FR2841873A1 - Rotating bottle opening machine for sparkling wine, i.e. cava, includes a hopper for collecting bottle caps and poured out liquid and a servomotor driven main bottle cap opener - Google Patents

Abstract

The machine includes a rotating body (2) equipped with neck supports (3) and tipping arms (6) for collecting bottles (4), varying their inclination while emptying them and outputting (7) them, with an automatic extraction device for bottle caps (41). The machine includes a hopper (1) for collecting bottle caps and poured out liquid, a main cap opener with a servomotor (10) and a rotating plate (11) having cap-removing claws. A detector (13) detects the position of the of the bottles, and an auxiliary bottle opener (14) includes a removable support (15) having an extraction tooth and a cylindrical driver (18), an anti-slip track for supporting and rotating the open bottles during their displacement.

Description

The present invention relates to a rotary unblocking machine for

  cava production lines, of the type which comprise a rotary main body provided with several supports for fixing the neck of the bottles containing the cava during the disgorging operation, and tilting arms which move on a circular guide at variable height and responsible for collecting the bottles from an input feeder, varying their inclination during the disgorging operation and depositing them on an output feeder; this machine also being provided with means for the automatic extraction of the stoppers from the bottles to be disgorged, the operation of the uncorking machine being

  controlled by a programmable controller.

  As everyone knows, cava is a sparkling wine whose production process is different from other wines, this process comprising carrying out a second fermentation in the bottle from a wine with which

  added sugar and yeast.

  This second fermentation of the base wine takes place in the bottle, which must be subjected to a bottling process generally called drawdown, by closing the bottle with a crown cap having a washer,

  as a joint, in cork granulate or in polyethylene.

  When the sparkling wine has matured on its own lees, it is necessary to remove this deposit from the bottle, to do this, it is subjected to a riddling to separate the lees from the wall of the bottle and bring them up against

  the bottle cap to be able to remove them after disgorging.

  The disgorging operation to permanently eliminate the lees deposited against the internal wall of the stopper or the obturator in the bottle kept on tip, that is to say in inclined or inverted position, can be done by the method traditional ice cream, consisting in freezing part of the wine in the neck of the bottle, because it is in this area that the lees are concentrated. Currently disgorging can be carried out manually for limited productions, by automatic disgorgers which extract the crown type corks from the bottles in order to be able to remove part of the contents of the bottle, specifically

  that which contains the deposit, or else by rotary uncorking machines such as that which is the subject of the present invention.

  Rotary unblocking machines currently known generally have a rotary main body provided with several supports for fixing the neck of the bottles containing the cava during the disgorging operation and tilting arms which move on a circular guide at variable height, responsible for collecting the bottles from an input feeder, varying their inclination during the disgorging operation and

  to deposit them on an output feeder.

  These unblocking machines have on each of the supports of the rotary body a device for extracting the plugs, these devices passing through a determined zone make contact on a fixed stop which forces them to

  move, extracting the cap from the corresponding bottle.

  The mounting of a plug extraction device on each of the supports of the main body poses various problems such as a high cost of manufacture and assembly, wear of the moving parts of the different plug extraction devices, with, by Consequently, the cost of periodic maintenance, and the need to have an operator responsible for extracting from the line bottles which have not been opened correctly due to a faulty operation of the cork extraction device.

responsible for opening.

  It should be noted that if one of the plug extraction devices located on the rotating main body, in all they can be fifty or sixty, does not open a bottle each time the main body is rotated, this will be a problem. important in the functioning of the

unblocking machine.

  To solve the problems mentioned, the rotary unblocking machine was designed for the cava processing lines, object of this invention, the construction features of which consist in significantly reducing the manufacturing costs of the machine by reducing im30 bearing parts that compose it, which undoubtedly results in a reduction in manufacturing and maintenance costs, and also ensures high reliability in terms of extraction of

  corks from bottles passing through the machine.

