EP0498172B1 - Crate for bottles in a bottle washing machine - Google Patents

Description

The claim 1 starts with its preamble from DE-A 25 57 356.

In this construction, the support elements are designed as reinforcement elements of a reinforced concrete-like composite unit with a solid plastic body. They are completely enclosed in the middle of this plastic body, which extends on both sides of the cell tube row over the length of the bottle carrier. As a result, the bottle basket is essentially designed as a sealed, enclosed body.

This construction has advantages in that the wettable surfaces of the bottle basket and, accordingly, the carryover of liquids in the washing machine are reduced.

In this construction, the enclosed body is made of all-plastic with steel reinforcement. However, the plastic coating of the carrier elements is disadvantageous.On the one hand, due to the volume compressibility of the available plastics, it does not meet the desired effect similar to reinforced concrete, i.e. not the required strength requirements, and on the other hand it does not withstand the high temperature fluctuations and the chemical attack of highly concentrated alkali for a long time. With this construction, the weight of the full body is also relatively high, and in particular the ratio of weight and rigidity which is decisive for the load-bearing capacity. Weight is also critical for heat dissipation in the washing machine. For these reasons, the construction could never be built.

The object of the present invention compared with this prior art is to constructively improve a bottle basket while maintaining the advantage of small surfaces in such a way that high strength is achieved with low weight.

This object is achieved with the features of the characterizing part of claim 1.

In the construction according to the invention, the bottle basket is designed as a sealed hollow body in which all the necessary Carrier element and bottle cell parts can only be exposed and wetted on one side, but can lie on the other side towards the closed cavity and cannot be wetted. This results in a substantially reduced overall wettable surface of the bottle basket, which is approximately halved, as a result of which the liquid transport between the baths and thus the carryover of lye are approximately halved. In addition, the structural strength can be increased by the closed design of the bottle basket. The wall thicknesses can therefore be reduced. This reduces the total mass of the bottle basket, which leads to a significant reduction in the amount of heat that is carried between the baths. In this way, the manufacturing costs can also be reduced through material savings. By avoiding the poorly accessible interior spaces, rinsing off the adhering liquid by the spray devices is also made considerably easier. Dirt cannot settle anywhere.

The features of claim 2 are advantageously provided. This training is structurally particularly simple. The bottle basket essentially consists only of an elongated support tube which is traversed by bottle cells designed as cell tubes. It is only necessary to provide the correspondingly shaped openings in the support tube, which are all identical to one another. After inserting the cell tubes, edge connections must be made. This construction is therefore relatively easy to manufacture and has very high structural strength.

Alternatively, the features of claim 3 are advantageously provided. In this construction, the bottle cells are not designed as tubes, but are each with one half in the surface profile of one inner shell and with the other half in the surface profile of the other inner shell educated. The bottle basket thus consists essentially of two outer shells and two inner shells, which can be easily punched and pressed from sheet metal, as is known, for example, from plate radiators. Very economical production can also be achieved in this way.

Fig. 1

die perspektivische Ansicht eines Flaschenkorbes nach dem Stand der Technik,

Fig. 2

eine vergrößerte perspektivische Ansicht eines Endstückes des Flaschenkorbes der Fig. 1,

Fig. 3

eine Draufsicht auf den Flaschenkorb der Fig. 1,

Fig. 4

in Draufsicht gemäß Fig. 3 die erforderlichen Blechstücke zur Umrüstung des Flaschenkorbes der Fig. 3 in eine erste Ausführungsform der Erfindung,

Fig. 5

in Draufsicht der Fig. 3 ein Lochblech zur Umrüstung der in Fig. 3 dargestellten Konstruktion in eine zweite Ausführungsform der Erfindung,

Fig. 6

in perspektivischer Ansicht gemäß Fig. 2 eine dritte Ausführunsgform der Erfindung,

Fig. 7

im Schnitt der Linie 7 - 7 in Fig. 9 einen Querschnitt durch einen Flaschenkorb einer vierten Ausführungsform der Erfindung,

Fig. 8

einen Schnitt nach Linie 8 - 8 in Fig. 7,

Fig. 9

einen Schnitt nach Linie 9 - 9 in Fig. 7 und

Fig.10

die Darstellung der Fig. 9 mit seitlich auseinandergezogenen Längshälften des Flaschenkorbes vor deren Verbindung.

The invention is shown schematically, for example, in the drawings. Show it:

Fig. 1

the perspective view of a bottle basket according to the prior art,

Fig. 2

2 shows an enlarged perspective view of an end piece of the bottle basket of FIG. 1,

Fig. 3

2 shows a top view of the bottle basket of FIG. 1,

Fig. 4

3 shows the sheet metal pieces required for converting the bottle basket of FIG. 3 into a first embodiment of the invention,

Fig. 5

3 shows a perforated plate for converting the construction shown in FIG. 3 into a second embodiment of the invention,

Fig. 6

2 shows a third embodiment of the invention, in a perspective view,

Fig. 7

9 shows a cross section through a bottle basket of a fourth embodiment of the invention,

Fig. 8

7 shows a section along line 8 - 8 in FIG. 7,

Fig. 9

a section along line 9 - 9 in Fig. 7 and

Fig. 10

the representation of FIG. 9 with laterally pulled apart longitudinal halves of the bottle basket before their connection.

