EP0138234B1

EP0138234B1 - Apparatus for filling fixed amount of liquid into containers

Info

Publication number: EP0138234B1
Application number: EP84200100A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Joo Katsuhiro
Original assignee: Shikoku Kakoki Co Ltd
Current assignee: Shikoku Kakoki Co Ltd
Priority date: 1983-08-19
Filing date: 1984-01-26
Publication date: 1988-03-30
Also published as: DE3470147D1; JPS6045192A; JPS6258961B2; EP0138234A1

Description

The invention relates to an apparatus for giving off a fixed amount of liquid into containers comprising a liquid tank, a filling cylinder communicating with the tank and a metering cylinder communicating with an intermediate portion of the filling cylinder between the upper and lower ends thereof, and valve means below and above said intermediate portion for controlling the flow of liquid towards and from said filling cylinder.
AT-B-345.685 shows an apparatus wherein the valve means comprises two valves co-operating with valve seats in the filling cylinder and interconnected by spring means. Said valves are driven to and fro by a driving member, the arrangement being such that a valve is only lifted from its seat when the other valve has been closed.
With such an arrangement milk or like liquid, which is low in viscosity and free flowing, can be easily filled into containers in a fixed amount with high accuracy at a high speed. However, juices containing fruit flesh, fresh cream, yogurt and like liquids, which are more viscous and less flowable than milk, are difficult to fill into containers smoothly and efficiently unlike milk.
An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for smoothly and efficiently filling containers with either a fixed amount of liquid of high viscosity, or a fixed amount of liquid of low viscosity.
According the invention this can be obtained with an apparatus of the above mentioned kind characterised in that an upper end portion of the filling cylinder extends through and project upward beyond the bottom wall of the liquid tank, whereby in the wall of said upper end portion of the filling cylinder there has been provided a port and in the filling cylinder there has been arranged a piston which can be moved between a first position wherein the tank is in open communication with the intermediate portion of the filling cylinder via said port and a second position wherein said communication via said port is interrupted and wherein the tank can be brought only in communication with said intermediate portion of the filling cylinder via a check valve mounted on the piston so as to open when the pressure in said intermediate portion of the filling cylinder is lower as in the tank and whereby a low-viscosity liquid nozzle comprising a tubular nozzle main body can be removably mounted on the lower end of the filling cylinder in such a way that a further check valve supported by said nozzle main body lies below said intermediate portion and will open at a pressure rise in said intermediate portion whilst said low-viscosity liquid nozzle can be replaced by a high viscosity liquid nozzle including a tubular nozzle main body attachable at its upper end to the lower end of the filling cylinder, a damper pivoted to the lower end of the nozzle main body, a damper opening rod vertically movably supported by the nozzle main body and a spring for biasing the damper opening rod upward, the damper opening rod having a lower end connected to the damper and an upper end projecting into a space in which the piston moves so that the damper opening rod is depressed by the downward movement of the piston towards said second position of the piston by a distance to open the damper.
When a high-viscosity liquid has to be given off into containers the high-viscosity liquid nozzle will be connected to the filling cylinder and the high-viscosity liquid can smoothly flow out the tank into the filling cylinder via the port in the upper end portion of the filling cylinder when the piston is in its first position. By moving the piston towards its second position for closing the port the damper will be opened so that the high-viscosity liquid can be discharged.
For handling low-viscosity liquid the low-viscosity nozzle will be connected to the filling cylinder and the two check valves will be operated by the pressure changes in the filling cylinder generated by the metering cylinder whereby the low-viscosity liquid can smoothly flow through said check valves.
An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figs. 1,4 and 5 are fragmentary views in vertical section showing a liquid filling apparatus of the invention; and
Figs. 2 and 3 are views in section taken along the lines II-II and III-III in Fig. 1, respectively.

