阅读说明：本技术 液体材料吐出装置 (Liquid material discharge device ) 是由 生岛和正 于 2016-07-21 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明提供可抑制朝向贮存液体材料的容器供给的压缩气体的压力变动且可解决吐出量的不均匀的问题的吐出装置。一种液体材料吐出装置及其涂布装置,具备：贮存容器,其贮存液体材料；吐出口,其吐出液体材料；压力控制阀,其将自外部的压缩气体源供给的压缩气体调压成所期望的压力；吐出阀,其确保或遮断压力控制阀与贮存容器的连通；控制装置,其对吐出阀的动作进行控制；第一配管,其连接压力控制阀与吐出阀；及第二配管,其连接吐出阀与贮存容器；进一步具备：第三配管,其自上述第一配管分支；及泄露机构,其连接于上述第三配管；上述泄露机构将通过上述压力控制阀调压的压缩气体的一部分排出至外部。(The invention provides a discharge device which can restrain the pressure fluctuation of compressed gas supplied to a container for storing liquid material and solve the problem of uneven discharge amount. A liquid material discharge device and a coating device thereof are provided with: a storage container that stores a liquid material; a discharge port for discharging the liquid material; a pressure control valve for adjusting a pressure of a compressed gas supplied from an external compressed gas source to a desired pressure; a discharge valve that ensures or blocks communication between the pressure control valve and the storage container; a control device for controlling the operation of the discharge valve; a first pipe connecting the pressure control valve and the discharge valve; and a second pipe connecting the discharge valve and the storage container; further comprises: a third pipe branching from the first pipe; and a leak mechanism connected to the third pipe; the leakage mechanism discharges a part of the compressed gas regulated by the pressure control valve to the outside.)

1. A liquid material discharge device characterized in that,

the disclosed device is provided with:

a storage container that stores a liquid material;

a discharge port for discharging the liquid material;

a pressure control valve for adjusting the pressure of compressed gas supplied from an external compressed gas source;

a discharge valve that ensures or blocks communication between the pressure control valve and the storage container;

a control device for controlling the operation of the discharge valve;

a first pipe connecting the pressure control valve and the discharge valve; and

a second pipe connecting the discharge valve and the storage container,

further comprises: and a leakage mechanism configured to discharge a part of the compressed gas passing through the first pipe to the outside.

2. The liquid material discharge device according to claim 1,

the liquid material discharge device is an air dispenser.

3. The liquid material discharge device according to claim 1,

the discharge valve includes: an input port connected to the first pipe, an output port connected to the second pipe, and an exhaust port.

4. The liquid material discharge device according to claim 1,

and a third pipe branching from the first pipe and provided with the leakage mechanism.

5. The liquid material discharging device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,

the leakage mechanism is configured to have a hole.

6. The liquid material discharging device according to claim 5,

the leakage mechanism is configured to include a hole opening/closing mechanism that connects the hole and an opening/closing valve provided downstream or upstream of the hole.

7. The liquid material discharging device according to claim 6,

the on-off valve is an automatic on-off valve opened and closed by the control device,

the control device opens and closes the opening and closing valve according to opening and closing condition information stored in advance.

8. The liquid material discharging device according to claim 6,

the leakage mechanism includes a plurality of hole opening/closing mechanisms connected in parallel with each other.

9. The liquid material discharging device according to claim 8,

the hole opening/closing mechanism includes a first hole opening/closing mechanism and a second hole opening/closing mechanism having a hole with a different flow rate from the first hole opening/closing mechanism.

10. The liquid material discharge device according to claim 1,

the leakage mechanism is configured to include a flow rate control valve whose flow rate can be changed by the control device.

11. A liquid material discharge apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4,

the pressure control valve is an electro-pneumatic regulator controlled to operate by the control device.

12. A liquid material discharge apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4,

the vacuum mechanism for the discharge valve is provided with a flow path in the discharge valve for generating negative pressure.

13. A liquid material discharge apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4,

the buffer tank is provided in the first pipe.

14. A coating device is characterized in that a coating device is provided,

the disclosed device is provided with: a liquid material discharging device according to any one of claims 1 to 4; a workpiece table on which a workpiece is placed; a relative movement device for moving the discharge port and the workpiece relative to each other; and a compressed gas source for supplying compressed gas to the liquid material discharge device.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a discharge device that discharges a liquid material from a discharge port in a fixed amount by supplying a compressed gas to a container storing the liquid material.

