阅读说明：本技术 小片供给装置以及纤维体成形装置 (Chip feeder and fiber forming device ) 是由 阿部隆 佐藤诚 本桥弘次 于 2020-08-27 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明提供一种能够定量且稳定地供给小片的小片供给装置以及纤维体成形装置。小片供给装置的特征在于,具备：原料供给部,其供给原料薄片；粗碎部,其对从所述原料供给部被供给的所述原料薄片进行粗碎,从而生成小片；贮存部,其对由所述粗碎部所生成的所述小片进行贮存,所述原料供给部具有送出辊和抵接部,所述送出辊将所述原料薄片送出,所述抵接部供经过了所述送出辊的所述原料薄片的端部抵接,从而改变所述原料薄片的前进路线。(The invention provides a small piece supplying device and a fiber body forming device which can supply small pieces quantitatively and stably. The small piece supplying device is characterized by comprising: a raw material supply unit for supplying a raw material sheet; a rough grinding section that roughly grinds the raw material sheet supplied from the raw material supply section to generate small pieces; and a stock section that stocks the small pieces generated by the rough grinding section, wherein the raw material supply section includes a feed-out roller that feeds out the raw material sheet, and a contact section that changes a path of the raw material sheet by contacting an end of the raw material sheet that has passed through the feed-out roller.)

1. A small piece supplying device is characterized by comprising:

a raw material supply unit for supplying a raw material sheet;

a rough grinding section that roughly grinds the raw material sheet supplied from the raw material supply section to generate small pieces;

a storage section that stores the small pieces generated by the rough grinding section,

the material supply unit includes a feed roller that feeds out the material sheet, and a contact portion that contacts an end of the material sheet passing through the feed roller to change an advancing path of the material sheet.

2. The die supply apparatus according to claim 1,

the contact portion has an inclined surface inclined with respect to a conveying direction in which the raw material sheet is conveyed by the feed roller.

3. The die supply apparatus according to claim 2,

the inclined surface is a plane.

4. The die supply apparatus according to claim 3,

an angle formed by the inclined surface and a conveying direction in which the raw material sheet is conveyed by the conveying roller is 20 ° or more and 70 ° or less.

5. A die feeding apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4,

the coarse crushing part is provided with a pair of rotating blades,

the direction in which the raw material sheet is inserted between the pair of rotary blades is different from the direction in which the path of the raw material sheet is changed by the contact portion.

6. The die supply apparatus according to claim 5,

the sheet processing apparatus is provided with a guide portion that guides the raw material sheet, the path of which has been changed by the contact portion, to the rough grinding portion.

7. The die supply apparatus according to claim 1,

the device is provided with a measuring unit for measuring the small pieces discharged from the storage unit.

8. The die feeding apparatus according to claim 1, comprising:

a detection unit that detects the amount of the small pieces in the storage unit;

and a control unit that controls the operation of the feed roller based on a detection result of the detection unit.

9. The die supply apparatus according to claim 8,

the control unit controls to stop the operation of the delivery roller when the amount of the small pieces in the storage unit exceeds a predetermined amount.

10. The die supply apparatus according to claim 1,

the storage section has a foreign matter capturing section that captures foreign matter mixed into the small pieces by magnetic force.

11. A fiber forming apparatus, comprising:

the die supply apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 10;

a defibering unit that defibers the small pieces supplied by the small piece supplying device;

a deposition unit for depositing the defibrated material produced by the defibrating unit;

and a forming section for forming the deposit formed by the depositing section.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a chip supply device and a fiber forming device.

Background

As a small piece supplying device, for example, as shown in patent document 1, a device having a structure including a pair of conveying rollers for conveying a sheet and a cutter blade for roughly crushing, that is, shredding the sheet conveyed by the conveying rollers is known. The conveying roller pair is composed of two rotating rollers facing each other in the thickness direction of the sheet being conveyed. The rotating rollers rotate to pinch the sheet and feed the sheet to the cutter blades.

Further, as shown in patent document 1, in the case of a configuration in which a sheet is nipped and conveyed by two rotating rollers, the rotating direction and the rotating speed of each rotating roller can be adjusted. Thus, for example, even if two sheets are supplied to two rotating rollers in a state where the two sheets are overlapped, the two sheets are shifted in the conveying direction by making both the rotating direction and the rotating speed different, and therefore the two sheets can be separated one by one and conveyed. Such a separation method is called a delay method.

However, in the delay method, for example, when conveying a folded sheet, or when conveying a plurality of sheets in a state where a part of the plurality of sheets is fixed by a stapler or the like, if both the rotation direction and the rotation speed are different, the sheets are excessively deformed. For example, the sheet may be bent or deformed into a corrugated shape in the middle. In this case, a so-called paper jam, conveyance failure, or conveyance stop may be caused when the sheet is jammed between the rotating rollers. As a result, the sheet may not be stably fed to the cutter blade, and the small pieces may not be produced and supplied quantitatively and stably.

Patent document 1: japanese patent laid-open publication No. 2009-32321

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and can be realized as the following embodiments.

The chip supply device of the present invention is characterized by comprising:

a raw material supply unit for supplying a raw material sheet;

a rough grinding section that roughly grinds the raw material sheet supplied from the raw material supply section to generate small pieces;

a storage section that stores the small pieces generated by the rough grinding section,

the material supply unit includes a feed roller that feeds out the material sheet, and a contact portion that contacts an end of the material sheet passing through the feed roller to change an advancing path of the material sheet.

The fiber forming apparatus of the present invention is characterized by comprising:

the chip supply device of the present invention;

a defibering unit that defibers the small pieces supplied by the small piece supplying device;

a deposition unit for depositing the defibrated material produced by the defibrating unit;

and a forming section for forming the deposit formed by the depositing section.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic side view showing an embodiment of a fiber forming apparatus.

Fig. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of the die supply apparatus shown in fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a block diagram of the die supply apparatus shown in fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a partially enlarged view of the raw material supply portion shown in fig. 2, and is a view for explaining a case where raw material sheets are fed in a state of being overlapped.

Fig. 5 is a partially enlarged view of the raw material supply unit shown in fig. 2, and is a view for explaining a case where raw material sheets are fed in a state of being overlapped.

Fig. 6 is a partially enlarged view of the raw material supply portion shown in fig. 2, and is a view for explaining a case where raw material sheets are fed in a state of being overlapped.

Fig. 7 is a diagram for explaining a state where a raw material sheet is fed by the delay method.

Fig. 8 is a diagram for explaining a state where a raw material sheet is fed by the delay method.

Fig. 9 is a diagram for explaining a state where a raw material sheet is fed by the delay method.

Fig. 10 is a partially enlarged view of the material supplying portion shown in fig. 2, and is a view for explaining a case where the material sheet is fed out in a state of being fixed by a stapler.

Fig. 11 is a partially enlarged view of the material supplying portion shown in fig. 2, and is a view for explaining a case where the material sheet is fed out in a state of being fixed by a stapler.

Fig. 12 is a partially enlarged view of the material supplying portion shown in fig. 2, and is a view for explaining a case where the material sheet is fed out in a state of being fixed by a stapler.

Fig. 13 is a flowchart for explaining a control operation of the control unit shown in fig. 3.

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, the chip supplying apparatus and the fiber forming apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail based on preferred embodiments shown in the drawings.

