| [CLAIMS] [Claim l] A multi-functional fine powder filling apparatus comprising: a venturi tube to which a vertically elongated powder- exhausting tube having a larger diameter than a powder- exhausting portion thereof is extended to lower the pressure of the powder-exhausting portion thereof; a powder-dispersing unit mounted inside a powder-sucking tube connected to the venturi tube to provide a synergy effect to the suction force of the venturi tube; a powder-supplying unit for continuously supplying fine powder to the powder-sucking tube, the powder-supplying unit having a powder-supplying assembly having supply screws, horizontal pistons and vertical pistons, a lift connected to the powder-sucking tube to elevate a material receptacle, and a sensor tube adapted to control the lift; a hopper-shaped chamber disposed to allow the distal end of the powder-exhausting tube to be positioned within a range wherein a powder-sucking force does not exist; a duct having a connecting portion formed at the top portion of the chamber for the connection with the chamber, the connecting portion being spaced apart from the vertical line of the center of a powder-exhausting tube formed at the lower end of the chamber by a predetermined distance in a perpendicular direction thereto; a dust-collecting fan mounted freely at a predetermined place inside the duct; a powder-deaerating unit having a packing support on which a packing is attached fitted around the lower end of the powder-exhausting tube of the chamber, a powder- deaerating tube connected to the powder-exhausting tube, ยป and a powder-sucking and exhausting tube connected to the powder- deaerating tube; and a weighing unit having a pinch valve mounted along the lower end of the powder-exhausting tube of the chamber and an electronic scale. [Claim 2] The multi-functional fine powder filling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the powder-sucking tube has insertion holes formed on the lower ends of the both side surfaces thereof and an internal tube having a predetermined length mounted along the lower end of the inside thereof so as to prevent only air from being sucked through the insertion holes. [Claim 3] The multi-functional fine powder filling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the powder-dispersing unit has a motor disposed at the upper portion inside the powder- sucking tube, a rotary shaft of the motor disposed to pass through the inside center of the powder-sucking tube, four powder-sucking wings mounted around the lower end periphery of the rotary shaft, and four powder-dispersing wings mounted around the distal end of the rotary shaft. [Claim 4] The multi-functional fine powder filling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the supply screws of the powder-supplying unit have wings formed extended to motor covers adapted to fix motors coupled to the center shafts of the supply screws in such a manner as to be spaced apart from the motor covers . [Claim 5] The multi-functional fine powder filling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the powder-supplying assembly has the horizontal pistons mounted horizontally at the upper periphery of the powder-sucking tube, the horizontal pistons having opposite loading directions to each other, the vertical pistons attached on the load ends of the horizontal pistons, and cutting edges are attached on the load ends of the vertical pistons in such a manner as to be in parallel with the supply screws. [Claim 6] The multi-functional fine powder filling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sensor tube has a distance and proximity sensor mounted at the inside center thereof and a spring mounted around the inner periphery thereof, and the sensor tube is slidingly moved at a state of inserting the top end periphery of the powder-sucking tube into the internal end periphery thereof. |
[invention Title]
MULTI-FUNCTIONAL FINE POWDER FILLING APPARATUS
[Technical Field]
The present invention relates to a fine powder filling apparatus, and more particularly, to a multi-functional fine powder filling apparatus that is provided with a powder- supplying unit adapted to automatically supply fine powder to a powder-sucking tube connected to a venturi tube used for conveying the fine powder therein, a metering weighing unit adapted to perform precise weighing of the fine powder, and a powder-deaerating unit adapted to remove air from the fine powder.
[Background Art]
FIG.6 is a schematic sectional view showing a fine powder filling apparatus with an auger screw mounted thereon according to a conventional art (see, e.g., Patent Literature 1) , and the conventional powder filling apparatus is configured wherein a powder-supplying chamber 49 and a powder-storing chamber 50 are connected to each other, and a powder-vacuuming pump 47 sucks fine powder from a material receptacle through a powder-sucking tube and supplies the sucked fine powder to the powder-supplying chamber 49.
As an auger screw 51 is activated, next, the fine powder that has been supplied to the powder-supplying chamber 49 is exhausted along the screw wings of the auger screw 51 and is filled into a metering receptacle 46.
