Drying apparatus for thin plate-shaped workpieces

Abstract

In a drying apparatus for drying thin sheet-like workpieces, in which multiple moist or wet thin sheet-like workpieces are arranged upright at appropriate intervals, the apparatus prevents contact between adjacent thin sheet-like workpieces without using air blowing, thereby enabling the thin sheet-like workpieces to dry well. [Solution] A drying apparatus 1 for thin sheet workpieces is configured to dry multiple thin sheet workpieces w in a high-temperature atmosphere with gaps between them and arranged upright. The apparatus includes a workpiece holding means 3 that holds multiple thin sheet workpieces at intervals perpendicular to their surface direction so that their surface direction is aligned with the vertical direction, a drying tank means 2 that houses the workpiece holding means holding the thin sheet workpieces, a heating means 4 that creates a high-temperature atmosphere inside the drying tank means, and a means 5 that vibrates the multiple thin sheet workpieces. The apparatus is configured to vibrate the multiple thin sheet workpieces during the drying process.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an apparatus for drying a thin plate-like workpiece such as a separator of a fuel cell.

Background Art

[0002] Various techniques have been proposed for drying a thin plate-like workpiece such as a separator of a fuel cell after washing. For example, in Patent Document 1, when drying a plurality of thin plate-like workpieces having a thickness of several hundred μm vertically stored in a rack in a drying tank, if the workpieces are warped and adhere to each other due to the surface tension of the cleaning liquid that has entered between the adjacent workpieces, drying failure is likely to occur. Therefore, it has been proposed to provide an injection device that intermittently injects air between adjacent workpieces and a heating device for increasing the temperature in the drying tank. In Patent Document 2, it has been proposed to dry by blowing hot air when pulling up a rinsed thin plate-like workpiece. In Patent Document 3, a process of discharging the cleaning medium remaining in the gap portion by reducing the pressure of the surrounding atmosphere communicating with the gap portion of the workpiece in a state where the thin plate-like workpiece to be cleaned is taken out from the cleaning medium is disclosed.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Patent Document 3

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] When drying thin sheet metal workpieces, such as separators for fuel cells, after they have been wet from cleaning, a typical method involves arranging multiple sheet metal workpieces upright in a basket-like container at appropriate intervals, and then heating them in a drying tank to evaporate the liquid that is wetting the surface of the sheet metal workpieces or the liquid that has permeated into the interior of the workpieces. In this process, if the sheet metal workpieces have relatively low rigidity and are prone to warping, adjacent workpieces may remain in close contact with each other due to the surface tension of the liquid, resulting in poor drying. Therefore, in the past, as described in the aforementioned patent document, a process such as blowing air between workpieces to separate contacting workpieces has sometimes been performed during this drying process. In this regard, blowing air into each of the many workpieces arranged in a row requires a precise nozzle design. In particular, increasing the number of workpieces contained in the basket to increase productivity reduces the spacing between workpieces, requiring a precise nozzle design and equipment maintenance to accurately eject air (if air is not ejected correctly, the air pressure can induce unintended warping or movement of the workpieces, which can actually lead to poor drying). Also, ejecting a large amount of air from the nozzle will result in the discharge of an equal amount of high-temperature gas outside the drying chamber, which can consume additional energy to reheat the drying chamber. Furthermore, if high-temperature air drawn in from inside the drying chamber is to be ejected, the heat resistance of the equipment used must be considered, which can be a factor in increasing equipment costs.

[0005] In view of the above circumstances, the main object of the present invention is to provide a drying apparatus for drying multiple wet or damp thin plate-shaped workpieces arranged upright at appropriate intervals, which prevents contact between adjacent thin plate-shaped workpieces and allows for good drying of the thin plate-shaped workpieces without using air blowing.

[0006] In this regard, the inventors of the present invention have found that when drying multiple wet or damp thin plate-shaped workpieces arranged upright at appropriate intervals in a high-temperature atmosphere, vibrating the thin plate-shaped workpieces causes them to separate, allowing for effective drying. This finding is utilized in the present invention. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] According to the present invention, the above problem is solved in one embodiment by a drying apparatus for thin plate-shaped workpieces configured to dry a plurality of thin plate-shaped workpieces in a high-temperature atmosphere while they are arranged upright with gaps between them, the apparatus comprising: workpiece holding means for holding the plurality of thin plate-shaped workpieces with gaps between them in a direction perpendicular to their surface direction so that the surface direction is aligned with the vertical direction; drying tank means for housing the workpiece holding means with the thin plate-shaped workpieces held in place; heating means for creating a high-temperature atmosphere inside the drying tank means; and means for vibrating the plurality of thin plate-shaped workpieces, wherein the apparatus is configured to vibrate the plurality of thin plate-shaped workpieces during drying.

[0008] In the above, the thin plate-shaped workpiece may be a workpiece with a thickness of 0.05 mm to 0.2 mm, typically 0.1 mm, such as a separator for a fuel cell. When drying the thin plate-shaped workpiece in the apparatus, the spacing between the vertically arranged thin plate-shaped workpieces may be 5 mm to 15 mm, typically about 8 mm. The ambient temperature of the workpieces during drying may be 100 to 200°C. The vibration applied to the thin plate-shaped workpiece during drying is mainly in a direction perpendicular to the surface direction of the workpiece, with an amplitude of a few mm (less than 1 cm) and a frequency of a few Hz to 60 Hz.

