JP7082933B2 - Dry container - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a drying container used for accommodating a large number of granules such as wood chips and drying them by blowing air.

Conventionally, as a drying container for wood chips, for example, a structure disclosed as a conventional example in Patent Document 1 has existed (FIG. 4 of Patent Document 1). The bottom of this drying container is a double bottom, and the upper plate at the bottom is a perforated plate provided with a large number of through holes. In this drying container, hot air is supplied from the outside of the container to the space of the double bottom portion, and the hot air passing through the perforated plate dries the wood chips housed above the perforated plate.

JP-A-2017-132146

In the dry container, hot air moves upward from the perforated plate along the sides in the peripheral area of the container adjacent to the side of the container, while in the central area of the container, the hot air creates gaps between the wood chips. Wood chips are less likely to dry in the central region than in the peripheral region as they move upwards from the perforated plate as they bend through. On the other hand, in order to grasp the timing when the drying of the wood chips is completed, it is conceivable to place a sensor for detecting the temperature and humidity in the central region where the drying is slow. On the other hand, the wood chips to be dried are concentrated in the central area of the container from above the container so that they fit in the container. Therefore, if such a sensor is placed in the central area, the wood chips are charged when the wood chips are charged. , The wood chip easily hits the sensor, which may damage the sensor.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a dry container in which the temperature and humidity of the granules in the central region of the container are detected by the sensor and the damage of the sensor is suppressed when the granules are charged.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention is a drying container used for accommodating a large number of granules and drying them by blowing air. The container body including the container body, the advancing / retreating means fixed to the container body and capable of advancing / retreating in the direction in which the bottom surface of the container body spreads, and the advancing / retreating means connected to the advancing / retreating means are arranged in the container body and around the container body. The sensor is provided with a sensor capable of detecting the temperature or humidity of the container, and the advance / retreat of the advancing / retreating means is performed by advancing the sensor so as to move it away from the side portion and retracting the sensor so as to bring it closer to the side portion. It is characterized by being done between postures.

According to this configuration, the temperature and humidity of the granules in the central region of the container can be detected by advancing the advancing / retreating means and moving the sensor away from the side portion of the container body. Further, when the granules are put into the container, the advancing / retreating means is retracted and the sensor is brought closer to the side portion of the container body, so that damage to the sensor due to the collision of the granules can be suppressed.

Further, the advancing / retreating means may be movable in the vertical direction at least in the advancing posture.

According to this configuration, by arranging the sensor on the uppermost surface of the laminated structure in which the granules are stacked, even if the volume of the granules is reduced due to drying and the uppermost surface of the laminated structure is lowered, the sensor is on the uppermost surface. Since the descent follows the descent of, the temperature and humidity of the uppermost surface of the laminated structure can be continuously detected.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a dry container in which the temperature and humidity of the granules in the central region in the container are detected by the sensor and the damage of the sensor when the granules are charged is suppressed.

It is a front view which shows the drying container system which includes the drying container which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a plan view which shows the said dry container system, and is the top view which shows the structure in the retracting posture of the advancing / retreating means. It is a top view which shows the said dry container system, and is the top view which shows the structure in the advance posture of the advance / retreat means. It is a right side view which shows the said dry container system except an air flow supply mechanism and a connecting pipe. It is a top view which shows the frame which forms the double bottom of the said dry container. It is a top view which shows the structure around the advance / retreat means. It is a side view which shows the structure around the advance / retreat means. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line VIII-VIII of FIG. 3, showing a state in which chips before the start of drying are contained in the drying container. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line VIII-VIII of FIG. 3, showing a state in which chips after completion of drying are housed in the drying container.

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be taken up and described. For convenience of explanation, the expressions in the following directions are based on the direction shown in FIG. 1 for the vertical direction. In the front-rear direction, the left side in the states shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 3, and 5 is located in front of the vehicle when mounted on the vehicle, so that the right side is located in front of the vehicle, and the right side is located behind the vehicle when mounted on the vehicle. And. Further, the width direction is a direction that coincides with the vehicle width direction when mounted on a vehicle, and is the vertical direction shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.

