JPH053339B2 - - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an automatic compounding system for compounding a plurality of raw materials or substances according to respective predetermined compounding ratios, and particularly when the number of compounded raw materials or substances is The present invention relates to an automatic compounding device that can accommodate many and various compounding ratios.

[Prior Art] In the past, various methods have been devised and implemented to automate the process of weighing, mixing, and dispensing multiple raw materials according to a predetermined mixing ratio, and to systemize the process as an automatic blending line for centralized control and management. There is. For example, as a first example of the prior art, there is a system in which a hopper for supplying raw materials and a measuring container are made to correspond one to one. The outline is given below.
It consists of a raw material hopper and a weighing container equipped with a cutting mechanism for discharging raw materials, a belt conveyor for conveying the discharged raw materials, a chute at the end of the belt conveyor, a blender, and a control panel. , a plurality of sets (usually 8 to 15 sets for glass preparation) each consisting of a measuring container are arranged. A predetermined raw material is supplied to each hopper arranged on the belt conveyor line, and the system is started by setting the weight to be weighed and the number of times of weighing for the raw material in each hopper through operation of the control panel. The raw material in the hopper is cut out from an electromagnetic feeder (sometimes a screw feeder is used), the cut raw material is weighed in a weighing container, and after the weighing is complete, it is delivered onto a moving belt conveyor. be done. For raw materials with a high blending ratio, measuring and dispensing is repeated multiple times. The raw materials weighed from each hopper and discharged onto the belt conveyor are conveyed and transferred in their entirety into a blender via a chute provided at the end of the belt conveyor, where they are mixed after the transfer is completed. Once mixing is completed, the mixture is transferred to the next process or to another transport container such as a flexible container bag.

As a second example of the prior art, raw material hoppers and measuring containers are made to correspond to a plurality of units and one unit.
That is, a plurality of raw material hoppers each equipped with a cutting mechanism for discharging raw materials and one measuring container,
Consisting of a belt conveyor for conveying raw materials, a chute at the end of the belt conveyor, a blender, and a control panel, multiple sets of raw material hoppers and one weighing container are arranged on the belt conveyor line. It is something. The number of sets is usually 2 to 4 for glass preparation. Weighing shall be carried out in the following order: First, set the weight to be measured and the number of times of measurement for each hopper's raw materials on the operation panel, start the system, and then the raw materials are cut out from the hopper's electromagnetic feeder in the set order and weighed in the weighing container. When a predetermined set weight is reached, the next hopper starts cutting and weighing the raw material. In this way, a plurality of raw materials are sequentially cumulatively weighed. When the measurement is completed, it is delivered onto a belt conveyor and fed into a blender via a chute at the end of the belt conveyor. This measurement proceeds simultaneously for the plurality of sets. After completion of mixing, the mixture is transferred to the next process or to a transport container such as a flexible container bag. The raw materials are weighed in descending order of weight for accuracy reasons.

As a similar example to the second example of the prior art, when the number of types of raw materials to be mixed is small, such as 4 to 6, 4 to 6 hoppers are arranged around one measuring container to separate each raw material. There is a method of cumulatively measuring the amount of water and, after the measurement is completed, directly putting it into a blender installed directly below the measuring container.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] As described above, with the prior art described above, it is extremely uneconomical to install hoppers and weighing machines for all of the approximately 80 types of raw materials used in various optical glasses. However, there are additional problems such as installation space. Therefore, there are approximately 250 types of optical glasses.
It can only accommodate the formulation of only a few types of glass. In reality, it is used as a specialized automatic blending system for a limited number of types of glass.

Furthermore, a common problem with these conventional techniques is that raw materials tend to adhere to the electromagnetic feeder, weighing container, belt conveyor, etc., and not all of the weighed weight is supplied to the blender. In particular, various raw materials are used in the preparation of raw materials for optical glass, some of which include deliquescent potassium carbonate, potassium nitrate, lead nitrate, and sodium nitrate. Even in the case of ordinary raw materials, fine powder raw materials tend to stick to each other on humid days due to the humidity. Infrared lamps and hammer rings are available as countermeasures for this problem, but none of them are perfect, and the adhesion of raw materials is particularly noticeable on the inside of the cover on the belt conveyor. This is because when the raw material discharged after weighing falls onto the belt conveyor, the reaction causes it to scatter and adhere to the inside of the cover. Furthermore, the higher the specific gravity of the raw material, the more noticeable it is.

