JPH06345191A - Filling apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To secure a predetermined amount of contents under a wide range of conditions by pressure-feeding liquid to be filled which has been supplied to an internal chamber of a charging tank through a circulation pump to an external chamber and by making filled liquid in the external chamber to overflow from the upper end of a bulkhead into the internal chamber. CONSTITUTION:Liquid to be filled which has been supplied to an internal chamber B of a charging tank 50 is pressure-fed through a circulation pump 58 to an external chamber A, and liquid in the external chamber A is made to overflow from the upper end of a bulkhead 50d into the internal chamber B so that circulating liquid is constantly circulated in both internal and external chambers A, B. Since a length in a circumferential direction on the upper end of the bulkhead 50d is sufficiently long at this time, overflowing liquid thickness is small so that water head of the charged liquid with respect to the lower end of a c' liquid nozzle 54 can be accurately maintained constant. A distance between an upper outer peripheral wall 50c and the upper end of the bulkhead 50d is set short to suppress vertical difference in free faces to a small value. Further a tachometer 6 is used to measure revolution speed of the charging tank 50 for controlling opening/closing of a charging valve 56 by a controller 63 based on the measured signal.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a filling device for filling a container with a filling liquid to a predetermined height while the container is open to the atmosphere.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional filling device will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5. FIG. 3 is a plan view of the filling device 1, which shows a container (1 in FIG. 5).
5) is supplied into the filling device 1 through the inlet star wheel 3, the filling liquid is filled into the container while the container is conveyed in the clockwise direction, and the container is discharged from the outlet star wheel 5 to the next step.

Incidentally, A to D in the figure show the positions where an input signal is sent to the control device described later. When the container reaches the A position, the filling valve 9 described later is opened, and when the container reaches the C position. , The filling valve 9 is closed. When the container reaches the position B, the suction nozzle 13 described later is connected to the vacuum line 12 described below.
When the container reaches the position D, the suction nozzle 13 is shut off from the vacuum line 12.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing the outline of the filling device 1. The filling device 1 is provided with a plurality of filling valves 9 around a rotary joint 6 and supplies a filling liquid to a supply line 7.
It is adapted to be supplied to the filling tank 8 via the. 1
0 is a valve drive unit (valve opening / closing device) for opening and closing the filling valve 9, 11 is an operation air supply valve, and operation air (pressure air) is supplied to the operation air supply valve 11 → rotary joint 6 → valve drive unit 10. It has become.

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional side view showing a state in which the filling liquid is completely filled in the container 15. Reference numeral 15 is a container, 16 is a filling valve provided on the bottom surface of the filling tank 8, and 17 is the same filling valve 16.
A liquid passage therein, 18 is a spring for urging the valve in the valve closing direction interposed between the top of the valve drive unit 10 and the upper end piston of the filling valve 9, and 19 is the rotary joint 6 to the valve drive unit 10. Is a filling valve switching valve interposed in the operating air supply pipe between the lower pressure and the lower pressure.

Further, 13 is a suction nozzle provided on the lower surface of the filling tank 8, and the suction nozzle 13 is thick enough to form a gap 20 between the suction nozzle 13 and the mouth of the container 15. Thirteen
a is a suction passage formed between the suction nozzle 13 and the filling valve 16, 22 is a vacuum pump, 12 is a vacuum line connecting the vacuum pump 22 and the suction passage 13a,
23 is a vacuum manifold interposed in the vacuum line 12,
Reference numeral 21 is a vacuum line switching valve provided in the vacuum line 12.

Next, the operation of the filling device shown in FIGS. 3 to 5 will be described. The container 15 is supplied to the filling device 1 through the inlet star wheel 3, and the container 15 is raised to a predetermined height by an elevating device (not shown) so that the filling nozzle 16 on the side of the filling tank 8 is moved into the container 15 at the predetermined height. Insert to the position. Then, when the container 15 reaches the position A, a valve opening signal is sent from the control device to the filling valve switching valve 19 to open the filling valve switching valve 19, and the operating air is supplied with the operating air supply valve 11 →
The rotary joint 6 is sent to the lower pressure chamber of the valve drive unit 10 to bias the filling valve 9 in the valve closing direction biasing spring 18
Then, the filling valve 9 is opened to fill the filling liquid in the filling tank 8 into the container 15 through the liquid passage 17 of the filling nozzle 16. The filling amount is higher than the lower end portion of the suction nozzle 13, that is, a little larger than the predetermined filling amount, in order to maintain the accuracy of the filling amount as described later.