The drying container 1 according to the present embodiment is a component of the drying container system S as shown in FIGS. 1 to 4. Here, the drying container system S will be described. The drying container system S is mainly composed of a drying container 1, an air flow supply mechanism 2, and a connecting pipe 3. Although not shown, the drying container 1 is configured to be mountable on a vehicle. A large number of granular wood chips (hereinafter referred to as "chips") are housed inside the drying container 1. A large number of contained chips are dried by evaporating the moisture adhering to the outer surface and the moisture contained in the wood tissue by blowing air. The dried chips are used, for example, for woody biomass power generation. Drying facilitates combustion during power generation and reduces the weight by the amount of moisture removed, which is advantageous during transportation, for example.

The airflow supply mechanism 2 is, for example, a mechanism capable of generating hot air, and although not shown, the airflow supply mechanism 2 includes a blower, a heater, a sensor capable of detecting the temperature of the generated hot air, and a control unit connected to the sensor. ing. The heat source for heating the airflow may be provided outside the airflow supply mechanism 2, for example, when heating is performed by utilizing the exhaust heat of another device. The heating of the air flow can be appropriately performed according to the degree of drying and the amount of the chips contained in the drying container 1. Further, depending on the situation, it is possible to blow only air without heating. Since the connecting pipe 3 sends the airflow (hot air) generated by the airflow supply mechanism 2 to the drying container 1, it is a pipe that connects the drying container 1 and the airflow supply mechanism 2, and a pipe or a hose can be used. In this embodiment, a hose (duct hose) having a circular cross-sectional shape is used.

The drying container 1 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape similar to that of a general in-vehicle container, and has an open upper surface, a closed bottom surface, and side surfaces in the state of use as the drying container system S shown in FIGS. 1 to 4. Is a closed box-shaped body except for the air outlet 116 to which the connecting pipe 3 is connected. The chips are put into the inside from the upper surface of the drying container 1.

The drying container 1 can receive the airflow (hot air) sent from the airflow supply mechanism 2 via the connecting pipe 3 at the bottom portion near the bottom surface, and then apply the airflow to a large number of contained chips. It has a double bottom structure. Therefore, the drying container 1 mainly includes a container body 11, an advancing / retreating means 15, and a sensor 16. As shown in FIG. 5, the drying container 1 of the present embodiment further includes a deck 12, a support plate 13, an auxiliary support plate 14, and the like.

The container body 11 is a portion that appears in the appearance of the dry container 1. In addition to the bottom, the container body 11 has, for example, a pair of narrow side surfaces 110 facing each other in the front-rear direction and a pair of wide side surfaces 117 facing each other in the width direction as side portions connected to the outer edge of the bottom. (See FIGS. 2 and 3). The pair of wide side surfaces 117 is a first wide side surface 118 located on one side in the width direction (upper side in FIGS. 2 and 3) and a second side located on the other side in the width direction (lower side in FIGS. 2 and 3). It has two wide side surfaces 119. The pair of narrow side surfaces 110 has a front side surface 111 located in the front and a rear side surface 115 located in the rear. The bottom surface and side surfaces of the container body 11 are reinforced by forming ribs and the like.

A hook engaging portion 112 on which a hook provided on a movable arm on the vehicle side is hooked is projected on the front side surface 111 when the drying container 1 is mounted on the vehicle (see FIG. 1). Further, a roller 113 that rolls with respect to the ground or the road surface when raising and lowering the vehicle is provided behind the bottom. As shown in FIG. 4, a pair of rollers 113 are provided in the width direction of the container body 11. Further, a leg portion 114 that comes into contact with the roller 113 at the time of installation is provided in front of the bottom portion (see FIG. 1). A pair of legs 114 are also provided in the width direction of the container body 11.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the air outlet 116 that communicates the inside and outside of the container body 11 and can connect the connecting pipe 3 to the lower portion of the rear side surface 115 of the container body 11 at the center in the width direction. Is provided. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, a door 1151 is provided on the rear side surface 115 of the container main body 11, and the air outlet 116 is provided, for example, when taking out chips or cleaning the inside of the container main body 11. It can be opened except for the surrounding part of.

