Vertical rotary valve and continuous cooking equipment

Abstract

The present invention provides a vertical rotary valve, which can ensure the air tightness of the rotor by setting seals at fewer or even the same radial positions. The vertical rotary valve comprises: a rotor, comprising an outer periphery, an inner periphery, and a plurality of partition plates connected to the outer periphery or the inner periphery at both ends, and a plurality of bins are formed by dividing the outer periphery, the inner periphery, and the plurality of partition plates; a hollow shaft, at least a portion of which is coaxially arranged with the rotor through the center of the end of the rotor and is rotatably connected to the rotor, and a portion of the hollow shaft located inside the rotor has an opening, and the opening connects one or more bins among the plurality of bins with the hollow portion of the hollow shaft.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a vertical rotary valve, and more particularly to a vertical rotary valve used in a continuous cooking device. Background Art

[0002] In continuous cooking equipment, the raw materials need to be cooked under pressure in the steam atmosphere of the pressure cooking tank. In order to supply or discharge the raw materials while maintaining the pressure in the pressure cooking tank, a rotary valve is usually arranged at the connection position between the pressure cooking tank and the upstream and downstream equipment. The rotary valve can be a vertical rotary valve or a horizontal rotary valve. In the case of a vertical rotary valve, the raw materials enter the pressure cooking tank through the vertical rotary valve for input and leave the pressure cooking tank through the vertical rotary valve for discharge.

[0003] Existing vertical rotary valves for continuous cooking equipment, refer to Figure 1 The invention relates to a rotary table comprising an upper cover, a lower cover and a rotor rotating horizontally between the upper cover and the lower cover. In order to keep the rotor sealed, a sealing member is usually arranged between the rotor and the upper and lower covers, and the upper and lower ends of the sealing member are respectively abutted between the rotor and the upper and lower covers to complete the sealing.

[0004] In order to ensure the sealing effect, it is necessary to ensure that the gap between the rotor and the upper and lower covers is within a specific range. The reason is that if the gap between the two is too small, the wear between the rotor and the upper and lower covers will be more serious. With the wear process, the gap will continue to expand, and the upper and lower covers need to be regularly maintained; and when the gap between the two is too large, the airtightness of the rotor will be poor. Therefore, the existing vertical rotary valve needs to be equipped with a set of adjustment screws at the upper and lower covers to adjust the gap size between the upper and lower covers and the rotor.

[0005] Another reason for the need to precisely adjust the gap size is that the upper and lower covers are generally in the shape of horizontally mounted plates, on which a first opening is arranged off-axis and occupies a certain radial length range, and a second opening is also arranged on the housing corresponding to the first opening. In order to seal the first opening of the rotor, at least a first sealing ring needs to be arranged at a position close to the inner edge and a second sealing ring needs to be arranged at a position close to the outer edge between the rotor and the upper and lower covers.

[0006] For example, if Figure 1 As shown in the figure, the vertical rotary valve is provided with a first sealing ring at the contact position between the inner periphery of the rotor and the upper and lower covers, and a second sealing ring at the contact position between the outer periphery of the rotor and the upper and lower covers. However, the plate-shaped upper and lower covers will deform due to uneven heating during use, resulting in different gap sizes between the upper and lower covers at positions corresponding to the inner periphery and the outer periphery, thereby further increasing the difficulty of adjusting the gap size.

[0007] Specifically, when not in use, the vertical rotary valve is at room temperature, but when in use, it has to handle raw materials under high temperature and high pressure, which causes the temperature of the vertical rotary valve to rise sharply and cause damage or injury. One solution is to preheat the vertical rotary valve by introducing steam into the vertical rotary valve before introducing the raw materials into the vertical rotary valve. However, during the preheating process, because the temperature on the side close to the rotor is higher and the thermal expansion is larger, while the temperature on the side close to the external environment is lower and the thermal expansion is smaller, the upper and lower covers will be deformed with the center close to the rotor and the outer edge away from the rotor, resulting in the first sealing ring in the center being easily worn, while the sealing effect of the second sealing ring at the outer edge is poor. Summary of the invention

[0008] In view of the above problems in the prior art, the present invention provides a vertical rotary valve, which can ensure the air tightness of the rotor by arranging sealing elements at fewer or even the same radial positions.

[0009] The vertical rotary valve comprises: a rotor, comprising an outer periphery, an inner periphery and a plurality of partition plates respectively connected to the outer periphery or the inner periphery at both ends, wherein a plurality of bins are formed by dividing the outer periphery, the inner periphery and the plurality of partition plates; a hollow shaft, wherein at least a portion of the hollow shaft is coaxially arranged in the rotor and is rotationally connected to the rotor, and a portion of the hollow shaft located inside the rotor has an opening, and the opening connects one or more of the plurality of bins with the hollow portion of the hollow shaft.

