Atomization pretreatment chamber and wet atomization device equipped with said atomization pretreatment chamber

Abstract

Provided is an atomization pretreatment chamber having a configuration capable of stably fixing a position of a needle member that forms a gap flow path through which a liquid material passes relative to a nozzle while suppressing positional deviation. [Solution] An atomization pretreatment chamber equipped with a nozzle 3 which sprays a high-pressure fluid of liquid material into a pretreatment chamber 11 provided inside a housing to atomize it, and a needle member 5 whose outer surface of its conical tip T forms a gap flow path F between itself and the inner surface of an opening flow path 4 of the nozzle, allowing the high-pressure fluid to pass through, and which is equipped with a needle position adjustment section and an elastic member 9 which pulls and urges the needle member in the direction away from the nozzle.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a pre-atomization chamber for pre-treating a liquid material in which raw material particles are dispersed in a dispersion medium before the liquid material is subjected to an atomization process in an atomization device so as to reduce the raw material particle size to a certain extent, and to a wet atomization device equipped with the pre-atomization chamber. [Background technology]

[0002] A variety of fine particle materials are used in the chemical industry, such as food, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics, as well as in various fields such as automobiles, machinery, and electronic devices. Wet atomization equipment is used to atomize the raw materials to the desired particle size.

[0003] In the wet type atomization device, raw material particles in a tank are dispersed in a dispersion medium, and the liquid material is pressurized and supplied from the tank to a processing chamber by a pump, discharged into the processing chamber, and passed through an atomization means to perform the atomization process. Usually, the processed liquid material discharged from the processing chamber is returned to the tank again, and the atomization process is repeated a predetermined number of times until the desired particle size is obtained, and then the liquid material is collected.

[0004] The atomization means is a means for pulverizing and atomizing raw material particles by the action of impact force, shear force, collision force, etc., when passing through a counter-current high-pressure jet from an injection nozzle or a very small diameter micro-channel or groove, etc. Such atomization means is appropriately selected depending on the object to be treated.

[0005] However, the initial raw material particles are a mixture of particles of various sizes, and if the liquid material containing relatively large particles is suddenly sent to the atomization means, clogging may occur in the microchannel. Therefore, in order to eliminate such clogging, it is conceivable to provide a process of pre-treating the liquid material so as to reduce the raw material particle diameter to a certain extent, separate from the atomization process using the atomization chamber.

[0006] In addition, when combining the atomization process with another processing process, it is required to suppress changes in piping design and interruptions to the atomization process. For this purpose, it is practical to provide a pre-processing chamber that can be incorporated into the processing process of the atomization device.

[0007] On the other hand, in the conventional atomization device, there is a device that incorporates a device separate from the atomization chamber in the processing step, for example, a unit for applying back pressure downstream of the processing chamber, as disclosed in Patent Document 1. This is attached to the outlet of the atomization chamber to promote atomization, and makes effective use of the back pressure. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0008] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 6596392 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0009] However, although there have been cases where a back pressure unit was provided behind the atomization chamber as described above, no consideration had been given to incorporating a separate processing chamber into the atomization processing device for the purpose of actually processing the raw material particles. Therefore, in order to eliminate clogging of the raw material particles, it became necessary to newly develop a pre-processing chamber that could be incorporated into the atomization device.

[0010] First, one possible configuration for such a pretreatment chamber is to fix a nozzle that opens toward the inside of the treatment chamber to a housing, and insert a needle member whose tip is tapered into a cone shape into the opening flow passage of the nozzle. If a gap flow passage is formed with a suitable minimum width between the inner peripheral surface of the opening flow passage of the nozzle and the cone-shaped outer peripheral surface of the tip of the needle member, the liquid material that is sprayed from the upstream of the housing through the spray flow passage into the opening flow passage of the nozzle passes through the minimum width part of this gap flow passage, and the raw material particles are roughly crushed by shear force. This makes it possible to make the raw material particles uniform in particle size so that they are unlikely to clog the extremely small flow passage of the atomization means during the atomization process.

[0011] Furthermore, by making the needle member axially positionable by rotation of a screw member that screws into the housing at its rear end, the minimum width of the gap flow passage can be adjusted in accordance with the desired raw material particle diameter.

