Scattering equipment, loosening system and loosening method

Abstract

The invention provides a scattering device, a loosening system and a loosening method. The scattering device comprises: an outer cylinder; the inner cylinder is installed in the outer cylinder and can rotate around a vertical axis, and an inner space is formed between the outer cylinder and the inner cylinder; and the scattering poking nails are fixed on the outer wall of the inner cylinder and extend outwards in the radial direction.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a loosening device, a loosening system and a loosening method. Background Art

[0002] In the processing of cigarette products, uniform blending of stems is a key step to ensure the quality of the finished product. The traditional loosening of blended stems is mainly done by retrieving the stems with rakes in the storage cabinet and vibrating the vibrating conveyor. However, in the current cigarette production process, the actual loosening effect is not good and there are the following problems:

[0003] 1. The shredded stems stored in wooden boxes need to be compacted and packed. The shredded stems are short and fluffy inside. Compacted shredded stems are prone to aggregate after being stored for a long time. Aggregate aggregates with a diameter greater than 30mm are difficult to be fully and effectively loosened by conventional loosening or vibration methods.

[0004] 2. The existing vibration conveying system has limited ability to loosen the stems and cannot directly apply force to the agglomerates in the middle and surface of the material layer. The breaking up effect is also very limited, resulting in frequent material blockages, affecting the continuity and stability of production;

[0005] 3. For tobacco with large quantity, high flow rate and thick thickness, manual impurity removal is required to improve the purity of tobacco, which leads to high labor intensity and serious delayed effect. In addition, the purity is easily affected by inclusions in the agglomerated tobacco stems, which affects the quality of the finished cigarettes.

[0006] 4. Traditional loosening methods often require the relative movement of the moving knife and the fixed knife to loosen, which can easily cause serious breakage of the tobacco material, resulting in loss and affecting the process quality. Summary of the invention

[0007] In order to solve at least one of the above problems, according to a first aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a scattering device, which is configured to scatter materials and comprises: an outer cylinder; an inner cylinder, which is installed in the outer cylinder and can rotate around a vertical axis, and an internal space is formed between the outer cylinder and the inner cylinder; and scattering pins, which are fixed on the outer wall of the inner cylinder and extend outward in a radial direction.

[0008] According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a loosening system configured to loosen materials, comprising: screening equipment, the screening equipment comprising a screening device, the screening device configured to screen out materials smaller than a predetermined size; and the scattering equipment according to the first aspect.

[0009] According to a third aspect of the present disclosure, a loosening method is provided for loosening materials, comprising the following steps: providing a loosening system according to the second aspect; starting a loosening device; and starting a screening device after starting the loosening device. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010] Aspects of the present disclosure will be better understood after reading the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0011] Figure 1 A top view of a screening device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is schematically shown.

[0012] Figure 2 A stereoscopic view of a scattering device and a material returning device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is schematically shown.

[0013] Figure 3 A cross-sectional view of a debonding device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is schematically shown.

[0014] Figure 4 A stereoscopic view of a scattering device and a material returning device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is schematically shown.

[0015] Figure 5 A perspective view of a debonding device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is schematically shown.

[0016] Figure 6 A top view of an inner cylinder and scattered pins according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is schematically shown.

[0017] Figure 7 A three-dimensional diagram of loosening and moving nails according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is schematically shown.

[0018] Figure 8 The distribution calculation diagram of the bottom pin according to the embodiment of the present disclosure is schematically shown.

[0019] Fig. 9 The air outlet according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is schematically shown.

[0020] Fig.10 The flowchart of the loosening process according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is schematically shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0021] The present disclosure will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein the accompanying drawings illustrate several embodiments of the present disclosure. However, it should be understood that the present disclosure can be presented in a variety of different ways and is not limited to the embodiments described below; in fact, the embodiments described below are intended to make the disclosure of the present disclosure more complete and fully illustrate the scope of protection of the present disclosure to those skilled in the art. It should also be understood that the embodiments disclosed herein can be combined in various ways to provide more additional embodiments. In addition, the drawings only schematically illustrate the embodiments and are not necessarily drawn to scale.

[0022] It should be understood that in all the drawings, the same reference numerals represent the same elements. The terms used in the specification are only used to describe specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the present disclosure. All terms (including technical terms and scientific terms) used in the specification have the meanings commonly understood by those skilled in the art unless otherwise defined. For the sake of simplicity and / or clarity, well-known functions or structures may not be described in detail.

