Production system of low-dust cat litter

Abstract

The utility model relates to a production system of low-dust cat litter. The production system at least comprises a mixer, a tablet press, a pulverizer, a curing unit, a coating machine and a dryer. The coating machine is integrated in the production system of the low-dust cat litter, so that the surface of the cat litter is coated with a coating layer, and dust is prevented from falling off from the cat litter. According to the production system, the mixing machine mixes powdery raw materials and water to form plastic balls, the rolling type tablet press presses the plastic balls into strip-shaped sheets with the uniform thickness, the pulverizer cuts the uncured strip-shaped sheets into particles, materials in the production units are all in a wet state, and no dust is generated; the production system is further provided with a coating machine, the surfaces of the semi-solidified particles are coated with a natural polymer aqueous solution after the semi-solidified particles pass through the coating machine, a compact coating layer is obtained after drying, and the coating layer can prevent dust from falling off from a cat litter finished product.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This utility model relates to the field of cat litter production, specifically to a low-dust cat litter production system. Background Technology

[0002] Traditional cat litter is mostly mineral litter made primarily of bentonite, manufactured into ball or stick shapes using a special process. However, in actual use, this type of mineral cat litter has a significant problem: it easily sheds dust. This dust not only causes numerous inconveniences for cat owners, such as difficulty in cleaning and an untidy environment, but more importantly, the dust poses a serious threat to the health of cats. The root cause of the dust problem lies in the physical properties of bentonite itself and the processing technology. Mineral particles are easily crushed and worn during processing, leading to the generation of dust. Utility Model Content

[0003] To address the issue of mineral cat litter easily shedding dust, this invention provides a low-dust cat litter production system. This system can coat the surface of the mineral cat litter with a coating layer to reduce dust shedding, and the amount of dust generated during cat litter production using this system is low.

[0004] The specific technical solution provided by this utility model is as follows:

[0005] A low-dust cat litter production system includes at least:

[0006] A mixer is used to mix powdered raw materials and water into a plastic dough.

[0007] A tablet press is used to compress a plastic mass into a strip or sheet.

[0008] A shredder is used to crush uncured strips or sheets into granules.

[0009] A curing unit is used to provide a site for curing granular materials into semi-cured particles;

[0010] Coating machines are used to coat the surface of semi-cured particles with natural polymer aqueous solutions;

[0011] A dryer is used to heat semi-cured particles coated with a natural polymer aqueous solution.

[0012] In some embodiments of this utility model:

[0013] The mixer is one of the following: a twin-helix cone mixer, a cone-twin screw mixer, or a V-type mixer;

[0014] And / or, the tablet press is one of the following: a roller press tablet press or an extrusion tablet press.

[0015] And / or, the pulverizer is one of a two-stage pulverizer or a hammer mill;

[0016] And / or, the curing unit is one or more of the following: a mineral particle belt dryer and a settling chamber;

[0017] And / or, the coating machine is one of the following: bottom spray fluidized bed coating machine, rotary side spray fluidized bed coating machine, multi-functional granulation, coating and drying integrated machine, and film coating machine;

[0018] And / or, the dryer is an integrated drying and cooling machine.

[0019] In some embodiments of this utility model, the drying and cooling integrated machine is one of the vibrating fluidized bed drying and cooling integrated machine and the microwave drying and cooling integrated machine.

[0020] In some embodiments of this utility model, a screening device is provided after the dryer to screen the dried product; the screening device is one of a rotary vibrating screen, a linear vibrating screen, or a drum screen. The outlet of the screening device for substandard particles is connected to the powder inlet of the mixer.

[0021] In some embodiments of this utility model, the production system further includes a first magnetic separator, which is connected to the qualified product outlet of the screening equipment and is used to remove harmful metals from the surface of the qualified product.

[0022] In some embodiments of this utility model, the production system is further provided with a crushing device, the inlet of which is connected to a screening device and the outlet of which is connected to a mixer. The crushing device is used to crush unqualified particles.

[0023] In some embodiments of this utility model, a second magnetic separation device is provided before the mixer. The second magnetic separation device is used to remove heavy metals from the powdered raw materials by magnetic separation to obtain harmless slag.

[0024] In some embodiments of this utility model, the production system is equipped with a feeding unit, which includes:

[0025] A rotary distributor with several powder outlets distributed circumferentially at its bottom;

[0026] An elevator is used to lift powdery raw materials into a rotary distributor.

