Powder supply device

Abstract

To provide a powder supply device capable of supplying a proper amount of powder to a target place by controlling a transfer speed of the powder only by a pressure feed gas.SOLUTION: In a powder supply device, a gas flow path 6 of gas pressure-fed from a gas supply source G is split into a plurality of branch gas flow paths; the gas pressure-fed from one of the plurality of branch gas flow paths is sent to a drop transfer path 2 through a gas inflow port 25 and is blowed on the powder dropping in the drop transfer path 2; the gas pressure-fed from another branch gas flow path is sent to a send-out transfer path 4 through a gas inflow port 44 and is blowed on the powder in the send-out transfer path 4; and thus a proper amount of powder can be supplied to a target place which is a supply destination.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a powder supplying device that supplies powder to a target location. [Background technology]

[0002] Powders are used in a variety of fields, from industrial products to food, and powder supplying devices are widely used to supply such powders to target locations. An important issue for such powder supplying devices is how to control the speed at which the powder is transported to the target location and supply the appropriate amount of powder to the target location.

[0003] One example of such a powder supplying device is the flux supplying device described in Patent Document 1. This flux supplying device is a device for supplying flux, which is a powder, to molten metal in order to remove oxides from the molten metal, and has the same configuration as a general powder supplying device. That is, it is configured to include a hopper for storing powder and a transfer path for transferring the powder discharged from the hopper, and gas pumped from a gas supply source is introduced into the transfer path to supply the powder to a target location. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Jikko No. 56-21806

[0005] However, general powder supplying devices, including the one disclosed in Patent Document 1, have the following problems. As mentioned above, a key issue for a powder supplying device is how to control the speed at which powder is transported to a destination and supply the appropriate amount of powder to the destination. To achieve this, components such as a screw for forcibly moving the powder are included in addition to the pressurized gas. For example, the device disclosed in Patent Document 1 has a screw 8 at the bottom end of a hopper 3, and the rotation of this screw 8 transports the flux, which is powder, to a chute 11, allowing the appropriate amount of flux to be supplied.

[0006] However, if a powder feeder includes a screw or other components, it inevitably requires a separate mechanism and power source to drive it, which in turn increases the size of the entire device and manufacturing costs. Furthermore, there may be no power source near the site where the powder feeder is used, which can make using the device difficult. Furthermore, if the powder feeder is used to feed flux, the molten metal to which the flux is fed is conductive, which can pose a risk of short circuit or fire. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] Therefore, in order to solve the above problems, the present invention aims to provide a powder supply device that branches the gas flow path pressurized from a gas supply source into multiple paths, and allows the gas from these multiple gas flow paths to flow into various locations such as powder transport paths, so that an appropriate amount of powder can be supplied to the target location using only the pressurized gas. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the powder supplying device according to the present invention comprises a hopper which stores powder therein and has a discharge port at the bottom for discharging the powder, a powder transfer path which transfers the powder that has flowed in from the discharge port of the hopper, and a gas flow path which circulates gas that is pressurized from a gas supply source, the powder transfer path comprising a drop transfer path which drops the powder received from the hopper, and a delivery transfer path which has the ejection port at one end and sends the powder received from the drop transfer path to the ejection port, and at either one of the drop transfer path and the other end of the delivery transfer path, A gas inlet capable of receiving gas is provided, the gas flow path is branched into a plurality of paths, with gas from one of the paths being able to flow into the gas inlet of the falling transfer path and gas from the other paths being able to flow into the gas inlet of the delivery transfer path, and when gas is pressurized from the gas supply source, the gas is sprayed from the gas inlet of the falling transfer path toward the powder in the falling transfer path, and at the same time, gas is sprayed from the gas inlet of the delivery transfer path toward the powder in the delivery transfer path, causing the powder to be sprayed from the spray outlet to a target location.

