EP2848576B1 - Device for dosing a product into a container - Google Patents

Description

Technical area

The present invention relates to a device for dosing a filling product in a container to be filled, preferably for dosing a viscous or pasty filling product, such as milk, cream, yogurt, jam, ketchup, mayonnaise and / or Babybrei means of a rotary piston filler.

State of the art

There are known in the rotary process Kolbendosiersysteme known in which a plurality of piston dispensers, each having a metering cylinder and a metering piston guided therein, circulate in a corresponding carousel, wherein they are usually held on the circumference of a Produktvorhaltebehälters. The product held in the product holding container filling product is sucked in by means of the piston dispenser and the sucked volume then expelled into the container to be filled.

The flow of the filling product is controlled, for example via a rotary valve, depending on the position of the rotary valve either the way for the filling product from the product holding container is opened in the metering, then a connection between the metering cylinder and the product outlet is closed, or the way for the Filling product is opened from the metering into the product outlet, in which case the connection between the metering cylinder and the Produktvorhaltebehälter is closed. Thus, a change of valve positions takes place to the effect that either the Produktvorhaltebehälter or the product outlet is connected to the metering cylinder. Accordingly, either filling product can be sucked into the dosing cylinder or the volume of filling product in the dosing cylinder can be dispensed via the product outlet into the container to be filled.

For controlling the Füllproduktstromes rotary valves are known, which are rotatable, for example, about the horizontal axis, such as from the GB 1 383 346 known. Rotatable about the vertical axis rotary valves are for example from DE 36 05 482 C2 known.

When working in the rotary process Kolbendosiersystemen with vertical rotary valve technology, it is also known to better lift the rotary valves, the upper machine part of the rotating machine unit, which includes, inter alia, the Kolbendosiereinheiten with Dosierzylindern and the metering and the housing of the rotary valves by means of a lifting device. In this case, the rotary valves are exposed, which are held on a valve carrier plate on the lower machine part, such as from DE 36 05 482 A1 known.

When rejoining the upper machine part with the lower machine part, care must be taken to avoid stress on the rotary valves. This complicates and delays the cleaning process.

Presentation of the invention

Starting from the known prior art, it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a device for metering a filling product in a container to be filled, which improves the cleaning process.

This object is achieved by a device for metering a filling product into a container to be filled with the features of claim 1. Advantageous developments emerge from the subclaims.

Accordingly, a device for dosing a filling product is proposed in a container to be filled, comprising a piston metering unit with a metering cylinder and a metering piston, and a valve assembly with a recordable in a rotary valve housing vertical rotary valve for alternately connecting the metering cylinder with a Produktvorhaltebehälter or an outlet opening, said vertical rotary valve is arranged on a valve carrier plate. According to the invention, the rotary valve is displaceably arranged in the plane of the valve carrier plate.

Characterized in that the rotary valve is slidably disposed in the plane of the valve carrier plate, it is possible that when a merging of the arranged on a lower machine part rotary valve with a arranged on an upper machine part rotary valve housing takes place a simple self-centering of the rotary valve. In this way it is possible to lift the rotary valve housing to clean the rotary valve upwards, for example, by lifting the rotatable upper machine part, then to clean the rotary valve, and then lower the rotary valve housing with the rotating upper machine part again on the rotary valve.

In Kolbendosiersystemen working in the rotary process usually more Kolbendosiereinheiten and accordingly also a plurality of rotary valves are provided. These several rotary valves are held on the valve carrier plate. Due to manufacturing tolerances or different temperature levels in the rotating upper machine part of the device and the rotating lower machine part, which also includes the valve carrier plate, possibly occurring tolerances in the plane of the valve carrier plate can be compensated by each rotary valve with respect to the valve carrier plate in the plane of the valve carrier plate slidably arranged.

When moving the rotating upper machine part with the rotating lower machine part so that a self-centering of the respective rotary valves can be achieved, so that increased stresses on the rotary valve or the rotary valve housing can be avoided. Accordingly, the cleaning of the device can be improved because the subsequent merging of the rotating upper machine part and the rotating lower machine part can be simplified.

