Powder and granule feeding device

Abstract

To provide a powder and granular material supplying device capable of loosening and continuously discharging powder and granular materials of various shapes such as strips in a supplying container having a simple structure and low possibility of contamination in a certain quantity. [Solution] The powder and granular material supply device comprises a supply container 1 including a cylindrical wall 2, a scraping member 12 for scraping up and loosening the powder and granular material located in the middle of the cylindrical wall 2 in the longitudinal direction, a discharge lid 3 for closing one end opening of the cylindrical wall 2, a discharge outlet 5 that is formed through the discharge lid 3 and has an area smaller than the one end opening, and a scooping member 6 for scooping up the powder and granular material that has accumulated near the discharge lid, a support device 13 that supports the supply container 1 at an angle so that the discharge lid 3 faces diagonally downward, and a rotation device 20 that rotates the supply container 1 around the center line of the cylindrical wall.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a powder supplying device that discharges powder and granular material and supplies it to a destination. [Background technology]

[0002] Hoppers with an inverted cone shape, which are common as powder and granular material supply devices, can sometimes stop discharging powder and granular material due to the powder forming an arch-like bridge near the discharge outlet or ratholes directly above the discharge outlet. Patent documents 1 to 3 disclose a breaker attached to the hopper that breaks the bridges and ratholes, allowing the powder and granular material to be continuously discharged. There are various types of breakers, including rotating arms, air jets, knockers, and vibrators, and they are used depending on the type of powder and granular material.

[0003] As another powder and granular material supplying device, Patent Document 4 describes a granular powder distributing device that includes a tilted cylindrical container, a means for rotating the container, a tube attached to the lower end face of the container, and a spiral spring fitted inside the tube.Since the container and tube rotate but the spiral spring does not, the granular powder stored in the container is discharged by the relative movement between the tube and the spiral spring.

[0004] Patent Document 5 describes a powder supplying device including a cylindrical powder supply tube with an open end, a supply tube drive unit that rotates the powder supply tube, and an angle adjustment unit for the powder supply tube. With the powder supply tube standing upright with its opening facing upward, powder is loaded into the powder supply tube. The powder supply tube is then tilted so that its opening faces diagonally downward, and the powder gradually falls through the opening and is supplied to a hopper located below the opening. A filling drum with multiple cylinders is located below the hopper, and a fixed amount of powder is sequentially filled into each cylinder from the hopper.

[0005] Furthermore, Patent Document 6 describes a material supplying device that includes a cylindrical hopper with multiple scooping blades protruding from its inner peripheral surface and positioned so that the center line of the cylinder is horizontal, a rotation drive device for the hopper, and a chute that is positioned at an angle from the inside of the hopper to the outside and that receives and discharges material that falls from the scooping blades.Material supplied to the bottom of the hopper is scooped up to a fixed amount by the scooping blades located at the bottom, and when the scooping blades move upward due to the rotation of the cylindrical hopper, the fixed amount of material falls into the chute, where it slides down the chute and is discharged to the outside.

[0006] Patent Document 7 describes an automatic powder feeder that includes a cylindrical drum with multiple protruding blades on its inner surface, one end open, and either a horizontal centerline or an inclined position with the opening facing diagonally upward, a motor for rotating the drum, a mini-hopper located in the center of the drum, and a support arm with a powder receiver that moves back and forth within and out of the drum. Powder accumulated in the lower part of the drum is scraped up by the blades located at the bottom. When the blades move upward due to the rotation of the drum, the powder falls into the mini-hopper. The support arm with the powder receiver moves forward to receive the powder from the mini-hopper and then moves backward to remove the powder from the drum. The drum is tilted with the opening facing diagonally upward to prevent the powder scraped up by the blades from scattering outside the drum. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0007] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 49-134068 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 57-1088 [Patent Document 3] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2019-52037 [Patent Document 4] Jikko No. 52-30694 [Patent Document 5] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-69915 [Patent Document 6] Jikko No. 55-41702 [Patent Document 7] Publication number 6-50737 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0008] The present inventors have been studying a supplying device that supplies small amounts of strip-shaped powder and granular material, such as shredded seaweed. They found that strip-shaped powder and granular material are particularly prone to overlapping and forming bridges in the inverted cone-shaped hopper described above. Furthermore, attempts to break bridges using a breaker attached to the hopper, as in Patent Documents 1 to 3, have encountered various problems. For example, in the case of a rotating arm, the powder and granular material are compressed between the arm and the inner surface of the hopper, preventing the arm from rotating and breaking the strip-shaped powder and granular material. Furthermore, in the case of a vibrator, it is difficult to break bridges. Various other bridge breakers have been studied, but no one has been established that can store strip-shaped powder and granular material, break bridges, and continuously and quantitatively discharge the material.

