EP1354642A2 - Device for the automatic cleaning of bottles and installation using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

The bottle cleaner, consisting of a conveyor (1), a water spray bar, and a rotary brush (5) set in a sealed housing, has a number of vertical vanes (11), rotated by a central drive shaft, and horizontal guides (7, 8, 9) with curved surfaces. The vertical vanes keep the bottles in contact with the brush and the guides allow them to rotate as they pass through the cleaning unit. The upper guides (8, 9) can be adjusted to accommodate bottles of different diameters and heights by fitting them on horizontal sliders (10).

Description

The invention relates to an automatic device intended to allow cleaning of bottles, in particular in glass, and more particularly the external wall and the bottom of the bottles.

This device is more generally part of an installation automatic, intended to allow both the cleaning of said bottles, and their drying.

Indeed, traditionally, after bottling and capping, the outer wall of bottles must be cleaned, to allow the final labeling phase.

It is not uncommon, moreover, that for superior quality wines, such as for example champagne, these are bottled and aged in cellars, in the absence of any label and capsule on the cap.

However, the stay of bottles in the cellars has the effect of causing the deposit on them large accumulations of dust, or even mold due to ambient humidity, which should be removed, prior to the labeling phase.

We know different facilities intended to allow on the one hand, cleaning and on the other hand, the drying of these bottles. Traditionally, they have a conveyor belt associated with a carousel, surrounded by several rotating brushes and water jets. The rotating carousel is intended to allow the contacting of bottles with rotating brushes.

The disadvantage of such an installation is that the carousel in question has orifices of determined diameter, corresponding to the diameter of the bottles to clean, so that when you want to change the type of bottles, and especially bottles of different diameter, it is important to change the wheel carousel correspondent.

The object of the present invention is to overcome this drawback.

• un poste de nettoyage ;
• un convoyeur d'acheminement desdites bouteilles au niveau du poste de nettoyage ;
• au moins une rampe d'aspersion d'eau, comportant plusieurs buses réparties de manière verticale ;
• au moins une brosse à axe d'entraínement vertical actionnée en rotation ;

   l'ensemble étant intégré au sein d'une cuve étanche à l'eau.In fact, it offers a device for automatic cleaning of bottles, comprising:

• a cleaning station;
• a conveyor for conveying said bottles at the cleaning station;
• at least one water spray bar, comprising several nozzles distributed vertically;
• at least one brush with a vertical drive axis actuated in rotation;

the whole being integrated within a watertight tank.

• un jeu de pales verticales, actionnées en rotation par rapport à un axe coaxial avec la génératrice de ladite brosse, et destiné à entraíner de manière unitaire chacune des bouteilles acheminées par le convoyeur au contact de la brosse au sein du poste de nettoyage ;
• un jeu de guides horizontaux, espacés les uns des autres dans le plan vertical, et contre lesquels vient prendre appui ladite bouteille lors de son entraínement par l'une de pales du jeu de pales verticales, de telle sorte à permettre d'une part, l'action de la brosse et d'autre part, la rotation de la bouteille sur elle-même de par sa coopération avec lesdits guides.

It is characterized in that it further comprises:

• a set of vertical blades, actuated in rotation relative to an axis coaxial with the generator of said brush, and intended to drive in a unitary manner each of the bottles conveyed by the conveyor in contact with the brush within the cleaning station;
• a set of horizontal guides, spaced from each other in the vertical plane, and against which comes to bear said bottle when it is driven by one of the blades of the set of vertical blades, so as to allow on the one hand, the action of the brush and on the other hand, the rotation of the bottle on itself by its cooperation with said guides.

In other words, the invention basically consists in replacing the carousels and other stars of traditional devices by a set of drive blades and guides or guide templates, since it then suffices to replace said guides or sizes according to the diameters of the bottles to be cleaned.

In fact, according to an advantageous characteristic of the invention, the guides are removable and discreetly adjustable in height and dimension, to allow their adaptation to different diameters.

According to an advantageous characteristic of the invention, the upper guide extends from more prominently in the horizontal plane towards the brush, to allow the cooperation of the neck of the bottle with it, and thus allow a better support of the bottle, and therefore a better rotation of the latter on itself, to result in a more efficient cleaning of said bottle.

According to another characteristic of the invention, the bottles are directed in the direction of the washing path thus defined, by means of a switching cam. Furthermore, at the end of its race on the washing and cleaning path, the bottle is reoriented on the conveying conveyor by means of an output cam. Entrance cams and exit are subjected to a rotational movement in the horizontal plane, in synchronism with the drive blades of said bottles within the station cleaning.

