JP6177624B2 - Liquid mixing device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a liquid mixing apparatus that automatically measures and mixes two or more liquids.

  As a prior art, various apparatuses for accurately measuring and mixing chemical liquids and other liquid materials have been developed (Patent Documents 1 to 3).

JP-A-8-272456 JP 2009-2752 A JP 2010-179039 A

The known prior art has the following problems to be solved.
Known devices are devised to automate the process of weighing and mixing two or more liquids into a single container. Such known devices have the following problems to be solved.
(1) If the process of precisely weighing each liquid and putting it in a cup or the like and then transferring it to a single container is repeated for the number of types of liquid, a lot of time is required for the preparation work, and workability is poor.
(2) A method in which a large amount of precision-measured liquid is mixed in advance and divided into containers is not suitable for applications that require various mixing ratios each time. Moreover, every time the type of liquid to be mixed is changed, the mixing container and the piping for subdivision must be washed, and workability is poor.
In order to solve the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide the following liquid mixing apparatus.
(1) Provided is a device capable of automatically and continuously performing a process of accurately measuring and inhaling a liquid and simultaneously injecting it into one container when two or more kinds of liquids are mixed.
(2) By providing two or more liquids at a time and simultaneously injecting them into one container, an apparatus is provided in which the preparation time is significantly reduced as compared with existing apparatuses.

  The following configurations are means for solving the above-described problems.

<Configuration 1>
Raw material containers each containing two or more liquids to be mixed;
Inhalation metered liquid amount specified from the raw material container through inhalation pipe and to discharge the liquid metered relative filler pipe, a metering cylinder,
A first valve that allows the flow of liquid from the suction pipe in the direction of the metering cylinder and blocks the flow of liquid in the opposite direction; and allows the flow of liquid from the metering cylinder to the direction of the injection pipe; A check valve device having a second valve for blocking liquid flow in the reverse direction;
An injection nozzle for allowing the liquid injected through the injection pipe to flow down into the mixed liquid container from directly above the mouth of the mixed liquid container containing the liquid to be mixed;
In each of the plurality of measuring cylinders having the same specification, the tip of each suction pipe is submerged below the liquid level of the raw material in the raw material container,
Each injection pipe of the measuring cylinder is separately connected to an injection nozzle arranged immediately above the mouth of the mixed solution container,
Each of these injection nozzles is set to an opening diameter in which the liquid inside the injection pipe does not flow down due to its own weight when the measuring cylinder is stopped,
A liquid mixing apparatus comprising: a controller that drives the metering cylinders to suck a specified amount of liquid all at once, and then discharges the sucked amounts of liquid all at once. .

<Configuration 2>
The same number of connectors as the injection pipes that individually connect all the injection pipes, and the liquid in the injection pipes are introduced into the injection nozzles, and the openings of all the injection nozzles are spaced apart so as not to contact each other. The liquid mixing device according to claim 1, further comprising an inlet device that is held so as to be disposed immediately above the mouth.

<Configuration 3>
When the liquid mixing apparatus according to claim 1 is used to mix the liquids by simultaneously driving a plurality of measuring cylinders, the ratio of a certain liquid in the liquid mixed in the liquid mixture container is another liquid. If the liquid is larger than the same liquid container, the liquid is aspirated by a plurality of measuring cylinders, or the same liquid is contained in a plurality of raw material containers and aspirated by the respective measuring cylinders. A liquid mixing method characterized by the above .

<Effect of Configuration 1>
Two or more kinds of liquids can be simultaneously inhaled by a measuring cylinder, and the inhaled amount can be simultaneously injected into the liquid mixture container.

<Effect of Configuration 2>
In spite of handling two or more kinds of liquids at the same time, they are not brought into contact with each other until they are poured into the mixed liquid container, so that workability is good because it is not necessary to clean the pipes.

<Effect of Configuration 3 >
If one type of liquid is sucked simultaneously by a plurality of measuring cylinders, the total measuring time of a liquid having a large mixing ratio can be greatly shortened.

1 is a schematic diagram showing a liquid mixing apparatus 12 of Example 1. FIG. The concrete Example of the injection apparatus 26 is shown, (a) is a partial vertical side view, (b) is a bottom view of the principal part, (c) is a top view. 3A is a longitudinal sectional view of the check valve device 20, and FIG. 3B is a longitudinal sectional view of the measuring cylinder 22. It is a principal part side view which shows the modification of said apparatus. The example of the more detailed structure of the inlet apparatus 26 is shown, (a) is a bottom view of the inlet apparatus 26, (b) and (c) are principal part side views which show the example of a different arrangement | positioning of the injection nozzle 28, respectively. It is.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail for each example.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a liquid mixing apparatus 12 according to the first embodiment.
In (a) of the figure, a front view of a raw material container 14 each containing two or more kinds of liquids (raw materials 16) to be mixed and a portion for sucking these liquids is shown. The raw material container 14 contains an arbitrary raw material 16 in an amount sufficient for a continuous mixing operation.