[0010] Because the hollow shaft disposed at the center of the end is rotatably connected to the rotor, and the hollow part of the hollow shaft is used to communicate with the material bin inside the rotor through the opening, and then used as the inlet or outlet of the vertical rotary valve. Because of the above arrangement, the outlet of the vertical rotary valve is disposed at the center of the end of the rotor, so in order to ensure the sealing performance of the rotor at the inlet or outlet, it is only necessary to configure the seal at fewer or the same radial positions, for example, only an annular seal is arranged at the rotation connection between the rotor and the hollow shaft.

[0011] Because the hollow shaft directly enters the rotor and communicates with the silo, the rotor can provide a closed environment inside the rotor by using the seal of the rotating connection between the rotor and the hollow shaft at the end of the rotor connected to the hollow shaft. As a result, at the end of the rotor connected to the hollow shaft, it is not necessary to preset or adjust the gap between the rotor and other components (such as the housing or the upper and lower covers) to a specific range, thereby reducing or even omitting the use of the adjusting screw at this end, reducing the difficulty of using and maintaining the equipment.

[0012] In a preferred technical solution of the present invention, the vertical rotary valve also includes a cover, which is located at the end of the rotor opposite to the hollow shaft in the axial direction, and there is an adjustable gap between the cover and the rotor. One end of the rotor (the end connected to the hollow shaft) forms a simple and reliable sealing structure by mutual cooperation with the hollow shaft, while the other end (the end connected to the cover) forms a sealing structure with adjustable gap. In the above structure, even if the gap adjustment component is omitted at the end connected to the hollow shaft, the gap adjustment mechanism at the end connected to the cover can balance the air tightness of the rotor and the wear characteristics of the seal.

[0013] In the preferred technical solution of the present invention, the cover covers the top of the rotor, and the hollow shaft is provided at the bottom of the rotor. Generally speaking, deformation of the upper cover due to heat will not cause movement of the rotor, but deformation of the lower cover may. Therefore, in the preferred technical solution, the existing solution with the lower cover is replaced with a solution in which the hollow shaft is connected to the rotor to support the rotor, which can effectively avoid movement of the rotor caused by deformation of the lower cover due to heat, and reduce the possibility of contact and friction caused by it.

[0014] In a preferred technical solution of the present invention, the vertical rotary valve also includes a housing, which is sleeved on the outside of the rotor, and the cover is connected to the housing by means of a threaded member, so that the size of the gap can be adjusted by using the threaded member. On the one hand, the housing provides a mounting platform for various components that do not need to be rotated, and on the other hand, it completes the heat insulation and sealing of the rotor to avoid the safety hazards caused by the operator being able to directly contact the rotor. Using the threaded member to adjust the size of the gap can not only continuously set the size of the gap, but also intuitively judge the balance between the air tightness of the rotor and the wear characteristics of the seal by feeling the force of the screwing during the screwing process.

[0015] In a preferred technical solution of the present invention, the housing is shaped so as to form an annular cavity between the housing and the rotor, and the bottom of the housing is rotatably connected to the rotor by a sealing structure. Since the housing is sealed with the rotor by its bottom, and there is no need to maintain a gap within a specified range between the outer edge and the rotor, the housing has a high degree of freedom in shape design. By forming the housing in such a way that an annular cavity is formed between the housing and the rotor, the heat insulation performance of the housing can be further improved.

[0016] In a preferred technical solution of the present invention, the rotational connection between the bottom of the housing and the rotor is realized by a thrust spherical roller bearing. The rotational connection between the bottom of the housing and the rotor is realized by a thrust spherical roller bearing. On the one hand, it can bear the weight of the rotor and provide effective mechanical support to the rotor; on the other hand, it allows the rotor, housing or hollow shaft to produce a certain amount of deformation due to some reasons, such as thermal expansion and contraction caused by heat or wear caused by the rotation process. The deformation can have a horizontal component within a specified range. By using a thrust spherical roller bearing, the horizontal component that may cause airtightness problems can be converted into a vertical displacement of the rotor. The vertical displacement of the rotor can be dealt with by adjusting the gap between the top of the rotor and the cover.

[0017] In a preferred technical solution of the present invention, a cylindrical extension portion extending along the axial direction of the rotor is formed at the bottom of the outer peripheral portion, and the inner diameter of the extension portion is equal to the outer diameter of the hollow shaft. In the above manner, the cylindrical extension portion can be sleeved on the outside of the hollow shaft to form a coaxial double-cylinder matching structure, so that the seal between the outer peripheral portion and the hollow shaft can be achieved by using a cylindrical seal, and the seal is simpler and more reliable.

[0018] In a preferred technical solution of the present invention, the bottom of the inner circumference is cylindrical, and the inner diameter of the bottom of the cylindrical inner circumference is equal to the outer diameter of the hollow shaft. In the above manner, the bottom of the inner circumference can be sleeved on the outside of the hollow shaft to form a coaxial double-cylinder matching structure, so that the inner circumference and the hollow shaft can be sealed by using a cylindrical seal, and the sealing is simpler and more reliable.

