JPH0933421A - Rotary viscometer with manual rotor locking mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a rotary viscometer provided with a pivot bearing protecting mechanism that is securely operated by mechanical operation. SOLUTION: A locking mechanism 110 is provided with a flange 61a prepared on the outside of the upper end face of a sleeve 61, a compression coil spring 63 which is fitted while being preloaded to press the flange 61a upward, an L-shaped metal 64 fitted on a part of the flange 61a, an eccentric disc cam 65 prepared in a direction where a horizontal side 64a of the metal 64 is pressed downward, a rotating axis 65a for the cam 65, a bearing 67 for the axis 65a, and a handle 68 for manual operation for turning the cam 65. When the handle 68 is turned manually, the sleeve 61 is moved up and down, and a rotor axis is locked and released, allowing a pivot 50 to be detached from a jewel bearing 48 and to be brought into contact therewith interlocking its action.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention is mainly applied to liquid materials such as petrochemical industry, synthetic chemical industry, fat and oil industry, food industry, electronics industry, fiber spinning industry, paper industry, coating industry, cosmetics industry, and pharmaceutical industry. Inspection of these liquid raw materials in almost all industrial fields that use raw materials or secondary raw materials.
The present invention relates to a rotary viscometer most widely used for inspecting an intermediate product in a process or a final product, and particularly to an inexpensive rotary viscometer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, the viscosity of a viscometer for the above-mentioned use is measured by a so-called constant velocity method. As shown in FIG. 9, a viscometer based on this measurement principle has a scale plate 3 attached to a rotary drive shaft 2 of a drive motor (for example, a synchronization motor) 1 and a torque at a lower end 2 ′ of the drive shaft 2. -The rotor shaft 5 is connected via the spring 4. Further, in this viscometer, a rotor 7 immersed in a sample liquid 6 whose viscosity is to be measured is attached to the lower end of the rotor shaft 5. On the other hand, a pointer 8 extending above the scale plate 3 is attached to the rotor shaft 5. Therefore, in the constant shear velocity type viscometer, the relative rotational angular displacement amount between the drive shaft 2 and the rotor shaft 5 (hereinafter abbreviated as angular displacement amount) is read by the position of the pointer 8 on the scale plate 3. You can

In this conventional viscometer, when the rotor 7 is immersed in the sample liquid 6 and rotated, a torque is generated in the rotor 7 due to the viscosity of the sample liquid 6 as the rotor 7 rotates. The viscosity of the sample liquid 6 can be measured from the angular displacement amount when the rotor shaft 5 is displaced with respect to the drive shaft 2 so that this torque is balanced by the elastic force of the torque spring 4. That is, since the finger index of the pointer 8 on the scale plate 3 is proportional to the viscosity of the sample liquid 6, if the twisting constant of the torque spring 4, the size of the rotor 7, and the rotation speed at that time are known, the finger index of the pointer 8 is determined. The viscosity of the sample liquid 6 can be determined by the degree.

In the above description, the operating principle has been shown on the assumption that the rotor shaft 5, the rotor 7, and the pointer 8 are interlocked with the lower end 2'of the drive shaft via the torque spring 4. However, in such a structure, the position of the rotor shaft 5 is not fixed and is unstable. Therefore, the rotary viscometer actually used has a structure in which these shaft systems are supported by bearings. As an example of the structure, a sectional structure of a so-called B-type viscometer is shown in FIGS. FIG.
1 is an enlarged view of part A surrounded by a two-dot chain line in FIG.
It is a partial cross-sectional view showing the structure of the pivot 11 and the jewel bearing 12.

In this conventional viscometer, the angular displacement of the drive shaft 2a with respect to the rotor shaft 5a is as shown in FIG.
Although it can be read as the finger index of the pointer 8a on the scale plate 3a, there is an inconvenience that this finger index needs to be read during rotation of the scale plate 3a.

For this reason, recently, as shown in FIG. 12, an angle signal converter 14 such as a rotary differential transformer is interposed between the drive shaft 2a and the pointer shaft 9a so that the angle of There is also a viscometer of a system in which the displacement amount is converted into an electric signal, the signal is further digitally converted, and the finger index is read with the digital value. However, since it can be considered that the measurement principle is exactly the same as that in FIG. 9, the detection of the angular displacement amount by the scale plate 3 or 3a and the pointer 8 or 8a will be described below as an example.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory view in which the most main part of the structure of the viscometer shown in FIG. 10, that is, the rotating shaft system is extracted and simplified. In FIG. 13, the rotor shaft 5 a is connected to the pivot 1 through the U-shaped connecting member 10.
1. A bearing (actually a jewel bearing) 12 supports its own weight. The runout of the torque detection shaft 9 extending upward is stopped by a pin 13 which is inserted into the central shaft hole of the drive shaft 2a. The other members are made to correspond to the reference numerals of the members in FIG.
Scale plate 3a, torque spring 4a, sample liquid 6a,
The rotor 7a and the pointer 8a are shown. 1'a is a transmission of the drive motor 1a.

