JP3172320B2 - Active metal powder grinding and classifying equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a classifier, and particularly to a pulverizer / classifier suitably used for producing very active and easily oxidizable metal fine powder.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Metals or alloys for hydrogen storage, such as Ti, rare earth metals or alloys thereof, are mentioned as active and easily oxidizable metals. In producing the metal or alloy for storing hydrogen, it is necessary to pulverize the metal or the alloy in order to make the composition of the metal or the like uniform. However, if the metal or the like is pulverized in an atmosphere gas in which oxygen remains at several percent or more, there is a risk of dust explosion and the like. In addition, there is a problem that the oxygen concentration in the alloy increases due to the oxidation, and good quality cannot be obtained. Therefore, when pulverizing these active metals and the like, it is indispensable to pulverize them in a non-oxidizing atmosphere such as an inert gas atmosphere such as an argon gas atmosphere.

[0003] As such a pulverizing technique in a controlled gas atmosphere, conventionally, for example, in order to prevent the temperature of the alloy from rising due to the impact of the pulverization, a coarsely pulverized alloy powder is mixed with dry ice and then wet-mixed. A typical example is a wet pulverization method in which pulverization is performed.

Further, conventionally, a gas circulation pulverizing system as shown in FIG. 1 for performing pulverization while circulating a large amount of inert gas and recovering pulverized powder with a cyclone has been studied.

[0005]

However, in the above wet grinding method, a drying step is required after grinding,
In addition, since the pulverized powder adheres to the inside of the container, there is a problem in workability such as deterioration of handling of the powder and deterioration of a recovery rate of the pulverized powder.

On the other hand, in the above-mentioned gas circulation grinding system, a large amount of inert gas is used, so that a chilling device for cooling inert gas and a large blower for gas circulation are required.
There was a problem in workability such as frequent maintenance of filters and valves.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and in particular, is excellent in workability in which active metals which can easily be ignited can be quickly ground and classified without igniting. An object of the present invention is to provide a pulverizing / classifying apparatus.

[0008]

Means for Solving the Problems In order to realize the above-mentioned object, the present inventors have focused on a disk-type pulverizer having excellent pulverization efficiency and made intensive studies. As a result, in this study, the present inventors have found that in a disk-type pulverizer, the rotating shaft expands due to a rise in temperature, so that it is necessary to increase the clearance between the bearing and the rotating shaft in design, and for that purpose, It has been found that there is a problem that air entrapment and intrusion of the crushed fine powder into the bearing through the gap cannot be avoided. Therefore, as a result of further research to solve this problem, as a result of connecting the crusher and the vibratory classifier in a hermetically sealed state, and maintaining the internal pressure of the crusher at a positive pressure by supplying and releasing an inert gas, The present inventors have found that the above-mentioned object can be surely realized without causing the above problem by adopting a structure for preventing the inflow of air, and have arrived at the present invention.

That is, the present invention relates to a pulverizing / classifying apparatus in which a pulverizer having a powder supply mechanism and a vibrating classifier are connected in a closed state, and the pulverizer has a pulverizing chamber. And a rotating disk and a fixed disk housed therein, wherein a bearing of a horizontal rotating shaft supporting the rotating disk is arranged outside the housing, and a hermetic seal for introducing an atmospheric gas into the grinding chamber. A cover is provided at a connection portion between the housing and the bearing so as to form a sealed state, and an inlet for the atmospheric gas is provided on the housing and the closed cover, respectively. A container body with a built-in screen and a collection container that communicates with the
The recovery container is also a device for pulverizing and classifying an active metal powder, which is connected in a closed state and provided with an outlet for atmospheric gas.

[0010]

As described above, in the conventional disk-type pulverizer, since the rotating shaft 5 expands due to a rise in temperature, a large gap is formed between the bearing 8 and the rotating shaft 5 by design. The problem of entraining air arises.

Further, only by connecting the inlet 4 of the argon gas to the housing 4 and keeping the inside of the pulverizing chamber 3 in an inert gas atmosphere, a part of the fine powder pulverized in the pulverizing chamber 3 is rotated by the rotating shaft. 5 flows into the bearing case 13.
As a result, the fine powder scattered in the crushing chamber 3 is
Then, the gas enters the bearing case 13 through various paths along the flow of the argon gas toward, for example, the seal 14 along the rotating shaft 5. Therefore, bearing 8
However, there is a problem that the powder is damaged by the fine powder and its life is shortened.

In this respect, in the apparatus of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 2, a sealing cover 9 is provided at a connection portion between the housing 4 and the bearing 8 so as to form a sealed state. With the provision of the disk rotation axis 5
In addition, the inflow of air and the scattering of dust to the outside can be prevented from the clearance at the bearing 8 portion. Moreover, by introducing an argon gas or other atmospheric gas into the pulverizing chamber 3 from the inside of the closed cover 9, it is possible to prevent the fine powder generated in the pulverizing chamber 3 from entering the inside of the bearing 8.

