US-12624499-B2 - Separation device and sheet manufacturing apparatus

US12624499B2US 12624499 B2US12624499 B2US 12624499B2US-12624499-B2

Abstract

A separation device includes: a defibrating section that defibrates a material containing a fiber; and a separation section that includes a rotating member, a first ejection portion, a first suction portion, a second ejection portion, and a second suction portion, the rotating member being at least partially composed of a mesh, the first ejection portion ejecting a defibrated material generated in the defibrating section onto a first surface, the first suction portion sucking the defibrated material via the mesh to remove foreign matter, the second ejection portion having a second ejection port that ejects air toward the defibrated material from which the foreign matter on the first surface has been removed, the second suction portion sucking and collecting the defibrated material peeled off from the mesh by the air ejected from the second ejection port, in which the second ejection portion includes a nozzle having a first portion and a second portion, the first portion being a portion in which a cross-sectional area of a lumen decreases toward the second ejection port, the second portion being provided on an opposite side of the first portion to the second ejection port and being a portion in which the cross-sectional area of the lumen is larger than an opening area of the second ejection port and is constant along a tube axis.

Inventors

Naoko OMAGARI

Assignees

SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20230105
Priority Date: 20220107

Claims (9)

1 . A separation device comprising: a defibrating section that defibrates a material containing a fiber; and a separation section that includes a rotating member, a first ejection portion, a first suction portion, a second ejection portion, and a second suction portion, the rotating member having a first surface and a second surface that are in a front and back relationship and being at least partially composed of a mesh, the first ejection portion ejecting a defibrated material generated in the defibrating section onto the first surface, the first suction portion being provided on a side of the second surface of the rotating member and sucking the defibrated material via the mesh to remove foreign matter, the second ejection portion being provided on the side of the second surface of the rotating member and having a second ejection port that ejects air toward the defibrated material from which the foreign matter on the first surface was removed, the second suction portion being provided on a side of the first surface of the rotating member and sucking and collecting the defibrated material peeled off from the mesh by the air ejected from the second ejection port, wherein the second ejection portion includes a nozzle having a first portion and a second portion, the first portion being a portion in which a cross-sectional area of a lumen decreases toward the second ejection port, the second portion being provided on an opposite side of the first portion to the second ejection port and being a portion in which the cross-sectional area of the lumen is larger than an opening area of the second ejection port and is constant along a tube axis, the first portion has two pairs of inner surfaces facing each other across the tube axis, a first pair of inner surfaces of the two pairs of inner surfaces has a first inner surface that is inclined with respect to the tube axis, and a second inner surface that is parallel to the tube axis, such that the first inner surface approaches the second inner surface as moving toward the second ejection port, and a second pair of inner surfaces of the two pairs of inner surfaces is entirely parallel to the tube axis between the second ejection port and the second portion.
2 . The separation device according to claim 1 , wherein a rate of gradual reduction of the cross-sectional area of the lumen in the first portion is constant.
3 . The separation device according to claim 1 , wherein the nozzle has a third portion provided between the second ejection port and the first portion and having a constant cross-sectional area of the lumen along the tube axis.
4 . The separation device according to claim 1 , wherein the second ejection port has an elongated shape in plan view of an opening surface, and has a constant width along a longitudinal direction.
5 . The separation device according to claim 1 , wherein the second ejection port has an elongated shape in plan view of an opening surface, and has a portion with a different width along a longitudinal direction.
6 . A sheet manufacturing apparatus comprising: the separation device according to claim 1 ; an accumulation section that accumulates the defibrated material from which the foreign matter was removed by the separation device; and a sheet forming section that forms an accumulated material generated in the accumulation section into a sheet.
7 . A separation device comprising: a defibrating section that defibrates a material containing a fiber; and a separation section that includes a rotating member, a first ejection portion, a first suction portion, a second ejection portion, and a second suction portion, the rotating member having a first surface and a second surface that are in a front and back relationship and being at least partially composed of a mesh, the first ejection portion ejecting a defibrated material generated in the defibrating section onto the first surface, the first suction portion being provided on a side of the second surface of the rotating member and sucking the defibrated material via the mesh to remove foreign matter, the second ejection portion being provided on the side of the second surface of the rotating member and having a second ejection port that ejects air toward the defibrated material from which the foreign matter on the first surface was removed, the second suction portion being provided on a side of the first surface of the rotating member and sucking and collecting the defibrated material peeled off from the mesh by the air ejected from the second ejection port, wherein the second ejection portion includes a nozzle having a first portion and a second portion, the first portion being a portion in which a cross-sectional area of a lumen decreases toward the second ejection port, the second portion being provided on an opposite side of the first portion to the second ejection port and being a portion in which the cross-sectional area of the lumen is larger than an opening area of the second ejection port and is constant along a tube axis, and the nozzle has a third portion that is provided between the second ejection port and the first portion and has a constant cross-sectional area of the lumen along the tube axis.
8 . The separation device according to claim 7 , wherein the first portion is arranged between the second portion and the third portion in a direction along the tube axis.
9 . A separation device comprising: a defibrating section that defibrates a material containing a fiber; and a separation section that includes a rotating member, a first ejection portion, a first suction portion, a second ejection portion, and a second suction portion, the rotating member having a first surface and a second surface that are in a front and back relationship and being at least partially composed of a mesh, the first ejection portion ejecting a defibrated material generated in the defibrating section onto the first surface, the first suction portion being provided on a side of the second surface of the rotating member and sucking the defibrated material via the mesh to remove foreign matter, the second ejection portion being provided on the side of the second surface of the rotating member and having a second ejection port that ejects air toward the defibrated material from which the foreign matter on the first surface was removed, the second suction portion being provided on a side of the first surface of the rotating member and sucking and collecting the defibrated material peeled off from the mesh by the air ejected from the second ejection port, wherein the second ejection portion includes a nozzle having a first portion and a second portion, the first portion being a portion in which a cross-sectional area of a lumen decreases toward the second ejection port, the second portion being provided on an opposite side of the first portion to the second ejection port and being a portion in which the cross-sectional area of the lumen is larger than an opening area of the second ejection port and is constant along a tube axis, and the second ejection port has an elongated shape in plan view of an opening surface, and has a portion with a different width along a longitudinal direction.

