EP0561344B1 - Method and device for closing bottles - Google Patents

Abstract

In the case of a method for sealing a bottle by deforming a crown cork which has been placed on a bottle mouth, a holding element (4) positions the crown cork on the bottle mouth in a positioning phase. In a sealing phase, the crown cork is pushed through a conical input region into a sealing end (6) of the sealing device (7), and in the process is deformed and fixed on the bottle. After deformation of the crown cork, an ejection element (8) pushes the crown cork out of the sealing end (6) in an ejection phase. In order to seal the bottle in a simple and reliable fashion without breaking the bottle, with much less pressure and virtually without head pressure during the sealing phase, the holding element holds the crown cork essentially without pressure on the bottle mouth during the positioning and sealing phase and the ejection element for the pushing out of the crown cork in the ejection phase is pretensioned in a pretensioning phase which follows the sealing phase. <IMAGE>

Description

The invention relates to a method and a device for closing a bottle by deforming a crown cap placed on a bottle mouth, wherein in a positioning phase a holding element positions the crown cap on the bottle mouth, in a closing phase the crown cap is inserted through a conical entrance area into a closure end of a capper , deformed and fixed on the bottle, and an ejection element after the deformation of the crown cap pushes it out in an ejection phase from the closure end.

Such a method and devices for implementation are known from DE-OS 4115285 or DE-OS 2147770.

In DE-OS 4115285 a plunger-like hold-down device and a spring-loaded closing element part are arranged in a closer housing. In the positioning phase, the hold-down device holds the crown cap and a bottle located on a carrier is positioned relative to the crown cap and a centering element. Before and during the closing phase, the closing element part is pressed onto the hold-down device and exerts a high pressure, the so-called head pressure, on the crown cap and thus the bottle. After the closure phase, the bottle is finally pushed out of the capper.

In DE-OS 2147770 a hold-down device is movably mounted in a low-pressure part and acted upon by a spring. In the positioning phase, the Hold down the bottle cap on the bottle mouth. Before the closing phase, the hold-down device is fixed relative to the depressing part and both are pressed into the closer by the relative movement of the closer and the bottle. A high head pressure is exerted on the crown cap by applying force to the depressed part by means of a spring. After the closure phase, the bottle is pushed out of the capper.

A disadvantage of these two publications is that the pressure exerted by the closing element part or depressing part during the closing phase is generally relatively large (150 kp). To this force is added the approximately equal deformation force during the closure phase, so that during this phase the total force acting on the bottle is approximately 300 kp. Accordingly, the holding devices for the bottles must be dimensioned to absorb this large force. Furthermore, the likelihood of bottle breakage is significantly increased. Due to the high forces that occur, the signs of wear in the holding device for the bottles as well as in the capper are relatively large. A sealing material inserted into the bottle cap can easily be damaged or even completely destroyed by the high pressure that occurs between the bottle mouth and bottle cap. Because of this, a tight closure of the bottle is not always guaranteed, so that the liquid in the bottle can degas or air enters the bottle, which leads to an impairment of the shelf life of the filled liquid.

The invention is therefore based on the object of improving a method and a device for closing a bottle of the type mentioned at the outset, so that with considerably lower pressure and during the closing phase, a secure closure of the bottle is achieved in a simple manner and avoiding bottle breakage, almost without head pressure becomes.

This object is achieved in a method with the features of the preamble of claim 1 in that during the positioning and closure phase, the holding element holds the crown cap essentially without pressure on the bottle mouth and in a pretensioning phase following the closure phase, the ejection element for pushing out the crown cap in the ejection phase is biased.

According to the invention, the bottle cap is used both in the positioning phase, in which the bottle cap is placed on a bottle and the bottle is optionally inserted in the conical entrance area, and in the closure phase, ie during the deformation of the bottle cap to fix it on the bottle the holding element essentially pressureless on the. Bottle mouth held. Only after completion or shortly before the closure phase is completed is the ejection element biased. In the ejection phase, this pushes the crown cap almost completely out of the capper. Since the pretension of the ejection element and the forces occurring during the closing phase are essentially exerted on the crown cap one after the other, the greatest force occurring is not given by the sum of these two forces, but rather corresponds only to the maximum closing or ejection force.

Compared to the prior art, the maximum force that occurs is essentially halved. Accordingly, the holding device carrying the bottles during the closure can be designed more simply and cost-effectively. Since the force exerted on the bottles according to the invention is significantly reduced, bottle breakage occurs far less frequently. The forces occurring in the capper are also significantly reduced, so that signs of wear occur to a much lesser extent. The sealing material inserted in the crown cap is exposed to lower loads due to the essentially pressure-free holding of the crown cap on the bottle mouth, so that the bottles are sealed securely and tightly. Problems with degassing the filled liquid, air entry or shortened shelf life are almost completely eliminated.