[0019] In a preferred technical solution of the present invention, a keyway is provided on the hollow shaft at a position corresponding to the opening along the circumferential direction, and a key is provided on the outer shell, so that the relative rotation between the hollow shaft and the outer shell is prevented by the cooperation between the keyway and the key. The keyway provided in this way can indicate the correct installation direction of the opening. It will be mentioned later that the opening needs to form a prescribed cooperation relationship with the pressure relief groove in the circumferential direction, so as to gradually reduce the air pressure of each silo, and therefore has a prescribed correct installation direction. Because when the installation is completed, the hollow shaft is located inside the rotor, and the direction of the opening is not easy to be observed, using the keyway to indicate its direction can facilitate installation in place.

[0020] In a preferred technical solution of the present invention, the bottom of the housing has an insertion port for inserting the hollow shaft, and a key is arranged at the insertion port. The key is arranged at the insertion port so that, during the process of inserting the hollow shaft into the housing and the rotor, the key slot only needs to slightly enter the housing, and the key can be inserted and fixed, which is convenient for installation.

[0021] Preferably, the extension part, the bottom of the outer peripheral part, and the insertion port all use inner walls with the same diameter to seal with the hollow shaft cylinder. On the one hand, the same diameter cylindrical seal makes the installation simpler and the sealing effect more reliable; on the other hand, during installation, after the hollow shaft is sent into the insertion port, it is pushed in along the axial direction to complete the installation and sealing of the hollow shaft with the outer peripheral part and the inner peripheral part, and the installation process is also simple and reliable.

[0022] In a preferred technical solution of the present invention, the inner edge of the partition plate is at least partially in contact with the hollow shaft. Each silo needs to be able to rotate around the hollow shaft so that each silo is sequentially connected to the opening on the hollow shaft, and each silo needs to maintain a certain degree of relative sealing. Therefore, at least a portion of the inner edge of the partition plate is in contact with the hollow shaft to solve the above problems at the same time.

[0023] In a preferred technical solution of the present invention, the bottom of the opening is flush with the bottom of the partition plate. Installing the bottom of the opening and the bottom of the partition plate in a flush position allows the raw materials at the bottom of the silo to easily enter the opening, reducing the residue and accumulation of raw materials.

[0024] In a preferred technical solution of the present invention, the vertical rotary valve further includes a pressure relief portion provided on the lower end surface of the cover and formed by expanding the volume between the cover and the rotor. The pressure relief portion is provided to prevent the raw material from being damaged or even exploded due to excessive pressure changes in the ambient air pressure experienced by the raw material due to excessive pressure differences between the silos connected to the inlet and the outlet. The pressure relief portion can mitigate the rate at which the pressure of each silo is reduced, preventing the raw material from being broken and the generation of explosion sounds.

[0025] In a preferred technical solution of the present invention, the pressure relief portion is a fan-shaped groove, and its central angle is greater than the central angle occupied by a single silo. During the rotation of the rotor, when the silo and the pressure relief portion begin to overlap, the silo will be connected to the discharge port via the pressure relief portion with a smaller overlap range, the seal of this area is broken, and the pressure begins to decrease; when the rotation continues, the overlap range of the silo and the pressure relief portion increases. In addition, even if the entire silo overlaps with the pressure relief portion, it does not directly overlap with the opening, so there is no sharp drop in pressure. During the period until it overlaps with the opening, the pressure in the silo is gradually reduced. The pressure relief portion formed as a fan-shaped groove can prevent the damage of the raw materials in the silo and the generation of explosion sounds by using a simple structure.

[0026] In a preferred technical solution of the present invention, at least a portion of the outer periphery is in a shape with a gradually decreasing cross-sectional size. The outer periphery of this shape can facilitate the raw material to enter the opening at the center of the bottom and flow out under the drive of gravity, and reduce the possibility of the raw material being retained at a position near the outer periphery due to the action of centrifugal force.

[0027] The invention also provides a continuous cooking device with a vertical rotary valve. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0028] Figure 1 It is a structural schematic diagram of a vertical rotary valve in the prior art;

[0029] Figure 2 is a schematic structural diagram of a continuous cooking device in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0030] Figure 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a vertical rotary valve in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0031] Figure 4 yes Figure 3 A schematic structural diagram of a rotor in an embodiment;

[0032] Figure 5 yes Figure 3 A schematic diagram of a structure for adjusting the gap size in an implementation manner;

[0033] Figure 6-Figure 7 yes Figure 3 A schematic diagram of the positional relationship between the feed inlet and the opening in the embodiment and a schematic diagram of the connection relationship between the two and the silo at different moments of the rotor rotation;

[0034] Figure 8 yes Figure 3 A schematic diagram of the positional relationship among the opening, the feed inlet and the pressure relief portion in the embodiment;

[0035] Figure 9-12 yes Figure 3 A schematic diagram of the positional relationship between the silo, the opening, and the pressure relief valve at different moments of the rotor's rotation in an embodiment;

[0036] Fig.13 yes Figure 3 A schematic structural diagram of a hollow shaft in an implementation manner.

