EP3678985B1 - Positioning device for the relative positioning of a container to be treated and a treatment apparatus in a container treatment facility - Google Patents

Description

technical field

The present invention relates to a positioning device for the relative positioning of a container to be treated and a treatment device in a container treatment plant.

Technical background

In container treatment systems in which a treatment element acts on a container to be treated, for example in beverage bottling systems for filling beverages into containers, it is known to position the respective treatment elements and the containers to be treated with the respective treatment element relative to one another. In particular, it is known in beverage bottling plants to bring a container to be filled to a filling element or to press it against the filling element. For this purpose, positioning devices are provided, by means of which a corresponding relative positioning between the treatment organ and the container to be treated can be achieved.

For example, pneumatic cylinders are used for relative positioning, in which a piston and a piston rod are accommodated and which form a pressure chamber between the piston and pneumatic cylinder, into which compressed air can be introduced to provide a force for relative positioning.

In order to provide a corresponding pressing force over a longer period of time and to keep the position between the container to be treated and the treatment organ accordingly, it is also known to provide a locking device. Such a locking device is, for example, from DE 10 2014 117 278 A1 known.

It is also known to provide hydraulic lifting devices in container treatment plants, in which a hydraulic medium is introduced into a pressure chamber provided between a piston and a cylinder. Such a lifting device is, for example, from UK622,729 known.

The U.S. 2,333,545A describes a filling device with a pneumatic cylinder for lifting the bottle to be filled. In the event of a malfunction, the piston of the cylinder can be secured in the lowest position with a pin.

Presentation of the invention

Proceeding from the known prior art, it is an object of the present invention to specify a positioning device for the relative positioning of a container to be treated and a treatment element in a container treatment plant, which provides a further improved structure.

This object is achieved by a positioning device having the features of claim 1. Advantageous developments result from the dependent claims, the present description and the attached figures.

Accordingly, a positioning device for the relative positioning of a container to be treated and a treatment element in a container treatment system is proposed, comprising a positioning cylinder and a piston accommodated in the positioning cylinder, which is connected to a piston rod, a pressure chamber being formed between the piston and the positioning cylinder, which can be acted upon by a working medium and a locking mechanism for locking the position of the positioning cylinder relative to the piston rod. According to the invention, the locking mechanism is accommodated in the piston rod, with the locking device comprising a shut-off valve arranged in the piston rod.

Because the locking mechanism is accommodated in the piston rod, the positioning device can be made more compact overall, which has an advantageous effect on the necessary installation space, so that the overall structure of a container treatment device and, for example, a treatment carousel in a container treatment device can be made more compact.

Furthermore, by accommodating the locking mechanism in the piston rod, the structure required for the locking function in its outer surface is reduced, so that overall the positioning device can be designed in a way that is easier to clean and more hygienic.

The positioning device particularly preferably comprises a hydraulic fluid, for example a hydraulic oil, as the working medium. By using a hydraulic fluid as the working medium, an incompressible working medium is used, whereby a relative position once assumed between the container to be treated and the treatment element can be maintained essentially independently of the pressure or the contact pressure built up between the treatment element and the container. In particular, there is no springback when a contact pressure force is applied to the positioning device from the outside, so that precise positioning is made possible, essentially independently of the contact pressure force that is applied.

Furthermore, by using hydraulic fluid, ie an incompressible working medium, for example also when lifting a previously pressed treatment element from the container, springing back is avoided, so that the positioning cylinder remains in its predetermined position.

Even if the container to be treated is defective, for example if the container shatters or bursts during the treatment process, the shards or fragments of the container are not accelerated by the positioning device because it remains in its position. When using a compressible pneumatic working medium, it can happen under certain circumstances that the container fragments are undesirably accelerated as a result of the positioning device rebounding when the container to be treated bursts.

A working medium channel for feeding a working medium into the pressure chamber is preferably arranged in the piston rod. The working medium channel can be provided in particular in the form of a bore within the piston rod, through which the working medium can then be introduced into the pressure chamber.

The arrangement of the working media channel for feeding the working medium into the pressure chamber in the piston rod can here in turn be achieved according to a particularly compact and hygienic design of the positioning, since no separate supply line for the working medium in the pressure chamber is necessary. With a fixed arrangement of the piston rod on a container treatment device, for example on a treatment carousel, a particularly hygienic and at the same time pressure-safe transfer of the working medium to the pressure chamber can be achieved.

In a particularly preferred embodiment, when installed in a container treatment device, the piston rod is firmly mounted in the container treatment device in the direction of the positioning movement and the positioning cylinder takes over the positioning work and moves accordingly relative to the piston rod in the positioning direction. A holder for the container to be treated is correspondingly attached to the positioning cylinder, for example, in order to move the container to be treated in the positioning direction by applying the working medium to the pressure chamber or to hold it in the assumed position by means of the locking mechanism.