[0012] However, in the above-mentioned pretreatment chamber, the needle member is pushed out toward the upstream side relative to the nozzle opening flow path and is positioned by screwing in, so the movement of the needle member toward the upstream side is not restricted, and depending on the speed and amount of the high-pressure fluid of the liquid material or the amount of the needle member pushed out, the needle member may be displaced toward the nozzle side due to reaction.Furthermore, the needle member may be repeatedly pushed back toward the downstream side, and the position may not be fixed and may become misaligned.

[0013] When such a positional deviation occurs, the spacing of the gap flow paths also varies and changes, causing fluctuations in the pressure during processing, which becomes a cause of pulsation. If processing is performed in a pulsating state, the processing accuracy of the raw material particles also varies, and pre-processing to achieve the desired particle size becomes insufficient.

[0014] In reality, even in the case of coarse grinding, the width of the gap flow passage through which the liquid material passes is very small and the flow rate is small, so if the position of the needle member is misaligned as described above, the minimum width of the gap flow passage through which the liquid material passes will intermittently become smaller or closed, preventing the liquid material from passing continuously and preventing the pretreatment process from proceeding smoothly. Moreover, although finer positional displacement is desired when changing and adjusting the position, such changes and adjustments will essentially be meaningless.

[0015] In view of the above problems, the object of the present invention is to provide an atomization pretreatment chamber and a wet atomization device equipped with said atomization pretreatment chamber, which are configured to stably fix in position, while suppressing positional deviation, a needle member that forms a gap flow path through which liquid material containing raw material particles passes between the inner surface of the nozzle opening flow path and the outer surface of its tip, in order to roughly grind the raw material particles before the main micronization process. [Means for solving the problem]

[0016] In order to achieve the above object, the pre-atomization chamber according to the invention described in claim 1 is a pre-atomization chamber for coarsely grinding the raw material particles before the liquid material in which the raw material particles are dispersed in a dispersion medium is subjected to an atomization process by the atomization chamber of an atomization device, a pre-treatment chamber provided inside the housing in which the coarse grinding is performed; a nozzle for injecting a high-pressure fluid of the liquid material into the pre-treatment chamber to atomize the liquid material; a needle member, the outer circumferential surface of the tip of which reduces in diameter in a conical shape between the inner circumferential surface of the nozzle opening flow passage and the inner circumferential surface of the nozzle opening flow passage, forming a gap flow passage through which the high-pressure fluid passes; a needle position adjustment unit that adjusts a position of the needle member by displacing the needle member in an axial direction of the nozzle; and an elastic member that pulls and biases the needle member in a direction away from the nozzle.

[0017] With the above-mentioned configuration, in the pretreatment chamber of the present invention, the needle member, whose position is adjusted by the needle position adjustment unit, is positioned in a state where it is pulled and urged by the elastic member in the direction away from the nozzle, so that even if it receives high pressure from the liquid material sprayed from the nozzle, the positional deviation toward the nozzle side is suppressed, and the position of the needle member is stably maintained and fixed. In other words, the minimum width of the gap flow path formed between the inner peripheral surface of the nozzle opening flow path and the outer peripheral surface of the tip of the needle member can be maintained constant, so that the liquid material can pass continuously through the gap flow path of the minimum width corresponding to the set coarse particle size without stagnation, and the pretreatment process of coarsely crushing the raw material particles to the desired particle size proceeds smoothly.

[0018] Therefore, the liquid material pretreated in the pre-atomization chamber of the present invention and the raw material particles are uniform in size can proceed more smoothly in the subsequent atomization process. In addition, since the position of the needle member can be fixed in the present invention, it is also possible to change and adjust the actual position by small displacement.

[0019] In addition, the atomization pretreatment chamber of the present invention preferably further comprises an elastic member adjustment section for adjusting the amount of pressure of the elastic member against the needle member, which can be adjusted to a desired amount according to the elastic member used and various conditions of the pretreatment process.

[0020] In addition, various elastic members can be used in the present invention as long as they can pull and urge the needle member in the direction away from the nozzle so that it can stably fix the needle member in position against the reaction generated by the pressure action during pretreatment. However, it is preferable that the elastic member itself has a structure as simple as possible, while being easily adjustable in pulling and urging force according to the pressure range to be used in pretreatment.

[0021] Therefore, it is preferable to use a disc spring. That is, the elastic member is configured by combining a plurality of disc springs. Compared to, for example, a coil spring, a disc spring has a large stored energy per unit volume, and therefore exhibits a large load capacity in a smaller space and stroke. The spring characteristics can be appropriately changed not only by increasing or decreasing the number of disc springs, but also by setting a combination of serial stacking, which causes a large deflection without a change in load, and parallel stacking, which causes a large load without deflection deformation. In addition, the disc spring has excellent shock mitigation performance, and in this stacked state, a better cushioning efficiency can be obtained. The desired tensile force can be easily obtained by adjusting the amount of pressure in the stacking direction.

