JP5087463B2 - Kneading extruder and compound inspection method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a kneading extruder for extruding a molten resin containing a filler kneaded in a cylinder, and a method for inspecting a compound (kneaded product).

  A compound (kneaded product) that has been improved by adding fillers (fillers) and additives to a plastic base resin (neat resin) so that the properties according to the application can be obtained has been known. It has been. In general, a compound is melted and kneaded by a screw-type kneading extruder and then processed into a pellet-like product through a granulating apparatus (see, for example, Patent Document 1 below). It is important for the compound that the filler is sufficiently dispersed therein.

In order to confirm the dispersion state of the filler and the presence or absence of aggregation (quality inspection), for example, the compound is pressed and stretched greatly in a separate process, and confirmation is performed using this stretched material.
JP-A-2005-335240

  In order to confirm the filler dispersion state and the presence or absence of agglomeration (quality inspection), it is impossible to find, for example, an abnormality related to the filler at the time of compound production if the compound is pressed and stretched greatly in a separate process. Therefore, it is considered that many lot-out products are manufactured when an abnormality is found, which is a problem.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides a kneading extruder capable of detecting an abnormality related to a filler during compound production and reducing lot-out products, and a compound inspection method. This is the issue.

  The kneading and extruding machine according to claim 1, which has been made to solve the above problems, includes a cylinder, a screw rotatably disposed in the cylinder, a hopper provided in the cylinder, and an end of the cylinder. In a kneading and extruding machine that includes a die part provided in a part and a drive device that rotationally drives the screw, and extrudes a molten resin containing a filler kneaded in the cylinder through the die part, the die part is The first die for extruding the molten resin containing the filler into a predetermined shape for compound use, the second die for extruding the molten resin containing the filler into a film for inspection, and the feeding direction of the molten resin containing the filler are A resin feed switching unit that switches to one die and / or the second die, and is extruded from the second die downstream of the second die. An imaging device that shoots the film-like resin with a camera by applying predetermined light to the film-like resin, analysis based on image data sent from the imaging device, and presence or absence of aggregation of filler in the film-like resin, An image analysis evaluation apparatus that evaluates the dispersion state is provided.

  The compound inspection method of the present invention according to claim 2, which has been made in order to solve the above problem, includes a first die for extruding a molten resin containing a filler kneaded in a cylinder into a predetermined shape for a compound, A die having a second die for extruding a molten resin containing a filler into a film for inspection, and a resin feed switching unit for switching the feeding direction of the molten resin containing the filler to the first die and / or the second die When it is necessary to evaluate the presence / absence of agglomeration and dispersion status of the filler using a kneading extruder equipped with a part at the end of the cylinder, the resin feed switching unit is operated to extrude the film-like resin from the second die. Then, a predetermined light is applied to the extruded film-like resin to photograph the film-like resin with a camera and generate image data. It is characterized by outputting the evaluation result to determine the differences in the rate or color tone of the light and dark on the basis of the generated data after generating the image data.

  According to the present invention having such characteristics, when it is necessary to evaluate the presence / absence and dispersion of fillers, a film for inspection is operated by operating a resin feed switching portion provided in a die portion of a kneading extruder. The above evaluation can be performed by extruding the resin-like resin. That is, it is possible to detect an abnormality related to the filler during compound manufacture.

  According to the present invention described in claims 1 and 2, it is possible to detect an abnormality related to the filler during the manufacture of the compound. In addition, if an abnormality can be detected during manufacturing, there is also an effect that lot-out products can be reduced.

  Hereinafter, description will be given with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration explanatory view showing an embodiment of a kneading extruder according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a die portion, (a) is a diagram showing a state of manufacturing a compound using the first die, (b) is a diagram showing a shape of the first die, and (c) is a diagram showing the first die. The figure which shows the state at the time of an inspection using two dies, (d) is a figure which shows the shape of a 2nd die. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an embodiment of the compound inspection method of the present invention, where (a) is a diagram of an imaging apparatus when using reflected light, and (b) is when using transmitted light. FIG. 4C is an explanatory diagram of discrimination in the image analysis evaluation apparatus.