[0037] Figure numerals: 1, vertical rotary valve; 10, rotor; 100, silo; 101, transmission shaft; 102, outer periphery; 103, inner periphery; 104, partition plate; 105, sealing groove; 106, extension portion; 11, inlet; 12, outlet; 13, outer shell; 130, insertion port; 131, annular cavity; 132, key; 14, cover; 140, pressure relief portion; 15, hollow shaft; 150, opening; 151, hollow portion; 152, keyway; 16, roller bearing; 17-1, 17-2, 17-3, sealing; 18, threaded member; 19, thrust spherical roller bearing; 9, continuous cooking device; 90, pressure cooking tank. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0038] The preferred embodiments of the present invention are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that these embodiments are only used to explain the technical principles of the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present invention. Those skilled in the art can make adjustments to them as needed to adapt to specific application scenarios.

[0039] It should be noted that, in the description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention, terms such as "up", "down", "left", "right", "front", "back", "vertical", "horizontal", "inside" and "outside" indicating directions or positional relationships are based on the directions or positional relationships shown in the drawings. This is merely for the convenience of description and does not indicate or imply that the device or component must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation. Therefore, it should not be understood as a limitation on the present invention.

[0040] refer to Figure 2 The present embodiment first provides a continuous cooking device 9 with a vertical rotary valve 1. In the continuous cooking device 9, the vertical rotary valve 1 is located at the discharge side of the pressure cooking tank 90, and the raw materials are pressure-cooked in the water vapor atmosphere of the pressure cooking tank 90 and then introduced into the vertical rotary valve 1.

[0041] The discharge vertical rotary valve 1 is used to ensure that when the raw materials are continuously drawn out from the pressure cooking tank 90, the air pressure in the pressure cooking tank 90 can remain stable, and the raw materials will not rupture due to excessive pressure changes during the decompression process, so that the raw materials can basically maintain their original shape after being transported out.

[0042] In order to maintain the pressure in the pressure cooking tank 90 to be stable, the vertical rotary valve 1 in this embodiment is completed by a rotor 10 that is relatively sealed from the external environment. The rotor 10 is divided into a plurality of silos 100 that are basically isolated from each other. During the rotation process, the feed inlet 11 for introducing raw materials into the rotor 10 and the discharge port 12 for discharging raw materials to the subsequent equipment are always connected to different silos 100 respectively. As a result, the pressure cooking tank 90 connected to the feed inlet 11 is always kept basically closed relative to the discharge port 12, thereby maintaining the pressure in the pressure cooking tank 90 to be stable. How to gradually reduce the pressure of the silo 100 during operation to prevent the rupture of the raw materials and the generation of explosion sounds while maintaining the pressure in the pressure cooking tank 90 to be stable will be described in detail later.

[0043] The overall structure of the vertical rotary valve 1 provided in this embodiment is as follows Figure 3As shown, the vertical rotary valve 1 is mainly composed of a housing 13, a rotor 10, a cover 14 and a hollow shaft 15, wherein the hollow shaft 15 and the cover 14 are relatively fixed to the housing 13. The upper end of the rotor 10 is formed as a hollow transmission shaft 101, which extends from the center of the cover 14 to connect to an external driving device (not shown). Driven by the driving device, the rotor 10 as a whole can rotate around its central axis, and the transmission shaft 101 and the cover 14 are rotatably connected by roller bearings 16 and seals 17-1; the lower end of the rotor 10 is located in the space defined by the cover 14 and the housing 13, and is coaxially arranged with the hollow shaft 15. Since the rotor 10 is an integrated structure, the lower end of the rotor 10 (the part below the cover 14) will also rotate around its central axis under the drive of the driving device, that is, around the hollow shaft 15. The rotor 10 is rotatably connected to the hollow shaft 15 and the housing 13, so that when the vertical rotary valve 1 is in operation, the rotor 10 keeps rotating, while the housing 13, the cover 14 and the hollow shaft 15 remain substantially stationary. In some other embodiments of the present invention, the housing 13 may be eliminated or replaced with any other suitable fixing mechanism.

[0044] In this embodiment, the rotor 10 used in the vertical rotary valve 1 has a structure as follows: Figure 4 As shown, the rotor includes an outer circumference 102 , an inner circumference 103 and a plurality of partition plates 104 connected to the outer circumference 102 and the inner circumference 103 at both ends respectively, and a plurality of bins 100 are formed by dividing the outer circumference 102 , the inner circumference 103 and the plurality of partition plates 104 .

[0045] refer to Figure 3 and Figure 4 The outer circumference 102, the inner circumference 103 and the top of the partition plate 104 are all provided with a sealing groove 105 for placing the sealing member 17-2, and then the sealing member 17-2 is used to abut against the cover 14. When the installation is completed, the upper and lower ends of the sealing member 17-2 will abut against the cover 14 and the rotor 10 respectively. In order to ensure the airtightness of each silo 100 of the rotor 10, the sealing member 17-2 also needs to be compressed to a certain extent to improve the sealing effect by utilizing the elastic force of the sealing member 17-2. However, the application of the elastic force will cause the friction between the sealing member 17-2 and the cover 14 to increase accordingly, causing the wear problem of the cover 14 to become serious when it rotates relative to the rotor 10. In addition, as described in the background technology, during use or preheating, the cover 14 may be deformed to be convex downward in the middle and warped upward at the outer edge because the temperature is higher and the thermal expansion is greater on the side close to the rotor 10 while the temperature is lower and the thermal expansion is smaller on the side close to the external environment. Such deformation will cause the contact between the cover 14 and the inner circumference 103 to be too tight, resulting in severe wear, and / or the cover 14 and the outer circumference 102 to be spaced too far apart, resulting in poor sealing effect.

