Feeder device

Abstract

Provided in one embodiment of the present invention is a feeder device comprising: a hopper in which raw materials are accommodated; a load cell, which is disposed at the lower portion of the hopper and measures, in real time, the weight of the raw materials accommodated in the hopper; a transfer screw for transferring the raw materials supplied from the hopper; a motor unit for providing rotational power to the transfer screw; a constant-temperature control unit for maintaining the load cell at a predetermined temperature; and an individual feeder control unit for controlling the operations of the motor unit and the constant-temperature control unit.

Description

Feeder device

[0001] The present invention relates to a feeder device, and more particularly, to a feeder device configured to quantitatively supply raw materials.

[0002] Typically, a raw material supply device is configured to quantitatively supply raw materials contained within a storage container to an external manufacturing device. Here, the manufacturing device produces a final product using raw materials supplied from, for example, multiple raw material supply devices.

[0003] In most raw material supply devices, raw materials contained in a storage container are supplied to a conveying screw provided at the bottom, and the raw materials supplied to the conveying screw are conveyed along the length of the conveying screw and can be discharged to the outside.

[0004] However, conventional raw material supply devices have a problem in that they cannot quantitatively supply raw materials per unit time when supplying raw materials externally. That is, conventional raw material supply devices are usually designed to quantitatively supply raw materials by controlling the rotation speed of the conveying screw to be the same. Therefore, if there is a slight difference in the amount of raw material supplied from the storage container to the conveying screw, the raw material supply device cannot detect this difference and supplies the raw material as is. If such a raw material supply device supplies raw materials to a manufacturing device that produces drugs, such as pharmaceuticals, where the content of each raw material is very important, a serious problem can occur.

[0005] Therefore, various research and development are required for feeder devices that can continuously and quantitatively supply raw materials evenly.

[0006] The technical task of the present invention to solve the above problems is to provide a feeder device configured to quantitatively supply raw materials.

[0007] In order to achieve the above technical task, one embodiment of the present invention provides a feeder device including a hopper for receiving raw materials; a load cell disposed at the bottom of the hopper and measuring the weight of raw materials received in the hopper in real time; a conveying screw for conveying raw materials supplied from the hopper; a motor unit for providing rotational power to the conveying screw; a constant temperature control unit for maintaining the load cell at a predetermined temperature; and an individual feeder control unit for controlling the operation of the motor unit and the constant temperature control unit.

[0008] In one embodiment of the present invention, the individual feeder control unit may be configured to control the operation of the temperature control unit based on temperature information provided from a temperature sensor that measures the temperature of the load cell, and to control the operation of the motor unit based on weight information of the raw material provided from the load cell.

[0009] In one embodiment of the present invention, the individual feeder control unit calculates the raw material supply amount per unit time fed into the transfer screw from the hopper based on real-time raw material weight information provided from the load cell, and when the calculated raw material supply amount per unit time is less than a predetermined raw material supply amount per unit time, the individual feeder control unit controls the rotation speed of the motor unit to increase, and when the calculated raw material supply amount per unit time is greater than a predetermined raw material supply amount per unit time, the individual feeder control unit controls the rotation speed of the motor unit to decrease, thereby controlling the raw material supply amount per unit time discharged through the transfer screw to be uniform.

[0010] In one embodiment of the present invention, the individual feeder control unit may include an input unit for inputting the supply amount of raw material per unit time discharged through the conveying screw and the temperature value of the constant temperature control unit; a data storage unit for storing operation information of the motor unit and the constant temperature control unit; and an operation control unit for controlling the operation of the motor unit and the constant temperature control unit based on the information input to the input unit.

[0011] In one embodiment of the present invention, the temperature control unit may include a mounting base on which the load cell is mounted; a heater unit provided inside the mounting base and heating the mounting base; and a cooling unit provided inside the mounting base and cooling the mounting base.

[0012] In one embodiment of the present invention, the heater and cooling units control the temperature of the mounting base, and the mounting base can maintain the load cell at a predetermined temperature through heat conduction.

[0013] In one embodiment of the present invention, the hopper may further include a conveying guide unit that guides raw materials received in the hopper to the conveying screw, and the conveying guide unit may include a power transmission unit that meshes with a screw gear unit provided on an outer surface of the conveying screw and receives rotational power from the conveying screw; a rotational power unit that meshes with the power transmission unit and receives power from the power transmission unit; and a conveying guide vane that is coupled to an end of the rotational power unit and is provided within the hopper to prevent bridging of raw materials and guide raw materials received in the hopper to the conveying screw.