[0009] The flux supply device of the present invention further comprises a passage opening / closing means for determining whether or not to allow powder to be transported in the drop transfer passage, the passage opening / closing means comprising an on-off valve body whose tip is movable back and forth within the drop transfer passage, and a base-end housing part for sliding the base end of the on-off valve body, the base-end housing part being provided with a gas inlet port capable of receiving gas, allowing gas from one of the plurality of branched gas flow paths to flow into the gas inlet port of the base-end housing part, and when gas is pumped from the gas supply source, the gas flowing in from the gas inlet port of the base-end housing part allows the valve body to move back and forth. [Effects of the Invention]

[0010] In the present invention, the gas flow path pressurized from the gas supply source is branched into multiple paths, and the gas from these multiple gas flow paths is allowed to flow into various locations such as powder transfer paths.This makes it possible to control the powder transfer speed using only the pressurized gas, and to supply the appropriate amount of powder to the desired location. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] FIG. [Figure 2] FIG. [Figure 3] FIG. 4 is a side cross-sectional view of a powder transfer path of the flux supply device. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the flow path configuration of a gas flow path of a flux supplying device. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is a graph showing the characteristics of the amount of flux ejected when inert gas is injected from the gas inlet. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0012] An embodiment of a powder supplying device according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. While the powder supplying device according to the present invention can be applied to powders used in various applications, this embodiment will be described as a powder supplying device for injecting flux powder into a molten metal such as aluminum, i.e., a flux supplying device. Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the flux supplying device, Fig. 2 is a side cross-sectional view of the flux supplying device, Fig. 3 is a side cross-sectional view of the powder transfer path of the flux supplying device, and Fig. 4 is a diagram of the flow path configuration of the gas flow path of the flux supplying device. In the following description, for the sake of clarity, the right side of Fig. 2 will be referred to as the front side of the flux supplying device, and the left side of Fig. 2 will be referred to as the rear side of the flux supplying device.

[0013] The flux supply device according to this embodiment is generally composed of a hopper 1 containing powdered flux and having an outlet at its bottom for discharging the flux; a drop-transfer path 2 through which the flux received from the hopper 1 falls; a passageway opening / closing means 3 disposed midway along the drop-transfer path 2 and determining whether or not to permit powder transfer along the drop-transfer path 2; an outflow transfer path 4 having an outlet at one end for delivering the flux received from the drop-transfer path 2 to the outlet; and a gas flow path 5 through which gas pumped from a gas supply source flows. The flux supply device also includes an injection pipe 5 attached to the outlet of the outflow transfer path 3. In the following embodiments, the "gas" is an inert gas such as argon. However, the "gas" according to the present invention does not necessarily have to be an inert gas.

[0014] The hopper 1 is a container for storing flux. It has a cylindrical upper portion and a truncated cone-like lower portion whose diameter gradually decreases toward the bottom. The upper end of the hopper 1 is open so that flux can be introduced, and the lower end of the hopper 1 has a discharge port 9 for discharging the flux from the hopper 1 into the drop transfer path 2. A detachable lid 10 is provided on the upper opening of the hopper 1. The top surface of the lid 10 is equipped with a handle 11 for opening and closing the lid 10, as well as a relief valve 12 for detecting clogging, a warning whistle 13, and a pressure gauge 14. The hopper 1 is provided with a number of latches 15, 15·· on the outer periphery of its upper end. By latching these latches onto latch pieces 16, 16·· on the lid 10, the interior of the hopper 1 can be sealed when the lid 10 is closed. Furthermore, a rod 17 is provided in the center of the hopper 1 to prevent clogging inside the hopper 1. Specifically, a flat support plate 18 is installed horizontally inside the hopper 1 at the boundary between the cylindrical portion and the truncated conical portion, and a rod 17 of a predetermined length is inserted into and fitted into a hole drilled in the longitudinal center of this support plate 18. The lower end of the rod 17 is positioned near the discharge outlet 9, specifically, slightly above the discharge outlet 9. Furthermore, an attachment portion 19 is formed on the outer periphery of the lower end of the hopper 1, protruding outward like a flange.

