Vacuum charging apparatus for tobacco processing and method of charging

Abstract

The application discloses a kind of vacuum feeding equipment and feeding method for tobacco processing, to solve the technical problems of uneven application of existing technology and insufficient tobacco absorption. The vacuum environment of the vacuum bin can help the mixing and absorption between tobacco and liquid, improve the mixing efficiency and effect, and the rake teeth arranged in a staggered eight-shaped manner in the inner cylinder can relatively change the motion trajectory of the falling body after the tobacco moves with the inner cylinder to a certain height, increase the tangential force of the inclined inner cylinder corresponding to the middle part, so that the tobacco below the atomizing nozzle is relatively concentrated. In this way, it adapts to the spraying effect of large central injection volume and small peripheral injection volume of the atomizing nozzle, thereby improving the uniformity of tobacco and liquid mixing, ensuring the mixing effect, and realizing pumping, breaking vacuum, purging, etc. through the air compressor, with high integration, easy to use and control.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of tobacco processing, in particular to a vacuum feeding equipment for tobacco processing and a feeding method. BACKGROUND

[0002] In the processing of tobacco, adding modified liquid to tobacco leaves is an important process, which can reduce the irritation and offensive odor of tobacco, balance and improve the taste and quality of tobacco, make the taste more comfortable, and improve the elasticity and toughness of tobacco leaves and the processing performance of tobacco.

[0003] The traditional tobacco feeding is to spray the liquid provided by the metering pump to the surface of the tobacco through the steam nozzle in the rotating feeding mesh cylinder under normal pressure, and the liquid is gradually absorbed through the turnover of the tobacco in the mesh cylinder and the subsequent storage process.

[0004] However, the present inventors found at least the following technical problems in the process of implementing the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application: since the liquid is adsorbed on the surface of the tobacco after being sprayed, the process of the liquid penetrating and soaking into the tobacco during storage is slow, so the traditional process has the problems of uneven application of the liquid and insufficient absorption of the tobacco, and a large number of balance storage cabinets must be provided to prolong the storage time to ensure the absorption of the liquid by the tobacco, which also increases the equipment and time costs of the process.

[0005] The information disclosed in this BACKGROUND section is only for the purpose of enriching the understanding of the background of the present disclosure and should not be considered as admitting or implying in any form that the information constitutes prior art known to those skilled in the art. SUMMARY

[0006] In view of at least one of the above technical problems, the present disclosure provides a vacuum feeding equipment for tobacco processing and a feeding method, which aims to solve the technical problems of uneven application of the liquid and insufficient absorption of the tobacco in the prior art.

[0007] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a vacuum feeding equipment for tobacco processing is provided, which comprises a vacuum bin, a liquid tank provided with a stirrer, a liquid inlet bucket corresponding to the top of the liquid tank through a liquid inlet pipeline provided with a liquid inlet valve, an air compressor corresponding to the liquid tank through an air inlet pipeline provided with an air inlet valve, a liquid outlet pipeline corresponding to the vacuum bin and the liquid tank, and a steam generator corresponding to the liquid inlet pipeline and the liquid outlet pipeline through two parallel steam branches, and the equipment further comprises a collector for collecting tobacco in the vacuum bin.

[0008] The vacuum tank comprises an outer cylinder arranged horizontally in an axial direction, an inner cylinder coaxially arranged in the outer cylinder and rotatable relative to the outer cylinder, an atomizing nozzle fixedly arranged in the inner cylinder and connected to the liquid outlet pipeline, and an annular purge ring arranged at a corresponding end of the inner cylinder coaxially and fixedly relative to the outer cylinder. A plurality of tines are arranged along the circumferential wall of the inner cylinder. The outer cylinder and the inner cylinder are closed at one end and open at the other end. The purge ring is connected to the liquid tank through a purge pipeline connected in parallel to the liquid outlet pipeline.

[0009] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the atomizing nozzle is arranged at a corresponding position of a vertical plane in which the circumferential middle of the inner cylinder is located, and the jet direction of the atomizing nozzle is also within the plane range. The included angle between the atomizing nozzle and the vertical direction is any angle within the range of 35° to 40°.

[0010] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, an electric heating layer and a heat preservation layer are sequentially arranged outside the outer cylinder of the vacuum tank. An electric heater is arranged at a bottom position of the liquid tank.

[0011] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a pressure gauge, a pressure transmitter, and a temperature transmitter are respectively arranged at corresponding positions of the vacuum tank and the liquid tank.

[0012] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, an observation window is arranged at a central position of the outer cylinder door, and a discharge port is arranged at a central position of the inner cylinder door and used to abut against the outer cylinder door.