[0046] In order to balance the wear and airtightness issues, it is necessary to adjust the gap between the top end of the rotor 10 (the outer circumference 102, the inner circumference 103 and the top end of the partition plate 104) and the cover 14. Figure 5 In this embodiment, the gap between the top of the rotor 10 and the cover 14 is adjusted by a screw 18. The lower end of the screw 18 abuts against the upper edge of the housing 13. By screwing the screw 18, the gap between the cover 14 and the upper edge of the housing 13 can be changed, thereby adjusting the gap between the cover 14 and the top of the rotor 10. Using the screw 18 to adjust the size of the gap can not only continuously set the size of the gap, but also intuitively judge the balance between the airtightness of the rotor 10 and the wear characteristics of the seal 17-2 by feeling the force of the screw 18 during the screwing process.

[0047] Existing vertical rotary valves, such as Figure 1 The vertical rotary valve shown in the figure has a rotor whose top and bottom ends are both structured to match the upper and lower covers, so that threaded parts need to be provided at the upper and lower covers to adjust the gap between the rotor and the upper and lower covers. When adjusting the gap of this vertical rotary valve, not only is the adjustment process very cumbersome, but also, due to the influence of thermal deformation of the upper and lower covers, even if it is adjusted to the optimal position, the sealing performance is still not ideal. To this end, the present embodiment provides a better solution. Through the optimized structural design, not only the use of the gap adjustment component (threaded part 18) is reduced, but also a simpler and more reliable sealing method can be used to implement the sealing of the rotor 10, thereby improving the sealing performance of the rotor 10.

[0048] Specifically, continue to refer to Figure 3 In this embodiment, the raw materials at the bottom of the rotor 10 are led out by the hollow shaft 15. Specifically, the hollow shaft 15 is a hollow tubular object, and an opening 150 communicating with the hollow part thereof is opened on the side wall. The opening 150 is communicated with the hollow part 151 of the hollow shaft 15, so that the raw materials in the silo 100 are led out to the subsequent equipment through the opening 150 and the hollow part 151 in sequence.

[0049] Compared with the existing vertical rotary valve, the hollow shaft 15 as the material discharge member in this embodiment is no longer off-axis with the rotor 10, but coaxially arranged. Figure 1 Instead of setting the first sealing ring and the second sealing ring at different radial positions like the vertical rotary valve in the embodiment of the present invention, the sealing members 17 - 3 can be arranged at fewer or the same radial positions to ensure the airtightness of the rotor 10.

[0050] In this embodiment, a cylindrical sealing method is used to achieve the sealing of the rotor 10. Figure 3The inner circumference 103 of the rotor 10 is formed into a hollow cylindrical shape, and its inner wall abuts against the hollow shaft 15; the bottom of the outer circumference 102 of the rotor 10 has an extension portion 106 extending along the axial direction of the rotor 10, and the inner wall of the extension portion 106 abuts against the outer wall of the hollow shaft 15; a part of the inner edge of the partition plate 104 is connected to the inner circumference 103, and a part abuts against the outer wall of the hollow shaft 15, thereby ensuring that each bin 100 is relatively closed, and the raw material will not leak to the adjacent bin 100 during the rotation process. At the same time, when each bin 100 moves to coincide with the opening 150, it can be connected to the opening 150 to discharge the raw material.

[0051] In order to facilitate the insertion and installation of the hollow shaft 15 from the bottom of the rotor 10, and to ensure that the hollow shaft 15 is respectively abutted and sealed against the inner wall of the extension part 106, the inner edge of the partition plate 104 and the inner wall of the inner circumference 103 when the installation is completed, the hollow shaft 15 has a uniform thickness (equal outer diameters, which are basically equal to D) at the pipe sections connecting the above parts, and the diameters of the circumference formed by the inner wall of the extension part 106, the inner edge of the partition plate 104 and the inner wall of the inner circumference 103 are also basically equal to D.

[0052] In the above manner, the sealing of the rotor 10 at the discharge port 12, including the sealing between the extension portion 106 of the outer peripheral portion 102 and the hollow shaft 15, and the sealing between the bottom of the inner peripheral portion 103 and the hollow shaft 15, are all achieved by cylindrical sealing, and the sealing is simpler and more reliable. In addition, because the cylindrical sealing is performed in the center and the gap size is less affected by thermal strain, there is no need to set up additional components for adjusting the gap between the rotor 10 and the hollow shaft 15, or between the rotor 10 and the housing 13, which reduces the difficulty of using and maintaining the equipment.

