JP2010105761A - Air floating type conveyer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an air floating type conveyor always stably conveying a conveying object. <P>SOLUTION: This air floating type conveyor includes a low friction body supply device 18 mixing a low friction body into compressed air 13 for floating conveyor belts 3a and 3b from frames 4a and 4b. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an air levitation conveyor, and more particularly, to an air levitation conveyor capable of always stably conveying a conveyed product by reducing a coefficient of friction between a frame and a conveyor belt.

  Conventionally, a so-called air-floating type conveyor in which a conveyor belt is run in a state of being lifted by air pressure from a bowl-shaped (arc-shaped) or cylindrical frame as one of means for transporting a transported material such as powder or granular material. It has been known.

  However, in this air levitation conveyor, the conveyor belt has a high rigidity in the width direction and the frame does not conform to the shape of the frame. Since the coefficient of friction between the frame and the conveyor belt becomes large, the operation of the conveyor belt is hindered, and there is a problem that it is impossible to stably convey the conveyed product.

  In order to solve such problems, Patent Document 1 proposes improving the formability and friction of the conveyor belt by improving the components of the rubber composition constituting the conveyor belt.

However, since the contact / abrasion between the frame and the conveyor belt also occurs depending on the state (weight, stacking unevenness, etc.) of the transported material conveyed by the conveyor belt, the above measures are not always effective.
JP 2005-139344 A

  An object of the present invention is to provide an air floating type conveyor that can always stably convey a conveyed product.

  The air levitation conveyor according to the present invention that achieves the above-mentioned object inserts a conveyor belt inside a bowl-shaped or cylindrical frame, blows the compressed air from the lower surface side of the conveyor belt, and floats it on the upper surface side. An air-floating conveyor for carrying and transporting a transported article is characterized by including a low-friction body supply device that mixes a low-friction body into the compressed air.

  It is preferable to use a powder and a liquid for the low friction body, and the powder is preferably formed from starch or ultra high molecular weight polyethylene, and the liquid is formed from water.

  Moreover, when using powder as a low friction body, it is preferable to provide a static eliminator that removes static electricity from the powder.

  Furthermore, a temperature sensor that measures the surface temperature of the lower surface of the conveyor belt is attached to the frame, and a control unit that controls the amount of low friction material mixed in the low friction material supply device based on the measured value of the temperature sensor is provided. Is desirable.

  According to the air levitation conveyor of the present invention, since the low friction body supply device for mixing the low friction body into the compressed air for floating the conveyor belt from the frame is provided, the state of the conveyed product, the material of the conveyor belt and the surface of the frame Regardless of the state or the like, the coefficient of friction between the frame and the conveyor belt can be reduced, so that the transported object can always be stably conveyed.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows an air floating conveyor according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  In this air levitation conveyor, a conveyor belt 3 is stretched endlessly between a driving pulley 1 and a driven pulley 2, and the forward and return conveyor belts 3a and 3b are respectively cylindrical metal frames. In this case, the object to be conveyed is conveyed while floating inside the frame 4 along the inside of the frame 4. The transported material is input from an input port 6 provided in the vicinity of the chute cover 5 of the outward frame 4a, and is discharged from an output port 8 at the bottom of the end cover 7 that houses the drive pulley 1.

  As shown in FIG. 2, a large number of air holes 9 are formed along the longitudinal direction in the lower part of the forward and return frames 4 a and 4 b, and air is blown from the blower 10 through the pressure feed pipe 11 and the air duct 12. The compressed air 13 is blown onto the lower side surfaces of the conveyor belts 3a and 3b curved along the lower inner surfaces of the frames 4a and 4b, so that the conveyor belts 3a and 3b are floated. Flow control valves 14a and 14b are respectively provided in the middle of the pressure feed pipes 11a and 11b connected to the forward and return side frames 4a and 4b, respectively, depending on the weight of the transported goods loaded on the conveyor belts 3a and 3b. Thus, the supply amount of the compressed air 13 is adjusted. The compressed air 13 supplied to the forward and return frames 4a and 4b and floating the conveyor belts 3a and 3b is exhausted to the outside through the filter 16 from the exhaust pipe 15 provided on the top of the end cover 7. . In this embodiment, the cross-sectional shape of the frames 4a and 4b is cylindrical, but it may be a bowl shape (arc shape) with an open top.

