Material feeding device

Abstract

To provide a material charging device capable of securely charging materials to a melting furnace.SOLUTION: A material charging device 10 comprises: a stage part 11 having a mounting face 12 on which materials 23 are mounted, and in which the materials 23 move on the mounting face; a holding cylinder 21 holding the plural materials 23 in a state of being accumulated vertically upward with respect to the mounting face 12 of the stage part 11; a hammer 31 applying ejection force toward a horizontal direction against the mounting face 12 of the stage part 11 with respect to the lowermost material 23a located on the mounting face of the stage part 11 in the plural materials 23a held by the holding cylinder 21; and a driving part 41 exerting driving force for executing an ejection operation and a retraction operation toward the horizontal direction against the mounting face 12 of the stage part 11 by the hammer 31. Then, the hammer 31 comprises a projection part 32 projecting forward in a progression direction of the ejection operation at a forward upper part of the hammer 31.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a material feeding device. [Background technology]

[0002] A known die-casting method involves injecting molten metal into a cavity formed in a pair of openable and closable molds, and then cooling and hardening the molten metal to form a die-cast product. In this type of die-casting method, the molten metal is held in a melting furnace and supplied from the melting furnace to the cavity. However, in order to improve the quality of the molten metal, various materials are added to the molten metal in the melting furnace.

[0003] For example, when the molten metal is an aluminum alloy, strontium is added. By adding strontium to the molten aluminum alloy, the aluminum structure becomes finer when the molten metal is cooled and hardened, resulting in a hard and ductile aluminum alloy. However, since strontium oxidizes and is depleted in the aluminum while it is held in the melting furnace, it must be added continuously to the molten aluminum alloy.

[0004] Therefore, in the field of die casting, there is a demand for a device that can continuously and sequentially add various materials to a molten metal in a melting furnace. A conventionally known material adding device is, for example, that described in Patent Document 1 below. The material adding device disclosed in Patent Document 1 below discloses a mechanism for adding material to a melting furnace by horizontally extruding a block-shaped material with an extrusion cylinder. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-224812 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] However, conventional material charging devices such as those described in Patent Document 1 leave room for improvement in terms of reliably charging materials into a melting furnace. For example, when multiple materials are stacked vertically upward, a mechanism that pushes the materials horizontally using an extrusion cylinder can cause material clogging. Furthermore, when the material has a complex shape, it can be difficult to stably extrude the material into the melting furnace.

[0007] The present invention has been made in consideration of the problems existing in the prior art described above, and its object is to provide a material charging device that can reliably charge material into a melting furnace. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] The present invention will be described below. In order to facilitate understanding of the present invention, reference numbers in the accompanying drawings are added in parentheses, but the present invention is not limited to the illustrated forms.

[0009] The material feeding device (10) according to the present invention comprises a stage section (11) having a placement surface (12) on which materials (23) are placed and on which the materials (23) move, a holding cylinder (21) that holds a plurality of the materials (23) in a stacked state facing vertically upward relative to the placement surface (12) of the stage section (11), and a holding cylinder (21) that holds a lowest material (23 (23a)) of the plurality of materials (23) held in the holding cylinder (21) that is located on the placement surface (12) of the stage section (11) in a horizontal direction relative to the placement surface (12) of the stage section (11). a hammer (31) that applies a thrusting force toward the mounting surface (12) of the stage section (11), and a drive section (41) that applies a driving force for the hammer (31) to perform a thrusting motion and a pulling motion in a horizontal direction relative to the mounting surface (12) of the stage section (11), thereby sequentially charging a plurality of materials (23) stacked vertically upward relative to the mounting surface (12) of the stage section (11) into a melting furnace, and the hammer (31) has a protruding section (32) that protrudes forward in the direction of the thrusting motion at a front upper portion of the hammer (31). The upper surface of the hammer (31) has an inclined surface (33) that slopes downward as it moves forward in the direction of the thrusting motion of the hammer (31), and the tip of the protrusion (32) through which the hammer (31) applies a thrusting force to the material (23) is formed in a flat shape. It is characterized by the following.