When the container 15 reaches the C position, the controller sends a valve closing signal to the filling valve switching valve 19,
The filling valve switching valve 19 is closed, and the filling valve 9 is lowered by the spring 18 for urging the valve closing direction.
Is closed and the filling of the filling liquid into the container 15 is completed. When the container 15 reaches the position B while the liquid is being filled, the control device sends a valve open signal to the vacuum line switching valve 21 to open the vacuum line switching valve 21, and the suction nozzle 13
The suction passage 13a in the inside is communicated with the vacuum manifold 23, and the filling liquid filled up to a position higher than the lower end portion of the suction nozzle 13 (the filling liquid filled a little more than a predetermined amount of intake) is sucked in the suction passage 13a. The vacuum line switching valve 21 is discharged to the vacuum manifold 23 and then returned to the filling tank 8.

When the liquid level in the container 15 reaches the lower end of the suction nozzle 13, air is then sucked through the gap 20 between the mouth of the container 15 and the suction nozzle 13.
The height (filling amount) of the filling liquid inside is not made lower than the lower end portion of the suction nozzle 13. The controller may determine the switching of the filling valve switching valve 19 and the vacuum line switching valve 21 at the position of the container 15 as described above, or may be performed by a timer. Further, when changing the amount of intake, the length of the suction nozzle 13 is changed, the position of the filling tank 8 is changed, and the lower end position of the suction nozzle 13 is changed.

[0010]

The filling device shown in FIGS. 3 to 5 has the following problems. That is, (1) since the filling liquid is once overfilled in the container 15 and then the excess filling liquid is sucked and removed, the filling efficiency is poor and the filling takes time. (2) After the suctioned and removed filling liquid is brought into contact with air, it is returned to the filling tank 8 via the vacuum manifold 23, so that the filling liquid in the filling tank 8 may be contaminated. In order to avoid this contamination, the filled liquid removed by suction may be discarded, but in that case, it becomes uneconomical. (3) The structure of the filling device is complicated, resulting in high manufacturing cost and high operating cost. Since the air-releasing filling device is used especially when filling a filling liquid having a low price, it is necessary to reduce the filling cost as much as possible.

The present invention is proposed in view of the above problems, and the object of the present invention is to obtain a predetermined amount of flavor in a wide range of operating conditions. Further, it is not necessary to fill an extra filling liquid, the filling efficiency can be improved, and the filling can be performed quickly. Moreover, the filling liquid in the filling tank is not contaminated. Another object is to provide a filling device having a simple structure and capable of reducing the filling cost.

[0012]

In order to achieve the above object, a filling device of the present invention is a doughnut-shaped rotatable filling tank which is divided into an inner chamber and an outer chamber by an annular partition. A rotary joint arranged at the axial center of the filling tank, a liquid supply branch pipe connecting the rotary joint and the inner chamber, a liquid supply pipe connecting the rotary joint and the liquid supply pump, and the outer chamber. A plurality of filling nozzles arranged on the bottom plate of the tank, a filling valve that opens and closes the liquid passages of each filling nozzle by a valve opening / closing device, a circulation pump that transfers the filling liquid in the inner chamber to the outer chamber, and a filling tank of the filling tank. And a liquid level gauge for detecting the level of the filling liquid in the inner chamber, and the upper end of the partition wall of the filling tank is formed horizontally so as to uniformly overflow the filling liquid in the outer chamber to the inner chamber, and the upper part of the filling tank. With a smaller diameter The distance between the serial partition wall upper end portion is reduced, and placed in a filling tank downward the liquid level gauge by the partition wall upper end portion.