  In such an air levitation conveyor, a low friction body supply device 18 that supplies a low friction body is connected to the pressure feed pipe 11 near the blower 10.

  An example of the configuration of the low frictional body supply device 18 is shown in FIG. This low friction body supply device 18 uses powder 17 as a low friction body. The low friction body supply device 18 has a structure in which a stirring tank 20 using a powder tank 19 under atmospheric pressure as a supply source of the powder 17 is connected to a pressure feeding pipe 11 via a suction pipe 21 and a supply pipe 22. In the middle of the supply pipe 22, a mixing amount adjusting valve 23 is interposed. A part of the compressed air 24 blown from the blower 10 is introduced into the stirring tank 20 through the suction pipe 21 and stirred and mixed with the powder 17, and is generated by the venturi effect at the outlet of the supply pipe 22 on the side of the pressure feeding pipe 11. The negative pressure causes the suction pipe 11 to be sucked again through the supply pipe 22. At that time, the amount of the powder 17 mixed into the compressed air 24 can be adjusted by adjusting the opening of the mixing amount adjusting valve 23. The powder 17 mixed in the compressed air 13 is supplied between the frames 4 a and 4 b and the conveyor belts 3 a and 3 b through the air holes 9, and then discharged from the discharge port 8 together with the conveyed product, or the exhaust pipe 15. Are collected by the filter 16.

  FIG. 4 shows another example of the configuration of the low frictional body supply device 18. The low friction body supply device 18 uses a liquid 25 as a low friction body. The low friction body supply device 18 pressurizes the liquid 25 stored in the liquid tank 26 with a pump 27 and injects the liquid 25 into the pressure feed pipe 11 through the supply pipe 22. A valve 23 is interposed. By adjusting the opening degree of the mixing amount adjusting valve 23, the mixing amount of the liquid 25 into the compressed air 24 blown from the blower 10 can be adjusted. The liquid 25 mixed in the compressed air 13 is supplied between the frames 4a and 4b and the conveyor belts 3a and 3b through the air holes 9, and then discharged from the discharge port 8 together with the conveyed product.

  Thus, in the air floating type conveyor, the low friction body supply device 18 for mixing the low friction body into the compressed air 13 that floats the conveyor belts 3a and 3b from the frames 4a and 4b is provided. Regardless of the material of the belt 3 or the state of the surface of the frame 4, the friction coefficient between the frames 4a and 4b and the conveyor belts 3a and 3b can be reduced. .

  As the powder material, it is desirable to use starch or ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene. As the starch powder, for example, Nikkarico (registered trademark) OD-PHK (product name) manufactured by Nikka Corporation using insoluble starch can be used. As the ultra high molecular weight polyethylene powder, for example, MIPERON (registered trademark) manufactured by Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. can be used.

  In addition, since the above powder is a fine particle having an average particle diameter of about 10 to 40 μm, a static eliminator 28 is installed in the pressure feeding tube 11 on the downstream side of the low friction body supply device 18 in order to prevent dust explosion. Thus, it is desirable to remove static electricity from the powder 17.

  It is desirable to use water as the liquid. By doing in this way, the temperature of the lower surface side of the conveyor belts 3a and 3b can be reduced, and the spontaneous combustion of a conveyed product can also be prevented.

  FIG. 5 shows an air floating conveyor according to another embodiment of the present invention.

