SCREW EXTRUDER
20200031017 ยท 2020-01-30
Assignee
Inventors
Cpc classification
B29K2509/00
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B29B7/488
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B29C2043/3433
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B29C2948/92876
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B29C43/58
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B29B7/728
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B29K2021/00
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B29B7/60
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B29B7/72
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B29B7/52
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B29C48/92
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B29C48/0011
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B29C43/34
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B29C2043/5808
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B29C2043/5875
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B29C48/395
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B29C48/41
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
International classification
B29B7/48
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B29C48/92
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B29B7/74
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B29B7/72
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
Abstract
A screw extruder for extruding a kneaded material includes a screw and a casing housing the screw and having a material supply port on an upstream side in an extrusion direction of the kneaded material and a tip-side opening on a downstream side in the extrusion direction. A pressure sensor for measuring a pressure inside the casing is provided between a downstream end of the supply port and the tip-side opening of the casing. A rotational speed of the screw is controlled depending on the pressure measured by the pressure sensor.
Claims
1. A screw extruder for extruding a kneaded material, comprising: a screw; and a casing housing the screw and having a material supply port on an upstream side in an extrusion direction of the kneaded material and a tip-side opening on a downstream side in the extrusion direction, wherein a pressure sensor for measuring a pressure inside the casing is provided between a downstream end of the supply port and the tip-side opening of the casing, and wherein a rotational speed of the screw is controlled depending on the pressure measured by the pressure sensor.
2. The screw extruder according to claim 1, wherein an inner wall surface of the casing has an outer edge shape in which two circles partially overlap each other on the same plane in a section perpendicular to the extrusion direction of the kneaded material, wherein a pair of left and right screws, as the screw, are housed in the casing, and wherein a pressure inside the casing in a part defined in the section by a virtual line horizontally extending from a top portion at a bottom-side center of the casing and virtual lines respectively extending downward from rotation centers of the pair of left and right screws is measured by the pressure sensor.
3. The screw extruder according to claim 2, wherein a plurality of pressure sensors, as the pressure sensor, are provided so as to measure respective pressures in a left chamber of the casing and a right chamber of the casing.
4. The screw extruder according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of pressure sensors, as the pressure sensor, are provided so as to measure pressures at a plurality of places in the extrusion direction inside the casing.
5. The screw extruder according to claim 2, wherein a plurality of pressure sensors, as the pressure sensor, are provided so as to measure pressures at a plurality of places in the extrusion direction inside the casing.
6. The screw extruder according to claim 3, wherein a plurality of pressure sensors, as the pressure sensor, are provided so as to measure pressures at a plurality of places in the extrusion direction inside the casing.
7. The screw extruder according to claim 1, wherein a pair of upper and lower rollers for forming the kneaded material into a sheet shape are disposed on a downstream fore side of the casing, wherein load sensors for measuring loads acting on the rollers are provided in the rollers, and wherein rotational speeds of the rollers are controlled depending on a combination of the pressure measured by the pressure sensor and the loads measured by the load sensors.
8. The screw extruder according to claim 7, wherein the casing has a tapered shape, and wherein the pressure inside the casing on an upstream side from the middle between the downstream end of the supply port and the tip-side opening of the casing is measured by the pressure sensor.
9. The screw extruder according to claim 1, wherein a pair of upper and lower rollers for forming the kneaded material into a sheet shape are disposed on a downstream fore side of the casing, wherein a bank portion pressure sensor for measuring a pressure in a bank portion that is a part between the casing and the rollers is provided in the bank portion, and wherein rotational speeds of the rollers are controlled depending on a combination of the pressure measured by the pressure sensor and the pressure measured by the bank portion pressure sensor.
10. The screw extruder according to claim 9, wherein the casing has a tapered shape, and wherein the pressure inside the casing on an upstream side from the middle between the downstream end of the supply port and the tip-side opening of the casing is measured by the pressure sensor.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0026]
[0027]
[0028]
[0029]
[0030]
[0031]
[0032]
[0033]
DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
[0034] Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. A screw extruder illustrated in each of the following embodiments is a screw extruder with roller-die (hereinafter, referred to as extruder with roller-die) for extruding a kneaded material of a polymer such as rubber and forms the extruded material into a sheet shape. The screw extruder according to the invention may be also applied to a machine called a pelletizer, which extrudes a kneaded material of a polymer from a die having a multiplicity of circular holes, and then cuts and forms the extruded material into cylindrical pellets.
