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
  • B67C3/00—Bottling liquids or semiliquids; Filling jars or cans with liquids or semiliquids using bottling or like apparatus; Filling casks or barrels with liquids or semiliquids
  • B67C3/001—Cleaning of filling devices

Definitions

• Filling machines typically used to fill containers, in particular containers made of plastic or glass, for example, bottles or flasks, or of metal material, for example, cans, with a pourable product, preferably of the foodstuff type such as, for example, water, milk, fruit juices, carbonated or non-carbonated soft drinks, or the like are known.
• These machines essentially comprise a carousel rotating around a vertical axis, a tank containing the pourable product, and a plurality of valve filling devices or filling valves, which are carried by the carousel at a radially peripheral portion thereof, are connected to the tank by means of respective ducts and are advanced by the carousel along a substantially circular path.
• These machines also comprise an inlet device, typically an inlet star wheel configured to sequentially feed empty containers to the carousel, and an outlet device, typically an outlet star wheel configured to receive containers filled with pourable product from the carousel.
• the carousel receives a succession of empty containers from the inlet star wheel and directs the full containers to the outlet star wheel.
• the carousel generally comprises a plurality of support elements each adapted to receive and maintain in an upright position, below each filling valve, a respective container to be filled. Each filling valve is apt to feed, while it is advanced along the aforesaid circular path by the rotary movement imparted to it by the carousel, a predetermined volume of pourable product to the relative container.
• the filling valves of the known type essentially comprise: - a hollow tubular body fixed to a peripheral portion of the carousel and defining internally a flow channel to feed the pourable product to a respective container to be filled placed underneath the tubular body itself; - a shutter that slidingly engages the tubular body and is movable inside the flow channel so as to selectively allow or prevent the outflow of the pourable product to the respective receptacle; and - an actuator configured to move the shutter inside the flow channel defined by the tubular body.
• the tubular body has a longitudinal axis parallel to the axis of the carousel and terminates at its lower end with an axial discharge opening fluidically communicating, in use, with an end opening defined by an upper edge of the respective container to be filled.
• the flow channel extends coaxially to the axis of the tubular body and comprises a segment of constant section, usually cylindrical, and at least one segment of variable section, usually truncated-conical, positioned upstream of the discharge opening and narrowing in the direction of the latter, up to a section of minimum diameter.
• the heating means include a heat exchanger 15 arranged along the duct 11a so as to define a heat exchange interface between the washing fluid and a heating fluid, for example industrial waste steam.
• a first valve member 16a is fluidically interposed between the feed duct 14 and the duct 11a, to selectively allow or prevent the feeding of the rinse fluid along the duct 11a.
• a second valve member 16b is fluidically interposed between the discharge duct 13 and the duct 11a, to selectively allow or prevent the discharge of the washing fluid or the rinse fluid or the pourable product from the circuit 11.
• a third valve member 16c is arranged along the duct 11a and fluidically interposed between the discharge channel 13 and the feed channel 14, with respect to the flow direction D.
• the machine 1 comprises an automatic cleaning system 17 for cleaning (automatically) the filling valve 5 in order to remove the ferromagnetic particles.
• the cleaning system 17 comprises: - the aforesaid circuit 11, for recirculating the washing fluid through the filling valve 5 to define the washing operation and remove the ferromagnetic particles accumulated at the filling valve 5, namely, within the flow channel and at the shutter 10; and - a magnetic filter 18 arranged along the circuit 11 (in particular along the duct 11a) in a position fluidically downstream of the filling valve 5, with respect to the flow direction D, and configured to be lapped by the washing fluid to automatically filter and collect the ferromagnetic particles within the washing fluid during said washing operation.
• the control unit 21 is also configured to automatically arrange the magnetic filter 18 in the rest configuration during said rinsing step. In this manner, the magnetic bars 20 are extracted from the chamber 19 and the magnetic particles collected therein are expelled from the circuit 11. From the above, it is clear how the cleaning system 17 is configured to automatically remove the ferromagnetic particles accumulated in the flow channel, automatically filter the ferromagnetic particles within the washing fluid, and automatically discharge the filtered ferromagnetic particles.
• a preferred operating mode of the filling machine 1 and of the automatic cleaning system 17 according to the present invention will be described in the following, with reference to an initial condition in which a filling operation of containers 2 is finished.
• a first discharge step is performed to discharge the residual pourable product through the circuit 11 and, in particular, through the discharge duct 13.
• the control unit 21 controls the magnetic filter 18 in the rest configuration, the second valve member 16b is open and the shutter 10 in the opening position, and the pump 12 is stopped.
• a first rinsing step is performed by feeding the rinse fluid (for example, water) through the feed duct 14.
• the second valve member 16b is open (to discharge the rinse fluid without recirculation), the magnetic filter 18 is arranged in the rest configuration (so that any ferromagnetic particles detached from the shutter 10 can be directly discharged), the pump 12 is active, and the shutter 10 is moved with the aforesaid reciprocating motion.
• a second discharge step is performed under the conditions described above.
• the heating step is performed: the washing fluid is fed to the duct 11a and is recirculated therein while being heated by means of the exchanger 15.
• the magnetic filter 18 is arranged in the filtering configuration and the shutter 10 is moved with reciprocating motion.
• the pump 12 is active to increase the flowrate through the flow channel of the valve 5.
• the treatment step is performed.
• the shutter 10 is arranged in the opening position and the magnetic filter 18 remains in the filtering configuration.
• a discharge step is again performed, under the conditions described above, then a rinsing step (under the conditions set forth above and in which the ferromagnetic particles collected in the chamber 19 are expelled through the discharge duct 13, as the magnetic filter 18 is arranged in the rest configuration) and then a final discharge step under the conditions described above.