Furthermore, in the case of cumulatively weighing several types of raw materials, as mentioned as the second example of the prior art, the final cumulative weight is better than when a weighing machine is set for each raw material to perform cumulative weighing. A weighing machine with a large capacity will be used, and the measurement accuracy will deteriorate accordingly. Furthermore, even if some raw materials are weighed more or less during the weighing process, the balance is ultimately summed up based on the cumulative total and the set weight, making it difficult to measure the cumulative amount of each raw material accurately. In addition, the capacity of the weighing machine is set according to the maximum mixing amount, so in the case of small lot mixing, that is, small quantities weighing a fraction of the maximum mixing amount, the weight is small, making it difficult to achieve accurate weighing. .

These problems of scattering of raw materials, adhesion to containers, and measurement errors are particularly unfavorable in terms of quality control, as they result in fluctuations in optical constants of optical glass.

The present invention was made to solve these problems, and its first purpose is to enable the preparation of raw materials for various glasses having various compositions, and to save space and equipment. The second objective is to provide an apparatus for feeding weighed raw materials to a blender that minimizes adhesion to containers and scattering during metering and transportation of raw materials. That is,
The third purpose is to provide a device that increases the accuracy of measuring raw materials.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the automatic compounding system according to the present invention has a configuration including a large number of raw material hoppers for raw materials with high blending ratios and high frequency of use, transport containers, and weighing containers. A large number of weighing containers that also serve as containers, a weighing machine, a weighing lifter that serves as a weighing platform,
A shifter and a blender are installed to share the weighing machine when weighing adjacent weighing containers,
Furthermore, it consists of a main line in which a conveyance line with suspended weighing containers circulates in a loop, and a sub-line in which the weighing containers and weighing machines are arranged, which are intended for raw materials with low blending ratios and low frequency of use.

[Operation] The weighing container is transported by the main line to the raw material hopper position, where the raw material is introduced. After a predetermined mixing ratio of raw materials is weighed into each weighing container, they are transported all at once and sequentially supplied to a blender for mixing. Raw materials with small mixing ratios are hand mixed and inserted into the main line as a subline. The sub-line weighing containers are inserted at the end of the row of weighing containers carrying the main raw material.

[Example] Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the entire automatic compounding device of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line X-X in FIG.
FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line Y--Y in FIG. 1. Reference numerals 1 to 9 indicate raw material hoppers, each of which is dedicated to a specified raw material, and the capacity of the hopper is set based on the average blending amount of various glass compositions and the blending frequency. 10 to 18 are weighing containers suspended from the overhead conveyor of the main line. These measuring containers 10~
Reference numeral 18 is a container for receiving and weighing the raw material cut out from the raw material hopper, and is also a transport container for transporting the raw material after weighing. 18 is a spare weighing container. 19 is a weighing machine installed at the bottom of the weighing container transport path near the raw material hopper; 20 is a weighing lifter that floats the weighing machine 19 when weighing the weighing containers 10 to 18; and 30 is for sharing the weighing machine with adjacent weighing containers. weighing machine shifter, 3
1 is an overhead conveyor, 45 is an air knocker attached to a raw material hopper, 46 is a rotary valve, 47 is a chute, 48 is a vibration feeder, 49
50 is a blender, 50 is a sub-line that manually mixes raw materials with a small blending ratio, 51 is a raw material hopper of the sub-line, 52 is a measuring container also of the sub-line,
53 is a weighing machine, 54 is an actual line of the weighing container 52, 55 is an empty line, 56 is a junction of the main line and sub-line, and 57 is a control device and a display.

The metering lifter 20 includes a hydraulic cylinder 29
By lifting all the weighing containers on the weighing lifter 20 suspended from the overhead conveyor 31 at the same time, each weighing container is connected to the traction mechanism of the overhead conveyor 31. becomes free, and the raw material in the weighing container is weighed by the weighing machine 19 installed on the weighing lifter 20.

