Hopper device of resin mixing mill

Abstract

The utility model provides a hopper device of a resin mixing mill, which can detect the supply state of a material supplied to the mixing mill with high precision. A hopper device for a resin kneading machine that melts and kneads a powdered resin material is provided with a hopper main body that guides the resin material to the resin kneading machine, a material detection unit that is disposed inside the hopper main body and outputs a detection signal as the material detection unit comes into contact with the resin material, and a spray nozzle that sprays the material detection unit to the resin kneading machine. The injection nozzle includes an injection hole from which gas can be injected, and the injection hole is disposed inside the hopper body so as to face the material detection unit.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The utility model relates to a hopper device of a resin mixing machine. Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, resin kneading machines for kneading resins are known. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a twin-screw extruder for kneading resins while performing extrusion.

[0003] The technology described in Patent Document 1 also includes a hopper for supplying powder material to the twin-screw extruder. A material position sensor is arranged inside the hopper. If a large amount of powder material accumulates abnormally in the hopper, the powder material adheres to the material position sensor. When the material position sensor detects this situation, it is judged as an oversupply state of the raw material, and a part of the supplied powder material is returned to the storage tank.

[0004] Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2014-8760.

[0005] In the technology disclosed in Patent Document 1, if the powder material supplied from the top of the hopper adheres to the material position sensor, there is a possibility that the powder material in the hopper is erroneously detected as being in an over-supply state even though it is not actually in an over-supply state. In addition, there is a possibility that after the over-supply state of the powder material is correctly detected, if the powder material remains attached to the material position sensor after the over-supply state is eliminated, the material position sensor continues to detect the powder material even though the over-supply state of the powder material has actually been eliminated, thereby erroneously detecting that a large amount of powder material is accumulated in the hopper, i.e., in an over-supply state. Summary of the invention

[0006] The present invention is made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a hopper device of a resin kneading machine, which can detect the supply state of a material supplied to the kneading machine with high accuracy.

[0007] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the utility model provides a hopper device of a resin mixer, wherein the resin mixer melts and mixes powdered resin materials, and the hopper device of the resin mixer comprises a hopper body, a material detection unit, and an injection nozzle. The hopper body guides the resin material to the resin mixer, the material detection unit is arranged in the hopper body, and outputs a detection signal as it contacts the resin material, the injection nozzle includes an injection hole and can inject gas from the injection hole, and the injection hole is arranged in the hopper body to face the material detection unit.

[0008] According to this structure, the gas ejected from the injection nozzle blows the powdered resin material (hereinafter also referred to as the powder material) supplied from the top of the hopper device into the hopper body and descending to the material detection part, so that it does not adhere to the material detection part. In addition, the powder material attached to the material detection part is blown away by the gas ejected from the injection nozzle, thereby preventing the powder material from still adhering to the material detection part after the abnormal accumulation state in the hopper body is eliminated. As a result, it is possible to prevent the erroneous judgment of an abnormal oversupply state. Therefore, the supply state of the material supplied to the mixer can be detected with high precision.

[0009] In the above configuration, the injection nozzle may inject the gas downward toward the material detection portion from the injection hole disposed above the material detection portion in the hopper body.

[0010] According to this configuration, compared with the case where gas is blown from below, it is easier to suppress the powder material supplied from above the hopper body from adhering to the material detection part and the powder material separated from the material detection part from adhering again to the material detection part.

[0011] In the above configuration, the hopper body may further include a flange portion disposed so as to cover an upper portion of the material detection portion.

[0012] According to this configuration, by arranging the eaves portion so as to cover the upper portion of the material detection portion, it is possible to more appropriately suppress the powder material supplied from the upper portion of the hopper body from adhering to the material detection portion.

[0013] In the above configuration, the injection nozzle may be disposed above the material detection portion and below the eaves portion.

[0014] According to this structure, the eaves cover the injection nozzle, so it is possible to prevent the gas injected from the injection nozzle from being blocked by the powder material supplied from above the hopper body. Thus, it is possible to more effectively prevent the powder material supplied from above the hopper body from adhering to the material detection part.

[0015] In the above configuration, the eaves portion may include a vertically extending upright wall and a pair of inclined walls extending obliquely downward from lower ends of the upright wall so as to cover an upper portion of the material detection portion.

