Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65G—TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
  • B65G51/00—Conveying articles through pipes or tubes by fluid flow or pressure; Conveying articles over a flat surface, e.g. the base of a trough, by jets located in the surface
  • B65G51/02—Directly conveying the articles, e.g. slips, sheets, stockings, containers or workpieces, by flowing gases
  • B65G51/03—Directly conveying the articles, e.g. slips, sheets, stockings, containers or workpieces, by flowing gases over a flat surface or in troughs
  • B65G51/035—Directly conveying the articles, e.g. slips, sheets, stockings, containers or workpieces, by flowing gases over a flat surface or in troughs for suspended articles, e.g. bottles
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65G—TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
  • B65G2201/00—Indexing codes relating to handling devices, e.g. conveyors, characterised by the type of product or load being conveyed or handled
  • B65G2201/02—Articles
  • B65G2201/0235—Containers
  • B65G2201/0244—Bottles

Definitions

• Anti-contamination device for the transport of containers and pneumatic conveyor equipped with such a device
• the present invention relates to the transport of containers under the action of air jets, the containers being supported and guided, when they are set in motion, by means of a protuberance from their neck. It applies more particularly to the online transfer of light containers, in particular of plastic or of gobs for the subsequent formation of plastic containers by stretch blow molding.
• the present invention more specifically relates to a device and a pneumatic conveyor for containers, which are designed so as to limit the phenomenon of contamination and in particular of particulate and / or microbial contamination (bacterial, fungal, spore, micro-alga, etc.). .) of these containers, during their transport, in the device.
• the aforementioned document simply provides for sealingly connecting upstream and downstream, that is to say at its two open end faces, the pneumatic conveyor to the other materials constituting the complete conveyor line.
• the aim of the present invention is to overcome this drawback and therefore to propose an anti-contamination device which prevents the induction of polluted air in any installation in which containers are transported.
• This object is of course sought to be applied in a pneumatic conveyor whose transport enclosure is completely closed, with air exhaust means, as described in document WO 99/14143.
• this is not exclusive, this aim also being sought for a conveyor whose transport enclosure is provided with free exhaust ports or which has walls longitudinal sides on either side of the container transport path, even if the efficiency of such conveyors in terms of non-contamination would be lower.
• This goal is also sought to avoid contamination at the entrance to machines or during the passage of containers from a given room into a room classified as having a low contamination rate.
• the device of the invention is a device in which are moved, along a transport path and in a direction T, containers having a protuberance at their neck, device comprising a transport enclosure which has an inlet face having a container passage opening; this enclosure contains:
• the device comprises pneumatic air blowing means in a direction G generally opposite to the direction T, said means being capable of forming a frontal air leak, from the inside towards the outside the enclosure, by the opening of passage of the entry face.
• This frontal leakage of air from the interior to the exterior of the enclosure prevents the penetration of polluted ambient air in which the device is located through the inlet opening thereof.
• the pneumatic air blowing means in the direction G, comprises a pressurized air supply chamber, the wall or walls of which, facing the container transport path, are pierced with orifices, in particular of slots, capable of forming air jets oriented in the direction G towards the passage opening of the inlet face.
• the air jets have directions G which are all generally opposite to the direction T but which can have different angular orientations ; each air jet therefore does not necessarily have a direction which is diametrically opposite to the direction T.
• the number of air jets and the angular orientation of each of them is determined so as to create the desired frontal leak, throughout the section of the passage opening of the entry face of the device.
• the transport enclosure comprises an upper compartment and a lower compartment, both separated by the inverted U-shaped transport channel and by two lateral partitions;
• the pneumatic means supply chamber is formed in or by the upper compartment and the pneumatic means comprise, over the length L of the enclosure, a plurality of orifices, in particular slots, formed in the channel of transport and possibly the side partitions and capable of forming air jets oriented in the direction G, opposite to
• the orifices or slots being formed in the upper part of the lower compartment, it is necessary on the one hand that the air jets formed are inclined obliquely and on the other hand that these orifices or slots are formed over a sufficient distance so that the accumulation of all the air jets can generate the desired frontal leak.
