Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B67—OPENING, CLOSING OR CLEANING BOTTLES, JARS OR SIMILAR CONTAINERS; LIQUID HANDLING
  • B67C—CLEANING, FILLING WITH LIQUIDS OR SEMILIQUIDS, OR EMPTYING, OF BOTTLES, JARS, CANS, CASKS, BARRELS, OR SIMILAR CONTAINERS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; FUNNELS
  • B67C7/00—Concurrent cleaning, filling, and closing of bottles; Processes or devices for at least two of these operations
  • B67C7/0073—Sterilising, aseptic filling and closing
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
  • B65B55/00—Preserving, protecting or purifying packages or package contents in association with packaging
  • B65B55/02—Sterilising, e.g. of complete packages
  • B65B55/04—Sterilising wrappers or receptacles prior to, or during, packaging
  • B65B55/10—Sterilising wrappers or receptacles prior to, or during, packaging by liquids or gases

Definitions

• the invention relates to a preheating structure for a linear filler, in which packs can be moved intermittently in at least two parallel longitudinal rows under different processing stations for preheating, sterilizing and filling.
• devices for generating heated compressed air, pipelines and at least two with the pipelines gene connected hot air nozzles are provided such that the surfaces of the packs can be acted upon with hot air.
• packs Before filling packs, they are sterilized as packaged goods, particularly in the case of liquid foods. Different methods and forms of energy can be used to kill the bacteria on the surface of the pack, for example sterilizing packs with gases.
• packs are often manufactured, sterilized and filled in large numbers per unit of time.
• the packs are conveyed continuously, for example by a round filler, or intermittently, for example by means of a linear filler.
• Such linear fillers similar to the type mentioned at the outset are known.
• the respective pack has been warmed before filling and sterilizing.
• the entire package is preheated to at least 60 ° C. in order to prevent the disadvantageous condensation of subsequently introduced sterilizing gases on the package walls.
• the packs can be heated in that a carrier which receives the packs and which itself has heating devices, heats the packs.
• hot gases for example hot air, are blown into the package before sterilization.
• fans, pumps or compressors are used as appropriate devices in the preheating structure in order to bring the heated and preferably germ-free air to a pressure above atmospheric pressure and to introduce heat build-up.
• This heated compressed air is pressed into the hot air nozzles via pipes and emerges from them onto the surfaces of the package to be heated. This impact can occur outside or inside.
• the invention has for its object to improve the preheating for a Lihear loungeller so that even with the use of smaller amounts of sterilizing agent effective and sufficient sterilization with more uniform treatment of the packs takes place and the environment is less polluted.
• a distributor box is provided which is connected to at least two nozzles and into which a feed pipe opens, the flow cross section of which is taken up by a swirl disk.
• the temperature fluctuations can be reduced across many preheating stations, all of which are connected in parallel. It has been shown that the quantity fluctuation is also remarkably reduced by the distribution box.
• the distribution box and, through this structure, even the upstream pipelines have storage functions which can also be understood as tank functions. As a result, the pressure in the distribution box at the at least two nozzles is evened out, with the result of smaller fluctuations in quantity.
• the swirling and distribution of the warm air supplied to the nozzles are further improved by the aforementioned swirl disk, which extends across the feed pipe and therefore more or less completely takes up its flow cross section.
• the warm gases still flowing in the longitudinal direction of the pipeline are given a swirl by the swirl disk, i.e. a rotating component around the longitudinal direction of the pipe with the desired effect of further turbulence and good distribution of the hot air and thus the temperature, even before it enters the distribution box.
• the hot air generated is namely fed from the pipeline through the swirl disk into the feed pipe and from there into the distribution box, to which the at least two nozzles are attached so that the hot air is pressed out of the distribution box directly into the nozzles and then at the outlet end the respective pack is kept.
• At least two distribution boxes in the preheating station are arranged next to one another in a transverse row, upstream of each supply pipe, a heating pipe is fastened with a heating rod, and a temperature sensor is fitted in the supply pipe.
• a heating rod is installed in the preheating structure according to the invention, the heating output of which is controllable. In general, this is a temperature increase, which is why this piece of pipeline located upstream from the feed pipe is called the "heating pipe".
• the warm air arriving before entry into the swirl disk and entry into the feed pipe passes the heating rod in the heating pipe and is heated to a greater or lesser extent depending on the temperature of the warm air measured in the end region of the feed pipe.
• the control unit succeeds in setting the temperature difference of the warm air emerging at the individual nozzles to ⁇ 10 ° C. It has been shown that in such a case, any changes to the pack treated can then be neglected.