A displacement of the rotary valve in the plane of the valve carrier plate is understood here inter alia that the axis of rotation of the rotary valve can be moved parallel to itself. The rotational axis of the rotary valve is substantially perpendicular to the plane of the valve carrier plate, so that upon displacement of the rotary valve in the plane of the valve carrier plate according to a parallel displacement of the rotational axis of the rotary valve takes place when the rotary valve is moved in the plane of the valve carrier plate.

Preferably, the rotary valve is floatingly mounted on the valve carrier plate. Due to the floating storage can be achieved that easy self-centering or alignment of the rotary valve when merging the upper machine part and the lower machine part is achieved so that increased wear of the rotary valve or the housing of the rotary valve can be avoided.

The rotary valve is fixedly connected in a preferred embodiment with a rotary valve drive in a rotary valve unit and the rotary valve unit is slidably, preferably floating, arranged on the valve carrier plate. Accordingly, the entire rotary valve unit including rotary valve, rotary valve drive and preferably a control unit can be formed as a compact, self-contained and hygienically easy to clean unit, which is then held slidably on the valve carrier plate when merging an upper machine part with a lower machine part, so that a self-centering of Rotary valve takes place in the rotary valve housing.

In a variant of the rotary valve drive and preferably also a control unit is firmly held on the valve support plate and only the rotary valve is relative to the valve support plate and also relative to the rotary valve drive in the plane of the valve support plate slidably. In this case, a power transmission from the rotary valve drive to the rotary valve via a cross-plate clutch, for example, an Oldham clutch is particularly preferably achieved. By the displaceable arrangement of the rotary valve, in turn, a simple self-centering when merging a machine head and a machine base can be achieved. The rotary valve drive is firmly connected to the valve carrier plate, which allows a simpler connection of the rotary valve drive can be achieved to a power supply.

The device preferably comprises one of the rotary valve and the valve support plate for cleaning and lifted together with the valve plate in metering operation rotatable upper machine part with at least one rotary valve housing, in which the rotary valve is inserted in the dosing, wherein the upper machine part after cleaning again with the rotary valve and the valve carrier plate is merge.

To support the centering of the rotary valve, a centering element which is in firm operative connection with the rotary valve is preferably provided, by means of which the load of the rotary valve can be reduced during the self-centering. For example, at least one centering element is provided in a fixed relationship to the rotary valve such that a Displacement of the centering element in the plane of the valve carrier plate is transferable to the rotary valve.

Preferably, two centering pins are provided, which are connected to the rotary valve such that a movement of the centering pins causes a corresponding movement of the rotary valve. The centering pins are preferably mounted on the same receiving body, which also carries the rotary valve, and which is arranged displaceably in the plane of the valve carrier plate. By providing the centering can be further improved according to the self-centering of the rotary valve, preferably such that the rotary valve itself does not come into contact with the rotary valve housing during centering, but reaches the displacement of the rotary valve in the plane of the valve support plate in self-centering completely on the centering pins becomes. The centering elements can continue to serve for torque absorption in dosing.

Preferably, at least two piston metering units are provided and at least two rotary valves are held on the valve carrier plate, wherein the rotary valves are arranged individually and independently of one another in the plane of the valve carrier plate displaceable. Thus, a reliable centering can be achieved even if several Kolbendosiereinheiten are arranged on the lower machine part.

In a further preferred embodiment, a rotary valve drive is provided, which is provided with a force limitation. The rotary valve drive can be implemented, for example, pneumatically, electrically, hydraulically or electropneumatically. A force limitation can be present, for example, by the maximum pressure that can be applied to a pneumatic or hydraulic rotary valve drive. Accordingly, in the case of inadvertently introducing a foreign object into the rotary valve, it can be prevented that the rotary valve is damaged by an overload. Accordingly, the maximum force acting on the rotary valve is limited.

A further improvement in the wear behavior of the rotary valve is achieved by the fact that the rotary valve is made of kolsterisiertem stainless steel. In this way, the durability can be improved and the risk of breakage during the introduction of foreign bodies in the rotary valve can be further reduced. Alternatively, it is advantageous to provide a material pairing in which a running partner is made of or coated with a corrosion-resistant, non-abrasive nickel-based alloy.

