JP5378766B2 - Powder container - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a seal structure provided in a lid portion of a container that accommodates a granular material.

  In the process of producing a solid preparation such as a tablet in the field of the pharmaceutical industry, for example, a tank as shown in Patent Document 1 is used to transfer a powder or granule that is an intermediate product. The opening provided in the upper part of the tank is closed by the lid, and the opening is sealed by tightly contacting the sealing member of the lid and the opening of the tank.

The granular material accommodated in the tank is discharged from the lower part in a predetermined process and supplied to, for example, a tableting machine. Even if the granular material is discharged from the tank, a part of the granular material remains inside. Therefore, when a different type of granular material is newly accommodated, it is necessary to clean the inside of the tank each time. Therefore, it has been conventionally performed to clean the inside of the tank by inserting a nozzle from the top of the tank and injecting high-pressure water.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2008-019872

  However, even if the tank is cleaned as described above, the granular material that has entered the gap between the lid and the sealing member of the lid and the gap between the lid and the opening of the tank cannot be completely removed. Therefore, it is necessary to remove the lid from the tank to clean the gap, and there is a problem that the cleaning work becomes complicated.

  This invention is made | formed in view of said problem, and it aims at providing the granular material container which can remove the granular material which infiltrated the seal | sticker part, without removing a cover body at the time of washing | cleaning.

  The present invention includes a tank that accommodates a granular material having an opening in the upper portion, a lid that closes the opening, and an annular seal member that seals the gap between the lid and the opening over the entire circumference of the lid. In the powder container, the seal member is provided so that the outer edge end side is sandwiched in the gap between the lid and the opening, and the inner edge end side is exposed to the internal space of the tank.

  According to the present invention, since the inner edge end side of the seal member that seals the gap between the lid and the tank is exposed in the internal space of the tank, the seal member and the lid are used when cleaning the inside of the granular container. And the cleaning water can be spread over the gap between the sealing member and the opening of the tank. Therefore, the granular material that has entered the gap can be removed without removing the lid, and the cleaning operation can be simplified while preventing the granular material from remaining in the container.

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

  1-3 is a schematic block diagram which shows the granular material container in this embodiment. 1 is a side view of the powder container, FIG. 2 is a top view of the powder container, and FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of a range A in FIG.

  The powder container 1 includes a tank 3 that stores powder particles having an opening 2 in the upper part, and a lid 4 that closes the opening 2 of the tank 3 in the upper part of the tank 3. The lid body 4 has a carry-in port 5 in the center, and receives powder particles sent from a carry-in device (not shown). In addition, a discharge port 6 for discharging powder particles is provided below the tank 3, and a valve 7 is provided in the discharge port 6 so that the particles can be discharged by being opened. The discharge port 6 is connected to, for example, a tableting machine and the like, and by opening the valve 7, powder particles inside the tank 3 can be fed.

  The powder container 1 is configured as described above, and is used, for example, for transferring an intermediate product in a manufacturing process of a solid preparation. In addition, in this embodiment, a granular material is used as a general term for a powder and a granular material, and includes, for example, a raw material of a solid preparation in the field of the pharmaceutical industry, a tablet after being molded by a tableting machine, and the like.

  Hereinafter, a seal structure for sealing between the lid 4 and the tank 3 will be described.

  A plurality of bolts 9 are provided on the outer periphery of the lid 4 so as to be evenly arranged in the circumferential direction, and the lid 4 is fixed to the opening 2 of the tank 3 by the bolts 9.

  On the lower surface of the lid body 4, an annular groove 10 is provided on the entire inner circumference in the radial direction of the lid body 4 from the bolt 9, and an O-ring 11 is fitted in the groove 10. As shown in FIG. 3, the groove 10 is located on the lower surface of the lid body 4 from the position facing the opening 2 of the tank 3 (position C in FIG. 3) further radially inward from the inner edge 8 of the opening 2, that is, It extends to a position not facing the opening 2 (position D in FIG. 3). Thus, the outer edge end side half (right side half in FIG. 3) of the O-ring 11 fitted in the groove 10 is sandwiched between the lid 4 and the opening 2 of the tank 3, and the inner edge end side half (left side half in FIG. 3). ) Is exposed in the internal space of the tank 3.

  The depth of the groove 10 is set to be smaller than the diameter of the O-ring 11, whereby when the lid 4 is fixed to the opening 2 of the tank 3, the O-ring 11 is elastically deformed to open the lid 4 and the opening. The inside of the tank 3 is kept in pressure contact with the part 2.

  Here, the seal structure will be described in detail while comparing with the conventional example. 4 is a side view of a conventional powder container, and FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of a range B in FIG.

  In the conventional example, an annular groove 22 is formed on the lower surface of the lid body 21 in the vicinity of the outer peripheral portion over the entire circumference, and an annular packing 23 is fitted into the groove 22. The lid 21 and the opening 25 of the tank 24 are fixed by a clamp band 26, whereby the packing 23 is pressed against the lid 21 and the opening 25 of the tank 24, and the airtightness inside the tank 24 is maintained. Since the groove 22 of the lid 21 is provided only at a position facing the opening 25, the packing 23 is sealed between the lid 21 and the opening 25 when the lid 21 is fixed to the opening 25.