• the distance L1 is of course a function of the height H of the passage opening of the entry face. Preferably, L1 is of the order of 1 to 2 hours.
• L1 is of the order of 500 to 600mm, ⁇ is greater than 30 °, preferably 45 °, the speed of the air jets is between 7 and 13m / s.
• the supply chamber for the pneumatic means surrounds the path for transporting the containers, at least above and on either side of said transport path and preferably also below it.
• the air jets necessarily have an oblique direction from top to bottom since they come from the upper part of the lower compartment of the enclosure.
• the air jets can have different orientations since they can come from any point on the periphery of the transport path.
• the orifices are formed in the internal side walls and, preferably also in the internal bottom wall, of the supply chamber.
• This arrangement with orifices having a more homogeneous distribution on the internal walls of the supply chamber, makes it possible to reduce the length L2 of the enclosure, compared to the distance L1 of the first alternative embodiment. In this case, L2 would be on the order of even less than H.
• orifices can also be provided in the front wall of the supply chamber, front wall which acts as the inlet face of the enclosure. This particular arrangement makes it possible to create a zone upstream of the passage opening of the entry face, which prolongs the effect of the frontal leak, an area which is particularly suitable in the absence of containers in front of the device.
• the orifices are oriented so as to form air jets having the direction exactly opposite to the direction T.
• the supply chamber surrounds the container transport path only above and on either side of it, preferably certain orifices are oriented so as to form jets of air inclined at an oblique angle down .
• the orifices are in the form of several levels of longitudinal alignments, advantageously the angular orientation of the orifices increases as the levels approach the bottom of the chamber.
• the anti-contamination device of the invention is implemented in combination with a pneumatic conveyor, or any other material which has exactly the same equipment as said device with regard to the transport of the containers: guide rail, and preferably a longitudinal transport channel.
• the device can be implemented as a modular anti-contamination element, attached to the entry face of said material and therefore structurally independent of it.
• the device is integrated into said equipment, in the upstream region thereof, the inlet face of the equipment constituting the inlet face of the device.
• the device thus acts as an anti-contamination entry airlock for the material in question.
• This arrangement is all the more advantageous in the case of a conveyor or of equipment equipped with pneumatic means for the transport of containers in direction T; indeed, the pneumatic supply of the conveyor or of the material can be used to supply the pneumatic means of the device.
• the pneumatic conveyor has a known structure, except that there is an entry zone in which the transport channel is free of slits oriented to form net of air in the direction T, that is to say of slits allowing the normal movement of the containers in said direction T.
• this zone are provided orifices, preferably possibly similar slits to traditional slots, but which are oriented to form jets in the opposite direction to T.
• FIG. 1 and 2 are schematic representations respectively from the side (FIG. 1) and above (FIG. 2) of a conveyor line comprising the pneumatic conveyor with anti-lock airlock - contamination of the invention
• FIG. 3 is a schematic front view of a first example of a conveyor
• FIG. 4 is a schematic representation in longitudinal section along the axis IV-IV of FIG. 3,
• FIG. 5 is a schematic front view of a second embodiment of a conveyor
• - Figure 6 is a schematic representation in longitudinal section along the axis VI-VI of the conveyor Figure 5
• FIG. 7 is a schematic front view of a third embodiment of a conveyor and,
• FIG. 8 is a schematic representation in longitudinal section along the axis VIII-VIII of the figure
• a pneumatic conveyor 1 is generally part of a conveyor line 2 making it possible to distribute containers 3, such as empty plastic bottles, from one manufacturing station to another.
• the conveyor line 2 successively comprises, in the direction of movement T of the containers 3, a work station 4, an accumulation and forced feed zone 5 and the pneumatic conveyor 1.
• the containers 3 are suspended by a protuberance at their neck, generally being presented as a flange 6 by a guide rail 7 ( figure 3).
• the forced feeding in the zone 5 is obtained by two belts 8a, 8b arranged on either side of the receptacles 3 aligned, each belt being tensioned between two cylinders 9, 10 one of which 10 is driven in rotation by a motor 11.
• the two belts 8a, 8b define between them a longitudinal space whose width is adjusted to correspond to the outside diameter of the containers 3.