The pneumatic or electropneumatic control of the rotary valve in a piston metering unit in a piston operated in rotary operation reduces the burden of mechanical control or power transmission elements on the non-rotating part as well as the rotating part of the machine, whereby design effort and material can be saved while maintaining flexibility in terms of Control of individual phases of an otherwise mechanically running dosing process can be increased.

The fact that the maximum acting under production conditions torques in the rotary valve, for example, via the set pressure of the control fluid or the dimensioning of the rotary valve drive can be achieved, an effective overload protection can be achieved, which is effective for example in foreign bodies in the rotary valve, so that only forces on the rotary valve can act, which do not exceed the maximum torque, so that an overload of the rotary valve, the drive and the housing of the rotary valve can be minimized or avoided altogether.

The switching times of pneumatically or electropneumatically driven rotary valves are almost constant regardless of the rotational speed of the respective piston dispenser and in particular are not dependent on a rotational speed-dependent activation speed in a purely mechanical control. As a result, better dosing accuracies are achieved, since in particular an uncontrolled idling or a run-on in the individual piston dosing units during a slow dosing or a slow rotation of the device can be minimized.

In particular, in the execution of electropneumatically controlled rotary valves, the control of the rotary valves is very flexible and independent of the rotational speed of the piston meter. Accordingly, in the case of unforeseen machine-related or system-related stop situations, then open metering unit outlets can be controlled by closing the rotary valves, whereby an uncontrolled idling of the open, in the Ausschiebephase piston metering units can be avoided. Furthermore, the rotary valves can then be controlled as needed.

When using the vertical rotary valve with displaceable in the plane of the valve carrier plate assembly, the upper machine part can be moved vertically to the lower machine part for cleaning purposes. Due to the displaceable mounting of the rotary valve, a compensation of bearing tolerances or a compensation of other tolerances, which may also be of thermal origin, can be reduced or avoided either via the use of cross-disk clutches or a floating bearing of the rotary valve drive permanently connected to the rotary valve drive. In particular damage to the rotary valve or the rotary valve unit, comprising the rotary valve drive and the rotary valve housing, for example, by collisions when moving the upper machine part with the lower machine part can be minimized and the axial offset between the two rotating components can be compensated. In this way, wear and damage to the valve unit can be minimized in the current dosing operation.

In particular, when providing several Kolbendosiereinheiten and correspondingly more vertical rotary valves is achieved so that when merging the upper machine part with the lower machine part independent centering of all rotary valves takes place, such that the individual rotary valves are independently and individually with respect to the valve carrier plate displaced. In other words, each individual rotary valve can be individually centered with respect to the upper machine part, which is then placed from above, and in particular the rotary valve housing mounted from above. Accordingly, tolerances can be compensated and for each rotary valve, an improved or optimal position or an optimal fit in the respective rotary valve housing can be achieved.

Brief description of the figures

Figur 1

eine schematische Seitenansicht einer Kolbendosiereinheit mit einem vertikalen Drehventil;

Figur 2

eine schematische perspektivische Ansicht der Kolbendosiereinheit der Figur 1; und

Figur 3

eine schematische Querschnittsansicht durch ein Drehventil und eine Ventilträgerplatte.

Preferred further embodiments and aspects of the present invention are explained in more detail by the following description of the figures. Showing:

FIG. 1

a schematic side view of a piston metering unit with a vertical rotary valve;

FIG. 2

a schematic perspective view of the Kolbendosiereinheit the FIG. 1 ; and

FIG. 3

a schematic cross-sectional view through a rotary valve and a valve carrier plate.

Detailed description of preferred embodiments

In the following, preferred embodiments will be described with reference to the figures. In this case, identical, similar or equivalent elements in the different figures are denoted by identical reference numerals and a repeated description of these elements will be omitted in the following description in part in order to avoid redundancies.

In FIG. 1 a device 1 for dosing a filling product into a container is shown in a schematic side view. The device 1 is in FIG. 2 shown again in a schematic perspective view.

The device 1 comprises a piston metering unit 2 which has a metering cylinder 20 and a metering piston 22 arranged displaceably therein. By a movement of the metering piston 22 in the metering cylinder 20, a variable volume is provided which serves for sucking and expelling a defined filling product volume.