[0013] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, an external thread is arranged at a corresponding end of the discharge port. The collector comprises a material conveying pipe used to connect the collector and the discharge port. A connecting cap is arranged at a corresponding end of the material conveying pipe. The connecting cap is provided with an internal thread matched with the external thread of the discharge port.

[0014] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the collector comprises, from top to bottom, a gas inlet disc provided with a gas inlet port, a variable-diameter cylinder with a large diameter at the top and a small diameter at the bottom, and a collecting seat. The gas inlet port is tangentially arranged at the gas inlet disc. A gas outlet port comprising a filter screen is arranged at a top central position of the disc-shaped gas inlet port. The height of the variable-diameter cylinder is not less than 1.5 m, and the diameter is not less than 40 cm. The collecting seat comprises a pulling groove embedded in the collecting seat and used to collect materials.

[0015] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a vacuum feeding method is provided, which is implemented based on the vacuum feeding device described above and comprises the following steps:

[0016] (1) According to the tobacco loading amount to determine the amount and proportion of the material liquid, and accordingly, the corresponding weight of tobacco is weighed and laid in the inner cylinder of the vacuum bin, and the inner cylinder bin door and the outer cylinder bin door are closed in turn; and the corresponding weight of the material liquid is weighed and introduced into the material liquid tank through the liquid inlet pipeline provided with the material hopper;

[0017] (2) The vacuum pump is started to reach the set pressure in the vacuum bin, and at the same time, the agitator of the material liquid tank is started according to the characteristics of the material liquid to stop when the material liquid state and demand are consistent;

[0018] (3) The liquid inlet valve in the liquid inlet pipeline is closed, and the air compressor is started to inject compressed air into the material liquid tank through the air inlet pipeline, and when the pressure in the material liquid tank reaches a certain pressure, the liquid outlet pipeline is turned on and the relative rotation of the inner cylinder is driven;

[0019] (4) After the material liquid in the material liquid tank is sprayed, the air compressor and the liquid outlet pipeline are closed, and after the vacuum bin is pressure maintained for at least 3 minutes, the air compressor and the liquid outlet pipeline are started again until the vacuum bin reaches normal pressure, and the relative rotation of the inner cylinder is stopped;

[0020] (5) The outer cylinder bin door is opened, the air inlet of the material collector is connected to the material outlet of the inner cylinder bin door through the material conveying pipe, and then the air compressor is started and the purge pipeline is turned on to inject high-pressure gas into the vacuum bin through the purge ring;

[0021] (6) After there is no tobacco residue in the inner cylinder of the vacuum bin and the material conveying pipe, the air compressor, the purge pipeline and the connection between the material conveying pipe and the vacuum bin inner cylinder bin door are disconnected, and the tobacco after loading is taken out from the pull-out slot of the material collector.

[0022] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, in the step (2), the electric heater at the material liquid tank and / or the electric heating layer at the outer cylinder of the vacuum bin are heated according to the processing requirements of the material liquid and tobacco.

[0023] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, in the step (3), the steam generator is started and the branch connected to the liquid inlet pipeline or the liquid outlet pipeline is turned on.

[0024] One or more technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application have at least any of the following technical effects or advantages:

[0025] 1. The vacuum environment of the vacuum bin helps the mixing and absorption between the tobacco and the liquid, improves the mixing efficiency and effect, and the staggered and splayed rake teeth in the inner cylinder can change the movement track of the tobacco falling body after moving to a certain height, increase the tangential force of the inclined inner cylinder corresponding to the middle part, and relatively concentrate the tobacco below the atomizing nozzle, so as to adapt to the jetting effect of the atomizing nozzle with large central jetting amount and small peripheral jetting amount, and further improve the mixing uniformity of the tobacco and the liquid, and ensure the mixing effect.

[0026] 2. The air compressor can realize pressurized injection of the liquid in the liquid tank, purging of the remaining liquid in the liquid tank, breaking of the vacuum of the vacuum bin, and purging and collection of the tobacco in the inner cylinder of the vacuum bin by setting different outlet air pressures, greatly improving the functional integration and control efficiency of the equipment.

[0027] 3. When the airflow mixed with tobacco in the collector passes through the variable-diameter cylinder part, the rotational radius gradually decreases, the rotational speed continuously increases, and the tobacco in the airflow is subjected to continuously increasing centrifugal force, until it separates from the rotating airflow and falls along the cylinder wall into the collection seat to realize separation and collection, thereby greatly saving manpower and facilitating the collection of tobacco from the inner cylinder of the vacuum bin. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0028] Figure 1 It is a partial component principle diagram of the vacuum feeding equipment in an embodiment of the present application.