According to the conventional art, however, a substantially large amount of dust is generated from the fine powder by means of the centrifugal force generated upon the rotation of the auger screw 51, which unfortunately causes a high expensive material to be lost. To prevent the loss of the material, thus, separate dust-sucking equipment 44 is mounted at predetermined positions distant from the both sides of a powder-exhausting outlet.
The dust-sucking equipment 44 should include a sucking unit operating at a high pressure to prevent the fine powder from being collected in the middle portion thereof, and during the dust-sucking operation, a large quantity of air is sucked, thereby needing a large-sized filter in a dust- collecting device. In case of fine powder, at this time, fine particles are inserted into the spaces in the tissues of the filter, thereby giving bad influences on the performance and life term of the filter. Thus, the filter should be frequently exchanged with new one.
Accordingly, separate time and installation and personal costs are needed, and also, the installation process becomes complicate. If the material is harmful to a human body, furthermore, the problems caused from the conventional fine powder filling apparatus become more serious.
Many of the fine powder filling apparatuses having the auger screw conveys the fine powder to the powder-storing chamber 50 in a manual-operating manner, that is, by means of the shovel manipulated by a worker.
If the powder-vacuuming pump 47 is disposed in the powder filling apparatus, a separate filter 48 should be positioned therein to remove the air sucked from the powder- vacuuming pump 47.
Accordingly, the filter used in the powder filling apparatus should be timely exchanged with new one together with the filter used in the dust-sucking equipment, which unfortunately needs additional time and cost for their exchange. During the conveying operation of the fine powder by means of the manual operation of the worker, further, the fine powder frequently drops by his erroneous conveying operation .
In case where the fine powder filling apparatus (as shown in FIG.6) with the auger screw 51 mounted thereon is provided with the filter 48 for the powder-vacuuming pump 47, the fine powder is forcedly put into the powder-sucking tube 43 for the powder-vacuuming pump 47 so as to allow the fine powder to be continuously supplied to the powder-sucking tube 43 for the powder-vacuuming pump 47. Therefore, there is no specific device for continuously supplying the fine powder to the powder-sucking tube 43.
If the powder is not fine, a separate receptacle is provided to connect the powder-sucking tube 43 to the lower end thereof, such that the powder in the receptacle is conveyed and filled. If the powder is fine, however, dust is generated from the fine powder during the powder conveying process to the receptacle, such that no separate receptacle is used.
In metering weighing of the conventional powder filling apparatus with the auger screw mounted thereon, a cap 45 is mounted on the distal end of the powder-exhausting port to prevent the fine powder stored in the powder-storing chamber 50 from naturally dropping.
However, the powder-exhausting port is often blocked by means of the cap 45, thereby making it difficult to mount a valve as a metering control member. As a result, it is hard to adopt a weighing system using an electronic scale.
Instead of adopting the electronic scale, thus, powder- exhausting quantities are weighed in accordance with the number of rotation of the auger screw 51, and in this case, the powder-exhausting quantities are differently weighed in accordance with the weight of the powder stored in the powder-storing chamber 50, thereby unfortunately causing the high deviation of the weights of the powder.
While ' the fine powder is being filled into the metering receptacle 46, air enters the metering receptacle 46 during the dropping process of the fine powder to the metering receptacle 46, and thus, the fine powder is expanded in volume and then stored in the metering receptacle 46.
According to the conventional fine powder filling apparatus with the auger screw mounted thereon, a powder- deaerating unit for compressing the fine powder is configured having a filter mounted along a lower end of the powder- exhausting port therethrough so as to remove the air contained in the fine powder exhausted from the powder- exhausting port. As a result, the fine powder is exhausted from the powder-exhausting port after the powder-deaerating operation.
So as to maintain the fine powder to the deaerated state, the powder-filling operation is carried out at the state wherein the bottom "surface of the metering receptacle 46 and the end portion of the housing of the filter are brought into contact with each other, such that the housing of the filter is moved downwardly to the metering receptacle 46 in proportion to the powder-exhausting quantity.
If the powder-storing chamber 50 has a relatively small inlet, the housing of the filter is not inserted into the inlet of the powder-storing chamber 50. In this case, a separate powder-deaerating unit or a vibration operation is needed, thereby causing high costs in the installation thereof.
Therefore, there is a need for the development of a new fine powder filling apparatus, whereby no dust is generated, precise weighing is carried out, and all processes are fully automated.