[0009] Therefore, it is necessary to consider other powder and granular material supply devices. However, in a device such as that in Patent Document 4, which uses relative movement between a tube and a spiral spring, it is thought that the strip-shaped powder and granular material will form a wall at the entrance of the tube and spiral spring and will not enter.

[0010] Furthermore, in a device such as that described in Patent Document 5, in which powder and granular material is dropped from an opening facing diagonally downward in a rotating powder supply tube, it is expected that the strip-like powder and granular material will gather together at the bottom of the powder supply tube and fall from the opening in clumps, making it impossible to discharge the powder and granular material in a quantitative manner.

[0011] Furthermore, in a device such as that described in Patent Document 6, in which an inclined chute is inserted into the interior of a cylindrical hopper with rotating blades, it is thought that strip-shaped powder particles can be discharged quantitatively, but it is necessary to provide a chute that enters the hopper, making the structure complex.

[0012] Furthermore, in a device such as that described in Patent Document 7, in which a support arm with a powder receiver moves back and forth inside and outside a cylindrical drum with rotating blades, it is thought that it is possible to discharge a fixed amount of strip-shaped powder or granular material, but it is necessary to provide a support arm with a powder receiver and its forward and backward movement device separately from the drum, making the structure complicated. Also, since the opening of the drum is large and a device that moves in and out between the outside and inside increases the possibility of contamination problems (hereinafter referred to as "contamination"), in which foreign matter gets mixed into the powder or granular material.

[0013] Therefore, the object of this invention is to provide a powder supply device with a simple structure that can break up powder and granular materials of various shapes, such as strips, and discharge them continuously and in a relatively constant quantity in a supply container with a low possibility of contamination. [Means for solving the problem]

[0014] [1] A supply container including a cylindrical wall, a scraping member for scraping up and loosening powder and granular material in a longitudinally intermediate portion of the cylindrical wall, a discharge lid for closing one end opening of the cylindrical wall, a discharge port that is formed through the discharge lid and has an area smaller than that of the one end opening, and a scooping member for scooping up powder and granular material accumulated near the discharge lid and sending it to the discharge port; a support device that supports the supply container at an inclination such that the discharge lid faces diagonally downward; and a rotating device for rotating the supply container about the center line of the cylindrical wall.

[0015] [2] The powder / granular material supply device according to [1], wherein the supply container is provided with a cover including a cover plate arranged in front of the discharge lid at a distance.

[0016] [3] The powder / granular material supplying device according to [1] or [2], wherein the supply container is provided with a feed lid that closes the other end opening of the cylindrical wall.

[0017] [4] A powdered or granular material supplying device according to claim [1], [2] or [3], wherein the powdered or granular material is food, chemicals or pharmaceuticals. [Effects of the Invention]

[0018] According to this invention, powder and granular materials of various shapes, including strips, can be loosened and continuously and relatively quantitatively discharged from a supply container of a powder and granular material supply device with a simple structure and low possibility of contamination. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0019] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a side view of the powder / granular material supplying device of the first embodiment in a standby state. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a supply container of the powder / granular material supplying device. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 shows the discharge lid of the supply container, where (a) is a front view, (b) is a cross-sectional view taken along line IIIb-IIIb, and (c) is a perspective view seen from the inside. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the powder / granular material supplying device when in use. [Figure 5] FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VV in FIG. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a partial front view showing the powder / granular material supplying device discharging powder / granular material. [Figure 7] Figure 7 shows the discharge lid of another embodiment of a powder / granular material supplying device in which only the scooping member is changed, where (a) is a perspective view of the discharge lid of Example 2 seen from the inside, (b) is a perspective view of the discharge lid of Example 3 seen from the inside, and (c) is a perspective view of the discharge lid of Example 4 seen from the inside. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0020] 1. Supply container (1) Cylinder wall and lid The shape of the tube wall is not particularly limited, and may be, for example, a cylinder or a rectangular tube, preferably having 5 to 20 corners. The shape of the discharge lid is not particularly limited, and may be, for example, a flat plate or a plate that is curved outwardly or inwardly convex. The discharge lid may be fixed to the cylindrical wall, but is preferably attached to the cylindrical wall in an openable / closable or detachable manner. The supply container preferably includes an input lid that can be opened or closed or detached to close the other end opening of the cylindrical wall. The inclination angle of the center line of the cylindrical wall of the supply container is not particularly limited, but is preferably 2 to 25 degrees, more preferably 3 to 20 degrees, and even more preferably 5 to 16 degrees, relative to the horizontal.