The overhead conveyor 31 is a chain conveyor that suspends conveyed articles from hangers 32 and travels and conveys them three-dimensionally in a space. The hanger 32 is rotatably attached via a rotation jig 38 at the bottom of the trolley main body, and is stationary in a direction perpendicular to the direction of travel so that the weighing container does not shake significantly even when the main line is vertically moved up and down. I support it. When advancing to the raw material input zone, the hanger 32 hits a contact member (not shown), and the weighing container is rotated in the same direction as the advancing direction so that the raw material is loaded into the weighing container from the chute of the raw material hopper without any hindrance. It is rotated via the tool 28.

In this way, a plurality of raw material hoppers, weighing containers, and weighing machines 19 are arranged for one weighing lifter 20, and the number of raw material hoppers in this one block is 6 to 8.
The group is appropriate. Furthermore, when there are many raw material hoppers, blocks may be added as shown in FIG. 1 by arranging raw material hoppers 21 to 28, and further blocks following the blocks may be added although not shown.
The weighing container corresponds to the raw material in each raw material hopper and is dedicated to the specified raw material. Since the weighing machine 19 is expensive, in consideration of economic efficiency, raw materials having similar weighing weights are placed nearby, and the weighing machine 19 on the weighing lifter 20 is shifted back and forth for the two raw material hoppers so that they are shared. If shared, the third
As shown in the figure, cylinder-driven weighing machine shifters 30 are provided on the left and right sides of the weighing machine 19. This weighing machine shifter 30 is constituted by a cylinder or chain drive mechanism, etc. whose stroke is a distance L between adjacent weighing positions.

Each part has been considered as follows.

○ For raw materials that are difficult to cut out from the hopper (deliquescent raw materials, etc.), the raw material hopper should be equipped with an infrared lamp, an air shooter, an air knocker, a vibrator, or a hammering mechanism (not shown) so that the raw material can be cut out smoothly.

○ Parts that come into contact with raw materials, such as the raw material hopper, cutting feeder, and weighing container, will be finished with SUS304 valves.

○ Weighing container: Heat the container with an infrared lamp (or heater) at the home position to prevent water droplets (moisture) from adhering to the container.

○ The container hanging part of the hanger will be free during weighing, and the structure will not affect the weighing value.

○ Each weighing container has a structure that can accommodate a mechanism for reversing it on the blender 49.

Next, the operation order of this embodiment will be explained.

First, move the metering lifter 20 to the hydraulic cylinder 29.
The weighing containers 10 to 17 suspended from the overhead conveyor 31 are placed on the weighing lifter 20. At this time, each weighing container and the traction mechanism of the overhead conveyor 31 are in a non-contact state, and it is possible to start weighing the raw materials.

Next, the raw material in the raw material hopper passes through the rotary valve 46 and is cut out from two electromagnetic feeders. About 97% of the set weight is quickly cut out at the larger feeder, and the remaining about 3% is cut out from the smaller feeder. The sample is then slowly and accurately cut into a weighing container in small quantities, and weighed according to the time chart for one-time weighing shown in FIG. When weighing is completed, the weighing lifter 20 is lowered and each weighing container is pulled by the overhead conveyor 31.

Furthermore, the weighing container 11 of the raw material hopper 2 and the weighing container 12 of the raw material hopper 3, as well as the weighing containers 13, 14 and 16, 17, each share a weighing machine. Therefore, when using both raw materials that share a weighing machine in the blended raw materials, it is necessary to weigh them again.The weighing lifter 20 is lowered, the weighing machine shifter 30 is activated, the weighing machine 19 is moved, and the weighing lifter 20 is moved. Shift upward and weigh according to the time chart for double weighing shown in FIG.
When the second weighing is completed, the weighing lifter 20 is lowered and all the weighing containers are pulled onto the overhead conveyor 31. When the measurement of each blended raw material is completed, conveyance along the direction of the arrow on the overhead conveyor 31 is started. The weighing containers are moved in the original order and intervals, and when they reach the blender, they are temporarily stopped on the blender 49, turned 180° in the direction of travel, and sent to the blender through the food chute 59. Put it in within 49. The food chute 59 is for preventing raw materials from scattering when the weighing container is inverted, and the chute is equipped with a vibrator (not shown) to prevent raw materials from adhering to the chute. When inverting the weighing container, apply a shock with a hammer or the like to ensure that the raw materials are completely discharged. The measuring container at the point where the raw material has not been cut out does not turn over on the blender and passes through it as it is. In this way, the weighing containers after dispensing on the blender 49 sequentially return to their original positions.