[0016] According to this structure, the resin material flow can be divided into two by the vertical wall, so the resin material can be prevented from accumulating on the eaves. In addition, the resin material can be further guided by the inclined wall, so that the large pressure of the resin material can also be prevented from acting on the eaves.

[0017] Effect of utility model

[0018] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a hopper device for a resin kneading machine that can detect the supply state of a material supplied to the kneading machine with high accuracy. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] Figure 1 It is a side sectional view of the resin kneading machine which is one embodiment of the present invention.

[0020] Figure 2 Observed from the side Figure 1 An enlarged view of a hopper device of a resin kneading machine.

[0021] Figure 3 Observed from the front Figure 2 Figure 1 shows a hopper arrangement. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0022] Hereinafter, a kneading machine 1 (resin kneading machine) according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Figure 1 1 is a side sectional view of the kneading machine 1 of the present embodiment. The kneading machine 1 has a cylinder 10 (also referred to as a kneading machine body) whose interior is formed as a cavity, and a pair of kneading rotors 12 inserted into the cylinder 2 along the axial direction. In the kneading machine 1, the pair of kneading rotors 12 rotate in different directions while meshing with each other, and kneading of materials such as resins is performed between the pair of kneading rotors 3. In addition, Figure 1 In the figure, only the kneading rotor 12 on the front side of the paper is shown, and another kneading rotor 12 is arranged on the back side of the paper.

[0023] In addition, in the following description, Figure 1 The rear side in the direction shown is regarded as the upstream side when explaining the flow of the resin in the kneading machine 1, and the front side is regarded as the downstream side. Figure 1 The front-to-rear direction is taken as the axial direction of the kneading machine 1.

[0024] like Figure 1 As shown, the cylinder 10 is formed into a cylindrical shape that is longer in the axial direction, and the inside of it is a cavity with a cross-section in the direction perpendicular to the axis that is in the shape of glasses (a shape in which two circles overlap each other in a manner that a portion of the circumference intersects with each other). The cylinder 10 is divided into multiple (3 in the example shown) parts along the axial direction from the upstream side. These three parts are, from the upstream side, the feeding part A1 for supplying materials, the kneading part A2 for mixing materials, and the discharge part A3 for discharging materials to the outside of the cylinder 10. In addition, a throttling part 14 for increasing the internal pressure of the material is arranged between the kneading part A2 and the discharge part A3.

[0025] The feed section A1 is provided with a material supply port 16 that opens upward in a manner that connects the inside and outside of the cylinder 10. The material supply port 16 is formed to penetrate the upper wall surface of the cylinder 10 from top to bottom, and can supply the material into the cylinder 10. In addition, the material supply port 16 is provided with a hopper unit 20 (hopper device) that expands upward in a funnel shape in order to facilitate the input of the material.

[0026] The kneading section A2 is the central part of the barrel 10 in the axial direction, in other words, it is a part arranged on the downstream side of the feed section A1. The kneading rotor 12 at the position corresponding to the kneading section A2 uses a kneading scraper 12B, and the kneading section A2 is a part where the material supplied from the feed section A1 to the barrel 10 is kneaded by the kneading scraper 12B.

[0027] The throttling section 14 is a part provided on the further downstream side of the kneading section A2, and has the function of retaining the material flowing from the kneading section A2 to the discharge section A3 to adjust the kneading degree of the material. The throttling section 14 has a gate member 11 that can cut off or change the flow of the material flowing in the cylinder 10, and the kneading degree can be adjusted by changing the circulation speed of the material with the help of the gate member 11. On the further downstream side of the throttling section 14, in other words, on the most downstream side of the cylinder 10, a discharge section A3 is provided to discharge the kneaded material to the outside of the cylinder 10.

[0028] The kneading rotors 12 are provided in a pair on the left and right in a manner of being inserted into the interior of the above-mentioned barrel 10. Each kneading rotor 12 is provided so that its rotation center coincides with each center of the above-mentioned two circles constituting the cavity of the barrel 10. Each kneading rotor 12 is supported by bearings on the outer sides of the axial ends of the barrel 10. In addition, the upstream side portion of the kneading rotor 12 is connected to a driving portion 12S capable of rotating and driving the kneading rotor 12. A pair of kneading rotors 12 respectively correspond to the above-mentioned feeding portion A1, kneading portion A2, and discharge portion A3 and are provided with a plurality of scrapers having different functions in the axial direction.