According to another characteristic of the invention, the device comprises an outlet guide said bottles, adjustable as a function of the diameter thereof, in order to allow their re-routing at the level of the conveyor, at the level of the following station, in particular of drying.

un poste de nettoyage ;

un poste de séchage ;

un convoyeur d'acheminement des bouteilles au niveau du poste de nettoyage et, en sortie de celui-ci au niveau du poste de séchage ;

le poste de nettoyage étant du type de celui décrit précédemment.The invention also relates to an installation for cleaning and drying bottles, comprising:

a cleaning station;

a drying station;

a bottle conveyor at the cleaning station and, at the outlet thereof at the drying station;

the cleaning station being of the type described above.

The manner in which the invention can be realized and the advantages which flow therefrom will emerge better from the example of embodiment which follows, given as an indication and not limiting, in support of the appended figures.

Figure 1 is a schematic perspective representation of the installation incorporating the device according to the invention.
Figure 2 is a more detailed perspective view of the drying station, according to the invention.
Figure 3 is also a more detailed view of the drying station.
Figure 4 is a schematic plan view of the installation according to the invention.

The bottle cleaning and drying installation according to the invention basically comprises a frame, incorporating a linear conveyor (1), actuated in rotation by a completely traditional electric motor.
This installation comprises a cleaning and / or washing station (2), and a drying station (3), mounted side by side.

Such an installation is generally integrated upstream of an installation for labeling bottles, especially wine bottles.

The cleaning station according to the present invention will be described in more detail.

This cleaning station (2) comprises a tank (4), in particular made of steel stainless, waterproof or cleaning liquid. The tank incorporates at least one water spray bar, comprising several vertically distributed nozzles, and supplied with water or cleaning fluid by means of a pump.

It basically comprises a rotary central brush (5), driven in rotation by the through a vertical shaft, actuated by an underlying electric motor (not shown), at a relatively high speed. The generator of this brush is vertical, as can be seen in Figures 1 and 2.

This brush is advantageously associated with a second brush (6), substantially of same diameter as the brush (5) and located under it. It is operated by the same drive shaft as the brush (5), and therefore at the same speed. This is intended to allow the cleaning of the bottom of the bottles.

The cleaning station includes a cleaning path traversed by said bottles individually. More precisely, this path is defined by guides or horizontal templates (7, 8, 9), three in this case, discreetly distributed over all or part of the height of said post. These guides have a shaped internal cutout of truncated circle, suitable for allowing bottles to flow in an arc portion of circle when these pass at the level of the cleaning station.

These guides, for example made of plastic, are inserted at the level of horizontal slides (10) in a removable manner, depending on the one hand, on the height, and on the other hand, on the diameter of the bottles to be cleaned. These slides (10) are formed on two of the internal and opposite faces of the tank.
The upper guide (9) has larger dimensions than the lower guides (7, 8), and in particular is more invasive in the horizontal plane in the direction of the brush (5), in order to allow the support of the neck of the bottle. , traditionally of smaller diameter than the rest of the body thereof, when said bottle is on the cleaning path against it, and thus allow greater cleaning efficiency of the rotary brush (5).

The bottles are transported on this cleaning path by means of vertical blades drive (11), actuated in rotation by a vertical axis (12), coaxial with the axis of rotation of the brushes (3) and (4), but at a much lower speed, and extending vertically over substantially the entire height of the cleaning station. In this case, the cleaning station has four drive blades (11), distributed at 90 ° two to of them.

These drive blades (11) have horizontal notches (13), intended for allow their passage at the level of the horizontal guides (7, 8, 9), without hampering their rotation, and therefore without hampering the progression of the bottles at this level. These notches are in fact distributed at intervals corresponding to the places of potential establishment said guides within the cleaning station.

Thus, by the drive of said blades (11), the bottles slide on the way to cleaning, bear against the guides (7, 8, 9), while undergoing the action of the or rotary brushes (5, 6), pressing said bottles against the guides (7, 8, 9) causing them to rotate on themselves, thus promoting the cleaning of the entire the external side wall and the bottom of the bottle.

The introduction of the bottle on the cleaning path from the conveyor routing (1) is effected by means of a cam (14) rotating in the plane horizontal, also actuated by a vertical axis (15), operating in synchronism with the drive shaft (12) of the drive blades (11) of the bottles on said path. This switching cam is therefore located directly above the conveyor (1), and further cooperates with an entry guide (16). This has a portion profile arc, extending the profile of the fixed lower guide (7), and is adjustable in the horizontal plane by means of a slide (17), depending on the diameter of the bottles.

At the same time, at the end of the cleaning path, the bottles are received at the level of a horizontal guide (18), also adjustable in the horizontal plane, for allow adaptation to the diameter of the bottles.

The bottles are taken care of at the exit of the cleaning station by another cam (19), also with horizontal rotation, actuated by means of a vertical axis (20), operating at the same speed of rotation as the input cam (14), and synchronism with the axis of rotation (12) of the drive blades (11).

The bottles thus received thus take up the conveyor (1) to be routed to the drying station.