  The raw material 16 is sucked up from the raw material container 14 by the suction pipe 18. The metering cylinder 22 is a device for sucking liquid while metering a specified amount through the suction pipe 18. The measuring cylinder 22 can discharge the liquid while measuring with respect to the injection pipe 27 by an operation opposite to the suction operation.

  The suction pipe 18, the measuring cylinder 22 and the injection pipe 27 are connected to the check valve device 20. As shown in FIG. 1B, the check valve device 20 allows a liquid flow from the suction pipe 18 in the direction of the measuring cylinder 22 (arrow A direction) and prevents the liquid flow in the reverse direction. One valve 54 (FIG. 3), and a second valve 56 (FIG. 3) that allows liquid flow in the direction from the metering cylinder 22 to the injection pipe 27 (in the direction of arrow B) and prevents liquid flow in the opposite direction. Have This structure will be described later in detail with reference to FIG.

  Two or more kinds of liquids are mixed and accommodated in the mixed solution container 30. These liquids are injected into the mixed liquid container 30 through the injection pipe 27. As shown in FIG.1 (c), the opening of all the injection nozzles 28 is arrange | positioned just above the opening | mouth 31 of a liquid mixture container. Each of these injection nozzles 28 causes the liquid injected through the injection pipe 27 to flow down into the mixed liquid container 30 from directly above the mouth 31 of the mixed liquid container containing the liquid to be mixed.

  As shown in FIG. 1D, each injection nozzle 28 is set to have an opening diameter that prevents the liquid inside the injection pipe 27 from flowing down due to its own weight when the measuring cylinder 22 is stopped. That is, the aperture is set to a sufficiently small diameter so that the air flows from the opening of the injection nozzle 28 and the liquid in the injection pipe 27 does not naturally fall by its own weight. Since the diameter varies depending on the viscosity of the liquid and the affinity between the liquid and the opening of the injection nozzle 28, it is preferable to select an appropriate value by experiment.

  Accordingly, when the operation of discharging the specified amount of liquid from the measuring cylinder 22 is performed, the corresponding amount of liquid flows down from the injection nozzle 28 into the mixed liquid container 30. Thereafter, when the measuring cylinder 22 sucks the next designated amount of liquid from the raw material container 14, the liquid in the injection pipe 27 and the injection nozzle 28 is held as it is without flowing out. That is, the liquid is held until the liquid is pushed out by the next discharging operation of the measuring cylinder 22.

  In this embodiment, all the injection nozzles 28 are arranged at the same height directly above the mouth 31 of the mixed solution container. If the opening of the injection nozzle 28 is disposed in a region equal to or smaller than the diameter of the mouth 31 of the mixed liquid container shown in FIG. 1 (f), each liquid flows straight down from the injection nozzle 28 into the mixed liquid container 30. Thus, a plurality of liquids can be mixed at once.

  Further, as will be described later with reference to FIG. 5, they are arranged directly above the mouth 31 of the mixed solution container with a space therebetween so as not to contact each other. As a result, each liquid flows directly from the injection nozzle 28 into the mixed liquid container 30 without touching anything, so that different kinds of liquid do not adhere to the injection nozzles 28 and the pipes need to be cleaned. do not do.

  Note that the control device 25 shown in FIG. 1A drives the measuring cylinders 22 so as to suck the specified amounts of liquids all at once. After that, the liquid is driven so as to discharge the same amount of sucked liquid all at once. Two or more kinds of liquids are simultaneously sucked in at once by the measuring cylinder 22, and the amount of the sucked amount is simultaneously injected into the liquid mixture container 30, so that the preparation speed is sufficiently increased compared with the case where liquids are sequentially injected one by one. Workability can be improved.

FIG. 2 shows a specific embodiment of the inlet device 26, wherein (a) is a partially longitudinal side view, (b) is a bottom view of the main part, and (c) is a top view.
As shown in FIG. 2A, the inlet device 26 includes, for example, a connector 34 that individually connects ten injection pipes 27. The connector 34 is connected to the injection nozzle 28 via a joint 32. Thereby, the liquid in the injection pipe 27 can be introduced into each injection nozzle 28. Also in this embodiment, the inner diameter of the injection nozzle 28 is narrowed compared to the inner diameter of the injection pipe 27. Then, all the injection nozzles 28 are arranged so as to be bundled in the portion of the injection opening 36 arranged immediately above the mouth 31 (FIG. 1) of the mixed liquid container.