[0029] Figure 2 It is a structure diagram of the vacuum bin in an embodiment of the present application.

[0030] Figure 3 It is a structure diagram of the inner cylinder bin door of the vacuum bin in an embodiment of the present application.

[0031] Figure 4 It is a partial structure diagram of the vacuum feeding equipment in an embodiment of the present application.

[0032] In the above figures, 1 is a vacuum bin, 11 is an outer cylinder, 12 is an inner cylinder, 13 is an inner cylinder bin door, 14 is an outer cylinder bin door, 15 is an atomizing nozzle, 16 is a purging ring, 17 is a rake tooth, 18 is a discharge port, 2 is a liquid tank, 21 is a liquid inlet pipeline, 22 is a liquid inlet hopper, 23 is a stirrer, 24 is a liquid outlet pipeline, 3 is an air compressor, 31 is an air inlet pipeline, 32 is a purging pipeline, 4 is a steam generator, 5 is a collector, 51 is an air inlet disc, 52 is a variable-diameter cylinder, 53 is a collection seat, 54 is an exhaust port, 55 is a pulling groove, 6 is a driving motor, 61 is a wheel set, and 7 is a vacuum pump. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0033] In the description of the present application, it should be understood that the terms "upper", "lower", "front", "back", "left", "right", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", "vertical", "horizontal", "clockwise", "counterclockwise" and the like indicate the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present application and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the devices or elements referred to must have a particular orientation, be constructed and operated in a particular orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as limiting the present application. The present application relates to "connection" and "coupling", which includes direct and indirect connection (coupling) unless otherwise specified.

[0034] The programs involved or relied on in the following examples are all conventional programs or simple programs in the technical field, and those skilled in the art can make conventional choices or adaptive adjustments according to the specific application scenarios.

[0035] The components, devices and the like involved in the following examples are all conventional commercially available products unless otherwise specified.

[0036] In order to better understand the technical solutions of the present application, the above technical solutions will be described in detail below in combination with the drawings in the specification and specific embodiments.

[0037] The present example discloses a vacuum feeding equipment for tobacco processing, referring to Figure 1 , comprising a vacuum bin 1, a liquid tank 2, an air compressor 3, a steam generator 4 and a collector 5.

[0038] The vacuum bin 1 is used to build a vacuum environment and realize the stirring of tobacco, referring to Figures 1-2 , in the present embodiment, the vacuum bin 1 comprises an outer cylinder 11 and an inner cylinder 12, which are barrel-shaped structures with one side being a circular arc closed surface and the other side being open, wherein the central axis of the outer cylinder 11 is horizontally arranged, and the central axis of the inner cylinder 12 is collinear with the central axis of the outer cylinder 11, the inner cylinder 12 is nested in the outer cylinder 11, and a power mechanism is arranged between the two for realizing the rotation of the inner cylinder 12 relative to the outer cylinder 11.

[0039] In the present embodiment, the power mechanism comprises a driving motor 6 arranged outside the vacuum bin 1 and a wheel set 61 in transmission connection with the driving motor 6 through a magnetic transmission device, referring to Figure 2 , the wheel set 61 is correspondingly fixed at the bottom side wall of the outer cylinder 11 of the vacuum bin along the outer cylinder axial direction, the wheel set 61 comprises two symmetrical arranged rolling shafts, two rollers are coaxially arranged at the two ends of the rolling shaft, and one of the rolling shafts is in transmission connection with the magnetic transmission device, so that the two rolling shafts serve as driving shaft and driven shaft respectively, while realizing reliable and reasonable support for the inner cylinder 12, the rotation of the inner cylinder 12 relative to the outer cylinder 11 is realized through the friction force between the rollers and the inner cylinder 12.

[0040] In order to realize the spraying of the tobacco in the inner cylinder 12 of the vacuum chamber, in the present embodiment, referring to Figure 2 , a through hole is arranged at the center of the arc-shaped closed surface of the inner cylinder 12, and the atomizing nozzle 15 is introduced into the chamber of the inner cylinder 12 through the through hole. In addition, the atomizing nozzle 15 needs to pass through the outer cylinder 11. In order to ensure the pressure maintaining and sealing of the vacuum chamber, in the present embodiment, a rubber expansion plug is arranged at the pipeline of the atomizing nozzle 15, so as to tightly seal the gap between the atomizing nozzle 15 and the wall of the outer cylinder 11, and a sealing glue is coated to avoid pressure leakage. Thus, the relative fixation between the atomizing nozzle 15 and the outer cylinder 11 is realized, and the problem that the spraying surface cannot be changed when the atomizing nozzle 15 rotates with the inner cylinder 12 is avoided. Thus, the spraying operation of the atomizing nozzle 15 on the tobacco is realized uniformly when the tobacco is continuously rolled and accumulated with the rotation of the inner cylinder 12.