As mentioned above, the conventional fine powder filling apparatus with the auger screw mounted thereon, as shown in FIG.6, has had the following problems:
Firstly, a substantially large quantity of dust is generated upon the dispersion of the fine powder.
Secondly, the fine powder as a material is conveyed and stored in the powder-storing chamber 50 by the direct manipulation of the worker or by means of the powder-sucking tube 43 connected to the powder-vacuuming pump 47, but the powder-sucking tube 43 does not have any separate powder- supplying unit by which the fine powder easily flows into the powder-sucking tube 43. Therefore, so as to make the fine powder continuously flow into the powder-sucking tube 43, the position of the powder-sucking tube 43 should be changed appropriately by the manipulation of the worker, and otherwise, the body of the powder-storing receptacle should be shaken. In this case, the direct manipulation of the worker has to be necessarily needed.
Thirdly, the weighing operation should be carried out again after the powder-filling process because of frequent weighing errors.
Fourthly, the dropping of the fine powder is not controlled well by means of the existence of the cap 45, thereby causing the contamination of the material to be serious .
Lastly, when a separate powder-deaerating process is carried out, or when the material accumulated in the metering receptacle is expanded in volume and stored therein, bacteria contamination may be caused in the fine powder.
Patent Literature 1: Patent Application No. 202004005100 (entitled "toner recovery device"), wherein toner as fine powder dispersed to a dust state during a filling process is recovered and recycled.
[Disclosure]
[Technical Problem]
Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems occurring in the prior art, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a multi-functional fine powder filling apparatus that is configured to improve a powder conveying apparatus (having Korean Application No. 1020070013731), such that the generation or dispersion of the dust caused by the rotation of an auger screw can be prevented.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a multi-functional fine powder filling apparatus that is provided with a powder-supplying unit adapted to continuously supply fine powder to a powder-sucking tube connected to a venturi tube adapted to convey the fine powder, the powder- supplying unit including a powder-supplying assembly having supply screws, horizontal pistons and vertical pistons, a lift adapted to elevate a material receptacle, and a sensor tube adapted to control the lift, such that the powder conveying operation is not carried out by means of direct manipulation of a worker.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a multi-functional fine powder filling apparatus that has a pinch valve mounted along the distal end portion of a powder-exhausting tube of a chamber so as to completely control the fine powder in a weighing operation and adapted to be opened and closed at a state of fully separating an operator from the fine powder by means of a rubber tube, such that the dropping of the fine powder can be prevented without any troubles caused by the flowing of the fine powder into the operator of the pinch valve and also precise weighing can be carried out through an electronic scale.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a multi-functional fine powder filling apparatus that has a powder-deaerating unit adapted to carry out a powder- deaerating operation for the fine powder conveyed through a powder-deaerating tube, a powder-deaerating filter, and a powder-sucking and exhausting tube, when a packing-support on which a packing is attached is mounted along the lower end periphery of a powder-discharging tube of a chamber and is brought into close contact with a metering receptacle inlet to close a pinch valve, thereby preventing the expansion of the fine powder in volume.
[Technical Solution]
To accomplish the above objects, according to the present invention, there is provided a multi-functional fine powder filling apparatus including: a venturi tube to which a vertically elongated powder-exhausting tube having a larger diameter than a powder-exhausting portion thereof is extended to lower the pressure of the powder-exhausting portion thereof; a powder-dispersing unit mounted inside a powder- sucking tube connected to the venturi tube to provide a synergy effect to the suction force of the venturi tube; a powder-supplying unit for continuously supplying fine powder to the powder-sucking tube, the powder-supplying unit having a powder-supplying assembly having supply screws, horizontal pistons and vertical pistons, a lift connected to the powder- sucking tube to elevate a material receptacle, and a sensor tube adapted to control the lift; a hopper-shaped chamber disposed to allow the distal end of the powder-exhausting tube to be positioned within a range wherein a powder-sucking force does not exist; a duct having a connecting portion formed at the top portion of the chamber for the connection with the chamber, the connecting portion being spaced apart from the vertical line of the center of a powder-exhausting tube formed at the lower end of the chamber by a predetermined distance in a perpendicular direction thereto; a dust-collecting fan mounted freely at a predetermined place inside the duct; a powder-deaerating unit having a packing support on which a packing is attached fitted around the lower end of the powder-exhausting tube of the chamber, a powder-deaerating tube connected to the powder-exhausting tube, and a powder-sucking and exhausting tube connected to the powder-deaerating tube; and a weighing unit having a pinch valve mounted along the lower end of the powder- exhausting tube of the chamber and an electronic scale.
