JP7635577B2 - Dust collection device and dust collection method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a dust collection device and a dust collection method.

Dust containing fumes generated during laser processing, plasma processing, welding, etc. of metal materials can pose serious health risks if inhaled by workers.
Therefore, in order to keep the working environment clean, a dust collector is operated to remove dust from the working environment.
The dust collected in the dust collector has a low bulk density and is difficult to handle in this state. Therefore, the dust is compressed, solidified, and processed into an easier-to-handle state (e.g., pellets).
Once the dust has been processed into an easy-to-handle state, it can be reused by undergoing processes such as remelting.
When solidifying such dust, it is necessary to prevent the dust from scattering outside the device.

Patent Document 1, an example of conventional technology, discloses a technology that aims to prevent powder particles collected by a dust collector from scattering outside the device when the powder particles are compressed and solidified, by applying the pressure of a hopper to the gap between the forming cylinder and the forming member during solidification, thereby sucking the powder particles present in the gap into the hopper.

JP 2011-156560 A

In dust collectors that compress and solidify dust as described above, the negative pressure generated when collecting the dust is used to suck up the dust, and it is necessary to collect the dust and solidify it simultaneously, leaving room for improvement in operation.
The present invention has been made in view of the above, and has an object to provide a technique for suppressing scattering of dust particles that occurs when dust is solidified.

One aspect of the present invention, which solves the above problems and achieves the object, is a dust collection device that includes a negative pressure source that generates a negative pressure for sucking in dust, a storage tank that stores the dust that is sucked in by the negative pressure source and falls, a molding member that is arranged at the bottom of the storage tank and has a molding hole through which the dust in the storage tank flows in, a rod that is driven to advance and retreat into the molding hole and advances into the molding hole to compress the dust in the molding hole and form a solidified product, a discharge hole from which the solidified product is discharged, and a dust re-collection unit that is arranged near the discharge hole and separates the solidified product and dust discharged from the discharge hole and re-collects the dust, and the negative pressure source operates during dust collection or during molding of the dust solidified product to generate a negative pressure, and the dust re-collected by the dust re-collection unit is sent to the storage tank.

The dust collection device of the present invention is equipped with a dust recollection section, which can prevent particulate dust that has leaked from the discharge hole from scattering.

In one aspect of the present invention, the dust re-collection section comprises a dust collection chute having a slope along which solidified material falls, a dust collection port which is a through hole provided in the slope of the dust collection chute, a dust storage section which collects dust that has passed through the dust collection port, and a dust suction port provided at the bottom of the dust storage section for sucking in the dust stored in the dust storage section, and the dust suction port is sent to the storage tank by negative pressure generated by a negative pressure source.
There is no need to install a separate mechanism for recollecting dust, which makes it possible to reduce the space required for the entire device.

Another aspect of the present invention is a dust collection method including: generating a negative pressure for sucking in dust by a negative pressure source; storing the dust that is sucked in by the negative pressure source and falls in a storage tank; the dust in the storage tank flows into a forming member that is disposed at the bottom of the storage tank and has a forming hole; a rod that is driven to advance into and retreat from the forming hole advances into the forming hole and compresses the dust in the forming hole to form a solidified product; the solidified product is discharged to a discharge hole; a dust re-collection unit disposed near the discharge hole separates the solidified product and dust discharged from the discharge hole and re-collects the dust; and the dust re-collected by the dust re-collection unit is sent to the storage tank.

The dust collection method of the present invention is equipped with a dust recollection section, which makes it possible to prevent particulate dust that has leaked from the discharge hole from scattering.

The present invention has the effect of suppressing the scattering of dust particles that occurs when the dust is solidified.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a dust collecting device according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of the dust recollection section.

An embodiment of a dust collecting device of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
However, the present invention should not be construed as being limited to the following embodiments.

<Embodiment>
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a dust collecting device 1 according to this embodiment.
The dust collecting device 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes a negative pressure generating source 10, a storage tank 11, a dust solidifying section 12 disposed below the storage tank 11, and a dust recollection section 13.

The negative pressure source 10 generates a negative pressure in the upper part inside the dust collecting apparatus 1, and the generated negative pressure introduces dust into the dust collecting apparatus 1 through a duct (not shown).
An example of the negative pressure source 10 is a fan.

The storage tank 11 has an inclined side wall 110 and stores dust that is sucked in by the negative pressure source 10 and falls.