[0008]

However, in the viscometer as described above, as shown in FIG. 13, due to its structure, the contact surface of the pivot 11 and the bearing 12 has a rotor 7a, a rotor shaft 5a, and a rotor shaft 5a. The total weight of the V-shaped connecting member 10, the torque detection shaft 9, the pointer 8a, and the like is applied as a thrust load, so that a friction torque is generated in the torque detection shaft 9. On the other hand, the viscous resistance torque acting on the rotor 7a may be extremely small depending on the sample liquid to be measured. Therefore, in the measurement of the low-viscosity liquid, the friction torque of the pivot may affect the measurement and reduce the measurement accuracy.

For this reason, in this type of viscometer, in order to reduce the axial load that is in contact with the bearing 12 and is applied to the pivot 11, the component size of the member forming the torque detecting shaft 9,
The shape is thin and thin to reduce weight. Moreover, the spherical radius at the tip of the pivot is minimized to reduce the friction torque.However, in this type of viscometer, the load weight including the rotor is smaller than that of other industrial instruments using the pivot. Because it is large, the pivot load conditions are much more severe.

Further, after the viscosity measurement is completed, in order to wash the rotor 7a, it is necessary to remove the rotor 7a from the rotor shaft 5a or replace it with another rotor, that is, a so-called attachment / detachment operation. When performing such an operation, excessive force is applied to the pivot 11 to cause the pivot 11 to move.
Frequent failures such as deformation of the bearing and breakage of the bearing 12 have been the actual conditions of handling the viscometer. In addition, there was a problem of deterioration due to vibration and shock during transportation of the viscometer.

Thus, even during normal handling,
External force may be applied during attachment / detachment operations such as rotor replacement, and the pivot 11 and bearing 12 may be damaged. Therefore, the use conditions of the viscometer are extremely special as compared with the pivot conditions of general industrial instruments, and the viscometer user needs to pay close attention to the handling operation.

A rotary viscometer having such a fragile structure is concerned with a rotary viscometer equipped with a protection device for protecting the pivot 11 at the time of attachment / detachment operation such as rotor exchange and at the time of transportation of the viscometer. Two applications have been devised and invented by the inventor of the present application, one of which has already been registered as a utility model (JP-B-52-10391), and the other is currently pending (JP-A-2-231549). , Application name "Rotary viscometer with pivot protector").

The above-mentioned two pivot protection devices will be described below as prior art.

As shown in FIG. 14, the former device is provided with a cylindrical sleeve 18 slidable in the axial direction guided by an inner wall surface of a lower case 17 for accommodating the pivot 11 and its bearing 12. A disk 19 screwed to a screw portion 18a provided on the lower portion of the inner surface of the sleeve 18 is provided. Disk 1
9 has a hole through which the rotor shaft 5a freely penetrates in its central portion, and an internal gear 20 is fixed to its upper surface to form a lower engaging member. As the upper engaging member,
For example, the external gear 21 having the same pitch as the internal gear is used. The disc 19 is fixed to the rotor shaft 5a, and when the sleeve 18 moves slightly upward from the position of the lowermost end thereof, as will be described later, so that both gears 20 and 21 start to mesh with each other, its position, and thickness. Has been set.

On the other hand, one end of the pin 22 which is inserted through the opening 17a formed in the side wall of the lower case 17 is attached to the sleeve 18.
The other end is attached to a ring-shaped handle 23 that can slide up and down along the outer peripheral surface of the lower case 17. The opening 17a is
When the pin 22 comes into contact with the lower end of the pin 22, the engagement between the internal gear 20 and the external gear 21 is completely disengaged, and the pin 2 is provided at the upper end of the pin 22.
When the two come into contact with each other, the gears 20 and 21 are completely meshed with each other and pushed up by the disc 19, so that the pivot 11 and the bearing 12 thereof are completely separated from each other.

Reference numeral 24 is a limit switch using a micro switch. When the sleeve 18 moves upward and reaches the position where the internal gear 20 and the external gear 21 start to mesh with each other, the upper end of the sleeve 18 pushes the pin 24 a protruding to the limit switch 24 to move the limit switch 24. Operate. The limit switch 24, when the internal gear 20 and the external gear 21 are engaged with each other,
The power supply circuit of the drive motor 1a is opened and interlocked so that the drive motor 1a does not rotate.

According to the present invention, when the rotary viscometer is not measuring, the sleeve 11 is positioned upward to separate the pivot 11 from the bearing 12, and at the same time, the gears 20 and 21 are engaged with each other. Even when the viscometer is transported and the rotor 7a is attached / detached, the pivot 11 and its bearing 12 are less likely to be damaged.

However, in the present invention, although not shown in FIG. 14, a viscometer operation start / stop switch is additionally provided to operate the ring-shaped handle 23 and start / stop.
It does not work with the stop switch. The limit switch 24 is only interlocked so that the drive motor does not rotate when the rotor shaft is constrained. Therefore, when starting the operation of the viscometer,
After operating the ring-shaped handle 23, it is necessary to turn on the start / stop switch.

Further, the ring-shaped handle 23 can stop at any position of its stroke. For this reason, after the viscosity measurement is completed, the user of the viscometer stops the viscometer by turning off the start / stop switch of the viscometer operation and then forgets the operation of the pivot protection device or makes a ring-shaped operation. In some cases, the handle 23 is incompletely operated, and the handle 23 is operated only to a position in the middle of the stroke. This state is a state in which the pivot protection device is not working. Therefore, if the rotor attachment / detachment work is performed even once in this state, the pivot or the jewel bearing will be damaged immediately, and the damage in that case will be extremely great.