In an alternative embodiment, the treatment element can be arranged on the positioning cylinder and can be moved in the positioning direction relative to the container to be treated by the loading of the pressure chamber, for example pressed onto the container to be treated or kept in the assumed position by means of the locking mechanism.

The locking mechanism preferably comprises a shut-off valve accommodated in the piston rod for locking the exchange of the working medium between the pressure chamber and a working medium supply. In a particularly preferred embodiment, the shut-off valve acts on the working media channel arranged in the piston rod, so that both the working media are supplied via the piston rod to the pressure chamber and the working media is shut off to the pressure chamber in the piston rod.

The shut-off valve can preferably be actuated by a plunger accommodated in the piston rod, with the plunger particularly preferably being inserted into the piston rod in a direction opposite the supply direction of the working media channel. It can thus be achieved that the piston rod can be held firmly in the container treatment device and the supply of working medium is accordingly achieved without interposed moving parts, for example without flexible supply hoses.

At the same time, in an arrangement of the plunger from the opposite side of the working media channel in the piston rod of the plunger mechanically or via a pneumatic, hydraulic, electric or magnetic actuator without the actuation of the plunger and thus the locking mechanism would come into conflict with the high-pressure working medium supply. It is particularly preferred here to actuate the ram via a roller guide and to prestress the ram in the closing direction or in the opening direction of the locking mechanism—depending on the design of the control of the ram.

In order to reduce or prevent damage to the entire container treatment device in the event of faults in the actuation of the locking mechanism or the shut-off valve, the shut-off valve preferably has an annular surface which is effective in the opening direction. Accordingly, the pressure absorbed by the pressure chamber can be limited to a certain maximum pressure, for example by pressing a treatment element onto the container to be treated, from which point the annular surface acting in the opening direction of the shut-off valve opens the shut-off valve in order to create pressure equalization in this way . In this way damage can be avoided.

The shut-off valve is particularly preferably pretensioned in the closing direction, preferably by means of a pretensioning spring. In this way, the control of the shut-off valve can be simplified and only the opening of the shut-off valve has to be carried out actively. In the phases in which the shut-off valve is to be closed, active control can accordingly be dispensed with.

The object described above is further achieved by a container treatment device having the features of claim 8 . Advantageous developments result from the dependent claims, the description and the attached figures.

Accordingly, a container treatment device is proposed for treating a container to be treated, comprising a treatment carousel, on the circumference of which there are a plurality of treatment organs, each with associated container holders, with each pair of treatment organ and container holder having one of the positioning devices already described above for relative positioning of a container held in the container holder , Is assigned to be treated container and the treatment organ.

A ring line is preferably provided on the treatment carousel, via which at least two and preferably a larger number, particularly preferably all positioning devices, are supplied with the respective working medium. For this purpose, a unit for providing a pressurized hydraulic fluid is particularly preferably arranged on the treatment carousel.

Short description of the figures

Figur 1

eine schematische, teilgeschnittene Darstellung einer Positioniervorrichtung zum Positionieren eines Hubtellers in einer Behälterbehandlungsvorrichtung;

Figur 2

eine Detaildarstellung des Verriegelungsmechanismus der Positioniervorrichtung aus Figur 1, wobei der Verriegelungsmechanismus geöffnet ist; und

Figur 3

eine Detaildarstellung des Verriegelungsmechanismus aus den Figuren 1 und 2, wobei der Verriegelungsmechanismus geschlossen ist.

Preferred further embodiments of the invention are explained in more detail by the following description of the figures. show:

figure 1

a schematic, partially sectioned representation of a positioning device for positioning a lifting plate in a container treatment device;

figure 2

a detailed view of the locking mechanism of the positioning device figure 1 , with the locking mechanism open; and

figure 3

a detailed view of the locking mechanism from the Figures 1 and 2 , with the locking mechanism closed.

Detailed description of preferred embodiments

Preferred exemplary embodiments are described below with reference to the figures. Elements that are the same, similar or have the same effect are provided with identical reference symbols in the different figures, and a repeated description of these elements is sometimes dispensed with in order to avoid redundancies.

In figure 1 1 is a schematic, perspective, partially sectioned illustration of a positioning device 1 for the relative positioning of a container to be treated and a treatment element, not shown here, in a container treatment system. A lifting plate 10 is provided here for positioning the container, on which the container to be treated can be placed and which can be raised and lowered in the direction of the arrow X by means of the positioning device 1 .