[0015] In the above embodiment, the hopper 1 is exemplified as a container having a cylindrical shape and a truncated cone shape, but the shape of the hopper 1 can be selected arbitrarily, and the shape can be freely designed as long as it can accommodate the flux and the flux is discharged from the discharge port 9 into the dropping transfer path 2.

[0016] As shown in FIG. 3, the drop passage 2 is a powder transfer passage through which flux flowing from the hopper 1 drops downward. It is composed of an upper drop passage 20 connected to the bottom of the hopper 1 and a lower drop passage 21 that matches the upper drop passage 20. The upper drop passage 20 is a cylindrical body molded from synthetic resin, and a flange-like attachment portion 22 is formed on the outer periphery of its upper end. After a packing is inserted into this attachment portion 22, the attachment portion 19 of the hopper 1 is overlapped and connected to the hopper 1 by a locking device 23. The lower drop passage 21 is formed by drilling a hole that penetrates vertically downward from the center of the top surface of the rectangular metal conveying block B. The lower end of the lower drop passage 21 is closed by screwing in a sinking plug 24. The lower drop path 21 has a wide section 21a whose inner diameter at its upper side is approximately the same as the outer diameter of the upper drop path 21, while the lower side of the lower drop path 21 has a narrow section 21b whose inner diameter is narrower than that of the upper side, and the portion between the wide section 21a and the narrow section 21b forms a constricted section 21c whose diameter gradually decreases downward. The upper drop path 20 and the lower drop path 21 are mated with each other by fitting the lower end of the upper drop path 20 into the wide section 21a of the lower drop path 21. The drop transfer path 2 is provided with two gas inlet ports for introducing gas, in this case, an inert gas. Specifically, a first gas inlet 25 is provided at the upper end of the narrow section 21b of the lower drop path 2 of the drop transfer path 2, in other words, slightly below the constricted section 21c, and a second gas inlet 26 is provided at the lower end of the lower drop path 21. That is, the first gas inlet 25 and the second gas inlet 26 are provided so as to be located respectively above and below the passage opening and closing means 3, the details of which will be described later.

[0017] The passage opening and closing means 3 is a mechanism for determining whether or not to allow powder to be transferred in the falling transfer path 2, and is composed of an on-off valve element 30 whose tip can move back and forth within the falling transfer path 2, a tip sliding portion 31 that slides the tip side (left side in FIG. 2) of the on-off valve element 30, a powder escape portion 32 that can release flux that collides with the on-off valve element 30 when the on-off valve element 30 closes the falling transfer path 2, and a base end sliding portion 33 that slides the base end side (right side in FIG. 3) of the on-off valve element 30. In this embodiment, the on-off valve element 30 and the base end sliding portion 31 are formed by so-called air cylinders. Specifically, the on-off valve element 30 is formed by a round rod-shaped rod shaft 30a, a flange-shaped piston 30b provided slightly inward from the base end (right side in FIG. 2 ) of the rod shaft 30a, and a blocking body 30c provided at the tip of the rod shaft 30a to block the fall transfer path 2. The base-side sliding part 31 is a cylinder having a hollow part 34 for sliding the piston 30b therein, and the rod shaft 30a of the on-off valve element 30 protrudes from the tip face of this cylinder. Gas inlets 35 and 36 are provided at the front and rear ends of the cylinder (base-side sliding part 31) to allow gas to flow in and move the piston 30b back and forth. Meanwhile, the tip sliding part 31 and the powder release part 32 are formed by drilling horizontally through the conveying block B from one side to the other side at approximately the center in the vertical direction and so as to intersect with the fall transfer path 2. The portion from the front end face (right side in FIG. 2) of the conveying block B to the point where it intersects with the drop transfer path 2 corresponds to the tip sliding portion 31, and the portion ahead of that corresponds to the powder escape portion 32. The opening on the rear end face side (left side in FIG. 2) of the conveying block B is closed by screwing in a sinking plug 37. As a result, a space is formed in front of the closing portion 30c of the on-off valve body 30 and on the front side of the drop transfer path 2, with one side communicating with the drop transfer path 2 and the other side closed, and this space serves as the powder escape portion 32. Incidentally, the cylinder (base end sliding portion 31) of the passage opening / closing means 3 is surrounded by a box body 38 as shown in FIG. 1 to prevent it from being exposed to the outside.