[0021] (2) Outlet There may be only one discharge port, but it is preferable that a plurality of discharge ports (preferably 2 to 8, more preferably 3 to 6) are provided around the center of the discharge lid at intervals. The shape of the discharge port is not particularly limited, but examples include polygons such as triangles and rectangles (including polygons with rounded corners), circles, ellipses, and semicircles. In the case of a triangle, it is preferable that one corner is located closer to the center of the discharge lid than the other two corners. The angle of that corner is preferably 10 to 50 degrees, and more preferably 20 to 40 degrees.

[0022] (3) Scooping member The shape of the scooping member is not particularly limited as long as it can scoop up the powder and granular material accumulated near the discharge lid. The scooping member may have a blade-like, trough-like, or cup-like shape. The surface of the scooping member that scoops up the powder or granular material may be a flat surface, a curved surface, a bent surface, or the like. The scooping members are preferably provided at positions corresponding to (near) each of the discharge ports in order to send the scooped powder or granular material to each of the discharge ports. The number of scooping members may be the same as the number of discharge ports, or may be different from the number of discharge ports (for example, two scooping members may be provided corresponding to one discharge port). The scooping member may be provided so as to protrude from the inner surface of the discharge lid, or may be provided so as to protrude from the inner surface of the cylindrical wall near the discharge lid.

[0023] (4) Raking member The shape of the scraping member is not particularly limited as long as it can scrape up and loosen the powder or granular material located in the middle of the cylindrical wall in the longitudinal direction. The scraping member may have a blade-like, trough-like, or claw-like shape. The number of scraping members may be one, but it is preferable that a plurality of scraping members (preferably 2 to 8, more preferably 3 to 6) are provided at intervals around the center line of the cylindrical wall.

[0024] 3. Supply destination A powder receiving device or a transport device for further transporting the powder to the receiving device may be provided below the discharge lid. Examples of the transport device include a vacuum transport device, a feeder, and a conveyor.

[0025] 4.Powder material In this invention, the term "granular material" refers to an aggregate of powder or particles, with no particular limitations on the material or unit shape. Examples of powdery or granular materials include food (shredded seaweed, crushed ramen noodles, solid soup, freeze-dried food, seasonings, food additives, etc.), chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and machine parts (screws, gears, etc.). Examples of unit shapes of powder particles include spheres, polyhedrons, rods, plates, flakes, thin strips, strips, small lumps, the above-mentioned part shapes, and irregular shapes (unit shapes are random due to crushing). [Example]

[0026] The present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a vehicle; FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a vehicle body; FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a vehicle body;

[0027] [Example 1] The powder and granular material supply device of Example 1 shown in Figures 1 to 6 includes a supply container 1, a support device 13 that supports the supply container 1 so that it can be tilted so that the discharge lid 3 faces diagonally downward and so that it can rotate around the center line of the cylindrical wall, and a rotation device 20 that rotates the supply container 1 around the center line of the cylindrical wall.

[0028] The supply container 1 comprises a cylindrical (cylindrical in the illustrated example) cylindrical wall 2 with the center line of the cylindrical wall lying horizontally, a discharge lid 3 that closes one end opening of the cylindrical wall 2 (the opening at the right end in Figures 1 and 4), a cover 7 for the discharge lid 3, and an input lid 10 that closes the other end opening of the cylindrical wall 2 (the opening at the left end in Figures 1 and 4).