[0009] According to the above configuration, multiple thin sheet-like workpieces, arranged vertically with gaps between them, are exposed to a high-temperature atmosphere while being vibrated. As described later, the vibration of the sheet-like workpieces causes them to warp in the same direction, preventing adjacent workpieces from touching each other, and allowing each workpiece to separate from the others, resulting in thorough drying. [Effects of the Invention]

[0010] Thus, with the configuration of the apparatus of the present invention described above, even without blowing air between multiple thin plate-shaped workpieces arranged vertically, each thin plate-shaped workpiece will separate from one another and be dried well. The apparatus of the present invention consumes energy to vibrate the thin plate-shaped workpieces, but it is advantageous in that it does not require precise nozzle design and equipment maintenance, nor does it require reheating of the drying tank associated with blowing air or consideration of the heat resistance of the equipment used.

[0011] Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments of the present invention. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0012] [Figure 1] Figure 1 is a schematic perspective view of a drying apparatus for thin sheet workpieces according to this embodiment. For illustrative purposes, the drying chamber is depicted as transparent. [Figure 2] Figures 2(A) and 2(B) are schematic diagrams of thin sheet workpieces arranged inside the drying apparatus according to this embodiment, respectively. (A) shows the workpieces before vibration, and (B) shows them during vibration. [Explanation of symbols]

[0013] 1...Drying apparatus, 2...Drying tank, 3...Basket (workpiece holding means), 4...Heater, 5...Vibrator, w...Thin plate-shaped workpiece [Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention]

[0014] The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the attached figures, with reference to several preferred embodiments. In the figures, the same reference numerals indicate the same parts.

[0015] Device configuration As shown in Figure 1, the sheet metal workpiece drying apparatus 1 according to this embodiment is used to dry sheet metal workpieces w that have been moistened by washing or other means in the manufacturing process of sheet metal workpieces w such as separators for fuel cells. In the drying apparatus 1, as shown in the figure, multiple sheet metal workpieces w are arranged in a basket 3 with spacing between them perpendicular to their surface direction, and are held in a state where their surface direction is oriented vertically. The basket 3 is housed in a drying tank 2, and a heater 4 is placed in an appropriate position to evaporate the liquid (mainly water) on the surface and inside the sheet metal workpieces w by creating a high-temperature atmosphere in the drying tank 2. Although not shown in the figure, the drying tank 2 is provided with an exhaust port to discharge vaporized moisture. In this configuration, the sheet metal workpieces w may have a thickness of 0.05 mm to 0.2 mm, typically 0.1 mm, and may be arranged in the basket 3 at intervals of 5 mm to 15 mm, typically about 8 mm. During the drying process, the inside of the tank 2 is heated to 100-200°C by the heater 4.

[0016] Furthermore, in the drying apparatus 1 of this embodiment, as shown in the figure, a vibrator 5 is provided for vibrating a plurality of thin plate-shaped workpieces w arranged in a basket 3. The vibrator 5 may be placed inside the drying tank 2 to vibrate the basket 3, or it may be designed to vibrate the entire drying tank 2. The vibration provided by the vibrator 5 is mainly a vibration in a direction perpendicular to the plane direction of the thin plate-shaped workpieces w, with an amplitude of a few mm (1 cm or less) and a frequency of a few Hz to 60 Hz.

[0017] Device operation In the operation of the drying device 1 of the above-described embodiment, the basket 3 in which a plurality of thin plate-shaped workpieces w are arranged as described above is placed in the drying tank 2, and while applying vibration to the plurality of thin plate-shaped workpieces w with the vibrator 5, the inside of the tank 2 is heated by the heater 4 to create a high-temperature atmosphere. Then, as shown in Fig. 2(A), before vibration, some of the thin plate-shaped workpieces w arranged in the basket 3 warp perpendicular to the surface direction, causing adjacent thin plate-shaped workpieces w to come into contact. Even in the state of being adsorbed by the surface tension of the liquid, as schematically depicted by the symbol α, when vibration is started as shown in Fig. 2(B), due to the vibration (V), the plurality of thin plate-shaped workpieces w vibrate in the same direction (a), and the force exceeds the surface tension, causing the warping directions of the plurality of thin plate-shaped workpieces w to align. As a result, adjacent thin plate-shaped workpieces w are separated from each other, and both sides of each thin plate-shaped workpiece w are opened, thus achieving good drying. According to the research of the inventors of the present embodiment, by vibrating the plurality of thin plate-shaped workpieces w during drying, the time required for drying is significantly shortened.

[0018] Thus, according to the configuration of the above-described embodiment, even without blowing air between the plurality of thin plate-shaped workpieces arranged upright in the basket, the thin plate-shaped workpieces are separated from each other, and it is possible to dry the thin plate-shaped workpieces well.

[0019] The above description has been made in relation to the embodiments of the present invention. However, many modifications and changes are easily possible for those skilled in the art, and the present invention is not limited to only the embodiments illustrated above. It will be apparent that the present invention can be applied to various devices without departing from the concept of the present invention.

Claims

[Claim 1] A drying apparatus for thin plate-shaped workpieces, configured to dry multiple thin plate-shaped workpieces in a high-temperature atmosphere while they are arranged upright with gaps between them, comprising: workpiece holding means for holding multiple thin plate-shaped workpieces with gaps between them perpendicular to their surface direction so that the surface direction is aligned with the vertical direction; drying tank means for housing the workpiece holding means with the thin plate-shaped workpieces held in place; heating means for creating a high-temperature atmosphere inside the drying tank means; and means for vibrating the multiple thin plate-shaped workpieces, wherein the apparatus is configured to vibrate the multiple thin plate-shaped workpieces during drying.

Images