  According to the invention, the rotary unblocking machine for cava processing lines, object of this invention, comprises a central hopper.

  fixed milking on which are projected the corks separated from the bottles and the liquid spilled from them, this hopper being provided with a central flow pipe for the conduct of these elements to a lower separation zone. To facilitate the collection of the caps and of the liquid spilled from the bottles, it is intended that the rotary main body rotates around the mentioned hopper, the latter occupying a fixed central position. According to the invention, the unblocking machine comprises a main unblocker composed of a fixed servomotor which acts on a gyratory plate carrying claws for extracting the plugs and which rotates synchronously with the rotary main body, by acting on the bottle caps as they come in front

  the turntable thanks to the movement of the rotating main body.

  Therefore, each time one of the bottles is presented in front of the turntable, this describes by the action of the servomotor a rotational movement of sufficient amplitude for one of the claws to act on the

  bottle cap by extracting it.

  The use of this main unblocker implies a significant reduction in the number of parts compared to other similar machines existing on the market, because only one main unblocker can carry out the extraction.

  of all the bottles, one by one, as they appear before him.

  However, to ensure the opening of all the bottles, it is intended that the uncapping machine comprises, after the main uncorker, a detector, for example, a metal detector which detects the position

  bottles which, for whatever reason, have not been uncorked by the main unblocker and which therefore still have their corks.

  After this detector, taking as a reference the direction of rotation of the main body, the machine includes an auxiliary unblocker which must remove the corks on the bottles that the main unblocker has

not opened.

  Said auxiliary unblocker is provided with a folding support, arranged tangentially to the trajectory of the rotary main body, this folding support comprising an extraction tooth acting on the plugs of the

  bottles which have not been uncorked by the main unblocker.

  To obtain a cleaning of the entire contour of the neck of the bottles, by taking advantage of the spillage of the liquid which leaves them after the extraction of the corresponding caps, it is planned that the rotary uncapping machine has an anti-slip track arranged paral5 along the path of the rotating main body. This non-slip track must serve as a support for the lower zone of the bottles, once opened, so that they are forced to rotate as they are moved by the rotary main body, and that, during rotation, the spilled liquid gradually overflows over the entire contour of the

bottle neck.

  According to the invention, so that the claws of the main unblocker act correctly on the bottle stoppers, it is provided that the gyratory plate of this main unblocker is arranged on a plane substantially perpendicular to the rotation path of the main body.

rotary.

  Likewise, taking into account the force with which the caps and the liquid leaving the bottle will be projected towards the inside of the hopper, due to the pressure existing inside the bottles, it is expected that the hopper will have inside and opposite the main unblocker and the auxiliary unblocker two curtains acting as a screen for

  brake the caps and the liquid leaving the bottles.

  We will now describe an example of implementation of the invention, in

reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows a schematic plan view of the rotary uncorking machine which is the subject of the invention, on which only part of the supports responsible for fixing the bottles on the are shown.

rotating main body.

  FIG. 2 shows an elevation view of the rotary uncorking machine sectioned on a vertical plane and where one of the bottles can be seen

in front of the main drain cleaner.

  Figure 3 shows an enlarged detail of the roundabout, the unblocker

  main acting with one of the claws on the cap of one of the bou-

Teilles.

  Figure 4 shows a side view of the auxiliary unblocker acting with the extraction tooth on the cap of one of the bottles.

0

  As can be seen in the figures shown, the rotary uncorking machine object of the invention comprises a fixed central hopper 1 around which is disposed a rotary main body 2 which is provided with several supports 3 for fixing the neck bottles 4 to be opened and which are supplied by an input feeder 5; this main body 2 also comprising tilting arms 6 responsible for varying the inclination of the bottles 4 in their movement with the main body 2 so as to be subsequently deposited on the outlet feeder 7.

  To do this, the tilting arms 6 are supported in their circular trajectory on a fixed guide 8 with variable height.

  The rotary unblocking machine has a main unblocker 9 composed of a servomotor 10 which acts on a gyratory plate 11 comprising extraction claws 12 which must separate the plugs 41 from the

bottles 4.

  To do this, as can be seen in Figures 1, 2 and 3, the revolving plate 11 is arranged on a plane perpendicular to the trajectory of the

rotary main body 2.