[0029] That is, a screw scraper 12A is provided in the feeding section A1 for delivering the material to the downstream side by twisting the wing into a spiral shape, a mixing scraper 12B is provided in the mixing section A2 for mixing the material by applying a shear force to the material, and a discharge wing 12C is provided in the discharge section A3 for discharging the material mixed in the mixing section A2 to the outside of the cylinder 10.

[0030] Figure 1 In the embodiment, the resin material such as powdery material introduced from the hopper unit 20 flows into the feed portion A1 in the barrel 10 as indicated by the arrow DA. Then, the resin material is transported to the downstream side while being kneaded as indicated by the arrow DB by the rotation of the kneading rotor 12. Thereafter, the resin material is discharged from the discharge port 28 by the discharge wing 12C as indicated by the arrow DC.

[0031] In addition, a silo (not shown) for storing powder material is provided above the hopper unit 20 , and the powder material in the silo is directly dropped into the hopper for supply.

[0032] Figure 2 Observed from the side Figure 1 FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a hopper unit 20 (hopper device) included in the kneading machine 1 . Figure 3 Observed from the front Figure 2 FIG. 20 is a diagram of a hopper unit 20 .

[0033] The hopper unit 20 includes a hopper body 201 , a flange portion 202 , a spray nozzle 203 , and a material position sensor 204 (material detection portion).

[0034] The hopper body 201 is formed in a conical cylindrical shape and is configured to be tapered toward the lower end. The hopper body 201 guides the resin material to the kneading machine 1. The lower end of the hopper body 201 is connected to the material supply port 16 of the barrel 10. Figure 1 , Figure 2 In the drawings, the hopper body 201 of the hopper unit 20 is shown in a perspective view.

[0035] The flange portion 202 is disposed in the hopper body 201 so as to cover an upper portion of the material position sensor 204 .

[0036] The material position sensor 204 is disposed in the hopper body 201 and outputs a detection signal as it contacts the resin material. The detection signal is input to a PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) 40 ( Figure 2 ).

[0037] As the material position sensor 204, a tuning fork type sensor can be used, which detects the presence of powder material based on the change in the vibration frequency of the end portion 204S (fork portion) as the detection portion. When the powder material adheres to the end portion 204S of the material position sensor 204, a signal indicating an abnormality is input to the PLC 40, which makes it a state of oversupply of powder raw materials, and an alarm is displayed on the operation panel of the PLC 40 as one of the abnormal response processes. In addition to this alarm, there is also a case where the rotation of the kneading rotor 12 of the kneading machine 1 is urgently stopped during kneading. In addition, the above-mentioned abnormal response process can also be either an alarm or an emergency stop.

[0038] The injection nozzle 203 is arranged below the eaves 202 and above the material position sensor 204. The injection nozzle 203 includes an injection hole formed at the end thereof, and gas can be injected from the injection hole. The injection hole is arranged to inject gas toward the end portion 204S above the material position sensor 204 in the hopper body 201, and downward toward the end portion 204S serving as the detection portion of the material position sensor 204. Therefore, compared with the case of blowing gas from the bottom to the top, the blowing gas can effectively suppress the powder material supplied from the top of the hopper body 201 from adhering to the material position sensor 204, and the powder material detached from the material position sensor 204 from adhering to the material position sensor 204 again, and the powder material can be made to flow smoothly into the mixer 1 side. In addition, as Figure 2 As shown, the configuration angle at which the tip of the jet nozzle 203 is lowered is set to be larger than the configuration angle at which the tip of the material position sensor 204 is lowered.

[0039] The spray nozzle 203 is as follows Figure 2 As shown, the nitrogen supply source 30 is connected, and the gas injection is switched on and off by the operator operating the manual valve 31. During the operation of the kneading machine 1, the operator operates so that nitrogen gas is always injected from the injection nozzle 203 toward the end portion 204S of the material position sensor 204. The gas injected from the injection nozzle 203 is not limited to nitrogen.

