JP7171245B2 - Ready-mixed concrete manufacturing equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention acquires the slump value of ready-mixed concrete, for example, in a batcher plant as a ready-mixed concrete manufacturing apparatus.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, ready-mixed concrete is produced by using materials such as gravel (coarse aggregate), sand (fine aggregate), cement, water and an admixture in a batcher plant as a ready-mixed concrete manufacturing apparatus. Inside the batcher plant, a concrete mixer having rotatable kneading blades for kneading the above materials (hereinafter simply referred to as "mixer") is installed (see Patent Document 1, for example). Ready-mixed concrete is produced by kneading each material in this mixer.

An openable and closable discharge gate is provided at the bottom of the mixer, and the ready-mixed concrete kneaded in the mixer is normally discharged from the open discharge gate. The ready-mixed concrete is temporarily stored in a concrete hopper provided below the mixer, and then discharged to an agitator vehicle for transportation to the construction site.

When the ready-mixed concrete is produced in the batcher plant, the specifications of the ready-mixed concrete, such as production volume, strength, slump value, type of concrete, etc., are determined in advance. In the batcher plant, each material is weighed by a weighing hopper or the like and then kneaded in a mixer so as to produce ready-mixed concrete according to these specifications.

When the ready-mixed concrete is kneaded in the mixer, the situation is usually imaged by a camera or the like, and the imaged image is sent to, for example, an operation room. In the operation room, the imaged image is projected through a monitor and visually recognized by the operator. The operator judges the kneading condition of each material from the imaged image and assumes the slump value of the ready-mixed concrete.

That is, the slump value of ready-mixed concrete produced by kneading each material is set by weighing each material in advance using a weighing hopper or the like so as to obtain a desired value. , the desired slump value may not always be obtained, even if each material is accurately weighed. In consideration of such events, the operator visually checks the kneading condition of each material in the mixer, judges whether the ready-mixed concrete to be produced is hard or not, and estimates its slump value. I have to. Then, for example, at the time of the next batch, corrections such as setting the amount of water to a large amount or a small amount are made.

However, the assumption of the slump value by the operator depends on the operator's experience, and the assumed value often differs depending on the operator, and there are variations among the operators. In addition, it is difficult to estimate an accurate slump value at all times because it may depend on the physical condition of the operator on the day.

JP 2015-217675 A

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been conceived under the circumstances described above, and provides a slump value acquiring apparatus capable of accurately acquiring the slump value of ready-mixed concrete without depending on, for example, the experience of the operator. That is the issue. Another object of the present invention is to provide a ready-mixed concrete manufacturing apparatus equipped with the slump value acquisition device.

The ready-mixed concrete manufacturing apparatus provided by the present invention comprises a mixer that kneads a plurality of materials for producing ready-mixed concrete and has a mixer discharge gate at the bottom, and a mixer that is arranged below the mixer to temporarily store the ready-mixed concrete. a hopper having a hopper discharge gate at its bottom; a slump value obtaining means for obtaining a slump value of the ready-mixed concrete ; When the mixer discharge gate is opened from the closed state, the ready-mixed concrete after kneading is put into the hopper, the mixer discharge gate is closed, and after the slump value is obtained by the slump value obtaining means, the slump is weighing operation control means for discharging ready-mixed concrete from the hopper by opening the hopper discharge gate from a closed state when an interlock signal from the value obtaining means is off , wherein the slump value obtaining means is a rod-shaped shaft member having a flat plate-shaped paddle at its tip; supporting and moving means for supporting the shaft member and moving the shaft member forward and backward with respect to the interior of the hopper; and moving the shaft member in the axial direction. and a rotation drive means for rotating the shaft member and outputting a current value corresponding to the load during rotation of the shaft member, wherein the paddles of the shaft member rotated by the rotation drive means are stored in the hopper. The slump value of the ready-mixed concrete is obtained based on the current value output from the rotation driving means when the apparatus is immersed in the ready-mixed concrete.

