JPH0574798B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Application of the Invention] The present invention relates to a manufacturing process or a powder filling device that automatically fills a container with powder or granular material in a silo.

[Background of the invention]

In the filling work of powder and granular materials from powder manufacturing equipment and silos to containers or transfer containers to transfer lines, the installation and removal of blind lids and the operation of filling valves are performed manually. Common. In particular, in industries that handle hazardous powder and granular materials such as those containing radioactive materials, it is necessary to handle blind lids and operate filling valves reliably, so these operations are not performed manually. The tendency to do so is even stronger. However, when handling powder or granular materials, it is very difficult to prevent the diffusion of dust. Furthermore, dust generated during the filling operation of powder and granular materials into containers is undesirable because it is inhaled by workers and has an adverse effect on the human body. In particular, in industries that handle harmful powders, such as the nuclear industry, which has made significant progress in recent years, inhalation of dust by workers is a particular problem. For this reason, automation of the powder and granular equipment that has been planned in recent years is required from the viewpoints of labor saving and occupational health, and research and development of highly reliable automated equipment is underway.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view of an automatic powder filling device used in general industries that handle powder.
In FIG. 10, the filling pipe 10 is the fixed pipe 11.
The upper end flange 12 of the fixed tube 11 is connected to the flange 18 of a connecting tube 16 provided on the pedestal 14 and guiding the powder 15. The connecting pipe 20 has an upper end flange portion 22 connected to the frame 1.
It is connected to a piston rod 26 of a cylinder 24 fixed to the lower surface of the cylinder 24 so that it can move up and down as shown by an arrow 27, and a valve 30 is attached to a lower end flange 28. A packing 32 is attached to the lower end surface of the valve 30.

Transfer container 3 located directly below the filling pipe 10
4 has an opening 36 at the top and is transported by a transport vehicle 38. Further, a bellows 40 made of cloth or the like is attached to the periphery of the upper end flange of the connecting pipe 20.
is suspended so that the area around the opening 36 of the transfer container 34 can be covered. 10 is a blind lid that seals the opening 36 of the transfer container 34, and 44 is a bellows 40.
This is a suction pipe that sucks the air inside.

The operation of the conventional automatic powder filling device configured as described above is as follows. The transfer container 34 installed on the transfer vehicle 38 is carried directly below the filling pipe 10 by the transfer vehicle 38 after the blind cover 42 is removed by an operator. Transfer container 34
When it is confirmed that the filling pipe 10 is directly below the filling pipe 10, the cylinder 24 is driven to extend the filling pipe 10, and the connecting pipe 20 is lowered as shown by the arrow 27, and the packing 32 is moved to the opening of the transfer container 34. The flange portion provided around the portion 36 is pressed. After that, the valve 30 is operated in the opening direction, and the powder 15 is transferred to the connecting pipe 16, the fixed pipe 11, the connecting pipe 20, and the valve 3.
0 into the transfer container 34. During this filling, the lower end of the bellows 40 comes into contact with the upper surface of the transfer container 34, and the air inside the bellows 40 is sucked through the suction pipe 44.
The dust scattered from part 2 is collected. When a predetermined amount of powder is filled into the transfer container 34, the valve 30 is operated in the closing direction, and after confirming that the valve 30 is fully closed, the connecting pipe 20 is opened via the cylinder 24. Move upward as shown by arrow 27. However, even in such a powder filling device, it is extremely difficult to prevent dust from leaking from the connection between the connecting pipe 20 and the transfer container 34, and to recover leaked dust. Despite having several dust collectors, it is common for dust to accumulate around the equipment.

Therefore, as an automatic powder filling device for industries that handle powders that are harmful to the human body, an apparatus as shown in FIG. 11 is currently being considered. In FIG. 11, the filling pipe 10 has a fixed pipe 11 attached to a frame 14. As shown in FIG. The upper end of the fixed pipe 11 is connected to the connecting pipe 16 via a discharge operation valve 46. A cylinder 24 fixed to the upper surface of the pedestal 14 has a piston rod 26 projecting below the pedestal 14 and connected to a flange portion 48 of the connecting tube 20, and the connecting tube 20 is moved up and down as shown by an arrow 27.