[0022] As a method for adjusting the pressing amount of the elastic member, it is efficient to use a screw mechanism. In this case, the elastic member adjustment unit of the present invention includes a first female screw portion provided at the rear end of the housing, and a first male screw member having a first male screw portion screwed into the first female screw portion, and changing the expansion and contraction state of the elastic member by a linear motion based on the screw rotation motion of the first female screw portion and the first male screw portion. With this configuration, the pressing amount of the elastic member against the needle member can be continuously changed and adjusted. For example, a practical configuration is one in which the first male screw member moves in the axial direction relative to the housing to expand and contract the elastic member between the needle member.

[0023] In addition, it is efficient to use a screw mechanism for the needle position adjustment part of the present invention. In this case, the needle position adjustment part includes a second female screw part formed in the rear end part of the housing, a second male screw part that screws with the second female screw part, and a needle displacement member that changes the position of the needle member by linear motion based on the screw rotation motion of the second female screw part and the second male screw part. With this configuration, the needle member can be continuously displaced, and the position of the needle member can be changed and adjusted very finely. As a result, it is possible to respond to different appropriate widths of the gap flow path depending on the type of raw material particles and the pressure used.

[0024] In a more specific design, the first male thread member can be used as the rear end portion of the housing where the second female thread portion is formed. It is also practical to configure the needle member to be displaced in the axial direction via a needle fixing member that holds the needle member. Therefore, the needle fixing member may be provided so as to penetrate the first male thread member while holding the needle member at its tip end. In this case, if the needle fixing member is used as the needle displacement member, a second female thread portion may be formed on the inner peripheral surface of the rear end portion of the through hole of the first male thread member, and a second male thread portion that screws into the second female thread portion may be formed on the outer peripheral surface of the rear end portion of the needle fixing member.

[0025] Furthermore, by allowing the needle fixing member to move axially relative to the first male threaded member using the screwing mechanism on the rear end, the position of the needle member itself can be adjusted in two stages: by displacement of the needle fixing member relative to the first male threaded member, and by displacement relative to the housing by linear movement based on the screwing rotational movement with the first female threaded portion of the first male threaded member.

[0026] In this case, it is also possible to move only the first male screw member in the axial direction while keeping the position of the needle member fixed, so that in the elastic member adjustment section, the amount of pressure applied to the elastic member interposed between the needle member and the first male screw member can be displaced to change or adjust only its expansion / contraction state according to the desired conditions, regardless of the needle member position.

[0027] Furthermore, since the minimum width of the gap flow path through which the liquid material passes is determined by the relative position between the inner surface of the nozzle opening flow path and the outer surface of the tip of the needle member, adjustment of the width is not limited to being made on the needle member side, but may also be adjustable from the nozzle side.

[0028] In this case, the pretreatment chamber of the present invention is provided with a nozzle position adjustment unit that adjusts the position of the nozzle. It is efficient for this nozzle position adjustment unit to also utilize a screw mechanism. In this case, the nozzle position adjustment unit is simply provided with a third female screw portion formed on the front end of the housing, a second male screw member having a third male screw portion that screws with the third female screw portion, and changing the position of the nozzle by linear motion based on the screw-rotation motion between the third female screw portion and the third male screw portion.

[0029] In this way, by making the nozzle position adjustment part a screw-in type similar to the needle position adjustment part, continuous displacement adjustment at the same level becomes possible. Specifically, it is practical to configure the nozzle itself to be fixed inside the housing via a fixing member, and to have the linear motion of the second male screw member act on this fixing member.

[0030] In addition, since an injection flow passage through which high-pressure fluid of the liquid material is sent to the nozzle is usually provided on the upstream side of the housing, the second male screw member that is screwed in to block the upstream side of the housing may be provided with a supply flow passage that communicates with the injection flow passage and supplies high-pressure fluid of the liquid material.

[0031] Furthermore, even if the gap flow passage through which the liquid material passes has the same minimum width, the distance of the gap flow passage formed differs depending on the taper angle of the tip of the needle member inserted into the opening flow passage of the nozzle. The smaller and thinner the taper angle of the tip of the needle member, the further the tip is inserted into the opening flow passage of the nozzle, and the larger the outer peripheral surface area of ​​the tip of the needle member facing the inner peripheral surface of the opening flow passage of the nozzle in the axial direction becomes, so the longer the distance of the gap flow passage.