Detailed description of the preferred embodiments

Fig. 1 is a schematic side view showing an embodiment of a fiber forming apparatus. Fig. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of the die supply apparatus shown in fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a block diagram of the die supply apparatus shown in fig. 1. Fig. 4 to 6 are partially enlarged views of the raw material supply unit shown in fig. 2, and are views for explaining a case where raw material sheets are fed in a state of being overlapped. Fig. 7 to 9 are diagrams for explaining a state where the material sheet is fed by the delay method. Fig. 10 to 12 are partially enlarged views of the material supplying portion shown in fig. 2, and are views for explaining a case where the material sheet is fed out in a state of being fixed by a stapler. Fig. 13 is a flowchart for explaining a control operation of the control unit shown in fig. 3.

In addition, hereinafter, for convenience of explanation, three axes orthogonal to each other are set as an x-axis, a y-axis, and a z-axis, as shown in fig. 1, 2, and 4 to 12. The xy plane including the x axis and the y axis is horizontal, and the z axis is vertical. The direction in which the arrow mark of each axis is oriented is referred to as "+" and the opposite direction is referred to as "-". The upper side of fig. 1, 2, and 4 to 12 is referred to as "upper" or "upper", and the lower side is referred to as "lower" or "lower".

The fibrous body forming apparatus 100 shown in fig. 1 is an apparatus for obtaining a formed body by roughly crushing and defibrating a raw material sheet M1, mixing and stacking a binder, and forming the stacked body. The raw sheet M1 may be a sheet material made of a fiber-containing material containing cellulose fibers. The cellulose fiber may be a fibrous substance containing cellulose as a main component as a compound, or may be a substance containing hemicellulose or lignin in addition to cellulose. The raw sheet M1 may be in the form of woven fabric, nonwoven fabric, or the like. The raw sheet M1 may be, for example, recycled paper produced by defibering and recycling waste paper, or high-grade recycled paper (Yupo, registered trademark) of synthetic paper, or may not be recycled paper.

The molded body produced by the fiber body molding apparatus 100 may be in the form of a sheet such as recycled paper, or may be in the form of a block. The density of the molded body is not particularly limited, and may be a molded body having a high density of fibers such as a sheet, a molded body having a low density of fibers such as a sponge, or a molded body in which these characteristics are mixed.

Hereinafter, the raw material sheet M1 will be described as a sheet S which is recycled paper made of used or waste paper or a manufactured molded product.

The fibrous body forming apparatus 100 shown in fig. 1 includes a small piece supplying apparatus 1, a defibration section 13, a sifting section 14, a first web forming section 15, a fractionating section 16, a mixing section 17, a detaching section 18, a second web forming section 19 as a stacking section, a forming section 20, a cutting section 21, a storage section 22, a collecting section 27, and a control section 28 for controlling operations thereof.

The fibrous body forming apparatus 100 further includes a humidifying unit 231, a humidifying unit 232, a humidifying unit 233, a humidifying unit 234, a humidifying unit 235, and a humidifying unit 236. The fiber forming apparatus 100 includes a blower 261, a blower 262, and a blower 263.

As shown in fig. 3, the humidifying units 231 to 236 and the blowers 261 to 263 are electrically connected to the controller 28, and their operations are controlled by the controller 28. That is, in the present embodiment, the operation of each part of the fibrous body forming apparatus 100 is controlled by one control unit 28. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, the present invention may be configured to include a control unit that controls operations of the respective portions of the small piece supplying apparatus 1 and a control unit that controls operations of portions other than the small piece supplying apparatus 1.

In the fibrous body forming apparatus 100, the raw material supplying step, the coarse crushing step, the weighing step, the defibering step, the screening step, the first web forming step, the cutting step, the mixing step, the disassembling step, the second web forming step, the sheet forming step, and the cutting step are performed in this order. Among these processes, the small chip supply apparatus 1 takes charge of a raw material supply process, a coarse crushing process, and a metering process.

The chip supply apparatus 1 includes a raw material supply unit 3, a rough grinding unit 4, a storage unit 5, and a measuring unit 6. The raw material sheet M1 fed by the raw material feeder 3 is roughly crushed by the rough crusher 4, which is a shredder, for example, to produce a scrap sheet, that is, rough chips M2 as small pieces. Next, the coarse chips M2 are temporarily stored in the storage section 5 and are measured by the measuring section 6, and a predetermined amount of coarse chips M2 are intermittently supplied to the downstream side, that is, the defibrating section 13.

The respective parts of the die feeding apparatus 1 will be described in detail below.

The defibering unit 13 is a part that performs a defibering process of defibering the coarse chips M2 in a gas, that is, in a dry manner. By the defibering process in the defibering unit 13, a defibered product M3 can be generated from the coarse pieces M2. Here, "performing defibration" means a case where coarse pieces M2 obtained by bonding a plurality of fibers are separated into individual fibers. Then, the defibered material was converted into a defibered material M3. The shape of the defibrinated material M3 is a linear or ribbon shape. The defibrinates M3 may be entangled with each other to form a block, that is, a so-called "lump".

For example, in the present embodiment, the defibering unit 13 is constituted by an impeller grinder having a rotating blade that rotates at a high speed and a bush located on the outer periphery of the rotating blade. The coarse pieces M2 flowing into the defibering section 13 are nipped between the rotary blade and the bushing to be defibered.

Further, the defibering unit 13 can generate a flow of air from the coarse crushing unit 4 toward the screening unit 14, that is, can generate an air flow, by the rotation of the rotary blade. This allows the coarse chips M2 to be sucked from the pipe 241 to the defibration section 13. After the defibering process, the defibered product M3 can be fed to the screening unit 14 through the pipe 242.

A blower 261 is provided midway in the pipe 242. The blower 261 is an airflow generating device that generates an airflow toward the sieving section 14. This facilitates the feeding of the defibrination M3 to the screening section 14.

The screening section 14 is a section for performing a screening step of screening the defibrated product M3 according to the length of the fiber. In the screening section 14, the defibrinated product M3 was screened into a first screening product M4-1 and a second screening product M4-2 that was larger than the first screening product M4-1. The first screen M4-1 was a material having a size suitable for the subsequent production of the sheet S. The average length is preferably 1 μm or more and 30 μm or less. On the other hand, the second screen M4-2 contains, for example, a substance that is not sufficiently defibered or a substance that is formed by excessively aggregating defibered fibers.

The screening section 14 includes a drum section 141 and a housing section 142 that houses the drum section 141.

The drum portion 141 is a screen formed of a cylindrical mesh body and rotating around its central axis. The defibrinated material M3 flows into the drum 141. Then, the drum 141 is rotated, whereby the defibrinated material M3 smaller than the mesh is screened as the first screened material M4-1, and the defibrinated material M3 larger than the mesh is screened as the second screened material M4-2.

The first screen M4-1 falls from the drum 141.

On the other hand, the second screen material M4-2 is fed into the pipe 243 connected to the drum 141. The pipe 243 is connected to the pipe 241 on the opposite side of the drum part 141, i.e., on the downstream side. The second screen M4-2 passed through the pipe 243 joins the coarse chips M2 in the pipe 241 to flow into the defibering section 13 together with the coarse chips M2. Thereby, the second screen M4-2 is returned to the defibration section 13, and is subjected to the defibration process together with the coarse chips M2.

Further, the first screen M4-1 from the drum section 141 fell while being dispersed in the air, and fell toward the first web forming section 15 located below the drum section 141. The first web forming portion 15 is a portion where the first web forming process of forming the first web M5 from the first screen M4-1 is performed. The first web forming portion 15 has a mesh belt 151, three tension rollers 152, and a suction portion 153.