Background

There is a device called an air dispenser (dispenser) that discharges a fixed amount of a liquid material from a discharge port by supplying a compressed gas to a storage tank in which the liquid material is stored. In order to achieve a constant discharge amount, it is important to control the pressure of the compressed gas acting on the liquid material to a constant pressure. In order to perform this control, a pressure control valve such as a regulator (pressure reducing valve) or a relief valve is used in the air dispenser.

The known nozzle baffle type regulator operates as follows to regulate the pressure. That is, when the secondary-side air pressure ratio is increased relative to the set value, the nozzle provided inside is opened by a part of the secondary-side air pressure returned to the inside through the feedback hole, so that the back pressure is decreased, the main valve is closed by this action, and the exhaust valve is opened to release the compressed air increased to the set air pressure of the secondary side or more to the atmosphere, thereby maintaining the air pressure at the set value. As a discharge device using a known nozzle flapper type regulator, for example, patent document 1 discloses a gas pulse discharge device including: gas supply source of supply pressure P₀The gas of (4); an outlet port; and a peak pressure generating unit connected to the gas supply source and the discharge port; the peak generating unit includes a 1 st pressure adjusting means and a 1 st opening/closing valve connected to a discharge port side of the 1 st pressure adjusting means, and discharges gas on the 1 st pressure adjusting means side toward the discharge port when the 1 st opening/closing valve is opened, the 1 st pressure adjusting means including: 1 st pressure reducing mechanism for reducing the pressure P of the gas supplied from the gas supply source₀Reduced to a pressure P₁(ii) a And a 1 st pressure release mechanism connected to the discharge port side of the 1 st pressure reducing mechanism and provided in the 1 st pressure reducing mechanismThe pressure at the discharge port exceeds P₁In this case, the gas at the discharge port side of the 1 st pressure reducing mechanism is released to the atmosphere.

Further, a known relief valve operates as follows to perform pressure regulation. That is, when the air pressure in the air pressure circuit exceeds a value set by the pilot pressure (pilot) from the outside or the pilot spring, the valve opens to discharge (release) air to the outside, thereby maintaining the air pressure in the air pressure circuit at a set value. As a discharge device using a known relief valve, for example, patent document 2 discloses a die coater (die coater) paint supply device including a paint container, a metering pump provided at a position lower than a liquid level in the paint container, a die coater, a 1 st paint pipe extending from the interior of the paint container and connected to a suction side of the metering pump, and a 2 nd paint pipe connecting a discharge side of the metering pump and the die coater, and configured to supply paint of the paint container to the die coater by the metering pump, wherein the paint container is an airtight container, a compressed gas supply system is connected to the paint container so as to pressurize the liquid level of the paint container by a compressed gas, and a relief valve is provided at a tip of a pipe branching from a middle of the pipe.

The supply of the compressed gas to the storage tank is performed by the discharge valve, but there is a technical problem that a rapid pressure drop occurs in a flow path that communicates the storage tank and the discharge valve when the discharge valve is operated. This pressure fluctuation can be solved to some extent by providing a buffer tank (buffer tank) having a sufficiently larger volume than the volume of the reservoir tank in the flow path that communicates the reservoir tank and the discharge valve, but there is a technical problem that the pressure fluctuation cannot be eliminated without increasing the volume of the buffer tank by, for example, 10 times or more. In view of this, the applicant of the patent document 3 proposes a method of discharging a fixed amount of liquid, in which a buffer tank is provided and the flow resistance of a flow path on the downstream side of the buffer tank is made larger than the flow resistance of a flow path on the upstream side of the buffer tank, thereby reducing the pressure drop in the flow path generated during the operation of the discharge valve.

Disclosure of Invention

Technical problem to be solved by the invention

The pressure control valve such as the regulator (pressure reducing valve) or the relief valve described above, which controls the pressure supplied from the compressed gas source so as to be constant, has the following problems.

For example, in the regulator, the secondary pressure is adjusted by repeating the operation of supplying the compressed gas whose pressure is to be raised and the operation of discharging the compressed gas whose pressure is to be lowered in a vibrating manner until the secondary pressure is leveled to a set value. This set pressure adjusting operation is not likely to be a problem if the compressed gas is used for a relatively long time at the secondary side, but if the discharge operation time per discharge operation is short or a plurality of discharge operations are continued at short intervals like a dispenser, the pressure fluctuation affects the discharge amount. The influence of this pressure variation is particularly associated with a significant variation (unevenness) in the discharge amount in the air dispenser.