[0032] Therefore, it is desirable to change to a needle member having a tip with a taper angle that forms a gap flow path of an appropriate distance depending on the type of raw material particles to be processed, the pressure to be used, etc.

[0033] Furthermore, with regard to the combination of disc springs that make up the elastic member, it is possible to not only install and replace them within the housing, but also to change the overlapping state of the disc springs in order to change the spring characteristics as different condition settings corresponding to different raw material particles.

[0034] Considering these points, it is desirable to have a housing configuration in which the needle member and the needle position adjustment portion can be handled separately.

[0035] A preferred configuration of this type is one in which the housing comprises a first casing portion including the pre-treatment chamber, and a second casing portion integrally having the needle position adjustment portion and being removably connected to the first casing portion.

[0036] In this case, by separating the second casing part from the first casing part, the needle member and needle position adjustment part, whose tip is inserted into the pre-treatment chamber inside the first casing part, also separate from the first casing part, making it easy to replace or adjust each part.

[0037] Furthermore, the nozzle arranged in the first casing part to spray the liquid material into the pre-treatment chamber is preferably configured to be removably inserted and fixed together with the nozzle position adjustment part on the opposite side of the second casing part to the first casing part. This allows multiple types of nozzles with different diameters of the opening flow path to be interchangeably assembled into the same first casing part and pre-treatment chamber, as long as the outer shape and fixing member of the nozzle are the same. Therefore, it is possible to appropriately select and use a nozzle with a diameter that can obtain desired spray conditions depending on not only the needle member but also the raw material particles.

[0038] The needle position adjustment unit is preferably provided with a display means for displaying the amount of movement of the needle member. The display means allows the position of the needle member to be easily grasped by visual inspection. A simple display means is, for example, a dial gauge or a micrometer linked to the male screw member of the needle position adjustment unit.

[0039] The pretreatment chamber according to the present invention can be installed in the circuit of a wet-type atomization device, thereby incorporating a pretreatment process into a continuous atomization process. In a general atomization system, the liquid material stored in the raw material tank is sent to a pressure booster by a liquid supply pump, pressurized, and passed through a filter to be sent to the atomization chamber as a high-pressure fluid. The liquid material after being atomized and discharged in the atomization chamber is returned to the raw material tank via a heat exchanger, and the above process is usually repeated a predetermined number of times and then recovered. Therefore, the pretreatment chamber according to the present invention can be installed before (upstream) or after (downstream) the atomization chamber.

[0040] The pretreatment chamber of the present invention is a treatment mechanism that can be used in a high pressure range of, for example, 100 to 245 MPa.

[0041] In addition, the needle member is a very thin member, and depending on the processing pressure, the tip portion is likely to be damaged. Therefore, instead of replacing the needle member as a whole, it is also possible to make only the tip portion replaceable relative to the body of the needle member. In this case, the needle member is configured such that the body and the tip portion, which are formed separately from each other, are detachably connected. It is also possible to reduce damage by providing a cylindrical or prismatic portion at the top of the conical tip portion.

[0042] In addition, the nozzle position adjustment, needle member position adjustment, and elastic member adjustment in the pretreatment chamber of the present invention can be performed manually, but they can also be adjusted automatically. Since each adjustment is performed by linear movement based on the screw rotation movement of the screw mechanism as described above, automatic control can be achieved by connecting a numerically controlled drive device to these screw mechanisms.

[0043] For example, a motor shaft is connected to each screw mechanism, a control unit is provided that numerically controls the drive of each motor, and for each screw mechanism, the correlation between the adjustment (movement) amount from the initial reference position and the rotation amount of the screw mechanism, and the rotation angle of the motor shaft corresponding to the rotation amount of the screw mechanism are preset as input values.By simply inputting a predetermined value corresponding to the desired movement amount into the control unit, the control unit drives the motor by the rotation angle of the rotation shaft according to the input value, and the target screw mechanism is rotated and driven by the required rotation amount in conjunction with this, thereby performing automatic adjustment. Effect of the Invention

