JP7255103B2 - Powder filling method - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a powder filling method and a powder filling apparatus. More particularly, it relates to a powder filling method and a powder filling apparatus for filling powder into a bag-like container.

When powder is transported by truck or the like, it is more efficient to load and transport the powder in a bag-like container such as a flexible container than to transport it in bulk, considering the loading and unloading of the powder. In addition, in terms of contamination of the powder with impurities, the bag-shaped container can more easily suppress contamination. For this reason, a large amount of powder, especially powder whose contamination with impurities must be suppressed, is loaded into a bag-like container and transported.

The powder to be transported includes, for example, a precursor of lithium nickel-manganese-cobaltate (lithium-nickel-manganese-cobalt composite oxide) used as a positive electrode active material for lithium-ion secondary batteries. Lithium nickel manganese cobaltate is produced by the following steps. First, in the crystallization step, an aqueous solution containing nickel, cobalt, manganese or aluminum is mixed with an alkali hydroxide and reacted to produce a composite hydroxide. Next, the composite hydroxide is dried in a drying step. This dried composite hydroxide is called a precursor. In the mixing step, lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide is produced by mixing with a lithium-containing compound such as lithium hydroxide or lithium carbonate and then firing.

Physical properties such as particle size distribution, specific surface area, and crystallite size are required for the above precursors. In addition to these, contained impurities are also strictly controlled. This is because these impurities may lead to deterioration of the characteristics of the battery manufactured using this precursor.

Transportation of the above precursor is usually carried out in a flexible container, which is one of bag-like containers. A large mixing machine such as an air blender or Nauta mixer is used when the flexible container is filled with the precursor. The precursor is fluidized by air or a gas such as nitrogen in the mixer and smoothly filled into a flexible container.

Since powder and gas are mixed in the flexible container immediately after being filled with the precursor, the volume increases and the shape becomes unstable like a flexible container filled with liquid. Therefore, the flexible container cannot be removed from the flexible container hanger while waiting for the gas to escape. If the flexible container cannot be removed from the hanger in this way, there is a problem that the flexible container cannot be accurately weighed. In addition, there is a problem that the efficiency of the filling process cannot be improved if the gas is left to escape in order to perform accurate weighing.

In order to address the above problem, Patent Literature 1 discloses a powder filling device for filling a flexible container with powder. This powder filling apparatus is provided with volume reducing means for performing a tapping operation when filling the powder. The gas in the flexible container can be removed in a short time by this volume reducing means, and powder filling can be efficiently performed.

JP-A-9-254902

When the powder filling device described in Patent Document 1 is used, the powder filling device is provided with a geared motor for tapping on a scale, a frame for supporting a flexible container bag, etc., and filling There is a problem that the weight of the tare relative to the weight of the powder to be filled becomes large, and the weight of the powder to be filled cannot be measured accurately. This is especially a problem with high-purity and expensive materials such as the precursors of the battery materials described above. In addition, since the load on the scale frequently fluctuates due to tapping, there is also the problem that the weight cannot be accurately measured in this respect as well. In addition, there is a problem that the frequency of failure of the weighing scale increases.

In view of the above circumstances, the present invention provides a powder filling method and a powder filling apparatus capable of efficiently performing the powder filling process and accurately measuring the weight of the filled powder. intended to

A powder filling method of the first invention includes a preparation step of engaging a bag-like container with a support member, a powder charging step of charging powder into the bag-like container, and the bag after the powder has been charged. a vibrating step of vibrating the bag-like container with a vibrating device while it is engaged with the supporting member; and a weighing step of removing the bag-like container vibrated in the vibrating step from the supporting member and weighing it; wherein the bag-shaped container is a flexible container, the support member includes a rail provided for horizontal movement of the flexible container, a flexible container hanger that moves along the rail, and
and a hanging rope suspended from the flexible container hanger .
A powder filling method of a second aspect of the invention is based on the first aspect, wherein the vibrating device is provided at a vibrating place, and the vibrating place supplies the powder to the bag-shaped container in the powder charging step. In the vibrating step, the bag-like container is vibrated after being moved to the vibrating place, and after being vibrated, It is characterized in that it can be moved to a powder charging place.