The pressure fluctuation accompanying the above-described set pressure adjustment operation becomes more significant when the volume (hereinafter referred to as "load capacity") of the device connected to the secondary side, such as a reservoir (syringe) or a pipe (tube), is small relative to the flow rate supplied by the regulator. This is because the compressed gas supply operation or discharge operation by the regulator becomes excessive for a small load capacity.

The pressure fluctuation as described above is presented, for example, as follows: (1) when the dispenser starts a discharge operation (when the discharge valve is in a communication position), the compressed gas self-regulator suddenly flows toward the storage container side (secondary side), and the pressure regulating operation cannot follow up, so that the secondary side pressure temporarily drops; (2) when the dispenser finishes the discharge operation (when the discharge valve is at the blocking position), the secondary pressure is temporarily increased because the compressed gas directed toward the reservoir (secondary side) from the regulator is suddenly blocked.

In addition, when the discharge operation is continuously repeated, the states (1) and (2) may be combined in a complicated manner depending on the discharge time or the discharge interval, and the state immediately before the discharge operation may be higher or lower than the set value. As a result, there is a problem that a difference occurs between the intended discharge amount and the actual discharge amount.

The relief valve also has the same problem of pressure fluctuation due to opening and closing of the valve in accordance with the set pressure adjusting operation.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a discharge device capable of suppressing pressure fluctuation of compressed gas supplied to a container storing a liquid material and solving a problem of unevenness of a discharge amount.

Means for solving the problems

The liquid material discharge device of the present invention is characterized by comprising: a storage container that stores a liquid material; a discharge port for discharging the liquid material; a pressure control valve for adjusting a pressure of a compressed gas supplied from an external compressed gas source to a desired pressure; a discharge valve that ensures or blocks communication between the pressure control valve and the storage container; a control device for controlling the operation of the discharge valve; a first pipe connecting the pressure control valve and the discharge valve; and a second pipe connecting the discharge valve and the storage container; further comprises: a third pipe branching from the first pipe; and a leak mechanism connected to the third pipe; the leakage mechanism discharges a part of the compressed gas regulated by the pressure control valve to the outside.

The liquid material discharge device may be an air dispenser.

In the liquid material discharge device, the leakage means may be provided with a hole (orientation), and the leakage means may be provided with a hole opening/closing means that connects the hole and an opening/closing valve provided downstream or upstream of the hole.

In the liquid material discharge device including the hole opening/closing mechanism, the opening/closing valve may be an automatic opening/closing valve that is opened and closed by the control device, and the control device may open and close the opening/closing valve based on opening/closing condition information stored in advance, and the leakage mechanism may include a plurality of hole opening/closing mechanisms connected to each other in parallel.

In the liquid material discharge device, the leakage mechanism may be provided with a flow rate control valve whose flow rate can be changed by the control device.

In the liquid material discharge device, the pressure control valve may be an electro-pneumatic regulator (electro-pneumatic regulator) whose operation is controlled by the control device.

In the liquid material discharge device, the liquid material discharge device may further include a housing that houses the pressure control valve, the discharge valve, the leakage mechanism, and the control device, and the housing may include a first joint that is attachable to and detachable from a pipe that communicates with the compressed gas source, and a second joint that is attachable to and detachable from a pipe that communicates with the storage container.

In the liquid material discharge device, the leakage mechanism may include a load intensifying vacuum mechanism connected to a distal end of the third pipe.

In the liquid material discharge device, the liquid material discharge device may further include a discharge valve vacuum mechanism for generating a negative pressure in a flow path in the discharge valve.

In the liquid material discharge device, the liquid material discharge device may further include a buffer tank provided in the first pipe.

The coating device of the present invention is characterized by comprising: the liquid material discharge device described above; a workpiece table on which a workpiece is placed; a relative movement device for moving the discharge port and the workpiece relative to each other; and a compressed gas source for supplying compressed gas to the liquid material discharge device.

ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECTS OF INVENTION

According to the present invention, the problem of the unevenness of the discharge amount due to the set pressure adjusting operation of the pressure control valve can be solved by the leakage mechanism.

Further, since the secondary pressure of the pressure control valve is always lower than the set value, stable discharge with little unevenness can be performed even in the continuous discharge operation.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a basic configuration of the discharge device according to the first embodiment.

Fig. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a basic configuration of the discharge device according to the second embodiment.

Fig. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a basic configuration of the discharge device according to the third embodiment.

