Equipment for manufacturing powder products for disinfection and deodorization.

Abstract

The present invention provides a powder product manufacturing apparatus for disinfection and deodorization that is easily soluble in water, easy to handle, and less prone to quality variations during use, and that can produce powder products that are dissolved in water to generate liquid disinfectants and deodorizers. [Solution] The apparatus for manufacturing disinfectant and deodorizing powder products comprises raw material powder particle size sorting means 10 and 20 for sorting raw material powders 101 and 102 by particle size, and raw material powder mixing means 30 for mixing multiple types of raw material powders 101 and 102 sorted by the raw material powder particle size sorting means 10 and 20. The raw material powder particle size sorting means 10 and 20 are composed of a multi-stage sieve in which multiple sieves 11-14 and 21-24 with different mesh sizes are arranged in multiple stages in the vertical direction, and shakers 19 and 29 for shaking the multi-stage sieve, so that the raw material powders 101 and 102 remaining between adjacent sieves in the multi-stage sieve are used for the powder product.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a powder product manufacturing apparatus for sterilization and deodorization for manufacturing a powder product that is dissolved in water when producing a liquid disinfectant or deodorant.

Background Art

[0002] There are known disinfectants or deodorants of the type in which a powder product having specific components is dissolved in water for use. The powder products used for producing this type of disinfectant or deodorant not only take up little space but are also easy to seal, and thus have the advantage of being excellent in transportability and storage compared with disinfectants and deodorants sold in a liquid state.

[0003] As liquid disinfectants and deodorants, for example, hypochlorous acid water is known, and it is used for the purpose of disinfection and deodorization in medical facilities, nursing facilities, food handling facilities, ordinary households, etc. Regarding powder products that are dissolved in water for producing this hypochlorous acid water, various types have been proposed so far.

[0004] For example, in Patent Document 1, as a powder product (described as "powder for generating a solution for high-purity hypochlorous acid water" in the same document) that is dissolved in water to generate hypochlorous acid water, a mixture of powdered sodium dichloroisocyanurate and a powdered pH adjuster (such as malic acid or citric acid) has been proposed (Claim 1 of the same document). Patent Document 1 also describes that since the sterilizing power of hypochlorous acid water varies depending on the pH, the sterilizing power of hypochlorous acid water can be enhanced by adding a pH adjuster (Paragraph 0007 of the same document).

[0005] In this specification, a powder that is dissolved in water to produce a liquid disinfectant or deodorant is referred to as a "powder product", and various powdered raw materials constituting the powder product are referred to as "raw material powders".

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0006] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2021-178309 [Overview of the Initiative] [Problems that the invention aims to solve]

[0007] However, in the powder product described in Patent Document 1 (powder for generating high-purity hypochlorous acid solution), there was a tendency for variations in the particle size of raw material powders such as sodium dichloroisocyanurate and pH adjusters. This could lead to the powder product being difficult to dissolve in water or difficult to handle.

[0008] In other words, if the particle size of the raw material powder is too large, when attempting to dissolve the powder product in water, undissolved residue is more likely to remain in the raw material powder, and precipitates are more likely to form in the water. Figure 1 shows a graph of the absorption characteristics of commercially available powder products and their raw material powders measured with a Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy device. In the graph, the spectrum indicated by "S1" is the measurement result for the powder product (a mixture of powdered sodium dichloroisocyanurate and a pH adjuster), the spectrum indicated by "S2" is the measurement result for the powdered pH adjuster, the spectrum indicated by "S3" is the difference obtained by subtracting spectrum S2 from spectrum S1, and the spectrum indicated by "S4" is the measurement result for the precipitate formed in the water (hypochlorous acid water) in which the powder product was dissolved, which was dried and made into a powder.

[0009] The spectrum S3 (=S1-S2) is thought to match the spectrum of sodium dichloroisocyanurate. Looking at the graph in Figure 1, the profile of spectrum S3 closely matches the profile of the precipitate spectrum S4. From this, it can be concluded that most of the precipitate produced when hypochlorous acid water is generated using the commercially available powder product is sodium dichloroisocyanurate. Since sodium dichloroisocyanurate is a disinfectant component, the formation of precipitate in hypochlorous acid water reduces its disinfecting power. Therefore, to obtain the desired disinfecting power, it becomes necessary to add a larger amount of the powder product.