The liquid filling apparatus shown comprises a machine main body 1 and a high-viscosity liquid nozzle 2 and is further provided with a low-viscosity nozzle 3. The two nozzles 2 and 3 are shown in Figs. 1 and 4, respectively, as connected to the machine main body 1.
The machine main body 1 comprises a liquid tank 4, a filling cylinder 6 having an upper end portion extending through and projecting upward beyond the bottom wall 5 of the liquid tank 4 and communicating with the tank 4, and a metering cylinder 7 communicating with an intermediate portion of the filling cylinder 6 between the upper and lower ends thereof.
The liquid tank 4 has a top opening which is covered with a lid 8. Extending vertically into the liquid tank 4 through the lid 8 is a sterilizing steam pipe 9 having a spray nozzle.
The filling cylinder 6 comprises upper and lower tubular members 10, 11 and a nut 12 connecting these members together in alignment. The portion of the upper tubular member 10 projecting into the tank 4 is formed with a high-viscosity liquid inlet 13 in its peripheral wall. As seen in Fig. 2, the inlet 13 is formed by cutting out a major portion of the peripheral wall except three partitions 14 which equidistantly divide the circumference of the wall. In the vicinity of the inlet 13, the upper tubular member 10 has a smooth inner surface 15 and has fitted therein a piston 16 for opening or closing the inlet 13. Below the inlet 13, the inner surface 15 of the upper tubular member 10 includes a diametrically enlarged
portion 17. An 0-ring 18 is attached to the inner surface 15 immediately above the enlarged portion 17. The lower tubular member 11 is provided approximately at the longitudinal midportion thereof with a channel 19 communicating with the metering cylinder 7. The lower end of the lower tubular member 11 is externally threaded as at 20. One of the nozzles 2 and 3 is removably connected to the filling cylinder 6 by a nozzle fastening nut 21 screwed on the threaded end 20.
The metering cylinder 7 comprises a cylinder body 22, a piston 23 slidably fitted in the cylinder body 22 and a piston rod'24. The pistpn rod 24 extends downward through a bottom closure 25 and is moved upward and downward at a given stroke by unillustrated means. Descent of the piston 23 with the piston rod 24 permits liquid to flow into the metering cylinder 7 from the filling cylinder 6, while the rise of the piston 23 discharges the liquid from the metering cylinder 7.
The inlet opening-closing piston 16 comprises a disklike bottom wall 26, a cylindrical peripheral wall 27 extending vertically upward from the outer periphery of the bottom wall 26, and an arm 28 connected between opposed upper end portions of the peripheral wall 27 and approximately in the form of an inverted U-shape when seen from one side. The bottom wall 26 centrally has a low-viscosity liquid inlet 29, which is provided with an upper check valve 30. The upper check valve 30 has a valve disk 31 and a valve stem 32 integral therewith. The valve stem 32 extends through a guide member 33 approximately Y-shaped when seen from above and provided on the upper side of the piston bottom wall 26. The valve disk 31 is held in intimate contact with the lower surface of the inlet-defining inner peripheral portion of the wall 26 by a coiled compression spring 35 provided between the guide member 33 and a stopper 34 attached to the upper end of the valve stem 32.
As seen in Fig. 5, the piston 16 is connected to a lifting fluid pressure cylinder 38 by a connecting rod 36 and a length adjusting member 37 for the rod 36. The connecting rod 36 is inserted through the steam pipe 9 and extends outward from the tank 4. At a location a distance above the liquid tank 4, the steam pipe 9 is directed horizontally by a T-shaped pipe 39. A guide member 40 for the connecting rod 36 is attached to the upper end of the T-shaped pipe 39 as if blocking the passageway through the pipe. The connecting rod 36 extends upward through the guide member 40. Alongside the rod 36, a bracket 41 extends upward from the guide member 40. The fluid pressure cylinder 38 is supported by the bracket 41 and oriented vertically downward. The length adjusting member 37 for the connecting rod is tubular, is connected to the piston rod 42 of the cylinder 38 and has an open lower end. The connecting rod 36 has a lower end connected to the top of the arm 28 of the piston 16 (see Fig. 1) and an upper end fitted in the length adjusting member 37 and movable relative to the member 37 longitudinally thereof. The adjusting member 37 has four holes, i.e. first to fourth length adjusting holes 43 to 46, as arranged longitudinally thereof at different spacings in the order mentioned. The connecting rod 36 has a positioning bore 47 at its upper end. A lock pin 48 having a knob is inserted into the positioning bore 47 through one of the first to fourth length adjusting holes 43 to 46, whereby the connecting rod 36 is connected to the rod 42 of the cylinder 38 fixedly axially thereof by the length adjusting member 37. Fig. 5 