[0010] The present invention other Material input device (10) The device includes a stage section (11) having a placement surface (12) on which materials (23) are placed and on which the materials (23) move, a holding tube (21) that holds a plurality of the materials (23) in a stacked state facing vertically upward relative to the placement surface (12) of the stage section (11), and a device that applies a pushing force horizontally relative to the placement surface (12) of the stage section (11) to a lowermost material (23 (23a)) of the plurality of materials (23) held in the holding tube (21) that is located on the placement surface (12) of the stage section (11). a hammer (31) for applying a driving force to the hammer (31) to perform a thrusting motion and a retracting motion in a horizontal direction relative to the mounting surface (12) of the stage section (11), thereby sequentially charging a plurality of materials (23) stacked vertically upward relative to the mounting surface (12) of the stage section (11) into a melting furnace, the hammer (31) having a protruding portion (32) at a front upper portion of the hammer (31) that protrudes forward in the direction of progression of the thrusting motion, The upper surface of the hammer (31) has an inclined surface (33) that slopes downward as it moves forward in the direction of the thrusting motion of the hammer (31). Furthermore, in a state where the hammer (31) applies a thrust force to the material (23), the position where a buoyant force β is generated on the material (23) is defined as point A, and the position where the protrusion (32) of the hammer (31) strikes the material (23) is defined as point B. 1 Let point B 1 The line connecting point A and point B is the line of action 1 -A, the force ε that the protrusion (32) of the hammer (31) presses against the material (23) is 1 -The inclination of A is angle θ 1 and the force ε pushing the material (23) is 1 -A direction component force α 1 is εcosθ 1 and a reaction force γ that presses down the material (23) against the buoyancy force β that lifts the material (23). 1 is α 1 sinθ 1 When this is the case, the reaction force γ 1 is maintained to be greater than the buoyancy β.

[0011] Book Material feeding device according to the invention (10) Or other material feeding device (10) according to the present invention In the above, at least the mounting surface (12) of the stage portion (11) on which the material (23) is mounted, and at least the inclined surface (33) of the hammer (31) but The material (23) is formed of a low-friction coefficient member having a lower friction coefficient than the material (23), and the low-friction coefficient member can be made of engineering plastic or stainless steel. [Effects of the Invention]

[0012] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a material charging device that can reliably charge materials into a melting furnace. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] 1 is a side view showing a schematic configuration of a material feeding device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and particularly showing an initial state before a hammer of the material feeding device is operated. [Figure 2] 1 is a side view showing a schematic configuration of a material feeding device according to an embodiment of the present invention, in particular showing a state in which the hammer has performed a thrusting operation. [Figure 3] FIG. 10 is a side view showing a material feeding device according to a comparative example, showing a state in which a hammer is protruding. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 is a side view illustrating significant features of the hammer according to the present embodiment. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is a side view showing a material feeding device according to a comparative example, illustrating a state in which the hammer is being pulled back. [Figure 6] 1 is a plan view of a material feeding device according to an embodiment of the present invention, viewed from above. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0014] Preferred embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Note that the following embodiments do not limit the inventions according to the claims, and not all of the combinations of features described in the embodiments are necessarily essential to the solution of the invention.

[0015] 1 and 2 are side views showing the schematic configuration of the material feeding device according to this embodiment. In particular, Fig. 1 shows the initial state before the hammer of the material feeding device operates, and Fig. 2 shows the state after the hammer has performed a thrusting operation.

[0016] As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the material feeding device 10 of this embodiment is configured to have a stage portion 11, a holding tube 21, a hammer 31, and an air cylinder 41 as the driving portion of the present invention.

[0017] The stage portion 11 has a mounting surface 12 on which the strontium billet 23, which is the material of the present invention, is placed. The mounting surface 12 is formed as a horizontal surface so that the strontium billet 23 can move smoothly on the mounting surface.