  In this way, the injection pipe 27 can be easily connected to the injection nozzle 28 whose diameter and arrangement are optimized. In addition, since there are large and small diameters of the mouth 31 of the mixed liquid container, a plurality of inlet devices 26 having an injection opening 36 matched to the diameter are prepared, and other parts are left as they are. It is also possible to exchange and use the optimum one. Thereby, it can hold | maintain so that opening of all the injection | pouring nozzles 28 may be arrange | positioned just above the opening 31 of a liquid mixture container.

3A is a longitudinal sectional view of the check valve device 20, and FIG. 3B is a longitudinal sectional view of the measuring cylinder 22.
As shown in FIG. 3A, the check valve device 20 includes a suction port 38 that connects the suction pipe 18, a discharge port 40 that connects the injection pipe 27, and a measurement port 42 that connects the measurement cylinder 22. I have. A first valve 54 is disposed in the flow path leading from the suction port 38 to the measurement port 42. The first valve 54 allows a liquid flow from the suction pipe 18 toward the metering cylinder 22, and prevents a liquid flow from the metering cylinder 22 toward the suction port 38.

  As a result, the liquid sucked from the raw material container 14 to the inside of the check valve device 20 through the suction pipe 18 is self-weight as long as the tip of the suction pipe 18 is submerged below the surface of the raw material 16 in the raw material container 14. There is no backflow. In other words, the inside of the suction port 38 is always kept filled with liquid. In order to prevent the function of the first valve 54 from being impaired by vibration or the like, it is preferable to select the optimum weight of the spheres constituting the valve of the first valve 54.

  A second valve 56 is disposed in the flow path leading from the measurement port 42 to the discharge port 40. The second valve 56 allows the flow of liquid from the metering cylinder 22 toward the injection pipe 27 and blocks the flow of liquid from the injection pipe 27 toward the measurement cylinder 22.

  The measuring cylinder 22 is directly connected to the measuring port 42, and by driving the piston 44, the operation of sucking the liquid and then discharging it can be repeated. The piston 44 is connected to a drive screw 48 through a link 46. When the drive pipe 50 is rotationally driven by the control device 25 (FIG. 1), the piston 44 can be inserted and removed by a designated stroke.

  Accordingly, the piston 44 is driven upward in the drawing to suck a specified amount of liquid from the suction pipe 18 into the metering cylinder 22, and then the piston 44 is driven downward so that the same amount with respect to the injection pipe 27. The liquid can be discharged.

  When the measuring cylinder 22 is driven to discharge the liquid, the liquid flows from the measuring port 42 of the check valve device 20 toward the discharging port 40. If the state in which the liquid is filled up to the injection nozzle 28 (FIG. 1) in the injection pipe 27 is maintained, the liquid is pushed out from the injection nozzle 28 (FIG. 1) by the specified amount, and the same amount is supplied to the mixed liquid container 30. Liquid is injected. In the subsequent suction operation of the measuring cylinder 22, the second valve 56 prevents the backflow of the liquid from the injection pipe 27, so that the liquid in the injection pipe 27 is held as it is.

  Therefore, the operation in which the measuring cylinder 22 sucks the liquid by the specified amount and discharges the liquid by the specified amount can be continuously repeated. The driving screw 48 and the driving pipe 50 shown in FIG. 3B constitute a cylinder driving device 24 (FIG. 1). The cylinder driving device 24 is individually provided for each metering cylinder 22, and all the metering cylinders 22 shown in FIG. 1 can suck and discharge any individually specified amount of liquid. All the metering cylinders 22 can be simultaneously driven to suck a predetermined amount of each liquid, and then all the metering cylinders 22 can be simultaneously driven to inject each liquid into the liquid mixture container 30 at once.

  At this time, none of the liquids comes into contact with other liquids, and all of the injection pipes 27 repeat the injection operation while holding the high-purity liquid. Each metering cylinder 22 may inject and discharge the same amount of liquid each time, or may be controlled to automatically inject and discharge any specified amount of liquid each time. Further, for example, all ten measuring cylinders 22 may be driven, or only an arbitrary number of selected measuring cylinders 22 may be driven.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the main part showing a modification of the above-described apparatus.
In the illustrated example, a plurality of measuring cylinders 22 are configured to suck liquid from the same raw material container 14. For example, it is assumed that all the measuring cylinders 22 have the same specification. At this time, when the ratio of a certain liquid in the mixed liquid is extremely large as compared with the ratio of the other liquid, the suction and discharge time of the corresponding measuring cylinder 22 greatly affects the entire operation time. Further, the total amount of the liquid mixture that can be produced by one suction and discharge is determined from the maximum amount of liquid that can be sucked by the measuring cylinder 22.