• the two belts 8a, 8b therefore come to be applied to the containers and their respective displacement results in that of the containers 10 in the direction of the arrow T.
• a given container 3 is therefore firstly driven by the belts 8a, 8b, then forced to move due to the thrust of the containers which follow it and which are in contact with said belts 8a, 8b. It is therefore under these conditions that the containers 3 penetrate inside. of the pneumatic conveyor 1.
• the pneumatic conveyor 12 has a conventional structure in that it mainly consists of a transport enclosure 13 comprising an upper compartment 14 and a lower compartment 15.
• the upper compartment 14 is supplied by a fan V (FIG. 1), a prefilter FI and a filter F2 being provided respectively at the inlet and at the outlet of fan V.
• the air introduced into the upper compartment being filtered, it is cleaner as the air surrounding the conveyor, the upper compartment 14 thus constituting a “clean” air supply chamber under pressure.
• the lower compartment 15 has two longitudinal walls 16, 17 and a lower wall 18, which completely closes said compartment 15, as taught by document WO 99/14143.
• the containers 3 are located in the lower compartment 15, with the flange 6 which is supported on the guide rail 7.
• the upper portion 3a of the container 3 supported by the guide rail 7 is surrounded by a transport channel 19 which is formed by an inverted U-shaped part whose lateral wings 19a overhang the two guides under the neck forming the guide rail 7.
• the sectional profile of this U-shaped channel is not important for the invention. It could be any open channel on the underside, and surmounting the guide rail 7, and for example a channel forming in section an inverted V or equivalent.
• the upper 14 and lower 15 compartments are separated by the transport channel 19 and by two lateral partitions 20, 21 which extend on either side of the transport channel 19 up to the longitudinal uprights 16, 17.
• the guides under collar forming the guide rail 7 are fixed to the side partitions 20, 21 by a fixing system
• the transport channel 19 and the two lateral partitions 20, 21 are pierced with a plurality of slots 27 which allows the pressurized air contained in the upper compartment 14 to enter the lower compartment 15 in the form of air jets.
• Each slot 27 is oriented so that the corresponding air jet has a general direction G which is generally opposite to the direction T of the containers in the conveyor 12. This general direction G is oblique, at an angle ⁇ , by with respect to the vertical V.
• the air jets are oriented towards the passage opening of the face 26 of the enclosure 13.
• Each jet, coming from a slot 27, corresponds to a flow of air of conical shape or assimilated.
• the air pressure in the upper compartment 14 and the dimensions of the slots 27 are determined so that the speed of movement of the jets is between 7 and 13 m / s, preferably of the order of 10 m / s.
• slots 27 of which the substantially trapezoidal orifice has a width of the order of 9 mm and a thickness of the order of 1.5 mm.
• the first in the middle branch 19b of the transport channel 19 overhanging with respect to the upper portion 3a of the containers 3, and two in each lateral partition 20, 21, one being in a horizontal portion 20a, 21a, close to the channel transport 19 and the other in a downwardly inclined portion 20b, 21b.
• the transport channel 19 comprises slots 28, traditional, which are formed in the two wings 19a, of said channel 19. These slots 28 are oriented so that the pressurized air contained in the compartment 14 opens into the lower compartment 15 in the form of air jets having the direction of transport T. These air jets are sent to the upper portion 3a of the container 3 and force it to move on the guide rail 7. This is the case over the entire length of the pneumatic conveyor 12, except for the upstream zone 25, which acts as an anti-contamination entry airlock.
• This air flow formed by all the air jets from all the slots 27 has been symbolized in FIG. 3.
• This air flow, of general direction G forms a displacement of a volume of air. large occupying the entire cross section of the lower compartment 15 at the passage opening of the inlet face 26. It therefore constitutes a frontal air leak, from the interior volume of the lower compartment 15 towards the outside of the conveyor 12 through said passage opening. This frontal leak is opposed to the penetration by this opening of the polluted air surrounding the conveyor 12.
• the length L1 is preferably of the order of one to two times the value of the height H of the lower compartment 15. This proportion is a function in particular of the angle ⁇ of inclination of the general direction G of the air jets. The smaller this angle ⁇ , the smaller the distance
• the angle ⁇ should be at least 30 °.