That is, in the pivot protection device of the present invention, a part of the operation operation depends on the operator. Therefore, the protection device cannot prevent the failure of the viscometer due to an operation error caused by the operator himself.

In the latter invention, the viscometer pivot protection operation described above is interlocked with the operation and stoppage of the viscometer in order to prevent such a trouble that the operator accidentally causes. As a series of sequence actions to work,
The invention relates to a pivot protection device that is electrically and automatically operated.

FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view showing the main part of the latter viscometer equipped with the pivot protection device of the presently applied invention, and the same or corresponding parts as in FIG. The description is omitted.

In the viscometer according to the invention of this application, the L-shaped metal fitting 30 is fixed to the upper end of the sleeve 18, and two limit switches (actually micro switches) 31 and 32 sandwiching one side 30a thereof. Are arranged on the upper side and the lower side, respectively.

When the sleeve 18 moves upward, the pivot 11 and its bearing 12 are separated from each other, and the rotor shaft 5a is clamped (restrained), the L-shaped fitting 30
The limit switch 31 operates by one side 30a to output a contact signal. Conversely, when the sleeve 18 moves downward, the pivot 11 and the bearing 12 thereof come into contact with each other, and the rotor shaft 5a is released (released), the limit switch 32 similarly operates and outputs a contact signal. To do.

A block 34 provided with a screw hole 34a is fixed to one end of the sleeve 18 above the screw hole 34a. The screw hole 34a of the block 34 has a clamp motor 33 fixed to the viscometer body. A screw shaft 33a connected to the output shaft is screwed.

Therefore, by driving the clamping motor 33, the screw shaft 33a rotates in the forward or reverse direction, and the sleeve 18 moves upward or downward together with the block 34 screwed to the screw shaft 33a. The pivot 11 and its bearing 12 are separated or brought into contact with each other.

As shown in the state transition diagram of FIG. 16, the control device 35 controls the drive motor 1a and the clamping motor 33 in a predetermined sequence according to a command to start or stop the viscometer. That is, in FIG. 16, in the viscometer stopped state of step 0, the rotor shaft 5a is clamped and in a restrained state.
If you start the measurement in this state, step 1 is automatically performed.
After the rotor shaft release operation of (3), the state transits to the viscosity measurement state of step 2.

That is, by the measurement start command, first,
The clamp motor 33 rotates in the forward direction to start the release operation of the rotor shaft. When the limit switch 32 operates to detect the completion of the release operation, the rotation of the clamp motor is stopped. Further, the rotation of the viscometer rotation drive motor 1a is started, and the state transits to the viscometer rotation state of step 2, that is, the viscosity measurement state.

When the viscometer is stopped after finishing the viscosity measurement, if the stop is instructed in the viscometer rotating state of step 2, the rotation of the viscometer rotary drive motor 1a is automatically stopped and the rotor shaft of step 3 is automatically stopped. The viscometer is stopped in step 0 via the clamp operation.

That is, the viscometer rotation drive motor 1a is stopped by the stop command. Following this rotation stop, the rotor shaft clamping motor 33 is rotated in the reverse direction to start the rotor shaft clamping operation. When the limit switch 31 is activated and the completion of the clamp operation is detected, the rotation of the clamping motor is stopped, and the state transits to the viscometer stop state of step 0.

As described above, in the viscometer in which the invention technology of the "rotational viscometer with the pivot protection device" of the present application described above is implemented, the failure of the viscometer is completely eradicated in transportation, measurement operation and all other handling. It has a remarkable effect.

The above-mentioned technique is an excellent technique having such a remarkable effect, but on the other hand, an expensive micromotor must be used as a clamping motor. Further, a complicated mechanism for converting the rotation of the clamping motor into the elevation of the sleeve is built-in, and a control device for operating the clamping motor in sequence in association with the operation and stop of the viscometer is provided. There is a need. For this reason, the price of the viscometer that employs this technique is inevitably high.

The viscometer is used in almost all industrial fields, as described in the section of industrial application. Therefore, there are various needs regarding the measurement accuracy of the viscometer, the product price, and the like. In particular, there is a high demand for a viscometer that is inexpensive and easy to operate and that is reliable.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and is a low-priced method in which the locking operation of the rotor shaft and the protection operation of the pivot bearing are reliably performed by the mechanical operation performed by the user. An object of the present invention is to provide a rotary viscometer equipped with the pivot bearing protection mechanism.