shows the lock pin 48 as inserted through the first length adjusting hole 43. When the rod 42 of the cylinder 38 is projected in this state, the adjusting member 37 and the rod 36 cause the piston 16 to lower from the upper limit position (shown in solid lines in Fig. 1) of its inlet opening-closing stroke to the lower limit position (shown in broken lines) of the stroke. When the piston 16 is lowered to the broken-line position, the bottom wall 26 is positioned slightly below the 0-ring 18, with the peripheral wall 27 closing the high-viscosity liquid inlet 13 to thereby hold the piston 16 in hermetic contact with the filling cylinder 6 and close the inlet 13. When the high-viscosity liquid nozzle 2 is used for filling as will be described later, the piston 16 is thus moved between the upper limit position and the lower limit position of the inlet opening-closing stroke effected by the cylinder 38. The spacing between the first length adjusting hole 43 and the second hole 44 is approximately equal to the stroke length of the cylinder 38. Accordingly when the connecting rod 36 is fixed to the length adjusting member 37 by inserting the lock pin 48 through the second length adjusting hole 44, with the rod 42 of the cylinder 38 in its retracted position, the piston 16 is at a lowered position approximately the same as the lower limit position of the stroke effected by the cylinder 38. The low-viscosity liquid nozzle 3 is used forfilling, with the piston 16 held in this position. Further if the piston 16 is lowered to a position below the lower limit position with the lock pin 48 inserted through the third length adjusting hole 45, the peripheral wall 27 of the piston is entirely positioned below the O-ring 18 to thereby form a clearance in the filling cylinder 6 around the piston 16. The clearance serves as a passageway for releasing air when a filling operation is to be started with use of the low-viscosity liquid nozzle 3. When the lock pin 48 is inserted through the fourth length adjusting hole 46, the piston is further lowered to enlarge the above clearance. In this state, steam is forced out from the spray nozzle of the steam pipe 9 to sterilize the interior of the apparatus.
The high-viscosity liquid nozzle 2 comprises a tubular nozzle main body 49 attached at its upper end to the lower end of the filling cylinder 6, a damper 50 pivoted to the lower end of the nozzle main body 49, a damper opening rod 51 vertically movably supported by the nozzle main body 49, and a spring 52 for biasing the damper opening rod 51 upward.
The nozzle main body 49 is composed of a downwardly tapered portion 53, and a large-diameter portion 54 and a small-diameter portion 55 extending upward and downward therefrom. The large-diameter portion 54 has an upper end opening having the same diameter as the lower end opening of the filling cylinder 6. The upper end outer periphery of the large-diameter portion 54 is formed with an outer flange 57 which is engageable with an inner flange 56 on the nozzle fastening nut 21. The large-diameter portion 54 has fitted therein a damper opening rod holder 58 in engagement with the tapered portion 53. As shown in Fig. 3, the holder 58 comprises an annular outer peripheral portion 59, a tubular guide portion 60 positioned centrally of the outer peripheral portion 59 and arms 61 connecting the guide portion 60 to the outer peripheral portion 59 and in approximately Y-shaped arrangement when seen from above. Liquid flow spaces are formed between the arms 61.
The damper 50 resembles an inverted umbrella when in a closed state as shown in Fig. 1 and is centrally divided into a pair of opposed members 62 and 63. Each of the members 62 and 63 is connected to an edge portion of the nozzle lower end by a horizontal pin 64 and is also connected to the lower end of the damper opening rod 51 by a coiled tension spring 65. The damper opening rod 51 comprises a small-diameter portion 66 positioned approximately in the middle of its length, and upper and lower large- diameter portions 67, 68 extending upward and downward from the small-diameter portion 66 in alignment therewith. The small-diameter portion 66 vertically movably extends through the guide portion 60, with the stepped portion between the lower large-diameter portion 68 and the portion 66 bearing againstthe lower surface of the holder 58. A spring retainer 69 is provided at the lower end of the upper large-diameter portion 67. A coiled compression spring 52 is fitted around the portion 66 between the retainer 69 and the holder 58. The upper large-diameter portion 67 has an upper end projecting into the space in which the piston is moved by the cylinder 38. The descent of the piston 16 causes the valve disk 31 to depress the damper opening rod 51, which in turn opens the damper 50.
The low-viscosity liquid nozzle 3 comprises a tubular nozzle main body 70, a lower check valve 71 provided in an upper end opening of the nozzle main body 70 and a metal net 72 disposed at the lower end opening of the nozzle main body 70.