The mesh belt 151 is an endless belt for stacking the first screen M4-1. The mesh belt 151 is wound around three tension rollers 152. Then, the first screen M4-1 on the mesh belt 151 is conveyed to the downstream side by the rotational drive of the bridge roller 152.

The first screen M4-1 had a size equal to or larger than the mesh size of the mesh belt 151. Thereby, the passage of the first screen M4-1 through the mesh belt 151 is restricted, and therefore, the first screen can be accumulated on the mesh belt 151. Further, since the first screen M4-1 is conveyed toward the downstream side together with the mesh belt 151 while being stacked on the mesh belt 151, the first web M5 formed in a layered shape is formed.

Further, there is a possibility that dust, dirt, or the like may be mixed into the first screening material M4-1. Dust or dirt is sometimes generated by, for example, coarse crushing or defibration. Then, such dust or dirt is collected in a collecting unit 27 described later.

The suction unit 153 is a suction mechanism for sucking air from below the mesh belt 151. This allows dust or dirt passing through the mesh belt 151 to be sucked together with air.

The suction unit 153 is connected to the recovery unit 27 via a pipe 244. The dust or dirt sucked by the suction unit 153 is collected in the collection unit 27.

A pipe 245 is also connected to the recovery unit 27. Further, a blower 262 is provided midway in the pipe 245. By the operation of the blower 262, a suction force can be generated in the suction portion 153. Thereby, the formation of the first web M5 on the mesh belt 151 is promoted. The first web M5 becomes a substance from which dust, dirt, etc. have been removed. Further, the dust or dirt passes through the pipe 244 by the operation of the blower 262, and reaches the recovery portion 27.

The housing portion 142 is connected to the humidifying portion 232. The humidifier 232 is constituted by a vaporizing humidifier. Thereby, the humidified air is supplied into the casing portion 142. Since the first screen M4-1 can be humidified by the humidified air, the first screen M4-1 can be prevented from being attached to the inner wall of the case 142 by static electricity.

A humidifying unit 235 is disposed downstream of the screening unit 14. The humidifying unit 235 is formed of an ultrasonic humidifier that sprays water. This allows water to be supplied to the first web M5, and the amount of water in the first web M5 can be adjusted accordingly. By this adjustment, the adsorption of the first web M5 to the mesh belt 151 by static electricity can be suppressed. Thereby, the first web M5 is easily peeled off from the mesh belt 151 at the position where the mesh belt 151 is folded back by the bridge roller 152.

The subdividing unit 16 is disposed downstream of the humidifying unit 235. The subdividing unit 16 is a part for performing a cutting step of cutting the first web M5 peeled from the mesh belt 151. The subdividing unit 16 includes a propeller 161 supported rotatably, and a housing 162 that houses the propeller 161. The first web M5 can be cut by the rotating screw 161. The first web M5 after being cut out becomes the minute body M6. The sub-segment M6 descends in the housing part 162.

The housing portion 162 is connected to the humidifying portion 233. The humidifier 233 is formed of a vaporizing humidifier. Thereby, the humidified air is supplied into the housing portion 162. This humidified air also suppresses adhesion of the segment M6 to the inner wall of the propeller 161 or the casing 162 due to static electricity.

A mixing section 17 is disposed downstream of the subdividing section 16. The mixing section 17 is a section for performing a mixing step of mixing the finely divided body M6 and the additive. The mixing section 17 includes an additive supply section 171, a pipe 172, and a blower 173.

The pipe 172 is a flow passage through which the mixture M7 of the subdivided body M6 and the additive passes, connecting the outer shell portion 162 of the subdivided portion 16 and the outer shell portion 182 of the disassembled portion 18.

An additive supply unit 171 is connected to an intermediate portion of the pipe 172. The additive supply unit 171 includes a housing 170 in which an additive is stored, and a screw feeder 174 provided in the housing 170. By the rotation of the screw feeder 174, the additive in the housing part 170 is pressed out of the housing part 170 and supplied into the tube 172. The additive supplied into the pipe 172 is mixed with the finely divided body M6 to form a mixture M7.

Examples of the substance supplied from the additive supply unit 171 include a binder for binding fibers to each other, a colorant for coloring the fibers, an aggregation inhibitor for inhibiting aggregation of the fibers, a flame retardant for making the fibers or the like difficult to burn, a paper strength enhancer for enhancing the paper strength of the sheet S, and a defibrinate, and one or more of these substances may be used in combination. Hereinafter, as an example, a case where the additive is the resin P1 as the adhesive material is explained. By including the additive with a binder material that binds the fibers to each other, the strength of the sheet S can be improved.

Powder or particle-like resin P1 can be used. For example, a thermoplastic resin, a curable resin, or the like can be used as the resin P1, but a thermoplastic resin is preferably used. Examples of the thermoplastic resin include AS resin, ABS resin, polyethylene, polypropylene, polyolefin such AS ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA), modified polyolefin, acrylic resin such AS polymethyl methacrylate, polyester such AS polyvinyl chloride, polystyrene, polyethylene terephthalate, and polybutylene terephthalate, polyamide (nylon) such AS nylon 6, nylon 46, nylon 66, nylon 610, nylon 612, nylon 11, nylon 12, nylon 6-12, and nylon 6-66, polyphenylene ether, polyoxymethylene, polyether, polyphenylene oxide, polyether ether ketone, polycarbonate, polyphenylene sulfide, thermoplastic polyimide, liquid crystal polymer such AS polyether imide and aromatic polyester, styrene, polyolefin, polyvinyl chloride, polyurethane, polyester, polyamide, polybutadiene, trans-polyisoprene, and the like, Various thermoplastic elastomers such as fluororubbers and chlorinated polyethylenes, and one or a combination of two or more selected from these may be used. Preferably, a polyester or a polyester-containing material is used as the thermoplastic resin.

Further, a blower 173 is provided in the middle of the pipe 172 and downstream of the additive supply unit 171. The mixing of the finely divided body M6 and the resin P1 is promoted by the action of a rotating portion such as a blade provided in the blower 173. Further, the blower 173 can generate an air flow toward the dismantling portion 18. By this airflow, the finely divided body M6 and the resin P1 can be stirred in the pipe 172. Thus, the mixture M7 can flow into the dismantling section 18 in a state where the finely divided body M6 and the resin P1 are uniformly dispersed. Further, the finely divided bodies M6 in the mixture M7 are disassembled in passing through the inside of the tube 172, thereby becoming finer fibrous.

The dismantling section 18 is a section for performing a dismantling process of dismantling the intertwined fibers in the mixture M7. The detaching unit 18 includes a drum unit 181 and a housing unit 182 that houses the drum unit 181.

The drum portion 181 is a screen formed of a cylindrical net body and rotating around its central axis. The mixture M7 flows into the drum part 181. Then, the drum part 181 rotates, whereby the fibers and the like smaller than the mesh in the mixture M7 can be passed through the drum part 181. At this point, mixture M7 will be disassembled.

The housing portion 182 is connected to the humidifying portion 234. The humidifier 234 is a gasification type humidifier. Thereby, the humidified air is supplied into the casing portion 182. Since the inside of the casing 182 can be humidified by the humidified air, the mixture M7 can be prevented from adhering to the inner wall of the casing 182 due to static electricity.