[0010] On the other hand, if the particle size of the raw material powder is too small, when the powder product is added to a container containing water (a container for dissolving the raw material powder in water; hereinafter sometimes referred to as the "dissolving container"), the raw material powder is more likely to scatter into the air, and there is a risk that the scattered raw material powder may be inhaled by the worker or get into the worker's eyes. In addition, the raw material powder is more likely to adhere to the inner wall of the container it was in (the raw material container), and when the raw material powder is added from the raw material container to the dissolving container, not all of the raw material powder will go into the dissolving container, and some will remain in the raw material container.

[0011] Furthermore, if raw material powders with large variations in particle size are mixed as is, there is a risk that the raw material powders may become unevenly distributed during transportation, storage, or handling before use due to the differences in particle size. As a result, when dissolving the powder product in water, the raw material powders containing disinfectant components and raw material powders containing pH-adjusting components may not be added evenly, potentially leading to variations in the quality of the resulting liquid disinfectant or deodorant.

[0012] This invention was made to solve the above problems and provides a powder product manufacturing apparatus for disinfection and deodorization that can produce powder products (powder products dissolved in water to produce liquid disinfectants and deodorizers) that are easily soluble in water, easy to handle, and less prone to quality inconsistencies during use. [Means for solving the problem]

[0013] The above issues are, A disinfectant and deodorizing powder product manufacturing apparatus for producing powder products that are dissolved in water when generating liquid disinfectants and deodorizers, A raw material powder particle size sorting means for sorting multiple types of raw material powders that make up a powder product by particle size, A raw material powder mixing means for mixing multiple types of raw material powders selected by a raw material powder particle size sorting means, and Equipped with, The raw material powder particle size sorting method is A multi-stage sieve in which multiple sieves with different mesh sizes are arranged in multiple stages in the vertical direction, A shaker that shakes multi-stage sieves and Equipped with, A multi-stage sieve is configured to use the raw material powder remaining between adjacent sieves for the powder product. A manufacturing apparatus for disinfectant and deodorizing powder products, characterized by the following features. This is solved by providing [a solution].

[0014] Thus, in this invention, the raw material powder particle size sorting means is equipped with a multi-stage sieve and a shaker for shaking it, and the raw material powder is passed through the multi-stage sieve and sorted based on particle size. As a result, the particle size of the raw material powder used in powder products can be kept within the particle size range remaining between adjacent sieves, and variations in the particle size of the raw material powder can be suppressed.

[0015] As a result, raw material powders with particle sizes that are difficult to dissolve in water, or those with particle sizes that tend to leave undissolved residue or precipitates in water, can be excluded from the powder product. Furthermore, raw material powders with very fine particle sizes that are easily dispersed into the air and could be inhaled by workers during handling can also be excluded from the powder product.

[0016] Furthermore, by using a raw material mixing mechanism to mix only raw material powders with uniform particle sizes, it is possible to suppress uneven distribution of raw material powders due to differences in particle size during transportation, storage, or handling before use. As a result, when dissolving the powders in water to produce liquid disinfectants and deodorizers, the component ratio of the raw material powders is less likely to be uneven, making it possible to stably obtain the desired disinfecting and deodorizing power.

[0017] Incidentally, for powder products that are dissolved in water to produce liquid disinfectants and deodorizers, it is preferable to have a particle size of around 300 μm (for example, around 280-380 μm) considering factors such as solubility in water and resistance to airborne dispersion. In this regard, the particle size that can pass through a sieve with a mesh size of 40 is 381 μm, and the particle size that can pass through a sieve with a mesh size of 50 is 279 μm. Therefore, in order to make the particle size of the raw material powder around 300 μm, it would be sufficient to use two types of sieves: one with a mesh size of around 40 and another with a mesh size of around 50. However, since some raw material powders have a particle size exceeding 1000 μm, if the raw material powder is directly passed through a 40-mesh sieve, the sieve may become clogged, and the raw material powder may not be processed efficiently.

[0018] Therefore, in the present invention's apparatus for manufacturing disinfectant and deodorizing powder products, The mesh size of each sieve in the multi-stage sieve is set within the range of 20 to 50 mesh (American mesh value; the same applies below). The sieves are arranged so that the mesh size decreases as you move down to the lower rows. It is preferable. However, the mesh opening values ​​mentioned here vary depending on the raw material powder. Therefore, when determining the mesh opening value, it is advisable to confirm whether that value is appropriate.

[0019] By arranging the sieves such that the sieve aperture decreases as the lower stage is reached (the sieve aperture increases as the upper stage is reached), the raw material powder can be sorted step by step from larger to smaller particle sizes. As a result, the raw material powder is less likely to clog the sieve apertures, enabling stable particle size sorting by a multi-stage sieve, and efficiently sorting the raw material powder into the desired particle size range. For reference, the passing particle size of a 30-mesh sieve is 535 μm, the passing particle size of a 40-mesh sieve is 381 μm, and the passing particle size of a 50-mesh sieve is 279 μm.