In the filling device, a tachometer for detecting the rotation speed of the filling tank, and an increase / decrease in the flow rate of the filling liquid and a corresponding opening time of the filling valve are calculated by the detection signal from the tachometer, and this calculation is performed. And a control device for controlling the opening / closing time of the filling valve based on the result.

[0014]

The filling device of the present invention is configured as described above, and the filling liquid supplied to the liquid supply pump → the liquid supply pipe → the rotary joint → the liquid supply branch pipe → the inner chamber of the filling tank is supplied to the outside via the circulation pump. It is sent to the chamber and the filling liquid of the outer chamber overflows from the upper end of the partition wall to the inner chamber so that the circulating liquid is constantly circulated in the inner and outer chambers. At that time, since the circumferential length of the upper end of the partition wall is sufficiently long, the overflowing liquid thickness is small, and the head of the filling liquid with respect to the lower end of the filling liquid nozzle is accurately and constantly maintained. In addition, the centrifugal force acting on the filling liquid in the filling tank increases or decreases depending on the rotation speed of the filling tank, the liquid surface becomes a curved surface, tilts, and the water head apparently increases or decreases. Since the distance to the part is small, the vertical difference of the free surface can be suppressed. In addition, the rotation speed of the filling tank is detected by a tachometer, and the detection signal obtained at that time is sent to the control device, where the increase / decrease in the flow rate of the filling liquid and the corresponding opening time of the filling valve are calculated. Since the opening / closing time of the filling valve is controlled based on the result, a predetermined amount of flavor can be obtained under a wide range of operating conditions.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The filling device of the present invention will be described below with reference to an embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Reference numeral 50 is a rotatable filling tank, and the filling tank 50 has a donut shape as a whole and an annular shape inside. The inner wall B and the outer space A are divided by the partition wall 50d. The upper end of the partition wall 50d is formed horizontally.
The upper portion of the filling tank 50 has a small diameter. Fifty
a is a bottom plate of the filling tank 50, 50b is a lower outer peripheral wall, 50
c is an upper outer peripheral wall, and the upper outer peripheral wall 50c and the partition wall 50
The distance L from the upper end of d is small. 50e
Is an inner peripheral wall and 50g is a top plate, and the upper end of the partition wall 50d is located below the top plate 50g.
The upper end portion of d serves as a weir that determines the upper limit of the liquid level of the filling liquid in the outer chamber A.

Reference numeral 51 denotes a rotary joint arranged at the axial center of the filling tank 50, 52 denotes a liquid supply branch pipe connecting the rotary joint 51 and the inner chamber B of the filling tank 50,
53 is a liquid supply pipe connecting the rotary joint 51 and a liquid supply pump (not shown), 54 is a large number of filling nozzles arranged at equal intervals in the circumferential direction of the outer chamber A side bottom plate 50a of the filling tank 50. , 55 are outer cylinders of the respective filling nozzles 54.

Reference numeral 56 is a filling valve of each of the filling nozzles 54, and the filling valve 56 is opened and closed by a balf opening / closing device 57 installed on the top plate 50f. That is, at all times,
The filling valve 56 is biased downward by a spring inside the valve opening / closing device 57, and the filling nozzle 54 is closed. Further, 63 is a control device, and when the solenoid valve 62 is opened by a control signal from the control device 63, pressure air is supplied to the lower pressure chamber of the valve opening / closing device 57 through the solenoid valve 62, and the filling nozzle 54 is turned into a spring. Lifting up, the filling nozzle 54 is opened.

Reference numeral 58 denotes a plurality of axial circulation pumps for feeding the filling liquid in the inner chamber B to the outer chamber A. The circulation pump 58 has a capacity exceeding the total flow rate when filling the filling liquid from the outer chamber A into the container 15. have. 59 is a liquid level gauge.
It is adapted to detect whether or not the liquid level of the filling liquid has reached a set value (a position below the upper end of the partition wall 50d). Although a float type is used for the liquid level gauge 59 in the figure, an electrode type may be used. Reference numeral 60 is a tachometer for detecting the rotation speed of the filling tank 50, and 61 is a bracket of the tachometer 60.

