Opening-sealing apparatus for honeycomb molded body, opening-sealing apparatus for honeycomb fired body, method of filling plug material paste, and method of manufacturing honeycomb structured body

Abstract

An opening-sealing apparatus for a honeycomb molded body comprising:

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view that schematically shows one example of a conventional honeycomb filter.

FIG. 2A is a perspective view that schematically shows a honeycomb fired body that constitutes a conventional honeycomb filter, and FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A of FIG. 2A.

FIG. 3-1A is a perspective view that shows one example of a honeycomb molded body according to one embodiment of the present invention which is filled with a plug material paste, and FIG. 3-1B is a cross-sectional view taken along line B-B of FIG. 3-1A.

FIG. 3-2 is a cross-sectional view that shows another example of the honeycomb molded body according to one embodiment of the present invention which is filled with a plug material paste.

FIG. 4 is a conceptual view that schematically shows one example of an opening-sealing apparatus for a honeycomb molded body according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5A is a conceptual view that schematically shows one example of a paste filling device that constitutes an opening-sealing apparatus for a honeycomb molded body according to one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5B is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view that schematically shows one portion of one embodiment of the paste filling device of FIG. 5A.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view that schematically shows one example of stirring blades that constitute the opening-sealing apparatus for a honeycomb molded body according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 7A and 7B are plan views each of which schematically shows one example of a flow regulating plate that constitutes the opening-sealing apparatus for a honeycomb molded body according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart that shows one example of processes (means) from an analysis of the end-face image of a honeycomb molded body to the filling of a plug material paste.

FIGS. 9A and 9B are plan views each of which schematically shows another example of the flow regulating plate that constitutes the opening-sealing apparatus for a honeycomb molded body according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Claims

1. An opening-sealing apparatus for a honeycomb molded body, which is used for sealing, with a plug material paste, either one of the end portions of each of a number of cells placed in a pillar-shaped honeycomb molded body in parallel in a longitudinal direction with a cell wall therebetween, comprising: a paste filling device equipped with a paste filling unit having an opening-sealing mask in which a number of openings are formed at predetermined positions and a paste supplying unit which supplies a plug material paste to said paste filling unit;an image pickup device for picking up an image of the end face of said honeycomb molded body; andan image analyzing device for analyzing the image obtained by said image pickup device,whereinsaid image analyzing device analyzes the positions of the cells based upon the image of the end face picked up by said image pickup device,said opening-sealing mask is made in contact with the end face of said honeycomb molded body in such a manner that the positional error between the openings of said opening-sealing mask and the cells of said honeycomb molded body is reduced to a minimal level, andthe plug material paste, which has been supplied from said paste supplying unit to said paste filling unit, is injected through said opening-sealing mask to fill in said end portion of the cells.

2. The opening-sealing apparatus for a honeycomb molded body according to claim 1, wherein said paste filling device is equipped with a temperature control mechanism used for controlling the temperature of said plug material paste.

3. The opening-sealing apparatus for a honeycomb molded body according to claim 1, wherein said paste filling device comprises said paste filling unit equipped with a flow regulating plate.

4. The opening-sealing apparatus for a honeycomb molded body according to claim 3, wherein said flow regulating plate does not have an opening in the center.

5. The opening-sealing apparatus for a honeycomb molded body according to claim 3, wherein the openings formed at relatively lower positions of said flow regulating plate have smaller diameters than those of openings formed at relatively higher positions.

6. The opening-sealing apparatus for a honeycomb molded body according to claim 1, wherein the opening of said opening-sealing mask is smaller than the opening of the cells of said honeycomb molded body.

7. The opening-sealing apparatus for a honeycomb molded body according to claim 1, wherein the shape of the opening of said opening-sealing mask is a round shape.

8. The opening-sealing apparatus for a honeycomb molded body according to claim 1, wherein a filter is interposed between said paste filling unit and said paste supplying unit.

9. The opening-sealing apparatus for a honeycomb molded body according to claim 8, wherein said paste filling unit and said paste supplying unit are connected to each other by a plug material paste-supplying pipe, and said plug material paste-supplying pipe is equipped with a filter inside.

10. The opening-sealing apparatus for a honeycomb molded body according to claim 1, further comprising a rotary table for shifting said honeycomb molded body.