• the containers can only move inside the conveyor 12 thanks to the thrust due to the forced feeding means. It is only after the container has passed the upstream zone 25 that it is subjected to the action of air jets in the direction T.
• the pneumatic conveyor 29 has the same structure as the conveyor 12 which has just been described in that the transport enclosure 30 comprises an upper feed compartment 31 of pressurized air and a lower compartment 32 which is completely closed at its bottom.
• the transport enclosure 30 comprises an upper feed compartment 31 of pressurized air and a lower compartment 32 which is completely closed at its bottom.
• a secondary pressurized air supply chamber is provided, which surrounds the path for transporting the containers from the inlet face 34 over said distance L2 and which, preferably, is connected to the upper compartment 31 which constitutes the primary chamber for supplying air under pressure.
• the pressurized air which is in the upper compartment 31, coming from a fan is also distributed throughout the interior volume of the secondary chamber 36.
• First slots 37 are formed in the internal walls of the secondary chamber 36, that is to say the walls which are turned towards the receptacles 3 when they move inside the enclosure 29.
• these are slots arranged on several levels (nine in FIG. 6) with alignments arranged in staggered rows at a pitch of approximately 38mm on the two internal side walls 38 and on the internal bottom wall 39 of the secondary chamber 36. All these slots are formed so that the corresponding air jets have an opposite direction G to the direction T of movement of the containers 3 in the conveyor 29.
• the section formed by the interior recess of the secondary chamber 36 and which constitutes the passage opening for the containers 3 has dimensions reduced to the maximum, being as close as possible to the configuration of the transport path of the containers 3 of larger dimension, that is to say of the space occupied by said containers when they are transported by the conveyor 29.
• second slots 40 are formed, as in the first example, in the middle branch 41 of the transport channel 42.
• the combined action of all the air jets coming from the slots 37 and also 40, makes it possible to move a continuous air current, forming the frontal leak sought to prevent the introduction of any contamination into the lower compartment 32.
• third slots 43 which are formed frontally on the secondary chamber 36, that is to say on the entry face 34 of the conveyor 29. These slots 43 are oriented towards the passage opening 35 of said entry face 34. The air jets coming from these third slots 43 contribute to the optimization of the anti-contamination action of the secondary chamber 36, in particular when there are no receptacles at the level of the inlet face 34.
• the pneumatic conveyor 44 differs from the conveyor 29 which has just been described in that the transport enclosure 45 is not closed at its bottom.
• the secondary chamber 46 for supplying pressurized air which is connected to the upper compartment 47, does not completely surround the passage opening 48 but only the two longitudinal, vertical walls 49 thereof.
• two secondary chambers 46, 46 ' independent of one another and both connected to the upper compartment 47.
• the internal section of the two chambers 46, 46' is reduced so converging towards the lower end 50.
• the lower compartment 51 of the transport enclosure can have the same profile as the outer walls of the two secondary chambers 46, 46 ′, beyond the upstream zone 52 in which the said secondary chambers 46 are located, 46 '.
• First slots 53 are provided in the internal walls 49, vertical, of the secondary chambers 46, 46 '.
• Second slots 54 can be provided in the middle branch 55 of the transport channel 56.
• Third slots 57 can be provided in the front part of the secondary chambers 46, 46 ′, that is to say on the inlet face 58 of the transport enclosure 45. All these slots are equivalent to those which have been described in the second embodiment, except for the inclination of some of the first slots 53 formed in the internal walls 49 of the secondary chambers 46, 46 '.
• the passage opening 48 not being closed at the bottom, it is necessary for the current of air, formed by the accumulation of the net of air coming from all the slots 53, 54 to sweep the entire height of the passage orifice 48 and also the open lower part 58 of the upstream zone 52 so as to create a barrier to the introduction of non-polluted air only in the front part of the passage opening but also in this open lower part 58.
• the slots 53 are formed so that the air jets they generate are more and more inclined as and when that the slots approach the lower part of the secondary chamber 46, 46 '.