[0041] In order to realize the rolling of the tobacco with the rotation of the inner cylinder 12, and thus realize the uniform spraying of the liquid, in the present embodiment, referring to Figure 2 , a plurality of rakes 17 are arranged along the circumference of the wall of the inner cylinder 12 at the inner wall of the inner cylinder 12. Thus, when the inner cylinder rotates, the tobacco with a certain thickness laid at the bottom of the inner cylinder 12 is lifted by the rakes 17 from below, and then falls down to cover the tobacco above when the rakes move to a certain height. Thus, the continuous rolling of the tobacco is realized, and the problem that the top surface of the tobacco is excessively sprayed while the inside is not sprayed is avoided.

[0042] Considering the characteristics that the liquid output of the atomizing nozzle 15 decreases from the center to the periphery and is conical when spraying the liquid, in order to improve the mixing efficiency and uniformity, in the present embodiment, referring to Figure 2 , the atomizing nozzle 15 is arranged in the range of the vertical plane where the middle circumferences of the inner cylinder are located. Thus, the spraying direction of the atomizing nozzle 15 is also in the range of the vertical plane. In addition, the rakes 17 are arranged in a staggered manner with the middle part of the inner cylinder as the middle surface, and the rotation direction of the inner cylinder 12 is consistent with the opening direction of the rakes 17. Thus, when the tobacco is lifted by the rakes 17 and moves with the rakes 17, the tobacco is subjected to the tangential force of the inclined rakes 17, so that the tobacco is mostly concentrated at the middle part of the inner cylinder 12, and the tobacco on both sides is relatively less. The corresponding angle between the atomizing nozzle 15 and the vertical direction is arranged to be any angle in the range of 35° to 40°. Thus, the relatively more tobacco concentrated in the middle part of the inner cylinder can obtain more liquid sprayed by the atomizing nozzle 15, and the angle range can make the contact area between the spraying surface of the atomizing nozzle 15 and the tobacco relatively large, so as to improve the spraying mixing efficiency and uniformity.

[0043] In addition, the vacuum bin further comprises an outer cylinder bin door 14 and an inner cylinder bin door 13 for closing the open end faces of the outer cylinder 11 and the inner cylinder 12. The outer cylinder bin door 14 is used to seal the outer cylinder, thereby ensuring the construction of the vacuum environment in the bin. The inner cylinder bin door 13 can seal the inner cylinder 12, thereby preventing tobacco from spilling out of the inner cylinder 12 during stirring. Considering that the inner cylinder 12 has a plurality of tines 17 arranged therein, it is difficult to clean the inner cylinder 12 during the tobacco removal process after mixing, which is time-consuming and labor-intensive. Therefore, in the embodiment, as shown in Figure 2 , an annular blowing ring 16 is arranged at the center of the arc-shaped end face of the inner cylinder 12. The blowing ring 16 is fixed relative to the outer cylinder 11 and has a plurality of air outlet holes arranged on the end face and the side face of the inner cylinder cavity. High-pressure air is injected into the inner cylinder through the air outlet holes to blow and collect tobacco. In other embodiments, the blowing ring 16 is connected to the inner cylinder 12 by a bearing, thereby allowing the inner cylinder to rotate smoothly relative to the blowing ring. In another embodiment, the blowing ring is fixed at the center of the arc-shaped end face of the inner cylinder 12 and is connected to the blowing pipeline by a rotary joint, thereby preventing the blowing pipeline from being tangled when the blowing ring rotates with the inner cylinder.