  Here, after discharging all the granular material accommodated in the granular material container 1 from the discharge port 6, when accommodating different types of granular material, the inside of the granular material container 1 was washed and adhered. It is necessary to remove the granular material, and a conventionally known automatic cleaning device is used to remove the granular material.

  The automatic cleaning device inserts a high-pressure water injection nozzle from, for example, a carry-in port 5 provided in the center of the lid body 4 and injects cleaning water at a high pressure while rotating the nozzle inside the granular material container 1. Thereby, the granular material adhering to the inside of the granular material container 1 is washed away by the washing water and discharged from the discharge port 6 together with the washing water.

  However, in the conventional example, the packing 23 that seals between the lid 21 and the tank 24 is sealed by the groove 22 of the lid 21 and the opening 25 of the tank 24. The gap between the packing 23 and the lid 21 and the gap between the packing 23 and the opening 25 of the tank 24 are not sufficiently supplied. Thereby, the granular material that has entered the gap remains without being washed away.

  Therefore, it is necessary to remove the lid 21 from the tank 24 and further remove the packing 23 from the lid 21 to remove the remaining granular material, and the cleaning operation is complicated.

  In the conventional example, since it is necessary to remove the lid body 21 every time the tank 24 is cleaned, the lid body 21 is fixed by the clamp band 26. However, the lid body 21 is fixed by a bolt and used as a seal member. Even with a structure using O-rings instead of packing, the above-mentioned problems still occur.

  Therefore, in the present invention, the seal structure is as shown in FIG. 3 as described above. That is, the position of the groove 10 of the lid 4 on the lower surface of the lid 4 and the position opposite to the opening 2 of the tank 3 (position C in FIG. 3) further radially inward from the inner edge 8 of the opening 2 ( By extending to position D) in FIG. 3, the inner edge end side which is a part of the O-ring 11 is exposed to the internal space of the tank 3.

  As a result, the cleaning water sprayed from the nozzle of the automatic cleaning device enters the gap between the O-ring 11 and the lid 4 and the gap between the O-ring 11 and the opening 2 of the tank 3, so that the lid 4 is removed. The granular material remaining in the gap can be removed without any problem.

  According to the above embodiment, the following effects are obtained.

  Since a part of the O-ring 11 that seals the gap between the lid 4 and the opening 2 of the tank 3 is exposed in the internal space of the tank 3, when cleaning the inside of the powder container 1, the O-ring The cleaning water can be spread over the gap between the cover 11 and the lid 4 and the gap between the O-ring 11 and the opening 2. Therefore, the granular material that has entered the gap can be removed without removing the lid 4, and the cleaning operation can be simplified while preventing the granular material from remaining inside the container 1.

  In particular, when the container 1 is cleaned using an automatic cleaning device, the operation of detaching the lid 4 is not required, so that it can be completely automated and the cleaning operation can be further simplified.

  In addition, the annular groove 10 provided in the lid 4 extends from the position facing the opening 2 of the tank 3 to the inner side in the radial direction from the inner edge 8 of the opening 2. The O-ring 11 can be fixed so that a part of the O-ring 11 is exposed to the internal space of the tank 3.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and it is obvious that various modifications can be made within the scope of the technical idea.

  For example, although the present embodiment has been described using the O-ring 11 as the seal member, similar effects can be obtained by using other seal members that can maintain the airtightness of the tank 3.

  In the present embodiment, the positions of the groove 10 and the O-ring 11 provided in the lid body 4 are such that the outer edge end side half of the O-ring 11 is sandwiched between the lid body 4 and the opening 2, and the inner edge end side half is the tank 3. However, the portion exposed to the internal space of the tank 3 does not need to be halved, and the ratio is such as the sealing property of the container 1 and the removability of the granular material entering the gap. It can be changed as appropriate in consideration.

  The seal structure in the present invention can be used in a powder container used for transferring an intermediate product in a solid preparation manufacturing process in the field of the pharmaceutical industry.

It is a side view which shows the structure of the granular material container in this embodiment. It is a top view which shows the structure of the granular material container in this embodiment. It is an expanded sectional view of the range A of FIG. It is a side view which shows the structure of the granular material container in a prior art example. It is an expanded sectional view of the range B of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Powder container 2 Opening 3 Tank 4 Lid 10 Groove 11 O-ring

Claims (3)

A tank for storing a granular material having an opening at the top;
A lid for closing the opening;
In a granular container comprising an annular sealing member that seals the gap between the lid and the opening over the entire circumference of the lid,
The powder container according to claim 1, wherein the seal member is provided such that an outer edge end side is sandwiched between a gap between the lid and the opening, and an inner edge end side is exposed to an internal space of the tank. The lid body has an annular groove on the entire contact surface with the opening,
The groove extends from the inner edge of the opening to the inside in the radial direction,
The granular container according to claim 1, wherein the annular seal member is fitted into the groove.   The granular material container according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the seal member is an O-ring.