The lower part of the connecting pipe 20 is inserted into the dustproof cover 50. This dustproof cover 50 is provided with a suction pipe 52 at its upper end, and has an opening 54 at its lower end.
It is becoming. Further, the dustproof cover 50 is provided with an L-shaped bracket 56 at the upper end, and this bracket 56 is attached to the screw shaft 5.
8, and moves up and down as shown by an arrow 59 as the screw shaft 58 rotates. The screw shaft 58 has an upper end connected to the reducer 62 of the drive motor 60, and a lower end connected to the frame 14.
It is supported by an L-shaped supporter 64 attached to the lower part of.

The transfer container 34 has an opening 36 at the center of its upper end, and an annular rubber plate 66 is attached to this opening. Furthermore, a shield 70 having a valve 68 is fixed around the rubber plate 66. still,
A suction pipe 7 is attached to the fixed pipe 11 of the filling pipe 10.
2 is connected so that the air inside the filling pipe 10 can be sucked as shown by the arrow 74.

In the automatic powder filling device shown in FIG. 11, when the transfer container 34 is not being filled with powder 15, the connecting pipe 20 and the dustproof cover 50 are
is pulled upward as shown by the two-dot chain line. When the transfer container 34 is placed directly below the filling pipe 10, the drive motor 60 is started, the screw shaft 58 is rotated, and the dust cover 50 is rotated.
is tightly fixed on the transfer container 34. Next valve 6
8 is fully opened by a valve opening/closing device provided on the ground side. When the valve 68 is fully opened, the cylinder 24 is driven and the connecting pipe 20 is lowered.
0 is inserted into the transfer container 34. Then, the dustproof cover 5 is
At the same time as suctioning the air in the powder and filling pipe 10, the discharge operation valve 46 is opened, and the powder 15 is filled into the transfer container 34.

In this way, by sucking the air inside the filling pipe 10 with the suction pipe 72 and keeping the filling pipe 10 at a negative pressure, generation of dust is prevented.
Further, by suctioning the air inside the dustproof cover 50 through the suction pipe 52, dust scattered inside the dustproof cover 50 is removed. Therefore,
It is believed that the spread of dust to the surrounding area can be prevented. However, when filling the powder 15, dust leaks from between the connecting pipe 20 and the rubber plate 66, and this leaked dust spreads from around the connecting pipe 20 into the dustproof cover. It is impossible for the suction pipe 52 to completely capture the dust that has spread into the dustproof cover 50, so that the leaked dust adheres to the upper surface of the transfer container 34 and the inner surface of the dustproof cover 50. Moreover, on the downstream side of the discharge operation valve 46,
That is, a considerable amount of dust also adheres to the inner surfaces of the fixed pipe 11 and the connecting pipe 20. For this reason, there are drawbacks such as dust adhering to the filling device side spreading to the surroundings after the transfer container 34 is taken out, and dust adhering to the top surface of the transfer container 34 spreading to the surroundings during transfer, expanding the contaminated area. be.

[Purpose of the invention]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a powder filling device in which a contaminated surface to which dust is attached is not exposed.

[Summary of the invention]

The present invention provides an opening/closing device for attaching and detaching the lid of a container.
After the storage box is attached to the top of the container, the lid is removed with the lower end of the opening/closing device in close contact with the lid, and the opening/closing device is stored using a moving device. The container is communicated with the storage box by moving it laterally from above the bottom opening of the box to the retracted position provided on the side thereof, and then the retractable filling pipe is inserted into the container through the bottom opening of the storage box to fill the powder. The structure is such that it is filled with granules to prevent dust from adhering to the exposed surface.

[Embodiments of the invention]

A preferred embodiment of the powder filling device according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the same reference numerals are given to the parts corresponding to those explained in the prior art, and the explanation thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 1 shows a sectional view of a powder filling device according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, the filling pipe 10 consists of a fixed pipe 11 fixed to a frame 14 as in the conventional case, and a connecting pipe 20 that fits onto the fixed pipe 11 and slides, and is expandable and retractable by the operation of a cylinder 24. It is. The cylinder 24 is fixed to a support 76 provided on the pedestal 14.
A bracket 80 to which the cylinder 78 is fixed is attached to the lower part of the pedestal 14. The cylinder 78 is
The storage box 82 is supported by the arrow 8.
It can be raised and lowered as shown in 4. The storage box 82 is hollow and has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and has a guide hole 86 in the upper part for guiding the connecting pipe 20. Additionally, a suction pipe 88 is installed at the top of the storage box 82.
is connected, and the air inside the storage box 82 is
As shown in 0, it is designed to be able to be suctioned. A bellows-like telescopic tube 92 is provided between the upper surface of the storage box 82 and the lower surface of the pedestal 14, and the air in the telescopic tube 92 is sucked through a suction pipe 94 as shown by an arrow 96. It is becoming more and more common.

