Sheet manufacturing apparatus

Abstract

A sheet manufacturing apparatus includes: a powdered-and-granular-material supply unit that supplies powdered and granular material; and a forming unit that forms a sheet from fibers and the supplied powdered and granular material, and the powdered-and-granular-material supply unit includes a motor, a holding unit that detachably holds a container configured to store the powdered and granular material, a powdered-and-granular-material tank that receives the powdered and granular material discharged from the container by the motor, and a screw that conveys the powdered and granular material in the powdered-and-granular-material tank outward from the powdered-and-granular-material supply unit.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A sheet manufacturing apparatus comprising:
 a powdered-and-granular-material supply unit that supplies powdered and granular material;   a mixing unit that mixes fibers and the supplied powdered and granular material to form a mixture;   a deposition unit that deposits the mixture to form a web; and   a forming unit that compresses the web to form the web into a sheet, wherein   the powdered-and-granular-material supply unit includes   a holding unit that detachably holds a container configured to store the powdered and granular material,   a powdered-and-granular-material tank that receives the powdered and granular material discharged from the container, and   a screw that conveys the powdered and granular material in the powdered-and-granular-material tank outward from the powdered-and-granular-material supply unit.   
     
     
         2 . The sheet manufacturing apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the powdered-and-granular-material tank includes   a first storage tank that stores the powdered and granular material fallen from the cylindrical container,   a paddle that sweeps out the powdered and granular material from the first storage tank, and   a second storage tank that stores the powdered and granular material swept out of the first storage tank, and   the screw conveys the powdered and granular material outward from the second storage tank.   
     
     
         3 . The sheet manufacturing apparatus according to  claim 1 , further includes
 a supply pipe communicating with the powdered-and-granular-material tank and connected to the mixing unit, wherein   a part of the screw is disposed in the powdered-and-granular-material tank,   one end of the screw is disposed in the supply pipe, and   the powdered and granular material in the powdered-and-granular-material tank is supplied to the mixing unit through the supply pipe by rotation of the screw.   
     
     
         4 . The sheet manufacturing apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the powdered-and-granular-material tank is provided with a sensor unit that detects quantity of the powdered and granular material stored in the powdered-and-granular-material tank.   
     
     
         5 . The sheet manufacturing apparatus according to  claim 2 , wherein
 ratio of length of the paddle to length of the first storage tank is 50% or more and 100% or less in a direction parallel to an axis around which the paddle rotates.   
     
     
         6 . The sheet manufacturing apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the screw is an auger screw   
     
     
         7 . The sheet manufacturing apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein
 number of revolutions per unit time is determined according to manufacturing conditions of the sheet.