Further, the mixture M7 having been disassembled in the drum part 181 falls down while being dispersed in the air, and falls down toward the second web forming part 19 located below the drum part 181. The second web forming portion 19 is a portion where the second web forming step of forming the second web M8 from the mixture M7 is performed. The second web forming section 19 has a mesh belt 191, an erection roller 192, and a suction portion 193.

Mesh belt 191 is an endless belt for the accumulation of mixture M7. The web 191 is wound around four tension rollers 192. Then, the mixture M7 on the mesh belt 191 is transported to the downstream side by the rotational drive of the bridge roller 192.

Further, most of the mixture M7 on the mesh belt 191 is larger than the mesh of the mesh belt 191. Thereby, the mixture M7 is restricted from passing through the mesh belt 191, and can therefore be accumulated on the mesh belt 191. Further, the mixture M7 is accumulated on the mesh belt 191 and is conveyed to the downstream side together with the mesh belt 191, and thus is formed as the layered second web M8.

The suction unit 193 is a suction mechanism that sucks air from below the mesh belt 191. This allows the mixture M7 to be sucked onto the mesh belt 191, thereby promoting the accumulation of the mixture M7 on the mesh belt 191.

A tube 246 is connected to the suction portion 193. A blower 263 is provided in the middle of the pipe 246. By the operation of the blower 263, a suction force can be generated by the suction portion 193.

The humidifying unit 236 is disposed downstream of the dismantling unit 18. The humidifying unit 236 is composed of an ultrasonic humidifier similar to the humidifying unit 235. This allows moisture to be supplied to the second web M8, and thereby the moisture content of the second web M8 can be adjusted. This adjustment can suppress the second web M8 from being attracted to the mesh belt 191 by static electricity. Thereby, the second web M8 is easily peeled off from the web belt 191 at the position where the web belt 191 is folded back by the bridge roller 192.

The total moisture amount added to the humidifying units 231 to 236 is preferably 0.5 parts by mass or more and 20 parts by mass or less with respect to 100 parts by mass of the material before humidification, for example.

A forming section 20 is disposed downstream of the second web forming section 19. The forming section 20 is a portion where a sheet forming step of forming a sheet S from the second web M8 is performed. The molding section 20 includes a pressing section 201 and a heating section 202.

The pressing section 201 has a pair of reduction rollers 203, and can press the second web M8 between the reduction rollers 203 without heating it. Thereby, the density of the second web M8 was increased. In addition, as the degree of heating at this time, for example, a degree of not melting the resin P1 is preferable. The second web M8 is then conveyed toward the heating section 202. One of the pair of reduction rolls 203 is a drive roll driven by an operation of a motor not shown, and the other is a driven roll.

The heating section 202 has a pair of heating rollers 204, and is capable of pressing while heating the second web M8 between the heating rollers 204. By this heating and pressing, the resin P1 is melted in the second web M8, and the fibers are bonded to each other via the melted resin P1. Thereby, the sheet S is formed. Then, the sheet S is conveyed toward the cutting section 21. One of the pair of heating rollers 204 is a driving roller driven by an operation of a motor not shown, and the other is a driven roller.

A cutting section 21 is disposed downstream of the forming section 20. The cutting unit 21 is a part that performs a cutting process for cutting the sheet S. The cut-off portion 21 has a first cutter 211 and a second cutter 212.

The first cutter 211 cuts the sheet S in a direction intersecting, particularly orthogonal to, the conveying direction of the sheet S.

The second cutter 212 is a member that cuts the sheet S downstream of the first cutter 211 in a direction parallel to the conveying direction of the sheet S. The cutting is an operation of removing unnecessary portions at both side ends of the sheet S, i.e., the ends in the + y axis direction and the-y axis direction, to thereby align the width of the sheet S, and the cut and removed portions are referred to as "trimmings".

By cutting the first cutter 211 and the second cutter 212, a sheet S having a desired shape and size is obtained. Then, the sheet S is further conveyed to the downstream side and stored in the storage section 22.

Each part of the fibrous body forming apparatus 100 is electrically connected to the control unit 28. The operations of these respective parts are controlled by the control unit 28.

The control Unit 28 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 281 and a storage Unit 282. The CPU281 can execute various programs stored in the storage unit 282, and can perform various determinations, various commands, and the like, for example. For example, as will be described later, the operation of the feed roller 32 is controlled based on the detection result of the detection unit 54.

The storage unit 282 stores various programs such as a program for manufacturing the sheet S, various calibration curves, tables, and the like.

The control unit 28 may be incorporated in the fibrous body forming apparatus 100, or may be provided in an external device such as an external computer. The external device may communicate with the fiber forming apparatus 100 via a cable or the like, communicate with the fiber forming apparatus 100 wirelessly, or connect to the fiber forming apparatus 100 via a network such as the internet, for example.

Note that, for example, the CPU281 and the memory unit 282 may be integrated into a single unit, or the CPU281 may be incorporated in an external device such as a computer in which the fiber forming apparatus 100 is incorporated and the memory unit 282 is provided outside, or the memory unit 282 may be incorporated in an external device such as a computer in which the fiber forming apparatus 100 is incorporated and the CPU281 is provided outside.

The control unit 28 may be a component of the small chip supply apparatus 1 or may not be a component of the small chip supply apparatus 1, but hereinafter, the control unit 28 will be described as a component of the small chip supply apparatus 1.

Next, the die feeding apparatus 1 will be described in detail.

As shown in fig. 2, the small chip supply device 1 includes: a raw material supply unit 3 for supplying a raw material sheet M1; a coarse crushing section 4 for coarsely crushing the raw material sheet M1; a storage unit 5 that stores the coarse chips M2; and a metering unit 6 for metering the coarse chips M2.

The raw material supply unit 3 includes: a storage unit 31 for storing a plurality of sheet materials M1; a feed roller 32 that feeds out the raw material sheet M1 stored in the storage section 31; a contact portion 33 that contacts the end of the raw material sheet M1 that has passed through the feed roller 32; the guide member 34 as a guide portion guides the raw material sheet M1 having passed through the contact portion 33 to the coarse crushing portion 4. The raw material supply unit 3 is a part for performing the raw material supply step.

The storage unit 31 includes a storage box 311 as a storage unit, a lifting plate 312 as a lifting unit, and a biasing unit 313 as a first biasing unit.

The storage box 311 is a box body that stores the raw material sheet M1 therein. The storage box 311 is formed of a box body having an opening that opens toward the + z axis, i.e., vertically upward. In the storage box 311, the plurality of material sheets M1 are stacked in the z-axis direction in a state where the thickness directions are aligned. The maximum number of the raw material sheets M1 that can be stored in the storage box 311 is not particularly limited, but is preferably 10 to 10000, more preferably 100 to 2000.

The lifting plate 312 is a portion on which the raw material sheet M1 is superimposed on the upper surface thereof. The lifting plate 312 is disposed in the storage box 311 in a state where the thickness direction thereof coincides with the thickness direction of the material sheet M1. The lifting plate 312 is provided with an urging portion 313 on a lower surface thereof.

The biasing portion 313 is provided between the bottom plate of the storage box 311 and the lifting plate 312, and the biasing portion 313 biases the lifting plate 312 toward the + z axis side. As the biasing portion 313, for example, various spring members can be used. As shown in fig. 2, for example, when the number of the raw material sheets M1 is large, the biasing portion 313 is compressed by the total weight of the raw material sheets M1. As the raw material sheet M1 is fed from this state, the number of raw material sheets M1 decreases, and the lifting plate 312 moves gradually from the illustrated state toward the + z axis. As a result, the entire raw material sheet M1 moves to the + z-axis side, and the position of the uppermost raw material sheet M1 in the z-axis direction is fixed. Therefore, the sheet is pressed toward the feed roller 32 with a constant pressure. Therefore, the sheet M1 is stably fed in the + x-axis direction by the feed roller 32 regardless of the increase or decrease in the number of sheets.