Advantages of the Invention

[0020] As described above, the present invention makes it possible to provide a powder product manufacturing apparatus for sterilization and deodorization that can produce a powder product (a powder product that is dissolved in water to produce a liquid disinfectant or deodorant) that is easily soluble in water, easy to handle, and less likely to have quality variations during use.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0021] [Figure 1] The graph shows the absorption characteristics measured by a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer for commercially available powder products for generating hypochlorous acid water, their raw material powders, and the like. [Figure 2] The figure shows a state of manufacturing a powder product using the powder product manufacturing apparatus for sterilization and deodorization according to the present invention.

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0022] A preferred embodiment of the disinfectant and deodorizing powder product manufacturing apparatus of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings. The disinfectant and deodorizing powder product manufacturing apparatus of the present invention is for manufacturing powder products that are dissolved in water to produce liquid disinfectants or deodorizers. In the following description, the case in which a powder product that is dissolved in water to produce hypochlorous acid water used as a disinfectant or deodorizer will be manufactured will be given as an example. However, the disinfectant and deodorizing powder product manufacturing apparatus of the present invention is not limited to being used to produce hypochlorous acid water, but can also be used to manufacture various powder products used to produce disinfectants and deodorizers.

[0023] Furthermore, the embodiments described below are merely preferred embodiments, and the technical scope of the disinfectant and deodorizing powder product manufacturing apparatus of the present invention is not limited to the configurations described below. The disinfectant and deodorizing powder product manufacturing apparatus of the present invention can be modified as appropriate, as long as the spirit of the invention is not impaired.

[0024] Figure 2 shows the process of manufacturing a powder product using the disinfectant and deodorizing powder product manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention. As shown in Figure 2, the disinfectant and deodorizing powder product manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention comprises raw material powder particle size sorting means 10, 20 and raw material powder mixing means 30. The raw material powder particle size sorting means 10 is for sorting sodium dichloroisocyanurate, which is the raw material powder of the powder product (first raw material powder 101), by particle size, and the raw material powder particle size sorting means 20 is for sorting sodium bisulfate (pH adjuster), which is the raw material powder of the powder product (second raw material powder 102), by particle size.

[0025] The raw material powder particle size sorting means 10 comprises a multi-stage sieve composed of multiple sieves 11-14 stacked in multiple stages in the vertical direction, and a shaker 19 for shaking this multi-stage sieve. Similarly, the raw material powder particle size sorting means 20 comprises a multi-stage sieve composed of multiple sieves 21-24 stacked in multiple stages in the vertical direction, and a shaker 29 for vibrating this multi-stage sieve. The multi-stage sieves of the raw material powder particle size sorting means 10 and 20 are mounted on shakers 19 and 29, respectively.

[0026] In the example shown in Figure 2, the multi-stage sieve of the raw material powder particle size sorting means 10 is composed of four sieves 11-14, and the multi-stage sieve of the raw material powder particle size sorting means 20 is composed of four sieves 21-24. In each multi-stage sieve, the mesh size of the topmost sieves 11 and 21 is 20 mesh, the mesh size of the second-to-last sieves 12 and 22 is 30 mesh, the mesh size of the third-to-last sieves 13 and 23 is 40 mesh, and the mesh size of the fourth-to-last sieves 14 and 24 is 50 mesh.

[0027] In this way, by arranging the sieves so that the mesh size decreases from the top to the bottom (and increases as you move to the top), the raw material powders 101 and 102 can be sorted in stages from larger to smaller particle sizes. At this time, the shakers 19 and 29 vibrate the multi-stage sieves, making it easier for raw material powders 101 and 102 with particle sizes within a predetermined range to fall to the lower sieves. Therefore, it is possible to stably sort the particle size of raw material powders 101 and 102 using the multi-stage sieves without causing clogging of sieves 11-14 and 21-24.

[0028] In this embodiment, the raw material powders 101 and 102 that remain after passing through the fourth sieve from the top (the bottommost sieve) 14 and 24 are used to manufacture the powder product. The raw material powders 101 and 102, after particle size sorting, are fed into the raw material powder mixing means 30 and uniformly mixed by this raw material powder mixing means 30.