According to the first invention, since there is a vibrating step of vibrating with the vibrating device, the gas is released from the bag-like container filled with the powder in a short period of time. can. Moreover, since the bag-like container is supported by the support member when vibrating in the vibrating step, the bag-like container does not overturn. Furthermore, after vibrating in the vibrating process, the bag-like container is removed from the supporting member and weighed, so the weight of the tare is limited to the bag-like container and does not become too large, so the weight of the powder can be accurately measured. can do. In addition, since there is no vibration during weighing, the weight of the powder can be accurately measured in this respect as well.
According to the second aspect of the invention, since the vibrating device is provided at the vibrating place different from the powder charging place, the load on the scale does not fluctuate due to the vibrating device, so accurate measurement can be performed. In addition, the frequency of failure of the weighing scale can be suppressed.

1 is a front view of a powder filling device according to one embodiment of the present invention; FIG. FIG. 2 is a front view of a vibrating device that constitutes the powder filling device of FIG. 1;

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. First, the powder filling device will be described, and then the powder filling method using this powder filling device will be described. However, the embodiments shown below are examples of a powder filling method and a powder filling apparatus for embodying the technical idea of the present invention, and the present invention is a powder filling method and a powder filling apparatus. is not limited to: Note that the sizes, positional relationships, etc. of members shown in each drawing may be exaggerated for clarity of explanation.

(Powder filling device 10)
FIG. 1 shows a front view of a powder filling device 10 according to one embodiment of the present invention. A powder filling device 10 according to one embodiment of the present invention is a device for filling powder into a flexible container 11, which is a bag-like container. This powder filling device 10 constitutes a part of equipment for handling powder. Equipment for handling powder includes a hopper 20 for storing powder. Then, the powder filling device 10 fills the powder in the hopper 20 into the flexible container 11 provided below the hopper 20 .

The powder is put into the flexible container 11 while being placed on the pallet 16 . Below the pallet 16, there is provided a conveyor 17 having rollers for easily moving the pallet 16 in the lateral direction in the plane of FIG. Below the conveyor 17, a scale 18 for weighing the flexible container 11 into which the powder is put is provided.

The scale 18 has the ability to measure the total weight of the flexible container 11, the pallet 16, and the conveyor 17 after the powder has been charged. By subtracting the tare from the total weight of the flexible container 11, the pallet 16, and the conveyor 17, the weight of the powder alone can be accurately measured.

A powder feeder 21 is provided at the lower end of the hopper 20 . A part of the connecting portion between the hopper 20 and the powder supply section 21 is omitted for the explanation of the support member to be described later, but the powder supply section 21 is provided with a plurality of pipes through which the powder passes. It is A connecting portion 21 a for attaching the opening of the flexible container 11 is provided at the lower portion of the powder supply portion 21 . The powder in the hopper 20 is supplied from this powder supply section 21 to the flexible container 11 . A suction duct 23 is horizontally connected to the powder supply section 21 . When the opening of the flexible container 11 is removed from the connecting portion 21a, air is sucked by the suction duct 23, thereby preventing scattering of dust from the flexible container 11. FIG.

The powder filling device 10 is provided with a support member for maintaining the posture of the flexible container 11 . In this embodiment, the support members are rails 13 provided for horizontal movement of the flexible container 11, flexible container hangers 14 that move along the rails 13, and flexible container hangers 14. , and four slings 15 . This sling 15 is, for example, a turnbuckle or a chain block whose length can be adjusted. Two rails 13 are provided in parallel on the back side and the front side in the plane of FIG. 1, and are fixed to the beams 12 of the building. The flexible container hanger 14 moves along the rail 13 by a plurality of rollers 14a. The flexible container hanger 14 is provided with four slings 15 . The flexible container 11 is provided with four suspending cords, and the hooks of the suspending cords 15 are engaged with the four suspending cords to maintain the posture of the flexible container 11 . In addition, the flexible container 11 can be moved in the longitudinal direction of the rail 13, that is, in the horizontal direction of the paper surface of FIG. A user of the powder filling device 10 can manually move the flexible container 11 .

