Classifications

• • 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
  • B65B3/00—Packaging plastic material, semiliquids, liquids or mixed solids and liquids, in individual containers or receptacles, e.g. bags, sacks, boxes, cartons, cans, or jars
  • B65B3/24—Topping-up containers or receptacles to ensure complete filling
• • 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
  • B65B43/00—Forming, feeding, opening or setting-up containers or receptacles in association with packaging
  • B65B43/42—Feeding or positioning bags, boxes, or cartons in the distended, opened, or set-up state; Feeding preformed rigid containers, e.g. tins, capsules, glass tubes, glasses, to the packaging position; Locating containers or receptacles at the filling position; Supporting containers or receptacles during the filling operation
  • B65B43/54—Means for supporting containers or receptacles during the filling operation
  • B65B43/60—Means for supporting containers or receptacles during the filling operation rotatable

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a container filling installation for filling the containers with a product according to variable combinations of different ingredients.
• Document FR-A-2 809 377 discloses a method of filling containers comprising the steps of partially filling the containers at a first filling station comprising a series of filling stations with a first part of the ingredients, of transferring the containers to at least a second filling station also comprising a series of filling stations and successively filling the containers with the rest of the ingredients.
• a feed tank is associated with each filling station so that by introducing different ingredients into the different feed tanks, it is possible to modify the composition of the final product by simply changing the proportion of ingredients introduced into a container. each of the filling stations without the need to modify the composition of the product contained in each supply tank.
• the filling installation comprises filling stations each comprising a rotary platform supporting a series of filling stations.
• Each filling station has a filling spout and an associated weighing member.
• Document US Pat. No. 4,627,475 also discloses a filling installation comprising filling spouts connected to two separate supply tanks each containing a product to be packaged, each filling spout comprising two concentric pistons moving in a common chamber. alternately put in communication with one of the two supply tanks.
• the common room is thus successively filled with the two products to be packaged and then emptied into a container.
• Such an installation implies that the common room is large enough to contain the total amount of product to be introduced into a container so that the installation is particularly bulky for large capacity containers.
• the products to be packaged are moved a first time to fill the common room and a second time to empty the common room in the container so that the filling rate is necessarily low.
• An object of the invention is to provide an installation allowing filling of containers with separate products while reducing the cost and size of the installation.
• a container filling installation comprising a rotary platform supporting a first filling station comprising a first supply tank to which are connected first spouts fillings, and at least a second filling station comprising a second supply tank to which are connected second filling spouts, adjacent to the first filling spouts, the installation further comprising displacement members surround to ensure relative movement of the containers relative to the filling spouts.
• each filling spout directly transfers the products to be packaged into the containers and it suffices for a small relative displacement of the filling spouts and the containers relative to each other to effect partial filling at each filling station.
• one of the displacement members is disposed between an input transfer device and an output transfer device with reference to a direction of rotation of the rotary platform.
• one of the displacements is carried out in a range of rotation of the rotary platform which is in any case unusable for filling and thus minimizes the dead times separating the filling phases.
• FIG. 2 is a schematic partial sectional view along line II-II of Figure 1.
• the installation comprises, in a manner known per se, an inlet conveyor 1 conveying containers 2 to an inlet transfer device 3 serving to successively introduce the containers 2 to filling stations generally designated at 4, supported by a rotary platform 5.
• the rotary platform 5 sup- carries a first supply tank 6.1 and a second supply tank 6.2.
• filling spouts 7.1 forming a first series of filling spouts are fixed to the first supply tank 6.1 and filling spouts 7.2 forming a second series of filling spouts are fixed to the second tank d 7.2.
• the filling spouts of each series are associated in pairs arranged radially with respect to the rotational movement of the platform.
• the filling spouts 7.1, 7.2 are associated with control members, respectively 8.1, 8.2 themselves associated with a control unit 9 which controls the filling spouts 7.1, 7.2 according to a functional link illustrated by the arrow in double line in Figure 1.
• Each pair of filling spouts 7.1, 7.2 is associated with a common weighing member 11 carried by the platform 5 and functionally connected to the control unit 9.
• Each weighing member 11 carries a support member generally designated 12 comprising a plate 13 mounted to slide on the weighing member 11 in a radial direction of the rotary platform, for example by means of slides not shown attached to the plate 14 of the weighing member 11.
• the support member 12 comprises in addition, holding members 15 ensuring appropriate positioning of the containers 2 during the rotation of the platform 5.
• the radial positioning of the plate 13 is ensured by a roller 16 fixed to the plate 13 and cooperating with a first displacement member 17.1 (see FIG. 1) fixed to the frame of the machine, and a second displacement member 17.2 also fixed to the machine frame.
• the displacement member 17.1 is arranged to the end of a sector PI corresponding to the filling of the containers with the product contained in the supply tank 6.1, and is oriented so as to move the support plate 13 radially inwards.
• the displacement member 17.2 is disposed between an outlet transfer device 18 and the inlet transfer device 3, and is oriented to guide the roller 16 radially outward.
• the transfer device 18 is associated with an outlet conveyor 19.
• the reference D designates a sector of the rotation of the platform during which no filling has been carried out in order to allow the radial displacement of the containers and the stabilization of the system before resumption of filling.
• the reference P2 designates the sector of rotation of the platform during which the containers are filled with the product contained in the supply tank 6.2.
• the container is filled with the product contained in the feed tank 6.2 during rotation according to sector P2. From this position the container 2 is evacuated by the transfer device 18 and the support plate 13 is then moved radially towards the outside by the displacement member 17.2 to be ready to receive a new container.
• the sector D during which the plate 13 is moved is a dead sector, that is to say that the filling must be interrupted not only during the actual displacement but also for a sufficient time after the displacement for the the weighing unit stabilizes.
• the filling spouts 7.1 associated with the radially external tank 6.1 are mounted close to the radially internal wall thereof while the filling spouts 7.2 associated with the tank 6.2 are mounted close to the wall radially external of this tank. In this way the filling nozzles 7.1 and 7.2 of each pair are adjacent to each other and the displacement is reduced to a minimum.
• the corresponding series of filling spouts can also be provided to operate according to a volumetric dosing, which makes it possible to reduce the displacement sector , the stabilization of the weighing member is no longer necessary to allow the corresponding dosage. It is also possible to connect the filling spouts to the supply tanks by flexible pipes and it is then possible to move the filling spouts in order to bring them successively above a container kept fixed. Although in the installation described only two filling stations have been provided, the invention can be carried out with a higher number of filling stations in order to produce more varied compositions on the same installation. Of course, the installation according to the invention can also be equipped with a bar code sensor as described in document FR-A-2 809 377 in order to allow automatic variation of the composition introduced into each container.

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (2)

Family

ID=27620112

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (9)

Families Citing this family (22)

Family Cites Families (17)

• 2002
  • 2002-02-12 FR FR0201690A patent/FR2835807B1/fr not_active Expired - Fee Related
• 2003
  • 2003-02-05 DE DE60319807T patent/DE60319807T2/de not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2003-02-05 JP JP2003567749A patent/JP3927177B2/ja not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2003-02-05 BR BR0307245-2A patent/BR0307245A/pt not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2003-02-05 EP EP03720607A patent/EP1474331B1/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2003-02-05 AT AT03720607T patent/ATE389586T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2003-02-05 ES ES03720607T patent/ES2302922T3/es not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2003-02-05 WO PCT/FR2003/000352 patent/WO2003068602A1/fr active IP Right Grant
  • 2003-02-11 US US10/361,617 patent/US6772806B2/en not_active Expired - Fee Related

Non-Patent Citations (1)

Also Published As

Similar Documents

Legal Events