[0029] Incidentally, the multi-stage sieves 11-14 and shaker 19 in the raw material powder particle size sorting means 10 for the first raw material powder 101 (sodium dichloroisocyanurate) and the multi-stage sieves 21-24 and shaker 29 in the raw material powder particle size sorting means 20 for the second raw material powder 102 (sodium bisulfate) can be the same and shared. However, in order to improve production efficiency, it is preferable to prepare different multi-stage sieves 11-14 and shaker 19, and different multi-stage sieves 21-24 and shaker 29.

[0030] Furthermore, the number of stages in the multi-stage sieves 11-14 and 21-24 is limited to two or more stages, and is not limited to the four stages mentioned above. However, if the number of stages in the multi-stage sieves 11-14 and 21-24 is too small, it may not be possible to sufficiently separate the raw material powder 100 with large particle sizes from the raw material powder 100 with small particle sizes, and clogging of the sieves 11-14 and 21-24 may occur. For this reason, it is preferable that the number of stages in the multi-stage sieves 11-14 and 21-24 be three or more stages.

[0031] However, if the number of stages in the multi-stage sieves 11-14 and 21-24 is increased too much, the entire apparatus may become larger and more complex, potentially increasing the installation space required, and adjusting the shaking conditions may become more complicated, potentially increasing the time and cost required for sorting. For this reason, the number of stages in the multi-stage sieves 11-14 and 21-24 is usually 10 stages or less. Preferably, the number of stages in the multi-stage sieves 11-14 and 21-24 is 7 stages or less, and more preferably 5 stages or less. In practical terms, the number of stages in the multi-stage sieves 11-14 and 21-24 is preferably 3 to 5 stages.

[0032] Various types of shakers 19 and 29 can be used. In this embodiment, an electric shaker capable of periodically vibrating the multi-stage sieves 11-14 and 21-24 in the horizontal or vertical direction is used. The shakers 19 and 29 allow the raw material powders 101 and 102 introduced onto the multi-stage sieves 11-14 and 21-24 to be uniformly diffused on each stage of the sieves 11-14 and 21-24, while moving particles that can pass through the mesh openings to the lower stages.

[0033] Various types of raw material powder mixing means 30 can be used. In this embodiment, a rotary mixer is used to mix multiple types of raw material powders contained in the mixing tank by rotating the mixing tank. Inside the mixing tank, the raw material powders 101 and 102 are gently stirred and mixed by repeatedly lifting along the inner wall of the mixing tank and then falling due to gravity.

[0034] In the disinfectant and deodorizing powder product manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention, only raw material powders 101 and 102 with uniform particle sizes are introduced into the mixing tank by the raw material powder particle size sorting means 10 and 20 beforehand. Therefore, separation (segregation) due to differences in particle size is less likely to occur during mixing, and the raw material powders 101 and 102 can be mixed uniformly. As a result, the powder product obtained by the raw material powder mixing means 30 is less likely to have an imbalance in the component ratio during transportation, storage, or use, and stable quality can be obtained when dissolved in water to produce a liquid disinfectant or deodorizer.

[0035] [Particle size sorting experiment] An experiment was conducted to determine the proportion of powder raw materials 101 and 102 separated into sieves 11-14 and 21-24 when the first powder raw material 101 (sodium dichloroisocyanurate) and the second powder raw material 102 (sodium bisulfate) were separated by particle size using the disinfectant and deodorizing powder product manufacturing apparatus of the above-described embodiment. The residual amounts in each particle size category were as follows.

[0036] Specifically, the material that remained on sieves 11 and 21 with a mesh size of 20 (particle size 864 μm or larger) contained 13 g of sodium dichloroisocyanurate and 18 g of sodium bisulfate. The material that passed through 20 mesh and remained on 30 mesh (particle size 864 to 535 μm) contained 37 g of sodium dichloroisocyanurate and 47 g of sodium bisulfate. Furthermore, the material that passed through 30 mesh and remained on 40 mesh (particle size 535 to 381 μm) contained 21 g of sodium dichloroisocyanurate and 24 g of sodium bisulfate. The material that passed through 40 mesh and remained on 50 mesh (particle size 381 to 279 μm) contained 18 g of sodium dichloroisocyanurate and 11 g of sodium bisulfate. Furthermore, of the particles that passed through the 50-mesh sieve (particle size less than 279 μm), 8 g contained sodium dichloroisocyanurate and 0.9 g contained sodium bisulfate.

[0037] As is clear from the results above, even when particle size sorting is performed under the same mesh opening conditions, the residual proportions in each particle size category may differ between the first raw material powder 101 (sodium dichloroisocyanurate) and the second raw material powder 102 (sodium bisulfate). Therefore, in order to obtain raw material powders with a particle size range that are not easily unevenly distributed and have excellent water solubility when the powder product is dissolved in water for use, it is considered effective to provide the first raw material powder particle size sorting means 10 and the second raw material powder particle size sorting means 20 as separate systems, and to ensure an appropriate particle size range for each raw material powder before mixing them with the raw material powder mixing means 30.

