Patent Application
20110180157
The present invention relates to a fluidized bed apparatus used for granulation, coating, and the like of powder and particle, and more particularly, to an attachment structure of a particulate-material-holding perforated plate installed in the apparatus.
In fields of medicine, cosmetics, food, and the like, there have been widely used fluidized bed apparatuses for performing processes such as granulation, coating, mixing, stirring, and drying through fluidization of particulate materials such as powder or grains with use of air flows. In such fluidized bed apparatuses, objects of processing such as powder are injected into a cylindrical processing vessel. Then, a binder liquid, a coating liquid, and the like are sprayed with a spray nozzle to the fluidized particulate materials. In this manner, processes such as granulation and coating are performed. In a lower portion of the processing vessel, there is provided an air-permeable perforated plate formed of a wire net or the like. A processing air is supplied from below the perforated plate. The objects of processing such as powder are fluidized by the processing air while being supported by the perforated plate. The binder liquid and the like are sprayed to the fluidized objects of processing. In this manner, the processes such as granulation are performed.
For formation of the perforated plate 51, as illustrated in
However, in the perforated plate as just described above, the upper perforated disk 52 and the lower perforated disk 53 are fixed with a large number (eighteen in
Further, as illustrated in
It is therefore an object of the present invention to improve assembly properties of the perforated plate mounted to the fluidized bed apparatus and to stabilize the product quality by preventing suction of the external air from an outer periphery of the perforated plate.
A fluidized bed apparatus according to the present invention includes: a processing vessel formed in a cylindrical shape; and an air-permeable perforated plate attached to the processing vessel, for communicating an inside and an outside of the processing vessel to each other, in which the perforated plate includes: a first perforated disk including an annular flange member, and a net-like member arranged so as to face a central void portion of the flange member; a disk-like air-permeable second perforated disk having vents; and a support flange including an annular ring portion and a side-wall portion provided upward over an outer periphery of the ring portion, and a perforated disk housing portion which is capable of housing the first perforated disk and the second perforated disk is formed on the inner side of the side-wall portion, and in which the processing vessel is connected to the perforated plate through intermediation of a sealing member held in close contact with an upper end of the side-wall portion.
In the present invention, the perforated plate can be assembled by attachment of the first perforated disk and the second perforated disk into the perforated disk housing portion of the support flange. Thus, the perforated plate can be assembled and disassembled without use of screws. Further, the outer peripheries of the first perforated disk and the second perforated disk can be covered with the side-wall portion, and hence the first perforated disk and the second perforated disk are not exposed to the outside of the apparatus. As a result, external air also can be prevented from being sucked from the side surfaces of the perforated disks.
In the fluidized bed apparatus, the first perforated disk and the second perforated disk are fit-inserted into the perforated disk housing portion, and the side-wall portion may be provided so as to face an entire of an outer peripheral portion of each of the first perforated disk and the second perforated disk while covering the outer peripheral portion of each of the first perforated disk and the second perforated disk. Further, the sealing member may be provided so as to be held in close contact with an upper surface of the first perforated disk of the perforated plate housed in the perforated disk housing portion.
Meanwhile, in the fluidized bed apparatus, the support flange may include a perforated-plate ejection mechanism for lifting up the first perforated disk and the second perforated disk which are arranged in the perforated disk housing portion. In this case, the perforated-plate ejection mechanism may include: a shaft member attached to the side-wall portion and capable of being rotationally manipulated from an outside of the apparatus; and a cam member attached to the shaft member and held in contact with the first perforated disk or the second perforated disk, the cam member being rotationally moved in accordance with rotation of the shaft member so that the first perforated disk and the second perforated disk are lifted up. Provision of the perforated-plate ejection mechanism as just described above enables the first perforated disk and the second perforated disk to be easily ejected from the support flange, and hence facilitates disassembly work of the perforated plate.