Further, in the present invention, the internal pressure of the crusher A and the vibratory classifier B is reduced by connecting the crusher A and the vibrating classifier B in a sealed state and adjusting the gas discharge port 17 provided in the receiving container 16 of the classifier. By maintaining a positive pressure with an inert gas,
The pulverized powder pulverized by the pulverizer can be stored in the receiving container 16 without being taken out in an oxidizing atmosphere.

The present invention can be applied to a hammer-type pulverizer or an impact-type pulverizer in which a pulverizing mechanism utilizes an impact.

[0015]

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of a pulverizing / classifying apparatus according to the present invention. In the example shown in FIG.
And a vibratory classifier B, each of which is hermetically connected by a rubber connector C.

The crusher A has a powder supply mechanism comprising a hopper 1 for charging the material to be crushed and a screw feeder 2 provided at the lower end of the hopper 1, and supplies the material from the powder supply mechanism. Crushing chamber 3 and crushing chamber 3
, A rotating disk 6 fixed to a rotating shaft 5 extending through one side wall 4a of the housing 4 and extending into the grinding chamber 3, and the other side wall 4b of the housing 4
A fixed disk 7 fixed inside the housing, a bearing 8 rotatably supporting the rotating shaft 5 outside the housing side wall 4a,
It has a drive motor for driving the rotating shaft 5 and a sealing cover 9 for hermetically surrounding a connection portion between the housing 4 and the bearing 8. An argon gas injection pipe 11 is inserted into a gas injection port 10 provided at the upper end of the sealing cover 9. Is connected via a valve 12, and the inside of the grinding chamber 3 is maintained in an inert gas atmosphere by an argon gas supplied from an argon gas source (not shown) via a pump (not shown) by an argon gas injection pipe 11. It is configured to be.

On the other hand, the vibration classifier B comprises a screen 15 for classifying the pulverized powder and a receiving container 16 for storing the classified pulverized powder. The pulverizer A is a rubber connector C.
Argon gas supplied from the argon gas inlet 10 is discharged through the gas discharge port 17 provided in the receiving container 16 by passing through the classification chamber,
The inside of the crusher A and the classifier B is configured to be maintained at a positive pressure by an inert gas atmosphere.

[0018]

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a pulverizing / classifying apparatus excellent in workability, which can quickly pulverize and classify easily ignitable active metals without igniting. This makes it possible to obtain active metal powder safely and at low cost without oxidation, dust explosion, etc., and without the need for large equipment such as a gas circulation device.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a gas circulation grinding system according to the prior art.

FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view showing a disk-type crusher of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List A disk crusher B vibratory classifier C rubber connector 1 hopper for feeding material to be crushed 2 screw feeder 3 crushing chamber 4 housing 5 rotating shaft (shaft) 6 rotating disk 7 fixed disk 8 bearing 9 hermetic cover 10 gas inlet 11 Argon gas injection pipe 12 Valve 13 Bearing case 14 Seal 15 Screen 16 Receiving container 17 Gas outlet 18 Shattered powder receiving chute

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI B07B 1/46 B07B 1/46 Z (72) Inventor Kenichi Kobayashi 232 Oguni, Oguni-machi, Nishiokitama-gun, Yamagata Prefecture Oguni New Materials Co., Ltd. Inside the Functional Metal Center (72) Inventor Yutaka Matsubara 8-4 Nihonbashi-Koami-cho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo Niju New Materials Co., Ltd. Functional Metal Department (56) References JP-A-6-226136 (JP, A) JP Hei 3-16656 (JP, A) JP-A-6-190297 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B02C ^7/ 00-7/18 B02C 23/00-23 / 40

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A pulverizing / classifying apparatus in which a pulverizer having a powder supply mechanism and a vibratory classifier are connected in a sealed state, wherein the pulverizer comprises a housing constituting a pulverizing chamber and a housing thereof. A rotating disk and a fixed disk housed therein, a horizontal rotating shaft bearing for supporting the rotating disk is disposed outside the housing, and a sealing cover for introducing an atmospheric gas into the pulverizing chamber is provided in the housing. A sealing portion is provided at a connection portion between the bearing and the bearing, and an inlet for the atmospheric gas is provided in the housing and the sealing cover, respectively. The vibratory classifier is a screen communicating with the crusher. It consists of a built-in container body and a collection container, and the collection container is also connected in a sealed state, and the collection container must not be provided with an outlet for atmospheric gas. , Pulverization and classification device of the active metal powder.