  In this embodiment, a temperature sensor 29 for measuring the temperature of the lower surface of the conveyor belts 3a and 3b is attached to the frames 4a and 4b as shown in FIG. 6, and the mixing amount is adjusted based on the measured value of the temperature sensor 29. The control part 30 which adjusts the opening degree of the valve 23 is provided. The temperature sensor 29 may be attached to either or both of the forward and backward frames 4a and 4b, and the position and number of attachments to the frames 4a and 4b are not limited to the example of FIG. As the temperature sensor 29, it is desirable to use a non-contact type radiation thermometer. The control unit 30 can be realized by a general personal computer equipped with a central processing unit (CPU). The control unit 30 is connected to the temperature sensor 29 and the mixing amount adjusting valve 23 via the signal line 31 or wirelessly, respectively, and adjusts the mixing amount when the measured value transmitted from the temperature sensor 29 exceeds a predetermined temperature. Although the control is basically performed so that the opening degree of the valve 23 is increased, the opening degree of the mixing amount adjusting valve 23 may be gradually increased as the measured value increases.

  Thus, since the control part 30 which controls the mixing amount to the compressed air 13 of a low-friction body based on the temperature of the lower surface of the conveyor belts 3a and 3b is provided, the overheating of the conveyor belt 3 is prevented and transported. Objects can be conveyed more stably. For example, it is added to the rubber composition of the conveyor belt 3 by controlling the opening amount of the mixing amount adjusting valve 23 to be increased when the temperature of the lower surface of the conveyor belts 3a and 3b exceeds 50 ° C. It is possible to prevent an increase in the coefficient of friction between the frames 4a and 4b and the lower surfaces of the conveyor belts 3a and 3b, which may occur when an anti-aging agent, wax, or the like adheres to the frames 4a and 4b.

1 is an overall view of an air floating conveyor according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is sectional drawing of an outward path side and a return path side frame. It is an example of a low frictional body supply apparatus. It is another example of a low frictional body supply apparatus. It is a general view of the air floating type conveyor which consists of another embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing of the flame | frame part which attached the temperature sensor in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Drive pulley 2 Driven pulley 3 Conveyor belt 3a Outgoing side conveyor belt 3b Returning side conveyor belt 4 Frame 4a Outgoing side frame 4b Returning side frame 5 Chute cover 6 Inlet 7 End cover 8 Outlet 9 Air hole 10 Blower 11 Pressure sending pipe 11a Pressure feed pipe 11b to the forward path 12 Pressure feed pipe 12 to the return path 12 Air duct 13 Compressed air 14 Flow rate control valve 14a Flow rate control valve 14b on the back path side Flow rate control valve 15 Exhaust pipe 16 Filter 17 Powder 18 Supply of low friction body Apparatus 19 Powder tank 20 Stirring tank 21 Suction pipe 22 Supply pipe 23 Mixing amount adjustment valve 24 Compressed air from blower 25 Liquid 26 Liquid tank 27 Pump 28 Static eliminator 29 Temperature sensor 30 Control unit 31 Signal line

Claims (6)

In an air levitation conveyor that inserts a conveyor belt inside a bowl-shaped or cylindrical frame and blows the compressed air from the lower surface side of the conveyor belt and floats it, and loads and conveys a material to be conveyed on the upper surface side.
An air floating conveyor provided with a low friction body supply device for mixing a low friction body into the compressed air.   The air floating conveyor according to claim 1, wherein the low friction body is powder or liquid.   The air floating conveyor according to claim 2, wherein the powder is made of starch or ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene.   The air floating conveyor according to claim 2, wherein the liquid is water.   The air floating conveyor according to claim 2 or 3, further comprising a static eliminator for removing static electricity from the powder.   A temperature sensor for measuring the surface temperature of the lower surface side of the conveyor belt is attached to the frame, and a control unit is provided for controlling the amount of low friction material mixed in the low friction material supply device based on the measurement value of the temperature sensor. The air floating type conveyor according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

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