[0023] The following uses tobacco stems as an example of a material to illustrate a loosening system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The loosening system includes a screening device 1, a scattering device 2, and a material return device 3. Figure 1 A screening apparatus 1 is described. Figure 1 A top view of the screening device 1 is shown.

[0024] The screening device 1 includes a conveyor 11, a screening device 12 and a conveyor belt 13. The screening device 12 is arranged near the downstream end of the conveyor 11 along the conveying direction A, and is configured to screen out the shredded stems and small clumps smaller than a predetermined size. Optionally, the screening device 12 includes a plurality of spaced round bars, and the interval between each round bar is equal to or smaller than a predetermined size (e.g., 30 mm). The round structure of the bar is conducive to reducing the residue of shredded stems on the bar. The conveyor belt 13 is located below the downstream end of the conveyor 11 along the conveying direction A, extends and conveys along a direction B intersecting (e.g., perpendicular) to the conveying direction A, and includes a baffle to prevent the shredded stems and clumps from overflowing. The production line 14 is located below the screening device 12 and the conveyor belt 13. Optionally, a detection device can be arranged on the conveyor 11 to detect the amount of the detection material. For example, the detection device can adopt a photoelectric device, including a light emitter and a light receiver arranged on both sides of the conveyor 11. The light emitted from the light emitter is emitted perpendicular to the conveying direction A and toward the light receiver. When the light emitted by the light transmitter is received by the light receiver, it is determined that the material quantity is small; when the light emitted by the light transmitter cannot be received by the light receiver, it is determined that the material quantity is large.

[0025] Refer to the following Figures 2 to 4 The overall structure of the scattering device 2 is described.

[0026] Figure 2 A perspective view of a debonding device 2 is shown. Figure 3 A cross-sectional view of a debonding device 2 is shown. Figure 2A partially cutaway stereoscopic view of the disintegration device 2 is shown. As shown in the figure, the disintegration device 2 includes an outer cylinder 21, an inner cylinder 22 and a disintegration pin 23. The outer cylinder 21 includes an outer cylinder upper portion 211 and an outer cylinder lower portion 212. The outer cylinder upper portion 211 is cylindrical and has a material inlet at the top. The outer cylinder lower portion 212 is truncated cone-shaped, the diameter of which gradually decreases downward, and has a material outlet at the bottom. The inner cylinder 22 is installed in the outer cylinder upper portion 211, is truncated cone-shaped, the diameter of which gradually increases downward, and the top surface of the inner cylinder 22 is closed. Therefore, an internal space 26 that gradually decreases downward is formed between the outer cylinder upper portion 211 and the inner cylinder 22.

[0027] A plurality of scattering pins 23 are fixed on the outer wall of the inner cylinder 22 and extend outward in the radial direction at different heights. The inner cylinder 22 can rotate in the outer cylinder 21 around the shaft 25 extending in the vertical direction by a driving source (e.g., a motor) not shown, so that the scattering pins 23 also rotate in the outer cylinder 21. The circumferential cross section of the scattering pins is preferably a quadrilateral, more preferably a square, so that the four sharp corners of the scattering pins can effectively break up the clumps.

[0028] Refer to the following Figures 5 to 7 The details of the scattering device 2 are described.

[0029] Figure 5 A perspective view of the outer cylinder 21 , the inner cylinder 22 and the scattering pins 23 is shown. Figure 6 A top view of the inner cylinder 22 and the breaking pins 23 is shown. Figure 7 A perspective view of the scattered pins 23 is shown.

[0030] like Figure 5 and Figure 7 As shown, the scattering pins 23 include a plurality of bottom pins 231 extending radially at the circumference of the bottom of the inner cylinder 22 and a plurality of stacked pins 232 spaced apart at different heights above the bottom pins 231. The maximum spacing between adjacent bottom pins 231 on the circumference of the bottom of the inner cylinder 22 is equal to or less than a predetermined size (e.g., 30 mm), thereby ensuring that medium and large clumps with a diameter greater than the predetermined size will not pass through the gaps between adjacent bottom pins 231 and fall into the outer cylinder lower portion 212. The radial spacing between the radial outer end surface of the scattering pin 23 and the inner wall of the outer cylinder 21 is also equal to or less than a predetermined size, thereby preventing medium and large clumps from leaking through the gaps between the radial outer end surface of the scattering pin 23 and the inner wall of the outer cylinder 21.

