Granule recovery apparatus

Abstract

To provide a granular material recovery apparatus capable of taking out granular material from an apparatus body while maintaining a negative pressure state inside the apparatus body with a simple mechanism.SOLUTION: A granular material recovery apparatus according to the present invention includes an apparatus body 2 in which the interior is maintained in a negative pressure state, and a granular material recovery part 3 connected to a lower end of the apparatus body 2. The granular material recovery part 3 includes a communication pipe 9 communicating with the apparatus body 2, a discharge port 10 for discharging granular material 7, a conveying device 13 disposed inside the communication pipe 9 and configured to convey the granular material 7 to the discharge port 10, and a flap 15 capable of opening and closing the discharge port 10. The flap 15 includes a swing shaft 16 and at least one flap plate 17 that swings about the swing shaft 16, and is configured to close the discharge port 10 by a negative pressure inside the apparatus body 2.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a powder and granular material recovery device. [Background technology]

[0002] For example, Patent Document 1 below proposes a dust collector including a hollow filter. This dust collector filters gas containing dust through the hollow filter. The filtered dust is discharged from a dust collection chamber provided with the hollow filter by an extraction valve. This extraction valve can discharge the dust while the dust collection chamber is airlocked. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 7-16413 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In a conventional powder or granular material recovery device, for example, a rotary valve with an airlock function can be used as a valve for removing powder or granular material while maintaining a negative pressure state inside the device body.

[0005] However, the rotary valve is complicated in structure, heavy, and expensive, so there has been a demand for a simple mechanism that can replace the rotary valve in powder and granular material recovery devices.

[0006] The present invention was devised in consideration of the above-mentioned circumstances, and its main object is to provide a powder and granular material recovery device that can remove powder and granular materials from the device body using a simple mechanism while maintaining a negative pressure state inside the device body. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The first invention is a powdered or granular material recovery device that includes a main body whose interior is maintained at a negative pressure and into which powder or granular material flows, and a powder or granular material recovery section that is connected to the lower end of the main body and recovers the powder or granular material within the main body, the powder or granular material recovery section including a communicating pipe that communicates with the main body, a discharge outlet that is located downstream of the communicating pipe and discharges the powder or granular material, a conveying device that is located inside the communicating pipe and conveys the powder or granular material to the discharge outlet, and a flap that can open and close the discharge outlet, the flap including a swinging shaft and at least one flap plate that swings around the swinging shaft, and the discharge outlet can be closed by the negative pressure within the main body.

[0008] A second invention is characterized in that, in the first invention, the communication pipe is inclined upward from the lower end side of the device body toward the discharge port side.

[0009] A third invention is characterized in that, in the second invention, the transport device is a screw conveyor.

[0010] A fourth invention is characterized in that, in any one of the first to third inventions, the flap includes a plurality of the flap plates arranged in the axial direction of the swing shaft.

[0011] The fifth invention is characterized in that, in the fourth invention, each of the multiple flaps includes a first surface portion facing the discharge outlet and a second surface portion connected to the end of the first surface portion in the flap arrangement direction and extending in a direction intersecting the first surface portion.

[0012] A sixth invention is characterized in that, in the fifth invention, the second surface portion of one of the flaps is in contact with the second surface portion of another adjacent flaps.

[0013] A seventh invention is characterized in that, in the sixth invention, the second surface portion extends to the opposite side to the ejection port. [Effects of the Invention]

[0014] In the first aspect of the present invention, the powder / granular material recovery section includes a conveying device that conveys the powder / granular material to the discharge outlet and a flap that can open and close the discharge outlet, and the flap can close the discharge outlet by negative pressure within the device body. Therefore, in the first aspect of the present invention, the powder / granular material can be removed from the device body with a simple mechanism while maintaining the negative pressure state inside the device body.

[0015] In the second invention, the connecting pipe is inclined upward from the lower end side of the device body toward the discharge port side, so the position of the discharge port can be raised, which in turn makes it possible to install a storage box with a greater depth.

[0016] In the third aspect of the present invention, the conveying device is a screw conveyor, which allows for further cost reduction. Furthermore, the screw conveyor can also effectively prevent air from passing through the communicating pipe by the powder or granular material being conveyed. This further ensures that the negative pressure state inside the device body is maintained.