[0044] According to the pre-atomization chamber of the present invention, the position of the needle member relative to the nozzle, which determines the width of the gap passage through which the raw material particles pass for coarse grinding, is fixed in a state in which it is pulled away by the elastic member, so that it is maintained more stably than in the past. This has the effect that the pre-treatment process can be smoothly and continuously carried out without delay, raw material particles with a precisely aligned particle size to the desired particle size can be provided to the subsequent atomization process, and the atomization process can be carried out smoothly. In addition, since the needle member can be stably fixed in position, it is possible to change the minimum width of the small gap passage by slightly changing the position of the needle member, and it is also possible to change the gap distance to the desired distance by replacing it with a needle member having a tip with a different taper angle. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0045] [Figure 1] 1A and 1B are schematic cross-sectional views showing the configuration of a pre-atomization treatment chamber according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which (a) is an overall cross-sectional view, and (b) is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a portion within circle A in FIG. [Diagram 2] 2A and 2B are explanatory diagrams showing the state of positional displacement of a needle member within circle A in Figure 1, where (a) is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view showing the state when the needle member has been displaced in a direction approaching the nozzle from the position in Figure 1, and (b) is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view showing the state when the needle member has been displaced in a direction away from the nozzle from the position in Figure 1. [Diagram 3]2 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view showing a state in which the needle member in FIG. 1 has a tip end with a more acute taper angle than the needle member in FIG. 1 within circle A in FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a schematic circuit diagram showing the configuration of a wet-type atomization device in which the atomization pretreatment chamber of FIG. 1 is incorporated in parallel with the atomization chamber. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0046] As one embodiment of the present invention, an atomization pretreatment chamber (hereinafter also referred to as a pretreatment chamber) having a configuration for roughly grinding raw material particles before the atomization process by injecting a high-pressure fluid of a liquid material in which the raw material particles are dispersed in a dispersion medium from a nozzle toward the tip of a needle member arranged opposite the nozzle will be described below with reference to Figures 1 to 3.

[0047] Fig. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the configuration of the atomization pretreatment chamber according to this embodiment, but in order to make the configuration easier to see and to facilitate explanation, small accessory parts such as sealing members and detailed external shapes of each part are omitted. As shown in the overall cross-sectional view of Fig. 1(a), the pretreatment chamber 1 according to this embodiment has a first casing part 10 and a second casing part 20 detachably connected to form an overall housing 2.

[0048] A pre-treatment chamber 11 is formed within the first casing part 10, and through-paths communicating with the pre-treatment chamber 11 from the upstream side and the downstream side are drilled along the central axis X in the liquid material supply / spray direction of the pre-treatment chamber 1. Also, a discharge flow path 12 for discharging the liquid material from the pre-treatment chamber 11 is formed in the first casing part 10 along a direction perpendicular to the central axis X.

[0049] A nozzle 3 for spraying a liquid material is fitted into the through passage on the upstream side of the pre-treatment chamber 11 via a nozzle fixing member 13, and an opening flow passage 4 of the nozzle 3 is connected to the pre-treatment chamber 11. The nozzle 3 is positioned and fixed relative to the pre-treatment chamber 11 by a nozzle position adjustment part.

[0050] This nozzle position adjustment section is composed of a second male screw member 30 having a third female screw portion 14 formed at the upstream opening of the through passage of the first casing portion 10 and a third male screw portion 32 formed on the outer periphery of the tip portion, which screws into the third female screw portion 14. This second male screw member 30 has a supply flow passage 31 formed along the central axis X, which communicates with the opening flow passage 4, which is the injection flow passage of the nozzle 3, and supplies a high-pressure fluid of the liquid material.

[0051] With the configuration of the nozzle position adjustment section, the second male screw member 30 advances or retreats along the central axis X relative to the first casing part 10 by rotating in the forward or reverse direction, and accordingly, the nozzle 3 moves linearly toward the upstream or downstream side together with the nozzle fixing member 13. Therefore, by adjusting the amount of rotation of the second male screw member 30, the position of the nozzle 3 can be adjusted.

[0052] Meanwhile, a needle member 5 is inserted into the pretreatment chamber 11 from the downstream side opposite the nozzle 3 via a needle fixing member 6 inserted into the through passage. This needle member 5 has a tip portion T that protrudes in a conical shape, and as shown in FIG. 1(b), a gap flow passage F through which a high-pressure fluid passes is formed between the outer circumferential surface of the tip portion T, the inner circumferential surface of the opening flow passage 4 of the nozzle 3, and the outer circumferential surface of the top region of the tip portion T inserted into this opening flow passage 4. The raw material particles are coarsely pulverized by the collision and shear forces generated when passing through this gap flow passage F.