The powder filling device 10 is provided with a vibrating device 30 capable of vibrating the flexible container 11 after the powder has been charged. The vibration device 30 is arranged adjacent to the scale 18 that measures the weight of the flexible container 11 . In other words, the vibrating location where the vibrating device 30 is arranged and the powder charging location where the powder is supplied from the powder supplying section 21 are located at different positions in plan view. This is to prevent the scale 18 from vibrating and failing due to the vibration of the vibrating device 30 . That is, the vibrating place and the powder charging place are separated from each other to such an extent that the vibration of the vibrating device 30 does not affect the scale 18 .

Since the vibrating device 30 for vibrating the bag-like container is provided, the bag-like container can be vibrated by the vibrating device 30, so that the gas is released from the bag-like container filled with the powder in a short time, and the powder is removed. Efficiency of the process of filling the body can be achieved. In addition, the supporting member of the bag-like container allows the bag-like container to be moved between the weighing scale 18 and the vibrating device 30 without overturning the bag-like container. After applying the vibration, the bag-like container can be removed from the supporting member and weighed, so that the weight of the powder can be accurately measured.

FIG. 2 shows a front view of the vibrating device 30 that constitutes the powder filling device 10. As shown in FIG. The vibrating device 30 includes a receiving portion for receiving the pallet 16 of the flexible container 11 and a vibrating portion that contacts the pallet 16 and vibrates the flexible container 11 together with the pallet 16. - 特許庁

A cylindrical member 40 is provided at the receiving portion of the vibrating device 30 to facilitate the lateral movement of the pallet 16 on which the flexible container 11 is placed. This cylindrical member 40 is rotatably installed by a bearing. A stopper 41 is provided at the receiving portion of the vibrating device 30 to prevent the pallet 16 from moving too far to the right in the plane of FIG.

A base 31 is provided in the vibrating portion of the vibrating device 30 . A vibrating device 32 is provided on the lower surface of the base 31 . A vibrator 33 is provided on the upper surface of the base 31 . This vibrator 33 is arranged between the cylindrical members 40 . In addition, the base 31 is supported by an elevating mechanism 34 and can move in the directions indicated by the arrows in FIG. Although the configuration of the lifting mechanism 34 is not particularly limited, it is composed of, for example, an air cylinder. When the elevating mechanism 34 raises the base 31 , the vibrator 33 contacts the pallet 16 . When the vibrating device 32 is operated in this state, vibration is applied to the flexible container 11 through the base 31 , vibrator 33 and pallet 16 .

The vibrating device 30 vibrates the bag-like container by projecting the vibrator 33 that applies vibration, so that the vibration can be directly propagated to the bag-like container and the gas can be removed from the bag-like container in a short time. can be pulled out.

In this embodiment, the vibrating device 30 is provided at a vibrating location different from the powder charging location, but the configuration of the powder filling device 10 according to the present invention is limited to this configuration. not. For example, a configuration in which it is provided so as to be superimposed on the meter 18 is also possible. In this case, the overall size of the powder filling device 10 can be reduced.

(Powder filling method)
A method of filling the flexible container 11 with powder using the powder filling apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG.

As a first step, the user of the powder filling apparatus 10 places the pallet 16 and the flexible container 11 before being filled with powder on the conveyor 17, measures their weight, and uses the weight as a tare. set as the weight of

As a second step, the user binds the opening of the flexible container 11 to the connecting portion 21 a of the powder supply section 21 with the clamp 22 . Then, the user engages the four hanging strings of the flexible container 11 with the hooks of the four hanging strings 15 of the flexible container hanger 14 . Thus, the user engages the flexible container 11, which is one of the bag-like containers, with the support member (preparation step).

As a third step, the user operates a valve (not shown) of the powder supply section 21 to supply the powder from the hopper 20 to the flexible container 11 (powder introduction step). Preferably, this feed is from a feed tube with a relatively large inner diameter. For example, it is preferable to supply about 90% of the target filling amount of powder from the supply pipe having a relatively large inner diameter. It should be noted that the weighing by the weighing device 18 is carried out at the time of charging the powder. In this case, however, since the flexible container 11 is supported by the supporting member, the user does not confirm the exact numerical value, but rather confirms the rough numerical value. Moreover, before this supply, the user can supply air into the hopper 20 or stir the powder to increase the fluidity of the powder. In addition, a dust collector can also be operated. In addition, the "powder input location" described in the claims refers to the location where the powder is input in the third step.

