JP2801041B2 - Gas replacement device - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a gas replacement device used for enclosing powders such as food and medicine in a specific gas (replacement gas).

[Prior Art] Conventionally, various substances have been sealed in a specific gas. For example, in order to store various substances such as drugs and foods, these substances are sealed in an inert gas such as nitrogen gas. This is to prevent foodstuffs and the like from being oxidized by the oxygen gas and deteriorated. In some cases, the substance is enclosed in a predetermined gas in order to promote identification and reaction with the substance.

Here, when the substance to be sealed is a powder, there is a problem that it is very difficult to replace a gas originally contained in the powder with a replacement gas. In other words, in the case of powder, since the particles are fine, not only the gas inside the powder particles, but also the gas existing around the particles are sealed inside by the aggregate of fine particles. And it was very difficult to replace it.

Therefore, conventionally, when replacing the gas in the powder with another gas, the method has been carried out by storing the powder in the gas to be replaced and stirring the powder for a long time.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, according to this method, the replacement takes a very long time, is inefficient, and even if it takes a long time,
There has been a problem that sufficient gas replacement cannot be performed.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a gas replacement device that can replace gas in powder very effectively in a short time. Aim.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a casing in which powder is circulated and arranged in a substantially vertical direction, and a powder is circulated in this casing. A powder inlet and a powder outlet provided respectively at the upper and lower ends of the casing, and a replacement gas inlet and an exhaust gas outlet provided in the casing for flowing the replacement gas through the casing,
A shaft portion arranged vertically in the center of the casing and a stirring body composed of stirring blades extending in a radial direction from a peripheral surface of the shaft portion, and a stirring body connected to the stirring body and vertically moving the stirring body. A vibrating source for fine vibration, wherein the falling powder and the replacement gas are brought into contact with each other while being stirred by the stirring body in the casing, and the gas in the powder atmosphere is replaced by the replacement gas.

[Operation] The gas replacement device according to the present invention has the above-described configuration, and the powder and the replacement gas come into contact in the casing. A stirrer that vibrates up and down is arranged in the casing, and the powder falls down in the casing while being stirred by the stirrer, where it contacts the replacement gas. Therefore, the gas contained in the powder is replaced by the replacement gas and escapes from the casing. Therefore, the powder that has reached the powder outlet at the lower portion of the casing has the originally contained gas removed and contains only the replacement gas.

As described above, since the powder falling by the vibration of the agitator is brought into contact with the replacement gas while being vibrated, the gas can be replaced very efficiently.

Hereinafter, a gas replacement device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram in which a right half of a gas replacement device according to an embodiment is represented as a cross-sectional view.

In the figure, a casing 10 is formed in a cylindrical shape, and a powder inflow pipe 12 and an exhaust gas discharge pipe 14 are provided on the upper part thereof.

On the other hand, a powder discharge pipe 16 and a replacement gas inflow pipe 18 are provided below the casing 10. Also, the powder discharge pipe 16
Inside, a screw conveyor 22 driven by a motor 20 is inserted and arranged.

Then, the powder to be processed flows into the inflow pipe 12 from a powder supply means (not shown), and the powder falls through the casing 10 and is discharged from the discharge pipe 16. On the other hand, the replacement gas, for example, nitrogen gas, flows into the casing 10 from the gas inflow pipe 18, contacts the powder here, replaces the gas in the powder, and is then discharged to the outside through the exhaust gas discharge pipe 14.

Here, a characteristic of the present invention is that the stirring body 30 is inserted and arranged inside the casing 10. The stirring body 30 includes a shaft portion 32 and a spiral blade. The shaft 32 extends above the casing 10 and is connected to the vibration source 40.

As the vibration source 40, various types such as an electromagnetic drive type and an ultrasonic type can be adopted. In this embodiment, a motor cam type is used. That is, in this example, the vibration source
Reference numeral 40 denotes a pair of motors 42 and a cam mechanism 50 attached to an output shaft 44 of the motor 42.

The cam mechanism 50 has a rotating part 52 to which the output shaft 44 is eccentrically attached, and a swing part 54 that swings by the eccentric rotation of the rotating part 52. Therefore, the swing of the swing portion 54 is
The vibration is transmitted to the shaft portion 32 via 56 as vertical vibration.

The connecting portion 60 between the casing 10 and the vibration source 30 is provided with two diaphragms 62 and 64.
This prevents the fluid flowing inside from entering the vibration source 30.

Here, the two diaphragms 62 and 64 are connected by a pipe-shaped connecting member 40 so that a certain range is integrally moved, and the upper diaphragm 64 is directed downward by a biasing member 72 at a predetermined pressure. Have been energized. Therefore, even if the pressure in the casing 10 increases to some extent, the pressure can be countered by the urging force of the urging member 72.

The biasing member 72 is composed of a screw 74 and a spring 76,
The urging force can be adjusted by moving the screw 74.

When processing is performed in the gas replacement device having such a configuration, the powder to be processed flows through the inflow pipe 12. The powder may be, for example, a powdery food or pharmaceutical such as cereal flour such as flour. Then, such powder falls down in the casing 10 by its own weight. Then, in this state, the stirring body 30 is vertically vibrated by the vibration source 40. Then, the powder flowing through the casing 10 is crushed and dispersed by the collision with the stirring body 30 which vibrates up and down.