The apparatus for producing ready-mixed concrete according to the present invention comprises storage means for storing a relationship between a current value output from the rotation driving means and a slump value of the ready-mixed concrete at the current value, which is obtained by measuring in advance, Preferably, the slump value obtaining means obtains the slump value corresponding to the actual current value output from the rotation driving means based on the relationship between the current value and the slump value stored in the storage means.

In the ready- mixed concrete manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, the slump value acquisition means detects that the shaft member has come into contact with the stored ready-mixed concrete when the current value output from the rotation drive means has changed by a predetermined value. It is preferable that the current value output from the rotation driving means after recognition is used as the current value for acquiring the slump value by the storage means.

In the ready- mixed concrete manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, the supporting and moving means includes a substantially cylindrical ball screw member, a slide member attached to the peripheral surface of the ball screw member and fixed to the shaft member, and the ball screw member. The shaft member rotates the ball screw member in the axial direction by rotating the other rotary driving device, and the shaft member rotates in the axial direction. It is preferable to move by displacing the said slide member.

In the ready- mixed concrete manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, the paddle of the shaft member may be provided with temperature measuring means for measuring the temperature of the ready-mixed concrete stored in the hopper.

According to the present invention, when the paddle of the shaft member rotated by the rotary drive means is immersed in the ready-mixed concrete stored in the hopper, the rotary drive means outputs a current value corresponding to the slump value of the ready-mixed concrete. do. Therefore, the slump value of ready-mixed concrete can be accurately obtained from the current value of this rotation driving means.

1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a ready-mixed concrete manufacturing apparatus to which a slump value acquiring apparatus according to the present invention is applied; FIG. It is a figure which shows schematic structure of a slump value acquisition apparatus. 4 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of paddles of the shaft member; FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an electrical configuration of a slump value acquisition device; 4 is a time chart showing the operation procedure of a paddle control section; FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the relationship between the current value of the first motor and time; FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a state when the tip of the shuttle member comes into contact with ready-mixed concrete; FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a state when the paddles of the shuttle member are immersed in ready-mixed concrete; FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the relationship between the current value of the first motor and the slump value;

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a ready-mixed concrete manufacturing apparatus to which a slump value acquiring apparatus according to the present invention is applied. A batcher plant 1 as a ready-mixed concrete production apparatus is an apparatus for producing ready-mixed concrete by kneading, for example, gravel (coarse aggregate), sand (fine aggregate), cement, water and an admixture.

Briefly, the batcher plant 1 comprises a belt conveyor 2 for transporting aggregates from, for example, storage silos (not shown) for storing aggregates such as gravel and sand. Aggregate conveyed by belt conveyor 2 is distributed by turnhead 3 to a plurality of aggregate reservoirs 4 . A cement silo (not shown) is provided in the vicinity of the batcher plant 1, and cement stored in the cement silo is supplied to a cement storage tank 5 via a pneumatic conveying device (not shown) or the like.

The sand and gravel stored in the aggregate storage tank 4 are weighed by an aggregate weigher 6 and charged into a concrete mixer (hereinafter simply referred to as “mixer”) 8 via an aggregate charging chute 7 . On the other hand, the cement stored in the cement storage tank 5 is weighed by the cement weigher 9 and charged into the mixer 8 via the cement charging chute 10 . In addition, water stored in a water storage tank (not shown) is mixed with, for example, an admixture in a water meter 11, and the total amount of water and admixture is measured. is fed into the mixer 8.

Materials such as gravel, sand, cement, water and an admixture charged into the mixer 8 are kneaded in the mixer 8 for a predetermined time to form ready-mixed concrete. Ready-mixed concrete is thrown into a concrete hopper (hereinafter referred to as "hopper") 15 provided below the openable and closable mixer discharge gate 14 provided below the mixer 8 when it is opened. The hopper 15 is provided with a slump value acquisition device 20 according to the present invention. The ready-mixed concrete put into the hopper 15 is put into an agitator car (not shown) or the like and transported to the construction site by opening the freely openable hopper discharge gate 16 provided at the bottom of the hopper 15 .