[0014] The effects of the feeder device according to the present invention described above are as follows.

[0015] According to the present invention, the feeder device is equipped with a load cell that measures the weight of raw materials contained within the hopper in real time. Furthermore, the individual feeder control unit selectively adjusts the rotational speed of the feed screw based on the raw material weight information provided by the load cell. Thus, the feeder device can quantitatively supply raw materials per unit time.

[0016] According to the present invention, the feeder device is equipped with a temperature control unit. This temperature control unit prevents changes in the zero and span values ​​of the load cell set by external temperature changes. Thus, the feeder device can quantitatively supply raw materials regardless of the season or ambient temperature.

[0017] The effects of the present invention are not limited to the effects described above, and should be understood to include all effects that can be inferred from the detailed description of the present invention or the composition of the invention described in the claims.

[0018] Figure 1 is a configuration diagram of a feeder device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0019] Figure 2 is a perspective view of a feeder device according to one embodiment of the present invention viewed from one side.

[0020] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a feeder device according to an embodiment of the present invention viewed from the other side.

[0021] Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of Figure 2.

[0022] FIG. 5 is an exemplary diagram showing a combined structure of a motor unit, a transfer screw, and a transfer guide unit according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0023] Figure 6 is an exemplary diagram showing a state in which a feeder device according to one embodiment of the present invention is connected to an integrated control unit.

[0024] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to the attached drawings. However, the present invention can be implemented in various different forms and is therefore not limited to the embodiments described herein. In the drawings, irrelevant parts have been omitted for clarity of description, and similar parts have been designated with similar reference numerals throughout the specification.

[0025] Throughout the specification, when a part is said to be "connected" to another part, this includes not only "directly connected" but also "indirectly connected" with other elements intervening. Furthermore, when a part is said to "include" a component, this does not exclude other components, but rather implies that the other components may be included, unless otherwise specifically stated.

[0026] In the present invention, upper and lower parts mean being located above or below the target member, but do not necessarily mean being located above or below with respect to the direction of gravity.

[0027] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings.

[0028] FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a feeder device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the feeder device according to an embodiment of the present invention as viewed from one side, FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the feeder device according to an embodiment of the present invention as viewed from the other side, FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 2, and FIG. 5 is an exemplary diagram showing a combined structure of a motor unit, a transport screw, and a transport guide unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0029] As shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, the feeder device (1000) may include a hopper (100), a load cell (200), a transfer screw (300), a motor unit (400), a temperature control unit (500), and an individual feeder control unit (600).

[0030] Here, the hopper (100) receives raw materials discharged to the outside through the feeder device (1000). The hopper (100) can receive raw materials in various forms, such as powder and pellets.

[0031] And the load cell (200) is arranged on the lower side of the hopper (100) and is configured to measure the weight of raw materials received in the hopper (100) in real time. In this way, the real-time weight information of the raw materials measured from the load cell (200) is configured to be provided to the individual feeder control unit (600).

[0032] This load cell (200) is a component that can precisely measure the weight of raw materials contained in the hopper (100). When a load is applied to the load cell (200), a deformation proportional to the stress occurs, and the electrical resistance of the strain gauge changes according to the deformation, so that the flowing current changes, which is converted into a digital electrical signal to express the load in numbers. In this way, real-time weight information of raw materials measured from the load cell (200) can be provided to the individual feeder control unit (600).

[0033] And the conveying screw (300) is configured to discharge the raw material supplied from the hopper (100) to the outside. This conveying screw (300) rotates in place and conveys the raw material supplied from the hopper (100) in the longitudinal direction of the conveying screw (300).

[0034] The end of the feed screw (300) is connected to a motor unit (400), so that the feed screw (300) can rotate in place. The rotational power provided to the feed screw (300) by the motor unit (400) can be controlled by the individual feeder control unit (600).

[0035] Here, the worker can input the amount of raw material to be supplied per unit time through the individual feeder control unit (600). Accordingly, the feeder device (1000) quantitatively supplies the raw material according to the amount of raw material supplied per unit time input by the worker.

[0036] The unit time for the raw material supply per unit time may be in seconds. For example, the operator may control the supply of raw materials quantitatively at the required supply amount in 0.5-second units through the individual feeder control unit (600).