[0018] The holding tube 21 is a cylindrical member arranged above the mounting surface 12 of the stage part 11. The holding tube 21 is configured so that a plurality of strontium billets 23 can be stored in a stacked state inside the cylindrical interior. In other words, the holding tube 21 of this embodiment can hold a plurality of strontium billets 23 in a stacked state facing vertically upward relative to the mounting surface 12 of the stage part 11.

[0019] The strontium billet 23, which is the material of the present invention, is a member formed in the shape of a truncated cone, that is, a cone cut along a plane parallel to the bottom surface, with the small cone portion removed.

[0020] The hammer 31 is a member that applies a thrust force horizontally to the mounting surface of the stage portion 11 to the lowest strontium billet 23a, which is located on the mounting surface of the stage portion 11, among the plurality of strontium billets 23 held in the holding tube 21.

[0021] The air cylinder 41 is a member that functions as a drive unit that exerts a driving force for causing the hammer 31 to perform a thrusting operation and a retracting operation in the horizontal direction relative to the mounting surface 12 of the stage unit 11. In other words, by issuing an operation command to the air cylinder 41, the hammer 31 of this embodiment can perform a thrusting operation (the state in FIG. 2) toward the lowest strontium billet 23a located on the mounting surface of the stage unit 11 and a retracting operation (the state in FIG. 1).

[0022] With the above-described configuration, the material feeding device 10 of this embodiment can eject multiple stacked strontium billets 23 vertically upward from the loading surface 12 of the stage portion 11, thereby sequentially feeding the strontium billets 23 into a melting furnace (not shown).

[0023] The basic configuration of the material feeding device 10 according to this embodiment has been described above. Next, the characteristic configuration of the material feeding device 10 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 3 to 6.

[0024] Here, Fig. 3 is a side view showing a material feeding device according to a comparative example, showing a state in which the hammer is protruding. Fig. 4 is a side view for explaining significant features of the hammer according to this embodiment. Furthermore, Fig. 5 is a side view showing a material feeding device according to a comparative example, showing a state in which the hammer is being retracted. Furthermore, Fig. 6 is a plan view of the material feeding device according to this embodiment, as viewed from above.

[0025] First, as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4, the hammer 31 of this embodiment has a protruding portion 32 that protrudes forward in the direction of progression of the thrusting motion from the upper front portion of the hammer 31.

[0026] Here, when the hammer 131 is formed in a simple cubic shape that is square in side view, as in the comparative example shown in Fig. 3, the hammer 131 strikes a position below the strontium billet 23, which has a truncated cone shape. In this case, the strontium billet 23 may rise up in the forward direction as it moves in the ejection direction and get caught on the holding tube 21, preventing it from being properly charged into the melting furnace. This is thought to be because a repulsive force acts against gravity on the strontium billet 23, or because the force ε pushing the strontium billet 23 is dispersed by getting caught on small irregularities on the underside of the strontium billet 23 or on the mounting surface 12 of the stage 11, generating a buoyant force β that causes the strontium billet 23 to float upward. It has also been found that this phenomenon is particularly likely to occur when only one strontium billet 23 remains in the holding tube 21.