1 to 3, the prior art is first explained using a bottle basket as it has been built by the applicant over many years. The two figures show different views of the same construction. 1 shows an overall view of the bottle basket and FIG. 2 shows an enlarged view of an end piece.

The bottle basket shown consists of side carrier shells 1, which are connected at the ends to end plates 2, on which support flanges 3 sit, with which the bottle basket is attached to the two transport chains of the washing machine, not shown.

In the illustrated embodiment, the bottle basket has fourteen bottle cells. It is a basket for a very small washing machine. In medium-sized machines, such a basket has about forty cells in a row. The basket and the bottles in it result in a considerable mass, which leads to deflections of the basket. It is therefore a question of high structural strength, in particular sag resistance.

The fourteen bottle cells arranged between the carrier shells 1 are designed as cell tubes 4. In the exemplary embodiment shown, the cell tubes have an octagonal cross section. With one longitudinal surface each, they lie plane-parallel to one another and are welded there at 5. At 6, the lateral surfaces of the cell tubes are welded to the carrier shells 1.

In each cell tube 4, a cell tip 7 is attached to the underside, which prevents the falling out of the Cell tubes 4 inserted bottles prevented down and which is provided with a series of openings through which liquid can drip from the bottle and be sprayed to the bottle.

In the known construction shown, the carrier shells 1 and the cell tubes 4 are made of steel. The cell tips 7 are made of plastic. Similar constructions are known in which the entire cell tubes are made of plastic. The carrier shells 1 are advantageously made of steel for reasons of strength. However, certain high-strength plastics can also be used for this.

When using metals for the construction of a bottle cage, for reasons of the required alkali resistance, only steel in addition to certain plastics comes into question, which are mostly only suitable for less stressed construction parts due to their lower strength.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the entire construction of the bottle basket is open on all sides. Both the carrier shells 1 and the cell tubes 4 are wetted on both the inside and the outside of liquid when immersed in liquid. All shell and tube surfaces are wetted on both sides and thus transport considerable amounts of water film adhering to their surfaces from one bath to the next.

In Fig. 3 the basket of Fig. 1 is shown in plan view. A first embodiment of the invention will now be explained with reference to FIG. 3.

Fig. 4 shows patches 11 and 12, which would have to be retrofitted in the construction of FIGS. 1 to 3. These patches 11 and 12 can be made of sheet metal or plastic stand. In the known construction of FIGS. 1 to 3, they are to be attached in the plane which lies between the upper edges 13 of the carrier shells 1 of the bottle basket (see FIG. 2). As shown in FIG. 3, triangular surfaces are free between these upper edges 13 and the cell tubes 4, which are closed with the surface pieces 12. At the end, an approximately C-shaped surface is free, which is closed with the surface piece 11. The surface pieces 11 and 12 are to be used accordingly and fastened in a sealed manner at the edges, for example to be welded with dense weld seams, namely each triangular surface piece 12 with two of its edge edges with the inclined surfaces of two adjacent cell tubes 4 and with the third edge edge with the top edge 13 of the carrier shell 1.

Identical surface pieces 11 and 12 are to be attached in a corresponding manner in a sealing manner on the underside of the bottle basket in the plane running through the lower edges 14 of the carrier shells 1.

With this construction it is achieved that in the bottle basket shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 an all-round sealed cavity is created, the end plates 2, the cell tubes 4 and a set of surface pieces 11, 12 each above and below through the carrier shells 1 is sealed sealed.

When such a bottle basket is immersed in liquid, only the outer surfaces of the carrier shells 1 and the inner surfaces of the cell tubes 4 can be wetted. The inner surfaces of the carrier shells 1 remain completely dry, as do the outer surfaces of the cell tubes 4, except for the pieces of the cell tubes which project downward over the lower edges 14 of the carrier shells 1 in the exemplary embodiment shown.

The wettable surface of the bottle basket is therefore essentially halved compared to the known construction. This essentially halves the carry-over of liquid between the washing machine baths. The caustic carryover is halved.

The construction also gains strength. The wall thicknesses can therefore be reduced somewhat, as a result of which the mass of the basket is reduced, which in turn reduces heat dissipation.

A second, slightly modified embodiment of the first embodiment of the invention just described is again based on the known construction of FIGS. 1 to 3. Between the upper edges 13 and the lower edges 14 of the carrier shells 1, in this second embodiment the surface pieces 11 and 12 are not Fig. 4 used, but each a perforated plate 20, which is shown in Fig. 5. In this there are holes 4 'which correspond to the cross section of the cell tubes 4.