[0017] In the fourth aspect of the present invention, the flaps include a plurality of flaps arranged in the axial direction of the swing shaft, so that the flaps can be opened and closed quickly even when a small amount of powder or granular material is discharged.

[0018] In the fifth aspect of the present invention, since the flap includes the first surface portion and the second surface portion, the rigidity of the flap is improved, and unnecessary deformation can be suppressed.

[0019] In the sixth invention, the second surface portion of one flap plate is in contact with the second surface portion of another adjacent flap plate, so that even if each flap plate is misaligned in the swinging direction, the second surface portion can suppress the inflow of air.

[0020] In the seventh invention, since the second surface portion extends on the side opposite the discharge port, the second surface portion does not interfere with the closing of the flap, and the negative pressure state inside the device body can be maintained more reliably. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0021] [Figure 1] 1 is a front view of a powder / granular material recovery device according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a side view of the powder / granular material recovery device of FIG. [Figure 3] 2 is a schematic view showing the inside of the powder / granular material recovery device of FIG. 1. [Figure 4] 4 is an enlarged view of the lower end of the device main body and the communication pipe of FIG. 3. [Figure 5] FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the flap of FIG. 1. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the flap of FIG. 5. [Figure 7] FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 5. [Figure 8] FIG. 10 is an enlarged perspective view of a flap according to another embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0022] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The drawings are intended to illustrate the features of the present invention, but may include exaggerated representations and representations that differ from the dimensional ratios of the actual structure to facilitate understanding of the present invention. Furthermore, identical or common elements are designated by the same reference numerals throughout the embodiments, and redundant explanations will be omitted. Furthermore, the specific configurations shown in the embodiments and drawings are intended to facilitate understanding of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to the specific configurations shown in the drawings. Furthermore, well-known configurations may be adopted as appropriate for configurations not described in this specification.

[0023] FIG. 1 shows a front view of a powdered or granular material recovery device (hereinafter, sometimes simply referred to as "device") 1 of this embodiment. FIG. 2 shows a side view of the device 1 of FIG. 1 observed from the left side. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the device 1 is for recovering powdered or granular material that is pneumatically transported. Pneumatic transport is a method of transporting powdered or granular material by flowing air containing the powdered or granular material. Powdered or granular material refers to powder-like or granular materials, and their shape is not particularly limited as long as they are of a size that can be pneumatically transported. Therefore, powdered or granular materials include fine flake-like and short fiber-like materials.

[0024] Furthermore, powdered or granular materials include synthetic resin materials, metal materials, semiconductor materials, wood materials, pharmaceutical materials, food materials, etc. The device 1 of this embodiment is intended to use food materials as powdered or granular materials, specifically rice flour.

[0025] The device 1 has a hollow device body 2. The device body 2 is provided with an intake port 2a through which air containing powder and granular materials is supplied, and an exhaust port 2b through which air that has been filtered of the powder and granular materials is discharged. In FIG. 1, dots are applied to the openings of the intake port 2a and the exhaust port 2b. Furthermore, in FIG. 1, the internal shape that can be observed through these openings is omitted.

[0026] When the device 1 is in operation, another device (not shown) is connected to the intake port 2a to supply air containing powder and granular material. Also, another device (not shown) is connected to the exhaust port 2b to suck in air. In FIG. 2, the flow of air in and out is indicated by arrows A1 and A2. When the device 1 is in operation, this air flow maintains a negative pressure state inside the device body 2.

[0027] Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic internal configuration of the device 1. As shown in Fig. 3, the device 1 includes a powder / granular material recovery section 3 connected to a lower end 2d of the device main body 2. The lower end 2d refers to the lower end in the vertical direction of an area where a filter section 5, which will be described later, is provided.

[0028] The inside of the device main body 2 is provided with a filter section 5 for filtering the powder and granular material 7. The filter section 5 includes a partition plate 5a and a plurality of filter cloths 5b suspended from the partition plate 5a. The partition plate 5a is provided with a plurality of ventilation holes (not shown) for allowing air to pass through. The partition plate 5a also divides the inside of the device main body 2 into upper and lower sections, and these sections are connected only by the ventilation holes. The filter cloths 5b are in the shape of a long bag extending in the vertical direction, and are suspended from the partition plate 5a, covering the ventilation holes provided in the partition plate 5a.