As a fourth step, the user removes the clamp 22 and removes the opening of the flexible container 11 from the connecting portion 21a. At this time, since a predetermined time (for example, about 20 minutes) has not passed since the powder was put into the flexible container 11, the powder in the flexible container 11 is mixed with gas, and the shape of the flexible container 11 changes. is in an unstable state. Therefore, the user keeps the flexible container 11 engaged with the support member.

Then, the user moves the flexible container 11 onto the vibration device 30 adjacent to the scale 18 while the flexible container 11 is placed on the pallet 16 . At this time, the user manually moves the flexible container 11 . When moving, the pallet 16 is moved until it contacts the stopper 41 . With the pallet 16 placed on the vibrating device 30 , the user raises the vibrator 33 by the elevating mechanism 34 of the vibrating device 30 so that the vibrator 33 contacts the pallet 16 . In this state, the user operates the vibrating device 32 of the vibrating device 30 to vibrate the flexible container 11 (vibrating step). Although the vibrator 33 is not in direct contact with the flexible container 11, the flexible container 11 also vibrates when the pallet 16 is vibrated. The operation of the vibrating device 32 continues for a time sufficient for the gas in the flexible container 11 to escape from the powder. For example, by operating for about 2 minutes, gas escapes from inside the flexible container 11 and the posture of the flexible container 11 is stabilized. The pallet 16 is moved to the scale 18 while the posture of the flexible container 11 is stable.

Since the gas is released from the bag-like container filled with the powder in a short period of time due to the vibrating step of vibrating with the vibrating device 30, the efficiency of the step of filling the powder can be improved. Moreover, since the bag-like container is supported by the support member when vibrating in the vibrating step, the bag-like container does not overturn.

Since the vibrating device 30 is provided at a vibrating position different from the powder charging position, the vibrating device 30 does not change the load on the scale 18, so that the weighing is performed accurately. Also, the frequency of failure of the scale 18 can be suppressed.

As a fifth step, the user removes the flexible container 11 from the support member. Then, while measuring the weight of the powder in the flexible container 11 with the scale 18, the user feeds the powder from the hopper 20 to the flexible container 11 until it reaches a predetermined weight (weighing step). In this case, the measurement on scale 18 is accurate since flexible container 11 is detached from the support member. Moreover, it is preferable to supply the powder at this time from a supply pipe having a relatively small diameter. Also, fine adjustment of the weight of the powder in the flexible container 11 can be performed by the user using a small container or the like to scoop out the powder inside or add powder to the inside.

After vibrating in the vibrating step, the bag-like container is removed from the support member and weighed, so that the weight of the tare does not become too large for the bag-like container, so that the weight of the powder can be accurately measured.

As a sixth step, the user closes the opening of the flexible container 11 . The flexible container 11 with its opening closed is transported by a forklift or the like.

10 powder filling device 11 flexible container (bag-like container)
18 Weighing scale 30 Vibration device

Claims (2)

a preparatory step of engaging the bag-like container with the support member;
a powder charging step of charging powder into the bag-like container;
a vibrating step of vibrating the bag-like container after the powder has been put in with a vibrating device while being engaged with the support member;
a weighing step of weighing the bag-shaped container after being vibrated in the vibrating step after removing it from the support member ;
The bag-like container is a flexible container,
The support member includes rails provided for horizontal movement of the flexible container;
A flexible container hanger that moves along the rail;
A hanging rope suspended on the flexible container hanger,
consists of
A powder filling method characterized by: The vibrating device is provided at a vibrating place,
The vibrating place is located at a different position in plan view from the powder charging place for charging the powder into the bag-like container in the powder charging step,
In the vibrating step, the bag-like container is vibrated after being moved to the vibrating place,
After being vibrated, it is moved to the powder input place,
The powder filling method according to claim 1, characterized in that:

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