[0018] The delivery path 4 is a powder delivery path that receives the flux falling from the drop path 2 and delivers the flux forward (to the right in FIG. 2 ). It is composed of a rear delivery path 40 that intersects with the drop path 2 and a front delivery path 41 that extends forward of the rear delivery path 40. Of these, the rear delivery path 40 is formed by drilling a hole that penetrates horizontally from one side to the other side of the lower end of the transport block B described above and intersects with the drop path 2. On the other hand, the front delivery path 41 is a long cylindrical metal nipple, and its base end is connected to the rear delivery path 40 by screwing it into the front end of the rear delivery path 40. That is, the front delivery path 41 is provided to extend forward from the transport block B. The opening at the front end of the front delivery path 41 forms an outlet 42 for ejecting inert gas, and the blowing pipe 6, which will be described in detail later, is attached to the outlet 42 via a joint 43. That is, in this embodiment, the blowing pipe 6 corresponds to the "destination" to which the powder is supplied according to the present invention. A pressure gauge 50 is provided above the front end of the front delivery path 41 to measure the pressure of the inert gas being pressure-fed into the delivery transfer path 3. On the other hand, an opening 44 at the rear end of the front delivery path 41 is a location through which the inert gas is admitted into the delivery transfer path 3, and corresponds to the "gas inlet" according to the present invention. In this embodiment, a jet nozzle 45 for increasing the flow rate of the inert gas is attached to the opening (gas inlet) 44. The jet nozzle 45 is made of metal and includes a cylindrical nozzle body 46 and a small-diameter nozzle 47 protruding forward from the tip of the nozzle body 46. The nozzle body 46 has a cylindrical hollow passage 48 formed therein through which the pressure-fed inert gas passes. On the other hand, the small diameter nozzle 47 is a small diameter cylindrical tube that communicates with the hollow passage 48 of the nozzle body 46, and its inner diameter is considerably smaller than that of the hollow passage 48 of the nozzle body 46. The jet nozzle 45 configured in this manner is mounted so that the nozzle body 46 is located rearward from the rear surface of the aforementioned transport block B, and the small diameter nozzle 47 is located within the delivery transfer path 3. The small diameter nozzle 47 has a predetermined length, and in this embodiment, its tip is located slightly forward of the lower part of the drop transfer path 2.A check valve 49 is attached to the base end of the ejection nozzle 45 to prevent backflow of the inert gas.

[0019] In this embodiment, as a preferred example, the ejection nozzle 45 is provided at the gas inlet 44 of the delivery transfer path 4, but the object of the present invention can be achieved without providing a ejection nozzle. Also, a small-diameter ejection port may be provided at the gas inlet. That is, if the inside diameter of the ejection port is configured to be smaller than the inside diameter of the gas pressure-feeding point located before the ejection port, the flow rate of the inert gas can be increased, and the same effect as when an ejection nozzle is provided can be expected.

[0020] The blowing pipe 5 is composed of a pipe body 51 and a flexible hose 52. The pipe body 51 is used by immersing the tip portion in the molten metal, and although not shown, it consists of a core made of a long metal pipe and a refractory layer provided so as to cover the outer periphery of the core body. On the other hand, the flexible hose 52 consists of a flexible metal feed pipe and a resin layer provided so as to cover the outer periphery of the feed pipe. One end of the flexible hose 52 is connected to the ejection port 42 of the delivery transfer path 4, and the other end of the flexible hose 52 is connected to the base end of the pipe body 51.

[0021] The powder supplying device according to the present invention can be widely applied to devices that supply various powders, and is not limited to the flux supplying device exemplified in this embodiment. Therefore, it is not always necessary to provide the blowing pipe 5 at the outlet of the delivery transfer path.