[0029] Air containing powder and granular materials 7 is supplied through the intake port 2a (shown in FIGS. 1 and 2) and passes through the filter cloth 5b and the vent holes in the partition plate 5a before being discharged through the exhaust port 2b (shown in FIGS. 1 and 2) (see arrow A3 in FIG. 3). As the powder and granular materials 7 are filtered by the filter cloth 5b, they accumulate on the surface of the filter cloth 5b. The powder and granular materials 7 that have accumulated on the filter cloth 5b fall as needed. The fallen powder and granular materials 7 are collected by the funnel-shaped lower inner wall 2c provided below the filter section 5 toward the powder and granular material recovery section 3. In FIG. 3, the collected powder and granular materials 7 are dotted. This is the same in other figures in this specification. In FIG. 3, the powder and granular materials 7 adhering to the filter cloth 5b and the falling powder and granular materials 7 are conceptually indicated by small circles.

[0030] In a preferred embodiment, the device 1 of this embodiment includes an injector 8 that intermittently injects compressed air onto the filter cloth 5b. This prevents excessive accumulation of powder 7 on the filter cloth 5b. However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment.

[0031] The powder / granular material recovery section 3 includes a communication pipe 9 and a discharge port 10 that discharges the powder / granular material 7. FIG. 4 shows an enlarged view of the lower end 2d of the device main body 2 and the communication pipe 9. As shown in FIG. 4, the communication pipe 9 communicates with the device main body 2, and the filtered powder / granular material 7 is supplied through the communication pipe 9. The communication pipe 9 does not include any openings through which air can enter or exit, except for the end on the device main body 2 side and the end on the discharge port 10 (shown in FIG. 3) side. Therefore, the negative pressure of the device main body 2 can act on the discharge port 10.

[0032] As shown in FIG. 3, the powder / granular material recovery section 3 includes a conveying device 13 and a flap 15. The conveying device 13 is disposed inside the communicating pipe 9 and is capable of conveying the powder / granular material 7 to the discharge port 10 and discharging the powder / granular material 7 from the powder / granular material recovery section 3. The discharged powder / granular material 7 is stored, for example, in a storage box 20 (shown in FIG. 1) provided below the discharge port 10. Note that the present invention is not particularly limited to the downstream side of the discharge port 10. Therefore, in another embodiment, for example, the powder / granular material 7 discharged from the discharge port 10 may be transported to the next process by a conveyor or the like.

[0033] The flap 15 can open and close the discharge port 10. Fig. 5 shows an enlarged perspective view of the flap 15. Fig. 6 shows an enlarged cross-sectional view of the flap 15. As shown in Figs. 5 and 6, the flap 15 includes a swing shaft 16 and at least one flap plate 17 that swings around the swing shaft 16, and can close the discharge port 10 by negative pressure within the device main body 2 (shown in Fig. 3). The flap 15 can be opened by being pressed by the powder or granular material 7, allowing the powder or granular material 7 to be appropriately discharged.

[0034] As mentioned above, conventional powder and granular material recovery devices have adopted rotary valves with airlock functions as valves for removing powder and granular material. These rotary valves can remove powder and granular material from the device body while maintaining a negative pressure inside the device body. However, these rotary valves have a complex structure, are heavy, and are expensive.

[0035] 3 and 5, in the present invention, the above-mentioned flap 15 can maintain a negative pressure state in the device body 2. Furthermore, since the conveying device 13 itself disposed inside the communicating pipe 9 does not require an airlock function, it is possible to adopt a simple and inexpensive mechanism. Therefore, in the present invention, the powder or granular material 7 can be removed from the device body 2 while maintaining a negative pressure state inside the device body 2 with a simple mechanism.