[0037] In this way, the individual feeder control unit (600) is configured to quantitatively supply the corresponding raw material according to the input raw material supply amount per unit time. Here, the individual feeder control unit (600) can calculate real-time raw material information supplied to the transfer screw (300) using the weight information of the raw material in the hopper (100) provided in real time through the load cell (200). At this time, for example, when the input amount supplied to the transfer screw (300) based on the supply standard amount that should be supplied from the hopper (100) to the transfer screw (300) per unit time is small, the individual feeder control unit (600) can selectively control the rotation speed of the transfer screw (300) by rotating it faster than a predetermined constant speed so that the raw material supply amount per unit time is quantitative. Conversely, the individual feeder control unit (600) can selectively control the rotation speed of the transfer screw (300) so that the amount of raw material supplied to the transfer screw (300) per unit time is large based on the supply standard amount from the hopper (100), by rotating it slower than a predetermined constant speed so that the amount of raw material supplied per unit time is constant.

[0038] In this way, the individual feeder control unit (600) can calculate in real time the raw material supply amount per unit time fed from the hopper (100) to the conveying screw (300) based on the real-time raw material weight information provided from the load cell (200). In addition, the individual feeder control unit (600) controls the rotation speed of the motor unit (400) to increase when the calculated raw material supply amount per unit time is less than the predetermined raw material supply amount per unit time, and controls the rotation speed of the motor unit (400) to decrease when the calculated raw material supply amount per unit time is greater than the predetermined raw material supply amount per unit time, thereby controlling the raw material supply amount per unit time discharged through the conveying screw (300) to be discharged uniformly and quantitatively.

[0039] Meanwhile, the temperature control unit (500) is configured to maintain the load cell (200) at a predetermined temperature.

[0040] This constant temperature control unit (500) prevents the zero point and span values ​​of the preset load cell from changing due to external temperature. Accordingly, the feeder device (1000) prevents minute errors from occurring in the measured weight value when the load cell (200) measures weight due to, for example, seasonal or ambient temperature changes.

[0041] In this way, since the feeder device (1000) is equipped with a temperature control unit (500), the load cell (200) can accurately measure the weight of raw materials contained in the hopper (100) anywhere, regardless of the season or location. Accordingly, the feeder device (1000) can accurately quantitatively supply the raw material supply amount per unit time specified by the operator.

[0042] This temperature control unit (500) may include a mounting base (510), a heater unit (520), a cooling unit (530), and a temperature sensor (540).

[0043] Here, a load cell (200) is mounted on the upper portion of the mounting base (510). This mounting base (510) maintains the load cell (200) at a required temperature state through heat conduction. The temperature of this mounting base (510) can be controlled by a heater unit (520) and a cooling unit (530, not shown in FIG. 4) provided within the mounting base (510). That is, the mounting base (510) can be heated by the operation of the heater unit (520) or cooled by the operation of the cooling unit (530). Here, for example, the heater unit (520) can be formed of a heater rod, and the cooling unit (530) can be formed of a Peltier element. Here, as long as the temperature of the mounting base (510) can be effectively controlled, the configuration of the heater unit (520) and the cooling unit (530) does not matter.

[0044] In this way, the heater unit (520) and the cooling unit (530) control the temperature of the settling base (510), and the settling base (510) ultimately maintains the temperature of the load cell (200) at a predetermined temperature through heat conduction. Here, the settling base (510) is not limited to a specific material, and it is preferable that it be made of a material with high thermal conductivity. This is to ensure that heating by the heater unit (520) and cooling by the cooling unit (530) are effectively performed, so that the heat energy provided to the settling base (510) is effectively transferred to the load cell (200).

[0045] Such a constant temperature control unit (500) can be operated under control by an individual feeder control unit (600). This individual feeder control unit (600) controls the operation of the constant temperature control unit (500) based on temperature information provided from a temperature sensor (540) that measures the temperature of the load cell (200) in real time. That is, the individual feeder control unit (600) selectively controls the operation of the heater unit (520) or the cooling unit (530) by comparing a temperature reference value for normal operation of the load cell (200) pre-registered in the individual feeder control unit (600) with temperature information measured from the temperature sensor (540), so that the load cell (200) is maintained at a pre-registered temperature.