[0035]

In order to achieve the above object, in a rotary viscometer to which the present invention is applied, a rotor which is rotationally driven in contact with a liquid whose viscosity is to be measured, and a rotor which is rotationally driven. A body for measuring viscosity is provided, and the body is
A rotor rotation shaft that supports the rotor and transmits the rotation driving force to the rotor, a rotation driving unit that has a drive motor that rotates the rotor and a driving shaft that outputs the driving force, and the driving force to the rotor rotation shaft. The input rotary shaft for transmitting and a spring, the first connecting means for elastically connecting the drive shaft and the input rotary shaft through the spring to transmit the driving force, and the rotor rotary shaft are rotatable. Supporting means having a pivot and a bearing for bearing and supporting, and a second means for connecting the rotor rotating shaft and the input rotating shaft by bypassing the supporting means.
Rotation means including a coupling means, an angular displacement detection means for detecting relative rotational angular displacement between the rotor rotation shaft and the drive shaft, and a pivot bearing protection device for protecting the pivot of the support means and the mechanism of the bearing during non-measurement. A viscometer, wherein the pivot bearing protection device includes a rotor lock mechanism that locks and releases the rotation of the rotor rotation shaft, and a pivot bearing separation mechanism that separates and contacts the pivot of the support means and the bearing. And a motor control mechanism for controlling on and off of the drive motor, wherein the rotor lock mechanism engages with each other when the rotation of the rotor rotation shaft is restricted, and prevents rotation of the rotor rotation shaft. Using the first and second members whose relative positional relationship is displaceable, the manual operation unit that receives a manual operation, and the mechanical force received by the manual operation unit, the first and second members are used. And the relative positional relationship of the second member is switched between a first state in which both members are engaged and a second state in which they are not engaged, and each state is held until the next manual operation is received. The pivot bearing separating mechanism and the motor control mechanism operate in conjunction with the switching operation of the switching mechanism.

More specifically, the first by the switching mechanism
Before the state is switched to the second state, the pivot bearing separating mechanism brings the pivot and the bearing into contact with each other, and the motor control mechanism performs control to turn on the drive motor after the switching. On the contrary, when switching from the second state to the first state, the drive motor is turned off before switching, and the pivot and the bearing are separated after switching.

[0037]

In the present invention, the switching mechanism has the first operation by accepting the manual operation by the user through the manual operation section.
And displacing the relative positions of the second members to switch between a first state in which both members are engaged and restrain the rotor rotation shaft, and a second state in which both members are not engaged. , Each state is held until the next manual operation is received.

Further, the switching operation of the switching mechanism is interlocked with the operations of the pivot bearing separating mechanism and the motor control mechanism, and, for example, the constraint is released from the first state in which the rotor rotation shaft is constrained. Before the switching to the second state, the pivot and the bearing are brought into contact with each other, and the drive motor is turned on after the switching. On the contrary, when switching from the second state to the first state,
The drive motor is turned off before the switching, and the pivot and the bearing are separated from each other after the switching.

Therefore, in the rotary viscometer according to the present invention, the operation of the pivot bearing protection mechanism and the switch operation of the drive motor, which is the driving force source of the viscometer, are automatically and sequentially operated by the received manual operation. be able to.

[0040]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment to which the present invention is applied will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the same reference numerals are given to the same portions in the drawings.

The present invention relates to a rotary viscometer equipped with a manual rotor lock mechanism for protecting a pivot bearing. In the present embodiment, the present invention is applied to a viscometer that measures the viscosity of a sample liquid according to the measurement principle described in FIG.

First, in order to grasp the whole of the present embodiment, the whole constitution of the viscometer of the present embodiment will be explained.

In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, a cylindrical rotor 7 that rotates in the sample liquid 6 to be measured, a drive mechanism 120 that outputs a rotational drive force, and a drive mechanism 120.
Rotating mechanism 100 including a pivot and a jewel bearing for transmitting the rotational driving force from the rotor to rotor 7, and a rotor coupled to rotating mechanism 100 while interrupting contact between the pivot and jewel bearing in rotating mechanism 100 during non-measurement. 7 has a lock mechanism 110 for restraining the rotational movement of the movable body 7.

The present embodiment further controls the rotational speed of the torque detection mechanism 130 and the drive mechanism 120 for detecting the finger degree (the amount of angular displacement) generated by the viscous torque of the sample liquid 6, and the torque detection mechanism 130 The control device 140 that receives the signal of the above and calculates the viscosity index and the like, the display 160 that displays the viscosity index and the rotation speed, and the keyboard 150 that inputs the start / stop of the viscometer and the rotation speed and the like. .

As shown in FIG. 6, the drive mechanism 120 includes a drive pulse motor 41, a drive timing pulley 42 attached to its output shaft, and a timing pulley 4.
The timing belt 43 is provided around the timing belt 43, and a timing pulley 44 attached to a drive shaft (hereinafter, referred to as a rotation main shaft) 45 driven by the timing belt 43. Further, the drive mechanism 120 includes a power supply device for the drive pulse motor 41, which is not shown. Although the drive motor 41 is described as a pulse motor in this embodiment, the present invention is not necessarily limited to the pulse motor.

The driving pulse motor 41 uses a pulse motor having a small basic step angle in order to ensure smooth rotation, which is important as a viscometer. Further, by appropriately utilizing the micro-step drive system in which the number of divisions is increased, smooth rotation can be achieved and electronic multi-stage shifting is possible.

In the rotating mechanism 100, as shown in FIG.
The pulse motor 41 via the timing pulley 44
A hollow rotating spindle 45 driven by
Bearings 46a, 46b that rotatably support the 5 at two positions, the upper and lower ends thereof, and a first U-shaped connecting member 47 attached to the lowermost end of the rotary main shaft 45 are included.