(Configuration of Extruder with Roller-Die)
[0035] An extruder with roller-die 1 according to a first embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to
[0036] Each of the screws 2 and 3 includes a shaft portion 6 and a helical flight 7 provided on the outer peripheral surface of the shaft portion 6. The screws 2 and 3 are screws having the same shape and the same dimensions except that the torsion angles of the flights are opposite to each other. In addition, the screws 2 and 3 are coupled to rotate in opposite directions to each other. The screws 2 and 3 are rotated at the same rotational speed by a not-illustrated single driving unit.
[0037] The casing 4 has a shape tapered from the upstream side toward the downstream side in the extrusion direction of the kneaded material. The casing 4 includes a casing upstream portion 14 in which a material (kneaded material) supply port 15 is provided at the top thereof, and a casing downstream portion 24 which is circumferentially surrounded by a wall surface. The kneaded material such as rubber supplied to the supply port 15 from above is extruded to the bank portion 11 by the screws 2 and 3 rotating in opposite directions to each other, and then passed between the rollers 9 and 10. Thus, the kneaded material is formed into a sheet shape.
<Pressure Sensors>
[0038] As illustrated in
[0039] As illustrated in
[0040] As illustrated in
<Load Sensors>
[0041] As illustrated in
[0042]
[0043] More rotational energy of the screws 2 and 3 is consumed at a place where pressure increase (pressure) is large. Accordingly, when the pressure sensors 5 are placed at places where the difference from the pressure at the tip of the casing 4 can be measured easily, it is possible to measure pressure more suitable for the control of the rotational speeds of the screws 2 and 3. From this point, it is preferable to measure the pressure inside the casing 4 on the upstream side from the middle (L/2) of the space S between the downstream end 15a of the supply port 15 and the tip-side opening of the casing 4. In addition, the pressure inside the casing 4 in the part of the region S1 on the upstream side from the middle between the downstream end 15a of the supply port 15 and the tip-side opening of the casing 4 has a sufficient difference from each of the loads acting on the rollers 9 and 10 measured by the load sensors 8 (or pressure in the bank portion 11 in an embodiment illustrated in
(Control Method)
[0044] The method for controlling the rotational speeds of screws and the rotational speeds of rollers in the extruder with roller-die 1 will be described with reference to
[0045] The controller 12 calculates average pressure (kneaded portion average pressure) of the pressure (kneaded portion pressure) measured by the pressure sensor 5a and the pressure (kneaded portion pressure) measured by the pressure sensor 5b. In addition, the controller 12 calculates an average load (roller average load) of the loads (roller loads) measured by the two load sensors 8. When the extruder with roller-die 1 is engaging in extrusion of the kneaded material, the signals from the respective sensors 5a, 5b and 8 are always sent to the controller 12. The signals from the respective sensors 5a, 5b and 8 may be sent to the controller 12 at fixed intervals or the like.
<Control of Rotational Speed of Screw)
[0046] Based on the value of the aforementioned kneaded portion average pressure, the controller 12 controls the rotational speeds of the screws 2 and 3 as follows.
[0047] The controller 12 performs control to increase the rotational speeds of the screws 2 and 3 when the kneaded portion average pressure is lower than a predetermined (allowable) pressure range, and to decrease the rotational speeds of the screws 2 and 3 when the kneaded portion average pressure is higher than the predetermined (allowable) pressure range. In addition, when the kneaded portion average pressure is within the predetermined (allowable) pressure range, that is, proper (within the proper range), the controller 12 performs control to keep the rotational speeds of the screws 2 and 3 as they are (Step 1 (St1)).
[0048] The fact that the kneaded portion average pressure is low means that the filling state of the kneaded material in the casing 4 (casing downstream portion 24) is low. Therefore, when the rotational speeds of the screws 2 and 3 are increased, the filling state of the kneaded material is increased. On the contrary, the fact that the kneaded portion average pressure is high means that the filling state of the kneaded material in the casing 4 (casing downstream portion 24) is high (too high). Therefore, when the rotational speeds of the screws 2 and 3 are decreased, the filling state of the kneaded material is decreased.
[0049] Due to the aforementioned control, the filling state of the kneaded material in the casing 4 (casing downstream portion 24) is stabilized. As a result, the kneaded material is kneaded stably in the casing 4 (casing downstream portion 24) by the screws 2 and 3, so that the dispersion mixing property of the kneaded material can be enhanced.
<Control of Rotational Speed of Roller>
[0050] The controller 12 controls the rotational speeds of the rollers 9 and 10 based on a combination of the value of the kneaded portion average pressure and the value of the roller average load, as follows.