• the cleaning system 17 allows to implement a method for automatically cleaning a magnetic or electromagnetically actuated filling valve configured to dose a pourable product containing ferromagnetic particles in suspension into containers, the method comprising the steps of: a) recirculating a washing fluid through the filling valve, along a flow direction to define a washing operation; b) removing the ferromagnetic particles accumulated at the filling valve by means of step a) of recirculating; c) automatically arranging a magnetic filter, fluidically positioned downstream of the filling valve with respect to said flow direction, from a rest configuration, in which its magnetic interaction with the washing fluid is prevented, to a filtering configuration, in which it magnetically interacts with the washing fluid to attract the ferromagnetic particles; and d) automatically filtering and collecting the ferromagnetic particles within the washing fluid by means of an arrangement of the magnetic filter in the filtering configuration.
• the method also comprises the step of e) alternately and repeatedly automatically moving said shutter between the opening position and the closing position; - step b) of removing is performed at least by step e) of moving; - step d) of filtering and collecting is performed at least during step e) of moving.
• - the method also comprises the step of f) heating the washing fluid up to a desired temperature; - step e) of moving is performed at least during step f) of heating; and/or - step c) of arranging is performed at least during step f) of heating.
• the method also comprises: g) maintaining the washing fluid at said desired temperature; - maintaining the shutter in the opening position during step g) of maintaining said desired temperature; and/or - performing step c) of arranging at least during step g) of maintaining said desired temperature.
• the method also comprises: i) conveying a rinse fluid through the filling valve to define a rinsing step of the washing operation; - performing step e) of moving during step i) of conveying; and/or - automatically arranging the magnetic filter in the rest configuration during step i) of conveying.
• the method also comprises: l) discharging the washing fluid thereby defining a discharge step of the washing operation; - automatically arranging the magnetic filter in the rest configuration during step l) of discharging; and/or - maintaining the shutter in the opening position during step l) of discharging.
• the cleaning system 17 comprises the cleaning circuit 11.
• the cleaning circuit 11 is configured to recirculate a washing fluid through the filling valve 5, along the flow direction D, to define the washing operation and remove ferromagnetic particles accumulated in the filling valve 5.
• the system 17 comprises the magnetic filter 18.
• the magnetic filter 18 is arranged along the circuit 11 in a position downstream of the filling valve 5, with respect to said flow direction D, to filter and/or collect the ferromagnetic particles carried by the washing fluid during said washing operation.
• the position of lesser opening could be a closing condition.
• the condition of greater opening could be a condition of maximum opening.
• the system 17 comprises pumping means 12.
• the pumping means 12 can assume a pumping condition in which they pump the washing fluid along the circuit 11, and an inoperative condition in which they do not pump the washing fluid along the circuit 11.
• the system 17 comprises heating means 15.
• the heating means are arranged along the circuit 11 and can assume a temperature increase condition in which they increase the temperature of the recirculating washing fluid, and a maintenance condition in which they maintain the temperature of the recirculating washing fluid.
• the system 17 comprises discharge means 13 which can assume a discharge condition in which they cause the washing fluid to be discharged from the circuit 11, and an inactive condition in which they do not cause the washing fluid to be discharged from the circuit 11.
• the control unit 21 is configured to automatically and simultaneously control the filter 18 in the filtering condition, the shutter 10 in the condition of reciprocating motion, the pumping means 12 in the pumping condition, the heating means in the temperature increase condition, and the discharge means 13 in the inactive condition.
• the reciprocating motion of the shutter allows to effectively remove the ferromagnetic particles that have previously accumulated on the shutter 10, and the magnetic filter can effectively block these removed ferromagnetic particles.
• the pressure increase effect that is achieved by means of the pumping action can decrease the magnetic or electromagnetic force of the shutter, by means of a mechanical effect of this pressure increase which causes a vertical misalignment between shutter and driving member.
• the control unit 21 is configured to automatically and simultaneously control the filter 18 in the rest condition, the shutter 10 selectively in the conditionof reciprocating motion or in the condition of greater opening, the pumping means 12 selectively in the pumping condition or in the inoperative condition, and the discharge means 13 in the discharge condition. In this manner, the washing fluid can be discharged together with the ferromagnetic particles previously filtered by means of the magnetic filter 18.
• the cleaning system 17 allows to remove the ferromagnetic particles that accumulate within a magnetic or electromagnetically actuated filling valve in an automatic, simple and effective manner, by using the pre-existing washing circuit 11 and washing operation, and without the need for manual intervention by an operator.
• the recirculation of the removed particles is avoided, thanks to the presence of the magnetic filter 18 arranged downstream of the valves 5, which filters and collects the particles that are subsequently expelled by means of the discharge step.
• the peculiar repeated reciprocating motion of the shutter 10 according to the invention allows to greatly increase the number of ferromagnetic particles detached and therefore filtered and removed.
• This reciprocating motion is performed during the heating step facilitates the removal of the ferromagnetic particles from the shutter 10, as the attractive magnetic force of the driven member incorporated in the shutter 10 decreases as the temperature increases.
• the structural integrity of the valves 5 is preserved and the service life thereof is increased.
• laborious post-reassembly sterilization prior to the subsequent filling process is avoided, as no valve is disassembled.

Landscapes

• Filling Of Jars Or Cans And Processes For Cleaning And Sealing Jars (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=84331020

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (3)

Family Cites Families (4)

• 2022
  • 2022-09-13 IT IT102022000018699A patent/IT202200018699A1/it unknown
• 2023
  • 2023-07-11 WO PCT/EP2023/069108 patent/WO2024056234A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 2023-07-11 EP EP23736150.6A patent/EP4587367A1/de active Pending

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