11. An opening-sealing apparatus for a honeycomb fired body, which is used for sealing, with a plug material paste, either one of the end portions of each of a number of cells placed in a pillar-shaped honeycomb fired body in parallel in a longitudinal direction with a cell wall therebetween, comprising: a paste filling device equipped with a paste filling unit having an opening-sealing mask in which a number of openings are formed at predetermined positions and a paste supplying unit which supplies a plug material paste to said paste filling unit;an image pickup device for picking up an image of the end face of said honeycomb fired body; andan image analyzing device for analyzing the image obtained by said image pickup device,whereinsaid image analyzing device analyzes the positions of the cells based upon the image of the end face picked up by said image pickup device,said opening-sealing mask is made in contact with the end face of said honeycomb fired body in such a manner that the positional error between the openings of said opening-sealing mask and the cells of said honeycomb fired body is reduced to a minimal level, andthe plug material paste, which has been supplied from said paste supplying unit to said paste filling unit, is injected through said opening-sealing mask to fill in said end portion of the cells.

12. The opening-sealing apparatus for a honeycomb fired body according to claim 11, wherein said paste filling device is equipped with a temperature control mechanism used for controlling the temperature of said plug material paste.

13. The opening-sealing apparatus for a honeycomb fired body according to claim 11, wherein said paste filling device comprises said paste filling unit equipped with a flow regulating plate.

14. The opening-sealing apparatus for a honeycomb fired body according to claim 13, wherein said flow regulating plate does not have an opening in the center.

15. The opening-sealing apparatus for a honeycomb fired body according to claim 13, wherein the openings formed at relatively lower positions of said flow regulating plate have smaller diameters than those of openings formed at relatively higher positions.

16. The opening-sealing apparatus for a honeycomb fired body according to claim 11, wherein the opening of said opening-sealing mask is smaller than the opening of the cells of said honeycomb fired body.

17. The opening-sealing apparatus for a honeycomb fired body according to claim 11, wherein the shape of the opening of said opening-sealing mask is a round shape.

18. The opening-sealing apparatus for a honeycomb fired body according to claim 11, wherein a filter is interposed between said paste filling unit and said paste supplying unit.

19. The opening-sealing apparatus for a honeycomb fired body according to claim 18, wherein said paste filling unit and said paste supplying unit are connected to each other by a plug material paste-supplying pipe, and said plug material paste-supplying pipe is equipped with a filter inside.

20. The opening-sealing apparatus for a honeycomb fired body according to claim 11, further comprising a rotary table for shifting said honeycomb fired body.

21. A method of filling a plug material paste, comprising injecting a plug material paste to fill in either one of the end portions of each of a number of cells placed in a pillar-shaped honeycomb molded body in parallel in a longitudinal direction with a cell wall therebetween by using an opening-sealing apparatus,whereinsaid opening-sealing apparatus comprises a paste filling device equipped with a paste filling unit having an opening-sealing mask in which a number of openings are formed at predetermined positions and a paste supplying unit which supplies a plug material paste to said paste filling unit; an image pickup device for picking up an image of the end face of said honeycomb molded body; and an image analyzing device for analyzing the image obtained by said image pickup device,said image analyzing device analyzes the positions of the cells based upon the image of the end face picked up by said image pickup device,said opening-sealing mask is made in contact with the end face of said honeycomb molded body in such a manner that the positional error between the openings of said opening-sealing mask and the cells of said honeycomb molded body is reduced to a minimal level, andthe plug material paste, which has been supplied from said paste supplying unit to said paste filling unit, is injected through said opening-sealing mask to fill in said end portion of the cells.

22. The method of filling a plug material paste according to claim 21, wherein said paste filling device is equipped with a temperature control mechanism used for controlling the temperature of said plug material paste.

23. The method of filling a plug material paste according to claim 21, wherein said paste filling device comprises said paste filling unit equipped with a flow regulating plate.

24. The method of filling a plug material paste according to claim 23, wherein said flow regulating plate does not have an opening in the center.

25. The method of filling a plug material paste according to claim 23, wherein the openings formed at relatively lower positions of said flow regulating plate have smaller diameters than those of openings formed at relatively higher positions.

26. The method of filling a plug material paste according to claim 21, wherein the opening of said opening-sealing mask is smaller than the opening of the cells of said honeycomb molded body.

27. The method of filling a plug material paste according to claim 26, wherein the opening area of said opening-sealing mask is at least about 5% and at most about 35% of the opening area of the cells of said honeycomb molded body.

28. The method of filling a plug material paste according to claim 21, wherein the shape of the opening of said opening-sealing mask is a round shape.

29. The method of filling a plug material paste according to claim 21, wherein a filter is interposed between said paste filling unit and said paste supplying unit.

30. The method of filling a plug material paste according to claim 29, wherein said paste filling unit and said paste supplying unit are connected to each other by a plug material paste-supplying pipe, and said plug material paste-supplying pipe is equipped with a filter inside.