[0040] According to such a structure, the operator operates the manual valve so that the gas is always sprayed from the injection nozzle 203 to the material position sensor 204, or at least the gas is sprayed from the injection nozzle 203 to the material position sensor 204 in coordination with the supply of powder material from the hopper (not shown) above the hopper unit 20, so that the powder material supplied to the hopper body 201 is blown up by the gas from the injection nozzle 203, and flows to the material supply port 16 on the downstream side in a state away from the material position sensor 204. In addition, even if the powder material is oversupplied with respect to the hopper unit 20, after recovery from the oversupplied state, the operator operates the manual valve to make the coordination operation again and spray gas from the injection nozzle 203 to the material position sensor 204, and the powder material attached to the material position sensor 204 is blown away. As a result, the powder material will not still be attached to the material position sensor 204, so it is possible to prevent the PLC 40 from erroneously detecting an abnormal state.

[0041] Reference Figure 3 In the present embodiment, the flange 202 has a three-pronged arrow shape in a cross section perpendicular to the flow direction of the resin material of the kneading machine 1. In other words, the flange 202 includes a vertical wall 202A extending in the vertical direction, and a pair of inclined walls 202B and 202C (inclined surfaces) extending obliquely downward from the lower end of the vertical wall 202A so as to cover the upper side of the material detection unit.

[0042] In this way, the flange 202 is arranged so as to cover the upper part of the material position sensor 204, so that the powder material supplied from the upper part of the hopper unit 20 can be prevented from excessively adhering to the material position sensor 204. In addition, the flow of the resin material can be divided into left and right by the vertical wall 202A, so that the resin material can be prevented from accumulating on the flange 202. In addition, the resin material can be further guided to the left and right by the inclined walls 202B and 202C, so that the large pressure of the resin material acting on the flange 202 can also be prevented.

[0043] Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the eaves 202 covers the injection nozzle 203, so that the powder material supplied from the top of the hopper body 201 can be prevented from obstructing the blowing of the gas injected from the injection nozzle 203 toward the material position sensor 204. Thus, the powder material supplied from the top of the hopper body 201 can be more effectively prevented from adhering to the material position sensor 204 (material detection unit).

[0044] As described above, in this embodiment, the powder material accumulated in the hopper unit 20 and attached to or about to be attached to the material position sensor 204 is blown away by the gas ejected from the ejection nozzle 203, so that after the abnormal accumulation state in the hopper unit 20 is eliminated, the powder material will not still be attached to the material position sensor 20, and it is possible to prevent erroneous detection (judgment) of an oversupply abnormal state. As a result, it is possible to prevent unnecessary time spent on abnormal response operations at the work site, and prevent the deterioration of the production efficiency of the kneading machine 1.

[0045] Description of Reference Numerals

[0046] 1. Mixer (resin mixer)

[0047] 10 barrel

[0048] 12 Mixing rotor

[0049] 20 hopper units (hopper devices)

[0050] 201 Hopper body

[0051] 202 Eaves

[0052] 202A Wall

[0053] 202B, 202C inclined wall

[0054] 203 spray nozzle

[0055] 204 Material position sensor (material detection unit)

[0056] 204S terminal end.

Claims

1. A hopper device for a resin mixer, wherein the resin mixer melts and mixes a powdered resin material, characterized in that: Equipped with hopper body, material detection unit, injection nozzle, The hopper body guides the resin material to the resin kneading machine. The material detection unit is disposed in the hopper body and outputs a detection signal as it contacts the resin material. The injection nozzle includes an injection hole and can inject gas from the injection hole. The injection hole is arranged in the hopper body so as to face the material detection portion.

2. The hopper device of the resin mixer according to claim 1, characterized in that: The injection nozzle injects the gas downward toward the material detection portion from the injection hole disposed above the material detection portion in the hopper body.

3. The hopper device of the resin mixer according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The hopper body further includes a flange portion disposed so as to cover an upper portion of the material detection portion.

4. The hopper device of the resin mixer according to claim 3, characterized in that: The injection nozzle is arranged above the material detection portion and below the eaves portion.

5. The hopper device of the resin mixer according to claim 3, characterized in that: The eaves portion includes a vertically extending upright wall and a pair of inclined walls extending obliquely downward from lower ends of the upright wall so as to cover an upper portion of the material detection portion.

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