[0053] In this embodiment, in order to maintain the pressure of the pressure cooking tank 90 stable, it is necessary to make the opening 150 of the hollow shaft 15 and the feed inlet 11 communicate with different silos 100 respectively. Figure 6 , the opening 150 of the hollow shaft 15 faces away from the feed inlet 11. Figure 6 In this state, the opening 150 of the hollow shaft 15 is connected to the No. I silo, No. VII silo and No. VIII silo, and the feed inlet 11 is connected to the No. V silo. From the positional relationship, the No. I silo, No. VII silo, No. VIII silo and No. V silo are isolated from each other, and the pressure of the pressure cooking tank 90 connected to the feed inlet 11 will not be affected by the subsequent equipment connected to the hollow shaft 15; then, the rotor 10 will rotate to the position as shown in FIG. Figure 7In the state shown, the opening 150 of the hollow shaft 15 is connected to the No. I, No. II and No. VIII silos, the feed inlet 11 is connected to the No. V and No. VI silos, the No. I, No. II and No. VIII silos are isolated from the No. V and No. VI silos, and the pressure of the pressure cooking tank 90 connected to the feed inlet 11 is still not affected by the subsequent equipment connected to the hollow shaft 15. As the rotor 10 rotates, the relative position of the feed inlet 11 and the opening 150 in the circumferential direction remains unchanged, and they will always be connected to different silos 100, thereby maintaining the pressure of the pressure cooking tank 90 stable.

[0054] Continue to refer Figure 3 In the vertical direction, the bottom of the opening 150 is flush with the bottom of the partition plate 104, or in some embodiments, it can also be lower than the bottom of the partition plate 104, so that when the raw materials move to the bottom of the silo 100 under the action of gravity, they will not remain and accumulate due to the obstruction of the side wall of the hollow shaft 15.

[0055] The raw material is also affected by the centrifugal force inside the rotor 10, and the centrifugal force increases accordingly as the rotation speed increases. Since the discharge port 150 is located in the center of the rotor, if the flow direction of the raw material is not guided, the raw material may be retained at a position close to the peripheral portion 102 under the action of centrifugal force. In order to allow the raw material to flow more smoothly toward the opening 150, in this embodiment, the peripheral portion 102 is in an inverted cone or an inverted truncated cone shape at the portion corresponding to the bottom of the partition plate 104, preferably an inverted cone shape. By configuring this portion of the peripheral portion 102 to be a shape with a gradually decreasing cross-sectional size, the raw material can be guided to flow in the direction of the opening 150 by gravity, reducing the possibility of the raw material being retained at a position close to the peripheral portion 102.

[0056] At the bottom of the rotor 10, the inner wall of the extension 106 abuts against the hollow shaft 15, and the outer wall of the extension 106 abuts against the housing 13 by means of a seal 17-3. Below the position where the outer wall of the extension 106 abuts against the housing 13, the outer wall of the extension 106 is also rotatably connected to the housing 13 by means of a thrust spherical roller bearing 19. On the one hand, the thrust spherical roller bearing 19 can withstand axial loads to provide effective mechanical support to the rotor 10; on the other hand, even if the rotor 10, the housing 13 or the hollow shaft 15 moves or deforms in the horizontal direction, thereby affecting the airtightness of the rotor 10, for example, wear between the rotor 10 and the hollow shaft 15 due to rotation causes the rotor 10 to shrink in the horizontal direction, or the rotor 10 or the housing 13 deviates in the horizontal direction due to uneven heating, the thrust spherical roller bearing 19 can also use its self-aligning ability to convert the horizontal movement and deformation into the vertical displacement of the rotor 10. The operator can use the threaded member 18 to adjust the gap between the rotor 10 and the cover 14 to cope with the vertical displacement of the rotor 10 , thereby preventing the sealing performance of the bottom of the rotor 10 from being affected.

[0057] With the above structure, at the bottom end of the rotor 10, Figure 1 The lower cover in the embodiment can be discarded. Generally speaking, the deformation of the upper cover due to heat will not cause the movement of the rotor 10, but the deformation of the lower cover may. In this embodiment, by discarding the lower cover, the movement of the rotor 10 caused by the deformation of the lower cover due to heat can be effectively reduced, and the possibility of contact and friction caused by it can be reduced.

[0058] refer to Figure 3 and Figure 8 In order to prevent the raw materials from cracking and exploding due to excessive pressure changes during the decompression process and to maintain the original shape of the raw materials while transporting them out, in this embodiment, a depression toward the main body of the cover 14 is provided on the lower end surface of the cover 14. In other words, a pressure relief portion 140 is formed by expanding the volume between the cover 14 and the rotor 10.

[0059] Specifically, the pressure relief portion 140 is a fan-shaped groove, and its central angle in the circumferential direction is greater than the central angle occupied by a single silo, and there is a first portion 140a that overlaps with the opening 150. Because the pressure relief portion 140 is formed by expanding the volume between the cover 14 and the rotor 10, adjacent silos 100 are interconnected within the range covered by the pressure relief portion 140. Since the pressure relief portion 140 has a first portion 140a that overlaps with the opening 150 in the circumferential direction, the pressure relief portion 140 uses its first portion 140a to connect one or more of the silos 100 that are connected to the first portion 140a and overlap with the opening 150 with one or more adjacent silos 100 that do not overlap with the opening 150.