[Advantageous Effect]
According to the present invention, there is provided the multi-functional fine powder filling apparatus capable of realizing full automating processes, without any manual operation of the worker needed for the conventional powder filling apparatus with the auger screw mounted thereon, and achieving precise metering weighing through an electronic scale.
According to the conventional powder filling apparatus with the auger screw mounted thereon, additionally, when the insertion inlet of the metering receptacle comes into close contact with the powder-discharging tube, the air into the metering receptacle is at a closed state, thereby making it impossible to exhaust the air, and thus, the powder cannot be injected into the metering receptacle.
According to the present invention, however, the insertion inlet of the metering receptacle comes into close contact with the packing on the packing stand mounted around the powder-discharging tube and is closed, air exhausting is possible by means of the operation of the dust-collecting fan, thereby preventing the contact between the powder harmful to a human body and the worker during the filling operation to provide safer working environments to the worker.
After the filling operation, moreover, the pinch valve is operated to close the powder-discharging tube, thereby closing the metering receptacle, and thus, the powder- deaerating operation is instantly carried out through the powder-deaerating tube, thereby preventing the contamination of the product caused by the powder dropping and reducing the process time and cost.
Further, the present invention is friendly environmental and fully automated, because no filter exists.
[Description of Drawings]
FIG.l is a schematic sectional view showing the whole configuration of a multi-functional fine powder filling apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG.2 is a sectional view showing a powder-dispersing unit, a powder-supplying unit to a powder-sucking tube, and a sensor tube in the multi-functional fine powder filling apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG.3 is a sectional view showing supply screws of the powder-supplying assembly of the powder-supplying unit, and the powder-sucking tube in the multi-functional fine powder filling apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG.4 is a sectional view showing the cutting edges connected to the vertical screws of the powder-supplying unit in the multi-functional fine powder filling apparatus according to the present invention. FIG.5 is a sectional view showing the operating mode of a pinch valve mounted on the powder-discharging tube, a packing support, and a powder-deaerating tube in the multifunctional fine powder filling apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG.6 is a schematic sectional view showing a fine powder filling apparatus with an auger screw mounted thereon according to a conventional art.
[Mode for Invention]
Hereinafter, an explanation on a multi-functional fine powder filling apparatus according to the present invention will be in detail given with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5.
First, an explanation on the characteristics of a powder conveying apparatus (having Korean Application
No.1020070013731) , on which the present invention is based, will be given below with referent to FIG.l.
According to the powder conveying apparatus, powder is fed from a material receptacle 30 and filled directly into a metering receptacle 21 by means of a venturi tube 2 disposed at the center of the top end portion of a hopper-shaped chamber 1.
The venturi tube 2 includes a powder-sucking portion, a powder-exhausting portion, and an air-injecting portion.
The powder-sucking portion of the venturi tube 2 is connected to a powder-conveying tube 4, and the powder- conveying tube 4 is connected at the distal end thereof to a powder-sucking tube 5. The powder-exhausting portion of the venturi tube 2 is extended to a vertically elongated powder- exhausting tube 3 having a larger diameter than the powder- exhausting portion thereof, so as to lower the pressure of the fine powder exhausted therefrom. The air-injecting portion of the venturi tube 2 is connected to a compressor 29, and if air is injected through the flexible tube, a negative pressure is generated at the inside of the venturi tube 2. In this case, the vacuum degree of the negative pressure is proportional to the pressure of the air injected to the venturi tube 2.
If high pressure air is injected to the air-injecting portion of the venturi tube 2, a high vacuum degree is generated to help the fine powder well sucked, but the injected high pressure air is mixed with the fine powder to cause a large quantity of dust to be generated from the fine powder .
According to the present invention, thus, a powder- dispersing unit is provided at the powder-sucking tube 5 connected to the venturi tube 2, such that even though low pressure air (3 bar) is injected to the air-injecting portion of the venturi tube 2 to generate a low pressure vacuum degree therein, fine powder 39 is sucked easily to the powder-sucking tube 5.