• the swirl disk has the shape of a circular disk with a closed central region around the obliquely positioned blades, which partially close off sector-like openings, in a ring-like manner. If, in a preferred exemplary embodiment, the heating tubes are arranged lying in the vertical direction, then the swirl disk is arranged in an essentially horizontal plane and the flow is perpendicular. The pressurized warm air flows in the direction of the vertical heating pipe and hits the transversely arranged swirl disk, the central region being closed and passage of the warm air is only possible through the openings arranged around this central region.
• the swirl disk For a particularly intensive swirling and thus a good distribution of possibly differently heated partial flows of the warm air, it receives a swirl, ie a rotational component around the longitudinal axis of the heating tube, this longitudinal axis being perpendicular to the swirl disk. Blades protrude at an angle from the level of the swirl disc and redirect the warm air that hits them like a stationary paddle wheel. Close radially from the side of the swirl disk the blades, which are each preferably planar, form an angle of between 20 and 60 °, preferably 40 °, with the plane of the swirl disk.
• the swirl disk has a circular disk shape because the cross section of both the heating pipe and the feed pipe is circular disk-shaped.
• the disk can of course be designed differently accordingly.
• the openings have to be thought of as sector-like, with particular preference being given to considering a partial circular ring whose inner circumference coincides with the outer circumference of the closed central region and whose outer circumference is formed by a narrow, likewise closed partial circular ring, so that the swirl disk despite the Openings remains a piece.
• Each opening can preferably be produced by cutting a blade out of the partial circular ring in a U-shape on three sides and bending it out on the fourth side from the plane of the swirl disk, for example downwards.
• the heating pipes are connected to a bypass pipe of approximately the same diameter, at one end of which a closable blow-out opening is provided and the other end of which is closed.
• the bypass pipe which extends over the area of all the heating pipes, runs approximately parallel to the distributor pipe and is preferably connected downstream to the respective heating pipe at its downstream end.
• One end of this bypass tube is closed or opens onto the first heating tube, and the opposite end of the bypass tube can be opened with the aid of a remote-controlled valve in such a way that a blow-out opening is opened for special operating conditions.
• bypass tube can also be used to reduce the volume flow with which the package is blown, for example to 10%, while the package carriers are being moved from one treatment station to the next. This can be done by opening the discharge opening with the help of a remote-controlled valve. This further reduces the likelihood that any particles or product residues on the package carrier will be introduced into the package.
• the hot air nozzle has a nozzle tube with a narrowed outlet extending from the bottom of the distribution box to just above the top of the packing.
• the distribution box has the shape of a flat box with four side walls of comparatively low height, which are connected at the bottom by a floor and at the top by an upper wall. In the upper wall there is a hole with a connection to the supply pipe, so that warm air is led out of the supply pipe can flow through this hole in the distribution box.
• the hot air nozzles are located further out, so that the warm air flowing in initially flows with the swirl in the middle onto the floor and from there, so to speak, radially into the outer areas of the distribution box and over it Inlet openings of the individual nozzles.
• Each nozzle is tubular with the nozzle tube mentioned, which is connected to the latter via the inlet openings in the bottom of the distributor box. Because the inlet opening is in the bottom of the distribution box, the nozzle tube extends away from this floor towards the outside of the distribution box in the direction of the package to be blown, usually on the top of the package.
• the hot air nozzle has a nozzle tube which extends from the bottom of the distributor box to just above the top of the packing, the downstream end of which extends parallel to the longitudinal rows of the packing, parallel to the conveying direction of the packing extending overlaps at both ends and open at the bottom, the side walls of which have blowholes within the nozzle tube.
• the first-mentioned embodiment with the nozzle tube, the outlet opening of which has a narrowed outlet in order to produce a throttling effect for the warm air belongs to the first embodiment of the package which is open at the top, for example a bottle made of plastic with an externally threaded bottle neck.
• EBM bottles extrusion blow molding
• HDPE high-density polyethylene
• a nozzle tube extends from the bottom of the distribution box, but which has a comparatively larger inner diameter which is so large that, with a corresponding recess, the bottle neck with the dome still attached can be moved across the nozzle tube.
• the packs or bottles run in a blower channel, which is therefore open at both ends and at the bottom, so that the channel shape is obtained only on two sides and above the bottle.
