JP3431671B2 - Dry ice and dry ice processing method - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to dry ice and a method for processing dry ice. More specifically, for example, in dry ice formed in a substantially cubic shape, it can be easily divided into equal parts without causing chipping. The present invention relates to dry ice processed for easy handling and a method for processing the dry ice.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 53-358, there is known a dividable thin plate-like "dry ice". Such dry ice is formed in a thin plate shape having a thickness of about 20 mm and a weight of about 1.5 kg, and has grid-like cut grooves provided from one side thereof, for example, 80 to 100 g.
Divide into small pieces and use. In addition, actual public Sho 56-6
For example, Japanese Patent No. 442 discloses a "small dry ice production apparatus" which directly produces thin dry ice by pressure-molding snow-like dry ice blown into a housing. All of these are intended to improve the efficiency of physical distribution by directly providing dry ice in the form of use.

[0003]

In the above-mentioned thin plate-shaped "dry ice", the cut groove is provided only from one surface side,
Since the divided portion is continuous to the other surface side, a chip or the like is generated in the edge portion corresponding to the other surface side in the divided small pieces,
There is a problem that the aesthetic appearance is impaired and it is difficult to accurately secure the necessary weight. Furthermore, it can be applied only to specific uses such as taking out confectioneries, and cannot be widely applied to various uses of various shapes and sizes. Also,
The "small dry ice production device" cannot handle a large amount of demand in terms of production efficiency and cost.

In the present situation, when a large amount of dry ice in a form suitable for various kinds of usage is supplied, for example, a block of dry ice compression-molded into a substantially cubic shape having a side of about 25 cm is usually used in a predetermined size. It is cut and processed. However, the processing of lumpy dry ice weighs about 25 kg, and is usually done manually by using a band saw, etc., which is extremely dangerous work. Etc. is a heavy burden for workers. Therefore, there is a need for new means to make handling of dry ice in blocks much easier.

[0005]

Means for Solving the Problems As a result of various studies to solve the above problems, the present inventors have found that bulk dry ice can be distributed by cutting it into an appropriate shape after molding. Although the safety in the process can be improved, on the other hand, the more subdivided, the larger the sublimation loss during storage or during transportation. It has been found that since it adheres due to moisture, it needs to be separately packaged, which causes a cost problem in any case. The present inventors
As a result of further studies based on such knowledge, for example, if dry ice formed in a substantially cubic shape is pre-processed into a specific shape, it can be stored without increasing sublimation loss, and cracks etc. The present inventors have completed the present invention by knowing that they can be easily divided into equal parts without occurring and can be easily handled.

[0006]

That is, the present invention comprises two main points,
The first gist thereof is a block of dry ice that is compression-molded into a hexahedron of at least 10 kg or more and cut into a predetermined size when used , and the dry ice before cutting includes a substantial center of one side. A band-shaped cut residue is for cutting at the approximate center on a virtual plane that divides the dry ice into approximately equal parts
It exists in dry ice characterized by being formed by equipment .

[0008] The second aspect of the present invention, a conveyor apparatus comprising two carrier arranged in parallel at intervals, are arranged in the interval portion between the two conveying member, wherein a portion
A first circular saw projecting upward from the transport support surface of the transport body ;
A second circular saw disposed in the same vertical plane as the first circular saw and above the transport supporting surface of the transport body , and the upper end of the first circular saw is provided with the second circular saw. Using a dry ice cutting device located below the lower end of the circular saw, the block-shaped dry ice formed in a hexahedron is cut at a position at which the dry ice is divided into approximately equal parts including the approximate center of one side, and the dry ice is cut. The method for processing dry ice is characterized in that a band-shaped cut residue extending from a substantially central portion of one surface to a substantially central portion of another surface parallel to the one surface is formed.

[0009]

In the dry ice of the present invention, the cut residue formed on the virtual plane is easily collapsed by the external force applied to the dry ice, and the dry ice is not broken into two pieces. Divide into blocks and make the size easy to handle. On the other hand, during transportation or the like, the above-mentioned cut residue is interposed between both blocks located on both sides of the virtual plane to prevent them from adhering.