Below the metering cylinder 20, a valve assembly 3 is shown, which in the form of in the following FIGS. 3 to 5 schematically illustrated rotary valve 30 which is accommodated in a rotary valve housing 32 is formed. The valve assembly 3 serves to connect the variable in a first phase by the moving in the metering cylinder 20 metering piston 22 volume with a Produktvorhaltebehälter not shown here, to suck the filling product in the metering cylinder 20. The valve assembly 3 further serves to connect in a second phase, the variable volume of the metering cylinder 20 with a product outlet, and then by a downward movement of the metering piston 22 expel the filling product through the product outlet and introduce it into a container to be filled.

To clean the valve assembly 3 and in particular for cleaning the rotary valve 30, the rotary valve housing 32 can be lifted upwards, so that the rotary valve 30, such as in FIG. 3 shown is freely accessible from all sides.

The metering cylinder 20 is for this purpose together with the metering piston 22 and the rotary valve housing 32, which commonly together on a rotating upper machine part O of Device 1 are arranged, deducted towards the top. A lower machine part U of the device 1 which rotates in the metering operation and in particular has a valve carrier plate 4 is not raised or lowered in a preferred embodiment. In a variant, however, it is also conceivable to lower or raise the lower machine part U relative to the upper machine part O in order to be able to carry out a cleaning. In order to carry out the cleaning, it is only important here that the upper machine part O and the lower machine part U can be moved apart in a relative movement.

In addition to the rotary valve housing 32, an outlet valve housing 24 is also shown, in which a plunger 26 makes it possible to eject the filling product located in the outlet 28 in the rotating lower machine part U. The outlet 28 is correspondingly formed in and / or below the valve carrier plate 4.

In metering mode or in production mode, the upper machine part O and the lower machine part U rotate together in the in the Figures 1 and 2 shown merged arrangement, such that a dosing of the filling product by means of Kolbendosiereinheiten 2 is possible. During one revolution of a rotary piston filler, the filling product can thus be metered into a container to be filled.

In a rotary piston inflator, a multiplicity of piston metering units 2 are usually provided, which are arranged in the Figures 1 and 2 Corresponding Kolbendosiereinheiten correspond and which are present for example on a circumference of a Produktvorhaltebehälters. By providing a plurality of piston metering units 2, the filling capacity of the device 1 can be correspondingly increased.

In FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view through the vertical rotary valve 30, which is arranged on the valve carrier plate 4 shown. The vertical rotary valve 30 includes a rotary valve bore 34 and a rotary valve 30 disposed in the cavity 36, which is open at the top. The rotary valve 30 is cylindrical and sleeve-shaped and has with the rotary valve bore 34 a switchable output for connection to corresponding channels of the rotary valve housing 32.

By a rotation of the rotary valve 30 about its axis of rotation R around the rotary valve bore 34 with different channels in the rotary valve housing 32 in connection be brought, so that in a first switching position, a connection between the arranged above the rotary valve 30 dosing cylinder 20 and a Produktvorhaltebehälter can be made to suck filling product into the metering cylinder 20. In a second control position of the rotary valve bore 34, which, for example, in relation to the in FIG. 3 shown position can be rotated by 90 ° or 180 °, a connection between the metering cylinder 20 and a product outlet is made so that then the recorded in the metering cylinder 20 filling product can be expelled via the rotary valve bore 34 and a product outlet opening.

In order to enable the rotation or the switching of the rotary valve 30, a rotary valve drive 5 is provided, which in the illustrated embodiment has an output 50 which is connected directly to the rotary valve 30. Accordingly, the output 50 is arranged coaxially with the axis of rotation R of the rotary valve 30 and fixedly connected thereto.

The rotary valve drive 5 may be a pneumatic, an electropneumatic or a rotary electric valve drive. The use of a pneumatic or an electropneumatic drive 5 has the advantage that a maximum force limitation or a limit of the applicable maximum torque can be achieved by providing the maximum available or provided air pressure. Accordingly, damage to the rotary valve 30 or the surrounding rotary valve housing 32 and / or the drive 5 can be avoided or reduced when unintentionally entering a foreign body into the rotary valve 30.