[0029] The discharge lid 3 is plate-shaped (disk-shaped in the illustrated example) and is attached to the cylindrical wall 2 at an attachment portion 4 (ring-shaped in the illustrated example) provided on the outer periphery of the discharge lid 3 so that it can be opened, closed, or removed. Three discharge ports 5, each smaller in area than the opening at one end of the cylindrical wall 2, are formed near the periphery of the discharge lid 3 at equal intervals in the circumferential direction. Each discharge port 5 is triangular, including a first side extending from the periphery of the discharge lid 3 toward the center, and a second side extending from the inner end of the first side to the periphery of the discharge lid 3. Therefore, one corner is located closer to the center of the discharge lid 3 than the other two corners, and the angle of that one corner is 20 to 40 degrees (30 degrees in the illustrated example).

[0030] Three scooping members 6 protrude from the inner surface of the discharge lid 3 to scoop up the powder P and send it to the discharge outlet 5. Each scooping member 6 is made up of a combination of a long blade portion 6a that protrudes relatively long into the cylindrical wall 2 from a position near the first side of the discharge outlet 5 and a short blade portion 6b that protrudes relatively short into the cylindrical wall 2 from a position near the second side of the discharge outlet 5.

[0031] The cover 7 is composed of a cover plate 8, which is slightly larger than the discharge lid 3 and is disposed in front of the discharge lid 3 at a distance, and an enclosing ring 9, which is provided on the outer periphery of the cover plate 8 and is disposed on the outer periphery of the mounting part 4. The cover plate 8 is provided with a transparent part 8a, which allows the powder P to be visually observed as it is discharged.

[0032] The throw-in lid 10 is plate-shaped (disk-shaped in the illustrated example) and is attached to the cylindrical wall 2 so as to be openable, closable, or detachable at an attachment portion 11 (protrusion-shaped in the illustrated example) provided on the outer periphery of the throw-in lid 10. The throw-in lid 10 is provided with a transparent portion 10a so that the powder or granular material P in the container can be seen.

[0033] Three scraping members 12 are provided at equal intervals in the circumferential direction protruding from the inner surface of the cylindrical wall 2 in the middle in the longitudinal direction of the cylinder, for scraping up and loosening the powder P. Each scraping member 12 is blade-shaped and extends at an incline so as to gradually decrease in height from one end of the cylindrical wall 2 to the other end.

[0034] The support device 13 includes a base 14, a movable frame 15 rotatably attached to one end of the base 14 (corresponding to one end of the cylindrical wall 2), and an actuator 18 that raises the other end of the movable frame 15 (corresponding to one end of the cylindrical wall 2) relative to the base. The movable frame 15 includes multiple pairs of support arms 16 that extend laterally from one end and the other end of the cylindrical wall 2, and each support arm 16 has a support roller 17 rotatably attached to it that abuts against the outer circumferential surface of the cylindrical wall 2 to support it.

[0035] The rotation device 20 comprises a motor 21 attached to the movable frame 15, a drive roller 22 rotated by the motor 21, and a flange 23 protruding from the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical wall 2. The rotating drive roller 22 abuts against the side surface of the flange 23, rotating the supply container 1 together with the flange 23.

[0036] The powdered or granular material supplying device of Example 1 configured as described above does not require the provision of a chute that enters a hopper as in Patent Document 6, or a support arm with a powder receiver and its forward / backward movement device as in Patent Document 7, so the structure is simple and the possibility of contamination is low. The powdered or granular material supplying device of Example 1 is used as follows, and provides the following functions and effects.

[0037] (1) As shown in Fig. 4, actuator 18 of support device 13 is operated to tilt supply container 1 together with movable frame 15 so that discharge lid 3 faces diagonally downward. The tilt angle of the center line of the cylindrical wall of supply container 1 is set to, for example, 5 to 15 degrees (10 degrees in the illustrated example) with respect to the horizontal. (2) Set the receiving portion of the conveying device (the suction hopper 25 of the vacuum conveying device in the illustrated example) below the lower portion of the discharge lid 3 and the cover 7. (3) The loading lid 10 is opened, and powder P (for example, shredded seaweed) is loaded into the supply container 1. Thereafter, the loading lid 10 is closed.