[0044] In addition, in order to facilitate the blowing and collection of tobacco, in the embodiment, an outlet 18 is arranged at the center of the inner cylinder bin door 13, as shown in Figure 3 . The length of the outlet 18 is just enough to abut against the outer cylinder bin door 14 when the outer cylinder bin door 14 is closed, thereby preventing tobacco from spilling out of the outlet 18 during stirring. However, considering that the outlet 18 will rotate with the inner cylinder when it abuts against the outer cylinder bin door 14, which will cause a large amount of wear between the outlet 18 and the outer cylinder bin door 14. Therefore, in the embodiment, the outlet 18 is connected to the inner cylinder bin door 13 by a bearing, thereby preventing the outlet 18 and the outer cylinder bin door 14 from rotating relative to each other when they are in close contact, thereby preventing friction between them from causing wear. In addition, in the embodiment, an elastic sealing ring is arranged at the end face of the outlet 18 for abutting against the outer cylinder bin door 14, thereby reducing the contact stress between the outlet 18 and the outer cylinder bin door 14 when they abut against each other, and preventing the outer cylinder bin door 14 from being unable to close or affecting the rotation of the inner cylinder due to misalignment. In addition, an external thread is arranged on the outer side wall of the end of the outlet 18, thereby blowing tobacco into the collector through the outlet pipe for air-tobacco separation, thereby achieving automatic blowing and collection of tobacco. In the embodiment, an observation window is arranged at the center of the outer cylinder bin door 14, thereby allowing the user to observe the tobacco in the inner cylinder through the observation window and the outlet.

[0045] The collector is mainly used to collect tobacco, as shown in Figure 4, which comprises a gas inlet disc 51 provided with gas inlets, a variable diameter cylinder 52 with a large top and a small bottom, and a material collecting seat 53, wherein the gas inlets are tangentially arranged on the gas inlet disc 51, so that the tobacco-doped gas flow can flow along the wall of the device. When the gas flow reaches the variable diameter cylinder 52, the rotating radius of the variable diameter cylinder 52 is continuously reduced due to the gas flow along the wall of the device, according to the law of conservation of momentum, which causes the rotating speed of the tobacco-doped gas flow to continuously increase, so that the centrifugal force on the tobacco in the gas flow gradually increases, until the tobacco is separated from the rotating gas flow, falls along the wall of the device into the material collecting seat 53 to realize the collection of tobacco, and the gas flow starts to reverse at the lower part of the variable diameter cylinder 52 and rotates upward in the center part. Therefore, referring to Figure 4 , the exhaust port 54 including a filter screen is arranged at the top center position of the gas inlet disc 51, so that the central gas flow can be discharged from the exhaust port 54. In order to ensure the separation effect, the height of the variable diameter cylinder is not less than 1.5 m and the diameter is not less than 40 cm. In addition, in order to facilitate operation, in this example, the material collecting seat 53 is embedded with a pull-out slot 55 for collecting materials, so that after the blowing is completed, the separated tobacco can be completely taken out by pulling out the pull-out slot. In addition, the tobacco can be further mixed with the material liquid by blowing and collecting, and the absorption of the tobacco to part of the unabsorbed material liquid is promoted.

[0046] In this example, referring to Figure 4 , the material collector is connected with the discharge port at the inner silo door through a material conveying pipe, one end of the material conveying pipe is connected with the flange of the gas inlet of the material collector, the other end is provided with a connecting cap, and the connecting cap is provided with an internal thread matched with the external thread of the discharge port, so as to realize the threaded connection between the connecting cap and the discharge port.

[0047] The material liquid tank 2 is used to contain the material liquid to be sprayed, referring to Figure 1 , the top of the material liquid tank 2 is connected with a liquid inlet pipeline 21, the other end of the liquid inlet pipeline 21 is provided with a liquid inlet hopper 22, and a liquid inlet hand valve and a liquid inlet electromagnetic valve are arranged in the liquid inlet pipeline 21 correspondingly, so as to realize the on-off control of the liquid inlet pipeline 21. In this example, the material liquid tank 2 is also provided with a stirrer 23, which can realize the emulsification and stirring of special demand material liquid such as glycerol, so as to meet the spraying demand. In addition, the bottom of the material liquid tank 2 is provided with a liquid outlet pipeline 24, the other end of the liquid outlet pipeline 24 is connected with the atomizing nozzle 15, and a liquid outlet hand valve and a liquid outlet electric control valve are arranged in the liquid outlet pipeline 24, which are used to control the on-off of the liquid outlet pipeline.

[0048] The air compressor 3 is connected to the top of the liquid tank 2 through the air inlet pipeline 31 provided with an air inlet hand valve and an air inlet electric control valve. By injecting high-pressure air into the liquid tank 2, the liquid in the pipeline is pushed out from the atomizing nozzle 15 at the end of the liquid outlet pipeline 24, thereby avoiding the cost increase caused by the addition of a suction pump. In addition, after the liquid in the liquid tank 2 is sprayed, the air compressor 3 continues to inject pressure gas into the tank, which can realize the blowing of the liquid tank 2, thereby avoiding the liquid residue in the tank. In addition, after the vacuum chamber is pressurized, the air compressor 3 can inject air into the vacuum chamber to realize the breaking of the vacuum chamber, and after the breaking is completed, the blowing ring 16 can inject pressure gas into the vacuum chamber, thereby achieving the purpose of blowing the vacuum chamber and collecting tobacco. For details, see Figure 1 The blowing ring 16 is connected to the liquid tank 2 through the blowing pipeline 32 corresponding to the liquid outlet pipeline 24 in parallel, thereby obtaining the pressure gas output from the air compressor 3 to the liquid tank 2, and achieving the purpose of blowing.