31. The method of filling a plug material paste according to claim 21, wherein said opening-sealing apparatus is equipped with a rotary table for shifting said honeycomb molded body.

32. A method of filling a plug material paste, comprising injecting a plug material paste to fill in either one of the end portions of each of a number of cells placed in a pillar-shaped honeycomb fired body in parallel in a longitudinal direction with a cell wall therebetween by using an opening-sealing apparatus,whereinsaid opening-sealing apparatus comprises a paste filling device equipped with a paste filling unit having an opening-sealing mask in which a number of openings are formed at predetermined positions and a paste supplying unit which supplies a plug material paste to said paste filling unit; an image pickup device for picking up an image of the end face of said honeycomb fired body; and an image analyzing device for analyzing the image obtained by said image pickup device,said image analyzing device analyzes the positions of the cells based upon the image of the end face, picked up by said image pickup device,said opening-sealing mask is made in contact with the end face of said honeycomb fired body in such a manner that the positional error between the openings of said opening-sealing mask and the cells of said honeycomb fired body is reduced to a minimal level, andthe plug material paste, which has been supplied from said paste supplying unit to said paste filling unit, is injected through said opening-sealing mask to fill in said end portion of the cells.

33. The method of filling a plug material paste according to claim 32, wherein said paste filling device is equipped with a temperature control mechanism used for controlling the temperature of said plug material paste.

34. The method of filling a plug material paste according to claim 32, wherein said paste filling device comprises said paste filling unit equipped with a flow regulating plate.

35. The method of filling a plug material paste according to claim 34, wherein said flow regulating plate does not have an opening in the center.

36. The method of filling a plug material paste according to claim 34, wherein the openings formed at relatively lower positions of said flow regulating plate have smaller diameters than those of openings formed at relatively higher positions.

37. The method of filling a plug material paste according to claim 32, wherein the opening of said opening-sealing mask is smaller than the opening of the cells of said honeycomb fired body.

38. The method of filling a plug material paste according to claim 37, wherein the opening area of said opening-sealing mask is at least about 5% and at most about 35% of the opening area of the cells of said honeycomb fired body.

39. The method of filling a plug material paste according to claim 32, wherein the shape of the opening of said opening-sealing mask is a round shape.

40. The method of filling a plug material paste according to claim 32, wherein a filter is interposed between said paste filling unit and said paste supplying unit.

41. The method of filling a plug material paste according to claim 40, wherein said paste filling unit and said paste supplying unit are connected to each other by a plug material paste-supplying pipe, and said plug material paste-supplying pipe is equipped with a filter inside.

42. The method of filling a plug material paste according to claim 32, wherein said opening-sealing apparatus is equipped with a rotary table for shifting said honeycomb fired body.

43. A method of manufacturing a honeycomb structured body comprising: molding a ceramic material to manufacture a pillar-shaped honeycomb molded body in which a number of cells are placed in parallel in a longitudinal direction with a partition wall therebetween;injecting a plug material paste to fill in either of the end portions of said cells by an opening-sealing apparatus; andfiring the honeycomb molded body to manufacture a honeycomb structured body having the resulting honeycomb fired body,whereinsaid opening-sealing apparatus comprises a paste filling device equipped with a paste filling unit having an opening-sealing mask in which a number of openings are formed at predetermined positions and a paste supplying unit which supplies a plug material paste to said paste filling unit; an image pickup device for picking up an image of the end face of said honeycomb molded body; and an image analyzing device for analyzing the image obtained by said image pickup device,said image analyzing device analyzes the positions of the cells based upon the image of the end face picked up by said image pickup device,said opening-sealing mask is made in contact with the end face of said honeycomb molded body in such a manner that the positional error between the openings of said opening-sealing mask and the cells of said honeycomb molded body is reduced to a minimal level, andthe plug material paste, which has been supplied from said paste supplying unit to said paste filling unit, is injected through said opening-sealing mask to fill in said end portion of the cells.

44. The method of manufacturing a honeycomb structured body according to claim 43, wherein said paste filling device is equipped with a temperature control mechanism used for controlling the temperature of said plug material paste.

45. The method of manufacturing a honeycomb structured body according to claim 43, wherein said paste filling device comprises said paste filling unit equipped with a flow regulating plate.

46. The method of manufacturing a honeycomb structured body according to claim 45, wherein said flow regulating plate does not have an opening in the center.

47. The method of manufacturing a honeycomb structured body according to claim 45, wherein the openings formed at relatively lower positions of said flow regulating plate have smaller diameters than those of openings formed at relatively higher positions.