The dust solidification section 12 comprises a molding member 121 having a molding hole 122, a pressure rod 123 which is a first rod, a closing rod 124 which is a second rod, a discharge hole 125 through which the molded solidified material is discharged, a pressure cylinder 126 which operates the pressure rod 123, and a closing cylinder 127 which operates the closing rod 124.
The molding hole 122 is disposed between the pressure rod 123 and the closing rod 124, and is a through hole into which the pressure rod 123 and the closing rod 124 can be inserted.

The molding member 121 is a member having a molding hole 122 formed therein so that dust from the lower part of the storage tank 11 can flow therein.
The molding hole 122 is disposed between the pressure rod 123 and the closing rod 124, and is a through hole into which the pressure rod 123 and the closing rod 124 can be inserted.
The pressure rod 123 is a rod that can advance into and retreat from the forming hole 122 .
The closing rod 124 is a rod that can advance into and retreat from the molding hole 122 and is a rod that remains stationary during molding of the solidified material.
The pressure rod 123 is driven to advance into and retreat from the forming hole 122 , and when it retreats from the forming hole 122 , dust in the lower part of the storage tank 11 flows into the forming hole 122 .
The pressure rod 123 advances into the forming hole 122 and pushes in the dust that has flowed into the forming hole 122 .
In the forming hole 122, the dust is pressed and compressed by the pressing surface of the pressing rod 123 and the pressing surface of the closing rod 124, thereby forming a pellet-shaped solidified material.
The discharge hole 125 is a hole for dropping and discharging the molded solidified material.
The molded solid is sandwiched between the pressure rod 123 and the closing rod 124, and is transported to the discharge hole 125 and discharged.
The pressure cylinder 126 is a drive source that reciprocates the pressure rod 123 .
The closing cylinder 127 is a drive source that reciprocates the closing rod 124 .

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, and the positions of the pressure rod 123 and the pressure cylinder 126 and the closing rod 124 and the closing cylinder 127 may be interchanged.
Furthermore, the cross-sectional shape of the pressure rod 123 and the closing rod 124 taken along the longitudinal direction may be circular or may be polygonal, such as a regular hexagon.

The dust collecting device 1 shown in FIG. 1 solidifies dust in a storage tank 11 into pellets, and discharges the pellets from a discharge hole 125 .
However, dust that causes dust (particulate dust) is also discharged from the discharge hole 125 .
Such dust particles are considered to be dust that has leaked from the forming hole 122 during the solidification operation, dust that has adhered to the pressure rod 123 or the closing rod 124 and peeled off, or dust that has peeled off from the solidified material after molding.
If such dust particles are discharged from the discharge hole 125, there is a problem in that the dust particles are re-scattered.
Therefore, the dust collecting device 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes a dust recollection section 13 in the vicinity of the discharge hole 125 (below in this embodiment).
The dust recollection section 13 recollects the dust discharged from the discharge hole 125 and transfers it to the storage tank 11 .

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of the dust recollection section 13. As shown in FIG.
The dust recollection section 13 shown in FIG. 2 includes a dust collection chute 131 , a dust collection port 132 , a dust storage section 133 , and a dust suction port 134 .
The dust collecting chute 131 has an inclined surface 1311 and is configured so that the pellet-like solidified material discharged from the discharge hole 125 falls down the inclined surface 1311 .
The pellet-like solidified material falls down the inclined surface 1311 of the dust collecting chute 131 as shown by the arrow in FIG.
A dust box for collecting the pellet-like solidified material is placed at the point where the pellet-like solidified material falls.

The dust collection port 132 is a through hole provided in the inclined surface 1311 of the dust collection chute 131 .
The dust collecting port 132 does not allow pellet-shaped solidified matter to pass through, but allows dust to pass through.
As shown in FIG. 2, the dust collection opening 132 is preferably formed by a plurality of slits.

The dust storage section 133 stores the dust that has passed through the dust collection port 132.

The dust suction port 134 is provided at the bottom of the dust storage section 133 and sucks in the dust stored in the dust storage section 133 .
The dust suction port 134 sends the sucked dust to the storage tank 11.
The negative pressure source 10 above the storage tank 11 is used as a negative pressure source when the dust suction port 134 sucks in the dust.
In this configuration, even if the dust collector is not performing dust collection operation, when the dust solidification section 12 is in operation, the negative pressure generating source can be operated in low air volume mode, so that the dust sucked in through the dust suction port 134 can be sent to the storage tank 11.