The fine powder dispersed to the air by means of the powder-dispersing unit is conveyed easily even with a low pressure of sucking force.
The powder-dispersing unit is configured to have a motor 34 disposed at the upper portion inside the powder-sucking tube 5, a rotary shaft of the motor disposed to pass through the inside center of the powder-sucking tube 5, and four powder-dispersing wings 33 mounted around the distal end of the rotary shaft and each having a shape of a plate having predetermined inclination. Accordingly, as the motor 34 is driven, the rotary shaft is rotated and the four powder- dispersing wings 33 disperse the fine powder to the air. Accordingly, the fine powder stored in the material receptacle 30 is dispersed to the air by means of the powder- dispersing unit mounted inside the powder-sucking tube 5 connected to the venturi tube 2, and even when low pressure air (3 bar) is injected to the air-injecting portion of the venturi tube 2 to generate a low pressure vacuum degree inside the venturi tube 2, the fine powder is easily conveyed together with the air to the distal end of the powder- exhausting tube 3 extended from the venturi tube 2.
At this time, the air pressure is low because of the large diameter of the powder-exhausting tube 3, but since this state is a dust state wherein the air and the fine powder are mixed to each other, in this case, it is impossible to fill the fine powder to the chamber 1.
The key point of the present invention is placed to separate the air as a source of the dust generation from the mixture at the dust state, without having any filter. The principle of the air separation is explained hereinafter.
A dust-collecting fan 17 has a fan-shaped volume such that a powder-sucking force having a pressure capable of sucking the fine powder is generated along a predetermined distance at the front side thereof. Within the fan-shaped volume of the dust-collecting fan 17, the pressure capable of sucking the fine powder exists to convey the fine powder by the air, but if the air exists in the volume deviated from the fan-shaped volume, a pressure capable of conveying the fine powder does not exist.
Accordingly, if the distal end of the powder-exhausting tube 3 is disposed within a range wherein the dust-collecting fan 17 is deviated from a range wherein the pressure capable of sucking the fine powder exists, the fine powder from the mixture of the dust state exhausted from the powder- exhausting tube 3 is dropped by its own weight and is filled into the metering receptacle 21 through a powder-discharging tube 25. The air is replaced with air within an area wherein the fine powder can be conveyed in the dust-collecting fan 17, together with fine dust, and is then exhausted.
After that, the fine powder is filled at a state of being lighter than its own weight through the air reversely moved and sucked by the dust-collecting fan 17, such that the quantity of dust generated at this time is relatively smaller than that generated upon natural dropping.
Moreover, the rotating speed of the dust-collecting fan 17 is adjusted by means of a Slidac in accordance with the air pressure injected to the air-injecting portion of the venturi tube 2.
As shown in FIG.l, additionally, the requirements for placing the distal end of the powder-exhausting tube 3 disposed at the lower end portion inside the chamber 1 at the range wherein the powder-sucking force does not exist are as follows .
Firstly, the chamber 1 has a shape of a hopper.
Secondly, the powder-exhausting tube 3 is spaced apart from the powder-discharging tube 25 by a predetermined distance .
Finally, a connecting portion of a duct 18 connected to the top portion of the chamber 1 is spaced apart from the vertical line of the center of the powder-discharging tube 25 formed along the lower end of the chamber 1 by a predetermined distance in a perpendicular direction thereto.
When the dust-collecting fan 17 is disposed inside the duct 18 having the connecting portion spaced apart from, the powder-discharging tube 25 by a predetermined distance, the dust-collecting fan 17 sucks only air and fine dust, without having any filter.
The present invention relates to a multi-functional fine powder filling apparatus configured to improve the powder conveying apparatus as mentioned above, and the whole configuration of the present invention is shown in FIG.l.
As shown, the powder-discharging tube 25 is disposed along the lower end of the hopper-shaped chamber 1, and the venturi tube 2 is disposed at the center of the top portion of the chamber 1.
Referring to FIG.5, a pinch valve 26 is mounted along the lower end periphery of the powder-discharging tube 25, and a powder-deaerating tube 24 is disposed on the lower portion of the pinch valve 26. Further, a packing-support 27 is mounted along the outer periphery of the lower end of the powder-discharging tube 25.