In the illustrated configuration, one biasing portion 313 is provided at the center of the storage box 311. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a plurality of urging portions 313 may be provided. The biasing portion 313 may be configured by a motor or the like, and may raise and lower the lifting plate 312.

The feed roller 32 is disposed vertically above the storage box 311. The delivery roller 32 is provided so as to be offset toward the contact portion 33 side of the housing box 311, i.e., toward the + x axis side. This enables the raw material sheet M1 to be fed out more reliably.

The feed roller 32 has a cylindrical or cylindrical shape and has a function of feeding the raw material sheets M1 one by rotating about its center axis O32. The feed roller 32 extends in the depth direction in fig. 2, that is, in a direction orthogonal to the feed direction. That is, the central axis O32 is arranged along the depth direction in fig. 2. The direction in which the feed roller 32 feeds the raw material sheet M1 is the horizontal direction. However, the feed roller 32 is not limited to this, and may be configured to feed the material sheet M1 in a direction inclined to the horizontal direction. In fig. 2, a conveyance path of the material sheet M1 is shown by an arrow α.

The feed roller 32 is not limited to a single cylindrical or cylindrical member, and may be formed of a plurality of divided roller groups provided along the center axis O32, for example.

The feed roller 32 is connected to a motor 321 shown in fig. 2 and 3 directly or through a speed reducer, and is rotated around the center axis O32 by the operation of the motor 321. As shown in fig. 3, the motor 321 is electrically connected to the control unit 28 via a motor driver D1, and is operated by energization. The motor 321 may be configured to rotate only in one direction indicated by an arrow in fig. 2, that is, in the counterclockwise direction, or may be configured to rotate in the direction opposite to the arrow in fig. 2, that is, in the clockwise direction, by changing the energization condition. When the motor 321 is rotatable in two directions, for example, the feeding of the raw sheet M1 can be stopped and returned to the original position by rotating the raw sheet M1 in the middle of feeding in a counter-rotation manner. The motor 321 may be configured to have a variable rotation speed by changing the energization condition, or may have a constant rotation speed.

Preferably, the surface of the delivery roller 32 is subjected to a treatment for increasing frictional resistance with the material sheet M1. This suppresses the idle rotation of the feed roller 32, and the material sheet M1 can be fed more reliably. The treatment is not particularly limited, and examples thereof include a treatment for providing a high friction resistance layer such as various rubbers and high molecular elastomers on the surface, a roughening treatment, and an embossing treatment.

The feed roller 32 is connected to a biasing portion 322 as a second biasing portion. The biasing portion 322 biases the feed roller 32 from the + z axis side toward the-z axis side. Thereby, the feed roller 32 rotates while being pressed against the material sheet M1. Therefore, the frictional force between the delivery roller 32 and the uppermost raw material sheet M1 is adjusted to a desired force, and the raw material sheet M1 can be delivered more reliably. Further, since the above-described biasing portion 313 biases the sheet M1 toward the + z axis, the sheet M1 and the feed roller 32 are pressed together in the direction of approaching each other, and the sheet M1 can be fed more reliably and stably. That is, the material sheet M1 can be fed more reliably and stably by the cooperation of the biasing portion 313 as the first biasing portion and the biasing portion 322 as the second biasing portion.

In addition, a plurality of delivery rollers 32 may be provided. In this case, it is preferable that the feed rollers 32 are arranged above the storage box 311 in a state where the central axes O32 are parallel to each other and arranged in the x-axis direction. Note that all the delivery rollers 32 may be connected to the motor 321, or all the delivery rollers may not be connected to the motor 321.

The contact portion 33 is configured to contact the end E1 on the + x-axis side of the raw material sheet M1 passing through the delivery roller 32, that is, on the front side in the conveying direction, and to change the path of the raw material sheet. The contact portion 33 is provided on the + x axis side of the feed roller 32. That is, the contact portion 33 is provided on the downstream side of the feed roller 32 in the conveyance direction of the material sheet M1.

The contact portion 33 has a contact surface 331 as an inclined surface inclined with respect to a first axis O1 which is an axis along the conveyance direction of the material sheet M1. In the present embodiment, the contact surface 331 is formed of a flat surface and is inclined so as to be directed vertically upward as it goes toward the downstream side in the conveyance direction of the material sheet M1. In other words, as shown in fig. 4, the contact surface 331 is expressed by a linear function x ═ kx (k is a positive coefficient) when viewed from the y-axis direction.

Such an abutting portion 33 is fixed to the storage portion 31 via a support member 35. The contact portion 33 may be configured to be detachable or not detachable. When the detachable structure is used, a plurality of contact portions 33 may be prepared and selectively attached. In this case, the contact surfaces 33 preferably have different inclination angles from each other.

Here, as shown in fig. 4, when the feed roller 32 feeds the material sheet M1, two material sheets M1 may be fed in a state of being overlapped with each other. In this case, as shown in fig. 5, when the end E1 or the end E2 on the downstream side in the conveyance direction of the raw material sheet M1 comes into contact with the contact surface 331, the end of the raw material sheet M1 is deformed, and air enters between the two raw material sheets M1. The frictional resistance between the two sheet materials M1 is sufficiently lowered by the air intake. As shown in fig. 6, when the feed roller 32 further rotates in this state, the material sheet M1 out of the two material sheets M1, which is in direct contact with the feed roller 32, is fed out while changing the path of advance, and is fed out with the end E1 being offset from the end E2. The upper sheet M1 and the lower sheet M1 may be conveyed together in a staggered state, or may be conveyed one by one in sequence. In any case, since the end E1 and the end E2 are prevented from being conveyed toward the coarse crushing section 4 in an aligned state, the generation of coarse fragments M2 becomes stable, and the load on the rotating blade edge 41 is reduced.

In this way, when the raw sheet M1 comes into contact with the contact portion 33 and the path is changed, the raw sheet M1 fed in a superimposed state can be separated and fed out. This enables the raw material sheet M1 to be stably and quantitatively supplied to the coarse crushing section 4. Therefore, the coarse chips M2 can be stably and quantitatively generated. As a result, the coarse chips M2 can be stably supplied to the defibration section 13 in a fixed amount, and the sheet S can be stably manufactured, thereby improving the quality of the sheet S.

The principle of separation of the two sheet materials M1 as described above is an example, and is not limited to this.

In addition, the present invention is superior to the conventional delay method shown in fig. 7 to 9 from the following point of view. The retard method is a method in which feed rollers are disposed on both sides in the thickness direction, i.e., the z-axis direction, and a sheet is nipped and conveyed by the two feed rollers. The delay method is a method in which the overlapped raw material sheets M1 are separated and fed out by adjusting the rotation direction and the rotation speed of each rotating roller.

As in the present embodiment, when the raw material sheet M1 is used waste paper, for example, the raw material sheet M1 may be fixed in a superposed state by the staple 200. As shown in fig. 7, for example, when the staple 200 is fixed on the downstream side in the feeding direction, the following phenomenon occurs. When the pair of upper and lower feed-out rollers 300 are rotated in the same direction, i.e., counterclockwise from the state shown in fig. 7, the staple 200 and the raw material sheet M1 are caught between the feed-out rollers 300 as shown in fig. 8, and a jam occurs. Further, the sheet of raw material M1 may be deformed and broken due to the occurrence of paper jam. As a result, the operation of the feed roller 300 may be stopped.