[0053] That is, the particle size of the pulverized raw material particles is determined substantially by the minimum width portion D of the gap flow path F. Therefore, the needle member 5 is positioned by the needle position adjustment portion at a position relative to the nozzle 3 where the minimum width W corresponding to the desired particle size is obtained.

[0054] The elastic member adjustment portion and the needle position adjustment portion in this embodiment are configured in a casing through hole 21 of the second casing part 20. The casing through hole 21 communicates with the through passages in front and behind the pre-treatment chamber 11 when connected to the first casing part 10.

[0055] A first female thread portion 22 is provided on the inner peripheral surface of the rear end side of the casing through hole 21, and a first male thread member 27 is provided on the outer peripheral region of the tip end portion of the casing through hole 21, and a first male thread portion 28 that screws into the first female thread portion 22 is provided. The needle member 5 is fixed to the tip end side, and the needle fixing member 6 that is inserted through the casing through hole 21 coaxially with the central axis X is connected to the first male thread member 27 at its rear end portion. Therefore, the needle fixing member 6 is connected to the second casing portion 20 via the first male thread member 27.

[0056] In this embodiment, an elastic member 9 that urges the needle fixing member 6 toward the rear end is attached to the tip surface of the first male screw member 27 on the outer periphery of the needle fixing member 6. Note that in this embodiment, this elastic member 9 is composed of a combination of multiple disc springs. The combination of multiple disc springs is such that the disc springs are stacked in a number and manner set according to the type of raw material particles and processing conditions.

[0057] In this embodiment, the elastic member 9 is configured to expand and contract as the first male screw member 27 moves along the central axis X. Therefore, the elastic member 9 can be adjusted in expansion and contraction according to desired conditions depending on the amount of displacement of the first male screw member 27 relative to the second casing part 20, and the first male screw member 27 functions as an elastic member adjustment part that adjusts the amount of pressure applied to the elastic member 9.

[0058] Due to the presence of such elastic member 9, the needle member 5 is always positioned and fixed in a state where it is pulled and biased by the first male screw member 27 on the rear end side of the second casing part 20. Therefore, in the pretreatment chamber 1 according to this embodiment, even if pressure acts on the needle member 5 by the high-pressure fluid sprayed from the nozzle 3, the needle member 5 does not shift in position toward the nozzle 3 in reaction to this pressure, and its fixed position is maintained. This prevents the gap flow path F from being narrowed or the minimum width part D from being closed, preventing the liquid material from passing through and causing stagnation.

[0059] In this embodiment, the needle fixing member 6 is screwed and connected to the first male threaded member 27 so as to be relatively movable in the direction of the central axis X. That is, a second female threaded portion 29 is formed on the inner peripheral surface on the rear end side of the through hole of the first male threaded member 27, and a second male threaded portion 7 that screws into the second female threaded portion 29 is formed on the rear end of the needle fixing member 6 inserted into the through hole.

[0060] With this configuration, the needle fixing member 6 is movable along the central axis X by screwing and rotating relative to the first male screw member 27, making it possible to adjust the position of the needle member 5 at the tip. Therefore, the position adjustment of the needle member 5 can be performed in two stages: by displacing the first male screw member 27 relative to the second casing part 20, and by displacing the needle fixing member 6 relative to the first male screw member 27.

[0061] In this pretreatment chamber 1, the liquid material can continuously pass through the gap flow passage F, which always maintains its minimum width W, so the pretreatment of coarsely pulverizing the raw material particles also proceeds smoothly. As a result, a pretreated liquid material with raw material particles of a precisely uniform particle size is obtained, which is then subjected to the main atomization treatment, thereby contributing to the smooth progress of the atomization process.

[0062] As described above, in the pretreatment chamber 1 according to this embodiment, a stable fixed position state of the needle member 5 can be obtained, so that it is now possible to actually change and adjust the position of the needle member 5 by minute displacement, which was previously meaningless due to positional misalignment and the occurrence of pulsation.

[0063] For example, when the first male screw member 27 is rotated slightly in the forward direction, the needle member 5 moves forward a small amount via the needle fixing member 6, and as shown in Figure 2(a), the apex region of its tip portion T is inserted further upstream into the opening flow passage 4 of the nozzle 3, and the minimum width W' of the minimum width portion D' of the gap flow passage F' becomes smaller, thereby enabling the raw material particles to be pre-processed into coarsely crushed into smaller particle sizes.