[0031] The stacking pins 232 are configured to break up medium and large clumps into small clumps and stems when rotating. To this end, the stacking pins 232 are provided with multiple layers of pins 2321, 2322, etc. In order to reduce the number of stacking pins to save costs, two corresponding stacking pins 232 of adjacent layers in the vertical direction are spaced apart in the circumferential direction, for example Figure 5 and Figure 62321 and 2322 shown. In order to ensure the breaking up effect, the maximum interval between two corresponding stacking pins 232 (e.g., 2321 and 2322) of adjacent layers in the vertical direction in the circumferential direction is equal to or less than a predetermined size (e.g., 30 mm), and the height difference between the stacking pins 232 of adjacent layers and the height difference between the stacking pins 232 of the lowest layer and the bottom pin 231 are also equal to or less than the predetermined size, thereby ensuring that medium and large clumps with a diameter greater than the predetermined size will not fall directly in the upper part 211 of the outer cylinder without contacting the stacking pins 232.

[0032] Refer to the following Figure 8 The preferred number of bottom pins 231 is calculated.

[0033] like Figure 8 As shown, in the horizontal direction, a mass with a predetermined diameter d can be accommodated between the bottom pins 231, the side length of the circumferential section of the bottom pins 231 is a, and the radial distance between the radial outer end surface of the bottom pin 231 and the rotation axis is l.

[0034] The preferred number n1 of the bottom pins 231 that can be distributed on the circumference of the radius l is calculated as:

[0035]

[0036] For example, when l=285 mm, d=30 mm, and a=15 mm, n1=37.7, that is, the number of the bottom pins 231 is preferably approximately 37.

[0037] The preferred number of layers of the scattered pins 23 in the vertical direction is calculated below.

[0038] When the height of the inner cylinder 22 is h, the predetermined size of the cluster is d, and the cross-sectional side length of the pin 23 is a, the preferred number of layers n2 of the pin 23 in the vertical direction is:

[0039]

[0040] For example, when h=420 mm, d=30 mm, and a=15 mm, n2=9.3, the number of layers of the pins 23 in the vertical direction is preferably approximately 9 layers, that is, the pins 23 include one layer of bottom pins 231 and eight layers of stacked pins 232 .

[0041] Optionally, in order to prevent the stems or clumps from staying on the pins 23, a plurality of blowing ports 24 are provided on the outer tube 21, such as Figure 5 and Fig. 9As shown. The air blowing port 24 is connected to an air source not shown, and is configured to blow air into the internal space 26. The air blowing port 24 includes a top air blowing port 241, a barrel wall air blowing port 242, and a bottom air blowing port 243. The top air blowing port 241 is provided on a plate 213 fixed to the top of the outer barrel, and is configured to blow the air flow downward toward the internal space 26 to remove the stem shreds or clumps left on the stacked pins 232. The barrel wall air blowing port 242 is provided on the barrel wall of the outer barrel 21, and is configured to blow the air flow inward toward the internal space 26 to remove the stem shreds or clumps left on the stacked pins 232. The bottom air blowing port 243 is provided at the lower part 212 of the outer barrel, and is configured to blow the air flow obliquely upward toward the internal space 26 to remove the stem shreds or clumps left on the bottom pins 231 and the inner wall of the lower part 212 of the outer barrel. Optionally, air can be blown periodically, or the flow rate of the air blowing can be adjusted according to the number of tobacco stems.

[0042] Refer to the following Figure 2 and Figure 4 The return device 3 is described. The return device 3 is configured to return the shredded stems and the agglomerates broken up by the breaking up device 2 to the production line 14.

[0043] As shown in the figure, the return device 3 includes a vibration trough 31, a conveyor belt 32 and a lifting belt 33. The vibration trough 31 is arranged below the lower part 212 of the outer cylinder, and extends obliquely downward toward the conveyor belt 32, and is used to convey the shredded stems and small clumps that fall from the bottom opening of the lower part 212 of the outer cylinder to the conveyor belt 32 while vibrating. The shredded stems and small clumps processed by the disintegration device 2 are further dispersed and thinned by vibration on the vibration trough 31, and are conveyed to the lifting belt 33 by the conveyor belt 32. A plurality of spaced lifting plates 331 are fixed on the lifting belt 33, and the lifting belt 33 runs in the direction C. The shredded stems and small clumps are lifted in the direction C by the lifting plates 331 and conveyed to the production line 14, so as to be mixed with the shredded stems and small clumps previously screened from the screening device 1 for blending.

[0044] Refer to the following Fig.10 The process of the loose process according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is described.