The powder-exhausting portion of the venturi tube 2 communicates with the interior of the chamber 1 and is connected to the tube-exhausting tube 3 in such a manner as to be disposed at the inside center of the chamber 1, and the air-injecting portion of the venturi tube 2 includes a valve, a regulator and a filter for controlling the air supplied from the compressor 29.
So as to increase the powder-sucking force, referring to FIG.2, four powder-sucking wings 32 are additionally mounted along the lower end portion of the rotary shaft of the powder-dispersing unit disposed inside the powder-sucking tube 5 connected to the venturi tube 2, which causes the powder-dispersing action and the powder-sucking force to be at the same time generated to give a synergy effect to, the powder-sucking force of the venturi tube 2. The four powder-sucking wings 32 are formed of plates having a given inclination angle, such that the powder- sucking force is generated easily, and they are spaced apart upwardly from the powder-dispersing wings 33 by a predetermined distance.
A configuration of a powder-supplying unit to the powder-sucking tube 5 introduced for the fully automated system of the fine powder filling apparatus according to the present invention will be explained below.
So as to supply the fine powder to the powder-sucking tube 5, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the powder-supplying unit to the powder-sucking tube 5 is additionally configured wherein supply screws and pistons are coupled to the powder- sucking tube 5.
A support rod 31 of the powder-supplying unit has a perpendicular shape in such a manner as to be connected at one side of the horizontal portion thereof to the top end of the lift 16 and connected at one side of the vertical portion thereof to a sensor tube 6 having a spring 37 and a sensor 38 mounted at the center of the inside thereof.
The top end portion of the powder-sucking tube 5 is inserted into the interior of the distal end of the sensor tube 6 in such a manner as to be moved slidingly thereinto, and the movement of the powder-supplying unit is controllable by means of the load of the spring 37 mounted inside the sensor tube 6.
So as to continuously supply the fine powder 39 contained into the material receptacle 30 to the powder- sucking tube 5, the powder-supplying unit (as shown in FIG.l) includes a lift 16 adapted to elevate the material receptacle Further, the powder-sucking tube 5 has insertion holes 42 and 42a formed on the lower ends of the both side surfaces thereof and additionally has an internal tube 41 having a predetermined length mounted along the lower end of the inside thereof so as to prevent only air from being sucked through the insertion holes 42 and 42a, thereby enabling only the air in which the dispersed fine powder is contained to be sucked to the powder-sucking tube 5.
So as to supply the fine powder to the powder-sucking tube 5, supply screws 10 and 10a having center shafts to which wings are attached are disposed perpendicularly to the both side surfaces of the lower end portion of the powder- sucking tube 5, and motors 11 and 11a are coupled to the center shafts of the supply screws 10 and 10a so as to drive the center shafts. The ends of the supply screws 10 and 10a are inserted by a predetermined distance into the insertion holes 42 and 42a, such that the fine powder can be gently dispersed by means of the rotating wings thereof.
Further, the motors 11 and 11a are fixed by means of motor covers 12 and 12a, and the motor covers 12 and 12a are connected at the top portions thereof to motor cover- supporting bars 40 and 40a. The motor cover-supporting bars 40 and 40a are connected perpendicularly to the upper portion of the powder-sucking tube 5.
The wings of the supply screws 10 and 10a are -formed extended to the motor covers 12 and 12a in such a manner as to be spaced apart from the motor covers 12 and 12a.
A pair of pistons 7 and 7a having opposite loading directions to each other are mounted horizontally at the upper periphery of the powder-sucking tube 5, so as to collect the fine powder to the supply screws 10 and 10a. The horizontal pistons 7 and 7a are connected perpendicularly to vertical pistons 8 and 8a at the load ends thereof, and so as to allow the insertion and collection of the fine powder to be easily carried out, cutting edges 9 and 9a are attached on the load ends of the vertical pistons 8 and 8a in such a manner as to be in parallel with the supply screws 10 and 10a.
FIG.4 shows the cutting edges 9 and 9a. The cutting edges 9 and 9a have an elongated rectangular shape, and so as to reduce the stroke of the horizontal pistons 7 and 7, a plurality of cutting edges 9 and 9a may be disposed at the lower ends of the vertical pistons 8 and 8a.
The pistons may be replaced with a linear motion device like ball screws or actuators.