[0049] The steam generator 4 is used to generate steam to realize the injection of relatively thick liquid and the rehydration and humidification of tobacco. For details, see Figure 1 The steam generator 4 is connected to the liquid inlet pipeline 21 and the liquid outlet pipeline 24 through two parallel branches, which can realize the steam injection of the liquid, and the branch connected to the liquid outlet pipeline 24 can also realize the direct injection of steam into the vacuum chamber, thereby realizing the vacuum rehydration and improving the functional diversity of the vacuum feeding equipment.

[0050] In order to improve the absorption efficiency of tobacco to the liquid, in the embodiment, the outer cylinder 11 of the vacuum chamber is sequentially wrapped with an electric heating layer and a heat preservation layer; the bottom position of the liquid tank 2 is provided with an electric heater, thereby realizing the preheating of the liquid in the vacuum chamber and the liquid tank through the electric heating layer and the electric heater. In addition, the outer cylinder 11 of the vacuum chamber is connected to the vacuum pump 7 through a pipeline for extracting air in the vacuum chamber to build a vacuum environment. In order to monitor the pressure and temperature in the vacuum chamber, the vacuum chamber is provided with a pressure gauge, a pressure transmitter and a temperature transmitter in the embodiment, and the liquid tank 2 is also provided with a pressure gauge, a pressure transmitter and a temperature transmitter in the embodiment, thereby realizing the monitoring of the pressure and temperature of the liquid tank 2.

[0051] The embodiment also discloses a vacuum feeding method based on the above-mentioned vacuum feeding equipment, which specifically includes the following steps:

[0052] (1) The amount and proportion of the liquid are determined according to the tobacco loading amount, the corresponding weight of tobacco is weighed and laid in the inner cylinder of the vacuum chamber, the inner cylinder door and the outer cylinder door are closed in sequence, and the corresponding weight of the liquid is weighed and introduced into the liquid tank through the liquid inlet pipeline provided with a feeding hopper.

[0053] First, according to the amount of tobacco to be processed to determine the amount of tobacco in the inner cylinder of the vacuum bin, and then according to the process requirements, the amount of liquid matched with the amount of tobacco is measured. After the preparation work is completed, open the outer cylinder door and the inner cylinder door of the vacuum bin, evenly lay the tobacco to be processed on the bottom of the inner cylinder, and then close the inner cylinder door and the outer cylinder door in turn. Open the valves in the liquid inlet pipeline, pour the measured liquid into the feed hopper in turn, and after the liquid flows into the liquid tank through the liquid inlet pipeline, close the valves in the liquid inlet pipeline.

[0054] (2) Start the vacuum pump to reach the set pressure in the vacuum bin, and at the same time, according to the characteristics of the liquid, start the stirrer of the liquid tank to stop when the liquid state and the demand are consistent.

[0055] The air in the vacuum bin is extracted to the outside of the bin by the vacuum pump to form a vacuum environment in the bin. At the same time, since some liquids are relatively viscous, such as glycerol to be added in this embodiment, which needs to be emulsified before being added, so the stirrer of the liquid tank is started to emulsify the glycerol while the vacuum pump is working.

[0056] In addition, in this embodiment, in order to speed up the absorption efficiency of tobacco to glycerol, the temperature needs to be increased when the two are mixed, so the electric heater at the liquid tank and the electric heating layer wrapped outside the outer cylinder of the vacuum bin are heated to increase the reaction temperature.

[0057] (3) Control the liquid inlet valve in the liquid inlet pipeline to be closed, and start the air compressor to inject compressed air into the liquid tank through the air inlet pipeline. When the pressure in the liquid tank reaches a certain pressure, the liquid outlet pipeline is turned on and the inner cylinder is driven to rotate relative to the outer cylinder.