[0036] The configuration of this embodiment will be described in more detail below. As shown in Fig. 3, various shapes are employed for the communicating pipe 9 so that the discharge port 10 is located at a desired position. The communicating pipe 9 extends at least laterally so that the discharge port 10 is located outside the device main body 2. This allows the position of the storage box 20 (shown in Fig. 1) for storing the powdered or granular material 7 to be determined without interference from the device main body 2. Furthermore, compared to conventional powdered or granular material recovery devices in which the storage box 20 is installed at the bottom of the device main body, the present invention makes it possible to increase the volume of the storage box 20.

[0037] In this embodiment, the communicating pipe 9 is inclined upward from the lower end 2d of the device body 2 toward the discharge port 10. This allows the position of the discharge port 10 to be higher, which in turn makes it possible to install a deeper storage box 20. Furthermore, it is desirable that the upper end 9a of the communicating pipe 9 is connected to the side wall 2w of the device body 2 by a support rod 22. This prevents the upper end 9a of the communicating pipe 9 from shaking when the powder or granular material 7 is discharged from the discharge port 10, improving the durability of the powder or granular material recovery unit 3.

[0038] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. Depending on the positional relationship between the device 1 and the storage box 20, the communicating pipe 9 may be inclined downward from the lower end 2d of the device body 2 toward the discharge port 10. This allows for a flexible layout, such as installing the device 1 on the second floor of a building and the storage box 20 on the first floor.

[0039] As shown in Figure 3, the conveying device 13 of this embodiment is preferably a screw conveyor 25. The screw conveyor 25 is significantly cheaper than the rotary valve described above, making it possible to achieve further cost reductions. In addition, the screw conveyor 25 can also effectively prevent air from passing through the communicating pipe 9 by the powder or granular material 7 being conveyed. This more reliably maintains the negative pressure state inside the device main body 2.

[0040] As shown in FIG. 6, the section from the end of the conveying device 13 to the discharge port 10 is the end portion 9e of the communicating pipe 9. This end portion 9e includes a sliding surface 28 that slopes downward from the end of the conveying device 13 toward the discharge port 10. The powder or granular material 7 that reaches the end of the conveying device 13 slides down the sliding surface 28 and reaches the discharge port 10. The flap 15 can be opened by the momentum of the sliding of the powder or granular material 7, and the powder or granular material 7 can be discharged. Note that even if the amount of sliding down of the powder or granular material 7 is small and the flap 15 does not open, if the powder or granular material 7 accumulates just before the discharge port 10, the flap 15 can open due to the weight of the powder or granular material 7.

[0041] As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 , the swing shaft 16 of the flap 15 in this embodiment extends horizontally. The flap 17 is suspended from the swing shaft 16 and extends vertically. As a result, the lower end 17d of the flap 17 is located below the swing shaft 16. The flap 17 is barely inclined vertically, extending at an angle of, for example, 5° or less. As a result, as shown in FIG. 6 , the horizontal distance between the swing shaft 16 and the lower end 17d in the cross section of the flap 15 is, for example, 20 mm or less. This allows the flap 17 to reliably close the discharge port 10 even when the pressure difference between the inside and outside of the flap 17 is small. Furthermore, the flap 15 can quickly open even when a small amount of powder 7 slides down.

[0042] With the above-described configuration, in this embodiment, the flap plate 17 is not biased by a spring material or the like. That is, in this embodiment, the negative pressure state inside the device main body 2 can be maintained with a simpler mechanism.

[0043] If the vertical length L1 of the flap plate 17 is excessively small, the powder 7 may clog the discharge port 10. Furthermore, if the length L1 of the flap plate 17 is excessively large, unnecessary oscillation of the flap plate 17 occurs, which in turn makes it easier for air to enter through the discharge port 10. To optimize the length L1 of the flap plate 17, in this embodiment, the fixed plate 30 is disposed above the flap plate 17. Furthermore, the length L1 of the flap plate 17 is set to 30% to 70% of the total vertical length Lt of the portion including the fixed plate 30 and the flap plate 17. This can prevent the above-mentioned problems. The total length Lt refers to the vertical distance from the top of the inner wall of the portion covered by the fixed plate 30 to the bottom end 17d of the flap plate 17.