A sealer suitable for carrying out the method has the features of claim 13.

The ejection element can also be preloaded, for example, by means of a cam roller connected thereto and a corresponding guide cam, as is known for bottle fillers, bottle closers or the like. With an advantageous In one embodiment, the bottle and the capper move relative to one another and pretension the ejection element in the pretensioning phase. In this case, the ejection element is biased directly by the relative movement of the bottle and by the bottle mouth resting on the holding element.

Due to the essentially successive execution of the closing phase and the pretensioning phase, it is advantageously possible due to the invention that the maximum pretensioning of the ejection element is less than a maximum closing force that occurs during the closing phase.

During the closure phase, the edge of the crown cap is simply flanged in the end of the closure, only the friction and flaring forces occurring during this phase occurring. In order to simplify the holding device and guidance of the bottles, it is advantageous if the capper with the holding element and ejection element moves in the direction of the bottle mouth to close the bottle. The bottles are set up, for example, on a bottle plate, which is arranged opposite the capper. The capper is moved up and down in a known manner by cam rollers and corresponding guide curves, by pneumatic or hydraulic actuation or the like.

In order to achieve correct positioning of the bottle cap on the bottle mouth in a simple manner, it proves to be advantageous if the holding element holds the bottle cap in the ready position. For this purpose, a permanent magnet can be arranged in the holding end of the holding element.

In a simple embodiment of the invention presses the holding element in the pretensioning phase directly against the ejection element and pretensions it. In this case, the holding element and the ejection element are arranged essentially one behind the other in the closer. In the positioning and closing phase, essentially only the holding element is displaced in the closer, while both the holding element and the extending element are displaced in the pretensioning phase.

In one embodiment of the invention, a small force is applied to the holding element in the direction of the bottle mouth by a holding spring element. This can be arranged, for example, between the holding and ejection element, so that the holding spring element is compressed at least during the closing phase by the movement of the holding element, as a result of which the ejection element is acted upon by force.

In this context, in a simple embodiment, an ejection spring element is arranged in the closer, which acts upon the ejection element in the direction of the holding element.

According to a further embodiment of the invention, the retaining spring element is compressed until it advises in the pretensioning phase in contact with the ejection element and prestresses it against the force of the ejection spring element. The spring constant of the retaining spring element is considerably lower than the spring constant of the ejection spring element.

The force required to eject the closed bottle from the capper is determined in a simple manner by the fact that after the pretensioning phase has ended Ejection element rests on a rear wall of a capper housing opposite the bottle mouth. The holding and ejection element can only be inserted into the closer so far that the ejection element rests on the rear wall. This results in a very low overall height of the capper.

Further advantageous design options of the invention emerge from the subclaims.

The solutions proposed according to the invention and advantageous exemplary embodiments thereof are further explained and described in the following with reference to the figures shown in the drawing.

• Fig.1 einen erfindungsgemäßen Verschließer in Postionierphase;
• Fig.2 den Verschließer in seiner Verschlußphase;
• Fig.3 den Verschließer am Ende seiner Vorspannphase;
• Fig.4 den Verschließer während der Ausstoßphase;
• Fig.5 den Verschließer nach Beendigung der Ausstoßphase, und
• Fig.6 ein Kraft- Weg- Diagramm zur Erläuterung des erfindungsgemäßen Verfahrens.

Show it:

• 1 shows a closer according to the invention in the postioning phase;
• 2 shows the capper in its closing phase;
• 3 shows the capper at the end of its pretensioning phase;
• 4 the capper during the ejection phase;
• 5 shows the capper after the ejection phase, and
• 6 shows a force-displacement diagram to explain the method according to the invention.

1 shows a single capper 7 for closing a bottle 1. In a known manner, a large number of corresponding cappers can be arranged in a circle and rotatably around the center of the circle, the bottles 1 being transferred to a bottle plate or similar holding devices for bottles by means of an inlet star.

The capper 7 has an essentially cylindrical capper housing 15. This is closed opposite the bottle 1 by a rear wall 14. The housing has a first section 20 and a second section 21 in the longitudinal direction 19 of the housing. A holding element 4 is arranged in the first section and an ejection element 8 is arranged in the second section.

The transition region 22 between the first and second sections is designed as a peripheral shoulder 23, the first section 20 having a smaller inner diameter than the second section 21.