[0046] Meanwhile, the feeder device (1000) may further include a transfer guide (700). This transfer guide (700) is configured to guide the raw material received in the hopper (100) to the transfer screw (300).

[0047] This transfer guide unit (700) may include a power transmission unit (710), a rotation power unit (720), and a transfer guide vane (730).

[0048] Here, the power transmission unit (710) is meshed with the screw gear unit (310) provided on the outer surface of the transfer screw (300) so as to rotate together with the rotation of the transfer screw (300). This power transmission unit (710) is configured to provide the rotational power of the transfer screw (300) to the rotational power unit (720).

[0049] And the rotation power unit (720) is coupled with the power transmission unit (710) and is configured to receive power from the power transmission unit (710).

[0050] And the transfer guide vane (730) is coupled to the end of the power shaft (721) provided in the rotation power unit (720). This transfer guide vane (730) is provided in the hopper (100), and rotates together with the rotation power unit (720) to ensure that the raw material contained in the hopper (100) is smoothly supplied to the transfer screw (300). This transfer guide vane (730) is configured to prevent the occurrence of a bridge phenomenon in which the raw material forms an arch shape at the bottom of the hopper (100), for example, due to the attachment of the raw material in the form of powder to the inner wall of the hopper (100). In this way, when the bridge phenomenon of the raw material in the hopper (100) occurs, the raw material cannot be smoothly supplied from the hopper (100) to the transfer screw (300).

[0051] Accordingly, the transfer guide (700) prevents the bridging phenomenon of the raw material in the hopper (100) and ensures smooth supply of the raw material from the hopper (100) to the transfer screw (300). Since the transfer guide (700) is configured to receive power from the transfer screw (300), the structure of the feeder device (1000) can be simplified. That is, the feeder device (1000) can be simplified in a structure that does not require a separate motor for rotation of the transfer guide (700).

[0052] Meanwhile, the individual feeder control unit (600) that controls the feeder device (1000) may include an input unit (610), a data storage unit (620), and an operation control unit (630).

[0053] Here, the input unit (610) can be configured to input the amount of raw material supplied per unit time discharged through the transfer screw (300) and the temperature value of the temperature control unit (500). Such an input unit (610) can be configured in the form of a touch screen, for example.

[0054] And the data storage unit (620) is configured to store operating information of the motor unit (400) and the temperature control unit (500), etc.

[0055] And the operation control unit (630) is configured to control the operation of the motor unit (400) and the temperature control unit (500) based on the information input to the input unit (610). Such an operation control unit (630) can be controlled using a PID control method that combines three elements of proportional, integral, and derivative, for example.

[0056] Figure 6 is an exemplary diagram showing a state in which a feeder device according to one embodiment of the present invention is connected to an integrated control unit.

[0057] As shown in Fig. 6, a plurality of feeder devices (1000) are configured to be able to communicate with an integrated control unit (20), and the integrated control unit (20) is configured to be able to communicate with the feeder devices (1000) and an external device. Accordingly, a worker can receive real-time operating status information of the feeder devices (1000) remotely through an external device, i.e., a worker terminal (10).

[0058] Here, the worker terminal (10) configured to be able to communicate with the integrated control unit (20) may be any device, for example, a device equipped with an input device capable of inputting characters and an output device capable of displaying on a screen.

[0059] Such worker terminals (10) may be any kind of handheld-based wireless communication device equipped with a touch screen panel, such as a mobile phone, a smart phone, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), a PMP (Portable Multimedia Player), a tablet PC, etc., or may be a device equipped with a foundation for installing and executing applications, such as a desktop PC, a tablet PC, a laptop PC, an IPTV including a set-top box, etc.

[0060] Such a worker terminal (10) is configured to be accessible only to a worker terminal (10) having a dedicated program installed that can connect to the integrated control unit (20).

[0061] And when accessing the integrated control unit (20) using the worker terminal (10), only workers who have been given a unique ID and password (PW) designated in advance can access the integrated control unit (20).

[0062] The integrated control unit (20), including the worker terminal (10), is configured to enable data transmission and reception via Internet protocol using various wired and wireless communication technologies such as the Internet, intranet, mobile communication network, and satellite communication network.

[0063] Here, the communication network can be a general concept that refers to not only closed networks such as LAN (Local Area Network) and WAN (Wide Area Network), open networks such as the Internet, but also networks such as CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access), GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), LTE (Long Term Evolution), EPC (Evolved Packet Core), and next-generation networks and computing networks to be implemented in the future.