Next, the operation of the dust collecting device 1 of this embodiment will be described.
The negative pressure source 10 is operated to generate a negative pressure for sucking in the dust.
This negative pressure sucks in the dust, which then falls and is deposited (stored) in the storage tank.
The dust stored in the storage tank 11 flows into the forming hole 122, and then the pressure rod 123 and the closing rod 124 advance into the forming hole 122, where the dust is compressed and formed into a solidified material.
The formed solid is discharged through the discharge hole 125 .
At this time, dust is also discharged.
The dust recollection section 13 provided near the discharge hole 125 separates the solidified material from the dust, and collects the dust.
The collected dust is sent to a storage tank 11.

The operation of the dust recollection section 13 will be further explained.
The formed solidified material and dust discharged from the discharge hole 125 roll down the inclined surface 1311 of the dust collecting chute 131 .
The dust collecting chute 131 has a sloping surface 1311 provided with a dust collecting opening 132 which is a through hole.
The size of the dust collection opening 132 is set so as to allow fine dust to fall but not to allow pellet-like solidified dust to fall.
When the formed solidified material and the dust particles pass through the dust repair port 132 , the formed solidified material rolls down the inclined surface 1311 and the dust particles fall from the dust repair port 132 .

The falling dust is temporarily stored in the dust storage section 133 and then sent to the storage tank 11 via the dust suction port 134 provided at the bottom.

When the dust collection operation is stopped, the negative pressure source 10 may be operated at a low output to continuously send the dust to the storage tank 11 .
Alternatively, when the device is operated again, the temporarily stored dust may be sent to the storage tank 11.

In conventional dust collection devices, for example, if there is a difference between the time required for dust collection and the time required for the stored dust to solidify, the negative pressure source above the storage tank will stop when the dust collection operation is completed. However, this will cause suction in the storage tank to stop, and dust will no longer be sucked in even if the dust is solidifying, which can cause the dust generated during the solidification to fly around.

As described above, the dust collecting device 1 according to this embodiment can suppress the scattering of dust particles that occurs when dust is solidified.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Dust collection device 10 Negative pressure source 11 Storage tank 110 Inclined side wall 12 Dust solidification section 121 Forming member 122 Forming hole 123 Pressurizing rod 124 Closing rod 125 Discharge hole 126 Pressurizing cylinder 127 Closing cylinder 13 Dust recollection section 131 Dust collection chute 132 Dust collection port 133 Dust storage section 134 Dust suction port

Claims (2)

a negative pressure generating source that generates a negative pressure for sucking dust;
a storage tank for storing the dust that is sucked and dropped by the negative pressure generating source;
a molding member disposed at a lower portion of the storage tank and having a molding hole through which dust in the storage tank can flow;
a rod that is driven to advance into and retreat from the forming hole, and advances into the forming hole to compress the dust in the forming hole to form a solidified product;
a discharge hole through which the solidified material is discharged;
a dust recollection unit that is disposed near the discharge hole, separates the solidified material and dust discharged from the discharge hole, and recollects the dust;
The dust recollection unit includes:
a dust collecting chute having a slope along which the solidified material discharged from the discharge hole falls;
a dust collection port which is a through hole provided on the inclined surface of the dust collection chute;
a dust storage section that stores dust that passes through the dust collection port and is separated from the solidified material;
A dust suction port is provided at a lower portion of the dust storage section and configured to suck in the dust stored in the dust storage section.
the negative pressure generating source operates during collection of the dust to generate a negative pressure, and operates during molding of the solidified material of the dust even when the dust collection operation is stopped to generate a negative pressure;
A dust collecting device in which dust sucked in by the dust suction port is sent to the storage tank by the negative pressure generated by the negative pressure generating source . generating a negative pressure for sucking dust by a negative pressure generating source;
The dust that is sucked and dropped by the negative pressure generating source is stored in a storage tank.
Dust in the storage tank flows into a molding member disposed in a lower portion of the storage tank and having a molding hole.
a rod that is driven to advance into and retreat from the forming hole advances into the forming hole to compress the dust in the forming hole and form a solidified product;
The solidified material is discharged to a discharge hole.
separating the solidified material and the dust discharged from the discharge hole, and storing the dust separated from the solidified material in a dust storage section;
A dust suction port provided at a lower portion of the dust storage section sucks in the dust stored in the dust storage section;
The dust sucked by the dust suction port is sent to the storage tank by the negative pressure generated by the negative pressure generating source ,
The generating of the negative pressure is a dust collection method in which the negative pressure is generated by operating the negative pressure generating source while the dust is being collected, and the negative pressure is generated by operating the negative pressure generating source while the dust is being solidified and molded even when the dust collection operation is stopped .

Images