[0038] (4) The motor 21 of the rotation device 20 is operated to rotate the supply container 1 around the center line of the cylindrical wall. The inclination and rotation of the supply container 1 causes the powder P that accumulates near the input lid 10 at the inner bottom of the supply container 1 during input to slide on the inner bottom surface of the cylindrical wall 2 and be sent to the lower position near the discharge lid without stagnation. Even if the powder P clumps together near the input lid 10, it is scraped up and falls by the scraping member 12 that rotates together with the supply container 1 as it is being sent, thereby loosening it.

[0039] (5) As shown in FIG. 6(a), a portion of the powder and granular material P sent to the vicinity of the discharge lid at the inner bottom of the supply container 1 is discharged from the discharge port 5, which moves downward as the supply container 1 rotates. Another portion of the powder and granular material P is scooped up by the scooping member 6, which moves downward as the supply container 1 rotates, and sent to the discharge port 5, as shown in FIG. 6(b). With the next rotation, the powder and granular material P is discharged from the discharge port 5, which moves upward as shown in FIGS. 6(c) and 6(d). More specifically, as shown in FIG. 6(c), the powder and granular material P scooped up by the long blade portion 6a of the scooping member 6 is collected at the lower end of the discharge port 5, which moves upward. As shown in FIG. 6(d), the collected powder and granular material P is prevented from falling back into the supply container 1 by the short blade portion 6b of the scooping member 6, and is efficiently discharged. In this way, the powder and granular material P can be continuously and relatively quantitatively discharged. Furthermore, even if the powder P is in the form of strips, such as shredded seaweed, bridges and ratholes are unlikely to form. (6) As shown in FIG. 4, the powder P discharged from the discharge port 5 falls through the gap between the discharge lid 3 and the cover 7 into the receiving section of the conveying device, and is conveyed (vacuum conveyed in the illustrated example) by the conveying device.

[0040] [Examples 2 to 4] Next, Examples 2 to 4 will be described, which are the same as Example 1 except that only the shapes of the discharge port 5 and the scooping member 6 are changed. Example 2 shown in Figure 7(a) differs from Example 1 in that one corner of the triangle of the discharge outlet 5 near the center of the discharge lid 3 is rounded, and the long blade portion 6a of the scooping member 6 is extended to the rounded corner by adding a curved surface corresponding to the rounded corner, and is connected to the short blade portion 6b. Example 3 shown in Figure 7(b) differs from Example 1 in that the discharge outlet 5 is a rectangle with one side added near the center of the discharge lid 3, and the long blade portion 6a of the scooping member 6 is bent and extended to that one side and is connected to the short blade portion 6b. Example 4 shown in Figure 7(c) differs from Example 1 in that the discharge outlet 5 is circular, the scooping member 6 is partially cylindrical (gutter-shaped) corresponding to the circular shape, and the distinction between the long blade portion 6a and the short blade portion 6b is eliminated. These Examples 2 to 4 can be appropriately selected and adopted depending on the material, unit shape, discharge amount, etc. of the powder or granular material P, and basically achieve the same effects as those of Example 1.

[0041] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be embodied by making appropriate modifications within the scope of the invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0042] 1 supply container 2 cylinder wall 3 Discharge lid 5 Outlet 6. Scooping member 10 Loading lid 12 Raking member 13 Support device 20 Rotating device P Powder

Claims

1. a supply container (1) including a cylindrical wall (2), a scraping member (12) for scraping up and loosening powder and granular material in a longitudinally intermediate portion of the cylindrical wall (2), a discharge lid (3) for closing one end opening of the cylindrical wall (2), a discharge port (5) that penetrates the discharge lid (3) and has an area smaller than that of the one end opening, and a scooping member (6) for scooping up powder and granular material accumulated near the discharge lid and sending it to the discharge port (5); a support device (13) that supports the supply container (1) at an inclination such that the discharge lid (3) faces obliquely downward; and a rotating device (20) for rotating the supply container (1) around the center line of the cylindrical wall.

2. 2. The powder supply device according to claim 1, wherein the supply container (1) is provided with a cover (7) including a cover plate (8) arranged in front of the discharge lid (3) at a distance.

3. 3. The powder / granular material supplying device according to claim 1, wherein the supply container (1) is provided with a charging lid (10) for closing the other end opening of the cylindrical wall (2).

4. 4. A powdered material supplying device according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the powdered material is food, chemicals or medicines.

Images