• the nozzles with the downwardly extending nozzle tubes the nozzle tubes overlap the blowing channel in the second embodiment considered here.
• the blow channel runs parallel to the direction of conveyance of the packs, because they are to be guided through the downstream end of the nozzle tube with the aid of this channel.
• the blow channel also extends parallel to the longitudinal rows of the packs, because two packs are always conveyed under two nozzle pipes and then stopped for the preheating process.
• the blower duct runs inside and, so to speak, "through” the nozzle tube, although the tube and blower duct are open at the bottom.
• the side walls of the blower duct have blowholes in the region of the nozzle tube, that is to say inside the same, through which the hot air present under pressure in the nozzle tube goes inside.
• holes can also be provided for the hot air to be applied to the packing surfaces.
• the temperature sensor described above gives electrical control signals to the heating element in the respective heating tube via corresponding devices, so that a desired temperature profile of the hot air emerging from the outlet openings of the nozzles or through the blow holes of the nozzle tubes can be set.
• FIG. 1 shows the cross section of important parts of the preheating structure shown broken off with a distribution box with two hot air nozzles arranged next to one another in the transverse direction
• FIG. 2 shows a similar representation to FIG. 1, but two packs in the form of plastic bottles are shown arranged under the nozzles,
• FIG. 3 broken off, in perspective and enlarged the arrangement of the swirl disk between the feed pipe and the heating pipe
• 4 shows a perspective top view of the swirl disk
• FIG. 5 shows a top view of the swirl disk in the flow direction of the warm air
• FIG. 6 shows a cross-sectional view of the swirl disk along the line AA of FIG. 5
• FIG. 7 shows the preheating structure with five distribution boxes which are arranged next to one another in the transverse direction and each have four nozzles, including the approximately horizontally extending distributor pipe and the bypass pipe
• Figure 8 in section a similar structure to Figure 7, but without the bypass pipe
• Figure 9 is a cross-sectional view of a warm air nozzle of an alternative embodiment with a blowing channel and Figure 10 partially broken two nozzle pipes and the blow channel with blow holes.
• FIGS. 1 and 2 A core piece of the embodiment of the preheating structure according to the invention shown here is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.
• Warm air nozzles 3 are inserted in the through holes 2 of a nozzle carrier plate 1 and placed on shoulders 4.
• the bottom 5 of a distribution box 6 is placed from above so that the interior of the nozzle is connected to the interior of the distribution box 6 via holes 7 in the bottom 5.
• the distribution box 6 with the nozzles 3 is clamped to the nozzle carrier plate 1 by means of fastening screws 8 shown in FIGS. 7 and 8.
• a temperature sensor 12 projects from the outside and is connected to a controller via the plug 13.
• FIG. 2 shows, in addition to the one just described, the packing 21 arranged at a short distance below the outlet opening 20 of the nozzle 3, which is shown here as a one-piece, open PET bottle. It stands vertically on a conveyor, not shown, and has the top of the bottle neck 22, which is held without touching at a small but sufficient distance from the outlet opening 20 of the nozzle 3.
• the packs 21 are moved in parallel longitudinal ranges as shown in FIGS.
• FIG. 3 shows an enlarged view of the upper, upstream end of the feed pipe 11 with the lower connecting flange 15 and, above it, the upper connecting flange 16 at the lower, downstream end of the heating pipe 19. Between the flanges 15 and 16, the swirl disk 18 is inserted and is sealed on the outside via the sealing ring 23 established.
• the swirl disk 18 is shown in three different views in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6. This can be seen in the form of a circular disk with a closed central region 24. Two partial circular rings extend around this, namely the inner partial circular ring 25 with the ring-shaped, sector-shaped openings 27 and the outer partial circular ring 26, which in turn is closed and via the radial webs 28 with the closed center area 24 is connected.
• the inclined blades 29 can also be clearly seen, the angle of attack of which can be seen most clearly from the side view of the swirl disk 18 according to FIG. 6.
• the swirl disk 18 is preferably made of stainless steel, the blades 29 being connected to the radial webs 28 via the bending lines 30 and being angled only downwards, so that the warm air is to be thought of flowing from top to bottom and only through the openings 27 crosses.
• the preheating structure shown in somewhat more detail in FIGS. 7 and 8 has a flow meter 31 for the pressurized, low-germ preheating air which flows in the direction of arrow 32 past the inlet valve 33 into the distributor pipe 34. From this distributor pipe 34 with a larger diameter go five inlets 35 for feeding five heating pipes 19. Like the nozzle carrier plate 1, the distributor pipe 34 runs essentially horizontally, while the heating pipes 19 extend vertically downward from the inlets 35 to the flanges 15, 16 and open into the respective feed pipe 11 via the swirl disk 18. In the upper area of the respective heating tube 19, a heating rod 36 is attached, which is supplied with current via a current feedthrough in the cover 37. In this area there is also a further temperature sensor 38 connected to the heating rod control. When controlling the heating rods 36, the signal of the temperature sensor fixed in the feed pipe 11 is also taken into account.