The storage box 82 has an opening 100 formed in a bottom plate 98. An opening 10 is provided on the lower surface of the bottom plate 98.
A ring-shaped protrusion 102 is provided around 0.
Further, an opening/closing device 104 is provided inside the storage box 82 to close the opening 100.

The opening/closing device 104 is provided with a coupling mechanism 110 driven by a cylinder 108 within a blind box storage container 106 having a substantially cylindrical shape. Blind lid storage container 10
6 is a convex portion 11 that serves as a plug for the connecting pipe 20 on the outer surface of the upper part;
2 is formed, and a flexible air supply pipe 114 is provided at the bottom of the blind lid storage container 1.
Compressed air 116 can be blown out below 06. And the opening/closing device 104
The blind lid storage container 106 is raised and lowered as shown by an arrow 121 by a cylinder 120 provided on the support 118, and the opening 100 of the storage box 82 can be opened and closed. The support 118 is connected to a pair of rails 1 provided inside the storage box 82 as shown in FIG.
22, 122. and the support 118 is coupled to the cylinder 124;
The cylinder 124 allows movement on the rail 122 as shown by an arrow 126.
Note that the reference numeral 128 shown in FIG. 2 is a guide pole for raising and lowering the blind lid storage container 106.

As shown in FIG. 1, the transfer container 34 has a cylindrical lower portion and a conical upper portion. A flange portion 134 having a stepped portion 132 is formed around the opening 36 at the upper end. The blind lid 136 that seals the opening 36 is a flange portion 1.
It has a flange approximately the same size as the upper end surface of 34. Further, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the blind lid 136 has a plurality of engagement protrusions 138 formed on its peripheral edge, and the engagement protrusions 138 are connected to the transfer container by rotation of the blind cover 136. 34 into an engagement groove 140 formed on the inner circumferential surface of the opening 36.
Furthermore, a connecting mechanism 11 is provided in the center of the blind lid 136.
A receiving hole 144 for receiving a clamp shaft 142 of 0 is formed. A groove-shaped engagement portion 146 is formed on the circumferential surface of this receiving hole 144, into which an engagement claw 148 provided on the clamp shaft 142 can be fitted.

As shown in FIG. 5, the clamp shaft 142 is formed in multiple stages so that the upper end becomes narrower, and the upper end fits into the boss 152 of the arm 150. boss 1
52 is a part of the coupling mechanism 110 and a key 154
It is fixed to the clamp shaft 142 by the tightening force of a nut 158 via a holding plate 156. Further, the tip of the arm 150 is connected to an eye end 162 provided at the tip of the cylinder 108 via a pin 164, as shown in FIG.
The clamp shaft 142 is rotated as shown by arrow 166. Incidentally, the cylinder 108 is connected to the blind lid storage container 1.
Pin 1 is attached to the bracket 168 provided on the inner peripheral surface of 06.
It is attached via 70.

The operation of the embodiment configured as described above is performed as follows.

First, the transfer container 34 on the transfer vehicle 38 is
As shown in the figure, when it is confirmed that the filling device has been transported to a predetermined position below the filling device, the cylinder 78 is driven by a drive device (not shown) and the storage box 82 is moved.
descends. As shown in FIG.
2 comes into close contact with the flange portion 134 of the transfer container 34, compressed air 116 is supplied from the air supply pipe 114 to the lower part of the blind lid storage container 106, and the blind lid 136 of the transfer container 34 is removed. That is, when the cylinder 108 is driven and the arm 150 is rotated clockwise in FIG. 6, the clamp shaft 142 rotates together with the arm 150, and the clamp shaft 142 rotates as shown in FIG.
The engaging claw 148 provided in the engaging portion 14 of the blind lid 136
Insert into 6. As the arm 150 further rotates clockwise, the engaging claw 148 rotates the blind lid 136 clockwise due to the driving force of the cylinder 108, and the engaging protrusion 138 of the blind lid 136 is moved. It is pulled out from the engagement groove 140 formed in the container 34, and the engagement between the storage container 34 and the blind lid 136 is released.