[0022] As shown in FIG. 4 , the gas flow path 6 is a flow path that sends inert gas from a gas cylinder G, which serves as a gas supply source, to the powder transfer path. The gas flow path 6 begins at the gas cylinder G and branches into multiple flow paths along the way. That is, the gas flow path 6 originates from the gas cylinder G, and branches into a first gas flow path 6A and a second gas flow path 6B via an emergency stop switch 60 and an operation ready switch 61. Of these, the downstream end of the first gas flow path 6A is connected to the gas inlet 44 of the delivery transfer path 4. In this embodiment, a jet nozzle 45 is attached to the gas inlet 44. Therefore, the downstream end of the first gas flow path 6A is connected to the base end of the jet nozzle 45, or more precisely, to the base end of a check valve 49 attached to the base end of the jet nozzle 45. In other words, the downstream end of the first gas flow path 6A is connected to the gas inlet 44 via the jet nozzle 45 and the check valve 49. The first gas flow path 6A is provided with a regulator 62 that reduces the pressure of the inert gas pressure-fed from the gas cylinder G, and a control valve 63 that determines whether to allow the inert gas to flow. The second gas flow path 6B is also provided with a regulator 64 and a control valve 65. The second gas flow path 6B is further branched into a third gas flow path 7A and a fourth gas flow path 7B via a control valve 65, and the third gas flow path 7A and the fourth gas flow path 7B are further branched into a fifth gas flow path 8A and a sixth gas flow path 8B. The control valve 65 provided in the second gas flow path 6B also has a flow path switching function that determines whether the inert gas is to flow through the third gas flow path 7A or the third gas flow path 7B. The downstream end of the third gas flow path 7A is connected to the gas inlet 36 of the cylinder (base-end sliding portion) 31 of the passage opening and closing means 3, and the downstream end of the fourth gas flow path 7B is connected to the gas inlet 35 of the cylinder 31. Furthermore, the downstream end of a fifth gas flow path 8A branching off from the third gas flow path 7A is connected to the second gas inlet 26 of the lower drop path 21 of the falling transfer path 2, and the downstream end of a sixth gas flow path 8B branching off from the fourth gas flow path 7B is connected to the first gas inlet 25 of the lower drop path 21 of the falling transfer path 2. A flow meter 66 with a needle valve is provided in the sixth gas flow path 8B.As shown in Fig. 1, this needle valve-equipped flow meter 66 is attached to the transfer block B, allowing the flow rate of the inert gas delivered from the sixth gas flow path 8B to the first gas inlet 25 to be visually observed from the outside, and the flow rate to be adjusted using a knob 67. The emergency stop switch 60, operation ready switch 61, regulator 62 and control valve 63 of the first gas flow path 6A, and regulator 64 and control valve 65 of the second gas flow path 6B are all housed together in an operation box 68, as shown in Fig. 1. In Fig. 1, reference numeral 69 denotes an inert gas switch corresponding to the control valve 63 of the first gas flow path 6A, and reference numeral 70 denotes a powder switch corresponding to the control valve 65 of the second gas flow path 6B.