A pressure air supply pipe to the valve opening / closing device 57,
Power line to circulation pump 58, liquid level gauge 59 and control device 6
The signal lines to 3 are all connected to their respective supply sources via a rotary joint 51. 62, 63
Is a pipe, and the pipes 62 and 63 supply sterile air into the outer cylinder 55 via the manifold 64 so that germs do not enter during filling (see arrows). The pipes 62 and 63 are also used when cleaning the filling tank 50 and the filling nozzle 54.
At this time, the outer cylinder 55 is covered with a cap to flow the cleaning liquid in the direction opposite to the arrow.

Next, the operation of the filling device shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 will be specifically described. First, the filling liquid is sent from a fixed filling liquid tank (not shown) by a liquid feeding pump (not shown) to the inner chamber B of the filling tank 50 through the feeding pipe 53 → the rotary joint 51 → the feeding branch pipe 52. Then, the filling liquid is filled to a predetermined height position in the inner chamber B. At this time, the liquid supply pump is controlled by the detection signal from the liquid level gauge 59, and the liquid level of the inner chamber B becomes a predetermined height.

At the same time, the circulation pump 58 is activated and the inner chamber B is
Of the filling liquid is transferred to the outer chamber A at a flow rate exceeding the flow rate of the total filling liquid filling the container 15. When the liquid level of the outer chamber A rises and exceeds the upper end portion of the partition wall 50d, the filling liquid is filled with the partition wall 5d.
Overflow from the upper end of 0d to the inner chamber B, return to the inner chamber B, and continue circulation thereafter. Since the circumferential length of the upper end of the partition wall 50d is sufficiently long, the thickness of the filling liquid overflowing from the outer wall A to the inner chamber B beyond the upper end portion of the partition wall 50d is small, and the filling liquid is less than the lower end portion of the filling nozzle 54. Head of filling liquid (H between the lower end of the filling nozzle 54 and the upper end of the partition wall 50d)
(See) is accurately maintained at a constant level.

In this state, the container 15 is conveyed below the filling nozzle 54 as shown in FIG. 2 and is moved up and down (not shown).
Is raised to the position indicated by the chain double-dashed line and is held at this raised position. When the container 15 is rotationally moved to a predetermined position, pressurized air is supplied to the lower pressure chamber of the valve opening / closing device 57, the filling valve 56 rises against the spring in the valve opening / closing device 57, and the filling nozzle 54 is opened. , Filling tank 5
The filling liquid in 0 flows into the container 15 by gravity and is filled.

When the filling liquid is filled in the container 15 to a predetermined amount, the supply of the pressurized air to the valve opening / closing device 57 is stopped, the filling valve 56 is lowered, and the filling nozzle 54 is opened.
Is closed and the filling is completed. The content amount is determined by the product of the flow rate and the time, and the flow rate is proportional to the square root of the water head H. In this embodiment, however, the water head H is accurately maintained at a constant level. Is constant. Further, the amount of flavoring is accurately controlled by the opening time of the filling valve 56. That is, since the filling tank 50 rotates, the centrifugal force that acts on the filling liquid in the filling tank 50 increases or decreases depending on the rotation speed, the liquid surface becomes a curved surface, is inclined, and the water head H apparently increases or decreases. However, since the distance L between the tank outer peripheral wall 50c and the upper end of the partition wall 50d is small with respect to the inclination of the liquid surface, the vertical difference of the free surface is suppressed. Further, the rotation speed of the filling tank 50 is detected by the tachometer 60, and the detection signal obtained at that time is sent to the control device 63 to calculate the increase / decrease of the flow rate and the opening time of the filling valve 56 corresponding to this flow rate. The opening / closing time of the filling valve 56 is controlled based on the time, and a predetermined amount of flavor is obtained.

It should be noted that the amount of seasoning V is the amount of seasoning V = valve opening time T ×
When the flow rate is Q and the filling tank 50 is not rotating,
Also, the flow rate Q when rotating at a constant speed can be obtained by an experiment. The correction when the rotation speed changes is for the flow rate Q when not rotating.