When the engagement between the transfer container 34 and the blind lid 136 is released, the cylinder 120 is activated as shown in FIG. 8, and the blind lid storage container 106 is raised, so that the transfer container 34 and the storage box 82 communicate with each other. . Thereafter, the opening/closing device 104 is moved inside the storage box 82 along the rails 122 by the cylinder 124 shown in FIG.
were evacuated from above. And cylinder 2
4 is driven, and the connecting pipe 20 descends to fill the filling pipe 1.
0 is extended. The lower end of the connecting pipe 20 is the storage box 8
2 and inserted into the transfer container 34, and preparation for powder filling is completed. When it is confirmed that the preparation for filling is completed, the suction pipe 88 shown in FIG.
94, suction is started in the area B in the storage box and the area B in the telescopic tube 92, which may be indirectly contaminated, and the discharge operation valve 46 is opened, and the powder 15 is transferred into the transfer container 34. is filled with a predetermined amount.

When the filling of the powder 15 is completed, the blind lid 136 is attached to the opening 36 of the transfer container 34 to seal the transfer container 34 in substantially the reverse order of the above-described operation. When the attachment of the blind lid 136 to the transfer container 34 is completed, the storage box 82 is raised by the operation of the cylinder 78. Then, when the transfer container 34 is carried out by the transfer vehicle 38, the supply of compressed air 116 by the air supply pipe 114 and the suction operation by the suction pipes 88, 94 are stopped.

In this way, in this example, not only the area A that is in direct contact with the powder (see Figure 1), but also the area B that may be indirectly contaminated by leaked dust is exposed to the outside. It is possible to completely eliminate the contamination of the surrounding area by dust. Furthermore, by introducing compressed air between the blind lid storage container 106 and the blind lid 136, dust does not enter the blind lid 136, and the surface of the blind lid 136 can be kept completely clean. Further, since the scattering of dust can be prevented, a dust collection device, etc., which were required in the past, can be omitted, and this has great effects in terms of economy and equipment space. Furthermore, the first
Area C shown in the figure indicates an area where there is no risk of contamination.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to prevent contamination around the device from a place where the surface contaminated by dust is not exposed.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the powder filling device according to the present invention; FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line - in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the state of engagement between the transfer container and the blind lid;
Fig. 4 is a diagram showing a state in which the transfer container and the blind lid are disengaged, Fig. 5 is a detailed sectional view of the opening/closing mechanism that opens and closes the blind lid, and Fig. 6 is taken along the - line in Fig. 5. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the storage box is brought into close contact with the upper part of the transfer container; FIG. 8 is a view showing a state in which the blind lid storage container is raised to communicate the transfer container and the storage box; Figure 9 is a diagram showing a state in which preparations for filling powder and granular materials into a transfer container have been completed; Figure 10 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional automatic powder filling device used in general industry that handles powder and granular materials; FIG. 11 is a sectional view of a conventional automatic powder filling device for filling powder and granular materials harmful to the human body. 10... Filling pipe, 11... Fixed pipe, 15... Powder, 20... Connecting pipe, 24, 78, 108, 12
0,124...Cylinder, 34...Transfer container, 36...
Opening, 82... Storage box, 100... Opening, 104...
Switching device, 114...Air supply pipe, 122...Rail, 1
36... Blind lid, 138... Engaging convex portion, 140... Engaging groove, 142... Clamp shaft, 146... Engaging portion, 14
8... Engagement claw, 150... Arm.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A storage box attached to the upper part of the container and covering the opening of the container; an elevating device for raising and lowering the storage box; when the storage box is attached to the upper part of the container,
a storage box bottom opening facing the container opening; and an opening/closing device provided in the storage box that closes the bottom opening and closes the container opening to open and close the lid. , the opening/closing device is moved horizontally between the upper part of the bottom opening and a retracted position provided on the side thereof, so that it can move forward and backward;
a moving device capable of communicating the container and the storage box; penetrating the storage box vertically through a bottom opening;
A powder and granule filling device comprising: a retractable filling pipe that guides the powder into the container; and an expansion and contraction device that expands and contracts the filling pipe. 2. The container has a plurality of engagement grooves formed on the inner circumference of the opening, and the lid has an engagement protrusion that engages with and disengages from the engagement groove provided on the periphery, and an engagement groove formed on the upper part. The opening/closing device has an engaging portion that engages with and disengages from the engaging portion of the lid, and a drive device that rotates the engaging portion.
The powder/granular material filling device according to claim 1, further comprising an elevator that raises and lowers the engaging claw. 3. Powder filling according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the opening/closing device is provided with an air supply pipe that guides compressed air between the lower part of the opening/closing device and the upper part of the lid body. Device.