JP7146578B2 - drying container - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a drying container, for example used for drying material to be dried.

The drying container has a deck on which the material to be dried is placed under a container body for storing the material to be dried and a ventilation part for upwardly supplying hot air supplied from a blower port is formed. By connecting a duct hose for sending hot air to the air blower port, the hot air from the duct hose is supplied to the material to be dried from the air blower port through the ventilation part of the deck to dry the material to be dried. (For example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 3-67892

For example, when the degree of dryness of the material to be dried exceeds a predetermined level during drying of the material to be dried, it may be desired to stop the hot air from the duct hose. However, there is variation in the moisture content of the material to be dried. For this reason, variations occur until the material to be dried is dried. Therefore, the time for sending the hot air from the duct hose varies. Therefore, it is considered to judge based on the weight change of the material to be dried. Therefore, in order to measure the total load of the dry container, for example, a load cell is provided on each of the four legs that support the dry container and have a contact surface, and changes in the load measured by the load cells are detected. , that is, by detecting that the value of the load is decreasing, it is conceivable to determine that the degree of dryness of the material to be dried has exceeded a predetermined level.

However, since it is necessary to provide four load cells in each leg having a contact surface as described above, it is disadvantageous in terms of cost and there is room for improvement.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for measuring the weight of a material to be dried in a drying container that is advantageous in terms of cost.

The drying container of the present invention comprises a box-shaped container body provided with an air blowing port for blowing air to the inside for drying the stored material to be dried, and a ground plane supporting the container body. , a telescopic actuator for lifting the container body upward while keeping a part of the ground contact surface in contact with the ground during extension, a measuring mechanism for measuring the load received when the container body is lifted by the actuator; It is characterized by having

According to the above configuration, the material to be dried in the container body is dried by the air blown through the air blow port of the container body. This drying reduces the weight of the material to be dried. Prior to drying the material to be dried, the container body is lifted upwards upon extension of the actuator. At this time, by measuring the load received by the measuring mechanism, the weight of the material to be dried before drying can be measured. For example, as the drying of the material to be dried progresses, the weight of the material to be dried measured by the measuring mechanism decreases. Drying is terminated when it is judged that it has reached a predetermined value or more. Moreover, since only the measuring mechanism for measuring the load received by the actuator is provided, the number of measuring mechanisms can be reduced, which is advantageous in terms of cost.

Further, in the drying container of the present invention, the ground plane may be divided into a plurality, and the actuator may extend below at least one of the ground planes when extended.

As described above, since the ground plane is divided into a plurality of ground planes, the load of the lifted container body can be distributed and supported by the plurality of ground planes.

Further, in the dry container of the present invention, a plurality of the ground contact surfaces are provided on at least one side of the front side, the rear side, the left side, and the right side of the container body, and the actuator is provided on the one side. It may be provided between the ground.

As described above, the container body can be stably lifted by providing the actuator between the plurality of ground planes provided on one side.

Further, in the dry container of the present invention, the container body has a lift bar on the front surface capable of engaging a hook of a hook arm provided on a vehicle, the actuator is provided on the front side of the container body, and the container body A rotatable roller may be provided on the rear side.

As described above, since the plurality of legs provided on the rear side of the container body are composed of rotatable rollers, the hooks of the hook arms provided on the vehicle can be engaged with the lift bar to move the front side of the container body. When the container body is loaded onto the vehicle while lifting the container body, or when the actuator provided on the front of the container body is extended to lift the front side of the container body, the rear roller rotates and the grounded rear side There is no friction between the contact surface and the ground, and damage to the contact surface can be prevented.

Further, in the dry container of the present invention, the air outlet may be provided on the rear surface of the container body.

For example, when the container body is unloaded from the vehicle so that the container bodies are arranged side by side in the left-right direction, the vehicle is positioned in front of the unloaded container body, and the left and right sides are each Although the container body is positioned, the duct hose for supplying hot air can be easily attached to the air outlet by providing the air outlet on the rear surface of the container body where the rear of the container body is open as described above. and can connect quickly.

The present invention only requires an actuator and a measuring mechanism for measuring the weight of the object to be dried by measuring the load received when the container body is lifted by the actuator. can be provided.