Figures 6A and 6B show main line float charts including steps.

Step... Check that the currently stopped weighing container and raw material hopper/scale match.

Step...Set the container on the scale, check the tare weight, and then set the tare to "0".

Step...Cut out the raw material. The part to be cut out by hand is cut out by the operator according to the indication. After the operator checks the cutout, start the conveyance.

Step: Weigh items that need to be weighed twice depending on the planned amount to be cut and the capacity of the container.

Step~...Rotate the hanger/container 90 degrees. Preparing to add the mixer on the mixer
If OK, do not turn over the empty container when adding it to the mixer. If there is a hand-mixed product, have it thrown in from the hand line in the same way.

Steps〓〓〓〓～〓〓……Mixing starts when the raw material input is completed. After the mixing is completed, the chute is operated to dispense the material into the flexible container bag that has been manually attached in advance. After dispensing is completed, turn the mixer over and prepare to add.

FIG. 7 shows the hand compounding sub-line. This line is the step from aligning real containers to the real line to aligning empty containers to the empty line ~〓
It includes up to.

[Effects of the invention] 1. A series of preparation operations such as weighing, transporting, mixing, and dispensing are automated as a system.

2. Because one container corresponds to each raw material,
It does not mix with other raw materials until it is put into the mixer, allowing only the target raw material to be weighed accurately. Furthermore, it is possible to prepare a wide variety of products in small quantities. By setting the capacity of the container according to the amount used, it is possible to prepare small quantities.

Conventionally, several to ten different cumulative weighing methods have been used in one large-capacity container, so when the container capacity is increased for large-volume compounding, it is not suitable for small-quantity compounding due to weighing accuracy.

○ A method in which raw material hoppers and measuring containers are matched in a plurality of units versus one unit (the second example of the prior art described above).

- After weighing, the material is dropped onto a conveyor, transported by the conveyor, and thrown into a blender via a chute (the first example of the prior art described above).

3. In the conventional technology, raw materials were dispensed onto a conveyor, which caused problems such as the raw materials adhering to the conveyor or scattering, but the present invention deals with one raw material and one container, so the raw materials can be dispensed after weighing. Cannot be transferred to other containers. In other words, the raw materials are transported in the container without being discharged onto a conveyor for transport, and are then put into the blender. Therefore, since there is no transfer of raw materials after measurement, there is little scattering of raw materials and high measurement accuracy.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the entire device of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along line X-X in Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along line Y-Y in Fig. 1, and Fig. 4 is a blender. 5 is a time chart during measurement, FIGS. 6A and 6B are flowcharts of the main line, and FIG. 7 is a flowchart of the subline. 1-9, 21-28...Raw material tank, 10-1
8...Weighing container, 19...Weighing machine, 20...
Weighing lifter, 30... Weighing machine shifter, 31...
...Overhead conveyor, 32...Hanger,
38...Rotating jig, 49...Blender, 50...
...Subline, 51...Raw material hopper, 52...
Raw material container, 53... Weighing machine, 54... Actual line, 55... Empty line.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. In an automatic mixing system in which a plurality of raw materials or substances are each set at a predetermined blending ratio, and the materials are fed from a raw material hopper into a measuring container into a blender in sequence, A large number of raw material hoppers for raw materials, a large number of weighing containers that are suspended from an overhead conveyor and serve as transport containers and weighing containers, and a weighing machine installed at the bottom of the weighing container transport path near the raw material hoppers, A blender that mixes the raw materials input by reversing the weighing container, and a main line in which an overhead conveyor line with the weighing container suspended circulates in a loop from the raw material input/measurement zone including the raw material hopper and weighing machine to the blender. Automatic compounding equipment consisting of a main line and a subline that inserts measuring containers for raw materials with low compounding ratios and low frequency of use. 2 One-to-one ratio of measuring container to raw material hopper
So, the weighing machine is a common one for two weighing containers.
An automatic blending device according to claim 1, wherein the automatic blending device is provided with a base. 3. The automatic blending device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the weighing machine is supported by a weighing lifter that levitates the weighing container during weighing.