According to the fluidized bed apparatus of the present invention, the perforated plate to be attached to the processing vessel includes: the first perforated disk including the flange member and the net-like member, the disk-like second perforated disk including vents; and the support flange including the ring portion and the side-wall portion, and the perforated disk housing portion is formed therein. Further, the processing vessel is connected to the perforated plate through intermediation of the sealing member held in close contact with the upper end of the side-wall portion. Thus, the perforated plate can be assembled and disassembled without use of screws. Further, the outer peripheries of the first perforated disk and the second perforated disk can be covered with the side-wall portion, and hence the first perforated disk and the second perforated disk are not exposed to the outside of the apparatus. As a result, external air also can be prevented from being sucked from the side surfaces of the perforated disks.
In addition, provision of the perforated-plate ejection mechanism to the support flange enables the first perforated disk and the second perforated disk to be easily ejected from the support flange, and hence enables disassembly work of the perforated plate and reduction of work man-hours.
In the following, detailed description is made of an embodiment of the present invention with reference to the figures.
The fluidized bed apparatus 1 is provided with a cylindrical processing vessel 2 in which particulate materials as raw materials are stored and undergo a desired granulation-coating process and the like. The processing vessel 2 is made of stainless steel, and as illustrated in
The cover unit 4 is fixedly supported with respect to the support base 3 by a cover bracket 11. An upper surface of the cover unit 4 is provided with an air exhaust port 12. An air exhaust duct (not shown) is connected to the air exhaust port 12. The filter casing 5 formed separately from the spray casing 6 is attached onto a lower surface side of the cover unit 4. The filter casing 5 is provided so as to be movable in an upper-and-lower direction by a lifting mechanism 13 incorporated in the support base 3. A disk-like top plate 14 is fixed to an upper end portion of the filter casing 5. Cartridge filters 15 are attached to the top plate 14. In the fluidized bed apparatus 1, the top plate 14 is fixed by welding to an inner periphery of the filter casing 5 without any space therebetween so that powder does not escape from between the casing and the top plate.
A filter member 16 made of polyester nonwoven fabric is used for the cartridge filters 15 of the fluidized bed apparatus 1. A stainless retainer 17 is inserted at a center of the filter member 16. The retainer 17 has an upper end fixed to the top plate 14 and a lower end to which an end cap 18 and a filter-fixing knob 19 are attached. Through fastening the filter-fixing knob 19, the filter member 16 is fixed to the top plate 14 while being guided by the retainer 17.
In the spray casing 6, there are provided a spray nozzle 21 for spraying a binder liquid and a coating liquid to particulate materials. The spray casing 6 is attached to the support base 3 through intermediation of a swing bracket 22, and is provided so as to be swingingly movable in a horizontal direction. In the fluidized bed apparatus 1, the spray casing 6 is separated from the filter casing 5. Thus, withdrawal of the spray casing 6 in the horizontal direction enables a worker to access the cartridge filters 15 in the filter casing from below. Further, a fluidizing chamber 23 is formed in the spray casing 6, and the spray nozzle 21 is arranged in the fluidizing chamber 23. Through tubes (not shown), a binder liquid and a coating liquid are supplied from a pump provided outside the apparatus to the spray nozzle 21.
The raw-material-vessel container 7 is arranged below the spray casing 6. Particulate materials as objects of processing are put into the raw-material-vessel container 7. The raw-material-vessel container 7 is an inverse truncated conical cylinder reduced in diameter downward. To the raw-material-vessel container 7, a carriage 24 is attached so that the container is freely movable on a floor surface. A raw-material storage chamber 25 is formed in the raw-material-vessel container 7. An air-permeable perforated plate 26 is provided in a lower portion of the raw-material-vessel container 7, that is, a bottom portion of the raw-material storage chamber 25. Particulate materials put into the raw-material storage chamber 25 are supported on the perforated plate 26.