1 is a side view of a drying container system including a device for weighing articles to be dried in a drying container according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. It is a top view which shows the same drying container system. FIG. 4 is a rear view of the drying container as seen from the rear side; It is the front view which looked at the drying container from the front side. FIG. 4 is a side view showing a state in which the drying container is lifted; FIG. 11 is a side view of a main part showing another form in which the load cell is attached to another part;

A drying container according to one embodiment of the present invention will now be described. For convenience of explanation, the following expressions of directions are based on the direction shown in FIG. 1 for the vertical direction. Regarding the front-rear direction, the left side in the state shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is positioned forward of the vehicle when it is mounted on the vehicle, so it is referred to as the front, and the right side is positioned rearward of the vehicle when it is mounted on the vehicle, so is referred to as the rear. Further, the width direction is a direction that coincides with the vehicle width direction when mounted.

A drying container 1 containing wood chips (hereinafter "chips"), which are a large number of granular materials to be dried, is one component of a drying container system S as shown in FIGS. Here, the dry container system S will be described. The dry container system S is mainly composed of a dry container 1 , an airflow supply mechanism 2 and a connecting pipe 3 . The drying container 1 is configured to be mountable on a vehicle (not shown). Specifically, the hook of the hook arm provided on the vehicle (not shown) is lifted in a state of being engaged with the lift bar 6 (see FIGS. 2 and 3) provided on the drying container 1 and moved to the vehicle side to dry. The container 1 can be mounted on a vehicle. A large number of chips housed in the drying container 1 are dried by blowing air to evaporate the water adhering to the outer surface and the water contained in the wood structure. Dried chips are used, for example, in woody biomass power generation. Drying facilitates combustion during power generation and reduces the weight by the amount of water removed, which is advantageous for transportation, for example.

The airflow supply mechanism 2 is a mechanism capable of generating hot air, for example, and includes an air blower and a heater (not shown). Note that the heat source for heating the airflow can be provided outside the airflow supply mechanism 2, for example, when heating is performed using exhaust heat from another device. The heating temperature and heating time of the airflow are appropriately set according to the degree of dryness and amount of chips stored in the drying container 1 . Also, depending on the situation, it is possible to perform only air blowing without performing heating. The connecting pipe 3 is a pipe that connects the drying container 1 and the airflow supply mechanism 2 to send the airflow (hot air) generated by the airflow supply mechanism 2 to the drying container 1, and a pipe or a hose can be used. In this embodiment, a hose (duct hose) having a circular cross section is used.

The drying container 1 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape similar to a general vehicle-mounted container, and when used as a drying container system S shown in FIGS. is a box-shaped body closed except for the blower port 1K to which the connecting pipe 3 is connected. Chips are introduced into the drying container 1 from the upper surface thereof.

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, which is the portion near the bottom, and then apply the airflow to a large number of accommodated chips. It has a double bottom structure. Therefore, the drying container 1 mainly includes a container body 4 and a deck 5. - 特許庁

The container main body 4 is a part that appears in the appearance of the drying container 1 . On the front side surface (front surface) 4A, left and right brackets 7 are provided with lift bars 6 which are hook engaging portions to which the hooks provided at the ends of the hook arms of the vehicle are hooked as described above when the drying container 1 is mounted on the vehicle. , 7 (see FIG. 2). In addition, rollers (legs) 8 that roll against the ground or road surface are provided at the rear of the bottom portion when the vehicle is raised and lowered. As shown in FIG. 3, a pair of the rollers 8 having a ground contact surface 8A at the bottom of the rollers are provided at intervals in the width direction (horizontal direction) of the container body 4. As shown in FIG. Further, a leg portion 9 having a grounding surface 9A that is grounded together with the roller 8 at the time of installation is provided in front of the bottom portion. The ground planes 8A and 9A refer to portions in contact with the ground. As the roller 8 rotates, the ground contact surface 8A moves. In addition, although the contact is planar here, the contact in the form of a line or the contact in the form of a point is also a contact surface. A pair of the legs 9 are also provided in the width direction (horizontal direction) of the container body 4 . As described above, each of the left and right legs provided on the rear side of the container body 4 is composed of the roller 8, so that the hook of the hook arm provided on the vehicle is engaged with the lift bar 6 to lift the container body 4. When the container body 4 is mounted on a vehicle while lifting the front side of the container body 4, or when the later-described actuator provided on the front face 4A of the container body 4 is extended to lift the front side of the container body 4, the rollers 8 and 8 on the rear side rotate. There is no friction between the grounded rear leg (grounding surface) and the ground, and damage to the leg (grounding surface) can be prevented. When the container body 4 is installed, it is installed with a plurality of ground planes (here, legs 8, 8, 9, 9), and when lifted by the actuator, the rollers 8, 8 among the ground planes remain grounded. and That is, the container body 4 is lifted while a part of the ground surface (rollers 8, 8) is grounded.