[0027] Next, significant features of the hammer 31 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 4. In Fig. 4, the hammer 31 according to this embodiment is shown by a solid line, and a conventional cubic hammer 131 according to a comparative example is shown by a dashed line. Using Fig. 4, the operating state of the hammer 31 according to this embodiment having the protruding portion 32 shown by the solid line and the operating state of the conventional cubic hammer 131 shown by the dashed line will be described. First, in Fig. 4, the point at which buoyancy β is generated with respect to the strontium billet 23 is indicated by the symbol A. As shown by points B1 and B2, which are the positions at which the hammer 31 having the protrusion 32 and the hammer 131 not having the protrusion 32 hit the strontium billet 23, the hammer 31 of this embodiment hits a position (point B1) above the strontium billet 23, and therefore, with respect to the lines of action B1-A and B2-A connecting point B1 or point B2 with point A, the inclinations of the lines of action are angles θ1 and θ2, respectively, such that angle θ1 is larger than angle θ2. Furthermore, with respect to the force ε pressing the strontium billet 23, the component force α in the direction of the line of action is α1=εcosθ1 in this embodiment and α2=εcosθ2 in the comparative example. Furthermore, the reaction force γ that presses down on the strontium billet 23 relative to the buoyancy force β that floats up is γ1 = α1 sin θ1 in the present embodiment and γ2 = α2 sin θ2 in the comparative example. If this reaction force γ is greater than the buoyancy force β, the strontium billet 23 will not float up. However, as shown in Fig. 4, with respect to the force γ that presses down on the strontium billet 23, the force γ1 is greater than the force γ2 in the case of the hammer 31 of this embodiment having the protrusion 32 shown by the solid line because the inclination of the line of action B1-A is greater than that in the comparative example. Therefore, the hammer 31 of this embodiment can effectively prevent the strontium billet 23 from floating up, thereby making it possible to prevent problems that existed in the prior art, such as the strontium billet 23 getting caught on the holding tube 21.

[0028] Furthermore, as shown in Figures 1, 2 and 4, the upper surface of the hammer 31 of this embodiment is formed to have an inclined surface 33 that slopes downward as it moves forward in the direction of the thrusting operation, and when switching from the thrusting operation to the retraction operation, the strontium billet 23 (23b) to be thrust next is placed on the inclined surface 33.

[0029] Here, if the hammer 131 is formed in a simple cubic shape that is square in side view, as in the comparative example shown in Figure 5, when the hammer 131 performs a retraction operation, the strontium billet 23 is pulled by the hammer 131 and dragged backward (to the left side of the paper in Figure 5). If the strontium billet 23 (23b) to be ejected next is set shifted backward in this way, there is a possibility that the next ejection operation will not be smooth.

[0030] 1, 2, and 4, the upper surface of the hammer 31 is formed to have an inclined surface 33 that slopes downward toward the front in the direction of advance of the thrusting operation, thereby minimizing the amount of deviation of the strontium billet 23 that occurs when the strontium billet 23 is pulled backward by the hammer 31 when the hammer 31 is pulled back. In other words, with the hammer 31 of this embodiment having the inclined surface 33, the strontium billet 23 can be set in an appropriate position on the mounting surface 12 of the stage portion 11 without deviation.

[0031] 6, the material charging device 10 according to this embodiment is provided with a stopper pin 51 that prevents the strontium billet 23 from moving backward, below the holding tube 21 and in a position opposite the direction of the extrusion of the strontium billet 23. By providing the stopper pin 51, the installation position of the strontium billet 23 (23b, 23c, . . . , 23n) that will be extruded next can be further optimized, thereby enabling stable and reliable extrusion of the strontium billet 23.

[0032] Furthermore, in the material charging device 10 according to this embodiment, it is preferable that at least the mounting surface 12 of the stage portion 11 on which the strontium billet 23 is placed, and at least the inclined surface 33 of the hammer 31, are formed of a low-friction coefficient material having a lower friction coefficient than the strontium billet 23. Furthermore, it is more preferable that the protruding portion 32 of the hammer 31 is formed of a low-friction coefficient material having a lower friction coefficient than the strontium billet 23. For example, materials such as engineering plastics and stainless steel can be used for this low-friction coefficient material. By using a material with a low friction coefficient such as engineering plastics or stainless steel for the portion that comes into contact with the strontium billet 23, it is possible to more stably and reliably eject the strontium billet 23, thereby providing a material charging device 10 that can reliably charge the material (strontium billet 23) into a melting furnace.

[0033] While the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope described in the above embodiments. Various modifications and improvements can be made to the above embodiments.

[0034] For example, the material feeding device 10 according to the present embodiment described above has been shown as an example of a configuration including a mechanism that causes the hammer 31 to protrude and retract toward the strontium billet 23. However, the hammer of the present invention may also employ a mechanism that rotates to strike the strontium billet 23 in the horizontal direction.