The deck 12 is a plate-shaped portion having a plurality of through holes 121 ... 121 penetrating in the thickness direction, and is provided parallel to the bottom surface at a certain height from the bottom surface of the container body 11 (FIG. 2). , See Figure 3). An airflow retention space is formed between the bottom surface of the container body 11 and the deck 12. The air outlet 116 communicates with the outside of the container body 11 between the bottom surface of the container body 11 and the deck 12. In order to introduce a large amount of airflow, the height dimension of the air outlet 116 is set larger than the distance between the bottom surface of the container body 11 and the deck 12 in the height direction. Therefore, a blower guide portion 17 for adjusting the height dimension is provided inside the container main body 11. As shown in FIGS. 2, 3, and 5, the blower guide portion 17 is a box-shaped portion having an isosceles right triangle shape in a plan view and a trapezoidal shape in a vertical cross-sectional view (cross-sectional view in the vertical direction). be. The rear end of the internal space of the blower guide portion 17 is connected to the blower port 116. Further, the lower end portion of the internal space of the blower guide portion 17 is connected to the airflow retention space. The upper surface of the blower guide portion 17 is not provided with an opening or a through hole, except for those inevitably generated due to the convenience of work. Therefore, the airflow (hot air) introduced from the airflow port 116 flows into the airflow retention space via the airflow guide portion 17. In this way, the blower port 116 communicates with the outside of the container body 11 via the blower guide portion 17.

The deck 12 is configured by arranging a plurality of deck veneers 12a ... 12a side by side. In the present embodiment, the deck 12 is composed of four deck veneers 12a ... 12a arranged in the front-rear direction. In this embodiment, a punching plate is used as each deck veneer 12a. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, a combination of a wire mesh and a member for adjusting the aperture ratio (such as a plate-shaped body provided with a slit) may be used, and various configurations can be selected.

Next, as shown in FIG. 5, the support plate 13 is fixed to the bottom of the container main body 11 together with the sub-support plate 14, and constitutes a frame that supports the deck 12 (plural deck veneers 12a ... 12a) from below. .. In the present embodiment, the auxiliary support plates 14 ... 14 are provided in three rows in the front-rear direction.

The support plate 13 is provided between the deck 12 and the bottom surface of the container body 11. Therefore, the space on the bottom surface side (lower side) of the deck 12 in the container body 11, that is, the airflow retention space is partitioned in the width direction. However, the support plate 13 is shorter than the distance between the front side surface 111 and the rear side surface 115 in the container body 11. The portion of the front end of the support plate 13 that does not partition the airflow retention space becomes the ventilation port 131 described later by being in an open state, and the portion of the rear end of the support plate 13 that does not partition the airflow retention space is the above-mentioned ventilation guide portion. 17 is covered.

The support plate 13 includes a ventilation port 131. The ventilation port 131 communicates the airflow retention space in the width direction with the support plate 13 interposed therebetween. Since the ventilation port 131 is provided in the support plate 13, the airflow (hot air) for drying the chips can flow back and forth in the airflow retention space partitioned by the support plate 13 in the substantially width direction through the ventilation port 131. ..

The advancing / retreating means 15 is fixed to the container body 11, for example, inside the side surface of the container body 11 (see FIGS. 2 and 3). Specifically, the advancing / retreating means 15 is fixed to a portion of the side surface of the container body 11 located behind the container body 11. The advancing / retreating means 15 of the present embodiment is fixed to the upper part inside the side surface of the container body 11 (for example, a portion of the side surface of the container body 11 located behind the container body 11). More specifically, the advancing / retreating means 15 is fixed to a frame arranged above the opening behind the container body 11. The "side surface of the container body 11" includes this frame.

Further, the advancing / retreating means 15 can advance / retreat in the direction in which the bottom surface of the container body 11 spreads. The advancing / retreating means 15 of the present embodiment is a movable stay. Specifically, the advancing / retreating means 15 is a movable stay that is movable at least in the horizontal direction. More specifically, the advancing / retreating means 15 is a movable stay that is movable in the vertical direction (vertical direction) in addition to the horizontal direction. The moving direction of the advancing / retreating means 15 may be a direction along the horizontal direction or a direction along the vertical direction, or may be a direction oblique to the horizontal direction or the vertical direction.