(1) When the kneaded portion average pressure is lower than the predetermined (allowable) pressure range, the rotational speeds of rollers are controlled as follows. The controller 12 performs control to decrease the rotational speeds of the rollers 9 and 10 when the roller average load is lower than a predetermined (allowable) load range, and to increase the rotational speeds of the rollers 9 and 10 when the roller average load is higher than the predetermined (allowable) load range. In addition, when the roller average load is within the predetermined (allowable) load range, that is, proper (within the proper range), the controller 12 performs control to increase the rotational speeds of the rollers 9 and 10 (Step 2_1 (St2_1)).
(2) When the kneaded portion average pressure is higher than the predetermined (allowable) pressure range, the rotational speeds of rollers are controlled as follows. The controller 12 performs control to decrease the rotational speeds of the rollers 9 and 10 when the roller average load is lower than the predetermined (allowable) load range, and to increase the rotational speeds of the rollers 9 and 10 when the roller average load is higher than the predetermined (allowable) load range. In addition, when the roller average load is within the predetermined (allowable) load range, that is, proper (within the proper range), the controller 12 performs control to decrease the rotational speeds of the rollers 9 and 10 (Step 2_3 (St2_3)).
(3) When the kneaded portion average pressure is within the predetermined (allowable) pressure range, the rotational speeds of rollers are controlled as follows. The controller 12 performs control to decrease the rotational speeds of the rollers 9 and 10 when the roller average load is lower than the predetermined (allowable) load range, and to increase the rotational speeds of the rollers 9 and 10 when the roller average load is higher than the predetermined (allowable) load range. In addition, when the roller average load is within the predetermined (allowable) load range, that is, proper (within the proper range), the controller 12 performs control to keep the rotational speeds of the rollers 9 and 10 as they are (Step 2_2 (St2_2)).
[0051] The aforementioned controls (1) to (3) can be described in another expression as follows. Independently of the value of the kneaded portion average pressure, the controller 12 performs control to decrease the rotational speeds of the rollers 9 and 10 when the roller average load is lower than the predetermined (allowable) load range, and to increase the rotational speed of the rollers 9 and 10 when the roller average load is higher than the predetermined (allowable) load range.
[0052] On the other hand, when the roller average load is within the predetermined (allowable) load range, that is, proper (within the proper range), the controller 12 performs control to increase, decrease or keep the rotational speeds of the rollers 9 and 10 depending on the fact that the controller 12 increases, decreases or keeps the rotational speeds of the screws 2 and 3. More specifically, the controller 12 performs control to increase the rotational speeds of the rollers 9 and 10 when increasing the rotational speeds of the screws 2 and 3, to decrease the rotational speeds of the rollers 9 and 10 when decreasing the rotational speeds of the screws 2 and 3, and to keep the rotational speeds of the rollers 9 and 10 as they are when keeping the rotational speeds of the screws 2 and 3 as they are.
[0053] When the rotational speeds of the rollers are controlled in the aforementioned manner, the pressure of the kneaded material on the upstream side from the rollers, that is, in the bank portion 11 is stabilized. Thus, the fluctuation of the volume of the kneaded material caught between the rollers 9 and 10 is reduced so that the kneading degree of the kneaded material in the casing 4 can be improved, and a sheet 50 stable in thickness and width can be manufactured.
[0054] The aforementioned control of the rotational speeds of the screws and the rotational speeds of the rollers can be summarized as in Table 1.
TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Roller Roller Roller average load average load average load Low Proper range High Kneaded portion Rotational Rotational Rotational average pressure speed of speed of speed of Low screw: increase screw: increase screw: increase Rotational Rotational Rotational speed of speed of speed of roller: decrease roller: increase roller: increase Kneaded portion Rotational Rotational Rotational average pressure speed of speed of speed of Proper range screw: keep screw: keep screw: keep Rotational Rotational Rotational speed of speed of speed of roller: decrease roller: keep roller: increase Kneaded portion Rotational Rotational Rotational average pressure speed of speed of speed of High screw: decrease screw: decrease screw: decrease Rotational Rotational Rotational speed of speed of speed of roller: decrease roller: decrease roller: increase
Second Embodiment
[0055]
[0056] The extruder with roller-die 102 according to the second embodiment is different from the extruder with roller-die 1 according to the first embodiment at the point of the number of pressure sensors 5 attached to the bottom portion of the casing 4 (casing downstream portion 24). In the extruder with roller-die 1 according to the first embodiment, one pressure sensor 5 is disposed (one for each of the left chamber 4b and the right chamber 4c) in the extrusion direction of the kneaded material. On the other hand, in the extruder with roller-die 102 according to the second embodiment, two pressure sensors 5 are disposed (two for each of the left chamber 4b and the right chamber 4c) in the extrusion direction of the kneaded material.