Like the nozzle main body 49 of the nozzle 2, the nozzle main body 70 comprises a tapered portion 73, a large-diameter portion 74 and a small-diameter portion 75. Like the nozzle 2, the upper end outer periphery of the large-diameter portion 74 has an outer flange 76 engageable with the nozzle fastening nut 21. The large-diameter portion 74 has fitted therein a valve stem holder 77 similar to the rod holder 58 and an annular valve seat 78 in intimate contact with the lower surface of the holder 77. The lower check valve 71, which is similar to the upper check valve 30 in construction, comprises a valve disk 79 and a valve stem 80 integral therewith. The valve stem 80 is provided at its upper end with a spring retainer 81, from which a valve stem pushing rod 82 extends upward in alignment with the valve stem 80. A coiled compression spring 83 is provided between the retainer 81 and the valve stem holder 77. The spring 83 biases the valve stem 80 upward, whereby the valve disk 79 is held in intimate contact with the lower surface of the valve seat 78. The upper end of the pushing rod 82 extends upward beyond the broken-line position, shown in Fig. 4, of the lower end of the piston 16. When the lock pin 48 is inserted through the third length adjusting hole 45, the piston 16 is positioned below the lower limit position of the inlet opening-closing stroke. Fig. 4 shows in solid lines the piston 16 in the lower limit position of the inlet opening-closing stroke when the lock pin 48 is inserted through the second length adjusting hole 44. When lowered to the piston below the lower limit of the stroke, the piston 16 causes the valve stem pushing rod 82 to open the lower check valve 71.
The filling apparatus operates in the following manner.
When the high-viscosity liquid nozzle 2 is to be used, the nozzle 2 is attached to the filling cylinder 6. The high-viscosity liquid inlet 13 is then opened by causing the fluid pressure cylinder 38 to bring the piston 16 to the upper limit position of the inlet opening-closing stroke, whereupon the liquid within the tank 4 flows through the inlet 13 into the filling cylinder 6, the metering cylinder 7 and the nozzle main body 49. At this time, the air remaining in these portions is smoothly released via the inlet 13, permitting the liquid to fill these portions rapidly. After the portions are filled with the liquid, the piston 23 of the metering cylinder 7 is lowered, allowing a fixed amount of liquid to flow into the cylinder body 22. Subsequently the fluid pressure cylinder 38 is operated to lower the piston 16. The piston 16 closes the inlet 13 and depresses the damper opening rod 51 to open the damper 50. Simultaneously with this, the piston 23 of the metering cylinder 7 is raised, forcing out the fixed amount of liquid from the cylinder body 22 and causing the liquid filling the interior of the nozzle main body 49 to flow out from its lower end opening into an unillustrated container. The piston 16 is then brought to the upper limit position again to close the damper 50 and open the inlet 13, whereby one cycle of filling operation is completed.
When the low-viscosity liquid nozzle 3 is to be used, the nozzle 3 is attached to the filling cylinder 6. Before filling operation, the lock pin 48 is inserted through the third length adjusting hole 45 to locate the piston 16 at the broken-line position shown in Fig. 4 and below the lower limit of the inlet opening-closing stroke. This forms an air release clearance in the filling cylinder 6 around the piston 16 as already described and opens the lower check valve 71, permitting smooth escape of air from the interior of the apparatus. The interior portions of the apparatus are rapidly filled with the liquid flowing out from the tank 4. After the portions have been filled with the liquid, the lock pin 48 is removed from the third adjusting hole 45 and inserted into the second adjusting hole 44, whereby the piston 16 is raised to the solid-line lower limit position shown in Fig. 4 of the stroke. The piston closes the high-viscosity liquid inlet 13 and is held in hermetic contact with the filling cylinder 6. The piston 23 of the metering cylinder 7 is then lowered, whereupon a negative pressure is produced within the filling cylinder 6 to automatically open the upper check valve 30 and permit the liquid to flow out from the tank 4 into the filling cylinder. Subsequently the piston 23 is raised, closing the upper check valve 30 and producing a positive pressure within the filling cylinder to open the lower check valve 71 and discharge the liquid through the openings of the metal net 72 at the lower end of the nozzle main body 70. Thus, the downward and upward movement of the piston 23 of the metering cylinder 7 alternately opens the upper and lower check valves 30 and 71 to discharge a fixed amount of liquid at a time into an unillustrated container.
The figures used in the claims are only meant to explain more clearly the intention of the invention and are not supposed to be any restriction concerning the interpretation of the invention.