The holding element 4 is essentially cylindrical, its outer diameter being somewhat smaller than the inner diameter of the first section 20. With its lower holding end 25, the holding element 4 bears against an upper side 18 of a crown cap 3. This has an outwardly projecting edge 11, which loosely rests against a conical entrance area 5 of a capper end 6 of the capper 7 assigned to the bottle 1 and is thus positioned.

On one side of the bottle 1, the capping end 6 has a stop 33, which adjoins the conical entrance area 5 in the direction of the longitudinal axis 19.

Between the holding element 4 and the ejection element 8, a holding spring 12 is arranged in receptacles 27 and 28, respectively. The receptacle 27 is arranged concentrically in the holding element 4 and the receptacle 28 concentrically in the ejection element 8 each symmetrically to the longitudinal axis 19. The open end of the receptacle 27 is surrounded by a radially extending flange 24. This lies on the peripheral shoulder 23 in the positioning phase shown in FIG. The receptacle 28 of the extension element 8 also has at its open end a radially extending flange 30 to which a sleeve 31 arranged concentrically to the longitudinal axis 19 is connected. This stands with its free end on the peripheral shoulder 23.

The outer diameter of the radial flange 24 of the holding element 4 is slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the sleeve 31, the outer diameter of which is somewhat smaller than the inner diameter of the second section 21 of the closer housing 15. The radial flanges of the ejection element 8 and the holding element 4 lie at a distance of 16. The outside diameter of the cylindrical ejection element body 29 is approximately equal to the outside diameter of the holding element 4 mounted in the first section of the capper 7. The receptacles 27 and 28 each have a conically extending extension at their open end.

A prestressed spring 13 is arranged between the radial flange 30 and the rear wall 14 concentrically with the ejection element body 29. This acts on the ejection element 8 in the direction of the holding element 4. The ejection element 8 is arranged at a distance 35 from the rear wall 14, so that a free space 34 is formed.

In the holding element 4 is flush with the end face of the holding end 25 a permanent magnet 26 arranged to hold the crown cap 3 in the positioning phase.

2 shows the closer 7 before the pretensioning phase begins. The same reference numerals as in Fig.1 denote the same components, so that they are only partially mentioned.

By moving the capper 7 in the direction 36, the crown cap 3 is pushed into the entrance area 5 along the conical surface 32. The conical surface 32 can also be rounded. It forms the closing cone and merges into a cylindrical surface 52. The holding element 4 is inserted accordingly in the direction of the ejection element 8. The radial flange 24 of the holding element 4 is raised from the peripheral shoulder 23 and bears against the radial flange 30 of the ejection element 8. The distance 16 shown in Figure 1 between the radial flange 24 and the radial flange 30 corresponds essentially to the height 17 of the conical surface 32, so that the edge 11 of the Eronkorkens 3 is largely flanged through the conical entrance area towards the bottle 1, but not yet completely has penetrated into the cylindrical surface 52.

The spring 12 in the receptacles 27 and 28 is partially compressed, while the spring 13 is in its initial position as shown in FIG. 1, so that the distance 35 between the extension element 8 and the rear wall 14 is the same in FIG. 1 and FIG .

3 shows the capper at the time of the end of the pretensioning phase. Again, the same parts are identified by the same reference numerals.

With further movement of the capper 7 in the direction 36, the held bottle 1 pushes the holding element 4 together with the extension element 8 into contact with the rear wall 14. The sleeve 31 is arranged at a distance 37 from the peripheral shoulder 23. Both spring 12 and spring 13 are compressed compared to the illustration in FIG. 1. The crown cap 3 sits completely within the cylindrical surface 52 and is finally deformed.

4, the capper 7 is moved away from the bottle 1 in the direction 38. Ejection element 8 is arranged at a distance from the rear wall 14, the sleeve 31 not yet standing on the peripheral shoulder 23. Radial flange 24 of the holding element 4 and radial flange 30 of the ejection element 8 are in contact. The edge 11 of the crown cap 3 is located in the transition area between the cylindrical surface 52 and the conical surface 32.

5 shows the capper 7 in a position corresponding to FIG. 1 after the closing process has been completed. The crown cap 3 is fixed on the bottle 1 by deformation.

Both the holding element 4 and the ejection element 8 are in contact with the peripheral shoulder 23 with their radial flange 24 or sleeve 31. The radial flanges of the holding element 4 and the ejection element 8 are arranged at a distance of 16. Ejection element 8 is arranged at a distance 35 from the rear wall 14. The springs 12 and 13 are in the state shown in Fig.1.

The crown cap 3 is arranged in the region of the conical surface 32, the edge 11 no longer being in contact with the conical surface and is therefore completely expelled.