Fig. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a basic configuration of the discharge device according to the fourth embodiment.

Fig. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a basic configuration of the discharge device according to the fifth embodiment.

Fig. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a basic configuration of the discharge device according to the sixth embodiment.

Fig. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a basic configuration of the discharge device according to the seventh embodiment.

Fig. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a basic configuration of the discharge device according to the eighth embodiment.

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described.

[ first embodiment ]

Fig. 1 shows a block diagram illustrating a basic configuration of the discharge device 1 according to the first embodiment.

The discharge device 1 according to the first embodiment is configured by: a compressed gas source 2 for supplying compressed gas; a pressure control valve (regulator) 3 that regulates the pressure of the compressed gas supplied from the compressed gas source 2 to a desired pressure; a discharge valve 4 that ensures or blocks communication between the pressure control valve 3 and the reservoir tank 8; a storage container 8 that stores a liquid material; a discharge port 9 for discharging the liquid material from the storage container 8 to the outside; a control device 10 that controls the operation of the discharge valve 4; and a leakage mechanism 11; in the arrangement shown in FIG. 1, the devices are connected by pipes 21 to 26. This discharge device is an air type dispenser that discharges a liquid material by the action of compressed gas, and a shell-shaped plunger that pushes the liquid material in a state of being in close contact with the inner wall surface of the storage container 8 may be arranged.

The compressed gas source 2 is a compressed gas source to which a commercially available general-purpose device is replaceably connected, and is constituted by, for example, a compressor for generating dry air or a gas cylinder filled with compressed air, nitrogen gas, or inert gas.

The pressure control valve 3 is constituted by, for example, a direct-acting solenoid valve that adjusts the pressure by an adjusting screw or pilot pressure, or an electro-pneumatic regulator that adjusts the pressure in response to an external electric signal. Here, in the case of using an electro-pneumatic regulator, the operation can be controlled by the control device 10.

The discharge valve 4 is a switching valve, and is constituted by, for example, an electromagnetic valve that is switched by an electromagnet or a pilot switching valve that is switched by pilot pressure. In the present embodiment, a 3-port 2 position switching valve is used which switches the position of the communication pressure control valve 3 and the reservoir tank 8 and the position of the communication reservoir tank 8 and the atmosphere. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and other types of switching valves may be used. The switching operation of the discharge valve 4 is controlled by the control device 10.

The compressed gas supplied from the compressed gas source 2 is adjusted to a desired pressure by the pressure control valve 3, and then supplied to the input port 5 of the discharge valve 4. A pipe connected to the reservoir 8 is connected to the output port 6 of the discharge valve 4, and when the discharge valve 4 ensures communication between the input port 5 and the output port 6, the compressed gas supplied to the input port 5 is supplied to the upper space of the reservoir 8. The liquid material stored in the storage container 8 is discharged from the discharge port 9 to the outside by the action of the supplied compressed gas. The discharge amount of the liquid material from the discharge port 9 can be adjusted by controlling the length of time for which the control device 10 ensures communication between the input port 5 and the output port 6 of the discharge valve 4, the magnitude of the pressure adjusted by the pressure control valve 3, and the like.

The storage container 8 is constituted by a commercially available general-purpose syringe.

The nozzle member having the discharge port 9 communicates with the storage tank 8 via a pipe 25. The discharge port 9 may be provided in a nozzle member directly connected to the storage tank 8 without using the pipe 25. The discharge port 9 may be provided directly in the storage container 8.

If the pipes 21 to 26 are formed of hard members, they may be formed of flexible members (tubes, etc.).

The leakage mechanism 11 in the present embodiment is configured by providing a hole 12 in the middle of a pipe 23 branched from a pipe 22 connecting the pressure control valve 3 and the discharge valve 4. An end of the pipe 26 connected to the downstream side of the hole 12 is opened to the atmosphere. Since a part of the compressed gas regulated by the pressure control valve 3 is discharged to the outside through the hole 12, a substantial load capacity with respect to the pressure control valve 3 is increased, and thus, pressure fluctuation on the secondary side (mainly, the storage tank 8) of the pressure control valve 3 can be reduced. That is, since the pressure fluctuation in the storage container 8 can be reduced, the variation in the discharge amount of the liquid material discharged by the action of the compressed gas can be reduced.