Claims

1. An apparatus for giving off a fixed amount of liquid into containers comprising a liquid tank (4), a filling cylinder (6) communicating with the tank (4) and a metering cylinder (7) communicating with an intermediate portion of the filling cylinder (6) between the upper and lower ends thereof and valve means below and above said intermediate portion for controlling the flow of liquid towards and from said filling cylinder, characterised in that an upper end portion of the filling cylinder extends through and project upward beyond the bottom wall (5) of the liquid tank (4), whereby in the wall of said upper end portion of the filling cylinder there has been provided a port (13) and in the filling cylinder there has been arranged a piston (16) which can be moved between a first position wherein the tank (4) is in open communication with the intermediate portion of the filling cylinder (6) via said port (13) and a second position wherein said communication via said port (13) is interrupted and wherein the tank (4) can be brought only in communication with said intermediate portion of the filling cylinder (6) via a check valve mounted on the piston so as to open when the pressure in said intermediate portion of the filling cylinder (6) is lower as in the tank and whereby a low-viscosity liquid nozzle (3) comprising a tubular nozzle main body (70) can be removably mounted on the lower-end of the filling cylinder in such a way that a further check valve (71) supported by said nozzle main body

(70) lies below said intermediate portion and will open at a pressure rise in said intermediate portion whilst said low-viscosity liquid nozzle can be replaced by a high viscosity liquid nozzle (2) including a tubular nozzle main body (49) attachable at its upper end to the lower end of the filling cylinder (6), a damper (50) pivoted to the lower end of the nozzle main body (49), a damper opening rod (51) vertically movably supported by the nozzle main body (49) and a spring (52) for biasing the damper opening rod (51) upward, the damper opening rod (51) having a lower end connected to the damper (50) and an upper end projecting into a space in which the piston (16) moves so that the damper opening rod (51) is depressed by the downward movement of the piston (16) towards said second position of the piston (16) by a distance to open the damper (50).

2. An apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein the main body (70) of the low-viscosity liquid nozzle (3) has a lower end opening provided with a metal net (72).

3. An apparatus as defined in claim 1 or 2, wherein a fluid pressure cylinder (38) is disposed above the piston (16) and oriented downward, and the fluid pressure cylinder (38) has a piston rod (42) connected to the piston (16) by a connecting rod (36) and a member (37) for adjusting the length of the rod (36) so that the piston (16) can be lowered to a third position below said first and second position thereof, and the inner surface (15) of the filling cylinder (6) includes a diametrically enlarged portion (17) below the port (13) in the upper end portion of the filling cylinder so that an air release clearance is formed in the filling cylinder (6) around the piston (16) when the piston (16) is positioned in said third position, said further check valve (71) having a valve stem (80) biased upward by a spring (83) and a valve stem pushing rod (82) connected to the upper end of the valve stem (80) the valve stem pushing rod (82) having an upper end projecting into a space in which the piston (16) moves down towards said third position so that the lower check valve (71) is opened by downward movement of the piston (16) towards said third position when the nozzle main body (70) of the low-viscosity liquid nozzle (3) is attached to the filling cylinder (6).

4. An apparatus as defined in claim 3 wherein the member (37) for adjusting the length of the connecting rod (36) is tubular, is connected to the piston rod (42) of the fluid pressure cylinder (38) and has an open lower end, and the connecting rod (36) has a lower end connected to the piston (16) and an upper end fitted in the length adjusting member (37) and movable relative to the member (37) longitudinally thereof, the length adjusting member (37) being formed with at least three length adjusting holes (43-45) arranged axially thereof downward at predetermined spacings, the connecting rod (36) having a positioning bore (47), the connecting rod (36) being connectable to the length adjusting member (37) fixedly axially thereof by a lock pin (48) inserted into the positioning bore (47) through one of the length adjusting holes (43-45), the piston (16) being positionable in said first position the second position or the third position of its downward movement by inserting. the lock pin (48) into the positioning bore (47) through the first, second of third length adjusting hole (43, 44, 45) respectively, when the piston rod (42) of the fluid pressure cylinder (38) is in its retracted position.