[0027] Several independent storage bins are located below the rotary distributor. Each storage bin is connected to the corresponding powder outlet at the bottom of the rotary distributor via a closed conveying pipe above it, and to the mixer via a closed conveying pipe equipped with a control valve below it. The control valve is used to control the release amount of the single powder stored in each storage bin according to a preset ratio.

[0028] In some embodiments of this utility model:

[0029] The elevator is one of the following: material elevator, screw elevator, stainless steel bucket elevator, and vertical elevator;

[0030] And / or, the control valve is one of the following: a flow control valve, a vibratory unloading device, or a pneumatic fluidization device.

[0031] In some embodiments of this utility model, the production system further includes a packaging machine for packaging the finished cat litter.

[0032] The beneficial effects of the technical solution provided by this utility model embodiment include:

[0033] 1. The production system is equipped with a mixer that mixes powdered raw materials and water into a plastic clump, a roller press that presses the plastic clump into a strip sheet of uniform thickness, and a pulverizer that cuts the uncured strip sheet into granules. The materials in these production units are all in a wet state and no dust is generated.

[0034] 2. The production system of this utility model is also equipped with a coating machine. After the semi-cured particles pass through the coating machine, their surface is coated with a natural polymer aqueous solution. After drying, a dense coating layer is obtained. This coating layer can reduce dust falling off the finished cat litter. Attached Figure Description

[0035] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of this utility model, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of this utility model. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0036] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the low-dust cat litter production system provided in this embodiment of the utility model;

[0037] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the feeding unit provided in an embodiment of this utility model;

[0038] Figure 3 A side view of a coating machine provided in an embodiment of this utility model;

[0039] Figure 4 A front view of a coating machine provided in an embodiment of this utility model;

[0040] In the picture:

[0041] 1. Mixer;

[0042] 2. Tableting machine;

[0043] 3. Crusher;

[0044] 4. Curing unit;

[0045] 5. Coating machine; 501. Roller; 502. Liquid storage tank; 503. Spraying device;

[0046] 6. Dryer;

[0047] 7. Screening equipment;

[0048] 8. First magnetic separation equipment;

[0049] 9. Second magnetic separation equipment;

[0050] 10. Feeding unit; 1001. Rotary distributor; 1002. Powder outlet; 1003. Elevator; 1004. Storage silo; 1005. Control valve;

[0051] 11. Packaging machine. Detailed Implementation

[0052] To enable those skilled in the art to better understand the present invention, the technical solutions of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings of the embodiments. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, and not all of them. All other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0053] In this invention, the term "plastic clump" refers to a moist, soft, and uncured viscous substance with plasticity formed by mixing powdered raw materials (such as slag powder, gypsum powder, bentonite, diatomaceous earth, straw powder, and binder) with water. The mass ratio of powdered raw materials to water is 3:1 to 5:1, and the plasticity meets the minimum cohesive force requirement (e.g., ≥50Pa) for tablet pressing. The term "curing" refers to the process of transforming a material from a plastic state to a stable solid state through physical or chemical means. Its core characteristic is the loss of plasticity and the enhancement of mechanical strength. In this invention, curing is a dehydration process that reduces the moisture content of particles from more than 15% by hot air drying (40-80℃) or natural standing. The term "semi-cured particles" refers to particles that have partially lost their plasticity and cannot be changed in shape by external force (such as rolling), but can still be further hardened by the curing unit.

[0054] like Figure 1 As shown, this utility model embodiment provides a low-dust cat litter production system, the production system including at least:

[0055] Mixer 1 is used to mix powdered raw materials and water into a plastic clump;

[0056] Tableting machine 2 is used to compress plastic lumps into strip-shaped sheets;

[0057] Crusher 3 is used to crush uncured strip sheets into granules;

[0058] Curing unit 4 is used to provide a site for curing granules into semi-cured particles;

[0059] Coating machine 5 is used to coat the surface of semi-cured particles with natural polymer aqueous solution;

[0060] Dryer 6 is used to heat semi-cured particles coated with natural polymer aqueous solution.

[0061] The production system provided in this embodiment of the utility model can produce low-dust cat litter through the following production steps:

[0062] Mixing and pelletizing: Mixer 1 (one of a twin-helix cone mixer, a cone twin-screw mixer or a V-type mixer) mixes mineral powder and water into a plastic pellet with uniform moisture content;

[0063] Tableting: The plastic lumps are fed into the tablet press 2 (one of a roller press or an integrated extrusion and tablet press) and extruded into strips of uniform thickness;

[0064] Crushing and granulation: Uncured strip sheets are crushed into granules with a particle size of 0.8 to 4 mm by crusher 3 (either a two-stage crusher or a hammer crusher);

[0065] Semi-curing treatment: The granular material is conveyed to curing unit 4 (one of a mineral particle belt dryer or a settling workshop), where it forms semi-cured particles through hot air circulation or natural settling.