Further, in the above dry ice cutting device used in the processing method of the present invention, the first circular saw and the second circular saw, which are arranged in a specific manner, are used to dry the hexahedron carried by the conveyor device. Notches are formed from the top and bottom surfaces of the ice, and a band-shaped notch residue is formed between these notches.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is an external view showing the dry ice of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a dry ice cutting device used in the dry ice processing method of the present invention. Figure 3
2 is a front view of the dry ice cutting device shown in FIG. 1. FIG.
FIG. 4 is a side view of the dry ice cutting device shown in FIG. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an arrangement state of two circular saws in the dry ice cutting device shown in FIG. 1.

First, the dry ice of the present invention will be described. The dry ice of the present invention is indicated by reference numeral (1) in FIG. 1, is a dry ice formed in a hexahedron, and is a virtual ice that divides the dry ice into substantially equal parts including the approximate center of one side (2). A band-shaped cut residue (3) is formed on the plane (8). Then, the present invention is suitably carried out on a block of dry ice that is compression-molded into a hexahedron and then cut to a predetermined use size, the dry ice before cutting having a weight of at least 10 kg.

The above-mentioned dry ice (1) contains liquefied carbon dioxide gas in a container, depressurizes the same to generate snow-like dry ice, and press-molds it to form a rectangular parallelepiped block. It is manufactured by a conventionally known method in which, for example, it is cut and formed into a substantially cubic shape by a band saw or the like that is installed side by side, and is packaged and shipped. In addition, in order to omit the cutting step, a small container may be used to directly form a substantially cubic body. Specifically, considering the balance between manufacturing efficiency and distribution, it is usually a cube with one side of about 20 to 30 cm, but it may differ depending on the specifications of the container and the press height, for example, one side is one side. It is about 25 cm square and has a height of 20-30
The shape may be close to a rectangular parallelepiped of cm.

In the present invention, the imaginary plane (8) is a position where, for example, a dry ice (1) formed in a cube is divided into two substantially equal parts and two blocks (1A) and (1B) of a rectangular parallelepiped are formed. Refers to the reference plane for explanation set in. The above-mentioned cut residue (3) can be formed at an appropriate position on the virtual plane (8), and is not broken and is easy to manually in the process of packaging the dry ice (1) immediately after the production. Both blocks (1
Various shapes can be used as long as the areas are capable of connecting and holding A) and (1B).

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the notch residual (3) is easy to form, and
Since the connection strength between the blocks (1A) and (1B) is maximized, and when the blocks (1A) and (1B) are divided, the peripheral edges of these blocks are not generated as much as possible, the virtual plane (8 ), That is, from the approximate center of one surface (4) of the dry ice (1) orthogonal to the virtual plane (8) to the other surface (5) parallel to the one surface.
Is formed in a band shape at a position extending to a substantially central portion. In other words, on the virtual plane (8) of the dry ice (1), a pair of cuts from the one surface (4) orthogonal to the virtual plane to the other surface (5) parallel to the one surface. (6) and (7) are provided to substantially form blocks (1A) and (1B),
Then, these blocks (1A) and (1B) are brought into a state of being connected by the cut remainder (3).

The gap width of the cuts (6) and (7) minimizes the processing loss when forming the cuts, and blocks the cuts during storage due to the moisture in the air icing on the ice. It is important that the width is such that 1A) and (1B) do not adhere to each other, and specifically, it is about 1 to 5 mm. On the other hand, the length of one side (4) of the cut residue (3) is approximately 25 cm on a side, for example, in order to appropriately connect and hold the blocks (1A) and (1B) as described above. The length is 5 to 70 mm, preferably about 20 to 50 mm. The cuts (6) and (7) can be formed by using various cutting devices such as a band saw or a circular saw, a metal plate provided with a heating means such as an electric heater, or a laser device for processing. However, it is particularly efficient to use the dry ice cutting device described later.