[0064] Alternatively, by slightly rotating the first male screw member 27 in the reverse direction, the needle member 5 retreats a small amount via the needle fixing member 6, and as shown in Figure 2(b), the apex region of its tip portion T moves further downstream relative to the opening flow passage 4 of the nozzle 3, and the minimum width W" of the minimum width portion D" of the gap flow passage F" becomes larger, thereby enabling the raw material particles to be pre-processed into coarsely crushed into smaller particle sizes.

[0065] If a display means is provided that allows the above-mentioned minute displacement amount to be easily grasped visually, it becomes easier to make minute changes and adjustments to the position of the needle member 5. As such a display means, for example, a dial gauge 40 can be used. By connecting this dial gauge 40 to the rear end portion of the needle fixing member 6, the linear movement amount of the needle fixing member 6 that corresponds to the displacement amount of the needle fixing member 6 can be measured.

[0066] In the present embodiment, the housing 2 of the pretreatment chamber 1 is configured such that the first casing portion 10 and the second casing portion 20 are separably connected to each other by, for example, fastening with a screw fastening member 50. Therefore, by loosening the screw fastening member 50, the second casing portion 20 can be separated from the first casing portion 10, and the needle member 5 and the elastic member 9 can be removed.

[0067] Therefore, it is possible to replace the needle member 5' with one having a different dimensional design, as shown in Fig. 3. Here, the case is shown where the minimum width W of the minimum width part D of the gap flow path F' is the same, but the tip part T' is replaced with a thinner type of needle member 5' with a sharper taper angle.

[0068] In this way, the tip portion T' has a sharper angle and is thinner, so that a longer apex region of the tip portion T' can enter into the open flow passage 4 of the nozzle 3. Therefore, the gap flow passage length L2 formed between the inner peripheral surface of the open flow passage 4 and the outer peripheral surface of the apex region of the tip portion T' is longer than the gap flow passage length L1 of the tip portion T of the needle member 5 before replacement.

[0069] As described above, according to the pretreatment chamber 1 of this embodiment, needle members with different design dimensions can be easily replaced and installed, so that the design conditions for pretreatment can be precisely changed according to the various raw material particles.

[0070] In the pretreatment chamber 1 of this embodiment, the liquid material sprayed as a high-pressure fluid from the minimum width portion D of the gap flow path F collides with the nozzle opening periphery B and the enlarged diameter region C of the opposing tip portion T of the needle member 5, thereby also promoting the crushing of the raw material particles.

[0071] Moreover, when the supply and discharge directions of the liquid material are reversed, the liquid material flows from the pretreatment chamber 11 to the open flow passage 4 of the nozzle 3 from right to left in FIG. 3. In this reverse flow, the pulverization process can be performed by collision with the inner peripheral surface of the open flow passage 4. Therefore, this collision can be promoted by performing an appropriate surface treatment on the inner peripheral surface of the open flow passage 4 or forming a portion of a predetermined shape.

[0072] The pretreatment chamber 1 having the above-mentioned configuration can be incorporated into the processing circuit of a conventional wet-type atomization device, for example, as shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 4 shows a case where the pretreatment chamber 1 is arranged in parallel with the atomization chamber R, which is common to the basic configuration of a conventional wet-type atomization device. It goes without saying that a configuration in which the pretreatment chamber 1 is arranged in series with the atomization chamber R can also be envisioned.

[0073] In such a wet-type pulverization apparatus, the liquid material in which the raw material particles are dispersed is transferred from the raw material tank S, in which it is stored, to the pressure booster E by the liquid feed pump P, and the liquid is supplied to the processing step as a high-pressure fluid pressurized to a predetermined pressure.

[0074] In the treatment process, after passing through the high-pressure filter A, the gas is supplied to the atomization chamber R as in the conventional method, but in the case of Figure 4, it is first supplied to the pre-treatment chamber 1 via the switching valve V before the first atomization treatment.

[0075] That is, in the wet-type atomization apparatus 100 arranged in parallel in Fig. 4, in the first processing step, the liquid material is supplied only to the pre-processing chamber 1 by the switching valve V, and the pre-processing for coarse grinding is carried out. Then, the liquid material that has completed the pre-processing is cooled through the heat exchanger H and returned to the raw material tank S without being subjected to the atomization processing.

[0076] Then, the liquid material that has only been pre-treated is sent to the pressure booster E by the liquid supply pump P, and after being pressurized, as the next processing step, the high-pressure fluid passes through the high-pressure filter A and is then sent directly to the atomization chamber R by the switching valve V, where the first atomization process is carried out. After this, the atomization process in the direct atomization chamber R is repeated in the same manner until the raw material particles reach the specified particle size.

