Solid material comminution or disintegration – Apparatus – With automatic control
Reexamination Certificate
1997-12-29
2001-03-20
Husar, John M. (Department: 3725)
Solid material comminution or disintegration
Apparatus
With automatic control
C241S101600, C241S186350, C241S260100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06202947
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to injecting machines and extruding machines used to manufacture molded products of fiber-reinforced resins, and particularly to a discharge device for discharging solids of a thermoplastic substance and fibers in a uniformly mixed state and a plasticizing device having this device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, injection molding of fiber-reinforced thermoplastic resins is generally performed by methods including the following process steps:
(a) melting and kneading a thermoplastic resin and fibers in an extruding machine;
(b) extruding the melted and kneaded material from the extruding machine to obtain fiber-reinforced resin pellets;
(c) melting and kneading the fiber-reinforced resin pellets in an injecting machine;
(d) injecting the melted and kneaded material from the injecting machine into a mold; and
(e) cooling the melted and kneaded material to solidify it in the mold.
Japanese Patent Laying-Open No.4-286617 discloses an injection molding device having an extruding machine for kneading fiber and thermoplastic resin. The extruding machine in this device includes a cylinder having a first opening for supplying thermoplastic resin on the upstream end and a second opening for supplying fiber on the downstream end. The cylinder is equipped with a heater for heating the thermoplastic resin in the cylinder. The thermoplastic resin from the first opening is melted while being transferred toward the second opening by a screw type transferring means. Then fiber is added to the molten thermoplastic resin from the second opening and the fiber and thermoplastic resin are kneaded further downstream. The fiber-reinforced thermoplastic resin obtained this way is injected into a mold and molded. This method has the advantage that molded products of fiber-reinforced thermoplastic resin can be manufactured by almost the same procedure as common injection molding for thermoplastic resins except that fiber is supplied from the second opening provided in the cylinder of the extruding machine. In the case of this device, however, it is necessary to supply the thermoplastic resin and fiber from separated openings of the cylinder and to form a deep groove on the screw so that the fiber supplied from the second opening smoothly gets into the screw in the cylinder.
Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2-153714 discloses another device for injection-molding fiber-reinforced thermoplastic resins. This device, too, requires that the thermoplastic resin and fiber should be supplied from separated openings of a cylinder. This device further requires equipment for forcing the fiber into the cylinder at the opening for supplying the fiber.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to simplify the structure of a thermoplastic substances plasticizing device such as an extruding machine.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a discharge device capable of supplying solids of a thermoplastic substance and fibers from a single opening into a cylinder of a plasticizing device.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a discharge device capable of smoothly discharging solids of a thermoplastic substance and fibers.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a plasticizing device which has a discharge device capable of smoothly discharging solids of a thermoplastic substance and fibers and in which the discharged solids and fibers can be smoothly supplied to a screw.
In order to achieve the objects above, according to a first aspect of the present invention, a discharge device for discharging solids of a thermoplastic substance and fibers includes: a discharge passage longitudinally extending without spreading at least downward and having an inner wall surface forming a passage opened at its lower end; solid supply means for supplying the solids of the thermoplastic substance to a first position in the passage; and fiber supply means for supplying the fibers to a second position in the passage; wherein a cross line on which a part of the inner wall surface extending downward from an upper one of the first position and the second position intersects a vertical plane passing through the opened end of the passage forms an angle of 0 to 30° with respect to a vertical line, or all tangent lines for the cross line form angles from 0 to 30° with respect to a vertical line.
The discharge device constructed as stated above can smoothly and stably discharge solids of a thermoplastic substance and fibers. This discharge device is especially effective when dealing with fibers whose average lengths are in the range of 3 to 50 mm. When this discharge device is used, it is possible to smoothly and stably supply solids of a thermoplastic substance and fibers into a thermoplastic substance plasticizing device from a single opening. Accordingly, this discharge device can contribute to simplification of the structure of the plasticizing device.
In order to achieve the above objects, a second aspect of the present invention relates to a plasticizing device formed of a discharge device for discharging solids of a thermoplastic substance and fibers and a transfer device for accepting the discharged solids and fibers and transferring them downstream, wherein the discharge device comprises a discharge passage longitudinally extending without spreading at least downward and having an inner wall surface forming a passage opened at its lower end; solid supply means for supplying the solids of the thermoplastic substance to a first position in the passage; and fiber supply means for supplying the fibers to a second position in the passage; wherein a cross line on which a part of the inner wall surface extending downward from an upper one of the first position and the second position intersects a vertical plane passing through the opened end of the passage forms an angle of 0 to 30° with respect to a vertical line, or all tangent lines for the cross line form angles from 0 to 30° with respect to a vertical line, and the transfer device comprises a cylinder having an opening facing the lower end of the discharge passage, the opening forming a circle when vertically projected on an imaginary horizontal plane, and a screw provided in the cylinder for transferring the solids of the thermoplastic substance and the fibers supplied from the opening, wherein when the outside diameter of the screw is taken as “a,” the diameter of the bottom of a groove of the screw is taken as “b,” and the width of the groove is taken as “c,” the value c is equal to or smaller than the diameter of the projected form of the opening and the following expression is satisfied,
{
(
a
2
)
2
π
-
(
b
2
)
2
π
}
×
c
≧
350
cm
3
.
With a plasticizing device constructed as stated above, solids of a thermoplastic substance and fibers are smoothly and stably supplied from a single opening into a cylinder so that the two materials can be smoothly melted and kneaded. This plasticizing device can be used as an injecting machine or an extruding machine for producing fiber-reinforced thermoplastic resin molded products.
These and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
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patent: 4344579 (1982-08-01), Morita et al.
patent: 4844289 (1989-07-01), Dumbaugh
patent: 5383611 (1995-01-01), Falini et al.
patent: 5697560 (1997-12-01), Bennett
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patent: 0706873A2 (1996-04-01), None
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patent: 2-153714 (1990-06-01), None
Kitayama Takeo
Matsubara Shigeyoshi
Matsumoto Masahito
Husar John M.
Pillsbury & Winthrop LLP
Sumitomo Chemical Co,. Ltd.
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