The dry ice (1) of the present invention configured as described above is divided into suitable dimensions for use by using a band saw or a circular saw during the distribution process. In such processing, from the viewpoint of handling such as processing procedure and crack prevention, if it is formed into a substantially cubic shape with a side of about 25 cm, first, divide it into approximately equal parts at a position including the approximate center of the side. To a thickness of about 12 cm. At that time, in the dry ice (1) of the present invention, since the cutting residue (3) is formed substantially at the center on the virtual plane (8), a pair of planes parallel to the virtual plane (8) are symmetrical. Directly press the vicinity of each edge manually in the direction of the virtual plane, or
It suffices to give a shock to the dry ice (1) by slightly dropping it on the floor or the like.

That is, since the external force applied to the dry ice (1) is concentrated on the strip-shaped cut residue (3) formed on the virtual plane (8), the cut residue (3) is
It is easily collapsed by such an external force, and the dry ice is completely divided into two blocks (1A) and (1B) to have a size easy to handle. Therefore, when the blocks (1A) and (1B) are used, they can be used immediately without any cutting work. In addition, even when the blocks (1A) and (1B) are divided, there is only a collapsed part of the cut residue (3) in the central part of each block (1A) and (1B), and there is no big chipping. There is no loss of value.

Two blocks (1A) and (1B)
In the case of cutting into a thin plate shape, for example, these blocks may be appropriately subdivided into the sides in the longitudinal direction as necessary. In the dry ice (1) of the present invention, when the divided blocks (1A) and (1B) are cut into a size suitable for use such as a thin plate shape, the collapsed portion of the cutting remainder (3) is the thickness of each thin plate. It is only confirmed in a part such as a portion, and it is possible to prevent defects such as lack of aesthetics due to lack of peripheral edge of each thin plate, inability to secure necessary weight in each thin plate, and decrease in yield.

Further, the dry ice (1) of the present invention has a block (1) that is half the weight of the dry ice from the beginning of the work when the dry ice (1) is cut into working dimensions such as a thin plate.
It can be treated as A) and (1B). Therefore,
In the manual cutting process using a band saw or the like, it is not necessary to handle heavy dry ice as in the conventional case, so the safety can be improved. Also,
In the work area, a light weight block (1A),
It is only necessary to move (1B), and it is possible to reduce the risk of a fall accident and the like, and also to reduce the burden on the worker and improve the work efficiency.

As described above, the notch residual (3) has blocks (1A) and (1) located on both sides of the virtual plane (8).
Blocks (1A) and (1) during storage, etc., which are interposed between B) and hold a predetermined gap of notches (6) and (7).
While the adhesion of B) is prevented to enable equal division by pressurization, there is a concern that the cut residue (3) may be broken during transportation or storage. However, as a result of transportation and storage tests under various conditions, notches (6), (7)
If the thickness of the cut residue (3) is set to the above value, even if the cut residue (3) collapses, the debris of the cut residue (3) is blocked by the block (1A),
Since they are appropriately interposed between (1B), they do not come into close contact and are not integrated with each other, so that the two blocks (1A) and (1
It was confirmed that it can be sufficiently divided into B).

Next, a method of processing dry ice according to the present invention will be described. The dry ice processing method of the present invention can be carried out by using the dry ice cutting device (10) shown in FIGS. That is, the dry ice cutting devices (10) are arranged in parallel at intervals.
A conveyor device (11) comprising one endless carrier (12), (13) and between both endless carriers (12),
A first circular saw (29), which is disposed in the interval portion (14) of (13) and a part of which projects above the transport supporting surfaces of the endless transport bodies (12) and (13), and the first circular saw. A second circular saw (30) arranged in the same vertical plane as the saw and above the transport supporting surfaces of the endless transport bodies (12), (13), and further, the first circular saw ( 2) the upper end of 29)
The circular saw (29) is located below the lower end of the circular saw (29). Then, a block of dry ice formed in a hexahedron is loaded into the dry ice cutting device (10) and is divided into substantially equal parts including a substantial center of one side thereof (corresponding to a virtual plane (8) in FIG. 1). Position), and the other surface (reference numeral (5 in FIG. 1) that faces the one surface (the surface corresponding to reference numeral (4) in FIG. 1) from the substantially central portion of the dry ice. ), A strip-shaped cut residual (a portion corresponding to the reference numeral (3) in FIG. 1) extending to a substantially central portion of the surface) is formed.