The rotating mechanism 100 further includes a jewel bearing 4 provided on the lower side 47a of the first U-shaped connecting member 47.
8 and a pivot 50 supported by the jewel bearing 48
A torque detecting shaft 49 having the pivot 50 implanted at the lower end, a second U-shaped connecting member 51 connected to the torque detecting shaft 49 above the pivot 50, and a second U-shaped connecting member. A torque detecting shaft connecting member 49a provided below the mold connecting member 51 and connected to the cylindrical rotor 7 via the rotor stem 5 is included.

The torque detecting shaft connecting member 49a includes a first disc-shaped engaging member which is important for the function of the rotor / lock mechanism 110, which will be described later, and is necessary for restraining the shaft rotation of the rotor 7. For example, a gear 56 with chamfered tooth traces is fixed and attached. On the other hand, the upper side of the torque detection shaft 49 penetrates the inside of the hollow rotary main shaft 45 without coming into contact with each other and extends upward.

Next, the structure of the lock mechanism 110 corresponding to the features of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. The lock mechanism 110 accepts a manual operation of the user, restrains or releases the rotor in accordance with the manual operation, and
The present invention is to provide an accommodating portion that accommodates the rotating mechanism 100 described above.

Here, FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 show the lock mechanism 110.
It is an explanatory view showing a schematic structure including a portion directly related to. FIG. 1 shows a state in which the constraint on the rotation of the rotor 7 is released (rotor release), the rotor 7 of the viscometer rotates, and measurement is being performed. FIG. 2 shows that the rotation of the rotor 7 is restricted (rotor locked) and the viscometer is stopped and is in a non-measurement state.

As shown in FIG. 1 or 2, the lock mechanism 110 has a cylindrical lower case 60 for accommodating the rotating mechanism 100 and a vertical direction inserted into the inner cylindrical surface of the cylindrical lower case 60. It has a sleeve 61 that is slidable, but is provided with a rotation stop in the rotation direction, and a disc 62 fixed to the lower end of the sleeve 61 and having a hole 62a in the center.

The lock mechanism 110 further meshes with the gear 56, which is attached to the torque detecting shaft connecting member 49a and has a chamfered gear 56 (first engaging member).
A rack 57 (second engaging member) provided on the upper surface of the disc 62 and a ring 58 that suppresses the outer diameter of the addendum of the gear 56 are included. The rack 57 and the ring 58 include a disc 62.
Mounted on top as shown in FIG.

In this embodiment, the gear 56 and the rack 57 are used as the first and second engaging members, but these engaging members restrain the rotation of the rotor 7 and the restrained state. Other engagement member combinations may be used as long as they can be maintained until they are released.

As shown in FIG. 1 or 2, the lock mechanism 110 further includes a flange 61a provided outside the upper end surface of the sleeve 61, and a compression coil spring mounted with a preload so as to push the flange 61a upward. 63
And an L-shaped metal fitting 64 attached to a part of the flange 61a
And an eccentric disc cam 65 provided in a direction to roll down the horizontal side 64a of the L-shaped metal fitting 64, a rotating shaft 65a of the eccentric disc cam 65, a bearing 67 of the rotating shaft 65a, and an eccentric disc cam 65. And a knob 68 for manual operation.

The lock mechanism 110 further presses down the horizontal side 64a of the L-shaped metal fitting 64 by the eccentric disc cam 65,
When the sleeve 61 is pushed down to the lower position (see FIG. 1), even if the stress F of the spring 63 acts, the rotation of the eccentric disc cam 65 is stopped so as to stabilize in the state shown in FIG. 4 (A). When the stopper 67a and the sleeve 61 are pushed down (see FIG. 2), they are pushed by the flange 61a,
The limit switch 69 is opened when the sleeve 61 moves upward.

The output of the limit switch 69 is output to the control device 140 described below and used for controlling the operation of the drive mechanism 120.

As shown in FIG. 7, the torque detecting mechanism 130 includes a U-shaped arm member 52 attached to the upper end of the hollow rotating main shaft 45 and an upper side 52a of the U-shaped arm member 52.
, A cup-shaped steady rest fitting 53 provided coaxially with the rotary main shaft 45 and having a small hole in the bottom surface thereof, and a pin 5 inserted into the upper end surface of the torque detection shaft 49 inserted into the small hole.
4 and a torque spring 55 having the shape of a spiral spring attached near the upper end of the torque detection shaft 49.

Here, the outer winding end of the torque spring 55 is locked to the inner portion 52b of the U-shaped arm member 52. Further, the steady rest 53 and the pin 54 work as a bearing for stopping the swing of the torque detection shaft 49 in the radial direction.

The torque detection mechanism 130 further has a signal conversion portion for converting the twist angle of the torque spring 55 generated by the viscous resistance torque received by the torque detection shaft 49 from the sample liquid 6 into an electric signal.

The signal conversion unit includes a rotary differential transformer,
Alternatively, Japanese Patent Application No. 5-19 filed earlier by the inventor of the present application
It is possible to use the signal conversion mechanism based on the transit time difference pulse counting described in the invention described in No. 8478.
In this embodiment, an example of the case of using the latter is shown in FIG.

