DE2724721A1 - DEVICE FOR TREATING PACKAGING PARTS - Google Patents

Description

W '..in (I-,)

272Z.72 1

DEVICE FOR THE 13HiAIOEl-M BY VEIU ³ AUKU InIG oI ¹ I-: The invention relates to a device for treating parts that are to be introduced into a corresponding room one after the other in a treatment chamber, this channel being supposed to be lockable at at least one end Parts are in particular molded packaging containers made of plastic, glass or metal, their molded lids or smaller stacks of cut-out lid foils. It may be necessary to subject such parts to an exposure in which they are cleaned, sterilized, de-aerated and filled with a protective gas atmosphere or For example, they can be stranded with an antistatic agent to be sprayed onto the surface.

The treatment can be carried out in chambers, which are after introduction a certain amount of packaging containers during the treatment time remain completely closed. However, this failure is due to the

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tv.nior] iriicn Kaumlxxiarlfe din such a device as disadvantageous to rope. Nn ¹ Ii other * ιι Vi-J ¹ I ¹ UIu ¹ Uiι wcnii-n Verpaekungsbeliäl ter with the help of transporters continuously guided through a sterilizing Uasatmosphäre. In this procedure is a dense

* 3 Completion of the treatment chambers not available. The Qas can therefore mix with the room air.

It is the object of this invention to design a treatment ^{chamber 1 in} such a way that packaging parts can pass through it continuously one after the other and that this chamber can nevertheless be closed in such a way that a steam or gas atmosphere in one chamber cannot penetrate another or the room air.

According to the present invention, in a treatment chamber which has approximately the shape of a tube and which contains the parts

l'j should go through sequentially and inevitably, at the end arranged at at least one end, an elastic ring element, which with respect to its cross-section by changing the in his Innenrauni prevailing pressure is deformable and by the Change of this pressure in its inner circumference between each position smaller and larger than the largest circumference of the parts is changeable. Inflatable ring elements are known per se. In the present invention, such a ring element is both ent as a stop in the transport path of the parts as well as in connection with a packaging part as a closing element for a chamber.

? ¹ j The elastic inner circumference of the ring element can be m'a:; ii \ r, and gently rest against the outer circumference of the part, or a protruding area with, for example, a K ή id f 1 anr.rh below .

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After t'ini.'i 'w ·. · I 1 <· ΐ · * · η Au.-wv ^ ta 11.uri | i der · f -.- r'fitnlnnrsi'-t niä ;;: jeri device does there ;; Ring <. · I t.-iiiiMit designed and arranged in such a way that in its rest position it protrudes into the path of the part and can pinch a part and through the application of a negative pressure inside the hanging element Lst can be contracted a larger inner circumference in order to be able to clear the way for at least one part. The ring element is connected to a vacuum system. The connection to the vacuum system is only established via a suitable valve if a part is to be passed through the ring element. In the event of a malfunction in the vacuum system, the interior of the ring element remains ventilated and the inner surface of the ring element bulges out into the path of the parts.

Advantageously, the ring element is designed in such a way that it undergoes an internal pressure which results in the smallest internal circumference or would result in sealing against a part. For example, if the containers are square, so is the ring element to be designed and stored in such a way that it can clamp this part tightly or reach under it.

For treatments that do not require a complete closure of the chamber, the use of a ring element be sufficient at the entrance or exit of the chamber. For a tight seal of the chamber, it is useful to have two or to combine more ring elements to be operated alternately to form a lock.

The ring elements can be in any desired position depending on the direction in which the parts are fed and their treatment in the chamber Be arranged position. In the case of a preferred

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W M'l (H)

guide:; form ili-f device vtT runs i \ uv path of the 'IV-i Le vertically through the K in ge] uiiiente and the H i η μ; 1 a te:; irid arranged in horizontal planes. The;; has the advantage that the parts can pass through the linen and the treatment chamber due to their own weight.