The air supply unit 8 having an air supply chamber 27 therein is installed below the raw-material-vessel container 7. The air supply unit 8 is connected to an air supply duct 28 communicating to the air supply chamber 27. The air supply duct 28 is connected to an air supply source (not shown) provided outside the apparatus. Into the air supply chamber 27, a processing air (fluidizing air) for fluidizing particulate materials is supplied through the air supply duct 28.
In the fluidized bed apparatus 1 as described above, when the fluidizing air is supplied from the air supply duct 28 into the air supply chamber 27, the air passes through the perforated plate 26 and flows into the raw-material storage chamber 25. With this, particulate materials in the raw-material storage chamber 25 are blown up and enter a fluidized state in the raw-material storage chamber 25 and the fluidizing chamber 23. In this state, the binder liquid and the coating liquid are appropriately sprayed from the spray nozzle 21. With this, a granulation process and a coating process are performed on the particulate materials. In this case, minute solid particles are removed by the cartridge filters 15 from the air which causes the particulate materials to enter into the fluidized state. As a result, the air is purified. After that, the air having passed through the cartridge filters 15 is discharged to an outside of the apparatus through the air exhaust duct.
In this context, in conventional fluidized bed apparatuses, as described above, the perforated plate has a quadruple screw-attachment structure as illustrated in
The flanged upper perforated disk 31 (hereinafter, shortened as upper perforated disk 31) includes an annular stainless flange member 34 and a fine-meshed wire net (net-like member) 35 attached to the flange member 34. The flange member 34 is fixed by soldering to an upper surface of an outer peripheral portion of the wire net 35 formed in a disk-like shape. The wire net 35 is arranged so as to face a central void portion 34a of the flange member 34. The lower perforated disk 32 is a disk-like member similar to the lower perforated disk 53 of
The sealing side wall 37 is provided upward over the entire periphery of the ring portion 36. A perforated disk housing portion 39 is formed on an inner side of the sealing side wall 37. An inner diameter of the perforated disk housing portion 39 is set to be somewhat larger than the outer diameters of the upper perforated disk 31 and the lower perforated disk 32. Further, the height of the perforated disk housing portion 39 is set to be larger than a thickness obtained by superimposition of the upper perforated disk 31 and the lower perforated disk 32. Accordingly, in the perforated plate 26, the upper perforated disk 31 and the lower perforated disk 32 are fit-inserted (inserted in a fitting manner) into the perforated disk housing portion 39. With this, the upper perforated disk 31 and the lower perforated disk 32 are housed, without use of screws, in the perforated disk housing portion 39 in a state of being regulated in movement in the horizontal direction. In addition, in this case, outer peripheral portions of the upper perforated disk 31 and the lower perforated disk 32 are not exposed to the outside of the apparatus, but covered with an inner wall 37b of the sealing side wall 37.
To such perforated plate 26, the raw-material-vessel container 7 of the processing vessel 2 is attached through intermediation of a sealing material (sealing member) 41 made of rubber. As illustrated in
As described above, in the fluidized bed apparatus 1 of the present invention, the perforated plate 26 can be toollessly assembled/disassembled without use of screws. Accordingly, the perforated plate 26 can be easily assembled, and hence work man-hours can be reduced. Further, outer peripheries of the upper perforated disk 31 and the lower perforated disk 32 are covered with the sealing side wall 37, and hence are not exposed to the outside of the apparatus. Thus, it is possible to prevent suction of outside air from side surfaces of the perforated disks, stabilize processing conditions of the particulate materials, and suppress variation in product quality. Still further, a decrease in the number of components leads to less frequent handling of heavy components, and hence work environment is improved. In addition, screws are not used for assembly of the perforated plate 26, and hence problems can be avoided such as foreign-matter entry caused by drop of screws.