[0066] Dustproof coating: Semi-solidified particles enter the coating machine 5 (one of bottom spray fluidized bed coating machine, rotary side spray fluidized bed coating machine, multi-functional granulation coating and drying integrated machine or film coating machine), and the surface is uniformly sprayed with natural polymer aqueous solution (such as chitosan, gelatin) to form a dustproof protective film.

[0067] Low-temperature drying: The coated granules enter the dryer 6 (one of the vibrating fluidized bed type or microwave drying and cooling integrated machine), and the granules are solidified by temperature control to avoid surface cracking and powdering caused by sudden temperature changes.

[0068] This low-dust cat litter production system achieves efficient preparation of low-dust cat litter through the synergistic action of multiple modules. First, mixer 1 uses powdered raw materials and a water system to form a plastic clump. The tablet press 2 uses continuous double-roller extrusion technology to press the plastic clump into strip sheets. Its linear pressure distribution ensures a consistent thickness of the strip sheets. Combined with the pulverizer 3, this effectively reduces the generation of micro-powder caused by uneven shear force distribution during traditional granulation. In the curing unit 4, the granules are cured, enhancing their cohesive strength and preventing secondary pulverization caused by mechanical intervention. Furthermore, compared to granules, the semi-cured granules have increased porosity after surface dehydration, which is more conducive to the penetration and adhesion of the natural polymer aqueous solution. The semi-cured granules are coated with the natural polymer aqueous solution in the coating machine 5 and form a dense coating layer in the dryer 6, which can prevent internal dust from escaping and improve deliquescence resistance. In addition, in the dryer 6, the semi-cured granules are further cured, increasing their cohesive strength and preventing them from disintegrating in subsequent production.

[0069] In some embodiments of this utility model, the mixer 1 is one of a double-helix conical mixer, a conical twin-screw mixer, or a V-type mixer; and / or, the tablet press 2 is one of a roller press tablet press or an extrusion tablet press; and / or, the pulverizer 3 is one of a two-stage pulverizer or a hammer mill; and / or, the curing unit 4 is one of a mineral particle belt dryer or a settling chamber; and / or, the coating machine 5 is one of a bottom-spray fluidized bed coating machine, a rotary side-spray fluidized bed coating machine, a multi-functional granulation, coating, and drying integrated machine, or a film coating machine; and / or, the dryer 6 is an integrated drying and cooling machine.

[0070] In some embodiments of this utility model, such as Figure 3 and Figure 4 As shown, the coating machine 5 includes:

[0071] Roller 501 is used to roll the semi-cured granules within its inner cavity;

[0072] Storage tank 502 is used to store natural polymer aqueous solutions;

[0073] The spraying device 503 is located in the upper part of the inner cavity of the roller 501 and is connected to the liquid storage tank 502. It is used to spray the natural polymer aqueous solution onto the surface of the semi-cured particles.

[0074] Preferably, the roller 501 is inclined downward from the feed end to the outlet end, with an inclination angle between 0 and 5.0°, which allows the semi-cured particles to flow downward automatically in the roller 501 and stay for a sufficient time to spray the bio-based coating agent.

[0075] As the drum 501 rotates, the semi-cured granules tumble continuously on the inner surface of the drum 501 and move toward the discharge port. During this process, the spraying device 503 sprays the natural polymer aqueous solution onto the surface of the semi-cured granules, and the tumbling ensures the coating effect.

[0076] This invention utilizes one or more of the following natural polymer aqueous solutions: starch aqueous solution, protein aqueous solution, cellulose aqueous solution, lignin aqueous solution, and chitosan solution; edible grass slurry may also be used. After drying, these natural polymer aqueous solutions form a continuous coating layer on the surface of the cat litter, preventing litter from shedding powder. This coating layer is non-toxic, and direct contact with the cat will not affect its health. The coating layer also has good water absorption properties, without affecting the water absorption function of the internal solidified particles. Furthermore, this coating layer becomes sticky after absorbing moisture, allowing it to adhere to the moistened cat litter for easy cleaning.