[0060] by Fig. 9 For example, the first part 140a of the pressure relief part 140 is connected to the No. I silo which overlaps with the opening 150, and the second part 140b is connected to the No. II silo which does not overlap with the opening. Since the pressure relief part 140 is formed by expanding the volume between the cover 14 and the rotor 10, that is, the first part 140a and the second part 140b are connected to each other, the pressure relief part 140 can connect the No. I silo with the No. II silo, and start to release its internal pressure before the No. II silo rotates to overlap with the opening 150.

[0061] Taking silo III as an example, Fig. 9 In this state, the front edge of the III silo (equivalent to Figure 8 The partition plate 104 on the right side of the No. III silo moves to coincide with the edge of the pressure relief portion 140, and the pressure release in the No. III silo begins.

[0062] As the rotor 10 rotates clockwise to Fig.10 In the state shown, the No. III silo partially overlaps with the pressure relief part. The pressure relief part is used to connect the No. III silo with the No. II silo and the No. I silo whose pressure has been partially released, so as to release the pressure in the No. III silo. At this time, because the overlap area of ​​the No. III silo and the pressure relief part is small, and the pressure release of the No. I silo and the No. II silo is not complete, the pressure release of the No. III silo is still relatively slow. However, the pressure release speed of the No. III silo will gradually increase as the overlap area of ​​the No. III silo and the pressure relief part gradually expands.

[0063] The rotor continues to rotate until Fig.11In the state shown, the No. III silo completely overlaps with the pressure relief portion 140 but does not overlap with the opening 150. At this time, the No. III silo uses a larger overlapping area to release pressure, and the pressure release speed is improved, but it is limited to not overlapping with the opening 150, and only relies on the connection of the pressure relief portion 140 to release pressure, and the release speed is still limited. However, if the rotor 10 continues to rotate, the No. III silo will begin to gradually overlap with the opening 150, so that as the overlap range with the opening 150 increases, the pressure release speed is further increased.

[0064] The rotor 10 continues to rotate until Fig.12 In the state shown, the III bin will completely overlap with the opening 150, so that the pressure release speed reaches the maximum.

[0065] In the above manner, during the rotation of the rotor 10, the pressure in the No. III silo is not released in a drastic manner, but is gradually released along with the rotation of the rotor 10, and the pressure release rate is also basically gradually increased. Since each silo 100 is evenly divided by the partition plate 104, the pressure release method of other silos 100 can also refer to the above release process of the No. III silo. Therefore, in this embodiment, the use of a simple pressure relief part 140 can prevent the raw material from breaking and exploding due to excessive pressure changes during the decompression process, so that the raw material can be transported out while maintaining its original shape.

[0066] It should be noted that, although in the present embodiment, the pressure relief portion 140 is configured as a continuous fan-shaped groove. However, in other embodiments of the present invention, the pressure relief portion may also be a linear groove extending in the circumferential direction, or a structure connected to the outside by a pipeline, or any suitable device or structure capable of achieving gradual pressure relief in advance. The pressure relief portion 140 has a first portion 140a capable of communicating with the same silo 100 as the opening 150, and a second portion 140b communicating with the first portion 140a, the second portion 140b being connected to the silo 100 in the process of rotating from the connection to the feed port 11 to coinciding with the opening 150, thereby starting to reduce the pressure inside the silo 100 before the silo 100 is rotated to coincide with the opening 150.

[0067] Continue to refer Figure 3The top of the housing 13 extends upward to connect with the cover 14, and the bottom is provided with an insertion port 130 for inserting the hollow shaft 15. The shape of the main part of the housing 13 matches the shape of the rotor 10, so that an annular cavity 131 is formed between it and the rotor. The existence of the annular cavity 131 allows a sufficient gap to be retained between the housing 13 and the rotor 10, and on the other hand, an air insulation layer with uniform thickness can be formed between the housing 13 and the rotor 10 to improve the insulation performance of the housing 13 and reduce heat loss.

[0068] refer to Figure 3 and Fig.13 The hollow shaft 15 is provided with a keyway 152 at a position corresponding to the opening along the circumferential direction, and a key 132 is provided at the insertion port 130 of the shell 13, so that the relative rotation between the hollow shaft 15 and the shell 13 is prevented by the cooperation between the keyway 152 and the key 132. Because the opening 150 of the hollow shaft 15 is located inside the rotor 10 when the installation is completed, the direction of the opening 150 is not easy to be observed, and the keyway 152 is used to indicate the direction of the opening 150, so that it can be easily installed in place. The key 132 is provided at the insertion port 130, so that when the hollow shaft 15 is inserted into the shell 13 and the rotor 10, the keyway 152 only needs to slightly enter the shell 13, and the key 132 can be used to insert and fix it, which is convenient for installation. The key 132 is preferably a flat key. When installing the vertical rotary valve 1 of the above structure, the hollow shaft 15 only needs to be inserted into the insertion port 130 and then pushed in along the axial direction to complete the installation and sealing of the hollow shaft 15 and the outer peripheral part 102 and the inner peripheral part 103. The installation process is simple and reliable.