• tout d'abord, on modifie les guides latéraux supérieurs (8, 9) par simple escamotage et remise en place sur les glissières horizontales, et les choisissant de dimensions adaptées au diamètre des bouteilles.
• Parallèlement, on modifie le positionnement du guide d'entrée (16) et du guide de sortie (18), pour tenir compte également de cette variation de diamètre.

When a set of bottles of determined dimensions is to be cleaned, it is possible to proceed with cleaning and therefore drying a new set of bottles, of different dimensions, by performing the following operations:

• first of all, the upper lateral guides (8, 9) are modified by simple retraction and repositioning on the horizontal slides, and choosing them of dimensions adapted to the diameter of the bottles.
• At the same time, the positioning of the inlet guide (16) and the outlet guide (18) is modified, to also take account of this variation in diameter.

These two operations can be carried out very quickly, since it suffices to modify the horizontal guides to retract the rear part (21) of the tank, thus allowing retraction and replacement of new guides.

These can also be placed on top rails, to take into account the height of the bottles.

We can therefore imagine the extreme simplicity of adapting the cleaning machine to different diameters of the bottles, which may be subjected to these cleaning. Typically, the device according to the invention can treat bottles ranging from half a liter to magnum.

Claims (10)

Device for automatic cleaning of bottles, comprising: a cleaning station (2); a conveying conveyor (1) of said bottles at the cleaning station (2); at least one water spray bar, comprising several nozzles distributed vertically; at least one cleaning brush (5) with a vertical drive axis actuated in rotation; the whole being integrated within a watertight tank,
characterized in that it further comprises: a set of vertical blades (11), actuated in rotation by means of a drive shaft (12) coaxial with the generator of said brush (5), and intended to drive in a unitary manner each of the bottles conveyed by the conveyor ( 1) in contact with the brush within the cleaning station; a set of horizontal guides (7, 8, 9), spaced from one another in the vertical plane, have an internal cutout in the form of a truncated circle, suitable for allowing the bottles to run in a portion of an arc of a circle when they they travel at the level of the cleaning station, and against which the said bottle comes to bear when it is driven by one of the blades (11) of the set of vertical blades, so as to allow on the one hand, the action of the brush (5) and on the other hand, the rotation of the bottle on itself by its cooperation with said guides (7, 8, 9). Device for automatic cleaning of bottles according to claim 1, characterized in that the upper guides (8, 9) are removable and discreetly adjustable in height and dimension, in order to allow their adaptation to the different diameters and heights of the bottles. Device for automatic cleaning of bottles according to claim 2, characterized in that the upper guides (8, 9) are capable of sliding on horizontal slides (10), formed on the internal faces of the tank. Device for automatic bottle cleaning according to one of Claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the upper guide (9) extends more horizontally in the direction of the brush (5) than the other guides lower, to allow the cooperation of the neck of the bottle therewith, and thus allow a better support of the bottle, and therefore a better rotation of the latter on itself, to result in a more effective cleaning of said bottle . Device for the automatic cleaning of bottles according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the drive blades (11) extend vertically over substantially the entire height of the tank of the cleaning station, and in that ' They are four in number, distributed at 90 ° two by two. Device for the automatic cleaning of bottles according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the drive blades (11) have horizontal notches (13), intended to allow their passage at the level of the horizontal guides (7, 8, 9), without hampering their rotation, and therefore, without hampering the progression of the bottles at this level. Device for automatic cleaning of bottles according to one of Claims 1 to 6, characterized in that it further comprises a switching cam (14), intended to direct the bottles from the conveyor (1) in the direction of the path washing the cleaning station, said cam being located directly above the conveyor (1), rotating in the horizontal plane, and actuated by a vertical axis (15), operating in synchronism with the drive axis (12) of the blades for driving (11) bottles on said path, said cam cooperating with an inlet guide (16), adjustable in the horizontal plane by means of a slide (17), depending on the diameter of the bottles. Device for automatic cleaning of bottles according to claim 7, characterized in that it further comprises an outlet cam (19), intended to orient the bottles on the conveyor (1) at the end of their travel on the path washing and cleaning, rotating in the horizontal plane, and actuated by means of a vertical axis (20), operating at the same speed of rotation as the input cam (14), and in synchronism with the axis of rotation (12) of the drive blades (11). Device for automatic cleaning of bottles according to one of Claims 1 to 8, characterized in that it comprises an outlet guide (18) for said bottles, adjustable as a function of the diameter thereof, in order to allow their re-routing to the level of the conveyor, at the level of the following station, in particular of drying. Installation for cleaning and drying bottles, comprising: a cleaning station (2); a drying station (3); a conveying conveyor (1) for the bottles at the level of the cleaning station and, at the outlet of the latter at the level of the drying station; characterized in that the cleaning station incorporates a device according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

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