As shown in FIG. 3, an air blowing port 1K for communicating between the inside and the outside of the container body 4 and to which the connecting pipe 3 can be connected is provided at the lower portion and the center in the width direction of the rear side surface (rear surface) 4B of the container body 4. is provided. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, a pair of left and right doors 10, 10 are provided on the rear side surface (rear surface) 4B of the container body 4. For example, when chips are taken out or the inside of the container body 4 is opened. can be opened except for the peripheral part of the blower port 1K when cleaning the . Further, the bottom and side surfaces of the container body 4 are reinforced by forming ribs or the like. For example, when the container body 4 is unloaded from the vehicle so that the container body 4 is arranged side by side in the left-right direction, the vehicle is positioned in front of the unloaded container body 4, and the left and right sides are located. The container main body 4 is positioned in each of them, and as described above, the air outlet 1K is provided on the rear side surface (rear surface) 4B of the container main body 4, the rear of which is open. As a result, the connection pipe (duct hose) 3 can be easily and quickly connected to the blower port 1K.

Next, as shown in FIG. 2, the deck 5 is a plate-like portion having a plurality of through-holes 5A that penetrate in the thickness direction (vertical direction), and is spaced from the bottom surface of the container body 4 by a certain height. and is arranged parallel to the bottom surface via a support member (not shown). An airflow retention space (not shown) is formed between the bottom surface of the container body 4 and the deck 5 . The air outlet 1K communicates with the outside of the container body 4 between the bottom surface of the container body 4 and the deck 5 . In addition, in order to introduce a large amount of airflow, the height dimension of the air blowing port 1K is set larger than the distance in the height direction between the bottom surface of the container body 4 and the deck 5 . For this reason, a ventilation guide portion 12 for adjusting the height dimension is provided inside the container body 4 . Therefore, the airflow (hot air) introduced from the air blowing port 1K flows through the airflow guide portion 12 into the airflow retention space, and is supplied to a large number of chips through the plurality of through holes 5A of the deck 5.

As shown in FIG. 2, the deck 5 is constructed by arranging a plurality of deck veneers 5a. In this embodiment, the deck 5 is composed of six deck veneers 5a . . . arranged in the front-rear direction. A punching plate is used as each deck veneer 5a in this embodiment. 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 (a plate-like member provided with slits, etc.) may be used, and various configurations can be selected.

Next, the weight measuring device provided in the dry container will be described. This weight measuring device is a device for measuring the weight of the material to be dried (here, chips) in the container. This weight measuring device is a single telescoping device for lifting up the container body 4 and the left and right front legs 9, 9 while being supported by the left and right legs (rollers 8, 8) on the rear side. An actuator and a measuring mechanism 14 for measuring the weight of chips by measuring the load received from the container body 4 when the container body 4 and the front left and right legs 9, 9 are lifted by the actuator.

The actuator consists of a double-acting hydraulic cylinder 13, and is telescopically operated by a hydraulic unit 15 (see FIG. 4). The cylinder tube 13A of the hydraulic cylinder 13 is attached to the center of the front side surface (front surface) 4A of the container body 4 in the left-right direction. The main body 4 and the front left and right leg portions 9, 9 are lifted. A hydraulic cylinder 13 is fixed to the lower portion of the container body 4 at positions other than the four legs 8, 8, 9, and 9. As shown in FIG. Specifically, it is arranged on the front side opposite to the side where the left and right legs 8 and 8 are provided, here on the front surface 4A, and between the left and right legs 9 and 9, here on the left and right central part A hydraulic cylinder 13 is arranged. By arranging in this way, compared to lifting and supporting the container body 4 only with the hydraulic cylinder 13, the legs 8, 8 can be lifted with the legs 8, 8 in contact with the ground. , the container body 4 can be stably lifted. In addition, since the load can be distributed to the legs 8, 8 as compared to lifting by the hydraulic cylinder 13 alone, the load applied to the load cell 14A can be reduced, the load cell 14A can be made smaller, and the cost can be reduced. Furthermore, a hydraulic cylinder 13 is provided separately from the legs 9, 9, and the load cell 14A is provided in the hydraulic cylinder 13. Therefore, when the hydraulic cylinder 13 is shortened (when not measuring), the container body 4 is not grounded and can be moved. When the load cell 14A is placed on the ground, no load is applied to the load cell 14A at all times, so the life of the load cell 14A can be extended and cost reduction can be achieved.