The positioning device 1 comprises a positioning cylinder 2 and a piston 3 which is guided in the positioning cylinder 2 and is connected to a piston rod 4 . In the embodiment shown, the piston 3 and the piston rod 4 are made in one piece.

A pressure chamber 20 is formed between the piston 3 and the positioning cylinder 2, which can be pressurized accordingly with a working medium in order to exert a force between the positioning cylinder 2 and the piston 3, which can lead to the relative positioning of the positioning cylinder 2 and the piston 3.

In the exemplary embodiment shown, the positioning cylinder 2 is connected to the container holder in the form of the lifting plate 10 and the piston rod 4 is held firmly in the corresponding, higher-level container treatment device, which is not shown here. The piston rod 4 can, for example, be firmly connected to a treatment carousel of the container treatment device. The lifting plate 10 moves accordingly as a result of a movement of the positioning cylinder 2 relative to the piston rod 4 fixed in the container treatment device.

In order to apply the working medium to the pressure chamber 20 , a working medium channel 40 is provided in the piston rod 4 , which is designed here as a longitudinal bore in the piston rod 4 . The working media channel 40 branches off from the longitudinal bore into the pressure chamber 20 through a radial bore 42 arranged in the piston rod 4 .

Correspondingly, working medium can be guided through the piston rod 4 and in particular through the working medium channel 40 and the radial branch 42 into the pressure chamber 20 . The working media channel 40 is connected to a working media supply which, for example, provides a hydraulic fluid at a working pressure of 20 bar to 30 bar.

In order to be able to hold the positioning device 1 firmly in a position once it has been assumed, a locking mechanism 5 is provided which is accommodated in the piston rod 4 .

In the exemplary embodiment shown, the locking mechanism 5 comprises a plunger 50 which is also guided in a longitudinal bore in the piston rod 4 , the plunger 50 being inserted into the piston rod 4 from the side opposite to the supply of the working medium channel 40 .

At its end lying in the piston rod 4 , the tappet 50 forms a valve cone 52 which can be accommodated in a valve seat 44 which is complementary thereto and which is machined in the piston rod 4 . The valve cone 52 and the valve seat 44 accordingly form a shut-off valve 54 which can enable or interrupt the communication between the pressure chamber 20 and the working medium channel 40 .

Correspondingly, pulling the tappet 50 out of the valve seat 44 provides communication between the working media channel 40, by means of which the working medium is supplied under pressure, and the pressure chamber 20 via the radial bore 42, so that communication between the working media channel 40 and the pressure chamber 20 consists.

If the shut-off valve 54 is opened by the fact that the tappet 50 or the valve cone 52 is pulled out of the valve seat 44, the positioning cylinder 2 can either be moved by the pressurization of the pressure chamber 20 with the working medium, or the positioning cylinder 2 can be moved by an external Actuator 6, which is shown in the embodiment shown in the form of a roller guide with a roller 60, are moved to the predetermined position.

If the positioning cylinder 2 is displaced via the external actuator 6, for example if it is raised, the working medium flows either into the pressure chamber 20 or out of the pressure chamber 20, in order in this way to achieve pressure equilibrium with the working medium supplied via the working medium channel 40 to reach. If the desired position of the positioning cylinder 2 has been reached by means of the actuator 6, the shut-off valve 54 can be closed.

The shut-off valve 54 is closed in that the tappet 50 is advanced in such a way that the valve cone 52 is introduced into the valve seat 44 and the communication between the pressure chamber 20 and the working medium channel 40 is accordingly interrupted.

In the pressure chamber 20 the pressure medium is now blocked off from the working medium channel 40 under the pressure originally present in the working medium channel 40 . This pressure of the working medium present in the pressure chamber 20 ensures that a force that may be applied to the positioning cylinder 2 via the lifting plate 10 is counteracted and the lifting plate 10 accordingly remains in the predetermined position.

This is the case in particular when a hydraulic fluid which is incompressible is used as the working medium. Because the hydraulic fluid then received in the pressure chamber 20 cannot be compressed, the positioning cylinder 2 is held firmly in the locked position at least within a specific force range.

This is particularly important when the container received on the lifting plate 10 is subjected to a specific treatment by one or more treatment organs. For example, a filling process of the container can first be carried out, in which the container is filled with a filling product. For this purpose, the container to be treated can be pressed against a filling element or the filling element can be pressed against the container positioned on the lifting plate 10 . Due to the closed locking mechanism 5 , the applied contact pressure will accordingly not result in an evasive movement of the position of the positioning cylinder 2 .