• the pneumatic conveyor 60 differs from the conveyor 29 in the figures 5 and 6 in that the secondary chamber 61 for supplying pressurized air is divided into two upstream 62 and downstream 63 secondary chambers, by a partition plate 64; also, a partition plate 65 is provided in the upper air supply compartment, dividing this compartment into an upstream primary chamber 66 for supplying pressurized air, and into a downstream primary chamber 67 for supplying pressurized air .
• the downstream primary chamber 67 communicates with the downstream secondary chamber 63.
• This downstream primary chamber 67 is supplied with pressurized air by a fan (not shown in FIG. 9) and thus allows the supply of pressurized air also to the secondary chamber downstream 63.
• the upstream primary chamber 66 is supplied with pressurized air either by a second fan, or by bypassing at the outlet of the fan supplying the downstream primary chamber 67. In FIG. 9, only the air supply 68 from the upstream primary chamber 66 has been shown.
• the upstream primary chamber 66 communicates with the upstream secondary chamber 62, the pressurized air supply to the chamber 66 thus also making it possible to supply pressurized air to the secondary chamber 62.
• a spray nozzle 69 which is supplied with a disinfectant in liquid form, and which makes it possible to spray this disinfectant product into the air supplying the upstream chamber 66.
• the upstream primary 66 and upstream secondary 62 chambers are therefore supplied with pressurized air mixed with a disinfectant product.
• the air jets which come from the blowing slots of the upstream secondary chamber 62 fulfill an additional decontamination function. It may be a decontamination of the containers entering the conveyor. But also, these air ⁇ ets can advantageously be implemented in the absence of a container, to carry out vacuum disinfection of the inlet of the conveyor forming an anti-contamination and decontamination airlock.
• the air introduced into the upstream primary 66 and upstream secondary 62 chambers is not mixed with the air free of disinfectant which is introduced into the downstream primary 67 and downstream secondary 63 chambers. It is therefore necessary that the separating sheets 65 and 64 provide sufficient sealing between the upstream (66, 62) and downstream (67, 63) parts.
• the present invention is not limited to the embodiments which have just been described by way of non-exhaustive examples.
• the slits which are envisaged for forming air jets whose direction is generally opposite to the direction T of transport can be produced by punching and with the same dimensions as those formed in the wings side of the transport channel for positive movement of the containers. These slots may however have different configurations to obtain the desired frontal leakage effect.
• the internal walls of the secondary chamber or chambers could be slots of greater length, possibly making the entire height of said internal walls forming, so to speak, air spaces.
• the three embodiments which have been described relate to the integration of the device of the invention as an airlock for the entry of a pneumatic conveyor. This is of course not exclusive of the invention.
• the device could be constructed in the form of an independent modular element, and mounted in front of, for example, an existing pneumatic conveyor or any other material in which the containers are transported.
• such a modular element preferably conforming in its structure to the third variant embodiment, could be implemented as an anti-contamination airlock for transporting the containers between two rooms, in particular when the level of contamination of the room located in downstream must be significantly lower than that of the room located upstream.
• the modular element of the invention is mounted through the partition wall between the two rooms and allows the passage of the containers from the upstream room to the downstream room while preserving the low level of contamination of the downstream room.

Landscapes

• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Fluid Mechanics (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Filling Of Jars Or Cans And Processes For Cleaning And Sealing Jars (AREA)
• Cleaning In General (AREA)
• Branching, Merging, And Special Transfer Between Conveyors (AREA)
• Intermediate Stations On Conveyors (AREA)
• Framework For Endless Conveyors (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

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• 1999
  • 1999-07-09 FR FR9909119A patent/FR2796052B1/fr not_active Expired - Fee Related
• 2000
  • 2000-06-30 EP EP00949605A patent/EP1112217A1/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 2000-06-30 US US09/786,697 patent/US6514015B1/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2000-06-30 WO PCT/FR2000/001875 patent/WO2001004029A1/fr not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2000-06-30 CA CA002341597A patent/CA2341597A1/fr not_active Abandoned
  • 2000-06-30 JP JP2001509655A patent/JP2003504291A/ja active Pending

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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