The hydraulic unit 15 is arranged above the hydraulic cylinder 13, as shown in FIG. and an electric motor 15B for switching and a switching valve (not shown). The switching operation of the switching valve causes the hydraulic cylinder 13 to expand and contract.

The measuring mechanism 14 is composed of a compression-type load cell 14A for measuring the load received from the container body 4, and is provided with a computing unit (not shown) for computing the weight of the chip based on the measured value from the load cell 14A. . The weight of the chip is obtained by the following formula.
Chip weight (kg)=load (N) applied to load cell 14A/gravitational acceleration (9.8 m/s ² )×distance A/distance B

As shown in FIG. 1, the distance A is the distance between the container grounding portion (rollers 8, 8) and the support portion of the load cell 14A. The distance B is the center-to-center distance in the container from the grounding portion (rollers 8, 8) of the container to the center of gravity G of the chip. The inner length is the distance from the inside of the front end of the container body 4 to the inside of the rear end.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, an inwardly recessed recess 16 is formed in the center of the front side surface (front surface) 4A of the container body 4 in the left-right direction. The recess 16 is sized to have a width dimension and a vertical dimension slightly larger than those of the hydraulic cylinder 13, and is provided with a left side wall portion 16A, a right side wall portion 16B, an upper side wall portion 16C, and a rear side wall portion 16D. It is A load cell 14A is attached to the upper end of the cylinder tube 13A of the hydraulic cylinder 13, and the load cell 14A is attached to the upper wall portion 16C. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, by extending the hydraulic cylinder 13 with the container body 4 placed on the ground, the plate plate 13b at the tip of the piston rod 13B is pressed against the ground, and the front side of the container body 4 is pushed. And the left and right legs 9, 9 on the front side are lifted. Thereby, the load from the lifted container main body 4 and the left and right legs 9, 9 can be measured by the load cell 14A. The weight of the tip can be calculated by the calculation unit based on the measured value. The weight of the chips can be displayed on the display section 17 (see FIG. 3) provided on the rear surface of the container body 4 . In addition, the display unit 17 can display the temperature and humidity in the container body 4, the remaining time until drying is completed, and the like, in addition to the weight of the chips.

Before drying the chips, as described above, the hydraulic cylinder 13 is extended (see FIG. 5), the weight of the chips is measured by the measuring mechanism 14, and then the chips are dried as described above. As this drying progresses, the weight of the chip measured by the measuring mechanism 14 decreases. When this weight becomes equal to or less than a predetermined value, it is determined that the degree of dryness of the chips has exceeded a predetermined value, and the drying is terminated. This drying is completed by inputting an output signal to the control unit provided in the drying container when the remaining time displayed on the display unit 17 reaches 0, and the control unit activates the airflow supply mechanism 2. is configured to stop automatically. Further, the control unit may be configured to reduce the wind from the airflow supply mechanism 2 to a weak wind when the remaining time reaches zero.

As mentioned above, although one embodiment was taken up and described about this invention, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment. For example, although the drying container 1 of the above-described embodiment is configured to be mounted on a vehicle, it is not limited to this, and may not be mounted on a vehicle. In this case, the lift bar 6 and the rollers 8 may be omitted, and the dry container 1 may be of a fixed type that does not move at a fixed position, or may be of a portable type that can be moved as appropriate. In particular, when it is 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 can be of various shapes such as a cylindrical shape.

Moreover, the upper surface of the drying container 1 of the above embodiment was always open. However, it is not limited to this, and it is also possible to provide a lid made of a hard or soft material whose upper surface can be closed if necessary, for example to protect the chip from rain water.

In addition, although it is preferable to provide the air outlet 1K in the above-described embodiment on the rear surface 4B of the container body 4, the present invention is not limited to this. can also

In addition, although the material to be dried in the drying container system S is wood chips in the above-described embodiment, it is not limited to this. etc., various granular materials may be used. Moreover, the moisture may be present only on the outer surface, or may be present both on the outer surface and inside.