The advancing / retreating means 15 of the present embodiment is a movable stay that can rotate in the horizontal direction with a portion fixed to the side surface of the container main body 11 as a rotation axis. More specifically, the advancing / retreating means 15 has a ball joint 151 and a stay body 154 extending from the ball joint 151, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. The ball joint 151 includes a stat 152 fixed to the rear side surface 115 of the container body 11, and a holder 153 connecting the stat 152 and the stay body 154 and having a recess. Although not shown, the ball joint 151 of the present embodiment also includes boots that cover the surface of the holder 153 and prevent the holder 153 from coming off the stat 152.

The stat 152 has a spherical portion and a columnar portion extending from the spherical portion. The columnar portion is fixed to a frame arranged above the opening behind the container body 11. The spherical portion is housed in a recess provided in the holder 153. The holder 153 is rotatably connected to the stat 152 in the horizontal direction (the direction in which the bottom surface of the container body 11 spreads) (see FIG. 6). The holder 153 of the present embodiment is rotatably connected to the stat 152 in the vertical direction in addition to the horizontal direction (see FIG. 7).

The stay body 154 has a rod shape, for example, a straight rod shape. The base end portion 1540, which is one end portion in the longitudinal direction of the stay main body 154, is fixed to the holder 153. A sensor 16 is connected to a tip portion 1541 which is an end portion on the other side in the longitudinal direction of the stay main body 154. The central portion 1542 in the longitudinal direction of the stay main body 154 of the present embodiment can be fixed to the frame arranged above the opening behind the container main body 11 by the fixing member 155 (see FIG. 2).

With such a configuration, the advance / retreat of the advancing / retreating means 15 is performed between the advancing posture and the retracting posture. The advanced posture is a posture in which the sensor 16 is advanced so as to be away from the side portion (for example, the rear side surface 115) of the container main body 11 (see FIG. 3). The retracted posture is a posture in which the sensor 16 is retracted so as to be close to the side portion (for example, the rear side surface 115) of the container main body 11 (see FIG. 2). Specifically, as shown in FIG. 6, the advancing / retreating means 15 is rotatable between the retracted posture and the advanced posture by drawing an arc around the ball joint 151.

Further, the advancing / retreating means 15 is movable in the vertical direction at least in the advancing posture. The advancing / retreating means 15 of the present embodiment is movable in the vertical direction in both the advancing posture and the retracting posture. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 7, the advancing / retreating means 15 can rotate in the vertical direction while drawing an arc around the ball joint 151.

The stay main body 154 of the present embodiment extends along the rear side surface 115 when the advancing / retreating means 15 is in the retracted posture. Further, the stay main body 154 of the present embodiment can be moved from a position extending along the rear side surface 115 to a position extending along the first wide side surface 118 by the rotation of the ball joint 151.

The sensor 16 is a sensor capable of detecting ambient temperature or humidity, and is, for example, a sensor capable of detecting temperature. Further, the sensor 16 is arranged in the container main body 11 in a state of being connected to the advancing / retreating means 15. The sensor 16 of the present embodiment is arranged on the deck veneer 12a arranged on the rearmost side when the advancing / retreating means 15 is in the advancing posture (see FIG. 3). The sensor 16 of the present embodiment includes a sensor main body 160 for detecting the temperature and a case 161 for accommodating the sensor main body 160. The sensor main body 160 is covered with a box-shaped case 161 that opens downward, and suppresses the temperature rise from being exposed to sunlight, making it impossible to detect an accurate value.

An example of the procedure for drying the chips in the above drying container 1 will be described. First, after the advancing / retreating means 15 is retracted to the retracted posture (see FIG. 2), the chips are thrown into the drying container 1 from above. At the time of this charging, in general, the chips are intensively charged into the central region in the drying container 1 so that the chips do not overflow from the drying container 1. When the entire amount of the chips to be dried is put into the drying container 1, the advancing / retreating means 15 advances into the advancing posture (see FIG. 3). At this time, as shown in FIG. 8, the advancing / retreating means 15 of the present embodiment advances so as to be arranged at a substantially central position in the width direction between the pair of wide side surfaces 117. Further, at this time, the advancing / retreating means 15 of the present embodiment advances so that the sensor 16 is arranged on the uppermost surface C1 of the laminated structure C in which the chips are stacked in the vertical direction. As a result, the sensor 16 comes into contact with the uppermost surface C1. The advancement and evacuation of the advance / retreat means 15 can be performed manually or automatically.