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of the slump value acquisition device 20. As shown in FIG. The slump value acquisition device 20 is a device for acquiring the slump value of the ready-mixed concrete F generated. The electrical configuration of the slump value acquisition device 20 will be described later.

The slump value acquisition device 20 includes a shaft member 21 and a support movement mechanism 22 for supporting and moving the shaft member 21 . The shaft member 21 is formed in a long, substantially columnar shape, and is supported by a supporting movement mechanism 22 so as to be able to move forward and backward relative to the inside of the hopper 15 . A paddle 23 is formed at the lower end of the shaft member 21 on the hopper 15 side.

The shaft member 21 and the paddle 23 are used to obtain the slump value of the ready-mixed concrete F stored in the hopper 15, as will be described later. As shown in FIG. 3, the paddle 23 is composed of a pair of substantially trapezoidal stirring pieces 24 extending from the axis C of the shaft member 21 in opposite directions. 3 shows a state in which the shaft member 21 is exposed outside from a box 25 (described later).

Returning to FIG. 2, the shaft member 21 is supported by the support movement mechanism 22 on the upper slope 15a of the hopper 15. At the initial position shown in FIG. arranged to be positioned. In addition, the shaft member 21 is set to have a length sufficient to move and dip the paddle 23 into the fresh concrete F in order to obtain the slump value of the fresh concrete F.

The upper end of the shaft member 21 is provided with a first motor 26 for rotationally driving it. The first motor 26 is for rotating the shaft member 21 in its axial direction. The first motor 26 is, for example, a geared motor, and can change its rotational speed.

The support-moving mechanism 22 has a substantially prismatic support member 27 fixed to the upper slope 15a of the hopper 15, and a long columnar ball screw member 28 extending along the extending direction of the support member 27. there is The ball screw member 28 is supported by the support member 27 with an L-shaped fitting 29 at its upper end and a bearing 30 at its lower end. The ball screw member 28 is threaded on its peripheral surface.

A slide member 31 is attached to the peripheral surface of the ball screw member 28 so as to be displaceable along the circumference of the ball screw member 28 as the ball screw member 28 rotates. The slide member 31 is composed of a pair of nuts 32, which are connected by a connecting member 33 and fixed to the upper end of the shaft member 21 (near the first motor 26).

A second motor 34 for rotating the ball screw member 28 is provided at the upper end of the ball screw member 28 . When the second motor 34 is rotationally driven, the ball screw member 28 rotates, and the slide member 31 (pair of nuts 32) attached to the ball screw member 28 is displaced in the extending direction of the ball screw member 28. . As a result, the shaft member 21 fixed to the slide member 31 moves in the same direction as the displacement direction of the slide member 31 .

Inside the hopper 15 and on the back side of the upper slope 15a, a hollow substantially quadrangular prism-shaped box 25 is provided. ing. The lower end of the box 25 is formed in a rubber-like shape, and as shown in FIG.

When the shaft member 21 moves toward the hopper 15 , the paddle 23 is once exposed inside the hopper 15 from inside the box 25 and advances inside the hopper 15 . Conversely, as shaft member 21 moves toward the exterior of hopper 15, paddle 23 retracts toward box 25 and passes through hole 35 in the rubber end of box 25. As shown in FIG. Therefore, ready-mixed concrete adhering to the surface of the paddle 23 is removed through the holes 35 thereof.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an electrical configuration of the slump value acquisition device 20. As shown in FIG.

The slump value acquisition device 20 includes a paddle control section 37 such as a sequencer, and the paddle control section 37 has a memory 37A. The memory 37A stores the correspondence relationship between the current value of the first motor 26 and the slump value of the ready-mixed concrete F (see FIG. 9, which will be described later).

This correspondence relationship is obtained in advance by, for example, experimental measurement. That is, the worker measures the current value of the first motor 26 while the paddle 23 is immersed in the fresh concrete after kneading, and then takes out a portion of the fresh concrete. Workers then measure the slump values of the ready-mixed concrete and record these as sample data values. Then, a plurality of such sample data values are measured for ready-mixed concrete having different material weighing values, and the correspondence relationship between the current value of the first motor 26 and the slump value of the ready-mixed concrete F as shown in FIG. 9 is obtained.