Further, a part of the compressed gas passing through the pipe 22 is discharged to the outside through the leakage mechanism 11 (here, the hole 12), whereby the pressure on the secondary side (downstream side) of the pressure control valve 3 is always lowered below the set value, and the pressure control valve 3 is always operated to increase the pressure (supply operation). Since the pressure control valve 3 does not cause the set pressure adjusting operation to achieve the set value by repeating the supply operation and the discharge operation, the state immediately before the discharge operation can be made constant, and stable discharge with little unevenness can be performed even in the continuous discharge operation.

The amount of compressed gas flowing out through the hole 12 toward the outside is determined by the size of the diameter of the hole 12. The diameter of the hole 12 is preferably appropriately selected according to the size of the load capacity, the flow rate (secondary pressure) of the pressure control valve 3, and the like. The judgment as to whether or not the diameter is an appropriate size is performed, for example, by a previously performed experiment. In the present embodiment, an experiment was actually performed to measure the pressure waveform in the reservoir tank 8 while changing the load capacity or the flow rate (secondary pressure) of the pressure control valve 3, in order to verify an appropriate pore diameter that reduces the pressure fluctuation.

More specifically, the experiment was performed in a range in which the size of the storage container 8, i.e., the syringe, was 1 to 100mL, the secondary pressure (discharge pressure) of the pressure control valve was 500kPa at maximum, and the hole diameter was 0.1 to 2 mm. As a result, for example, when a hole having a diameter of 0.4mm was used at a syringe size of 10mL and a secondary pressure (discharge pressure) of the pressure control valve of 100kPa, good results were obtained. However, the above results are merely examples, and when the syringe size or the like is changed, the diameter is changed to an appropriate one. Therefore, if a large amount of data of various changes is acquired in advance, when the conditions such as the load capacity are changed, if it is necessary to change the hole 12, it is possible to smoothly perform the replacement without performing a new experiment or the like. These data may be stored in the storage device of the control device 10 as a table correlating the load capacity with the aperture, or an experimental equation calculated from these data may be stored in the storage device of the control device 10, so that the optimum aperture is dynamically calculated. For reference, parameters other than those described above may be considered, for example, the pressure of vacuum, the temperature of compressed gas, the viscosity of a liquid material, and the like, which will be described below.

According to the discharge device 1 of the first embodiment described above, the leakage mechanism 11 can minimize the pressure fluctuation accompanying the set pressure adjustment operation of the pressure control valve 3, thereby minimizing the variation in the discharge amount.

Further, since the secondary pressure of the pressure control valve 3 is always lower than the set value by the leakage mechanism 11, stable discharge with little unevenness can be performed even in the continuous discharge operation.

[ second embodiment ]

Fig. 2 shows a block diagram illustrating a basic configuration of the discharge device 1 according to the second embodiment. Only the portions different from the configuration of the first embodiment (fig. 1) will be described below, and the same portions will not be described.

The leakage mechanism 11 of the second embodiment differs from the leakage mechanism 11 of the first embodiment in that an on-off valve 13 is provided downstream of the hole 12. The on-off valve 13 has an effect when the pressure control valve 3 does not have a sufficient flow rate with respect to the load capacity.

When the pressure control valve 3 does not have a sufficient flow rate for the load capacity, even if the supply operation of the compressed gas is started by the discharge, the time until the pressure of the compressed gas supplied to the storage tank 8 reaches the set value becomes long. At this time, by setting the on-off valve 13 to the "closed" state, the discharge from the hole 12 is not performed, and thereby the time until the pressure of the compressed gas supplied to the storage tank 8 reaches the set value can be shortened.

On the other hand, when the pressure control valve 3 has a sufficient flow rate with respect to the load capacity (when the load capacity is reduced by replacing the reservoir tank 8 or the like), the on-off valve 13 is operated to be in the "on" state, and a part of the compressed gas is discharged from the orifice 12, whereby the pressure fluctuation accompanying the set pressure adjusting operation of the pressure control valve 3 can be minimized.

The on-off valve 13 may be any of 2-position on-off valves that can be switched between "on" and "off", and may be a manual on-off valve (for example, a ball valve or a cock) that can be manually operated or an automatic on-off valve (for example, a solenoid valve or a pilot switching valve) that can be automatically operated by an electric signal, pilot pressure, or the like. When an automatic opening/closing valve is used, the opening/closing operation is controlled by the control device 10.

In fig. 2, the on-off valve 13 is shown as being disposed downstream of the hole 12, but the on-off valve 13 may be disposed upstream of the hole 12. However, when the on-off valve 13 is disposed on the upstream side of the hole 12, it is necessary to consider the relationship between the resistance and the hole diameter of the on-off valve 13, and therefore, it is preferable to dispose the on-off valve 13 on the downstream side of the hole 12.