[0057] Specifically, in the extruder with roller-die 102, two pressure sensors 5 are attached to the bottom portion of the casing 4 in the space S between the downstream end 15a of the supply port 15 and the tip-side opening of the casing 4 for each of the left chamber 4b and the right chamber 4c in the extrusion direction of the kneaded material at predetermined axial interval. The two pressure sensors 5b disposed in the right chambers 4c are illustrated in
[0058] A total of four pressure sensors 5 are attached to the bottom portion of the casing 4 in the extruder with roller-die 102. As described above, the screws 2 and 3 of this embodiment are coupled and rotated at the same rotational speed. Therefore, when pressures measured by the four pressure sensors 5 are used to control the rotational speeds of the screws and the rotational speeds of the rollers, an average value of the pressures measured by the four pressure sensors 5 is used to control the rotational speeds of the screws and the rotational speeds of the rollers.
Third Embodiment
[0059]
[0060] In the same manner as in the first embodiment, the controller 12 calculates average pressure (kneaded portion average pressure) of the pressure (kneaded portion pressure) measured by the pressure sensor 5a and the pressure (kneaded portion pressure) measured by the pressure sensor 5b.
[0061] In this embodiment, the controller 12 controls the rotational speeds of the rollers 9 and 10 based on a combination of the value of the kneaded portion average pressure and the value of the bank portion pressure measured by the bank portion pressure sensor 13.
[0062]
TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Bank portion Bank portion Bank portion pressure pressure pressure Low Proper range High Kneaded portion Rotational Rotational Rotational average pressure speed of speed of speed of Low screw: increase screw: increase screw: increase Rotational Rotational Rotational speed of speed of speed of roller: decrease roller: increase roller: increase Kneaded portion Rotational Rotational Rotational average pressure speed of speed of speed of Proper range screw: keep screw: keep screw: keep Rotational Rotational Rotational speed of speed of speed of roller: decrease roller: keep roller: increase Kneaded portion Rotational Rotational Rotational average pressure speed of speed of speed of High screw: decrease screw: decrease screw: decrease Rotational Rotational Rotational speed of speed of speed of roller: decrease roller: decrease roller: increase
[0063] Due to the aforementioned control about the rotational speeds of the rollers, the pressure of the kneaded material on the downstream fore side of the rollers, that is, in the bank portion 11 is stabilized in the same manner as in the first embodiment. Thus, the fluctuation of the volume of the kneaded material caught between the rollers 9 and 10 is reduced so that the kneading degree of the kneaded material in the casing 4 can be improved and a sheet 50 stable in thickness and width can be manufactured.
(Modifications)
[0064] The pair of left and right screws 2 and 3 in each aforementioned embodiment are designed to be rotated at the same rotational speed by a single driving unit. The screws 2 and 3 may be instead designed to be rotated independently of each other by two driving units respectively. In this case, when the pressure sensors 5 are provided in the left and right chambers of the casing 4 respectively as in the aforementioned first embodiment, the rotational speeds of the left and right screws 2 and 3 are, for example, controlled individually by the pressure sensors 5 disposed in the chambers respectively in accordance with the control flow illustrated in
[0065] Each pressure sensor 5 for measuring pressure inside the casing 4 (casing downstream portion 24) may be attached not to the bottom portion of the casing 4 (casing downstream portion 24) but to a side portion or a top portion of the casing 4 (casing downstream portion 24).
[0066] Two or more pressure sensors may be provided in each of the left and right chambers of the casing 4.
[0067] Three or more pressure sensors may be attached to the casing 4 (casing downstream portion 24) in the extrusion direction of the kneaded material (in the axial direction of each screw).
[0068] The screw extruder may be a screw extruder including not the pair of left and right screws 2 and 3 but only one screw.
[0069] In addition, various modifications may be made within the scope that one of ordinary skill in the art can arrive at.
[0070] The present application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2016-198850 filed on Oct. 7, 2016, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
REFERENCE SIGNS LIST
[0071] 1: Extruder with roller-die (screw extruder) [0072] 2, 3: Screw [0073] 4: Casing [0074] T: Top portion [0075] M1, M2, M3: Virtual line [0076] O: Rotation center [0077] 5: Pressure sensor [0078] 8: Load [0079] 9, 10: Roller [0080] 12: Controller [0081] 13: Bank portion pressure sensor [0082] 15: Supply port [0083] 15a: Downstream end