  Therefore, if the plurality of measuring cylinders 22 suck the liquid from the same raw material container 14, the suction speed and the suction amount can be increased several times. Accordingly, the work efficiency can be improved by increasing the suction / discharge speed. The same effect can be obtained even if the same liquid is accommodated in the plurality of raw material containers 14 and the plurality of measuring cylinders 22 suck the respective liquids simultaneously.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a more detailed structure of the inlet device 26, (a) is a bottom view of the inlet device 26, and (b) and (c) show different arrangement examples of the injection nozzle 28. It is a principal part side view.
As shown to (a) of a figure, in the previous Example, the some injection | pouring nozzle 28 is arrange | positioned at small intervals, without mutually contacting. In this way, as shown in FIG. 5B, the liquid surfaces 52 formed by the surface tension at the openings of the injection nozzles 28 are completely separated from each other.

  After a certain amount of liquid is injected from the injection nozzle 28, the opening of the injection nozzle 28 is sufficiently small, so that the liquid level formed by the surface tension is held in the state of FIG. do not do. Therefore, even if different types of liquids flow down from the adjacent injection nozzles 28, they do not touch each other directly. On the other hand, when the injection nozzles 28 are arranged in close contact with each other, as shown in (c) of the figure, the adjacent liquid surfaces 52 come into contact with each other, and impurities may adhere to the respective openings. In this case, if the opening of the injection nozzle 28 is not cleaned each time, there is a risk of impurities being mixed.

  If the cylinder of the opening of the injection nozzle 28 is thick and the affinity between the material of the cylinder and the liquid is poor, even if the injection nozzles 28 are adjacent to each other as shown in FIG. Since 52 is held in the state of FIG. 5B, the injection nozzles 28 do not necessarily have to be sufficiently separated from each other. In any case, if the liquid is configured to flow straight from the injection nozzles 28 to the liquid mixture container 30 (FIG. 1), the liquids do not mix in the suction and discharge processes, and the suction and discharge operations are performed simultaneously. By doing so, the liquid can be mixed efficiently.

12 Liquid Mixing Device 14 Raw Material Container 16 Raw Material 18 Suction Pipe 20 Check Valve Device 22 Metering Cylinder 24 Cylinder Drive Device 25 Control Device 26 Inlet Device 27 Injection Pipe 28 Injection Nozzle 30 Mixing Solution Container 31 Mixing Solution Container Port 32 Joint 34 Connector 36 Injection opening 38 Suction port 40 Discharge port 42 Metering port 44 Piston 46 Link 48 Drive screw 50 Drive pipe 52 Liquid level 54 First valve 56 Second valve

Claims (3)

Raw material containers each containing two or more liquids to be mixed;
Inhalation metered liquid amount specified from the raw material container through inhalation pipe and to discharge the liquid metered relative filler pipe, a metering cylinder,
A first valve that allows the flow of liquid from the suction pipe in the direction of the metering cylinder and blocks the flow of liquid in the opposite direction; and allows the flow of liquid from the metering cylinder to the direction of the injection pipe; A check valve device having a second valve for blocking liquid flow in the reverse direction;
An injection nozzle for allowing the liquid injected through the injection pipe to flow down into the mixed liquid container from directly above the mouth of the mixed liquid container containing the liquid to be mixed;
In each of the plurality of measuring cylinders having the same specification, the tip of each suction pipe is submerged below the liquid level of the raw material in the raw material container,
Each injection pipe of the measuring cylinder is separately connected to an injection nozzle arranged immediately above the mouth of the mixed solution container,
Each of these injection nozzles is set to an opening diameter in which the liquid inside the injection pipe does not flow down due to its own weight when the measuring cylinder is stopped,
A liquid mixing apparatus comprising: a controller that drives the metering cylinders to suck a specified amount of liquid all at once, and then discharges the sucked amounts of liquid all at once. . The same number of connectors as the injection pipes that connect all the above injection pipes individually, and the liquid in the injection pipes is introduced into the injection nozzles, and the openings of all the injection nozzles are held so as to be placed directly above the mouth of the liquid mixture container The liquid mixing device according to claim 1, further comprising an inlet device that performs the operation. When the liquid mixing apparatus according to claim 1 is used to mix the liquids by simultaneously driving a plurality of measuring cylinders, the ratio of a certain liquid in the liquid mixed in the liquid mixture container is another liquid. If the liquid is larger than the same liquid container, the liquid is aspirated by a plurality of measuring cylinders, or the same liquid is contained in a plurality of raw material containers and aspirated by the respective measuring cylinders. A liquid mixing method characterized by the above .

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