  The movement of the revolving plate 11 and of the main body 2 is controlled by a programmable automaton, not shown in the figures, so when one of the bottles 4 is presented in front of the revolving plate 11, this describes a rotational movement d 'A sufficient amplitude for one of the claws 12 performs the extraction of the corresponding plug 41. After the main unblocker 9 and on the trajectory of the rotating main body 2, there is a metal detector 13 which must detect the caps 41 which have not been extracted from the bottles 4 by the main unblocker 9. This allows the programmable controller to know the position of the bottles 4 which have not been properly opened by said main unblocker 9, by unblocking them with the auxiliary unblocker 14 which is located after the detector 13 in the direction of rotation

of the rotary main body 2.

  The auxiliary unblocker 14 comprises a folding support 15 comprising an extraction tooth 16 responsible for extracting the plugs 41 on the

  bottles which have not been uncorked before. Said support flap5 table 15 is mounted so as to be able to rotate on an axis 17 and is actuated by a push cylinder 18 responsible for folding it on the axis 17 and causing the actuation of the extraction tooth 16 on the plug 41 of the bottles 4 which would not have been opened before, as can be seen in FIG. 4.

  The central hopper 1 has inside, opposite the main unblocker 9 and the auxiliary unblocker 14, curtains 19 which act as a shock screen for the caps separated from the bottles and the liquid leaving them, due to the pressure existing inside.

  This central hopper 1 also has a flow pipe 20 per15 for driving the caps and the liquid spilled from the bottles to

  a lower separation zone.

  As can be seen in FIGS. 1 and 3, the unblocking machine has on the outside an anti-slip track 21 arranged parallel to the trajectory of the rotary main body 2 for lateral support of the lower zone.

  open bottles, as and when they are moved by the rotary main body 2, so that this track 21 forces them to rotate when they move, the bottles then gradually pouring all around the outline of their neck the liquid coming out, to clean them completely.

Claims (3)

  1. Rotary unblocking machine for cava processing lines of the type comprising a rotary main body (2) provided with several supports (3) for fixing the neck of the bottles (4) containing cava during the disgorging operation, and of tilting arms (6) moving on a circular guide (8) with variable height and having to collect the bottles (4) of an input feeder (5), vary their inclination during the disgorging operation and the depositing on an output feeder (7), machine further comprising means for the automatic extraction of the caps (41) of the bottles (4) to be disgorged; the operation of the unblocking machine being controlled by a programmable automaton, this machine being characterized by: - a fixed central hopper (1) for collecting the plugs (41) from the plugs (4) and from the liquid spilled by the latter , this hopper (1) having a flow pipe (20) for the conduct of these elements to a lower separation zone; - a main unblocker (9) composed of a fixed servomotor (10) which acts on a gyratory plate (11) comprising extraction claws (12) of the plugs and which rotates synchronously with the rotary main body (2) , by acting on the caps (41) of the bottles (4) as they appear in front of the revolving plate (11) by means of the movement of the main body (2); - a detector (13) disposed after the plate (11) comprising the extraction claws (12) and located near the trajectory of the bottle necks (4) to detect the position of the bottles which have not been uncorked by the main unblocker (9) and which still have their cap (41); - an auxiliary unblocker (14) located after the detector (13) comprising a folding support (15) disposed on the tangent of the trajectory of the rotary main body (2) and which comprises an extraction tooth (16) which acts on the stoppers (41) of the bottles (4) which have not been uncorked by the main unblocker (9), for uncorking them, the folding support (15) being actuated by a push cylinder (18); and - an anti-slip track (21) arranged parallel to the trajectory of the rotary main body (2) for the support and rotation of the lower region of the open bottles (4), as and when they are displaced by the main body rotary (2), by performing during rotation the progressive pouring of the outgoing liquid over the entire contour of the neck from the bottle (2).   2. Unblocking machine according to claim 1, characterized in that the gyratory plate (11) of the main unblocker (9) is arranged on a plane substantially perpendicular to the trajectory of rotation of the body main rotary (2).   3. Unblocking machine according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the fixed central hopper (1) present inside,   opposite the main unblocker (9) and the auxiliary unblocker (14), two curtains (19) which act as a screen to brake the corks and the liquid leaving the bottles (4).