After the container has been filled, the filling element can then be lifted again, which means that the force exerted on the container by the contact pressure of the filling element is eliminated, with the lifting plate 10 then remaining in the intended position due to the locking mechanism 5 and not springing back, so that a movement which is necessary to lift the filling element from the container mouth can also be kept small.

The container still held on the lifting plate 10 can then possibly be closed by means of a closing member. The contact pressure forces occurring during closure are usually higher than the contact pressure forces applied by a filling element. The positioning device 1 can also oppose a corresponding counterforce to these contact pressure forces due to the locking by means of the locking mechanism 5 , without the positioning cylinder 2 moving.

The tappet 50 is preferably prestressed in the closing direction of the shut-off valve 54 by means of a schematically indicated spring 56 . The plunger 50 can be actuated by means of a roller guide 58 . Correspondingly, in the areas in which it is desired to raise or lower the positioning device 1 and in particular the positioning cylinder 2 relative to the piston rod 4, the plunger 50 can be moved out of the locking position via the roller 58 of the roller guide so that the shut-off valve 54 can be opened and accordingly the positioning to be carried out. In the areas in which such a positioning of the positioning device 1 is no longer to be carried out, but in which a locking of the position is desired, the roller 58 can then remain without a roller guide, and the pretensioning spring 56 pushes the plunger 50 in the closing direction and thus closes the locking mechanism 5.

In order to avoid damage in the event of machine faults or faults in the control of the ram 5, an annular surface effective in the opening direction is provided in the shut-off valve 54. For this purpose, a first ring seal 520 is provided on valve cone 52, which lies in the closing direction, and a second ring seal 522, which lies opposite to the closing direction, here, for example, above and below radial bore 42. Ring seal 520, which lies in the closing direction, has a smaller diameter than the ring seal 522 lying opposite to the closing direction. The difference in diameter thus provides an active ring surface which moves the plunger 5 into the open position against the bias of the biasing spring 56 when a predetermined pressure in the pressure chamber 20 is exceeded.

As a result, it can be achieved that when machine malfunctions occur, a lowering or a change in the relative position between the positioning cylinder 2 and the piston rod 4 can still be achieved.

As far as applicable, all individual features that are presented in the exemplary embodiments can be combined with one another and/or exchanged without departing from the scope of the invention.

Reference List

1

positioning device

10

lifting plate

2

positioning cylinder

20

pressure chamber

3

Pistons

4

piston rod

40

working media channel

42

radial bore

44

valve seat

5

locking mechanism

50

pestle

52

poppet

54

shut-off valve

56

bias spring

58

role

520

ring seal

522

ring seal

6

actuator

60

role

X

positioning direction

Claims (9)

1. Positioning device (1) for the relative positioning of a container to be treated and a treatment element in a container treatment apparatus, comprising a positioning cylinder (2) and a piston (3) accommodated in the positioning cylinder (2), which piston is connected to a piston rod (4), wherein a pressure chamber (20) is formed between the piston (3) and positioning cylinder (2), which pressure chamber can be pressurised by means of a working medium, and a locking mechanism (5) for locking the position of the positioning cylinder (2) relative to the piston rod (4), wherein the locking mechanism (5) is accommodated in the piston rod (4),
   characterised in that
   the locking mechanism (5) comprises a stop valve (54) arranged in the piston rod (4).
2. Positioning device (1) according to claim 1, characterised in that a working medium channel (40) is arranged in the piston rod (4) for feeding the working medium into the pressure chamber (20).
3. Positioning device (1) according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the stop valve (54) can be actuated by a ram (5) accommodated in the piston rod (4), wherein the ram (5) is preferably inserted into the piston rod (4) in a direction opposite the feed direction of the working medium channel (40).
4. Positioning device (1) according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that the stop valve (54) has an annular surface effective in opening direction for limiting the pressure of the working medium in the pressure chamber (20).
5. Positioning device (1) according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that the stop valve (54) is pretensioned in closing direction, preferably by means of a pretensioning spring (56).
6. Positioning device (1) according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that the piston rod (4) is formed in one piece with the piston (3).
7. Positioning device (1) according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that the locking mechanism (5) is actuated by means of an actuator, preferably by means of a roller (58) of a roller guide.
8. Container treatment apparatus for treating a container to be treated, comprising a treatment carousel having a plurality of treatment elements with respectively assigned container holders provided on the periphery thereof, wherein each pair consisting of treatment element and container holder is assigned a positioning device (1) according to any of the preceding claims for the relative positioning of a container to be treated held in the container holder and the treatment element.
9. Container treatment apparatus according to claim 8, characterised in that a ring line is provided on the treatment carousel, by means of which working medium can be supplied to at least two, preferably to several, particularly preferably to all pressure chambers (20) of the positioning devices (1).

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