In contrast, in the present invention, when the feed-out roller 32 is further operated in the case where the staple 200 is fixed on the downstream side in the feeding direction as shown in fig. 10, the direction is changed by the abutting portion 33 together with the staple as shown in fig. 11, and the staple is fed in the current state.

As described above, according to the present invention, when the raw material sheet M1 is fixed by the staple 200, the sheet is not jammed although the sheet cannot be separated, and the operation of the feed-out roller 32 is not stopped. Therefore, the present invention can stably supply the coarse chips M2 compared to the conventional delay method.

Even when the upstream end portions E1 and E2 are fixed to each other by the staple 200, the conventional technique tends to cause a paper jam, but the present invention is unlikely to cause a paper jam. In addition, a case where the raw material sheet M1 is folded when it is waste paper is also considered. In this case, although not shown, in the conventional delay method, the bent portion and the periphery thereof are caught between the delivery rollers 300, and thus the jam is likely to occur similarly. In contrast, in the present invention, the feed can be stably carried out in a bent state.

The contact portion 33 has a contact surface 331, and the contact surface 331 is an inclined surface inclined with respect to the conveyance direction of the material sheet M1 fed by the feed roller 32. Thus, the fed raw material sheet M1 more reliably comes into contact with the contact surface 331. Therefore, as described above, the separation can be performed more reliably.

The contact surface 331 as the inclined surface is a flat surface. Thus, the raw sheet M1 can be stably separated because it has the same inclination angle regardless of which portion of the contact surface 331 is in contact with.

The contact surface 331 may be a curved surface.

In addition, in order to increase the resistance with the raw material sheet M1, unevenness may be formed on the surface of the contact surface 311. The irregularities preferably extend in a direction along the conveying direction of the raw material M1.

As shown in fig. 4, the angle θ formed by the conveyance direction of the material sheet M1 by the delivery roller 32 and the contact surface 331 as the inclined surface is preferably 20 ° or more and 70 ° or less, and more preferably 40 ° or more and 60 ° or less. This enables more reliable and stable separation.

For example, the angle θ of the contact surface 331 may be adjusted by adjusting the angle of the support member 35.

The raw material sheet M1 whose course has been changed by the contact portion 33 changes its course by the guide member 34, and is guided to the rough crush portion 4. The guide member 34 is provided on an extension of the path of the raw material sheet M1 changed by the contact portion 33. This makes it possible to more reliably make contact with and guide the material sheet M1 that has passed through the contact portion 33.

The guide member 34 has a curved surface 341 as a guide surface. Thereby, the material sheet M1 is smoothly guided. Further, the raw material sheet M1 is further changed in its course by this guide, and further moves toward the rough grinding section 4. Although described later, since the direction in which the path is changed by the contact portion 33 is different from the direction in which the raw material sheet M1 is supplied to the rough crushing portion 4, it is effective to provide such a guide member 34.

In this way, the small chip supply device 1 includes the guide member 34 as a guide portion, and the guide member 34 guides the raw material sheet M1, the path of which has been changed by the contact portion 33, to the rough crushing portion 4. This makes it possible to more reliably direct the raw material sheet M1 that has passed through the contact portion 33 toward the rough grinding portion 4. Therefore, the coarse chips M2 can be supplied more stably.

The coarse crushing section 4 is a section for performing a coarse crushing step of coarsely crushing the raw material sheet M1 supplied from the raw material supply section 3 in an atmosphere or the like. The rough crushing section 4 includes a pair of rotating blades 41 and a motor 42 for rotationally driving each rotating blade 41. Each rotary blade 41 and the motor 42 are connected directly or via a speed reducer not shown.

The pair of rotary blades 41 rotate in opposite directions around the center axis O41, and can roughly crush the raw material sheet M1 therebetween, that is, cut the raw material sheet M1 to form rough pieces M2. The shape and size of the coarse pieces M2 are preferably adapted to the defibration process in the defibration section 13, and are, for example, preferably small pieces with a side length of 100mm or less, and more preferably small pieces with a side length of 10mm to 70 mm.

The center axes O41 of the respective rotary blades 41 are provided parallel to each other. Further, each center axis O41 is parallel to the center axis O32 of the delivery roller 32. The rotary blades 41 are arranged in parallel with the path of the raw material sheet M1 changed by the contact portion 33. The direction in which the raw material sheet M1 is inserted into the coarse crushing section 4 is different from the direction in which the forward path is changed by the contact section 33. That is, the direction of the conveyance path of the material sheet M1 in each rotary blade 41 is different from the direction in which the forward path is changed by the contact portion 33.

Specifically, the traveling direction of the raw material sheet M1 immediately after the contact surface 331 is the + x-axis direction and the direction having the vector component in the + z-axis direction. The direction in which the pair of rotary blades 41 of the coarse crushing unit 4 are inserted through the guide member 34 is the + x-axis direction and the direction having the vector component in the-z-axis direction. Thus, the generated coarse chips M2 fall vertically downward due to their own weight.

In this way, the rough crush section 4 has a pair of rotating blades 41, and the direction in which the raw material sheet M1 is inserted between the pair of rotating blades 41 is different from the direction in which the course is changed by the contact portion 33. Accordingly, the coarse chips M2 can be dropped and supplied to the storage 5, and therefore, the conveyance of the coarse chips M2 to the storage 5 is facilitated.

The motor 42 is electrically connected to the control unit 28 via a motor driver D2, and is operated by energization to rotate the rotary blades 41. In the present embodiment, the motor 42 is provided in common to the rotary blades 41. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, two motors 42 may be provided and connected to the respective rotary blades 41.

The coarse chips M2 generated by the coarse crushing unit 4 fall down and are supplied to the storage unit 5. As shown in fig. 2, the storage unit 5 is a portion where the coarse chips M2 generated by the coarse crushing unit 4 are temporarily stored before being supplied to the defibration unit 13.

The storage section 5 includes a storage tank 51, a rotating body 52, a discharge port 53, a detection section 54, and a foreign object capturing section 55. The storage section 5 has a function of quantitatively and stably supplying the coarse chips M2 to the defibrating section 13 by temporarily storing and discharging the coarse chips M2. The coarse chips M2 can be generated and supplied in a more stable and quantitative manner by the synergistic effect of the advantages achieved by the reservoir 5 and the advantages achieved by the contact portion 33.

The stock tank 51 is provided on the-z-axis side of the coarse crushing portion 4 and at a position overlapping the coarse crushing portion 4 when viewed from the + z-axis side. The reservoir tank 51 is a bottomed container open to the + z axis side. The coarse chips M2 generated in the coarse crushing portion 4 are temporarily stored in the storage tank 51.

The rotating body 52 is provided at the central portion of the inner bottom of the reservoir 51. The rotating body 52 is a member in which a plurality of blades 521 are arranged in a radial shape. The rotating body 52 rotates, whereby the coarse chips M2 in the storage tank 51 can be agitated and guided to the discharge port 53 while being disassembled.

