Gas supply system, mechanical foaming system, and gas supply method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12589368-B2
Application number	US-201917788941-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 27, 2019
Priority date	Dec 27, 2019
Publication date	Mar 31, 2026
Grant date	Mar 31, 2026

Abstract

The present invention allows measurement of a precise amount of gas by preventing sudden flow rate fluctuations of gas. A gas supply system 1 a for a mixing-discharging apparatus 90 to mix gas and paste material includes a regulator 2 adapted to control pressure of gas supplied to the mixing-discharging apparatus, a flow meter 3 adapted to measure flow rate of the gas, a gas storage portion 4 adapted to store the gas, and a valve 5 adapted to open and close a gas introduction path 11 to the mixing-discharging apparatus 90 . The flow meter 3 is placed in front of the gas storage portion 4 and behind the regulator 2 with respect to a flow of the gas.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1 . A gas supply system for a mixing-discharging apparatus equipped with a piston pump having a predetermined volume to mix gas and paste material, the gas supply system comprising:
a regulator adapted to control pressure of gas supplied from a gas supply source; a flow meter adapted to measure a flow rate of the gas; a gas storage portion adapted to store the gas; and a valve adapted to open and close a gas introduction path to the mixing-discharging apparatus, wherein in the gas storage portion, a volume ratio of the gas storage portion to the predetermined volume of the piston pump is established between 4 and 100 such that sudden flow rate fluctuations in a flow path in which the flow meter is placed do not occur in a shorter amount of time than a sampling time of the flow meter when the valve is open and gas is supplied to the piston pump of the mixing-discharging apparatus, the sudden flow rate fluctuations being flow rate fluctuations in the shorter amount of time which would cause sampling distortion in measurements of the flow meter.

2 . The gas supply system according to claim 1 , wherein the flow meter is placed upstream of the gas storage portion and downstream of the regulator with respect to a flow of the gas.

3 . The gas supply system according to claim 1 , wherein the volume ratio of the gas storage portion to the predetermined volume of the piston pump is between 8 and 50.

4 . The gas supply system according to claim 3 , wherein a volume of the gas storage portion is 20 cc to 2000 cc.

5 . The gas supply system according to claim 4 , wherein a material of the gas storage portion is SUS.

6 . The gas supply system according to claim 1 , wherein the regulator is a precision regulator.

7 . The gas supply system according to claim 6 , wherein the precision regulator is a constant bleed regulator or a nozzle flapper regulator.

8 . The gas supply system according to claim 1 , further comprising a check valve installed on a gas flow path between the gas storage portion and the valve.

9 . The gas supply system according to claim 8 , wherein a pressure difference between gases in front and back of the check valve is 0.01 MPa or less when gas does not flow.

10 . The gas supply system according to claim 8 , wherein a pressure of gas supplied to the regulator is 1 MPa or less.

11 . The gas supply system according to claim 1 , further comprising a controller adapted to control the gas supply system, wherein
the controller is configured to: open the valve in a state in which the gas supplied from the gas supply source is subjected to pressure regulation by the regulator and stored in the gas storage portion, thereby sending gas into a space of the predetermined volume of the piston pump and storing the gas therein; measure the flow rate of the gas with the flow meter; calculate an amount of the gas stored in the piston pump from the flow rate of the gas measured by the flow meter; and close the valve when a predetermined closing condition is satisfied.

12 . The gas supply system according to claim 11 , wherein the controller determines whether the calculated amount of the gas stored in the piston pump falls within a preset range between upper and lower limits and issues a system stop command when the amount of the gas falls outside the range between the upper and lower limits.

13 . The gas supply system according to claim 11 , further comprising a display unit adapted to display the calculated amount of the gas stored in the piston pump and a range between upper and lower limits representing an appropriate range of the amount of the gas.

14 . The gas supply system according to claim 13 , wherein the display unit further displays a time variation of the flow rate measured by the flow meter.

15 . The gas supply system according to claim 11 , further comprising a pressure gage adapted to detect a pressure of the gas, the pressure gage being installed on a gas flow path between the gas storage portion and the valve.

16 . The gas supply system according to claim 15 , wherein the predetermined closing condition for closing the valve is any of conditions (1) to (3) below:
(1) a gas flow rate measured by the flow meter falls to 0 or falls to or below a threshold; (2) gas pressure fluctuations detected by the pressure gage disappear or a pressure fluctuation range of the gas falls to or below a threshold; and (3) a predetermined time elapses after the valve is opened.

17 . The gas supply system according to claim 1 , wherein the gas storage portion is a gas tank.

18 . The gas supply system according to claim 1 , wherein the gas storage portion is made up of a pipe having a length and a sectional area that achieve a predetermined volume ratio to a predetermined volume of the piston pump.

19 . A mechanical foaming system comprising:
the gas supply system according to claim 1 ; and a mixing-discharging apparatus equipped with a piston pump supplied with gas from the gas supply system.

20 . The mechanical foaming system according to claim 19 , further comprising a controller adapted to control the gas supply system and the mixing-discharging apparatus,
wherein the piston pump of the mixing-discharging apparatus includes:
a cylinder connected to the gas supply system; and
a piston driven up and down in the cylinder,
wherein the mixing-discharging apparatus further includes:
a material supply apparatus adapted to supply paste material;
a conduit for the paste material, the conduit being connected to the material supply apparatus; and
a discharge valve adapted to open or close a gas supply path from the cylinder to the conduit, and
wherein the controller is configured to:
move the piston upward in the cylinder with the discharge valve closed;
introduce gas from the gas supply system into a cylinder space formed in the cylinder by upward movement of the piston and having a fixed volume;
pour a fixed amount of the paste material to the conduit from the material supply apparatus;
compress the gas by moving the piston downward; and
open the discharge valve and thereby mix discharged gas in the paste material.

21 . The mechanical foaming system according to claim 19 , further comprising a controller adapted to control the gas supply system and the mixing-discharging apparatus,
wherein the piston pump of the mixing-discharging apparatus includes:
a cylinder connected to the gas supply system; and
a piston driven up and down in the cylinder,
wherein the mixing-discharging apparatus further includes:
a material supply apparatus adapted to supply paste material; and
a material valve installed between the material supply apparatus and the cylinder, and
wherein the controller is configured to:
move the piston upward in the cylinder with the material valve closed;
introduce gas from the gas supply system into a cylinder space formed in the cylinder by upward movement of the piston and having a fixed volume;
supply the paste material to the cylinder space from the material supply apparatus by opening the material valve; and
discharge the gas and the paste material from the cylinder by moving the piston downward.

22 . A method for supplying gas to the piston pump in the mechanical foaming system according to claim 20 , the method comprising:
opening the valve in a state in which the gas supplied from a gas supply source is subjected to pressure regulation by the regulator

Assignees

• Sunstar Engineering Inc

Inventors

• Takada Masaharu
• Yamashita Kiichi

Classifications

• G05D7/0635 Primary

  by action on throttling means (G05D7/0688, G05D7/0694 take precedence) · CPC title

• B01J4/02

  for feeding measured {, i.e. prescribed} quantities of reagents · CPC title

• B01F23/291

  for obtaining foams or aerosols · CPC title

• B01F35/7174

  using pistons, plungers or syringes · CPC title

• B01F23/235 Primary

  for making foam · CPC title