That is, the torque detecting mechanism 130 serves as a signal converting portion for converting the twist angle of the spring 55 into an electric signal, which is mounted above the rotating main shaft 45 and below the U-shaped arm member 52. A shielding disc 201,
It has a torque detection shaft shielding disk 211 attached to the pin 54 implanted at the upper end of the torque detection shaft 49. Here, the shielding discs 201 and 211 have the same shape, and
As shown in, the entire circumference is divided into multiple equal parts (in this example, 5 parts).
The slit 300 is provided at the position.

The torque detection mechanism 130 further includes optical detectors 200 and 210 as signal converters for detecting passage of the slits 300 provided in the rotary spindle shield disc 201 and the torque detection shaft shield disc 211. Have. Each of the optical detectors 200 and 210 has a light emitting element such as a light emitting diode and a light receiving element such as a phototransistor, which are provided to face each other vertically with the corresponding shield discs 201 and 211 interposed therebetween.

It should be noted that the optical detectors 200 and 210 are arranged so that when the rotor is rotating under no load, the shield disc 20
1 and 211 are passed through the slit 300,
It is placed at a position where it can be detected at the same time.

The signal converter of this example detects the passage timing of the slit 300 provided on each shielding disk by each optical detector, and the twist angle of the torque spring 55 is determined from the deviation of the detected passage timing. Signal corresponding to the relative displacement amount of the rotation angle between the shield disc 201 and the shield disc 211 corresponding to

The keyboard 150 receives operations from the outside with respect to the number of revolutions of the rotor 7 and various settings in viscosity measurement such as start and stop of viscosity measurement.

The display 160 displays the rotation speed of the rotor 7, the measurement result of the viscosity index, the measurement state, and the like, and is composed of a liquid crystal panel, an LED, and the like.

As shown in FIG. 5, the control device 140 has a calculation means 170 and a control means 180. Computing means 1
70 is an optical detector 200 of the torque detection mechanism 130,
Shielding discs 201 and 21 output from 210, respectively.
A signal indicating the passage timing of the first slit 300 is accepted, and the temporal deviation of the passage timing of the slits 300 of both shield disks is obtained from these signals. Further, the calculation means 170 determines that the torque spring 5 is
The relative angular displacement amount of both shield disks corresponding to the twist angle of 5 is calculated, the viscosity index is calculated from the angular displacement amount, and the calculation result is displayed on the display unit 160.

The control means 180 includes a pulse motor driver (not shown) and executes ON / OFF control and rotation speed control of the drive pulse motor 41 of the drive mechanism 120 in response to an operation received by the keyboard 150. .
The control unit 180 further controls that the limit switch 69 of the lock mechanism 110 is in the OFF state, that is, the lock mechanism 1
10 operates to stop the rotation of the pulse motor 41 when the pivot 50 and the jewel bearing 48 are separated from each other.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 2, 4, and 17. Here, FIG. 17 is a state transition diagram showing a state of each part associated with rotation of the knob 68. In this figure, the vertical axis represents the amount of downward movement (S) of the sleeve 61, the horizontal axis represents the rotation angle (θ) of the knob, and the positions of both axes at the origin are as shown in FIG. Corresponding to.

In the viscometer of this embodiment, the user operates the knob 68 to restrain the rotation of the rotor 7 and the viscosity measurement state in which the viscosity can be measured (the state shown in FIG. 1). , Pivot 50 and gem bearing 4
It is possible to switch between two states, that is, a viscometer stopped state (state shown in FIG. 2) in which the rotor 8 and the viscometer 8 are separated from each other and work such as replacement of the rotor 7 is possible.

When switching from the viscometer stop state to the viscosity measurement state, as shown in FIG. 17, during the switching,
Rotor restraint opening operation is automatically performed, and conversely, when the viscosity measurement state is switched to the viscometer stop state, the rotor shaft restraint operation is automatically performed during the process. Further, before / after the restraint of the rotor shaft or the opening movement thereof, the pivot 50 and the jewel bearing 48 are separated / separated.
Fitting and ON / OFF of the limit switch are performed.

In the viscosity measuring state, in this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4 (A), the eccentric disc cam 65 is operated by the knob 68 for manual operation, and the angle θ _M from the viscometer stop state is set.
Only by rotating the sleeve 61, the sleeve 61 is pushed down to the lowest position.

In this state, the first engaging member 56 and the second engaging member 56
Is disengaged from the engaging member 57 of the
0 and the jewel bearing 48 are in contact with each other. Further, at this position, the flange 61a is in contact with the limit switch 69 provided on the lower surface side of the flange 61a, and the limit switch 69 is held in the "ON" state.

Further, the control means 180 detects the state of the limit switch 69 and sends an "ON" signal to a power supply device (not shown) of the drive pulse motor 41, so that the drive pulse motor 41 is set to a predetermined position. The viscometer is kept in the measurement operation state by rotating the viscometer at the rotation speed of.

Further, in this state, in order to stably hold the flange 61 at the pushing-down position, it is necessary that the pushing-down position of the eccentric disc cam 65 is not returned by the reaction force of the compression coil spring 63. However, in the lock mechanism 110 of the present embodiment, the eccentric disc cam 65 and the eccentric disc cam 6 are provided.
L attached to the flange 61a pushed down by
This is achieved by the mold 64 and the stopper 67a that limits the rotation angle of the eccentric disc cam 65. These actions will be described with reference to FIG.