[0077] In some embodiments of this utility model, a screening device 7 is provided after the dryer 6. The screening device 7 is used to screen the dried product. The screening device 7 preferably uses 304 stainless steel woven mesh as the main structure of the screen. The aperture of the upper screen is 4mm and the aperture of the lower screen is 0.8mm. This design allows the dried and coated product to be evenly distributed on the screen surface after entering the screening device 7. Under the screening action, particles with a diameter greater than 4mm are retained on the upper screen surface, while particles with a diameter less than 0.8mm penetrate the screen holes and fall into the lower collection area. Particles with a diameter greater than 4mm and particles with a diameter less than 0.8mm are discharged through the non-compliant particle outflow channel. Particles with a diameter of 0.8 to 4.0mm are transported to the subsequent process stage through the qualified particle outflow channel.

[0078] In some embodiments of this invention, the outlet channel for substandard particles is connected to a separate recycling crusher, and the substandard particles are crushed by the recycling crusher before entering the mixer 1. This design allows the substandard particles to be reused after entering the mixer 1 via the recycling crusher.

[0079] With the above design, the dried granules are graded by screening equipment 7 (one of rotary vibrating screen, linear vibrating screen or drum screen). Qualified products (0.3-4mm) enter the next process, and substandard granules are returned to mixer 1 for reprocessing by the return crusher.

[0080] In some embodiments of this invention, the production system further includes a first magnetic separator 8, which is connected to the outlet of the qualified particle outflow channel and is used to remove harmful metals from the surface of the material on the screen. This configuration can remove potentially harmful metals from the material on the screen, such as metal fragments detached from the equipment.

[0081] In some embodiments of this invention, a second magnetic separator 9 is provided before the mixer 1. The second magnetic separator 9 is used to remove heavy metals from the powdered raw materials using magnetic separation to obtain harmless slag. This arrangement can remove heavy metals from the powdered raw materials in advance, preventing heavy metals from seeping out of the cat litter and coming into contact with the cat, thus threatening the cat's health.

[0082] In some embodiments of this utility model, such as Figure 2 As shown, the production system is also equipped with a feeding unit 10, the outlet of which is directly connected to the second magnetic separator 9 or the mixer 1.

[0083] Feeding unit 10 includes:

[0084] The rotary distributor 1001 has several powder outlets 1002 distributed circumferentially at its bottom.

[0085] Several independent storage bins 1004 are located below the rotary distributor 1001. The upper part of each storage bin 1004 is connected to the powder outlet 1002 at the bottom of the rotary distributor 1001 through a closed conveying pipe. The lower part is connected to the mixer 1 through a closed conveying pipe equipped with a control valve 1005. The control valve 1005 is used to control the release amount of the single powder stored in each storage bin 1004 according to a preset ratio.

[0086] The elevator 1003 is used to lift powdery raw materials into the rotary distributor 1001.

[0087] In some embodiments of this utility model, the elevator 1003 is one of a material elevator, a screw elevator, a stainless steel bucket elevator, and a vertical elevator; and / or, the control valve 1005 is one of a flow control valve, a vibrating unloading device, and a pneumatic fluidization device.

[0088] The purpose of configuring a control valve 1005 below the storage silo 1004 is to control the amount of powdered raw materials added to the storage silo 1004. The purpose of setting up multiple storage silos 1004 is to control the addition ratio of different powdered raw materials. The purpose of configuring a rotary distributor 1001 is to use only a single elevator 1003 to add different powdered raw materials (such as slag powder, gypsum powder, bentonite, diatomaceous earth, straw powder, and binder) into the rotary distributor 1001, and then distribute them to the corresponding storage silos 1004 through the rotary distributor 1001. The precise proportion of raw materials is achieved through multiple storage silos 1004 equipped with control valves 1005.

[0089] In some embodiments of this invention, the dryer 6 is an integrated drying and cooling unit. This integrated unit can programmatically adjust the temperature gradient between the drying and cooling zones, preventing stress concentration within the particles due to sudden cooling, thereby reducing cracking, pulverization, and dust generation. Furthermore, compared to separate units, the integrated unit saves 30%–40% of factory space, reducing infrastructure investment. The drying and cooling exhaust gases can also be filtered in a unified purification module, such as through baghouse dust collection and activated carbon adsorption, reducing VOC emissions.

[0090] In some embodiments of this invention, the production system further includes a packaging machine 11, which is used to package the finished cat litter. The packaging machine 11 can be directly connected to the qualified product outlet of the first magnetic separator 8.

