Sheet manufacturing apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10914034-B2
Application number	US-201816142932-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 26, 2018
Priority date	Sep 28, 2017
Publication date	Feb 9, 2021
Grant date	Feb 9, 2021

Abstract

Provided is a sheet manufacturing apparatus capable of desirably adjusting the thickness of the sheet, and forming sheets with highly uniform thickness or grammage. A sheet manufacturing apparatus configured to make a sheet from defibrated material of defibrated paper includes: a drum unit having a cylinder with a defibrated material storage space inside and multiple openings through which the defibrated material passes formed in the outside of the cylinder; an accumulator configured to accumulate the defibrated material that past the openings, forming a deposit; and a housing configured to enclose the drum unit and the accumulator, the housing having a vent through which air passes between the drum unit and the accumulator.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A sheet manufacturing apparatus, comprising:
a drum unit having (i) a cylinder with a defibrated material storage space inside and (ii) a plurality of openings configured to allow for defibrated material to pass through, the plurality of openings being formed in the outside of the cylinder;
an accumulator comprising a belt, the accumulator configured to accumulate the defibrated material that passes through the plurality of openings, the accumulated defibrated material forming a deposit; and
a housing configured to enclose the drum unit,
wherein the housing has a vent through which air passes between the drum unit and the accumulator, and
wherein the housing includes a first longitudinally extending portion and a second longitudinally extending portion, the vent having a longitudinal axis and longitudinally extending in a same direction as the first longitudinally extending portion and as the second longitudinally extending portion.

2. The sheet manufacturing apparatus described in claim 1 , further comprising:
a suction mechanism disposed within the accumulator and configured to suction air between the drum unit and the accumulator.

3. The sheet manufacturing apparatus described in claim 2 , wherein:
the accumulator has a belt configured to convey the deposit;
the belt has through-holes provided through a thickness of the belt; and
the suction unit his disposed on the opposite side of the belt as the drum unit.

4. The sheet manufacturing apparatus described in claim 1 , further comprising:
an injector comprising a blower, the injector configured to inject air through the vent to between the drum unit and the accumulator.

5. The sheet manufacturing apparatus described in claim 1 , further comprising:
an adjustment device comprising a movable shield, the adjustment device configured to adjust a size of the vent.

6. A sheet manufacturing apparatus, comprising:
a drum unit having (i) a cylinder with a defibrated material storage space inside and (ii) a plurality of openings configured to allow for defibrated material to pass through, the plurality of openings being formed in the outside of the cylinder;
an accumulator comprising a belt, the accumulator configured to accumulate the defibrated material that passes through the plurality of openings, the accumulated defibrated material forming a deposit; and
a plurality of seals disposed circumferentially on the outside of the drum unit,
wherein adjacent seals of the plurality of seals are configured to move towards or away from each other along a circumference of the outside of the drum unit.

7. The sheet manufacturing apparatus described in claim 1 , further comprising:
a detector comprising at least one sensor, the detector configured to detect a thickness of the deposit or a thickness of the sheet.

8. The sheet manufacturing apparatus described in claim 7 , further comprising:
a controller having a processor configured to change a formation condition of the deposit based on a detection result of the detector.

9. The sheet manufacturing apparatus described in claim 1 , further comprising:
an air current rectifier disposed to the housing.

10. The sheet manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the drum includes a sieve with a cylindrical body rotating along its center axis.

11. The sheet manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the accumulator is a mesh belt on which the deposit accumulates.

12. The sheet manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the vent is provided between the first longitudinally extending portion and the second longitudinally extending portion along the longitudinal axis.

13. A sheet manufacturing apparatus for making a sheet from defibrated material of defibrated paper, the apparatus comprising:
a drum unit having (i) a cylinder with a defibrated material storage space inside and (ii) a plurality of openings through which the defibrated material passes, the plurality of openings formed in the outside of the cylinder;
an accumulator comprising a belt, the accumulator that accumulates the defibrated material that passes through the openings, the accumulated defibrated material forming a deposit; and
a housing that encloses the drum unit,
wherein the housing has a vent through which air passes between the drum unit and the accumulator, and
wherein the housing includes a first longitudinally extending portion and a second longitudinally extending portion, the vent having a longitudinal axis and longitudinally extending in a same direction as the first longitudinally extending portion and as the second longitudinally extending portion.

Assignees

• Seiko Epson Corp

Inventors

• Higuchi Naotaka

Classifications

• B27L11/08 Primary

  of wood fibres, e.g. produced by tearing · CPC title

• B27N3/18

  Auxiliary operations, e.g. preheating, humidifying, cutting-off · CPC title

• B27N3/12

  from fibres · CPC title

• D04H1/732 Primary

  by fluid current, e.g. air-lay · CPC title

• D21B1/08

  the raw material being waste paper (chemical part D21C5/02); the raw material being rags · CPC title