This also applies in the event that no more new parts are supplied If the hanging elements close the chamber, it is expedient to have a scanning device on the feed path of the parts to arrange that, in the absence of further parts, the actuation of the Ring elements interrupts in such a position in which a part is still clamped or in a final ring element is supported by him.

The ring elements expediently consist of a rubber or a similar elastic material that is not attacked by the treatment gases in the chamber. she are formed by an outer, more rigid ring and a flexible inner ring, the edges of which are on the outside of the outer ring are attached. The inner space is located between the two rings, through a number of holes in the outer Ring can be evacuated or possibly also inflated. In the preferred, evacuable embodiment, the attachment of the inner ring on the outside of the outer ring leads to the. Without evacuation of the interior, the inner ring arches into the path of the parts. This arching can still be caused by it be supported that the ring element is not only clamped at its periphery in a housing, but also, for example pressed together from above and below by protruding housing parts will.

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Kin Au ;; leadership in sp3 el of the invention: ^; en device i:; t in the attached drawings schemat i:; cti dar /? - · '''1 11. 1' ¹ Ii ^1;. 1 shows part of a device with a small handling chamber delimited by 2 sluices.

Fig. 2 shows a lock with two Hingelernenten.

In the illustrated device are eg art: t, of V are treated cup having a flange and a foot at the upper hand. The cups can be stacked one inside the other and are supplied stacked to form a column. Fig.l can, for example, show the beginning of a device in which these cups are first sterilized and later filled and sealed with the aid of a filling device.

The cups 1 come from above through an inlet track 6 into a first small Beharidlun ^ chamber 7 and from there into a

Ib second treatment chamber 8. The treatment chamber 7 can be closed at the top and bottom by a lock 11 each. Each servant lock consists of two hanging elements 12 and 13 · The hanging elements are stored in a common housing 21 and are held in this housing 21 by rings 22 and 23.

In the housing 21 there are air connections I ¹ J and 15 for evacuating or ventilating the ring elements 12, 13.

Direction Rc hand 1 ungskammer 7 is surrounded by a wall 18, in which there is an inlet 16 and an outlet 17 for a treatment

2 '»ga :; are located. In the chamber 7, for example, the air entering with the container can be exchanged for an atmosphere of certain moisture. It is also possible to use a we in it by evacuation and / or blowing an inert gas:;! Ent 1 i clien T <il the · with the container in accommodated .uft y <i e, it distant.. 709850/1045

W 510 (R)

For the second treatment chamber 8, only the inlet 2 ¹ I of the treatment gas is shown. The chamber 8 can be surrounded, for example, from an outer chamber 19, which can be used to annul the chamber 8 to a certain temperature heat b. Only one inlet or outlet line 20 for the chamber 19 is shown in the drawing.

Fig. 2 shows an enlarged representation of a lock

11 between two treatment chambers 9 and 10. The ring element

12 is ventilated. It bulges in the tubular path of the

Cup in and the cup 2 rests with its largest circumference, that is the upper flange here, on the inner circumference of the ring element 12. The ring element 13 is drawn together to its largest inner circumference by evacuating its inner space, so that the cup 3 could fall down until its foot rests on the bottom of the cup 2. With the cup 3, the other cups 4 and 5 have come down.

The next step in operating the device is :; Ventilation of the ring element 13. This is now on the Cup 3 on or supports the flange of this cup and jams

-0 partially insert it so that it acts both as a seal and as a stop. The ring element 12 is then evacuated and now releases the cup 2, which can slide into the treatment chamber 10. The ring element 12 is then ventilated again, and after a further evacuation of the ring element 13, the flange of the cup 3 falls against the ring element 12, and by venting the ring elements 13, the flange of the cup k can be held by the ring element 13.