As shown in fig. 2 and 3, the rotating body 52 is connected to a motor 522 shown in the figure directly or through a speed reducer not shown in the figure. The motor 522 is electrically connected to the control unit 28 via a motor driver D3, and the operation thereof is controlled by the control unit 28. The motor 522 may be configured to rotate only in one direction indicated by an arrow in fig. 2, or may be configured to rotate in a direction opposite to the direction indicated by the arrow in fig. 2 by changing the energization condition. The motor 522 may be configured to have a variable rotation speed by changing energization conditions, or may have a constant rotation speed.

The discharge port 53 is a cylindrical member having a function of discharging the coarse chips M2 in the storage tank 51. The discharge port 53 is provided so as to protrude outward from the side portion of the reservoir tank 51. The discharge port 53 is provided to be offset toward the bottom of the reservoir tank 51. The discharge port 53 is provided so that the inside thereof communicates with the interior of the reservoir tank 51. The coarse chips M2 that have been stirred by the rotating body 52 and have moved are discharged from the discharge port 53 and fall toward the metering section 6.

In addition, the discharge port 53 may be provided on the bottom of the reservoir tank 51. The discharge port 53 may be provided with a shutter for switching between passage and interruption of the coarse chips M2.

The detection unit 54 has a function of detecting the amount of the coarse chips M2 in the storage unit 5. The detection unit 54 is a transmission type optical sensor having a light emitting unit 541 and a light receiving unit 542. The light receiving unit 542 detects the light L emitted from the light emitting unit 541. The light emitting unit 541 and the light receiving unit 542 are provided on the inner side of the storage unit 5, and are provided at positions offset to the + z axis side. The light emitting unit 541 and the light receiving unit 542 are electrically connected to the control unit 28.

When the light receiving unit 542 receives the light L, information on the received light or the amount of received light is photoelectrically converted, and the output signal is processed by the control unit 28. For example, when the amount of light received by the light receiving unit 542 is less than the predetermined value stored in the storage unit 282 for a predetermined time, the control unit 28 determines that the coarse debris M2 has been accumulated at the positions of the light emitting unit 541 and the light receiving unit 542. This will be described in detail below.

The detection unit 54 is not limited to a transmission-type optical sensor, and may be a reflection-type optical sensor. The detection unit 54 is not limited to an optical sensor, and may be configured to measure the total weight of the coarse chips M2 in the storage unit 5, for example.

Further, the light emitting unit 541 and the light receiving unit 542 may be provided in plural pairs.

The foreign matter capturing portion 55 has a function of capturing foreign matter mixed in the coarse pieces M2 and a substance that can be attracted by a magnet, for example, a metal staple 200 or the like. The foreign matter capturing portion 55 is provided at the bottom of the storage tank 51 and in the vicinity of the discharge port 53. As the foreign matter capturing portion 55, for example, a permanent magnet can be used. The permanent magnet is not particularly limited, and for example, an alloy magnet, a ferrite magnet, a rare-earth magnet, or the like can be used. The alloy magnet is not particularly limited, and examples thereof include an Fe-Al-Ni-Co magnet (Fe-Al-Ni-Co magnet: Alnico magnet), an Fe-Cr-Co magnet (Fe-Cr-Co magnet), and the like. The ferrite magnet is not particularly limited, and examples thereof include hard ferrite (ceramic magnet). The rare earth magnet is not particularly limited, and examples thereof include Sm-Co magnets (samarium-cobalt magnets), Nd-Fe-B magnets (neodymium-iron-boron magnets: neodymium magnets), and the like. The foreign substance capturing part 55 may be any type of object such as a bonded magnet, a sintered magnet, or a pressed powder magnet.

The shape of the permanent magnet may be any shape such as a rod, a plate, or a ring. The number of permanent magnets is not particularly limited. The magnetic flux density of the permanent magnet is not particularly limited, and is preferably 8000G or more and 15000G or less, and more preferably 10000G or more and 13000G or less, for example.

In this way, the storage section 5 includes the foreign matter capturing section 55, and the foreign matter capturing section 55 attracts and captures the foreign matter mixed in the coarse chips M2 as the small pieces by magnetic force. This prevents or suppresses the foreign matter having a specific gravity different from that of the coarse chips M2 from being discharged into the measuring section 6, and thus the quantitativeness can be ensured more reliably. Further, it is possible to prevent or suppress the metal piece or the like from being supplied to the downstream side defibration section 13, and thus it is possible to prevent or suppress the damage of the rotating blade of the defibration section 13, and it is possible to prevent or suppress the quality of the sheet S from being degraded by the mixing of foreign matter.

The measuring unit 6 includes a bottomed cylindrical container 61 as a receiving unit, a load cell 62 as a weight measuring unit provided on the bottom side of the container 61, and a rotation drive source 63. The container 61 is a member that temporarily stores the coarse chips M2 discharged from the discharge port 53. The measuring section 6 is a section for performing a measuring step.

The load cell 62 has a function of detecting an external force and converting a detection result thereof into an electric signal to output the electric signal. The load cell 62 is provided to support the container 61 from the bottom side. This allows the weight of the coarse chips M2 stored in the container 61 to be detected.

Further, load cell 62 is electrically connected to control unit 28 shown in fig. 1, and the detection result of load cell 62 is sent to control unit 28. The type of the load cell 62 is not particularly limited, and may be a magnetostrictive type, a capacitive type, a gyro type, or a strain gauge type.

Further, as shown in fig. 3, the container 61 is connected to a rotation drive source 63. The rotation drive source 63 is electrically connected to the control unit 28 via a motor driver D4, and the operation thereof is controlled by the control unit 28. The rotation drive source 63 rotates the opening from the upward facing state to the downward facing state as indicated by the two-dot chain line in fig. 2 as indicated by the solid line in fig. 2, and the orientation of the container 61 can be changed. This allows the coarse chips M2 retained in the container 61 to fall downward and to be fed to the chute 122. Further, the method of dropping the coarse chips M2 downward from the container 61 is not limited to the above-described method, and may be a method including an opening provided in the bottom of the container 61 and a shutter for opening and closing the opening, and including a control for opening and closing the opening in the bottom of the container 61.

When the weight of the coarse chips M2 detected by the load cell 62 reaches a predetermined amount, the container 61 is rotated, and the predetermined amount of coarse chips M2 are dropped to the chute 122 and supplied to the defibrating part 13. In this manner, the small chip supply apparatus 1 includes the measuring section 6, and the measuring section 6 measures the coarse chips M2 as small chips discharged from the discharge port 53 of the storage section 5. This enables the coarse chips M2 to be stably and quantitatively supplied to the defibration section 13. Therefore, the sheet S can be stably manufactured, and the quality of the sheet S can be improved.

The chute 122 is disposed below the metering section 6, and has a funnel shape, for example. This can receive the coarse chips M2 falling from the measuring unit 6.

A humidifying unit 231 is disposed above the chute 122. The humidifying unit 231 humidifies the coarse chips M2 in the chute 122. The humidifying unit 231 includes a filter, not shown, containing moisture, and is configured as a warm air vaporization type humidifier that supplies humidified air having increased humidity to the coarse chips M2 by passing air through the filter. By supplying the humidified air to the coarse chips M2, it is possible to suppress the coarse chips M2 from being attached to the chute 122 and the like by static electricity.

The chute 122 is connected to the defibrating part 13 via a pipe 241. The coarse chips M2 collected in the chute 122 are conveyed to the defiberizing section 13 through the pipe 241.