Further, in the above embodiment, the load received from the container body 4 is measured using the load cell 14A, but the load received from the container body 4 is measured by measuring the pressure of the oil in the hydraulic cylinder 13 with a pressure gauge. You may do so. In this case, when the pressure value of the oil pressure gauge becomes equal to or less than a predetermined value, it can be determined that the weight of the material to be dried has decreased. In this case, the measuring mechanism is a pressure gauge. Also, the load cell 14A is arranged between the container body 4 and the upper end of the cylinder tube 13A of the hydraulic cylinder 13, but as shown in FIG. can be placed in

Further, in the above-described embodiment, a hydraulic cylinder is used as an actuator for lifting the container body 4, but an air cylinder, an extendable electric motor, or a manual jack may be used. Further, in the above-described embodiment, providing a single actuator is advantageous in terms of cost, but two actuators may be provided.

In the above-described embodiment, the actuator for lifting the container body 4 is arranged on the front surface 4A of the container body 4, but it is preferable to arrange the actuator on the front side of the container body 4. The actuator may be arranged at the position of , or the actuator may be arranged at the rear surface where the blower port 1K is provided. Moreover, although it is preferable to arrange the actuator in the center portion of the container body 4 in the left-right direction, it may be arranged in a portion other than the center portion in the left-right direction of the container body 4 . For example, actuators may be provided on the left or right side of the container body 4 . In this case, the plurality of legs to be lifted are the front left leg and the rear left leg if the actuator is provided on the left side, and the front leg if the actuator is provided on the right side. Right leg and rear right leg.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the pair of legs 8, 8, 9, 9 are provided on the front side and the rear side of the container body 4, respectively, but the pair of legs may be provided only on the rear side. A pair of legs may be provided on the sole. Also, if the leg has a width dimension, it can be implemented by providing only one on the rear side or the front side. In this case, if the actuator is provided on the side opposite to the side on which the leg is provided, since there is no leg on the side on which the actuator is provided, only the container body 4 is lifted when the actuator is extended.

In the above-described embodiment, the deck 5 is provided on the container body 4 to form a double bottom structure, but the container body 4 may have no deck 5 (not a double bottom structure).

In the above embodiment, the container body 4 can be loaded and unloaded from the vehicle body by the lift bar 6 and the rollers 8. However, a jack is provided on the container body 4, and the jack is extended to raise the container body 4 relative to the vehicle body for loading. It may be lowered (so-called horizontal detachable type). Even in this case, the hose can be quickly connected by providing the air outlet on the rear surface of the container body 4 .

Further, in the above embodiment, the container body 4 is provided with the legs 8, 8, 9, 9, but the container body 4 may have no legs. In this case, the bottom surface of the container body 4 is grounded on the ground. When the actuator is extended to lift the container body 4, part of the bottom surface (grounding surface) of the container body 4 is in contact with the ground.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1...Drying container 1K...Blower port 2...Airflow supply mechanism 3...Connecting pipe 4...Container body 4A...Front side (front) 4B...Rear side (rear) 5...Deck 5A...Through-hole Hole 5a Single deck 6 Lift bar 7 Bracket 8 Roller (leg) 9 Leg 8A, 9A Ground surface 10 Door 12 Blower guide 13 Hydraulic cylinder (Actuator) 13A Cylinder tube 13B Piston rod 13b Plate plate 14 Measurement mechanism 14A Load cell 15 Hydraulic unit 15A Tank 15B Motor (pump) 16 Recess 16A Left side wall part 16B... Right side wall part 16C... Upper side wall part 16D... Rear side wall part 17... Display part G... Chip center of gravity S... Drying container system

Claims (5)

A drying container comprising a box-shaped container body provided with an air blowing port for blowing air to the inside for drying the stored material to be dried, and a ground surface supporting the container body,
A telescopic actuator for lifting the container body upward while keeping a part of the ground contact surface in contact with the ground when extended, and a measuring mechanism for measuring the load received when the container body is lifted by the actuator. e,
A drying container, wherein the measuring mechanism is provided in the container body and comprises a load cell for measuring the load received from the container body when the container body is lifted by the actuator . The ground plane is divided into a plurality of parts,
2. The dry container of claim 1, wherein the actuator extends below the at least one ground plane when extended. A plurality of the ground planes are provided on at least one side of the front side, the rear side, the left side, and the right side of the container body,
3. The drying container according to claim 2, wherein said actuator is provided between a plurality of ground planes provided on said one side. The container main body has a lift bar on the front surface capable of engaging a hook of a hook arm provided on the vehicle, the actuator is provided on the front side of the container main body, and a rotatable roller is provided on the rear side of the container main body. A drying container according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it is provided with a drying container. The drying container according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the air blowing port is provided on the rear surface of the container body.

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