[0045] In step S101, the stem shreds and agglomerates to be subjected to the loosening process are conveyed by the conveyor 11. In step S102, the stem shreds and agglomerates pass through the screening device 12, and the fluffy stem shreds and small agglomerates with a diameter smaller than a predetermined size (e.g., 30 mm) pass through the screening device 12 (e.g., the gap between the round rods) and fall to the production line 14, and are conveyed to the subsequent blending process in step S103. Medium and large agglomerates with a diameter larger than a predetermined size (e.g., 30 mm) are conveyed to the conveyor belt 13, and are conveyed to the loosening device 2 by the conveyor belt 13.

[0046] In step S104, medium and large clumps fall into the internal space 26 between the upper part 211 of the outer cylinder and the inner cylinder 22 through the top opening of the dispersing device 2. The clumps falling into the internal space 26 are hit and dispersed by the rotating stacked pins 232 and the bottom pins 231, and become stems or small clumps with a diameter equal to or less than a predetermined size. In the upper part of the internal space 26, the density of the clumps is relatively large. In the lower part of the internal space 26, the density of the clumps is relatively small due to the dispersion by the stacked pins 232. In order to disperse the clumps in the lower part of the internal space 26 more efficiently, the internal space 26 of this embodiment is designed to be gradually reduced downward, so that the clumps in the lower part of the internal space 26 are more likely to converge, which is conducive to dispersing the clumps. In addition, since the dispersing pins 23 of the dispersing device 2 are in the form of a fixed knife, the amount of crushing during the dispersing process is reduced.

[0047] In step S105, the shredded stems and small agglomerates that have passed through the breaking device 2 fall from the bottom opening of the lower portion 212 of the outer cylinder into the vibration trough 31, are further loosened and thinned under the action of the vibration of the vibration trough 31, and are transported to the conveyor belt 32 and the lifting belt 33. In step S106, the shredded stems and small agglomerates are lifted and transported to the production line 14 on the lifting belt 33. In step S107, the shredded stems and agglomerates that have passed through the returning device 3 are blended together with the shredded stems and agglomerates that have been screened out in the screening device 1.

[0048] The above describes the loosening system and loosening process according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. Through the loosening system and loosening process, the compacted clumps after unpacking can be effectively broken up into fluffy stem shreds and small clumps, and the broken stem shreds and clumps can be promptly added back to the blending production line, thereby saving working time and labor costs.

[0049] In order to further ensure the operation of the loosening process, the present disclosure provides a loosening method. The loosening method comprises the following steps: providing a loosening system according to the present disclosure; starting a material return device; starting a scattering device after starting the material return device; and starting a screening device after starting the scattering device.

[0050] By starting the return device, the breaking device and the screening device in the loosening system in the above order, it is possible to prevent the accumulation and blockage of stem shreds and clumps in any device and thus hinder the operation of the loosening system.

[0051] Optionally, the loosening method further includes: detecting the amount of the material; adjusting the speed of the inner drum according to the amount of the material. When the amount of the material is large, the speed of the inner drum is set to be high; when the amount of the material is small, the speed of the inner drum is set to be low, thereby saving energy and reducing costs while ensuring the loosening effect.

[0052] Optionally, the loosening method further includes: adjusting the flow rate through the blowing port according to the amount of the material. When the amount of the material is large, the flow rate of the blowing port is set to be high; when the amount of the material is small, the flow rate of the blowing port is set to be low, thereby saving energy and reducing costs while ensuring the effect of blowing the material off the pin.

[0053] The embodiments of the present disclosure are described above, but it should be understood that the present disclosure is not limited thereto. A person skilled in the art may conceive of various modifications without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0054] For example, in the above-described embodiments, the loosening process is described by taking tobacco stems as an example, but the loosening process can also be performed on other materials.

[0055] For example, in the embodiments described above, the outer cylinder includes an outer cylinder upper portion and an outer cylinder lower portion, however, it is conceivable that the outer cylinder lower portion is not necessary, the outer cylinder may not include the outer cylinder lower portion and be cylindrical or in other shapes, and the inner cylinder may also be in other shapes.

[0056] For example, in the above-described embodiment, the scattered pins include bottom pins and stacked pins, but it is conceivable that the scattered pins may include only one of the bottom pins and stacked pins.

[0057] For example, in the above-described embodiments, the screening device is in the shape of a round rod, but it is conceivable that the screening device may be in the shape of a mesh or other shapes, as long as the materials smaller than a predetermined size can be screened out.