A force-displacement diagram is shown in FIG. The path of the capper 7 is shown on the x-axis and the force acting on the bottle 1 is shown on the y-axis. Curve 39 represents the sum of the forces occurring on the basis of curves 40, 41 and 42. Curve 40 corresponds to the force applied by spring 12 assigned to holding element 4. The curve 41 corresponds to the force applied by the spring 13 assigned to the ejection element 8. The curve 42 corresponds to the frictional force or deformation force occurring in the capper 7 during the movement of the crown cap.

At the starting point 51, the individual forces and thus the total force are still zero, which corresponds to the state shown in FIG. In the following, the spring 12 designed with a small spring constant is compressed, which results in the restoring force 40 of approximately 10 kp. This remains intact during the entire closing process according to FIGS. 2 to 5, the state shown in FIG. 5 corresponding to the end point 50 of curve 40.

All of the forces described here act on the bottle cap and thus on the bottle.

When the crown cap moves through the conical entrance area 5 of the capper 7, the frictional force increases to its maximum value 43. At this point, the edge 11 of the crown cap 3 is flanged so far that the frictional force decreases in the following until the crown cap is finally deformed at point 46. The maximum 10 of the total force 39 corresponds to the maximum 43 of the friction force 42.

If the holding element 4 comes into contact with the ejection element 8 according to FIG. 2, the capper moves further in the direction 36 the restoring force 41 of the spring 13 is generated from the starting point 44. This restoring force is added below with the restoring force 40 and the friction force 42 to the total force 39.

At the end of the pretensioning phase shown in FIG. 3, the direction of movement 36 of the capper 7 is reversed in the direction of movement 38. This corresponds to the point of reversal 45 or the maximum 9 in FIG. the maximum preload. As can be clearly seen in FIG. 6, the maximum preload 9 is less than the maximum closing force 10. In the following, the restoring force 41 decreases, the state shown in FIG. 4 corresponding to the end 48 of the friction force 42. In this case, the edge 11 of the crown cap 3 is no longer in contact with the entrance area of the capper 7, so that no more frictional forces occur.

In the following, the spring 13 of the ejection element 8 is further relieved until the sleeve 31 is again in contact with the peripheral shoulder 23, which in FIG. 6 corresponds to the end 49 of the restoring force 41 acting on the crown cap. The rest of the diagram between points 49 and 50 corresponds essentially to the lowering of the holding element 4 until its edge flange 24 abuts the peripheral shoulder 23.

The force-displacement diagram clearly shows that the maximum force 10 acting on the crown cap essentially corresponds to the maximum friction force 43. This means that the bottle cap is held essentially without pressure by the holding element on the bottle mouth. Only the comparatively low restoring force 40 is additionally exerted by the spring 12 as a so-called head pressure. Only after the frictional force during the closing phase has already dropped considerably, the total force exerted on the bottle is increased again by the pretensioning of the ejection element. The maximum preload 9 is significantly less than the maximum closing force 10. The sum 39 of the forces is also less than or at most equal to the maximum closing force 10.

The distance between the starting point 51 and the reversal point 45 is approximately 9 mm in the illustrated embodiment. The maximum closing force 10 is approximately 150 kp. In contrast to the previously known solutions, the maximum preload 9 and the maximum closure force 10 are not added by the successive execution of the closure phase and the preload phase, so that a considerably lower force acts on the bottle during the closure.

Claims (30)