48. The method of manufacturing a honeycomb structured body according to claim 43, wherein the opening of said opening-sealing mask is smaller than the opening of the cells of said honeycomb molded body.

49. The method of manufacturing a honeycomb structured body according to claim 48, wherein the opening area of said opening-sealing mask is at least about 5% and at most about 35% of the opening area of the cells of said honeycomb molded body.

50. The method of manufacturing a honeycomb structured body according to claim 43, wherein the shape of the opening of said opening-sealing mask is a round shape.

51. The method of manufacturing a honeycomb structured body according to claim 43, wherein a filter is interposed between said paste filling unit and said paste supplying unit.

52. The method of manufacturing a honeycomb structured body according to claim 51, wherein said paste filling unit and said paste supplying unit are connected to each other by a plug material paste-supplying pipe, and said plug material paste-supplying pipe is equipped with a filter inside.

53. The method of manufacturing a honeycomb structured body according to claim 43, wherein said opening-sealing apparatus comprises a rotary table for shifting said honeycomb molded body.

54. The method of manufacturing a honeycomb structured body according to claim 43, further comprisingbinding a plurality of said honeycomb fired bodies by interposing an adhesive layer.

55. The method of manufacturing a honeycomb structured body according to claim 43, whereinsaid honeycomb structured body is formed by one honeycomb fired body.

56. A method of manufacturing a honeycomb structured body comprising: molding a ceramic material to manufacture a pillar-shaped honeycomb molded body in which a number of cells are placed in parallel in a longitudinal direction with a partition wall therebetween;firing said honeycomb molded body to manufacture a honeycomb fired body;injecting a plug material paste to fill in either of the end portions of said cells by an opening-sealing apparatus; andfurther firing or drying said honeycomb fired body to manufacture a honeycomb structured body comprising the resulting honeycomb fired body,whereinsaid opening-sealing apparatus comprises a paste filling device equipped with a paste filling unit having an opening-sealing mask in which a number of openings are formed at predetermined positions and a paste supplying unit which supplies a plug material paste to said paste filling unit; an image pickup device for picking up an image of the end face of said honeycomb molded body; and an image analyzing device for analyzing the image obtained by said image pickup device,said image analyzing device analyzes the positions of the cells based upon the image of the end face picked up by said image pickup device,said opening-sealing mask is made in contact with the end face of said honeycomb molded body in such a manner that the positional error between the openings of said opening-sealing mask and the cells of said honeycomb molded body is reduced to a minimal level, andthe plug material paste, which has been supplied from said paste supplying unit to said paste filling unit, is injected through said opening-sealing mask to fill in said end portion of the cells.

57. The method of manufacturing a honeycomb structured body according to claim 57, wherein said paste filling device is equipped with a temperature control mechanism used for controlling the temperature of said plug material paste.

58. The method of manufacturing a honeycomb structured body according to claim 56, wherein said paste filling device comprises said paste filling unit equipped with a flow regulating plate.

59. The method of manufacturing a honeycomb structured body according to claim 58, wherein said flow regulating plate does not have an opening in the center.

60. The method of manufacturing a honeycomb structured body according to claim 58, wherein the openings formed at relatively lower positions of said flow regulating plate have smaller diameters than those of openings formed at relatively higher positions.

61. The method of manufacturing a honeycomb structured body according to claim 56, wherein the opening of said opening-sealing mask is smaller than the opening of the cells of said honeycomb fired body.

62. The method of manufacturing a honeycomb structured body according to claim 61, wherein the opening area of said opening-sealing mask is at least about 5% and at most about 35% of the opening area of the cells of said honeycomb fired body.

63. The method of manufacturing a honeycomb structured body according to claim 56, wherein the shape of the opening of said opening-sealing mask is a round shape.

64. The method of manufacturing a honeycomb structured body according to claim 56, wherein a filter is interposed between said paste filling unit and said paste supplying unit.

65. The method of manufacturing a honeycomb structured body according to claim 64, wherein said paste filling unit and said paste supplying unit are connected to each other by a plug material paste-supplying pipe, and said plug material paste-supplying pipe is equipped with a filter inside.

66. The method of manufacturing a honeycomb structured body according to claim 56, wherein said opening-sealing apparatus comprises a rotary table for shifting said honeycomb fired body.

67. The method of manufacturing a honeycomb structured body according to claim 56, further comprisingbinding a plurality of said honeycomb fired bodies by interposing an adhesive layer.

68. The method of manufacturing a honeycomb structured body according to claim 56, whereinsaid honeycomb structured body is formed by one honeycomb fired body.