The duct 18 in which the dust-collecting fan 17 is disposed has the connecting portion formed at the top portion of the chamber 1 for the connection with the chamber 1, and the connecting portion of the duct 18 is spaced apart from the vertical line of the center of the powder-exhausting tube 25 formed at the bottom end of the chamber 1 by a predetermined distance in a perpendicular direction thereto. The duct 18 is configured as a support for the multifunctional fine powder filling apparatus of the present invention
The dust-collecting fan 17 is mounted inside the duct 18, and the lift 16 adapted to elevate the material receptacle 30 includes a drive motor 15 and a ball screw embedded inside a lift body. Further, an operating stand 14 is attached onto a ball bearing 13 mounted along the outer periphery of the lift 16, so as to elevate and move the material receptacle 30. The drive motor 15 is controlled by means of a distance and proximity sensor 38. Now, an explanation on the operations and effects of the multi-functional fine powder filling apparatus according to the present invention will be given.
If the powder filling operation starts, a piston 20, which is mounted at the underside of an operating stand 19 having the metering receptacle 21 placed on the top surface thereof and a metering load cell coupled thereto, is elevated, and thus, if an insertion inlet 21a of the metering receptacle 21 comes into close contact with the rubber packing attached on the underside of the packing support 27 mounted around the powder-discharging tube 25 and is closed, zero data is processed on an indicator 28 connected to the weighing load cell.
According to the signal sent by a central processing unit receiving the zero data, next, the powder-supplying unit (as shown in FIGS.2 and 3) is operated as follows.
If the pair of horizontal pistons 7 and 7a reversely placed to each other move for their strokes, the vertical pistons 8 and 8a attached on the load ends of the horizontal pistons 7 and 7a are operated to cause the cutting edges 9 and 9a attached on the load ends thereof to be inserted by a predetermined distance into the fine powder 39 stored in the material receptacle 30.
If the horizontal pistons 7 and 7a are operated to return to their original position, a large quantity of fine powder 39 is collected from both side directions and is supplied to the supply screws 10 and 10a. After the supply of the fine powder 39, if the returning operation of the horizontal pistons 7 and 7a is completed, the loads of the vertical pistons 8 and 8a attached on the load ends of > the horizontal pistons 7 and 7a are rapidly moved upwardly vertically and returned to their original position. The processes are repeatedly carried out.
At the same time, the supply screws 10 and 10a and the powder-dispersing unit are operated to allow the fine powder 39 stored into the material receptacle 30 to be dispersed. If the fine powder 39 is dispersed, low pressure air (3 bar) is injected to the air-injecting portion of the venturi tube 2 and a low pressure vacuum degree is generated into the venturi tube 2. In this case, however, the dispersed fine powder is moved together with the air and is easily conveyed to the powder-exhausting tube 3 through the venturi tube 2.
The mixture of the air and fine powder, which is conveyed at a dust state wherein the pressure is low through the large diameter of the powder-exhausting tube 3, is separated by means of the operation of the dust-collecting fan 17, such that the air and fine dust are sucked to the dust-collecting fan 17 and the fine powder is filled into the metering receptacle 21 through the powder-discharging tube 25 by means of its own weight.
If the filling of the metering of the fine powder is finished through the above processes, the pinch valve 26 is operated by the signal of the central processing unit and the powder-discharging tube 25 is closed. Next, the powder- sucking and exhausting tube 22 is operated to suck the air contained into the material receptacle 21, thereby completing the powder-deaerating operation, and after that, the operating stand 17 of the weighing load cell is returned to its original position, thereby finishing all processes. So as to continuously supply the fine powder to the powder- supplying unit (as shown in FIGS.2 and 3), at this time, , the lift 16 is moved upwardly. In this case, if the powder-supplying unit is excessively moved upwardly, the spring 37 mounted inside the sensor tube 6 is not controllable, such that the distance and proximity sensor 38 is operated to send a signal to the drive motor 21 of the lift 16, thereby adjusting the over load.
The above-mentioned processes are repeatedly carried out in the operation of the multi-functional fine powder filling apparatus of the present invention.
While the present invention has been described with reference to the particular illustrative embodiments, it is not to be restricted by the embodiments but only by the appended claims. It is to be appreciated that those skilled in the art can change or modify the embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.