Continuous kneading apparatus and its control method
AssigneeThe Japan Steel Works, Ltd.
InventorsRyuichiro MAENISHI, Soma TANAKA
Life of this patent
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Abstract
In a continuous kneading apparatus according to an embodiment, for each of a plurality of ring-shaped heaters, a control unit determines a current state and a reward for an action selected in the past based on a control error calculated from an acquired temperature; updates a control condition based on the reward, and determines an optimum action corresponding to the current state under the updated control condition, the control condition being a combination of a state and an action; and controls a target ring-shaped heater based on the optimum action.
Claims10
A continuous kneading apparatus comprising:
- a cylinder;
- a screw housed in the cylinder;
- a plurality of ring-shaped heaters arranged along a longitudinal direction of the cylinder so as to cover an outer peripheral surface of the cylinder;
- a plurality of temperature sensors, each of the plurality of temperature sensors being configured to measure a temperature of a part of the cylinder heated by a respective one of the plurality of ring-shaped heaters;
- and
- a control unit configured to perform feedback control for each of the plurality of ring-shaped heaters based on the temperature measured by a respective one of the plurality of temperature sensors,
- wherein resin pellets charged into the cylinder are kneaded by the screw while being heated by the plurality of ring-shaped heaters, and
- wherein, for each of the plurality of ring-shaped heaters, the control unit
- determines a current state and a reward for an action selected in the past based on a control error calculated from the measured temperature;
- updates a control condition based on the reward, and selects an optimum action corresponding to the current state under the updated control condition, the control condition being a combination of a state and an action;
- and
- controls a target ring-shaped heater based on the optimum action.
A method for controlling a continuous kneading apparatus, the continuous kneading apparatus comprising:
- a cylinder;
- a screw housed in the cylinder;
- a plurality of ring-shaped heaters arranged along a longitudinal direction of the cylinder so as to cover an outer peripheral surface of the cylinder;
- a plurality of temperature sensors, each of the plurality of temperature sensors being configured to measure a temperature of a part of the cylinder heated by a respective one of the plurality of ring-shaped heaters;
- and
- a control unit configured to perform feedback control for each of the plurality of ring-shaped heaters based on the temperature measured by a respective one of the plurality of temperature sensors,
- wherein resin pellets charged into the cylinder are kneaded by the screw while being heated by the plurality of ring-shaped heaters, and
- wherein the method comprises, for each of the plurality of ring-shaped heaters, the steps of:
- (a) determining, by the control unit, a current state and a reward for an action selected in the past based on a control error calculated from the measured temperature;
- (b) updating, by the control unit, a control condition based on the reward, and selecting an optimum action corresponding to the current state under the updated control condition, the control condition being a combination of a state and an action;
- and
- (c) controlling, by the control unit, a target ring-shaped heater based on the optimum action.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.