[0023] Next, the operation of the flux supplying device according to this embodiment, configured as described above, will be described. To use this flux supplying device, first, the lid 10 of the hopper 1 is opened, and an appropriate amount of flux to be used is poured into the hopper 1. The lid 10 of the hopper 1 is then closed, and the locking device 15 of the hopper 1 is engaged with the locking piece 16 of the lid 10 to seal the interior of the hopper 1. Next, the inert gas switch 69 on the operation box 68 is turned on. This causes inert gas to be pumped into the first gas flow path 6A, sent to the delivery path 4 via the ejection nozzle 45 of the delivery path 4, and then blown out of the blowing pipe 5 through the ejection port 42 of the delivery path 4. Note that simply operating the inert gas switch 69 only supplies inert gas to the blowing pipe 5; therefore, the powder switch 70 is then turned on. As a result, the inert gas in the second gas flow path 6B is also pressure-fed into the fourth gas flow path 7B, flows into the gas inlet 35 of the cylinder (base-end sliding portion) 31 of the passage opening / closing means 3, and is pressure-fed into the sixth gas flow path 8B branching from the fourth gas flow path 7B, and flows into the first gas inlet 25 of the falling transfer path 2. Then, the inert gas flowing in from the gas inlet 35 of the cylinder 31 moves the piston 30b of the on-off valve element 30 toward the base end of the cylinder 31, and accordingly, the closing member 30c of the on-off valve element 30 retracts from the falling transfer path 2. Therefore, the flux discharged from the hopper 1 and waiting above the closing member 30c of the falling transfer path 2 falls downward and is sent to the delivery transfer path 4. The flux received in the delivery transfer path 4 is blown away by the inert gas ejected from the small-diameter nozzle 47 of the ejection nozzle 45 and is discharged from the tip of the blowing pipe 5. When ejecting the flux, it is naturally necessary to immerse the tip of the injection pipe 5 in advance in the molten metal in a crucible or other metal melting furnace. Incidentally, the ejection nozzle 45 of this embodiment ejects the inert gas from the small-diameter nozzle 47, which has a smaller diameter than the inner diameter of the hollow passage 48 of the nozzle body 46. This increases the ejection speed of the inert gas, and as a result, the flux can be sufficiently ejected even if the flow rate of the inert gas is reduced.In other words, if the flow rate of the inert gas were to be increased to ensure the flux discharge rate, it could cause the molten metal in the melting furnace to splash, potentially posing a danger to workers. However, the jet nozzle 45 of this embodiment uses the small-diameter nozzle 47 to increase the inert gas flow rate and ensure the appropriate flux discharge rate, thereby avoiding the danger of molten metal splashing. Meanwhile, the inert gas flowing from the sixth gas flow path 8B into the first gas inlet 25 of the falling transfer path 2 is sprayed toward the flux falling down the falling transfer path 2. This spray allows for flexible adjustment of the flux discharge rate. Figure 5 shows the characteristics of the flux discharge rate when the inert gas is sprayed from the first gas inlet 25. It has been found that increasing the flow rate of the inert gas that collides with the flux falling down the falling transfer path 2 increases the flux discharge rate. However, once the inert gas flow rate exceeds a certain point, the flux discharge rate decreases. Therefore, by operating the knob 67 while checking the flux discharge rate using the needle valve flow meter 66, the flux can be discharged while adjusting the appropriate amount. Thus, with the flux supply device of this embodiment, the flux discharge rate can be maintained at an appropriate level simply by controlling the inert gas. Therefore, there is no need to use a power source or the like to adjust the flux discharge rate, which in turn simplifies the structure of the flux supply device and reduces costs. Furthermore, the ability to inject inert gas from the first gas inlet 25 toward the flux in the falling transfer path 2 offers another benefit. Although flux may clog the falling transfer path 2, constant injection of inert gas toward the falling flux can prevent this from occurring. Even if a clog does occur, it can be resolved by injecting inert gas toward the flux.

[0024] When the operation using the flux supply device is finished, the powder switch 70 on the operation box 68 is turned off. This activates the control valve 65, and the inert gas pressure-fed from the second gas flow path 6B is switched from the fourth gas flow path 7B to the third gas flow path 7A. The inert gas pressure-fed to the third gas flow path 7A then flows into the gas inlet 36 of the cylinder 31 of the passage opening and closing means 3, and is pressure-fed into the fifth gas flow path 8A branching from the third gas flow path 7A, and then flows into the second gas inlet 26 of the falling transfer path 2. At this time, the inert gas flowing in from the gas inlet 36 of the cylinder 31 moves the piston 30b of the on-off valve element 30 toward the tip of the cylinder 31. As a result, the blocking element 30c of the on-off valve element 30 advances into the falling transfer path 2, blocking the middle of the falling transfer path 2. Furthermore, the inert gas that has flowed from the fifth gas flow path 8A into the second gas inlet 26 of the falling transfer path 2 is sprayed downwards within the falling transfer path 2, and if any flux remains within the falling transfer path 2 as a result of this spraying, it is guided to the delivery transfer path 4. At this time, the inert gas is still being pumped from the first gas flow path 6A to the ejection nozzle 45, so that any flux remaining within the delivery transfer path 4 and the blowing pipe 5 is quickly swept away. Next, the blowing pipe 5 is removed from the molten metal, and then the inert gas switch 69 is turned off to stop the flow of inert gas through the gas flow path 6.