On the other hand, the nitrogen gas flowing from the gas inflow pipe 18 flows upward in the casing 10 and flows in from the exhaust gas discharge pipe 14. Then, the nitrogen gas comes into contact with the powder that is crushed and dispersed by the stirring body 30, and the powder that is a dispersion of very fine particles comes into contact with the nitrogen gas. Therefore, the gas in the powder atmosphere is replaced by nitrogen gas, and the gas taken into the powder is also dispersed in nitrogen gas and replaced with nitrogen gas because the partial pressure of the atmosphere is low. Therefore, in the powder that has dropped to the bottom of the casing 10, the gas originally contained in the powder is almost replaced by nitrogen gas.

For this reason, the powder discharge pipe is
The powder discharged from 16 is filled with nitrogen gas.

As described above, according to this embodiment, it is possible to very efficiently replace the gas which is hardly replaced and which is taken in the powder.

Next, FIG. 2 shows a stirrer suitable for the present invention.
30 is a partial cross-sectional view showing an example of the configuration of No. 30. FIG. in this way,
The stirring body 30 is formed of a shaft 32 connected to the vibration source 40 and a spiral blade 302 fixed to the shaft 32. The blade 302 has a plurality of notches 304 formed therein. The notch 304 has an opening 304a formed at the outer edge of the blade 302 and an opening 304b formed at the inner edge. And
These openings 304 are located at the next stage in the axial direction of the shaft 300.
And the phases are different.

Therefore, the powder falling in the casing 10 is
The flow that falls along the surface of the spiral blade 302 and the two flows that flow through the opening 304 are combined. Further, the openings 304 have different phases, and have two types of positions in the radial direction. Therefore, the flow of the powder in the casing 10 becomes turbulent, and the contact between the powder and the nitrogen gas is promoted.

Further, the agitating body 30 vibrates in the vertical direction by the vibrating device 32. Therefore, crushing and dispersion of the powder due to vibration are generated near the surface of the spiral blade 302, and the contact between the powder and the nitrogen gas contacting the powder is further promoted.

3 and 4 show another embodiment of the stirrer 30. In the example shown in FIG. 3, a half-moon-shaped blade 306 is provided on the shaft 32 in multiple stages. The blade 306 of one stage is fixed so that the inclination with respect to the axial direction is just opposite, and the blade 306 of the next stage has a phase different from that of the previous stage by 90 degrees. . Even if the stirring body 30 having the blades 306 is employed, the same effect as in the above case can be obtained.

Further, in the example shown in FIG. 4, a rod-shaped blade 308 is provided on the shaft 302 in a ribbon screw shape. In this example, a similar effect can be obtained.

Next, FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 are schematic structural views of a gas replacement apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

In the example of FIG. 5, a powder storage section 80 is formed at the upper part of the casing 10, and the lower end of the casing 10 is opened, from which the powder after gas replacement is discharged downward.

And, in this example, the upper part of the powder storage unit 80 is open. For this reason, the nitrogen gas flowing from the replacement gas inflow pipe 80 provided at the lower part of the casing 10 comes into contact with the powder and then is discharged from above the powder storage unit 80 as it is.

In the example of FIG. 6, a powder storage section 80 is formed on the upper part of the casing 10 in the same manner as in the example of FIG.
The lower end of the opening 10 has an opening from which the powder after gas replacement is discharged downward.

In this example, a nitrogen gas as a replacement gas is introduced from a replacement gas inflow pipe 14 formed at an upper portion of the casing 10, and the powder after the replacement of the exhaust gas is discharged from the lower end opening of the casing 10 together. ing. Therefore, in this example, the incidental gas and the nitrogen gas come in contact with each other while falling downward.

Also in these examples, gas replacement that is as effective as in the above-described embodiment can be achieved.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the gas replacement device of the present invention, in the casing 10 having the vibrating stirrer, the powder and the replacement gas are brought into contact with each other, so that a very effective gas replacement is achieved. Thus, gas replacement can be achieved with high efficiency in a short time with a small device.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional view showing the entire configuration of a gas replacement device according to the present invention, FIGS. 2 to 4 are schematic configuration diagrams each showing an example of the configuration of a stirring body 30, and FIGS. FIG. 7 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating a configuration of another embodiment of the present invention. 10 Casing 12 Powder inflow pipe 14 Exhaust gas exhaust pipe 16 Powder exhaust pipe 18 Replacement gas inflow pipe 30 Stirrer 32 Shaft 34 Spiral blade 40 Vibration source

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B65B 1/00-1/48 B65B 37/00-37/20 B65B 31/00-31/10

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A casing in which powder is circulated and arranged in a substantially vertical direction, a powder inlet and a powder inlet respectively provided at upper and lower ends of the casing for circulating the powder in the casing. A body flow outlet, a replacement gas inlet and an exhaust gas outlet provided in the casing to allow the replacement gas to flow through the casing, and a shaft arranged vertically in the center of the casing. A stirrer consisting of a stirring blade extending radially from the peripheral surface of the shaft; and a vibration source connected to the stirrer and finely vibrating the stirrer in the vertical direction. A gas replacement device, wherein a gas in a powder atmosphere is replaced by a replacement gas while being brought into contact with each other while being stirred by a stirring body in a casing.