[0058] In this example, in order to avoid residues in the liquid inlet pipeline, the liquid inlet pipeline is closed before starting the air compressor, so that the liquid in the liquid inlet pipeline has a certain time to flow into the liquid tank under the action of gravity. After closing the liquid inlet pipeline, start the air compressor to inject air with a certain pressure into the liquid tank to increase the pressure in the liquid tank. When the pressure in the tank reaches the set pressure, control the valve in the liquid outlet pipeline to be opened. In this way, the liquid is sprayed out of the atomizing nozzle with high-pressure gas, and the drive motor is started to make the inner cylinder rotate relative to the outer cylinder, so as to stir the tobacco in the cylinder and facilitate the uniform spraying of the liquid on the surface of the tobacco.

[0059] In other embodiments, steam ejection is used. At the same time of opening the liquid outlet pipeline, the steam generator is started and the branch connected to the liquid inlet pipeline or the liquid outlet pipeline is turned on, so that the liquid is sprayed out of the atomizing nozzle together with compressed gas and steam, realizing steam ejection.

[0060] (4) After the spraying of the liquid in the liquid tank is completed, the air compressor and the liquid outlet pipeline are closed, and after the vacuum chamber is kept at pressure for at least 3 minutes, the air compressor and the liquid outlet pipeline are started again until the vacuum chamber reaches normal pressure, and the relative rotation of the inner cylinder is stopped.

[0061] Considering that the absorption of tobacco by the liquid has a certain process, the vacuum chamber is kept at pressure after the spraying of the liquid is completed, and the stirring of the inner cylinder is continued during the keeping at pressure. In other embodiments, in order to ensure that there is no residual liquid in the liquid tank and the liquid outlet pipeline, the air compressor continues to inject compressed air into the liquid tank for 5S-8S after the discharging is completed, which avoids excessive pressure loss of the vacuum chamber and realizes the blowing of residual liquid. In some other embodiments, after the blowing is completed, the vacuum pump is started again to extract the pressure in the vacuum chamber to a set vacuum pressure.

[0062] After the keeping at pressure is completed, the vacuum chamber is broken, and a certain pressure of air is injected into the vacuum chamber through the liquid tank and the liquid outlet pipeline by the air compressor, so as to gradually restore the pressure in the chamber and realize the breaking of the vacuum chamber. After the pressure in the chamber is restored to normal pressure, the rotation of the inner cylinder is stopped.

[0063] (5) The outer cylinder door is opened, the air inlet of the collector is connected to the discharge port of the inner cylinder door through the conveying pipe, and then the air compressor is connected to the blowing pipeline to inject high-pressure air into the vacuum chamber through the blowing ring.

[0064] After the vacuum chamber is broken, the collection of tobacco in the chamber is started. First, the outer cylinder door is opened, and then the connecting cap at the end of the conveying pipe is screwed to the discharge port of the inner cylinder door, so as to connect the inner cylinder to the collector. Then, the blowing pipeline is opened and the air compressor is started to output compressed air at a certain pressure, so that the compressed air is output to the inner cylinder of the vacuum chamber through the liquid tank and the blowing pipeline and the blowing ring, thereby realizing the blowing of tobacco in the barrel. Under the action of the pressure wind, the tobacco in the barrel enters the collector from the discharge port, and falls into the pulling groove of the collector seat in the collector.

[0065] (6) After there is no residual tobacco in the inner cylinder of the vacuum chamber and the conveying pipe, the air compressor, the blowing pipeline, and the connection between the conveying pipe and the inner cylinder door of the vacuum chamber are closed, and the tobacco after the addition of the material is taken out from the pulling groove of the collector.

[0066] Although some preferred embodiments of the present application have been described, those skilled in the art can make further changes and modifications to these embodiments once they know the basic inventive concept. Therefore, the appended claims are intended to be interpreted as including all changes and modifications falling within the scope of the present application.

[0067] Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present application are possible in light of the above teachings. It is, therefore, to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents, the application can be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