First, the structure of the dry ice cutting device (10) will be described. The dry ice cutting device (10) partially uses the configuration of the "dry ice cutting device" described in JP-A-4-289097. The dry ice cutting device (10) used in the present invention is shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 2, two endless carriers (12) and (13) having different widths are arranged at a slight interval (the interval part is denoted by a symbol (1
(Shown by 4)) is provided with a conveyor device (11) arranged in parallel. Each endless carrier (12),
(13) is a large number of strip-shaped support plates (12) bridged by two parallel endless chains and arranged in parallel.
a) and (13a). Further, the strip-shaped support plates (12a) and (12b) are formed of, for example, an ultra-high density polyethylene resin or the like in order to prevent the moisture in the air and the chips of dry ice mixed with the moisture from being frozen.

In the conveyor device (11), the lower surfaces of the strip-shaped support plates (12a) and (13a) of each endless carrier extending from the inlet portion (15) to the outlet portion (16) are provided by rails (not shown). It is slidably supported. Then, the two endless carriers (12) and (13) are operated at the same speed by the common drive motor (17). The surfaces of the strip-shaped support plates (12a) and (13a) of the endless transport bodies (12) and (13) are referred to as transport support surfaces for the sake of description.

Further, side guards (18) and (19) are provided on the outer edge side of the conveyor device (11) and above the transport supporting surfaces of the endless transport bodies (12) and (13), The side guards (18) and (19) are
Each of them is configured to be independently movable in the width direction of the endless carriers (12) and (13). Side guard (1
The moving mechanisms of 8) and (19) are as follows.

Support rods (20) and (21) are arranged above the conveyor unit (11) on the inlet side (15) side and the outlet unit (16) side, respectively, orthogonal to the conveying direction of the conveyor unit. ing. Sliders (22a) and (22b) are slidably attached to one end of each of the support rods (20) and (21). The one side guard (18) is suspended by both sliders (22a) and (22b). Also, similarly to this, the support rod (2
0) and (21) on the other end side, sliders (23a),
(23b) is slidably mounted, and the other side guard (19) has sliders (23a), (2).
3b). Moreover, each pair of sliders (22a), (22b), sliders (23a), (2
3b) are connected by connecting rods (24) and (25) for each pair, and sliders (22a), (22b), and
By moving the sliders (23a) and (23b) integrally with each other, the side guards (18) and (19) can be moved in parallel in the width direction of the endless transport bodies (12) and (13).

The connecting rods (24) and (25) also serve as sliding means for sliding the slider with respect to the supporting rods (20) and (21). The slider (23a) and the connecting rod (25) will be described as an example. The end portion of the connecting rod (25) sandwiches the support rod (20) and the slider (23).
The bearing (2) is rotatably supported by a pair of bearings (26), (26) installed in a).
6) and (26) between the support rod (20) exposed from the window (27) formed in the slider (23a),
They are in contact with each other at right angles. And the connecting rod (25)
The handle (28) for rotating operation has a slider (23).
It is mounted adjacent to a). With such a configuration,
When the connecting rod (25) is rotated, the connecting rod is supported by the supporting rod (2
0) rolling over, resulting in the slider (23
a) slides on the support rod (20).

On the other hand, the connecting rod (24) is composed of five rods connected by a universal joint so as to be able to transmit rotational force, because of the positional relationship with other constituent elements of the present apparatus. Functionally, it is similar to the connecting rod (25) described above. Therefore, by rotating the handle (28) attached to one of the divided rod members in the connecting rod (24) rotatably supported by the bearing (26) provided on the slider (22a), (22a) and (22b) are support rods (2
It slides on 0) and (21).