[0064] In this way, the worker can check the operating status of the feeder device (1000) in real time remotely through the worker terminal (10).

[0065] However, the above-described present invention is merely a preferred embodiment, and the scope of the rights of the present invention is not limited by the scope of the description of this embodiment.

[0066] The foregoing description of the present invention is for illustrative purposes only, and those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the present invention can be readily modified into other specific forms without altering the technical spirit or essential characteristics of the present invention. Therefore, the embodiments described above should be understood as illustrative in all respects and not restrictive. For example, each component described as a single entity may be implemented in a distributed manner, and similarly, components described as distributed may be implemented in a combined manner.

[0067] The scope of the present invention is indicated by the claims described below, and all changes or modifications derived from the meaning and scope of the claims and their equivalent concepts should be interpreted as being included in the scope of the present invention.

[0068]

[0069] Project Name: 2022 Gyeonggi-do Technology Development Project (Independent Technology Development / Northern Specialized Field)

[0070] Project Name: Technology Development for Domestic Development of Precision Quantitative Feeders to Substitute Imports and Improve Production Yield and Job Creation

[0071] Assignment Number: D 2222009

[0072] Specialized organization: Gyeonggi Province Economic and Science Promotion Agency

[0073] Lead research institute: Bautech Co., Ltd.

[0074] Principal Investigator: Jae-Hwa Kim

[0075] Project Period: July 1, 2022 - June 30, 2023

[0076] Project cost: 198 million won

Claims

1. Hopper where raw materials are received; A load cell placed at the bottom of the hopper and measuring the weight of raw materials contained in the hopper in real time; A conveying screw for conveying raw materials supplied from the above hopper; A motor unit that provides rotational power to the above-mentioned transfer screw; A temperature control unit that maintains the load cell at a predetermined temperature; and A feeder device including an individual feeder control unit that controls the operation of the above motor unit and temperature control unit.

2. In paragraph 1, A feeder device characterized in that the individual feeder control unit controls the operation of the temperature control unit based on temperature information provided from a temperature sensor that measures the temperature of the load cell, and controls the operation of the motor unit based on weight information of the raw material provided from the load cell.

3. In paragraph 2, The individual feeder control unit calculates the amount of raw material supplied per unit time from the hopper to the transfer screw based on real-time raw material weight information provided from the load cell, The feeder device characterized in that the individual feeder control unit controls the rotation speed of the motor unit to increase when the calculated raw material supply amount per unit time is less than the predetermined raw material supply amount per unit time, and controls the rotation speed of the motor unit to decrease when the calculated raw material supply amount per unit time is more than the predetermined raw material supply amount per unit time, thereby controlling the raw material supply amount per unit time of the raw material discharged through the transfer screw to be uniform.

4. In paragraph 1, The above individual feeder control unit, An input section for inputting the amount of raw material supplied per unit time through the above-mentioned conveying screw and the temperature value of the above-mentioned constant temperature control section; A data storage unit in which operation information of the above motor unit and temperature control unit is stored; and A feeder device characterized by including an operation control unit that controls the operation of the motor unit and the temperature control unit based on information input to the input unit.

5. In paragraph 1, The above temperature control unit, A mounting base on which the above load cell is mounted; A heater unit provided inside the above-mentioned settling base and heating the above-mentioned settling base; and A feeder device characterized by including a cooling unit provided inside the above-mentioned settling base and cooling the above-mentioned settling base.

6. In paragraph 5, A feeder device characterized in that the heater and cooling units control the temperature of the settling base, and the settling base maintains the load cell at a predetermined temperature through heat conduction.

7. In paragraph 1, It further includes a conveying guide unit that guides the raw material received in the above hopper to the conveying screw, The above transport guide section, A power transmission unit that meshes with a screw gear provided on the outer surface of the above-mentioned transfer screw and receives rotational power from the above-mentioned transfer screw; A rotating power unit that is coupled with the power transmission unit and receives power from the power transmission unit; and A feeder device characterized in that it includes a transfer guide vane that is connected to an end of the above-mentioned rotating power unit and is provided within the above-mentioned hopper to prevent bridging of the raw material and to guide the raw material received in the above-mentioned hopper to the above-mentioned transfer screw.

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