[0091] It should be noted that in the description of this utility model, the terms "upper" and "lower," etc., indicate the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings. They are used only for the convenience of describing this utility model and for simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation. Therefore, they should not be construed as limitations on this utility model. Unless otherwise explicitly specified and limited, the terms "installed," "connected," and "linked" should be interpreted broadly. For example, they can refer to a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; they can refer to a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; they can refer to a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium; and they can refer to the internal connection of two components. Those skilled in the art can understand the specific meaning of the above terms in this utility model according to the specific circumstances.

[0092] It should be noted that in this invention, relational terms such as "first" and "second" are used merely to distinguish one entity or operation from another, and do not necessarily require or imply any such actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. Furthermore, the terms "comprising," "including," or any other variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not expressly listed, or elements inherent to such a process, method, article, or apparatus. Without further limitations, an element defined by the phrase "comprising one..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that includes said element.

[0093] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of the present invention, enabling those skilled in the art to understand or implement the present invention. Various modifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be implemented in other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. Therefore, the present invention is not to be limited to the embodiments shown herein, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features claimed herein.

Claims

1. A low-dust cat litter production system, characterized in that, The production system includes at least: A mixer (1) is used to mix powdered raw materials and water into a plastic clump; A tablet press (2) is used to press a plastic clump into a strip sheet; Crusher (3) is used to crush uncured strip sheets into granules; The curing unit (4) is used to provide a site for curing granules into semi-cured particles; Coating machine (5) is used to coat the surface of semi-cured particles with natural polymer aqueous solution; Dryer (6) is used to heat semi-cured particles coated with natural polymer aqueous solution.

2. The low-dust cat litter production system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The mixer (1) is one of the following: a double-helix cone mixer, a cone-twin screw mixer, or a V-type mixer; And / or, the tablet press (2) is one of a roller press tablet press or an extrusion tablet press; And / or, the pulverizer (3) is one of a two-stage pulverizer or a hammer mill; And / or, the curing unit (4) is one of a mineral particle belt dryer or a settling workshop; And / or, the coating machine (5) is one of the following: bottom spray fluidized bed coating machine, rotary side spray fluidized bed coating machine, multi-functional granulation, coating and drying integrated machine, and film coating machine; And / or, the dryer (6) is an integrated drying and cooling machine.

3. The low-dust cat litter production system according to claim 2, characterized in that: The integrated drying and cooling machine is one of the following: a vibrating fluidized bed type integrated drying and cooling machine or a microwave drying and cooling machine.

4. The low-dust cat litter production system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The dryer (6) is further provided with a screening device (7), which is used to screen the dried product; the screening device (7) is one of a rotary vibrating screen, a linear vibrating screen, or a drum screen.

5. The low-dust cat litter production system according to claim 4, characterized in that: The production system also includes a first magnetic separator (8), which is connected to the qualified product outlet of the screening equipment (7) and is used to remove harmful metals from the surface of the qualified product.

6. The low-dust cat litter production system according to claim 4, characterized in that: The production system is also equipped with a crushing device, the inlet of which is connected to a screening device (7), and the outlet of which is connected to a mixer (1). The crushing device is used to crush unqualified particles.

7. The low-dust cat litter production system according to claim 1, characterized in that: A second magnetic separator (9) is provided before the mixer (1). The second magnetic separator (9) is used to remove heavy metals from the powdered raw material by magnetic separation to obtain harmless slag.

8. The low-dust cat litter production system according to claim 7, characterized in that: The production system is also equipped with a feeding unit (10), which includes: A rotary distributor (1001) has several powder outlets (1002) distributed circumferentially at its bottom; An elevator (1003) is used to lift powdered raw materials into the rotary distributor (1001); Several independent storage bins (1004) are located below the rotary distributor (1001). The upper part of each storage bin (1004) is connected to the powder outlet (1002) at the bottom of the rotary distributor (1001) through a closed conveying pipe. The lower part is connected to the mixer (1) through a closed conveying pipe equipped with a control valve (1005). The control valve (1005) is used to control the release amount of the single powder stored in each storage bin (1004) according to a preset ratio.

9. The low-dust cat litter production system according to claim 8, characterized in that: The elevator (1003) is one of the following: material elevator, screw elevator, stainless steel bucket elevator, and vertical elevator; And / or, the control valve (1005) is one of a flow control valve, a vibratory unloading device, or a pneumatic fluidization device.

10. The low-dust cat litter production system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The production system also includes a packaging machine (11) for packaging the finished cat litter.

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