The correspondence relationship between the current value of the first motor 26 and the slump value of the ready-mixed concrete F is shown graphically in FIG. The correspondence relationship between the current value of the first motor 26 and the slump value of the ready-mixed concrete F may be obtained from the stored relational expression.

The paddle control section 37 connects the first motor 26 and the second motor 34 . The paddle control unit 37 outputs a rotation start signal and a rotation stop signal as operation signals to the first motor 26 and the second motor 34, respectively. Thereby, the rotation operations of the first motor 26 and the second motor 34 are controlled. Note that the operation signal may include a rotation variable signal for varying the rotation of the first motor 26 .

When the first motor 26 is rotated by the paddle control section 37 , it outputs the current value of its own motor to the paddle control section 37 . That is, the first motor 26 outputs a current value corresponding to the load of the ready-mixed concrete F when the connected shaft member 21 is immersed in the ready-mixed concrete F. The paddle control unit 37 acquires the slump value of the ready-mixed concrete F temporarily stored in the hopper 15 based on this current value output from the first motor 26 (details will be described later).

The paddle control unit 37 is connected to a weighing operation control unit 38 provided, for example, in an operation room (not shown) of the batcher plant 1 . The weighing operation control unit 38 is composed of, for example, a personal computer or the like, and controls the production process of ready-mixed concrete in the batcher plant 1 in an integrated manner.

The paddle control unit 37 outputs the slump value of the ready-mixed concrete F obtained as described above to the weighing operation control unit 38 . When this slump value is input and, for example, greatly differs from the desired value, the weighing operation control unit 38 issues an alarm or performs material weighing instruction processing so that an appropriate slump value can be obtained in the next batch. or

A mixer discharge gate operation switch 39 is connected to the weighing operation control unit 38, and an open/close signal for the mixer discharge gate 14 is input by operating it by an operator. Similarly, a hopper discharge gate operation switch 40 is connected to the weighing operation control unit 38, and an open/close signal for the hopper discharge gate 16 is input by operating the switch 40 by the operator. The weighing operation control unit 38 outputs a gate opening/closing signal as an operation signal to the mixer discharge gate 14 and the hopper discharge gate 16 based on the opening/closing signal.

The weighing operation control unit 38 outputs to the paddle control unit 37 open/close state signals indicating open/close states of the mixer discharge gate 14 and the hopper discharge gate 16 . Thereby, the paddle control unit 37 recognizes the open/closed states of the mixer discharge gate 14 and the hopper discharge gate 16 . When the shaft member 21 is moving or rotating, the paddle control unit 37 outputs an interlock signal to the weighing operation control unit 38 to prohibit the operation of the mixer discharge gate 14 and the hopper discharge gate 16 . .

Next, the operation of the slump value acquisition device 20 will be described mainly with reference to the time chart of FIG. 5 showing the operation procedure of the paddle control section 37 and FIG. 6 showing the relationship between the current value of the first motor 26 and time. do.

Here, the action after each material is kneaded in the mixer 8 will be described. After kneading is finished, when the operator operates the mixer discharge gate operation switch 39 to open the mixer discharge gate 14, the weighing operation control section 38 outputs an open signal to the mixer discharge gate 14 (see FIG. 5(a)). ). As a result, the mixer discharge gate 14 is opened, and the ready-mixed concrete kneaded by the mixer 8 is thrown into the hopper 15 .

The charged ready-mixed concrete stays inside the hopper 15 because the hopper discharge gate 16 is closed. After several seconds, when the operator confirms that the interior of the mixer 8 has become empty by, for example, an image captured by a camera (not shown), the operator operates the mixer discharge gate operation switch 39 so as to close the mixer discharge gate 14. do. As a result, the mixer discharge gate 14 is closed.