[0025]

[Equation 1]

It is sufficient to multiply by Where α: constant and ω:
It is a rotational angular velocity, and the constant α can be obtained by an experiment.

[0027]

As described above, the filling device of the present invention sends the filling liquid supplied to the liquid supply pump → the liquid supply pipe → the rotary joint → the liquid supply branch pipe → the inner chamber of the filling tank to the outer chamber via the circulation pump. The filling liquid in the outer chamber overflows from the upper end of the partition wall into the inner chamber so that the circulating liquid is constantly circulated in the inner and outer chambers. At that time, since the circumferential length of the upper end of the partition wall is sufficiently long, the overflowing liquid thickness is small, and the head of the filling liquid with respect to the lower end of the filling liquid nozzle is accurately and constantly maintained. Also, the centrifugal force acting on the filling liquid in the filling tank increases or decreases depending on the rotation speed of the filling tank, and the liquid surface becomes a curved surface,
Although the water head apparently increases or decreases due to the inclination, since the distance between the outer peripheral wall of the tank upper portion and the upper end of the partition wall is reduced, the vertical difference of the free surface can be suppressed. In addition, the rotation speed of the filling tank is detected by a tachometer, and the detection signal obtained at that time is sent to the control device, where the increase / decrease in the flow rate of the filling liquid and the corresponding opening time of the filling valve are calculated. Since the opening and closing time of the filling valve is controlled based on the result,
It is possible to obtain a predetermined amount of flavor under a wide range of operating conditions.

In addition, it is not necessary to suck and remove the extra filling liquid after once filling the container with the extra filling liquid as in the conventional filling device, and the filling efficiency can be improved and the filling can be performed quickly. You can Further, unlike the conventional filling device, it is not necessary to bring the filled liquid that has been sucked and removed into contact with air, and then return it to the filling tank via the vacuum manifold, so that the filling liquid in the filling tank is not contaminated.

Further, the structure of the filling device is simple, and the manufacturing cost and the operating cost (filling cost) can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of a filling device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional side view taken along the line CC of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a conventional filling device.

FIG. 4 is a side view schematically showing the filling device.

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional side view showing a part of the filling device in an enlarged manner.

[Explanation of reference numerals] 50 filling tank 50c upper outer peripheral wall 50d of filling tank 50 annular partition wall 51 rotary joint 52 liquid supply branch pipe 53 liquid supply pipe 54 filling nozzle 56 filling valve 57 valve opening / closing device 58 circulation pump 59 liquid level meter 60 Tachometer 63 Control device A Outer chamber B Inner chamber L Distance between upper outer peripheral wall 50c and upper end of partition wall 50d

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A doughnut-shaped rotatable filling tank whose inside is divided into an inner chamber and an outer chamber by an annular partition, a rotary joint arranged at the axial center of the filling tank, the rotary joint and the inner portion. A liquid supply branch pipe connecting the chamber, a liquid supply pipe connecting the rotary joint and the liquid supply pump, a large number of filling nozzles arranged on the bottom plate of the outer chamber, and liquid passages of the respective filling nozzles. A filling valve that opens and closes by a valve opening / closing device, a circulation pump that transfers the filling liquid in the inner chamber to the outer chamber, and a liquid level gauge that detects the filling liquid level in the inner chamber of the filling tank. The upper end of the partition is horizontally formed so that the filling liquid in the outer chamber overflows uniformly into the inner chamber, and the upper part of the filling tank is made to have a small diameter to reduce the distance between the outer peripheral wall of the upper part and the upper end of the partition. The liquid level gauge at the upper end of the partition wall. The filling device is also installed in the filling tank below. 2. A tachometer for detecting the rotation speed of the filling tank, and an increase / decrease in the flow rate of the filling liquid and a corresponding opening time of the filling valve are calculated based on the detection signal from the tachometer, and the calculation result is obtained. The filling device according to claim 1, further comprising: a control device that controls an opening / closing time of the filling valve based on the filling device.