Two circular saws (29) and (30) are perpendicular to each other in the space (14) between the two endless carriers (12) and (13) at a substantially intermediate position of the conveyor device (11). They are placed one above the other in the plane. First circular saw (2
9) has a rotary shaft (31) whose endless carrier (1)
2) and (13) are arranged below the transport support surface, and substantially the upper half of the first circular saw is projected from the gap portion (14) onto the transport support surface. In addition, the second circular saw (30) has an entire endless carrier (1
2) and (13) are located above the transport support surface.

In the dry ice cutting device (10) used in the present invention, the upper end of the first circular saw (29) (the peripheral edge portion reaching the upper end) is connected to the second circular saw (30). It is configured to be located below the lower end (the peripheral edge blade portion reaching the lower end). The first circular saw (29) and the second circular saw (3
Such an arrangement of (0) corresponds to the endless carrier (12), (1
This is for forming a cut residue, that is, a cut residue in the central portion of the dry ice conveyed by 3). Specifically, as shown in FIG. 5, the height of the upper end of the first circular saw (29) from the transport support surface is h _1, and
The height of the lower end of the second circular saw (30) from the transport support surface is h
₂ , when h ₂ > h ₁ and cubic dry ice having a side of about 25 cm is processed, the difference Δh (h ₂ −h ₁ ) between the heights is, for example, about 5 to 70 mm, preferably Is set to be about 20 to 50 mm.

First circular saw (29) and second circular saw (30)
For this, it is preferable to use a "circular saw for cutting dry ice" described in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 32344/1990.
Such a circular saw is generally stretched by subjecting the saw blade extending from a position approximately ⅔ of the radius from the center to the tip of the tooth in advance so that the saw blade cools and contracts during dry ice cutting. It is configured so as to be a flat plate when it is formed, and has a function of buffering low-temperature strain. In general, a circular saw has an effective diameter that can be cut with respect to an object to be cut about 1/3 of the diameter of the circular saw. Therefore, the first circular saw (29) and the second circular saw
The diameter of the circular saw (30) must be determined in consideration of the height of the dry ice to be processed and the height of the cut residue, for example, for cubic dry ice of about 25 cm on each side, It is set to 300 to 350 mm.

Further, in the first circular saw (29) and the second circular saw (30), the processing amount in the dry ice cutting device (10) and the above-mentioned cutting (6) in the dry ice (1) of the present invention. ) And (7), the plate thickness thereof is, for example, about 0.8 to 3.5 mm, and the clam width is about 1.
It is set to 2 to 5.2 mm. Reference numeral (33) indicates a common motor that rotationally drives the first circular saw (29) and the second circular saw (30), and the rotary shafts of both circular saws from the drive shaft of the motor (33). Belts (34) and (35) are wound around (31) and (32). Reference numeral (36) designates a protective cover for covering the upper half of the second circular saw (30) for preventing danger.

The processing method using the above dry ice cutting device (10) is as follows. First, handle (2
8) is rotated to move the sliders (23a) and (23b), and the side guards () are arranged so that the centers of the dry ice overlap with the first circular saw (29) and the second circular saw (30). 19) is moved to a position where it substantially contacts one side surface of the dry ice formed in a substantially cubic shape. The side guard (18) also moves the sliders (22a) and (22b) in the same manner, and the first circular saw (29) and the second circular saw (3
It is moved to a position symmetrical with the side guard (19) with reference to 0). Then, the endless carrier (12), (1
3) and the first circular saw (29) and the second circular saw (30) are driven.

Next, when the dry ice supplied to the table (37) is loaded on the conveyor device (11), the dry ice is moved by the two endless carriers (12) and (13) moving at the same speed to the first dry ice. Circular saw (29), second
Of the circular saw (30). At that time, the side guards (18) and (19) prevent fluctuations of the dry ice in the width direction of the conveyor device (11) and accurately maintain the position of the dry ice on the transport support surface.