1. Method for sealing a bottle (1) by deforming a crown cork (3) placed on a bottle mouth (2), wherein in a positioning stage a holding element (4) positions the crown cork on the bottle mouth, in a sealing stage the crown cork is inserted through a conical inlet region (5) into a sealing end (6) of a sealer (7), deformed in the process and fixed on the bottle (1), and an ejector element (8) after deformation of the crown cork pushes the latter out of the sealing end (6) in an ejection stage, characterised in that during the positioning and sealing stages the holding element (4) holds the crown cork (3) essentially without pressure on the bottle mouth (2) and in a pretensioning stage following the sealing stage the ejector element (8) is pretensioned for pushing out the crown cork in the ejection stage.
2. Method according to claim 1, characterised in that bottle (1) and sealer (7) move relative to each other and so pretension the ejector element (8) in the pretensioning stage.
3. Method according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the maximum initial tension of the ejector element (8) is less than a maximum sealing force occurring during the sealing stage.
4. Method according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterised in that an edge (11) of the crown cork (3) is beaded in the sealing end (6).
5. Method according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterised in that the sealer (7) with holding element (4) and ejector element (8) for sealing the bottle (1) moves in a direction towards the bottle mouth (2).
6. Method according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterised in that the holding element (4) holds the crown cork (3) in the stand-by position before the positioning stage.
7. Method according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterised in that shortly before the end of the sealing stage the pretensioning stage is commenced.
8. Method according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterised in that the holding element (4) in the pretensioning stage presses against the ejector element (8) and pretensions it.
9. Method according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterised in that a holding spring element (12) biases the holding element (4) in a direction towards the bottle mouth (2).
10. Method according to claim 9, characterised in that the holding element (4) compresses the holding spring element (12) at least during the sealing stage, whereby the latter biases the ejector element (8).
11. Method according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterised in that an ejector spring element (13) biases the ejector element (8) in the direction of the holding element (4).
12. Method according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterised in that after the end of the pretensioning stage the ejector element (8) abuts against a rear wall (14) of a sealer housing (15) opposite the bottle mouth (2).
13. Sealer (7) for carrying out the method according to one or more of the preceding claims, with a sealing end (6) associated with a bottle mouth (2) and firmed with a conical inlet region (5), and holding and ejector elements (4, 8) which are mounted movably in the sealer (7) and are biased in the direction of the sealing end (6), characterised in that the holding element (4) and the ejector element (8) comprise stop faces located opposite at a distance (16) in the direction of closing, in that this distance (16) corresponds to the travel needed to deform a crown cork and in that the holding element compared with the ejector element (8) is biased only slightly, e.g. with 10 kp, and is otherwise freely movable in the direction of closing.
14. Sealer according to claim 13, characterised in that the sealer (7) comprises an essentially cylindrical sealer housing (15).
15. Sealer according to claim 13 or 14, characterised in that holding and ejector elements (4, 8) are arranged coaxially with the sealer (7).
16. Sealer according to one or more of claims 13 to 15, characterised in that the sealer (7) comprises two sections (20, 21) along its longitudinal axis (19), wherein in the first section (20) the holding element (4) and in the second section (21) the ejector element (8) is mounted movably.
17. Sealer according to claim 16, characterised in that the junction (22) between first and second sections (20, 21) is constructed as a radially oriented peripheral shoulder (23).
18. Sealer according to claim 17, characterised in that the holding element (4) comprises a radial flange (24) at one end for abutment against the peripheral shoulder (23).
19. Sealer according to one or more of claims 13 to 18, characterised in that the holding element (4) extends essentially between peripheral shoulder (23) and conical inlet region (5).
20. Sealer according to one or more of claims 13 to 19, characterized in that the holding element (4) is constructed with a permanent magnet (26) at its holding end (25) for holding the crown cork (3).
21. Sealer according to one or more of claims 13 to 20, characterised in that a holding spring element (12) is arranged between holding element (4) and ejector element (8) for biasing the holding element.
22. Sealer according to claim 21, characterised in that the ends of holding and ejector elements (4, 8) pointing towards each other comprise essentially cylindrical receptacles (27, 28) for mounting the holding spring element (12).
23. Sealer according to claim 22, characterised in that the receptacles (27, 28) are arranged with the same diameter and coaxially with each other and with the longitudinal axis (19) of the sealer (7).
24. Sealer according to one or more of claims 13 to 23, characterised in that the ejector element (8) is essentially formed from a cylindrical body (29), wherein the receptacle (28) is surrounded by a radial flange (30) which more or less has an outside diameter corresponding to the inside diameter of the second section (21) of the sealer housing (15).
25. Sealer according to one or more of claims 13 to 24, characterised in that the second section (21) is sealed on one side by a rear wall (14) and between the rear wall and the radial flange (30) is mounted an ejector spring element (13).
26. Sealer according to one or more of claims 13 to 25, characterised in that on the radial flange (30) of the ejector element (8) is arranged a sleeve (31) extending along the longitudinal axis (19).
27. Sealer according to claim 26, characterised in that the outside diameter of the sleeve (31) is more or less equal to the inside diameter of the second sealer section (21) and the inside diameter of the sleeve is more or less equal to the outside diameter of the radial flange (24) of the holding element (4).
28. Sealer according to one or more of claims 13 to 27, characterised in that the width of the radial flange (30) of the ejector element (8) is more or less equal to the width of the radial flange (24) of the holding element (4).
29. Sealer according to one or more of claims 13 to 28, characterised in that the distance between the radial flanges (24, 30) of holding element (4) and ejector element (8) essentially corresponds to the height of the cone surface (32) of the inlet region (5).
30. Sealer according to one or more of claims 13 to 29, characterised in that the inlet region (5) comprises a stop (33) projecting essentially vertically in a direction towards the bottle (1).

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