The opening/closing valve 13 is preferably set to the "open" state or the "closed" state, and the same experiment as the experiment for determining the size of the diameter of the orifice 12 is preferably performed depending on the size of the load capacity, the flow rate (secondary pressure) of the pressure control valve 3, and the boundary (value such as the threshold) between the "open" state and the "closed" state is obtained in advance and determined based on the result. For example, an experiment is actually performed to measure the pressure waveform in the storage tank 8 while changing the load capacity or the flow rate (secondary pressure) of the pressure control valve 3, and the load capacity (the size of the storage tank 8, etc.) in which the pressure fluctuation is small is found. By way of example, good results were obtained when the secondary pressure (discharge pressure) of the regulator, which is a pressure control valve, was 100kPa, the syringe size was 10mL and the syringe size was "on" and the syringe size was 20mL and the syringe was "off". However, the above results are merely an example, and it is preferable that a large amount of data of various changes be acquired, and an open/close condition table storing conditions to be set to the "open" state and the "close" state is stored in advance in the storage device of the control device 10, or an experimental formula calculated from these data is stored in the storage device of the control device 10, so that the optimum open/close state is dynamically calculated. By doing so, the on-off valve 13 can be automatically set to the "on" state or the "off" state by the control device 10 in accordance with changes in the load capacity (for example, by the downstream pressure of the input pressure control valve, the flow rate of the orifice 12, and the load capacity of the storage tank 8).

Further, it is preferable that the opening/closing valve 13 is closed when the power supply of the discharge device 1 is turned off, and leakage from the leakage mechanism 11 when not in use is set to zero. Here, when the on-off valve 13 is an automatic on-off valve, it is preferable that the on-off valve 13 is automatically set to the "closed" state by the control device 10 when the power supply is off.

According to the discharge device 1 of the second embodiment described above, the leakage mechanism 11 can absorb a change in load capacity that varies depending on the size of the storage container 8 or the length of the pipe.

[ third embodiment ]

Fig. 3 shows a block diagram illustrating a basic configuration of the ejection device 1 according to the third embodiment. Only the portions different from the configuration of the first embodiment (fig. 1) will be described below, and the same portions will not be described.

The leakage mechanism 11 of the third embodiment is different from the leakage mechanism 11 of the first embodiment in that a flow rate control valve 14 capable of changing a flow rate is provided instead of the orifice 12.

In the third embodiment, even when the pressure control valve 3 or the storage tank 8 needs to be replaced with another type, the amount of the compressed gas discharged by the flow rate control valve 14 is adjusted, so that the pressure fluctuation accompanying the pressure setting adjustment operation of the pressure control valve 3 is minimized. In this regard, in the aspect of the first embodiment (fig. 1) in which the hole 12 is provided, the hole 12 may need to be replaced.

Here, as the flow rate control valve 14, a needle valve, a servo valve, or the like is exemplified. The flow rate control valve 14 may be a valve that can be manually operated or a valve that can be automatically operated, but is preferably configured to be automatically controllable in operation by the control device 10. Note that, when the opening degree of the flow rate control valve 14 is set to zero, the opening and closing valve 13 of the leakage mechanism 11 according to the second embodiment may be set to the same state as the "closed" state.

It is preferable that the flow rate control valve 14 is in the "closed" state when the power of the discharge device 1 is turned off, so that the leakage from the leakage mechanism 11 when not in use is zero. Here, when the flow rate control valve 14 is configured to be automatically controllable, it is preferable that the flow rate control valve 14 is automatically set to the "closed" state by the control device 10 when the power supply is turned off.

According to the discharge device 1 of the third embodiment described above, the leakage mechanism 11 can dynamically absorb changes in load capacity that vary depending on the size of the reservoir tank 8 or the length of the pipe, or in response to replacement of the pressure control valve 3.

[ fourth embodiment ]

Fig. 4 shows a block diagram illustrating a basic configuration of the ejection device 1 according to the fourth embodiment. Only the portions different from the configuration of the first embodiment (fig. 1) will be described below, and the same portions will not be described.

The leakage mechanism 11 of the fourth embodiment includes a plurality of holes 12 and the same number of opening/closing valves 13 as the holes 12. In other words, it can be said that the leak mechanism 11 of the second embodiment (fig. 2) is arranged in a plurality of rows. In fig. 4, an example is shown in which 5 sets of the opening/closing valve 13 and the hole 12 are provided, but the number is not limited to this, and may be 4 or less, or 6 or more.