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W 510 (R)

As shown in FIG. 2, each hanging element consists of an outer ring 27 and an inner ring 25. The edges of the inner ring 25 are attached to the outside of the outer ring 27. In the housing 21, annular grooves 29 are arranged as air ducts which are connected to the air connections I ^ and 15. The outer ring 27 has a number of holes 26 which create connections to the interior space 28 between the outer and inner ring and can be ventilated through the channels 29 or ent.

If the largest diameter of the container is in the shape of a circle, the treatment chamber and the passage through the locks will also have a circular cross-section. In this case, the treatment chamber and the housing parts of the sluice may have a diameter a and the splash diameter of the cup may be b. The inner circumference of the ring elements must then be designed and arranged in the housing such that they have at least a diameter a when their interior 28 is evacuated, while the inner ring 25 extends to a smallest diameter c in the tubular path of the cup when the interior 28 is ventilated bulges into it, where c should be significantly smaller than b.

Since the locks formed by the ring elements 12 and 13 can only be closed if there is a packaging part in them, it is advantageous to arrange a scanning device, for example in the form of a photocell 30, at least in front of the first of several locks Interrupts actuation of the valves not shown in the drawings.

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Instead of letting only one part pass through the lock, as in the examples shown, the lock can can also be used to make a small stack corresponding to the distance between the two ring elements from a larger one To divide stacks. In this way, for example, punched-out cover film sections could be made in partial stacks of up to 100 pieces separated and smuggled into a treatment chamber. The foils can be so gently removed from the ring elements are kept so that they are not deformed.

If such a sub-stack by pulling together a ring element until the next sluice or another stop is dropped, this results in a certain degree of loosening of the pile that is sufficient for the penetration of the treatment aaea. By dividing it into smaller stacks of at least two pieces, it is also possible to use flat bowls or deep-drawn ones To bring the lid into a treatment chamber through a lock and out of it again. Such parts that a big one Surface but only have a small height, tend to tilt in a tubular PÖrderweg as soon as there is a gap between them. If these parts are transported in the device as a small stack, they will tilt avoided, but still a sufficient loosening for the treatment even when falling over a comparatively short way reached.

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Claims (2)

Üipl.-Ing. Rim h Meyer ' ^{JunL I <J77} 8000 Munich HO mile Urahn Str. U, Fe /. (08 ')) 1/2917 9' / "· '.: UNILEVER N.V. Burgemeester s'Jacobplein 1 Rotterdam / Netherlands i 'Λ' Γ EMTANSPH ti CHE (1) device for handling, in particular, packaging parts, consisting of :; a tubular treatment »chamber that can be closed at least at one end, characterized in that that at the end of the treatment chamber elastic ring element (12, 13) arranged in the path of the parts (1) is, which is deformable in its cross-section by changing the pressure prevailing in its interior (l'Ö) and the inner circumference of which can be changed between a position smaller and larger than the largest circumference of the parts (1). 2. Apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the ring element (12, H) in its rest position in the path of the Parts (1) protrudes and by negative pressure to a larger ::: -. Er Inner circumference is contractible to the way for · at least one 709850/1045 ι ~ ORlGtNAL INSPECTED W MO (H) i'.il (I) Vw ϊ i ^ t-bt ii zn can. 272Λ791 '. '(Ichtung according to claim 1 or 2 gekennzeich- characterized H ¹ L, that the rings learn nt (12, 13) at a the smallest [resultant internal pressure rinenumfang a portion (1) sealingly surrounds' vort t. Device according to claim 3, characterized in that at least two alternately operated ring elements (.1?., 13 i together form a lock (11). S. Device according to one of claims 1 to Ί thereby characterized in that the ring elements (12, 13) are arranged in horizontal planes and the path of the parts (1) vertically through which Hingelernento leads through. (>. Device according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that a scanning device (30) is arranged on the path of the parts, which actuates the ring elements (12, 13) in such a. Interrupts position in which a part (1) is still clamped in an abijch Iessenden ring element (12, 13). 7 π c) 8 f, 0/1 Ü 4 5 BATH ORIGINAL