[0038] [Water solubility evaluation experiment] An experiment was conducted to confirm the relationship between the particle size of the raw material powder and its water solubility. This experiment was carried out using the following method.

[0039] First, a 500mL PET bottle was prepared, and approximately 250mL of water was poured into it. Next, 1g of the powder product to be evaluated (raw material powder) was weighed and added to the water in the PET bottle. Sodium dichloroisocyanurate was used as the raw material powder. Then, the PET bottle was shaken by hand to disperse the powder product in the water, and the state of dissolution in the water was observed. At this time, the time required from the start of shaking the PET bottle until the powder product was completely dissolved and no precipitate was visible in the water was measured and used as an indicator of water solubility.

[0040] The evaluation criteria for water solubility were as follows: • "〇": Completely dissolved in 5 seconds or less. • "△": Completely dissolved in more than 5 seconds but less than or equal to 20 seconds. • "×": The state where it did not completely dissolve after 20 seconds.

[0041] Furthermore, to confirm the changes in dissolution behavior, the same evaluation was performed under conditions where the number of times the PET bottle was shaken was varied (5 times, 10 times, and 20 times). The results of the evaluation of the remaining amount and water solubility of the raw material powder classified by each sieve are shown in Table 1 below. In Table 1 below, "remaining amount" refers to the amount remaining after sieving 100g of raw material powder.

[0042] [Table 1]

[0043] As is clear from the results shown in Table 1 above, raw material powders with large particle sizes (for example, raw material powders with a particle size of 864 μm or larger that remain in a 20-mesh sieve) required a long time to dissolve in water, and even with increased shaking, undissolved particles were likely to remain. On the other hand, raw material powders with small particle sizes (for example, raw material powders with a particle size of 279 μm or less that pass through a 50-mesh sieve) were found to have excellent solubility in water. However, if the particle size is excessively small, another problem may arise: the powder is easily dispersed into the air during handling. From these results, it was confirmed that, from the viewpoint of balancing solubility in water and ease of handling, raw material powders with a particle size in the range of approximately 200 to 500 μm (279 to 535 μm in the values ​​in Table 1 above) are preferable.

[0044] Similar water solubility evaluation experiments were also conducted for pH adjusters. Sodium bisulfate was used as the pH adjuster. The results are shown in Table 2 below.

[0045] [Table 2]

[0046] As shown in Table 2 above, similar results were obtained with the pH adjuster (sodium bisulfate). From the above, it was confirmed that a pH adjuster with a particle size in the range of approximately 200 to 500 μm (279 to 535 μm in Table 1 above) is suitable in terms of balancing solubility in water and ease of handling. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0047] 10. Raw material powder particle size sorting means (for the first raw material powder) 11. The first sieve from the top (for the first raw material powder) 12. The second sieve from the top (for the first raw material powder) 13. The third sieve from the top (for the first raw material powder) 14. The fourth sieve from the top (for the first raw material powder) 19. Shaker (for the second raw material powder) 20. Raw material powder particle size sorting method (for second raw material powder) 21. The first sieve from the top (for the second raw material powder) 22. The second sieve from the top (for the second raw material powder) 23. The third sieve from the top (for the second raw material powder) 24. The fourth sieve from the top (for the second raw material powder) 29. Shaker (for the second raw material powder) 30 Raw material powder mixing means

Claims

1. A disinfectant and deodorizing powder product manufacturing apparatus for producing powder products that are dissolved in water when generating liquid disinfectants and deodorizers, A raw material powder particle size sorting means for sorting multiple types of raw material powders that make up a powder product by particle size, A raw material powder mixing means for mixing multiple types of raw material powders selected by a raw material powder particle size sorting means, and Equipped with, The raw material powder particle size sorting method is A multi-stage sieve in which multiple sieves with different mesh sizes are arranged in multiple stages in the vertical direction, A shaker that shakes multi-stage sieves and Equipped with, A multi-stage sieve is configured to use the raw material powder remaining between adjacent sieves for the powder product. A manufacturing apparatus for disinfectant and deodorizing powder products, characterized by the following features.

2. The mesh size of each sieve in the multi-stage sieve is set within the range of 30 to 40 mesh. The sieves are arranged so that the mesh size decreases as you move down to the lower rows. The apparatus for manufacturing disinfectant and deodorizing powder products according to claim 1.

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