When the advancing / retreating means 15 advances to the advancing posture, the chips start to dry. Specifically, the supply of hot air by the airflow supply mechanism 2 is started. The hot air supply may be started manually or automatically, for example, by detecting the advance of the advancing / retreating means 15. The hot air generated by the airflow supply mechanism 2 is sent into the drying container 1 through the connecting pipe 3 and hits the chip through the double bottom structure of the drying container 1 to evaporate the moisture of the chip.

Drying of the chip is completed when the temperature or humidity detected by the sensor 16 exceeds a certain temperature or humidity. Specifically, when the temperature detected by the sensor 16 exceeds, for example, 70 ° C., the control unit stops the supply of hot air by the airflow supply mechanism 2, so that the drying of the chip is completed.

In the above-mentioned drying container 1, while the wood chips are being dried, the advancing / retreating means 15 is advanced to move the sensor 16 away from the side portion of the container body 11 (see FIG. 3), so that the chips in the central region inside the container body 11 The temperature can be detected. Further, when the chips before drying are put into the container main body 11, the advancing / retreating means 15 is retracted and the sensor 16 is brought closer to the side portion of the container main body 11 (see FIG. 2), so that the advancing / retreating means due to the chips colliding with each other. Damage to the 15 and the sensor 16 can be suppressed.

In the drying container 1 of the present embodiment, the sensor 16 is arranged so as to abut on the uppermost surface C1 of the laminated structure C in which the chips are stacked (see FIG. 8), so that the volume of the chips is reduced by drying and the laminated structure is formed. Even if the uppermost surface C1 of C descends, the sensor 16 descends following the lowering of the uppermost surface C1 (see FIG. 9), so that the contact of the sensor 16 with the uppermost surface C1 is continued, and thus the contact with the uppermost surface C1 is continued. The temperature of the uppermost surface C1 of the laminated structure C can be continuously detected.

Further, in the drying container 1 of the present embodiment, since the airflow supply mechanism 2 includes a sensor capable of detecting the temperature of hot air, in addition to the temperature detected by the sensor 16, the temperature detected by the sensor of the airflow supply mechanism 2 Based on, the length of time it takes from the start to the end of drying the chip can be predicted. For example, if the temperature detected by the sensor of the airflow supply mechanism 2 is much lower than the design temperature of the hot air from the airflow supply mechanism 2, it is predicted that the time required for drying the chip will be longer than the design time. can.

In the dry container 1 of the present embodiment, the sensor main body 160 of the sensor 16 is housed in the case 161. Therefore, even if the chip hits the sensor 16 when the chip is put into the container 11, the sensor main body 160 is hard to damage.

Although the present invention has been described above by taking up one embodiment, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. For example, the drying container 1 of the above-described embodiment is configured to be capable of being mounted on a vehicle, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the drying container 1 may not be mounted on a vehicle. In this case, the drying container 1 may be a fixed type that does not move at a fixed position, or a portable type that can be moved as appropriate. In particular, when not intended to be mounted on a vehicle, the drying container 1 is not limited to a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape as in the above embodiment, and may have various shapes such as a cylindrical shape.

The upper surface of the drying container 1 of the above embodiment was always open. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, in order to prevent the tip from being exposed to rainwater, a lid made of a hard material or a soft material can be provided so that the upper surface can be closed if necessary. Further, the drying container 1 is not limited to the double bottom structure provided with the deck 12 as in the above embodiment, and the drying container 1 may be blown by various configurations.

The air outlet 116 of the above embodiment is provided on the rear side surface 115 of the container body 11. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the air outlet 116 may be provided on the side surface, the bottom surface, or the like in the width direction of the container body 11.

