Fiber body manufacturing apparatus and defibrating device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12264437-B2
Application number	US-202318150223-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 5, 2023
Priority date	Jan 7, 2022
Publication date	Apr 1, 2025
Grant date	Apr 1, 2025

Abstract

A fiber body manufacturing apparatus includes: a material supply section that supplies a material containing a fiber; a defibrating section that defibrates the material supplied from the material supply section; a separation section that includes a rotating member, a suction portion, and a collection section, the rotating member having a first surface and a second surface that are in a front and back relationship, being at least partially composed of a mesh, and to which a defibrated material generated in the defibrating section is supplied onto the first surface, the 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 collection section collecting the defibrated material from which the foreign matter on the first surface has been removed; an accumulation section that accumulates the defibrated material from which the foreign matter has been removed; a forming section that forms an accumulated material generated in the accumulation section; a thickness detection section that detects a thickness of a sheet formed by the forming section; and a controller that controls an operation of the separation section based on a detection result of the thickness detection section.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A fiber body manufacturing apparatus comprising: a material supplier that supplies a material containing a fiber; a defibrator that is arranged downstream relative to the material supplier in a transport direction of the material and defibrates the material supplied from the material supplier; a separation section that is arranged downstream relative to the defibrator in a transport direction of a defibrated material generated in the defibrator, and includes a 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 defibrated material being supplied onto the first surface, a first suction portion being arranged on a side of the second surface of the rotating member and facing the second surface of the rotating member, the first suction portion sucking the defibrated material via the mesh to remove foreign matter, a collector that includes a second suction portion which is arranged on a side of the first surface of the rotating member and faces the first surface of the rotating member, the collector collecting the defibrated material from which the foreign matter on the first surface was removed; an accumulation section that is arranged downstream relative to the separation section in the transport direction of the defibrated material, and accumulates the defibrated material from which the foreign matter was removed to generate an accumulation material; a forming section that is arranged downstream relative to the accumulation section in the transport direction of the accumulated material and forms the accumulated material to obtain a sheet; a thickness detector that is arranged downstream relative to the forming section in the transport direction of the sheet and detects a thickness of the sheet; and a controller that is electrically connected to the separation section and the thickness detector, and controls an operation of the separation section based on a detection result of the thickness detector.

2. The fiber body manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
the controller adjusts a rotation speed of the rotating member based on the detection result of the thickness detector.

3. The fiber body manufacturing apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein
the controller increases the rotation speed of the rotating member as the thickness of the sheet increases, and decreases the rotation speed of the rotating member as the thickness of the sheet decreases.

4. The fiber body manufacturing apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein
the controller includes a storage in which a calibration curve indicating a relationship between the thickness of the sheet and the rotation speed of the rotating member is stored.

5. The fiber body manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
the controller adjusts a suction force of the first suction portion based on the detection result of the thickness detector.

6. The fiber body manufacturing apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein
the controller increases the suction force of the first suction portion as the thickness of the sheet increases, and weakens the suction force of the first suction portion as the thickness of the sheet decreases.

7. The fiber body manufacturing apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein
the controller includes a storage in which a calibration curve indicating a relationship between the thickness of the sheet and the suction force of the first suction portion is stored.

8. The fiber body manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a stock section that stocks the sheet, wherein
the thickness detector is provided in the stock section.

9. A defibrating device comprising: a material supplier that supplies a material containing a fiber; a defibrator that is arranged downstream relative to the material supplier in a transport direction of the material and defibrates the material supplied from the material supplier; a separation section that is arranged downstream relative to the defibrator in a transport direction of a defibrated material generated in the defibrator, and includes a 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 defibrated material being supplied onto the first surface, a first suction portion being arranged on a side of the second surface of the rotating member and facing the second surface of the rotating member, the first suction portion sucking the defibrated material via the mesh to remove foreign matter, a collector that includes a second suction portion which is arranged on a side of the first surface of the rotating member and faces the first surface of the rotating member, the collector collecting the defibrated material from which the foreign matter on the first surface was removed; an accumulation section that is arranged downstream relative to the separation section in the transport direction of the defibrated material, and accumulates the defibrated material from which the foreign matter was removed to generate an accumulation material; a thickness detector that is arranged downstream relative to the accumulation section in the transport direction of the accumulation material and detects a thickness of the accumulated material; and a controller that is electrically connected to the separation section and the thickness detector, and controls an operation of the separation section based on a detection result of the thickness detector.

Assignees

• Seiko Epson Corp

Inventors

• Omagari Naoko

Classifications

• D21B1/026

  Separating fibrous materials from waste · CPC title

• Y02W30/64

  Paper recycling · CPC title

• D01G9/08

  by means of air draught arrangements · CPC title

• D01G11/04

  Opening rags to obtain fibres for re-use (mechanical treatment of rags for paper-making D21B) · CPC title

• D04H1/60

  the bonding agent being applied in dry state, e.g. thermo-activatable agents in solid or molten state, and heat being applied subsequently · CPC title