not move.
• FIG. 4 shows the charging of the measuring cylinder 2 from the sample container 28.
• the sample container 28 is tilted by the gripper 27 (not shown) of the hand-held device 45 in such a way that its content falls over the chute 29 into the shaft 30 until a standstill monitor 46 shows that its level in the shaft 30 has been reached 47 below the filling shaft 30, which is located in the metering device 48.
• the metering device 48 is then shifted from the position shown to the left until the recess 47 is above the filler pipe 49.
• the recess 50 in the blocking slide 51 provides access to the filler pipe 49. In this way, the measuring cylinder 2 is filled with a defined amount of the measuring sample.
• the metering slide 48 is moved into the position shown and the locking slide 51 is moved from the position shown into a rear position, not shown, in which the two recesses 47 and 50 are aligned with one another, specifically underneath the shaft 30, so that the material in the shaft 30 passes through the outlet 52 into the sample container 28 ', which has meanwhile been transferred from its previously explained position (reference number 28) to the position according to reference number 28', where it reaches the outlet 52 is subordinate.
• reference number 28 reference number
• the chute 29 there is also the supply line 53, from which sample material is taken directly from a production line and fed to the chute 29. So that after the above-described filling of the measuring cylinder 2, its pressure piston 54 can be lowered unhindered through the filling tube and inserted into the measuring cylinder 2, the filling tube is rotatably arranged and can therefore be rotated away from the opening of the measuring cylinder 2 according to the double arrow and for Filling to be turned back to this.
• the two measuring cylinders 2 and 3 are suspended in the conveyor device 1 designed as a carousel, for which purpose the conveyor device 1 designed as a rotating plate is provided with corresponding openings which form the carriers 55 in the conveyor device.
• the conveyor 1 is mounted on the rotatably arranged axis 56. The rotation of the conveyor. device 1 takes place as described above with reference to FIG. 1, by means of the actuating device 5.
• the feed unit 57 is arranged, with which the pressure piston 54 in the bore of the
• Measuring cylinder 3 pressed forward and pulled out of this.
• the pressure piston 54 is seated with its upper end in the receptacle 63 of a guided rod 90, which has the plate 58 at its upper end, which in order to enable an independent movement between the feed unit 57 and the pressure piston 54 in an axial recess 59 of the plunger 60 Feed device 57 is attached.
• the plunger 60 is lowered, the pressure piston 54 entering the bore of the cylinder 3.
• the plate 58 rests on the AnscMag 61.
• the end face of the pressure piston 54 reaches the surface of the sample material 92 introduced into the measuring cylinder 3, the plate 58 moves until it comes to rest on the rear stop 62 (FIG. 5a).
• the plunger 60 of the feed unit 57 is further lowered, sample material 92 is then pressed out of the nozzle 93.
• the indicator 64 is reached, the start of the measuring section is signaled and the feed unit 57 is switched off.
• the pressure ram 54 drops only under the action of the weights 66 to 67 attached to the rod 90.
• the plate 58 can move freely downward in the axial recess 59 of the plunger 60.
• the push rod 68 of a displacement transducer 69 is also taken along, which continuously emits a corresponding displacement signal in relation to the pressure piston 54. If the plate 58 reaches the indicator 65, the measurement is ended.
• the plate 58 By pulling the plunger 60 into the feed unit 57, the plate 58 is then pulled up over the AnscMag 61 and thus also the pressure piston 54 (FIG. 5c) and thus comes out of contact with the measuring cylinder 3, so that the measuring station can be transferred.
• FIG. 6 shows the measuring cylinder 4 located in the cleaning station, the mer being pushed out by a cleaning plunger 70 arranged in this station, the nozzle 71 located at the lower end of the bore of the measuring cylinder 4.
• the nozzle 71 is normally supported against the locking piece 72, which is displaced accordingly by the actuating cylinder 73. To push the nozzle 71 out, the locking piece 72 is pulled back.
• FIG. 7 shows the cleaning of the bore 77 of the measuring cylinder 4 from any residues from the previous measurement.
• the plunger 70 shown in FIG. 6 is used for this purpose, which pushes a felt ball through the bore 77.
• measuring cylinder 4 So that the measuring cylinder 4 is free to receive a new, clean nozzle.
• FIGS. 8a and 8b The insertion of a new nozzle m of the cleaning station is shown in FIGS. 8a and 8b.
• a new nozzle 47 is threaded by means of a dome which protrudes into the nozzle bore and from below the actuating igniter 67 the bore 77 of the measuring cylinder 4 is pressed out.
• Merzu has a bore 77 at its lower end with a comically widening insertion piece 78.
• the locking piece 72 is correspondingly withdrawn so that after the nozzle 74 is inserted, it is advanced again.
• a new nozzle 74 is received from the magazine 79, in which new, clean nozzles are stored and can be threaded onto the mandrel 75 of the control cylinder 76.
• the end of the magazine 79 has been cut off by a known separating device 80.
• the actuating cylinder 76 is rotated about the axis 81, as a result of which the actuating cylinder 76 with the dome 75 comes to lie exactly under the bore 77 of the measuring cylinder 4.
• the actuating cylinder 76 is above the arm 82 the DreMager 83, which sits on the axis 81

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• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Analytical Chemistry (AREA)
• Biochemistry (AREA)
• General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Immunology (AREA)
• Pathology (AREA)
• Sampling And Sample Adjustment (AREA)
• Basic Packing Technique (AREA)

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Citations (6)

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• 1989
  • 1989-07-11 DE DE19893922835 patent/DE3922835A1/de active Granted
• 1990
  • 1990-07-03 EP EP19900911433 patent/EP0482083A1/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 1990-07-03 WO PCT/EP1990/001061 patent/WO1991000992A1/de not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 1990-07-03 JP JP2510813A patent/JPH04507459A/ja active Pending

Patent Citations (6)

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