The advancing / retreating means 15 of the above embodiment is movable by the ball joint 151, but may be a telescopic stay that can be expanded and contracted in the longitudinal direction. It may have a structure that can be stored in a portion. The advancing / retreating means 15 may be a movable stay including one or a plurality of joints, for example, when it is configured to be retractable by folding.

Further, the advancing / retreating means 15 of the above embodiment is fixed to a frame arranged above the opening behind the container main body 11, but a portion other than this frame, for example, a front portion of the side portion of the container main body 11. It may be fixed to the side surface 111, the rear side surface 115, and the wide side surface 117. Further, when the drying container 1 is provided with a lid, the advancing / retreating means 15 of the embodiment may be fixed to the inside of the lid. The advancing / retreating means 15 of the embodiment is fixed to the upper part of the side portion of the container main body 11, but may be fixed to the central portion or the lower portion of the side portion of the container main body 11. The advancing / retreating means 15 may be fixed to the bottom of the container body 11.

The sensor 16 of the embodiment was arranged on the deck veneer 12a arranged on the rearmost side when the advancing / retreating means 15 was in the advancing posture. However, the sensor 16 is not limited to this, and the sensor 16 may be arranged at a substantially central portion α of the pair of wide side surfaces 117 when the advancing / retreating means 15 is in the advancing posture, and is arranged at any position in the front-rear direction. May be good. That is, the sensor 16 may be arranged at a substantially central portion of the container body 11 in a direction orthogonal to the blowing direction of the hot air of the blowing guide portion 17, for example, a substantially central portion α of the pair of wide side surfaces 117. The reason for this is that when the drying container 1 has the above-mentioned double bottom structure, the hot air entering from below spreads uniformly in the spreading direction of the bottom surface of the container body 11 and then escapes upward, so that a pair of wide widths is used. This is because the temperature of the chips can be considered to be substantially uniform in the region where the distance from the side surface 117 is the same.

The airflow supply mechanism 2 of the above-described embodiment is provided with a sensor capable of detecting the temperature of the generated hot air, but the sensor may not be provided.

Further, the object to be dried in the drying container system S is not limited to wood chips in the above embodiment, but is not limited to, for example, ore, stone, resin, metal, materials derived from animals and plants other than wood, food materials, and fuel. Etc., various granules can be obtained. Further, the water may be present only on the outer surface, or may be present on the outer surface and the inside.

1 ... Dry container, 2 ... Airflow supply mechanism, 3 ... Connecting pipe, 11 ... Container body, 110 ... Narrow side surface, 111 ... Front side surface, 112 ... Hook engaging part, 113 ... Roller, 114 ... Leg part, 115 ... rear side, 116 ... air vent, 117 ... wide side, 118 ... first wide side, 119 ... second wide side, 1151 ... door, 12 ... deck, 12a ... deck veneer, 12b ... seam, 121 ... through hole , 122 ... Bolt hole, 13 ... Support plate, 131 ... Ventilation port, 14 ... Secondary support plate, 15 ... Advance / retreat means, 151 ... Ball joint, 152 ... Stat, 153 ... Holder, 154 ... Stay body, 1540 ... Base end , 1541 ... Tip, 1542 ... Central, 155 ... Fixed member, 16 ... Sensor, 160 ... Sensor body, 161 ... Case, 17 ... Blower guide, 115 ... Rear side, S ... Dry container system, C ... Laminated structure , C1 ... Top surface, α ... Approximately central part

Claims (2)

In a drying container used to contain a large number of granules and dry them by blowing air.
A container body that is box-shaped and has an air outlet that communicates inside and outside, and also includes a bottom and a side portion connected to the outer edge of the bottom.
An advancing / retreating means fixed to the container body and capable of advancing / retreating in the direction in which the bottom surface of the container body spreads.
It is provided with a sensor that is arranged in the container body in a state of being connected to the advancing / retreating means and that can detect the ambient temperature or humidity.
The advancing / retreating of the advancing / retreating means is performed between an advancing posture in which the sensor is advanced so as to move away from the side portion and a retracting posture in which the sensor is retracted so as to approach the side portion. container. The drying container according to claim 1, wherein the advancing / retreating means is movable in the vertical direction at least in the advancing posture.

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