Dry ice is first circular saw (29), second
When reaching the circular saw (30) of the dry ice, the dry ice is cut from the lower surface thereof by the first circular saw (29) and the upper surface thereof by the second circular saw (30), and, for example, a substantially cubic shape. The dry ice thus formed is cut at a position at which the dry ice is divided into substantially equal parts including the approximate center of one side thereof, that is, at the position of the virtual plane (8) in FIG. In the dry ice cutting device (10), the first circular saw (2
Since the upper end of 9) is located below the lower end of the second circular saw (30), there is a cut by the first circular saw (29) and a cut by the second circular saw (30). An uncut residue is formed between.

In other words, for the dry ice passing through, the first circular saw (29) forms the notch (7) shown in FIG. 1 and the second circular saw (30) The notch (6) is formed, so that a notch residual (3) is formed as a notch. Therefore, according to the processing method of the present invention, one surface (4) of the dry ice (1) shown in FIG. 1 can be obtained by only passing the hexahedral block dry ice through the dry ice cutting device (10) once. It is possible to extremely efficiently form the band-shaped cut residue (3) extending from the substantially central portion of the above to the approximately central portion of the other surface (5) facing the one surface.

The dry ice processed as above is
The product is sent out to a table (38) installed at the exit part (16) of the conveyor device (11), successively supplied to a finishing process such as a packaging line, and then shipped as a product. In addition, in the dry ice cutting device (10) in the present embodiment, for example, the tables (37), (38) are provided at the entrances and exits of the dry ice so that the dry ice cutting device (10) can be easily installed in an existing dry ice factory or the like and can be operated independently. ) Is provided and, when it is incorporated in the production line, the production line is installed in the inlet part (15) and the outlet part (16) of the conveyor device (11) instead of the tables (37) and (38). The transport system may be connected.

[0038]

As described above, according to the dry ice of the present invention, the strip-shaped cutting residue is formed in the dry ice formed in the hexahedron, and the dry ice is not substantially damaged without damaging the appearance and the necessary weight. It can be divided into equal parts. Moreover, since the dry ice can be handled in a divided manner, it is possible to improve the safety and the efficiency when cutting into the working size. Further, according to the dry ice processing method of the present invention, it is possible to efficiently form the band-shaped cut residue in the block-shaped dry ice formed in the hexahedron.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view showing dry ice of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a dry ice cutting device used in the dry ice processing method of the present invention.

3 is a front view of the dry ice cutting device shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

4 is a side view of the dry ice cutting device shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

5 is an explanatory diagram showing an arrangement state of two circular saws in the dry ice cutting device shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1: Dry ice 2: 1 side 3: Residual cut 4: One side 5: Other aspects 6: Notch 7: Notch 8: virtual plane 10: Dry ice cutting device 11: Conveyor device 12: Endless carrier 13: Endless carrier 14: Space part 18: Side guard 19: Side guard 29: First circular saw 30: Second circular saw

Front Page Continuation (72) Inventor Yoshio Wakabayashi 23 Minamihama-cho, Chita City, Aichi Prefecture Chita Carbonate Co., Ltd. (56) References Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-289097 (JP, A) Shokai Sho 53-358 (JP, U) Actual development Sho 53-157 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) C01B 31/22 B26D 3/08 B26D 3/18

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A lump of dry ice that is compression-molded into a hexahedron of at least 10 kg or more and is cut into a predetermined size in use , and the dry ice before cutting includes:
A device for cutting with a band-shaped cut residue at the approximate center on a virtual plane that divides the dry ice into approximately equal parts including the approximate center of one side
Dry ice, characterized in that it is formed by. 2. Two carriages arranged in parallel at a distance.
A conveyor device including a feeding body , a first circular saw which is arranged in a space between the two conveying bodies and partially protrudes upward from a conveying support surface of the conveying body , and the same first circular saw. A second circular saw disposed in a vertical plane and above the transport supporting surface of the transport body , and the upper end of the first circular saw is below the lower end of the second circular saw. Using the positioned dry ice cutting device, the block-shaped dry ice formed in the hexahedron is cut at a position where the dry ice is divided into approximately equal parts including the approximate center of one side, and the approximate center part of one surface of the dry ice is cut. A method for processing dry ice, characterized in that a band-shaped cut residue extending from the first surface to the substantially central portion of the other surface parallel to the first surface is formed.