  In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 indicates a kneading extruder of the present invention. The kneading extruder 1 includes a cylinder 2, a screw 3 rotatably disposed in the cylinder 2, a hopper 4 provided in the cylinder 2, a die part 5 provided at an end of the cylinder 2, and the screw 3. And a drive device 6 that is rotationally driven. The die part 5 has a first die 7, a second die 8, and a resin feed switching part 9. Further, the kneading extruder 1 is provided with a photographing device 10 and an image analysis evaluation device 11 downstream of the second die 8. A cooling device and a granulating device 12 (not shown) are provided downstream of the first die 7 as in the prior art.

  The kneading extruder 1 is a screw-type kneading extruder as described above. When a plastic base resin, filler, or additive is introduced into the cylinder 2 through the hopper 4, the kneading extruder 1 is melted in the cylinder 2. Kneading is performed. After melting and kneading, the molten resin 13 containing the filler (see FIG. 2) is extruded from the first die 7 to become a compound resin 14, and after being cooled by a cooling device (not shown), in the granulator 12. It is processed into a compound 15 of a pellet-like product.

  Although it does not specifically limit regarding the said filler, A talc, a calcium carbonate, aluminum hydroxide, magnesium hydroxide etc. shall be mentioned as an example (it is generally known fillers).

  The kneading and extruding machine 1 of the present invention is configured to determine the presence or absence of filler aggregation and the dispersion state of the compound 15 by the configuration and structure of the die unit 5 and the imaging device 10 and the image analysis evaluation device 11 provided downstream of the second die 8. It is configured so that it can be evaluated before the start of manufacture, immediately before the end of manufacture, or at an arbitrary timing during manufacture (the above inspection frequency is an example. It is also effective to perform for each lot) . In this embodiment, the cylinder 2, the screw 3, the hopper 4, and the driving device 6 are assumed to be known ones.

  In FIG. 2, the die unit 5 includes the first die 7, the second die 8, and the resin feed switching unit 9 as described above. The first die 7 is provided as a part for extruding a molten resin 13 containing a filler for compounding. The first die 7 is formed so as to arrange holes penetrating circularly in, for example, a staggered pattern.

  The 2nd die | dye 8 is provided as a part which extrudes the molten resin 13 containing a filler for a test | inspection. The second die 8 is formed with an opening so that the molten resin 13 containing a filler can be extruded into a film shape. The molten resin 13 containing the filler extruded from the second die 8 becomes a film-like resin 16 and is sent to the photographing apparatus 10 (see FIG. 1).

  The resin feed switching unit 9 is provided as a part for switching the feed direction of the molten resin 13 including the filler to the first die 7 and / or the second die 8. The resin feed switching portion 9 has a shape and function like a switching cock, and a plurality of switching resin passages 18 are formed in the body portion 17 located inside the die portion 5. The resin feed switching unit 9 manually performs this twisting in this embodiment, but may be automated.

  In FIG. 1 and FIG. 3, when the film-like resin 16 that has been extruded from the second die 8 and turned into a film is sent to the photographing apparatus 10, predetermined light 19 from a light source (not shown) that constitutes the photographing apparatus 10. In this state, the camera 20 takes a picture. Here, it is assumed that the predetermined light 19 is, for example, white light, blue light, red light, or the like. In the case of FIG. 3A, the photographing apparatus 10 takes a picture using reflected light. On the other hand, in the case of FIG. 3B, photographing is performed using transmitted light.

  When a predetermined light 19 is applied to the film-like resin 16, a state containing a filler (for example, magnesium hydroxide) is photographed, and this is converted into image data in the photographing device 10. After being converted into image data, this image data is sent to the image analysis / evaluation apparatus 11.