Here, the paddle control unit 37 recognizes that the mixer discharge gate 14 is in the closed state from the open/closed state signal, and outputs an interlock signal to the weighing operation control unit 38 (see FIG. 1(c)). An operation signal (ON signal) is output to rotate (forward) the second motor 34 (see (d) in the figure).

When the second motor 34 starts rotating, the ball screw member 28 rotates and the slide member 31 attached to its peripheral surface is displaced toward the hopper 15 side. As the slide member 31 is displaced, the shaft member 21 moves toward the hopper 15 .

Also, when the second motor 34 rotates, the paddle control section 37 receives the current value output from the first motor 26 . When the second motor 34 is rotated, the current value is 0 because the first motor 26 is not yet rotated (see period t1 in FIG. 6).

After a predetermined time (period t1) has passed, the paddle control section 37 outputs an operation signal (ON signal) for rotating the first motor 26 (see FIGS. 5(e) and 6). The reason why the rotation of the first motor 26 is started with a delay of the period t1 from that of the second motor 34 is that the paddle 23 at the tip of the shaft member 21 is exposed to the outside of the box 25 as shown in FIG. This is because the shaft member 21 is rotated after that.

After that, the rotation of the first motor 26 and the second motor 34 is continued, and the shaft member 21 having the paddle 23 at its tip advances toward the bottom of the hopper 15 . At this time, the current value i1 of the _first motor 26 remains substantially constant (see period t2 in FIG. 6). The shaft member 21 continues to advance to the hopper 15 side, and thereafter, as shown in FIG.

When the paddle 23 of the shaft member 21 comes into contact with the ready-mixed concrete F, a load is applied to the rotating paddle 23, which changes the rotation amount of the first motor 26 and increases the current value (see period t3 in FIG. 6). ). The paddle control section 37 recognizes that the paddle 23 of the shaft member 21 has come into contact with the ready-mixed concrete F when this current value increases.

After that, the rotation of the first motor 26 and the second motor 34 is continued, so that the paddle 23 of the shaft member 21 advances toward the inside of the ready-mixed concrete F. Then, as shown in FIG. 8, when the entire paddle 23 of the shaft member 21 is immersed in the ready-mixed concrete F, the current value i2 of the _first motor 26 remains substantially constant (see period t4 in FIG. 6). ). That is, this current value _i2 is a value corresponding to the fluidity of the ready-mixed concrete F, in other words, it corresponds to the slump value of the ready-mixed concrete F.

The paddle control unit 37 receives the current value i2 from the _first motor 26 and acquires the slump value based _on this current value i2. More specifically, the paddle control unit 37, as shown in FIG. Obtain the slump value S corresponding to the current value _i2 by referring to the correspondence. Then, the paddle control section 37 outputs the acquired slump value S of the ready-mixed concrete F to the weighing operation control section 38 .

Thus, according to this embodiment, the actual slump value of ready-mixed concrete F can be reliably obtained based on the current value of the first motor 26 . Therefore, the slump value of ready-mixed concrete can be obtained more accurately and satisfactorily without depending on the experience of the operator or the physical condition of the day.

After that, the paddle control section 37 stops the rotational driving of the first motor 26 and the second motor 34 after a predetermined time period (time period t4) has elapsed, and outputs an interlock signal to the weighing operation control section 38 to be off. As a result, the interlocking of the mixer discharge gate 14 and the hopper discharge gate 16 is released in the weighing operation control section 38 .

The paddle control unit 37 turns on the reverse operation signal to the second motor 34 . Therefore, the second motor 34 is reversed and rotates, and the slide member 31 is displaced upward. As a result, the shaft member 21 moves toward the outside of the hopper 15 and finally returns to the initial position. Then, the hopper discharge gate 16 is opened and ready-mixed concrete is discharged.

A thermocouple (not shown) may be provided at the tip of the paddle 23 of the shaft member 21 , and the output of this thermocouple may be input to the paddle control section 37 . The paddle control section 37 acquires the temperature of the ready-mixed concrete F based on the output of the thermocouple. When the paddle 23 is immersed in the ready-mixed concrete F stored in the hopper 15, the thermocouple can measure the temperature of the ready-mixed concrete. This makes it possible to obtain the temperature of ready-mixed concrete just before shipment.