The perforated plate 20 is connected with its side edges 13 'to the upper edges 13 and the lower edges 14 of the carrier shells 1, with the end edges 2' to the end plates 2 and with the edges of the holes 4 'to the cell tubes 4. This results in again the closed cavity described in the embodiment of FIG. 4 in the bottle basket within the carrier shells 1 or outside the cell tubes 4, which is not wetted.

Fig. 6 shows a third embodiment of the invention, which is characterized by great design simplicity. A section of the bottle basket with two bottle cells is shown in FIG. 6 in a view corresponding to FIG. 2.

Instead of the carrier shells 1 of the above-described constructions, this bottle basket has a polygonal carrier tube 30 of closed profile, which extends over the length of the bottle basket. Two openings 31 are provided opposite each other, which correspond to the cross section of the round cell tubes 34 in the exemplary embodiment shown. The support tube 30 thus has a row of openings 31 at the top and bottom, through which the cell tubes 34 are inserted and connected to the cell tube 34 in a sealed manner at each opening 31, for example by means of a circular weld seam. The carrier tubes 30 are closed at the ends with end plates, not shown, similar to the construction of FIGS. 1 to 3.

A cell tip 37 is shown on one of the cell tubes 34 shown. The cross section of the carrier tube 30 can be different, for example round. The cross section of the cell tubes 34 can also be configured differently than shown, for example octagonal corresponding to the cell tube 4 in the known embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 3.

7 to 10 show a fourth embodiment of the invention in different representations.

In the plan view of the bottle basket in the axial direction of the bottle cells shown in FIG. 10, this construction consists of two longitudinal halves which can be prefabricated separately. In Fig. 10 these two halves before the connection are shown somewhat laterally apart, namely the left half closed and the right half cut in the middle according to line 9 - 9 in Fig. 7.

The two identical halves of the bottle basket each consist of an outer shell 40 and an inner shell 41. The shape of the outer shell largely corresponds the carrier shell 1 of the known construction of FIGS. 1 to 3. It therefore has, as shown in FIG. 7, a cross section which is kinked in the middle and can be easily produced in a press or on an edging bench.

The inner shell 41, as shown in FIG. 10, has a complicated surface profile and can be produced by pressing or deep drawing. The surface profile of each inner shell 41 is formed from half shells 42 lined up, which each form half of a bottle cell. Each of the half shells 42 has five surfaces. Two half-shells assembled according to FIG. 9 thus each form a bottle cell with a decagonal cross section.

As the basket half shown on the left in FIG. 10 shows, the inner shell 41 is bent at the upper end with the inclined surfaces 43, 44 shown in such a way that it tapers to a continuous seam line 45 which can be connected in a sealed manner to the upper edge of the outer shell 40 and to transverse seam lines 46 between two bottle cell half-shells 42, which can also be closed in a sealed manner.

After completion of the inner shell 41, for example by a corresponding compression molding process, and completion of the outer shell 40, one of the two halves of the basket construction shown in FIG. 10 can be connected, for example by welding the outer shell 40 and inner shell 41 to the upper and lower seam lines 45 and Closing the transverse seam lines 46 between the bottle cell half-shells 42 are sealed. The two halves of the construction shown in FIG. 10 are then brought together into the position of FIG. 9 and connected with seams 47. In addition, end plates 2 with support flanges 3 are to be attached to the ends of the basket.

At the lower ends of the bottle cells, stop flanges 48 can be provided at a suitable location, on which cell tips 49, which are pulled through from above, can rest.

In the embodiment of FIGS. 7 to 10, the cross-sectional shape of the bottle cells which each result from two half-shells 42 can be chosen differently, for example round. The half-shells 42 then result in a semicircular shape in the representation of FIG. 10 (right). The cross-sectional shape of the outer shell 40 can also be selected differently, for example in the form of an arc or the like.

Claims (3)

1. Bottle cage for suspension at both ends on transfer chains of a beverage bottle washing machine with the basic shape of an elongate carrier with elongate carrier elements (1,30,40), between which are secured parallel cellular tubes (4,34,42), which extend transverse to the longitudinal axis of the bottle cage and are connected to the carrier elements, characterised in that the carrier elements (1,30,40) define closed side walls which laterally limit the bottle cage, whereby the bottle cells are constructed as closed-walled cellular tubes (4,34,42) and are each connected in a sealed manner at spaced regions to the carrier elements (1,30,40) whilst defining empty spaces, which are sealed in a water-tight manner on all sides, between the outer surfaces of the cellular tubes (4,34,42) and the inner surfaces of the carrier elements (1,30,40).
2. Bottle cage as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the carrier elements are part of a closed carrier (2,30) in which opposed openings (31) with the cross-section of the cellular tubes (34) are connected in a sealed manner to the cellular tubes (34).
3. Bottle cage as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that each of the two carrier elements is connected as an outer shell (40) in a sealed manner to an inner shell (41) which, in surface profile, substantially defines the half shells (42) of the cellular tubes situated on this side of the carrier.

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