  The image analysis / evaluation apparatus 11 performs analysis based on the image data sent from the imaging apparatus 10 to evaluate the presence / absence of aggregation and the dispersion state of the filler 21 in the film-like resin 16. The evaluation result is output to, for example, a display unit (not shown) provided in the image analysis evaluation device 11 (the image analysis evaluation device 11 is not particularly shown, but includes a calculation unit, a control unit, and a storage unit). Part, input / output part, display part, etc.).

  To give a more specific example regarding the above evaluation, first, the image data sent from the photographing apparatus 10 is subjected to image processing as shown in FIG. 3C, and the ratio between the black portion and the white portion (or color tone) is calculated. (The resin portion and the filler portion can be expressed by light or dark or color tone). Next, it is determined whether or not the calculated value is within the specified range, and if it is within the specified range, it is determined that the filler is dispersed and this evaluation result is output (determined not to be dispersed). (Evaluation results are also output at times).

  As described above with reference to FIG. 1 to FIG. 3, according to the present invention, when it is necessary to evaluate the presence / absence and dispersion state of the filler, for example, evaluation is performed even during the production of the compound 15. can do. For example, if an abnormality related to the filler can be detected during the manufacture of the compound 15, the lot-out product can be significantly reduced as compared with the conventional case. In addition, there is an effect that the evaluation does not become a separate process compared to the conventional method.

  It goes without saying that the present invention can be variously modified without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

It is typical structure explanatory drawing which shows one Embodiment of the kneading | mixing extruder of this invention. It is a figure which shows a die | dye part, (a) is a figure which shows the state at the time of compound manufacture using a 1st die, (b) is a figure which shows the shape of a 1st die, (c) is using a 2nd die. The figure which shows the state at the time of an inspection, (d) is a figure which shows the shape of a 2nd die | dye. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an embodiment of a compound inspection method of the present invention, where (a) is a diagram of an imaging device when using reflected light, and (b) is a diagram of an imaging device when using transmitted light. (C) is explanatory drawing of discrimination | determination in an image analysis evaluation apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Kneading extruder 2 Cylinder 3 Screw 4 Hopper 5 Die part 6 Drive apparatus 7 1st die (1st die)
8 Second die 9 Resin feed switching unit 10 Imaging device 11 Image analysis evaluation device 12 Granulating device 13 Molten resin containing filler 14 Compound resin 15 Compound 16 Film-like resin 17 Body 18 Switching resin path 19 Predetermined light 20 Camera

Claims (2)

A cylinder, a screw rotatably disposed in the cylinder, a hopper provided in the cylinder, a die provided at an end of the cylinder, and a drive device that rotationally drives the screw; In a kneading extruder for extruding a molten resin containing a filler kneaded in the cylinder through a section,
The die part includes a first die for extruding a molten resin containing the filler into a predetermined shape for a compound, a second die for extruding the molten resin containing the filler into a film for inspection, and a molten resin containing the filler. A resin feed switching unit that switches the feed direction to the first die and / or the second die;
Downstream of the second die, a photographing device that shoots the film-like resin with a camera by applying predetermined light to the film-like resin extruded from the second die, and image data sent from the photographing device A kneading extruder characterized by comprising: an image analysis evaluation apparatus for analyzing the presence or absence of aggregation of the filler in the film-like resin and evaluating the dispersion state. A first die for extruding a molten resin containing filler kneaded in a cylinder into a predetermined shape for compounding, a second die for extruding the molten resin containing filler into a film for inspection, and a molten resin containing the filler It is necessary to evaluate the presence / absence of agglomeration and dispersion of fillers using a kneading extruder equipped with a die part at the end of the cylinder having a resin feed switching part for switching the feed direction to the first die and / or the second die. If there is, the resin feed switching unit is operated to extrude the film-like resin from the second die, and after that, a predetermined light is applied to the extruded film-like resin so that the film-like resin is removed by a camera. After shooting, the image data is generated, and after the image data is generated, the ratio of light and darkness or the difference in color tone is discriminated and evaluated based on the generated data. Test method of the compound, which comprises outputting the results.

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