Patent Application
20180099441
The disclosure relates to a feeding apparatus, and more particular to a feeding apparatus including an air suction device.
Referring to
The plastic pellets tend to absorb environmental moisture, which may be evaporated during the process of melting and may be released from the plastic pellets to form water vapor. Such emission of water vapor may cause the barrel 12 to be overpressured and explode, and may cause an injected product to have voids, which would result in inferior mechanical properties. Thus, the plastic pellets are often heated and dried before being put into the hopper 13. An additional heating apparatus needs to be provided for heating the plastic pellets, leading to increased processing costs. Moreover, the plastic pellets need to be transferred from the heating apparatus into the injection molding apparatus, resulting in inconvenience and longer process time.
Therefore, an object of the present disclosure is to provide a feeding apparatus that can alleviate at least one of the drawbacks associated with the prior art.
According to the present disclosure, a feeding apparatus is adapted to be mounted to an injection molding apparatus defining an injecting space for receiving a plurality of plastic pellets to be heated in the injection space.
The feeding apparatus includes a feeding device, a supplying device, and an air suction device.
The feeding device is adapted to be mounted to the injection molding apparatus and defines a feeding space. The feeding space has a delivering space portion, and a feeding space portion that spatially intercommunicates the delivering space portion and the injecting space. The supplying device is mounted to the feeding device, defines a supplying space in spatial communication with the delivering space portion, and is operable to allow or interrupt spatial communication between the supplying space and the delivering space portion. The air suction device is mounted to the feeding device and is operable to draw air from the injecting space and the feeding space.
The plastic pellets move from the supplying device into the injecting space through a path including the supplying space, the delivering space portion and the feeding space portion.
Other features and advantages of the present disclosure will become apparent in the following detailed description of the embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:
Referring to
The feeding apparatus includes a feeding device 3, a supplying device 4, an air suction device 51 and a controlling device 52.
Referring to
The feeding device 3 includes a feeding unit 31, a feeding-discharging unit 32, a controlling unit 33 and a sensing element 34.
The feeding unit 31 is mounted to the supplying device 4, defines the delivering space portion 313, and includes a connecting seat 312 and a feeding barrel 311. The containing seat 312 is mounted to the supplying device 4. The feeding barrel 311 is connected between the connecting seat 312 and the controlling unit 33. The feeding barrel 311 cooperates with the connecting seat 312 to define the delivering space portion 313. The connecting seat 312 may have a circular horizontal cross-section.
The feeding-discharging unit 32 is adapted to be mounted to a top surface of the loading seat 215 of the injection molding apparatus 21, and is spaced apart from the feeding unit 31. The feeding-discharging unit 32 includes a feeding seat 321 that is mounted to the top surface of the loading seat 215, and a discharging tube 322 that is fixedly connected to the feeding seat 321. The feeding seat 321 defines the feeding space portion 323 and an air suction space portion 325 that spatially intercommunicates the feeding space portion 323 and the air suction device 51. The discharging tube 322 cooperates with the feeding seat 321 to define the discharging space portion 324, which is spaced apart from the feeding space portion 323.
The controlling unit 33 is connected between the feeding unit 31 and the feeding-discharging unit 32, and includes a controlling seat 331, a controlling valve 332 and a handle 333. The controlling seat 331 is connected between the feeding barrel 311 of the feeding unit 31 and the feeding seat 321 of the feeding-discharging unit 32, and defines a controlling space portion 334. The controlling space portion 334 is substantially inverted Y-shaped, and has a connecting space segment 335, a feeding space segment 336, a discharging space segment 337 and a controlling space segment 338. The connecting space segment 335 is in spatial communication with the delivering space portion 313. The feeding space segment 336 is in spatial communication with the feeding space portion 323. The discharging space segment 337 is in spatial communication with the discharging space portion 324. The controlling space segment 338 spatially intercommunicates the connecting space segment 335, the feeding space segment 336 and the discharging space segment 337. The controlling valve 332 is received in the controlling space segment 338. The handle 333 is co-rotatably connected to the controlling valve 332, and is operable to convert the controlling unit 33 between a feeding state where spatial communication between the delivering space portion 313 and the discharging space portion 324 is interrupted and where spatial communication between the delivering space portion 313 and the feeding space portion 323 is allowed, and a discharging state where spatial communication between the delivering space portion 313 and the feeding space portion 323 is interrupted and where spatial communication between the delivering space portion 313 and the discharging space portion 324 is allowed.