The rotary valve 30 is slidably disposed in the plane E of the valve carrier plate 4. In other words, the axis of rotation R of the rotary valve 30, which also simultaneously corresponds to the axis of symmetry of the rotary valve 30, can be displaced in the plane E in the direction X or in a direction Y perpendicular thereto in the plane E of the valve carrier plate 4. This results in a parallel displacement of the axis of rotation R or the axis of symmetry of the rotary valve 30 such that the position of the rotary valve 30 with respect to the valve support plate 4 is not completely fixed, but just a corresponding displacement is provided.

A change in the angle of the axis of rotation R with respect to the plane E, which is usually 90 °, is not provided. In a further education but also such Pivoting be provided to compensate for any possible variations in the parallelism of the recording in the rotary valve housing 32 and the rotary valve 30 can.

The displaceability of the rotary valve 30 in the plane E is in the in FIG. 3 shown embodiment achieved in that the rotary valve 30 are present together with the rotary valve drive 5 as a rotary valve unit 6, which has a receiving body 60 with a flange 62 which is slidably held on holding elements 40 on the valve support plate 4. Preferably, sliding elements 42, for example in the form of a sliding plate, are provided on the holding elements 40, such that the flange 62 rests on these sliding elements 42. Furthermore, sliding elements 64 are preferably provided on the flange 62, which also allow a simply displaceable or sliding holding the rotary valve unit 6 on the valve support plate 4. Correspondingly, the rotary valve unit 6 is held displaceably in the plane E on the valve carrier plate 4 from the rotary valve 30 and the rotary valve drive 5. By providing in this way game in the plane E, the corresponding displacement of the rotary valve 30 with respect to the valve carrier plate 4 can be achieved.

When merging the rotating upper machine part O of the device 1 and in particular when placing the rotary valve housing 32 on the rotary valve 3 on the rotating lower machine part U in this way, a centering or alignment of the rotary valve 30 within the rotary valve housing 32 take place so that collisions can be avoided and an increased stress of the rotary valve 30 in the rotary valve housing 32 can be avoided or reduced.

The centering or displacement of the rotary valve 30 with respect to the rotary valve housing 32 during the merging can be further supported by means of centering elements 66. The centering elements 66 are connected directly to the receiving body 60 of the rotary valve unit 6, such that a force acting on the centering elements 66 is transmitted immediately to the rotary valve unit 6, which then makes a displacement of the rotary valve 30 according to the possible play on the valve carrier plate 6. The centering elements 66 accordingly have a constant distance from the axis of rotation R of the rotary valve 30 and are aligned parallel thereto.

The centering elements 66 are used in the connected state or in the merged state of the upper machine part O with the lower machine part U, including the merged with the rotary valve housing 32 rotary valve 30, also to support the torques occurring in the production operation. Since the rotary valve drive 5 is fixedly connected to the rotary valve 30 via the receiving body 60 and thus forms the rotary valve unit 6, but this rotary valve unit 6 is slidably mounted on the valve carrier plate 4, can apply the respective torques for driving the valve 30 by means of the rotary valve drive 5 a corresponding counter torque occur, which is then supported by the centering elements 66 relative to the rotary valve housing 32.

In a variant, not shown, only the rotary valve 30 is slidably mounted or floating on the valve support plate 4, the rotary valve drive 5, however, is firmly connected to the valve support plate 4. In order to still allow for a displacement of the rotary valve 30, a reliable power transmission between the rotary valve 5 and the rotary valve 30 and at the same time to allow easy displacement of the rotary valve 30, in such a case preferably a cross-plate clutch, such as an Oldham coupling, between the rotary valve 5 or the output 50 of the drive 5 and the rotary valve 30 is provided. Thus, an independent displaceability of the rotary valve 30 relative to the valve support plate 4 is possible.