The plurality of holes 12 are preferably formed of a plurality of holes having different flow rates (sizes of diameters) from each other. This is because, by preparing the holes 12 having different diameters in advance, even when the pressure control valve 3 or the storage tank 8 is replaced with another type, the selected one or more on-off valves 13 can be set to the "on" state, thereby responding to a change in the load capacity. In the fourth embodiment, it is also preferable to use an automatic on-off valve that can automatically open and close all the on-off valves 13 by the control device 10.

Further, it is preferable that the opening/closing valve 13 is closed when the power supply of the discharge device 1 is turned off, and leakage from the leakage mechanism 11 when not in use is set to zero. Here, when the on-off valve 13 is an automatic on-off valve, it is preferable that the on-off valve 13 is automatically set to the "closed" state by the control device 10 when the power supply is off.

According to the discharge device 1 of the fourth embodiment described above, the leakage mechanism 11 can dynamically absorb changes in load capacity that vary depending on the size of the reservoir tank 8 or the length of the pipe, or in response to replacement of the pressure control valve 3.

[ fifth embodiment ]

Fig. 5 shows a block diagram illustrating a basic configuration of the discharge device 1 according to the fifth embodiment. Only the portions different from the configuration of the first embodiment (fig. 1) will be described below, and the same portions will not be described.

The leak mechanism 11 of the fifth embodiment is provided with a vacuum mechanism 15 at an end portion thereof as shown in fig. 5, in addition to the end portion being open to the atmosphere. By connecting the vacuum mechanism 15, the load capacity can be made larger than in the case of opening to the atmosphere, and the effect of reducing the pressure fluctuation can be improved. Here, the vacuum mechanism 15 is exemplified by an ejector (ejector) or a vacuum pump.

Further, the vacuum mechanism 15 may be applied to any of the leakage mechanisms 11 of the first to fourth embodiments.

According to the discharge device 1 of the fifth embodiment described above, the load capacity can be further increased by the vacuum mechanism 15, and thus a desired load capacity can be realized.

[ sixth embodiment ]

Fig. 6 shows a block diagram illustrating a basic configuration of the discharge device 1 according to the sixth embodiment. Only the portions different from the configuration of the first embodiment (fig. 1) will be described below, and the same portions will not be described.

The discharge valve 4 of the sixth embodiment includes a vacuum mechanism 16 connected to the exhaust port 7. The vacuum mechanism 16 can apply a negative pressure to the storage container 8 at the end of discharge to make liquid shutoff good, or can apply a negative pressure to the storage container 8 at the standby time to prevent liquid from dripping. Here, the vacuum mechanism 16 is exemplified by an ejector, a vacuum pump, or the like.

The operation of the discharge valve 4 itself is the same as that of the first to fifth embodiments. (1) During the discharge operation, the input port 5 and the output port 6 are communicated; (2) when the discharge operation is completed, the communication between the input port 5 and the output port 6 is blocked, the output port 6 and the exhaust port 7 are communicated, and the compressed gas supplied to the reservoir tank 8 is released to the atmosphere.

The leakage mechanism 11 is also applicable to any of the configurations of the first to fifth embodiments.

The discharge device 1 according to the sixth embodiment described above can cut off the liquid well or prevent the liquid from dripping by the vacuum mechanism 16. In the discharge device provided with such a vacuum mechanism 16, the pressure fluctuation on the secondary side of the pressure control valve 3 can be minimized, and stable discharge with little unevenness can be performed even when continuous discharge operation is performed.

[ seventh embodiment ]

Fig. 7 shows a block diagram illustrating a basic configuration of the discharge device 1 according to the seventh embodiment. Only the portions different from the configuration of the first embodiment (fig. 1) will be described below, and the same portions will not be described.

The discharge device 1 according to the seventh embodiment is configured to include a buffer tank 17 as shown in fig. 7 between the pressure control valve 3 and the discharge valve 4. Here, the internal volume of the buffer tank 17 is, for example, 1.5 to 100 times the internal volume of the storage container 8, and is preferably 1.5 to less than 10 times from the viewpoint of the size of the apparatus.

In the case where the buffer tank 17 is provided, the leakage mechanism 11 may be branched from between the pressure control valve 3 and the buffer tank 17. In this case, it is preferable that the flow resistance of the piping on the upstream side of the buffer tank 17 and the leak mechanism 11 added together be larger than the flow resistance of the piping on the downstream side of the buffer tank 17. The discharge device 1 provided with the buffer tank 17 is described in detail in japanese patent No. 5460132 (patent document 3) according to the inventor's application.