The scope of the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, the form, size, quantity, structure, etc. of each member in the above embodiment are not limited to those in the above embodiment, and can be appropriately modified in design.

For example, in the above embodiment, the ball screw mechanism 28 and the slide member 31 are used as the mechanism for moving the shaft member 21, but instead of this, a rack and pinion configuration may be used to convert rotary motion into linear motion. It is not limited to these as long as it is a mechanism for Moreover, the mechanism for moving the shaft member 21 is not limited to the above, and for example, an electric cylinder, an air cylinder, or the like may be used.

Further, since the first motor 26 shown in the above embodiment has a variable rotation speed, the speed of the first motor 26 may be increased for a while after the paddle 23 is exposed to the outside of the box 25 . In this way, when the amount of fresh concrete F remaining is small, the paddle 23 can be quickly immersed in the fresh concrete F, and the slump value acquisition time can be shortened.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the opening/closing control of the mixer discharge gate 14 and the hopper discharge gate 16 was manually performed by the operator, but instead of this, it may be performed automatically.

1 batcher plant 8 concrete mixer 14 mixer discharge gate 15 concrete hopper 16 hopper discharge gate 20 slump value acquisition device 21 shaft member 22 support movement mechanism 26 first motor 34 second motor 37 paddle control section 37A memory 38 weighing operation control section

Claims (5)

a mixer for kneading a plurality of materials for producing ready-mixed concrete and having a mixer discharge gate at the bottom;
a hopper disposed below the mixer for temporarily storing ready-mixed concrete and having a hopper discharge gate at the bottom;
a slump value obtaining means for obtaining a slump value of the ready-mixed concrete;
After the plurality of materials are kneaded by the mixer , when the interlock signal from the slump value acquisition means is off, the mixer discharge gate is opened from the closed state to throw the mixed concrete into the hopper. After that, the mixer discharge gate is closed, and after the slump value acquisition means acquires the slump value, when the interlock signal from the slump value acquisition means is off, the hopper discharge gate is opened from the closed state. and weighing operation control means for discharging ready-mixed concrete in the hopper ,
The slump value acquisition means is
a rod-shaped shaft member having a flat paddle at its tip;
supporting and moving means for supporting the shaft member and moving the shaft member forward and backward with respect to the interior of the hopper;
rotation driving means for rotating the shaft member in the axial direction and outputting a current value corresponding to the load during rotation of the shaft member;
Based on the current value output from the rotation drive means when the paddle of the shaft member rotated by the rotation drive means is immersed in the ready-mixed concrete stored in the hopper, A ready-mixed concrete manufacturing apparatus characterized by obtaining a slump value. storage means for storing the relationship between the current value output from the rotation driving means and the slump value of the ready-mixed concrete at the current value, which is obtained by measuring in advance;
The slump value acquisition means is
Ready-mixed concrete production according to claim 1, wherein the slump value corresponding to the actual current value output from the rotary drive means is obtained based on the relationship between the current value and the slump value stored in the storage means. Device. The slump value acquisition means is
recognizing that the shaft member has come into contact with the stored ready-mixed concrete due to a predetermined change in the current value output from the rotation driving means;
3. The ready-mixed concrete manufacturing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a current value output from said rotation driving means thereafter is used as a current value for acquiring said slump value by said storage means. The supporting and moving means are
a substantially cylindrical ball screw member;
a slide member attached to the peripheral surface of the ball screw member and fixed to the shaft member;
and another rotation driving means for rotating the ball screw member in the axial direction,
The shaft member
4. The ball screw member according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein said ball screw member is rotated in the axial direction by said other rotation driving means being rotated, and said slide member is displaced according to said rotation to move. ready-mixed concrete manufacturing equipment. The paddle of the shaft member includes:
5. The ready-mixed concrete manufacturing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising temperature measuring means for measuring the temperature of the ready-mixed concrete stored in said hopper.

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