As described above, the small chip supply device 1 includes: a raw material supply unit 3 for supplying a raw material sheet M1; a rough crushing section 4 that roughly crushes the raw material sheet M1 supplied from the raw material supply section 3 to generate rough chips M2 as small pieces; and a storage unit 5 that stores the coarse chips M2 generated by the coarse crushing unit 4. The raw material supply unit 3 further includes: a feed roller 32 that feeds out the raw material sheet M1; and a contact portion 33 which contacts an end of the raw sheet M1 passing through the feed roller 32, thereby changing the path of the raw sheet M1. Thus, when the raw sheet M1 abuts against the abutting portion 33 and the advancing path is changed, the fed raw sheets M1 in the overlapped state can be separated and fed one by one. Therefore, the raw material sheet M1 can be stably and quantitatively supplied to the coarse crushing section 4, and the coarse chips M2 can be stably and quantitatively generated and supplied.

The fibrous body forming apparatus 100 further includes a small piece supplying device 1; a defibering unit 13 for defibering the coarse chips M2 supplied as the chips by the chip supplying apparatus 1; a second web forming section 19 as a stacking section for stacking the defibrated product M3 generated by the defibrating section 13; and a forming section 20 for forming the second web M8 as a stack produced by the second web forming section 19. This enables the sheet S to be stably manufactured while enjoying the advantages of the small-piece supplying apparatus 1 described above, and the quality of the sheet S can be improved.

Next, the control operation of the control unit 28 will be described based on the flowchart shown in fig. 13.

In step S101, the respective portions of the fibrous body forming apparatus 100 are driven to start sheet production. That is, the supply of the raw material sheet M1 is started.

Next, in step S102, it is determined whether or not the amount of the coarse chips M2 in the storage unit 5 shown in fig. 2 exceeds a predetermined amount for a predetermined time or more. That is, it is determined whether or not the state exceeding the predetermined amount continues for a predetermined time or more. The determination is performed based on a time threshold and an amount threshold stored in the storage unit 282 in advance.

When it is determined in step S102 that the amount of the coarse chips M2 in the bank 5 exceeds the predetermined amount for the predetermined time or more, the supply of the raw material sheet M1 is stopped in step S103. That is, the operation of the feed roller 32 shown in fig. 2 is stopped. Thus, the coarse chips M2 continue to be discharged from the discharge port 53, but the operation of supplying the coarse chips M2 to the reservoir 5 is stopped. Therefore, the amount of the coarse chips M2 in the reservoir 5 can be prevented from becoming excessively large. By performing such control, even if the falling coarse debris M2 momentarily blocks the light L, it is possible to prevent such a situation from being erroneously detected that the amount of the coarse debris M2 in the storage section 5 becomes equal to or greater than a predetermined amount.

If it is determined in step S102 that the amount of the coarse chips M2 in the storage unit 5 does not exceed the predetermined amount for the predetermined time or more, the process proceeds to step S106.

Then, in step S104, it is determined whether or not the amount of the coarse chips M2 in the storage unit 5 is less than a predetermined amount for a predetermined time or more. When it is determined that the amount of the coarse chips M2 in the bank 5 is less than the predetermined amount for the predetermined time or more, the supply of the raw material sheet M1 is restarted in step S105. That is, the operation of the feed roller 32 shown in fig. 2 is resumed.

Then, in step S106, it is determined whether or not the sheet manufacturing is completed. This determination is made based on, for example, whether or not there is a stop instruction from the user, whether or not the set number of sheets S have been manufactured, whether or not the set number of raw material sheets M1 have been supplied, and the like.

If it is determined in step S106 that the process has not been completed, the process returns to step S102, and the subsequent steps are sequentially repeated.

In this manner, the small chip supply apparatus 1 includes the detection unit 54 and the control unit 28, the detection unit 54 detects the amount of the coarse chips M2 as small chips in the storage unit 5, and the control unit 28 controls the operation of the feed roller 32 based on the detection result of the detection unit 54. Thus, the supply amount of the raw material sheet M1 can be adjusted according to the amount of the coarse chips M2 in the bank 5. Therefore, the coarse chips M2 can be generated and supplied further quantitatively and stably.

The control unit 28 controls to stop the operation of the feed roller 32 when the amount of the coarse chips M2 as small pieces in the storage unit 5 exceeds a predetermined amount. This can prevent the amount of coarse chips M2 in the storage section 5 from becoming excessively large. Therefore, for example, clogging of the coarse chips M2 in the discharge port 53 can be prevented or suppressed. Accordingly, the coarse chips M2 can be generated and supplied further quantitatively and stably.

In the present embodiment, the case where the supply of the raw material sheet M1 is stopped, that is, the operation of the delivery roller 32 is stopped in order to adjust the amount of the coarse chips M2 in the stock section 5 has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, the rotation speed of the delivery roller 32 may be reduced or the rotation speed of the rotating body 52 in the stock section 5 may be adjusted to be increased.

Although the chip supplying device and the fiber forming device of the present invention have been described above with respect to the illustrated embodiments, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the respective portions constituting the chip supplying device and the fiber forming device may be replaced with arbitrary structures that can exhibit the same functions. In addition, any structure may be added.

Description of the symbols

1 … a die supply; 3 … raw material supply part; 4 … coarse crushing part; 5 … reservoir; 6 … a metering part; 13 … defibering part; 14 … screening part; 15 … a first web forming portion; 16 … subdivision; 17 … mixing section; 18 … disassembled part; 19 … a second web forming portion; 20 … forming section; 21 … cutting part; 22 … storage part; 27 … recovery part; 28 … control section; 31 … storage part; 32 … exit roller; 33 … abutment; 34 … a guide member; 35 … support member; 41 … rotating blade; a 42 … motor; 51 … storage tank; 52 … a rotating body; 53 … discharge port; 54 … a detection part; 55 … foreign matter catching part; a 61 … container; 62 … load cell; 63 … a rotary drive source; 100 … a fiber body forming device; 122 … chute; 141 … roller part; 142 … outer shell portion; 151 … mesh belt; 152 … mounting rollers; 153 … suction part; a 161 … propeller; 162 … an outer shell portion; 170 … outer shell portion; 171 … additive supply; 172 … tubes; 173 a blower 173 …; 174 … screw feeder; 181 … a drum portion; 182 … a housing portion; 191 … mesh belt; 192 … mounting rollers; 193 … suction part; 200 … staples; 201 … pressurizing part; 202 … heating section; 203 … calender rolls; 204 … heated roller; 211 … first cutter; 212 … second cutter; 231 … humidifying part; 232 … humidifying part; 233 … humidifying section; 234 … a humidifying part; 235 … a humidifying part; 236 … humidifying part; 241 … pipes; 242 … tubes; 243 … tube; 244 … tubes; 245 … tubes; 246 … tube; 261 … blower; a 262 … blower; 263 … blower; 281 … CPU; 282 … storage section; 300 … exit roller; 311 … containing box; 312 … lifter plate; 313 … force application part; 321 … motor; 322 … force application part; 331 … abutting face; 341 … curved surface; 521 … leaf blade; 522 … motor; 541 … light-emitting part; 542 … light receiving section; an L … light; d1 … motor drive; d2 … motor drive; d3 … motor drive; d4 … motor drive; e1 … end; e2 … end; m1 … raw material flakes; m2 … coarse chips; m3 … defibrinates; a first screen of M4-1 …; a second screen of M4-2 …; an M5 … first web; m6 … subdivision; a mixture of M7 …; an M8 … second web; an O1 … first shaft; o32 … central axis; o41 … central axis; a P1 … resin; an S … sheet; alpha … arrows.