The leakage mechanism 11 is also applicable to any of the configurations of the first to fifth embodiments.

The discharge device 1 according to the seventh embodiment described above is provided with the buffer tank 17, so that the internal pressure of the reservoir 8 can be rapidly increased, and the discharge operation can be performed at a higher pace than a discharge device having no buffer tank. In the discharge device provided with such a buffer tank 17, the leakage mechanism 11 can minimize the pressure fluctuation on the secondary side of the pressure control valve 3, and stable discharge with little unevenness can be performed even when continuous discharge operation is performed.

[ eighth embodiment ]

Fig. 8 shows a block diagram illustrating a basic configuration of the discharge device 1 according to the eighth embodiment. Only the portions different from the configuration of the first embodiment (fig. 1) will be described below, and the same portions will not be described.

The discharge device 1 according to the eighth embodiment has, as main components, a compressed gas source 2 for supplying compressed gas, a distribution controller 20, a syringe 18 serving as a storage container 8 for storing a liquid material, and a nozzle 19 having a discharge port 9 for discharging the liquid material from the storage container 8 to the outside.

The distribution controller 20 is a sum of devices provided in one housing, and includes: a pressure control valve 3 that adjusts the pressure of the compressed gas supplied from the compressed gas source 2 to a desired pressure; a buffer tank 17 for storing compressed gas; a discharge valve 4 that ensures or blocks communication between the pressure control valve 3 and the syringe 18; a vacuum mechanism 16 connected to the exhaust port 7 of the discharge valve 4, and communicating with the syringe 18 to apply a negative pressure when the discharge operation is completed; a control device 10 that controls the operation of the discharge valve 4; and a leakage mechanism 11 for discharging a part of the compressed gas regulated by the pressure control valve 3 to the outside. In the configuration shown in fig. 8, the distribution controller 20 is configured such that each device is connected by a pipe, and joints or the like are provided at the connection portions with the compressed gas source 2 and the injector 18 so as to be detachable. By providing such a joint or the like, the compressed gas source 2, which is likely to become a large-sized facility, or the injector 18 and the nozzle 19, which are frequently replaced as consumables, are configured to be detachable and different from each other, and thus handling such as transportation and installation of the housing, replacement of the consumables, and the like can be facilitated.

The compressed gas supplied from the compressed gas source 2 is adjusted to a desired pressure by the pressure control valve 3, and then supplied to the input port 5 of the discharge valve 4. A pipe connected to the syringe 18 is connected to the output port 6 of the discharge valve 4, and when the discharge valve 4 ensures communication between the input port 5 and the output port 6, the compressed gas supplied to the input port 5 is supplied to the syringe 18. The liquid material stored in the syringe 18 is discharged to the outside from the discharge port 9 of the nozzle 19 by the compressed gas. The discharge amount of the liquid material from the discharge port 9 can be adjusted by adjusting the length of time for which the discharge valve 4 ensures communication between the input port 5 and the output port 6, the magnitude of the pressure adjusted by the pressure control valve 3, or the like.

The leakage mechanism 11 is also applicable to any of the configurations of the first to fifth embodiments.

The dispensing controller 20 is connected to the syringe 18 via a flexible tube, and an operator can hold the syringe 18 by hand or can mount the dispenser on an applicator equipped with an XYZ-axis drive device. The injector 18 is moved relative to the workpiece table by an XYZ-axis drive device, and is used for applying a liquid material to a workpiece. The XYZ driving device is configured to include a known XYZ axis servomotor and a ball screw, for example.

The discharge device 1 of the present embodiment can minimize the pressure variation on the secondary side of the pressure control valve 3 by the leakage mechanism 11, and can perform stable discharge with little unevenness even when performing continuous discharge operation.

Description of the symbols

1: discharge device, 2: compressed gas source, 3: pressure control valve (regulator), 4: discharge valve, 5: input port, 6: output port, 7: exhaust port, 8: storage container, 9: discharge port, 10: control device, 11: leakage mechanism, 12: hole, 13: opening and closing valve, 14: flow control valve, 15: vacuum mechanism (for load enhancement), 16: vacuum mechanism (discharge valve), 17: buffer tank, 18: injector, 19: nozzle, 20: distribution controller, 21-26: piping.