[0058] For example, in the above-described embodiment, the loosening system includes a material return device. However, it is conceivable that the loosening system may also be designed so that the material discharged from the scattering device falls directly onto the production line, thereby eliminating the material return device.

[0059] It should be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made to the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure in essence. Therefore, all changes and modifications are included in the scope of protection of the present disclosure as defined by the claims. The present disclosure is defined by the attached claims, and the equivalents of these claims are also included.

Claims

1. A scattering device, configured to scatter materials, characterized in that include: outer cylinder; an inner cylinder, the inner cylinder being installed in the outer cylinder and being rotatable about a vertical axis, and forming an inner space between the outer cylinder and the inner cylinder; The scattering pins are fixed on the outer wall of the inner tube and extend outwardly in the radial direction.

2. The breaking up device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The outer cylinder is cylindrical, and the inner cylinder is truncated cone-shaped with a diameter gradually increasing downward, so that the internal space gradually decreases downward.

3. The breaking up device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The circumferential cross section of the scattered pins is a quadrilateral.

4. The breaking up device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The scattered pins include a plurality of bottom pins and a plurality of stacked pins. The bottom pins extend radially at the circumference of the bottom of the inner cylinder, and the stacked pins are spaced apart and arranged at different heights above the bottom pins.

5. The breaking up device according to claim 4, characterized in that: The maximum interval between adjacent bottom push pins is equal to or smaller than a predetermined size.

6. The breaking up device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The radial spacing between the radial outer end surface of the scattering pin and the inner wall of the outer tube is equal to or smaller than a predetermined size.

7. The breaking up device according to claim 4, characterized in that: The stacked pins include a plurality of layers, and corresponding stacked pins of adjacent layers in the vertical direction are spaced apart in the circumferential direction, and a maximum interval between the spaced apart in the circumferential direction is equal to or smaller than a predetermined size.

8. The breaking up device according to claim 7, characterized in that: A height difference between the stacked pins of adjacent layers and a height difference between the stacked pins of a lowermost layer and the bottom pins is equal to or smaller than a predetermined size.

9. The breaking up device according to claim 5, characterized in that: When the predetermined size is d, the side length of the circumferential section of the bottom pin 231 is a, and the radial distance between the radial outer end surface of the bottom pin and the rotation axis is l, the number n1 of the bottom pins is: 。 10. The breaking up device according to claim 7, characterized in that: When the height of the inner tube is h, the predetermined size is d, and the side length of the circumferential section of the scattered pins is a, the number of layers n2 of the scattered pins in the vertical direction is: 。 11. The breaking up device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The outer tube is provided with an air blowing port, which is communicated with an air source (not shown) and is configured to blow air into the internal space.

12. The breaking up device according to claim 11, characterized in that: The air blowing port comprises a top air blowing port and a cylinder wall air blowing port, wherein the top air blowing port is arranged at the top of the outer cylinder, and the cylinder wall air blowing port is arranged at the cylinder wall of the outer cylinder.

13. The breaking up device according to claim 12, characterized in that: The outer cylinder comprises an outer cylinder upper portion and an outer cylinder lower portion, and the air blowing port further comprises a bottom air blowing port arranged at the outer cylinder lower portion.

14. A loosening system, configured to loosen a material, comprising: A screening device, the screening device comprising a screening device, the screening device being configured to screen out material smaller than a predetermined size; A breaking up device according to any one of claims 1 to 13.

15. The loose system according to claim 14, characterized in that The loosening system further comprises a material returning device, which is configured to return the material scattered by the scattering device to the production line.

16. The loose system according to claim 15, characterized in that The material returning device comprises a vibration trough, and the vibration trough is arranged below the outer cylinder.

17. The loose system according to claim 15, characterized in that The material return device includes a lifting belt configured to lift the material to the production line.

18. A loosening method for loose materials, characterized in that The following steps are involved: Providing a loose system according to claim 14; Start the disintegration equipment; Start the screening equipment after starting the scattering equipment.

19. The loosening method according to claim 18, characterized in that: The loosening system is a loosening system according to any one of claims 15 to 17, and the loosening method further comprises: starting a material return device before starting a scattering device.

20. The loosening method according to claim 18, characterized in that: The loosening method further comprises: detecting the amount of the material; and adjusting the rotation speed of the inner drum according to the amount of the material.

21. The loosening method according to claim 18, characterized in that: The loosening method further includes: detecting the amount of the material; and adjusting the flow rate through the blowing port according to the amount of the material, wherein the blowing port is arranged on the outer cylinder and is configured to blow air into the inner space.

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