[0069] It should be noted that, although in the present embodiment, the cylindrical sealing structure of the hollow shaft 15 and the rotor 10 is mainly arranged at the bottom of the rotor 10 to replace the lower cover plate of the vertical rotary valve, in other embodiments of the present invention, the above structure can also be applied to the top of the rotor 10 to replace the upper cover plate of the vertical rotary valve, or it can be applied to the top and bottom of the rotor 10 to replace the upper cover plate and the lower cover plate of the vertical rotary valve respectively, thereby effectively reducing the complexity of the gap adjustment operation and making the sealing of the rotor 10 simpler and more reliable. Accordingly, the vertical rotary valve can be used not only as a discharge vertical rotary valve arranged at the downstream discharge side of the pressure cooking tank 90, but also as an input vertical rotary valve arranged at the upstream input side of the pressure cooking tank 90.

[0070] So far, the technical solutions of the present invention have been described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, but it is easy for those skilled in the art to understand that the protection scope of the present invention is obviously not limited to these specific embodiments. Without departing from the principle of the present invention, those skilled in the art can make equivalent changes or substitutions to the relevant technical features, and the technical solutions after these changes or substitutions will fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A vertical rotary valve for continuous cooking equipment, characterized in that: The vertical rotary valve comprises: A cover, wherein an upper mounting hole is provided at the center of the cover; A housing is coaxially mounted on the lower end surface of the cover, wherein a lower mounting hole and an insertion port located below the lower mounting hole are provided at the bottom center of the housing; A rotor is installed in the cavity formed by the shell and the cover, comprising an outer peripheral portion, an inner peripheral portion with a cylindrical bottom, and a plurality of partition plates respectively connected to the outer peripheral portion and the inner peripheral portion at both ends, and a plurality of bins are formed by dividing the outer peripheral portion, the inner peripheral portion and the plurality of partition plates; the upper end of the inner peripheral portion is formed as a hollow transmission shaft, which extends from the upper mounting hole of the cover and is rotatably connected to the upper mounting hole through a first bearing; the outer peripheral portion, the inner peripheral portion and the top end of the partition plate are all provided with a sealing groove for placing a sealing member, and then the sealing member is used to abut against the cover; A hollow shaft, wherein the upper end of the hollow shaft is inserted into the inner peripheral portion through the insertion port and is sealedly connected to the inner peripheral portion, and the portion of the hollow shaft located inside the rotor has an opening, and the opening connects one or more of the plurality of bins with the hollow portion of the hollow shaft; the lower end of the hollow shaft extends out of the housing and is circumferentially fixed to the housing through a key connection; The lower end of the outer circumference has a cylindrical extension portion extending along the axial direction of the rotor, the inner sealing sleeve of the extension portion is arranged on the hollow shaft, and the outer side of the extension portion is rotatably connected to the lower mounting hole through a second bearing; a part of the inner edge of the partition plate is connected to the inner circumference, and a part is abutted against the outer wall of the hollow shaft, so as to ensure that each bin is relatively closed; one side of the cover is provided with a feed port connected to one or more bins, and the bin connected to the feed port and the bin connected to the opening are not repeated; The threaded member is arranged on the outer edge of the housing and the cover and is used to adjust the gap between the two. The air tightness of the rotor and the wear characteristics of the sealing member are balanced by screwing the threaded member.

2. The vertical rotary valve according to claim 1, characterized in that: The inner diameter of the extension portion is equal to the outer diameter of the hollow shaft.

3. The vertical rotary valve according to claim 1, characterized in that: The inner diameter of the bottom of the inner peripheral portion is equal to the outer diameter of the hollow shaft.

4. The vertical rotary valve according to claim 1, characterized in that: A keyway is provided on the hollow shaft at a position corresponding to the opening along the circumferential direction, and a key is provided on the shell, so that the relative rotation between the hollow shaft and the shell is prevented by the cooperation between the keyway and the key.

5. The vertical rotary valve according to claim 1, characterized in that: The key is arranged at the insertion port.

6. The vertical rotary valve according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: The bottom of the opening is flush with the bottom of the partition plate.

7. The vertical rotary valve according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: The vertical rotary valve further includes a pressure relief portion which is disposed on a lower end surface of the cover and is formed by expanding a volume between the cover and the rotor.

8. The vertical rotary valve according to claim 7, characterized in that: The pressure relief portion is a fan-shaped groove, and its central angle is greater than the central angle occupied by a single silo.

9. The vertical rotary valve according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: At least a portion of the outer peripheral portion has a shape in which the cross-sectional size gradually decreases.

10. A continuous cooking device, characterized in that: The continuous cooking equipment has a vertical rotary valve according to any one of claims 1-9.

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