• connecting pieces 39 further downstream on the heating tubes 19 which connect the heating tubes 19 to a bypass tube 40 (this is only shown in the embodiment of FIG. 7). Its one end (on the left in FIG. 7) is designed as a connecting piece and is closed towards the outside, while the other end of the bypass tube 40 (on the right in FIG. 7) is provided with a blow-out opening 42 which can be opened or closed by a remote-controlled valve 41 , It has already been mentioned above that in the event of a machine standstill, if no preheating air is drawn from the nozzles 3, the blow-out opening 42 is opened, so that the main flow of the low-germ preheating air is removed through the bypass pipe 40. This is sufficient in every company Amount of hot air is available, the flow meter 31 gives a signal to a controller, not shown, for the supply of a larger or smaller amount of low-germ warm air.
• the direction of conveyance of the packs 21 can be assumed in FIG. 8 against the viewing direction, while in FIG. 7 the direction of conveyance is to be thought to the left and is indicated by the arrow 43.
• the circle shown in the center at the bottom in FIG. 8 shows the front view of the tip of the arrow 43.
• the distribution boxes 6 serve to better distribute and swirl the supplied warm air and have the task of reducing the difference in the flow velocities of the air into the individual nozzles 3. While the diameter of the manifold in a preferred example is 3 inches, the diameter of the heating tubes and the bypass tube is approximately 2 inches. The temperature of the heating rods in normal operation is, for example, 110 ° C. It is then possible to keep the temperature of the warm air emerging from the outlet opening 20 of the nozzle 3 at 90 ° C. to 100 ° C. The packs 21 are heated under the nozzles during a standstill for a period of about 5 seconds.
• the warm air nozzle 3 shown enlarged in FIGS. 1 and 2, contains a nozzle tube 44, so that the nozzle 3 has the shape of an elongated tube.
• the nozzle tube 44 In the upstream (upper) two thirds of its length, the nozzle tube 44 has a main duct 45 of larger diameter, which is followed downstream by an outlet duct 46 with a smaller diameter in order to ultimately end at the bottom in the outlet opening 20.
• the narrowed outlet or the outlet channel 46 with the smaller cross section represents a throttle for the warm air flowing vertically from top to bottom.
• This structure of the nozzle 3 also serves to distribute the warm air more evenly.
• the embodiment of the nozzle 3 according to FIGS. 1 and 2 serves mainly to act on the inner surface of a package 21 which is open at the top, in particular a PET bottle which is open at the neck 22.
• FIGS. 9 and 10 there is also another embodiment of a warm air nozzle 3, as is illustrated clearly and enlarged in FIGS. 9 and 10.
• a nozzle tube 44a in turn extends from the bottom of the distribution box (not shown here) to the top of the packing 21.
• a fastening flange 47 for fastening the nozzle tube 44a to the nozzle carrier plate 1 and to the distributor box 6 is attached to the upper side thereof.
• the upper opening 48 of the nozzle tube 44a again fits the holes 7 in the bottom 5 of the distribution box 6, so that the warm air flows in here from top to bottom.
• the main channel 45a is in the nozzle tube 44a relatively large and can grip not only the bottle neck 22 of the pack 21, but also the dome 49 formed above it at a distance.
• blower duct 50 In the downstream lower end of the nozzle tube 44a, between the dome 49 of the packing 21 and the nozzle tube 44a, there is a blower duct 50, the channel shape of which is open at the bottom is clearly visible in FIGS. 9 and 10.
• the blow channel 50 which is open at both longitudinal ends, has blow holes 51, in particular on its side walls 54.
• a further blow hole 52 is expediently provided in FIG. 9 in the closed top floor 53 of the blow channel 50.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Package Closures (AREA)
• Means For Warming Up And Starting Carburetors (AREA)
• Resistance Heating (AREA)
• Charge And Discharge Circuits For Batteries Or The Like (AREA)
• Food Preservation Except Freezing, Refrigeration, And Drying (AREA)
• Pigments, Carbon Blacks, Or Wood Stains (AREA)
• Apparatus For Disinfection Or Sterilisation (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (2)

Family

ID=7655919

Family Applications (1)

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Family Cites Families (8)

• 2000
  • 2000-09-12 DE DE10045064A patent/DE10045064A1/de not_active Withdrawn
• 2001
  • 2001-08-07 DE DE50101797T patent/DE50101797D1/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2001-08-07 EP EP01974123A patent/EP1317394B1/fr not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2001-08-07 AT AT01974123T patent/ATE262480T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2001-08-07 AU AU2001293729A patent/AU2001293729A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2001-08-07 WO PCT/EP2001/009093 patent/WO2002022490A1/fr active IP Right Grant
  • 2001-08-07 MX MXPA03002074A patent/MXPA03002074A/es unknown
  • 2001-08-07 BR BR0113817-0A patent/BR0113817A/pt not_active IP Right Cessation

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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