[0077] In this way, in the case of the parallel arrangement in Figure 4, after only pretreatment is performed in the pretreatment chamber 1 in a separate pretreatment route, the first atomization process is started only in the atomization chamber R, and thereafter, this process is repeated a predetermined number of times as the main treatment route.

[0078] As described above, the pretreatment chamber of the present invention can be easily arranged in the circuit of a wet atomization device, and the pretreatment process can be effectively incorporated as a separate route that can be selectively switched to the atomization process, or as a continuous processing route. [Explanation of symbols]

[0079] 1: Pretreatment chamber 2: Housing 3: Nozzle 4: Open channel 5,5': Needle member T,T';Tip F, F': Interstitial flow path D,D',D”:Minimum width part W,W',W”:Minimum width L1,L2: Gap flow path length 6: Needle fixing member 7: Second male thread processing section 9: Elastic material 10: First casing part 11: Pre-treatment room 12: Exhaust flow path 13: Nozzle fixing member 14: Third female thread 20: Second casing part 21: Casing through hole 22: First female thread 27: First male threaded member 28: First male thread processing section 29: Second female thread 30: Second male threaded member 31: Supply channel 32: 3rd male thread processing section 40: Dial gauge 50: Screw fastening material 100: Wet atomization device S: Raw material tank P: Liquid supply pump E: Booster A: High pressure filter V: Switching valve R: Atomization chamber H: Heat exchanger

Claims

1. A pre-atomization treatment chamber for roughly pulverizing raw material particles before subjecting a liquid material in which raw material particles are dispersed in a dispersion medium to an atomization treatment in an atomization chamber of an atomization device, a pre-treatment chamber provided inside the housing in which the coarse grinding is performed; a nozzle for injecting a high-pressure fluid of the liquid material into the pre-treatment chamber to atomize the liquid material; a needle member having an outer circumferential surface of a tip portion thereof, the outer circumferential surface of which is conically tapered between the inner circumferential surface of the nozzle opening flow passage and which forms a gap flow passage through which the high-pressure fluid passes; a needle position adjustment unit that adjusts a position of the needle member by displacing the needle member along an axial direction of the nozzle; an elastic member that pulls and biases the needle member in a direction away from the nozzle.

2. 2. The atomization pretreatment chamber according to claim 1, further comprising an elastic member adjustment section for adjusting the amount of pressure of the elastic member against the needle member.

3. 2. The atomization pretreatment chamber according to claim 1, wherein the elastic member is configured by combining a plurality of disc springs.

4. The elastic member adjustment portion is A first female thread portion provided at a rear end portion of the housing; The atomization pre-treatment chamber according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that it is provided with a first male thread member having a first male threaded portion that screws into the first female threaded portion, and which changes the expansion and contraction state of the elastic member by linear motion based on the screwing rotation motion between the first female threaded portion and the first male threaded portion.

5. The needle position adjustment unit is A second female thread portion formed in a rear end portion of the housing; The atomization pre-treatment chamber according to claim 4, further comprising a needle displacement member having a second male threaded portion that screws into the second female threaded portion and that changes the position of the needle member by linear motion based on the screw-on rotational motion between the second female threaded portion and the second male threaded portion.

6. A nozzle position adjustment unit that adjusts the position of the nozzle is further provided, The nozzle position adjustment unit is A third female thread portion formed on a front end portion of the housing; The atomization pre-treatment chamber according to claim 1 or 5, characterized in that it is provided with a second male screw member having a third male screw portion that screws into the third female screw portion, and changing the position of the nozzle by linear motion based on the screw-on rotation motion between the third female screw portion and the third male screw portion.

7. The atomization pre-treatment chamber according to claim 1 or 5, characterized in that the housing comprises a first casing portion including the pre-treatment chamber, and a second casing portion integrally having the needle position adjustment portion and being disassemblably connected to the first casing portion.

8. 6. The atomization pretreatment chamber according to claim 1, wherein the needle position adjustment unit is provided with a display means for displaying the amount of movement of the needle member.

9. A pressure intensifier that pressurizes the liquid material; The pre-atomization treatment chamber according to claim 1 or 5, which roughly pulverizes the liquid material pressurized by the pressure booster; and an atomization chamber for atomizing the liquid material coarsely pulverized by the pre-atomization treatment chamber.

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