Claims

1. A vacuum charging apparatus for tobacco processing, characterized by, The device comprises a vacuum chamber, a liquid tank provided with a stirrer, a liquid inlet funnel corresponding to the top of the liquid tank through a liquid inlet pipeline provided with a liquid inlet valve, an air compressor corresponding to the liquid tank through an air inlet pipeline provided with an air inlet valve, a liquid outlet pipeline corresponding to the vacuum chamber and the liquid tank, and a steam generator corresponding to the liquid inlet pipeline and the liquid outlet pipeline through two parallel steam branches, respectively. The vacuum chamber comprises an outer cylinder arranged horizontally in the axial direction, an inner cylinder coaxially arranged in the outer cylinder and rotatable relative to the outer cylinder, an atomizing nozzle fixedly arranged in the inner cylinder and corresponding to the liquid outlet pipeline, and an annular purge ring arranged at the corresponding end of the inner cylinder coaxially and fixedly relative to the outer cylinder. A plurality of rakes are arranged in the inner cylinder along the corresponding circumferential array of the cylinder wall. One end of the outer cylinder and the inner cylinder is closed and the other end is open. The annular purge ring is connected to the liquid tank through a purge pipeline corresponding to the liquid outlet pipeline. The rakes are arranged in a staggered eight-character pattern along the circumferential midline of the inner cylinder. The vacuum chamber further comprises an outer cylinder door and an inner cylinder door corresponding to the open ends of the outer cylinder and the inner cylinder, respectively, and a vacuum pump corresponding to the outer cylinder. The atomizing nozzle is at a corresponding position of the vertical plane of the circumferential midline of the inner cylinder and its jet direction is also within the plane range. The included angle between the atomizing nozzle and the vertical direction is any angle within the range of 35°-40°. The collector comprises a gas inlet disc sealed and connected in sequence from top to bottom, a variable diameter cylinder with a coarse upper part and a fine lower part, and a collection seat. The gas inlet is tangential to the gas inlet disc. A gas outlet comprising a filter screen is arranged at the top center position of the gas inlet of the gas inlet disc. The height of the variable diameter cylinder is not less than 1.5 m and the diameter is not less than 40 cm. The collection seat comprises a pull-out slot corresponding to the collection seat and used for collecting.

2. The vacuum charging apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that, The outer cylinder of the vacuum chamber is wrapped with an electric heating layer and a heat preservation layer in sequence. The bottom of the liquid tank is provided with an electric heater.

3. The vacuum charging apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that, The vacuum chamber and the liquid tank are respectively provided with a pressure gauge, a pressure transmitter, and a temperature transmitter.

4. The vacuum charging apparatus according to claim 1, characterized by The center of the outer cylinder door is provided with an observation window, and the center of the inner cylinder door is provided with a discharge port corresponding to the outer cylinder door.

5. The vacuum charging apparatus according to claim 4, characterized in that, The end of the discharge port is provided with an external thread. The collector comprises a conveying pipe for corresponding connection of the collector and the discharge port. The corresponding end of the conveying pipe is provided with a connecting cap. The connecting cap is provided with an internal thread corresponding to the external thread of the discharge port.

6. A vacuum feeding method, which is performed based on the tobacco processing vacuum feeding apparatus according to claim 1, characterized by, The method comprises the following steps: (1) determining the amount and proportion of the liquid according to the tobacco loading amount, weighing the corresponding amount of tobacco and laying it in the inner cylinder of the vacuum chamber, and closing the inner cylinder door and the outer cylinder door in sequence; and weighing the corresponding amount of liquid and introducing it into the liquid tank through the liquid inlet pipeline provided with the liquid inlet funnel; (2) starting the vacuum pump to reach the set pressure in the vacuum chamber, and then closing it. According to the characteristics of the liquid, the stirrer of the liquid tank is started to make the liquid state consistent with the demand, and then stopped. (3) control the liquid inlet valve in the liquid inlet pipeline to be closed, and start the air compressor to inject high-pressure air into the liquid tank through the air inlet pipeline, and when the pressure in the liquid tank reaches a certain pressure, the liquid outlet pipeline is simultaneously turned on and the inner cylinder is driven to rotate relatively; (4) after the liquid in the liquid tank is sprayed, the air compressor and the liquid outlet pipeline are closed, and after the vacuum chamber is kept for at least 3 minutes, the air compressor and the liquid outlet pipeline are started again until the vacuum chamber reaches normal pressure, then the air compressor and the liquid outlet pipeline are closed, and the relative rotation of the inner cylinder is stopped; (5) open the outer cylinder door, connect the air inlet of the collector with the discharge port of the inner cylinder door through the material conveying pipe, then start the air compressor and turn on the purge pipeline to inject high-pressure air into the vacuum chamber through the annular purge ring; (6) after there is no tobacco residue in the inner cylinder of the vacuum chamber and the material conveying pipe, the air compressor, the purge pipeline and the connection between the material conveying pipe and the inner cylinder door of the vacuum chamber are closed, and the loaded tobacco is taken out from the pulling groove of the collector.

7. The vacuum charging method according to claim 6, characterized in that, In the step (2), the electric heater at the liquid tank and / or the electric heating layer at the outer cylinder of the vacuum chamber are started according to the processing requirements of the liquid and the tobacco.

8. The vacuum charging method according to claim 6, characterized in that, In the step (3), the steam generator is started and its branch connected with the liquid inlet pipeline or the liquid outlet pipeline is turned on.

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