The upper machine part O of the piston metering unit 2 can be lifted. The lower machine part U remains in the embodiment shown, however, at the respective position and includes the example in FIG. 3 shown components. When merging the upper machine part O and the lower machine part U allows the displaceability of the rotary valve 30 in the plane E of the valve support plate 4 according to alignment and centering of the rotary valve 30 and the rotation axis R of the rotary valve 30 with respect to the rotary valve housing 32nd

In a rotary piston dispenser usually at least two, preferably a plurality of Kolbendosiereinheiten 2 are provided, so that accordingly a plurality of rotary valves 30 are arranged on the valve carrier plate 4. When merging the upper machine part O with the lower machine part U, this means that all rotary valves 30 with respect to their corresponding rotary valve housing 32 must be properly threaded / aligned and must be adjusted accordingly with respect to the rotary valve housing 32.

The proposed displaceability of the rotary valve 30 in the plane E of the valve carrier plate 4 can be achieved so that each individual rotary valve 30 or its axis of rotation R is aligned individually with respect to the corresponding thereto rotary valve housing 32. In this way, a merging of the upper part O and the lower part U during cleaning or after cleaning significantly easier and the wear or the risk of collision or damage can be significantly reduced.

The rotary valve 30 is formed in a particularly preferred embodiment of kolsterisiertem stainless steel to increase the surface hardness and to reduce the susceptibility to wear.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

1

Device for dosing a filling product in a container to be filled

2

Kolbendosiereinheit

20

metering

22

dosing

24

outlet valve

26

plunger

28

outlet

3

valve assembly

30

rotary valve

32

Rotary valve housing

34

valve bore

36

cavity

4

Valve plate

40

retaining element

42

Slide

5

Rotary valve drive

50

Rotary valve drive

6

Rotary valve unit

60

receiving body

62

flange

64

Slide

66

centering

O

rotating upper machine part

U

rotating lower machine part

R

Rotation axis of the rotary valve

e

Level of the valve carrier plate

Claims (9)

1. Device (1) for the dosing a product into a container to be filled, comprising a piston-type dosing unit (2) having a dosing cylinder (20) and a dosing piston (22), and a valve arrangement (3) having a vertical rotary valve (30) that can be housed in a rotary valve housing (32) for alternatively connecting the dosing cylinder (20) to a product pre-holding container or to an outlet opening (28), wherein the vertical rotary valve (30) is arranged on a valve support plate (4), wherein an upper machine component (O) is provided comprising at least a valve housing (32), and a lower machine component (U) is provided comprising at least the rotary valve (30) and the valve support plate (4), wherein the upper machine component (O) can be raised and then lowered again, relative to the lower machine component (U), for cleaning the rotary valve (30), characterised in that the rotary valve (30) is movably arranged in the plane (E) of the valve support plate (4).
2. Device (1) according to claim 1, characterised in that the rotary valve (30) is arranged floating on the valve support plate (4).
3. Device (1) according to claims 1 or 2, characterised in that the rotary valve (30) is rigidly connected with a rotary valve drive (5) in a rotary valve unit (6) and the rotary valve unit (6) is arranged movably, preferably floating, on the valve support plate (4).
4. Device (1) according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that the rotary valve drive (5) is rigidly connected with the valve support plate (4), and the rotary valve (30) is movably arranged in the plane (E) of the valve support plate (4), wherein a torque transmission is preferably provided between the rotary valve drive (5) and the rotary valve (3) using a cross-disc coupling, preferably an Oldham coupling.
5. Device (1) according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that at least one centring element (64) is provided in a rigid operating connection with the rotary valve (30), such that a displacement of the centring element (64) in the plane (E) of the valve support plate (4) can be transferred to the rotary valve (30).
6. Device (1) according to claim 5, characterised in that the centring element (64) is arranged on a receiving member (60) of the rotary valve unit (6), comprising the rotary valve (30) and a rotary valve drive (5).
7. Device (1) according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that at least two piston dosing units (2) are provided, and at least two rotary valves (30) are supported on the valve support plate (4), wherein the rotary valves (30) are arranged so as to be movable, individually and independently of one another, in the plane (E) of the valve support plate (4).
8. Device (1) according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that a rotary valve drive (5) for rotation of the rotary valve (30) limits a maximum force and is preferably designed to be pneumatic or electro-pneumatic.
9. Device (1) according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that the rotary valve (30) contains a kolsterised stainless steel.

Images