In other words, the feeding space 35 has the delivering space portion 313, the feeding space portion 323, the discharging space portion 324, the air suction space portion 325 and the controlling space portion 334. Communication relationship among the space portions and segments is described above.
The sensing element 34 is disposed on the connecting seat 312 of the feeding unit 31 and is adapted for sensing storage amount of the plastic pellets in the feeding unit 31.
The supplying device 4 is mounted to the feeding device 3, defines a supplying space 40 that is in spatial communication with the delivering space portion 313, and is operable to allow or interrupt spatial communication between the supplying space 40 and the delivering space portion 313.
To be more specific, the supplying space 40 has a screw rod space portion 411, a supplying space portion 413 that spatially communicates with the screw rod space portion 411, and a valve space portion 412 that spatially intercommunicates the screw rod space portion 411 and the delivering space portion 313. The valve space portion 412 has a first opening 414 that spatially communicates with the screw rod space portion 411 and a second opening 415 that spatially communicates with the delivering space portion 313. The supplying device 4 includes a supplying seat 41, a supplying screw rod 42 and a supplying valve 43. The supplying seat 41 defines the screw rod space portion 411 and the valve space portion 412. The supplying screw rod 42 is received rotatably in the screw space portion 411 and is adapted to push the plastic pellets from the screw rod space portion 411 into the valve space portion 412. The supplying valve 43 is received in the valve space portion 412 and is operable to allow or interrupt spatial communication between the valve space portion 412 and the delivering space portion 313. When the spatial communication between the valve space portion 412 and the delivering space portion 313 is allowed, the supplying valve 43 is spaced apart from the first opening 414 and the second opening 415. On the other hand, when the spatial communication between the valve space portion 412 and the delivering space portion 313 is interrupted, the supplying valve 43 blocks the first opening 414 and the second opening 415.
The plastic pellets move from the supplying device 4 into the injecting space 216 through a path including the supplying space portion 413, the screw rod space portion 411, the valve space portion 412, the delivering space portion 313, the connecting space segment 335, the controlling space segment 338, the feeding space segment 336 and the feeding space portion 323.
The air suction device 51 is mounted to the feeding device 3 and is operable to draw air from the injecting space 216 and the feeding space 35. To be more specific, the air suction device 51 is operable to draw air from the injecting space 216 and the feeding space 35 via the air suction space portion 325. The controlling device 52 is operable by an user to actuate the supplying screw rod 42 and the supplying valve 43.
Referring to
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When the plastic pellets are heated in the injecting space 216, moisture or organic solvent absorbed by the plastic pellets may be released in the form of gas. As indicated by the arrows in
Referring to
To sum up, the air suction device 51 can draw the gas that is released by the plastic pellets upon being heated. Moreover, the controlling unit 33 is convertible among the feeding state, discharging state and the shutting, and the supplying valve 43 is convertible between the supplying position and the shutting position, which both facilitate input and output of the plastic pellets.
In the description above, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details have been set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiment. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that one or more other embodiments may be practiced without some of these specific details. It should also be appreciated that reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” an embodiment with an indication of an ordinal number and so forth means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic may be included in the practice of the disclosure. It should be further appreciated that in the description, various features are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure and aiding in the understanding of various inventive aspects.
While the disclosure has been described in connection with what is considered the exemplary embodiment, it is understood that this disclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiment but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.