Meanwhile, in the fluidized bed apparatus 1, although the perforated plate 26 can be toollessly assembled, the upper perforated disk 31 and the lower perforated disk 32 are housed in the perforated disk housing portion 39. Thus, it is somewhat difficult to disassemble the perforated plate 26 from an upper surface side. That is, it is impossible to apply fingers to the upper perforated disk 31 and the lower perforated disk 32 in the perforated disk housing portion 39, and hence it is difficult to take out the upper perforated disk 31 and the lower perforated disk 32 from an inside of the perforated disk housing portion 39. As a countermeasure, the support flange 33 may be provided with a perforated-plate ejection mechanism for lifting up the upper perforated disk 31 and the lower perforated disk 32 from the support flange 33 so that the perforated plate 26 can be easily disassembled.
As illustrated in
The manipulation rod 72 is attached from the device-inner side into the rod-insertion hole 74. As illustrated in
The handle 81 includes a boss portion 81a and a handgrip portion 81b. The boss portion 81a is provided with a shaft hole 83 and a pin hole 84 which is formed along the radial direction. A detent pin 85 is fixed in the pin hole 84. Meanwhile, the small diameter portion 76 of the manipulation rod 72 is provided with a flat surface portion 86 correspondingly to the pin hole 84. As illustrated in
When the perforated-plate ejection mechanism 71 is assembled to the support flange 33, first, the washer 77 is inserted onto the small diameter portion 76 of the manipulation rod 72, and then moved in a large-diameter-portion-75 direction. After that, from an inner-peripheral-portion-33a side of the support flange 33, the manipulation rod 72 is attached to the rod-insertion hole 74. With this, from the outer peripheral portion 33b of the support flange 33, the small diameter portion 76 projects to the outside of the apparatus. Next, the O-ring 78 is attached to the projecting small diameter portion 76, and after that, the collar 79 is mounted thereto. After the collar is mounted, the handle 81 is attached from the axial direction. When the handle 81 is attached to the manipulation rod 72, the shaft hole 83 is fitted to the small diameter portion 76 so that a distal end portion of the detent pin 85 comes to a position of the flat surface portion 86. With this, the handle 81 is mounted in the state of being rotation-locked by the manipulation rod 72. Then, fastening of the detachable knob 82 into the male-screw portion 87 causes the manipulation rod 72 to be retained, with the result that the perforated-plate ejection mechanism 71 is assembled. Note that, when the perforated-plate ejection mechanism 71 is disassembled, the steps are performed in reverse order.
In the perforated-plate ejection mechanism 71 as described above, when the handle 81 is rotated with the handgrip portion 81b being held, the manipulation rod 72 is rotated. In accordance with rotation of the manipulation rod 72, the lever cam 73 is rotationally moved from a setting position illustrated by solid lines of
The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment. As a matter of course, various modifications may be made thereto without departing from the spirit of the present invention.
For example, although the above-mentioned embodiment describes the fluidized bed apparatus for performing a coating process on particulate materials, the present invention is also applicable to an apparatus for granulation and an apparatus for drying particulate materials. Further, the perforated-plate ejection mechanism 71 may be provided with a mechanism for the lever cam 73 to automatically return to the setting position when the handle 81 is released. Without such return mechanism, when the upper perforated disk 31 and the lower perforated disk 32 are lifted up by rotation of the handle 81, there is a risk that the upper perforated disk 31 and the lower perforated disk 32 are balanced in a state of being floated by the lever cam 73, which may stop the manipulation rod 72. In this case, when some external force acts on the perforated disks, for example, by a worker holding down the upper perforated disk 31 and the lower perforated disk 32 from above, there is a risk that the upper perforated disk 31 and the lower perforated disk 32 dent into the lever cam 73, which may cause deformation of the perforated disks. As a countermeasure, in order that the lever cam 73 automatically returns to the setting position when the handle 81 is released, for example, a weight may be attached to a distal end of the handle 81, or a return spring may be attached to the manipulation rod 72.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008-202233 | Aug 2008 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2009/061697 | 6/26/2009 | WO | 00 | 3/14/2011 |