Description

The present application is based on, and claims priority from JP Application Serial Number 2022-001964, filed Jan. 7, 2022, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. BACKGROUND 1. Technical Field The present disclosure relates to a separation device and a sheet manufacturing apparatus. 2. Related Art In the related art, a separation device that removes foreign matter and the like in supplied material is known (see, for example, JP-A-7-108224). As shown in FIG. 1 of JP-A-7-108224, this separation device includes a disc-shaped screen 1, an ejection port 2 provided on one surface side of the screen 1, a suction port 3 provided on the opposite side of the ejection port 2 via the screen 1, an ejection port 4 provided on the other surface side of the screen 1 and at a position different from the suction port 3, and a suction port 5 provided on the opposite side of the ejection port 4 via the screen 1. By supplying a defibrated material from the ejection port 2 onto the screen 1 and performing suction from the suction port 3, excessively fine defibrated materials can be removed. In this case, foreign matter in the defibrated material can also be removed. Further, when the screen 1 rotates, the defibrated material remaining on the screen 1 also moves, and at the destination, the defibrated material is separated from the screen 1 by air ejected from the ejection port 4, and the separated defibrated material can be collected by suction at the suction port 5. However, in the separation device disclosed in JP-A-7-108224, in order to more reliably peel off and collect the defibrated material from the screen 1, it is necessary to increase the amount of air ejected from the ejection port 4. That is, it is necessary to increase the amount of power supplied to a blower coupled to the ejection port 4 or prepare a larger blower. In this case, an increase in power consumption is caused and an increase in size of the device is caused. SUMMARY The present disclosure can be realized in the following aspects. According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a separation device. The separation device includes: a defibrating section that defibrates a material containing a fiber; and a separation section that includes a rotating member, a first ejection portion, a first suction portion, a second ejection portion, and a second suction portion, the rotating member having a first surface and a second surface that are in a front and back relationship and being at least partially composed of a mesh, the first ejection portion ejecting a defibrated material generated in the defibrating section onto the first surface, the first suction portion being provided on a side of the second surface of the rotating member and sucking the defibrated material via the mesh to remove foreign matter, the second ejection portion being provided on the side of the second surface of the rotating member and having a second ejection port that ejects air toward the defibrated material from which the foreign matter on the first surface was removed, the second suction portion being provided on a side of the first surface of the rotating member and sucking and collecting the defibrated material peeled off from the mesh by the air ejected from the second ejection port, in which the second ejection portion includes a nozzle having a first portion and a second portion, the first portion being a portion in which a cross-sectional area of a lumen decreases toward the second ejection port, the second portion being provided on an opposite side of the first portion to the second ejection port and being a portion in which the cross-sectional area of the lumen is larger than an opening area of the second ejection port and is constant along a tube axis. According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a sheet manufacturing apparatus. The sheet manufacturing apparatus includes: the separation device according to the present disclosure; an accumulation section that accumulates the defibrated material from which the foreign matter was removed by the separation device; and a sheet forming section that forms an accumulated material generated in the accumulation section into a sheet. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic side view showing a sheet manufacturing apparatus including a separation device according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the separation device shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a plan view of the separation device shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of a nozzle provided in the separation device shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line V-V in FIG. 4. FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of a nozzle provided in a separation device according to a second embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view of a nozzle provided in a separation device acco