Here, FIG. 4A shows a state in which the horizontal side 64a of the L-shaped metal fitting 64 is pushed down to the lowermost position by the eccentric cam 65, and FIG. 4B shows the knob 68.
The eccentric cam is rotated by the operation of, and the horizontal side 64a of the L-shaped metal fitting 64 is raised by the restoring force of the compression coil spring 63. Further, FIG. 4C is a view of the configuration of the eccentric cam 65, the stopper 67a and the like in the state of FIG. 4A as seen from above.

When the eccentric disc cam 65 is operated and rotated up to an axis inclined by α with respect to the line of action of the restoring force F of the compression coil spring 63 (θ = θ _M ), the stopper 67a extending from the bearing 67 is formed. At point P, the eccentric cam 65 and the stopper 67a come into contact with each other, limiting the rotational movement of the eccentric cam 65. That is, at this position, even if the restoring force F of the compression coil spring 63 is exerted by the stopper 67a, the eccentric disc cam 65 does not rotate any more. Therefore, in this embodiment, the viscometer can be stably maintained in the viscosity measurement state.

Next, in this viscosity measurement state, when the knob 68 is operated and rotated in the opposite direction, the eccentric disc cam 65 causes the compression coil spring 63 to partially utilize the restoring force F and the sleeve 61. Returns to the uppermost position, and the state of the viscometer is switched to the viscometer stopped state (state shown in FIG. 2).

In the middle of switching from the viscosity measurement state to the viscometer stop state, as the sleeve 61 rises, first, the flange 61a rises and the limit switch 69 becomes "off" (θ = θ ₃ ). The control means 180
By knowing the "off" state of the limit switch 69, the power supply device of the drive pulse motor 41 is controlled to stop the rotation.

The sleeve 61 further rises, and this time the first
The engaging member 56 and the second engaging member 57 of
Restrict the rotation of the rotor shaft (θ = θ ₂ ). After that, the sleeve 61 further rises, and the first engaging member 56 moves the disc 6
Pushed up by 2. Along with this pushing-up operation, the pivot 50 is pulled away from the jewelry bearing 48 to break the contact (θ = θ ₁ ). Here, the amount of movement S ′ of the sleeve 61 from when the rotor shaft is constrained to when the pivot 50 and the jewelry bearing 48 are actually separated depends on the thickness of the first engagement member 56.

It should be noted that the above-mentioned limit switch is turned ON / OFF.
The rotation angle value of the knob 68 at the position of the sleeve 61 where OFF, the restraint / release of the rotor shaft, and the separation / contact between the pivot and the jewel bearing, that is, the position where the state switching in each of the above parts occurs, It is not specifically limited, and it may be set so that it occurs during the switching between the viscosity measurement state and the viscometer stop state, and it can be adjusted according to the structure and characteristics of the viscometer to be created. .

In the conventional manually operated pivot bearing protection mechanism, since the operation of the protection mechanism and the operation of the rotation start / stop switch are separate, it is easy to make an error in operation. According to the rotary viscometer of this embodiment, the viscometer switch operation is automatically performed only by operating the knob.

Furthermore, the conventional manually operated pivot bearing protection mechanism has only the function of mechanically separating or returning the pivot and the jewel bearing, but in the rotary viscometer of this embodiment, the pivot is simply moved to the jewel. The viscometer can be easily handled by the operator as it not only pulls or returns from the bearing but also automatically starts and stops the rotation of the viscometer rotation drive motor in conjunction with the pulling or returning operation. Became.

[0085]

According to the present invention, there is provided a rotary viscometer equipped with a low-cost pivot bearing protection mechanism that reliably operates only by mechanical manual operation without using an expensive electric control device. Can be done.

[0086]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing components (viscosity measurement state) related to a rotor lock mechanism of an embodiment of a rotary viscometer to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing components (viscosimeter stopped state) related to the rotor lock mechanism of the embodiment of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the configuration of an engagement member related to the rotor lock mechanism of the embodiment of FIG. 1, seen from above.

FIG. 4 (A): an explanatory view of the state of the knob of the embodiment of FIG. 1 in a viscosity measurement state as seen from the eccentric disc cam side. FIG. 4 (B): an explanatory view of the state of the knob handle of the embodiment of FIG. 1 viewed from the eccentric disc cam side in the viscometer stopped state. FIG. 4 (C): an explanatory view of the configuration of FIG. 4 (A) seen from above.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the embodiment of FIG.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of a drive mechanism of the embodiment of FIG.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing a rotation mechanism and a torque detection mechanism of the embodiment of FIG.

8 is an explanatory view showing an example of the shape of a shielding disc that can be used in the signal conversion unit of the torque detection mechanism shown in FIG.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing the measurement principle of a fixed shear rotary viscometer.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a structural example of a conventional rotary viscometer.

11 is an explanatory diagram showing an enlarged view of a structure of a portion A of FIG.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory view showing another structural example of a conventional rotary viscometer.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory view showing a simplified structure of a conventional rotary viscometer.

FIG. 14 is a sectional view showing a structural example of a conventional pivot bearing protection mechanism.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory view showing another structural example of the conventional pivot bearing protection mechanism.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram showing a state transition in the measurement sequence of the conventional viscometer.

FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram showing the transition of the state of each part that occurs during the switching between the viscosity measuring state and the viscometer stopped state by operating the knob of the embodiment of FIG. 1.

[Explanation of symbols]

41 ... Driving pulse motor, 45 ... Rotating main shaft, 47 ... First U-shaped connecting member, 48 ... Jewel bearing, 49 ... Torque detecting shaft, 50 ... Pivot, 51 ... Second U-shaped connecting member , 56 ... Gears (first engaging members), 57 ... Racks (second engaging members), 58 ... Rings (restraining members), 60 ... Cylindrical lower case, 61 ... Sleeves, 61a ... Flange,
62 ... Disc, 63 ... Compression coil spring, 64 ... L-shaped fitting,
65 ... Eccentric disk cam, 65a ... Rotating shaft, 67 ... Bearing,
67a ... Stopper, 68 ... Knob handle, 69 ... Limit switch, 100 ... Rotation mechanism, 110 ... Rotor lock mechanism, 120 ... Drive mechanism, 130 ... Torque detection mechanism, 1
40 ... Control device, 170 ... Calculation means, 180 ... Control means.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A rotor, which is rotatably driven in contact with a liquid whose viscosity is to be measured, and a main body which rotatably drives the rotor to measure the viscosity. The main body supports the rotor and a rotational driving force to the rotor. A rotor rotation shaft for transmitting the driving force, a drive motor for rotating the rotor and a drive shaft for outputting the driving force thereof, an input rotation shaft for transmitting the driving force to the rotor rotation shaft, and a spring. And a first connecting means for elastically connecting the drive shaft and the input rotary shaft via the spring to transmit the drive force, and a pivot for rotatably bearing and supporting the rotor rotary shaft. Support means having a bearing, second connecting means for bypassing the support means and connecting the rotor rotation shaft and the input rotation shaft, and an angle for detecting relative rotational angular displacement between the rotor rotation shaft and the drive shaft. Displacement detection means and when not measuring A rotary viscometer comprising: a pivot bearing protection device that protects a pivot of a support means and a bearing mechanism, wherein the pivot bearing protection device includes a rotor lock mechanism that locks and releases the rotation of the rotor rotation shaft. A pivot bearing separating mechanism for separating and contacting a pivot of the supporting means and a bearing, and a motor control mechanism for controlling ON / OFF of the drive motor, the rotor lock mechanism rotating the rotor rotation shaft. First and second members that engage with each other when restrained to prevent rotation of the rotor rotation shaft and that can be displaced in relative positional relationship; a manual operation unit that receives a manual operation; and the manual operation unit By utilizing the mechanical force of the manual operation received by the first and second members in a relative positional relationship with the first state in which both members are engaged. With switched and not the second state, to hold each state until it receives the next manual operation, and a switching mechanism, the pivot bearing spacing mechanism and the motor control mechanism,
A rotary viscometer, which operates in conjunction with the switching operation of the switching mechanism. 2. The pivot bearing separating mechanism according to claim 1, wherein when the switching mechanism switches from the first state to the second state, the pivot bearing separating mechanism brings the pivot and the bearing into contact with each other before switching the state. When the motor control mechanism later controls to turn on the drive motor and the switching mechanism switches from the second state to the first state, the motor control mechanism turns on the drive motor before the state is switched. A rotary viscometer characterized in that the pivot bearing separating mechanism separates the pivot and the bearing after switching is performed and control is performed. 3. The rotor according to claim 2, wherein the first member is provided on the rotor rotation shaft, and the second member is provided on the main body side that is a fixed side relative to the rotor rotation shaft. A rotary viscometer, wherein the rotary viscometer is mounted so as to be displaceable at least between an engagement position that engages with the first member and a standby position that does not engage with the first member. 4. The switching mechanism according to claim 3, wherein the main body further includes a lower case that accommodates at least the support means and an upper portion of the rotor rotation shaft connected to the support means. A sleeve having an inner wall surface of the lower case slidably inserted in the vertical direction and having a second engaging member as the second member provided on the lower end surface side thereof; Is attached to the rotor rotation shaft so as to be located above the second engagement member in the standby position, and is a disc-shaped first engagement member concentric with the rotor rotation shaft. Is a rotary viscometer. 5. The manual operation section according to claim 4, wherein the manual operation section is a knob that is rotated by manual operation, and the switching mechanism uses the received manual operation force to change the position of the sleeve. An operating mechanism for switching between an ascending limit position and a descending limit position provided within the sliding range, and an urging member fixed to the lower case side and urging the sleeve upward, The operating mechanism rotates in conjunction with the rotation of the knob and pushes the sleeve downward against the urging force of the urging member, and the cam plate has a predetermined final angle or more. The cam plate contacts with the sleeve so that the sleeve is in the ascending limit position at an initial angle at which no force is manually applied, and the cam plate has the blocking member at a predetermined final angle. sleeve It has a shape of pushing down to the lower limit position, and the predetermined final angle is such that the vector direction from the rotation center of the cam plate to the outer peripheral portion showing the maximum radius of curvature is opposite to the vector direction of the urging force in parallel. Is a rotary viscometer characterized by being larger than the angle.