[0035] For example, in the material feeding device 10 according to the present embodiment described above, the air cylinder 41 is used as the driving unit of the present invention. However, any driving unit may be used as the driving unit of the present invention as long as it can realize the operation of the hammer 31 described in the above embodiment.

[0036] For example, in the material supply device 10 according to the present embodiment described above, strontium is used as the material of the present invention, but any material may be used as the material of the present invention. Furthermore, the shape of the material is not limited to a truncated cone, and any shape may be used as long as the same effects as those of the above-described embodiment can be obtained.

[0037] It is clear from the claims that such modifications and improvements may also be included within the technical scope of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0038] 10 Material charging device, 11 Stage portion, 12 Placement surface, 21 Holding cylinder, 23, 23a, 23b, 23c, 23n Strontium billet, 31 Hammer, 32 Protrusion portion, 33 Inclined surface, 41 Air cylinder, 51 Stopper pin, 131 (Comparative example) Hammer.

Claims

1. a stage unit having a mounting surface on which a material is placed and on which the material moves; a holding cylinder that holds the plurality of materials in a stacked state facing vertically upward with respect to the mounting surface of the stage portion; a hammer that applies a thrust force horizontally to the mounting surface of the stage unit to a lowest material, among the plurality of materials held in the holding cylinder, that is positioned on the mounting surface of the stage unit; and a drive unit that applies a drive force for causing the hammer to perform a thrust operation and a pull-back operation in a horizontal direction relative to the mounting surface of the stage unit; By providing A material charging device that sequentially charges a plurality of the materials stacked vertically upward on the mounting surface of the stage unit into a melting furnace, The hammer has a protruding portion that protrudes forward in the direction of the thrusting motion at a front upper portion of the hammer, an upper surface of the hammer having an inclined surface that slopes downward toward the front in the direction of the thrusting motion of the hammer; A material feeding device, characterized in that the tip of the protrusion, which applies a thrust force to the material by the hammer, is formed into a flat surface.

2. a stage unit having a mounting surface on which a material is placed and on which the material moves; a holding cylinder that holds the plurality of materials in a stacked state facing vertically upward with respect to the mounting surface of the stage portion; a hammer that applies a thrust force horizontally to the mounting surface of the stage unit to a lowest material, among the plurality of materials held in the holding cylinder, that is positioned on the mounting surface of the stage unit; and a drive unit that applies a drive force for causing the hammer to perform a thrust operation and a pull-back operation in a horizontal direction relative to the mounting surface of the stage unit; By providing A material charging device that sequentially charges a plurality of the materials stacked vertically upward on the mounting surface of the stage unit into a melting furnace, The hammer has a protruding portion that protrudes forward in the direction of the thrusting motion at a front upper portion of the hammer, The upper surface of the hammer has an inclined surface that slopes downward as it moves forward in the direction of the thrusting motion of the hammer, and further In a state where the hammer applies an ejection force to the material, The position where buoyancy β occurs on the material is defined as point A, The position where the protrusion of the hammer strikes the material is defined as point B 1 , When the line connecting point B 1 and point A is assumed to be the line of action B 1 -A, The inclination of the line of action B 1 -A with respect to the force ε with which the protrusion of the hammer presses the material is an angle θ 1 ; The force α 1 , which is a component force in the direction of the action line B 1 -A relative to the force ε pushing the material, is ε cos θ 1 ; When the reaction force γ 1 that presses down the material against the buoyancy force β that lifts the material is α 1 sin θ 1 , The material feeding device is characterized in that a state in which the reaction force γ 1 is greater than the buoyant force β is maintained.

3. The material feeding device according to claim 1 or 2, At least a placement surface of the stage portion on which the material is placed and at least the inclined surface of the hammer are formed of a low friction coefficient member having a friction coefficient lower than that of the material, The material feeding device is characterized in that the low friction coefficient member is made of engineering plastic or stainless steel.

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