[0025] In the previous explanation, the clogging detection relief valve 12 and warning whistle 13 were attached to the opening / closing cover 10 of the hopper 1 of the flux supply device in this embodiment. These function as a warning device to alert the operator if a clogging occurs in the powder transfer path of the flux supply device. That is, if a clogging occurs anywhere in the powder transfer path of the flux supply device, the flow of inert gas is blocked at that point, causing the inert gas to flow toward the hopper located above the powder transfer path. At this time, the inert gas is released to the outside by the clogging detection relief valve attached to the opening / closing cover of the hopper. At the same time, the inert gas also passes through the warning whistle, emitting a sound, immediately alerting the operator to the clogging. Naturally, this warning device can also function in powder supply devices that do not have a gas inlet, as in the flux supply device of this embodiment.

[0026] In the above embodiment, the powder transport paths, ie, the drop transport path 2 and the outfeed transport path 4, are formed by excavating the transport block B, but the present invention is not limited to this and they can also be formed by using a cylindrical pipe. Also, in the above embodiment, the gas inlet 44 of the outfeed transport path 4 is provided with the jet nozzle 45, and as a substitute for this, a small-diameter jet nozzle is provided at the gas inlet. However, these can of course function even in a powder supplying device that does not have the gas inlet of the flux supplying device of this embodiment. [Explanation of symbols]

[0027] G Gas cylinder (gas supply source) 1 Hopper 2 Falling transfer path (powder transfer path) 3. Passage opening and closing means 4 Output transfer path (powder transfer path) 6 Gas flow path 9 Outlet 25 First gas inlet 26 Second gas inlet 44 Gas inlet (opening)

Claims

1. In a powder supplying device that sprays powder from a spray port and supplies it to a target location, The powder supply device is The apparatus comprises a hopper that stores powder therein and has a discharge port at the bottom for discharging the powder, a powder transfer path that transfers the powder that has flowed in from the discharge port of the hopper, and a gas flow path that circulates gas that is pressure-fed from a gas supply source, the powder transfer path comprises a drop transfer path through which the powder received from the hopper falls, and a delivery transfer path having the ejection outlet at one end side and delivering the powder received from the drop transfer path to the ejection outlet, a gas inlet capable of receiving gas is provided at a location of the drop transfer path and at the other end of the delivery transfer path, the gas flow path is branched into a plurality of paths, and the gas in one of the paths can flow into the gas inlet of the drop transfer path, and the gas in the other path can flow into the gas inlet of the delivery transfer path; A powder supply device characterized in that when gas is pressurized from the gas supply source, the gas is sprayed from the gas inlet of the falling transfer path toward the powder in the falling transfer path, and the gas is sprayed from the gas inlet of the delivery transfer path toward the powder in the delivery transfer path, so that the powder is sprayed from the spray outlet to a target location.

2. The powder supplying device according to claim 1 further comprises a passage opening / closing means for determining whether or not to allow the transfer of powder in the drop transfer passage, the passage opening and closing means comprises an opening and closing valve body whose tip end is movable back and forth within the falling transfer passage, and a base end side housing portion which slides the base end side of the opening and closing valve body; The base-end housing portion is provided with a gas inlet port capable of receiving gas, The gas in one of the plurality of branched gas flow paths can flow into the gas inlet of the base-end accommodating section, When gas is pressure-fed from the gas supply source, the valve body can be moved back and forth by the gas flowing in from the gas inlet port of the base-end housing section.

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