[0044] As shown in Figure 5, the flap 15 of this embodiment includes a plurality of flaps 17 arranged in the axial direction of the swing shaft 16. Hereinafter, the arrangement direction of the plurality of flaps 17 may be referred to as the flap arrangement direction D1. This allows the flaps 17 to open and close quickly even when a small amount of powder or granular material 7 is being discharged. However, if there are a large number of flaps 17, air is more likely to enter through the discharge port 10. For this reason, the flap 15 is arranged with, for example, three to five flaps 17, and in this embodiment, four flaps 17 are arranged.

[0045] FIG. 7 shows a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 5. Note that while FIG. 5 shows some flaps 17 slightly oscillating, FIG. 7 shows a state in which multiple flaps 17 are aligned. As shown in FIG. 7, each of the multiple flaps 17 includes one first surface 17a and two second surfaces 17b. The first surface 17a faces the discharge port 10. The second surface 17b is continuous with the end of the first surface 17a in the flap arrangement direction D1 and extends in a direction intersecting with the first surface 17a. Such first surface 17a and second surface 17b improve the rigidity of the flaps 17 and suppress unnecessary deformation.

[0046] When the swing positions of the flaps 17 are aligned, it is desirable that the second surface 17b of one flap 17 be in contact with the second surface 17b of the adjacent flap 17. As a result, even if the flaps 17 are misaligned in the swing direction, the two contacting second surfaces 17b will prevent gaps from forming between the two flaps 17, thereby suppressing the inflow of air. Furthermore, from the perspective of reliably achieving the above-mentioned effect, it is desirable that the second surface 17b extend in a direction perpendicular to the first surface 17a.

[0047] 5, it is preferable that second surface portion 17b extends on the side opposite to discharge outlet 10 (shown in FIG. 6). This prevents second surface portion 17b from interfering with the closing of flap 15, thereby achieving the above-mentioned effect. If second surface portion 17b extends toward discharge outlet 10, second surface portion 17b may interfere, resulting in a gap between flap 15 and discharge outlet 10.

[0048] Fig. 8 shows an enlarged perspective view of a flap 15 according to another embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Fig. 8, this embodiment uses a single flap plate 17. This embodiment can achieve the above-described effects with an even simpler mechanism.

[0049] Although a particularly preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to the illustrated embodiment and can be modified and practiced in various ways. [Industrial Applicability]

[0050] As described above, the present invention is useful as a powder and granular material recovery device. [Explanation of symbols]

[0051] 2. Device body 3 Powder and granular material recovery section 7 Powder 9 Communication pipe 10 outlet 13 Conveyor equipment 15 Flap 16 Oscillating shaft 17 Flap board

Claims

1. a device body whose interior is maintained under negative pressure and into which powder and granular material flow; a powder / granular material recovery section connected to a lower end of the device body and configured to recover powder / granular material within the device body, the powdered or granular material recovery section includes a communication pipe communicating with the device main body, a discharge port disposed downstream of the communication pipe and discharging the powdered or granular material, a conveying device disposed inside the communication pipe and conveying the powdered or granular material to the discharge port, and a flap capable of opening and closing the discharge port; the flap includes a swing shaft and at least one flap plate that swings around the swing shaft, and is capable of closing the discharge outlet by negative pressure within the device body; Powder and granular material recovery device.

2. The powder / granular material recovery device according to claim 1, The powder / granular material recovery device, wherein the communication pipe is inclined upward from the lower end side of the device body toward the discharge port side.

3. The powder / granular material recovery device according to claim 2, The powder and granular material recovery apparatus, wherein the conveying device is a screw conveyor.

4. The powder / granular material recovery device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, The powder and granular material recovery device, wherein the flap includes a plurality of flap plates arranged in the axial direction of the swing shaft.

5. The powder / granular material recovery device according to claim 4, A powder and granular material recovery device, wherein each of the plurality of flap plates includes a first surface portion facing the discharge outlet and a second surface portion connected to the end of the first surface portion in the flap plate arrangement direction and extending in a direction intersecting the first surface portion.

6. The powder / granular material recovery device according to claim 5, A powdered or granular material recovery device, wherein the second surface portion of one of the flaps is in contact with the second surface portion of another adjacent flaps.

7. 7. The powder / granular material recovery device according to claim 6, The second surface portion extends on the opposite side to the discharge port.

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