JP2001031193A - Nozzle cleaner of rotary filling machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To achieve rapid cleaning with a simple structure. SOLUTION: The nozzle cleaner of a rotary filling machine which can clean a filling nozzle 1 by closing a filling port of the nozzle 1 by a cleaning cap 4 comprises a rotary table 2 with container holding parts 3 for holding a container placed at constant pitches along an outer periphery, a rotating drum 5 placed to be rotatable within a predetermined range around the same axis on the rotary table 2 equipped with the filling nozzle 1 corresponding to the container holding part 3, a drum rotator for rotating the rotating drum 5 with respect to the table 2, and cleaning caps placed between the container holding parts 3 of the table 2 so that they can be raised/lowered by a cap lift device respectively. At the time of cleaning, the rotating drum 5 is rotated by 1/2 pitch by a rotating body rotator to make the filling nozzle 1 and the cleaning cap face each other.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a nozzle cleaning device for cleaning a filling nozzle in a rotary filling machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a rotary filling machine which holds a container at a constant pitch on a swivel table and fills the container with a liquid from a filling nozzle arranged on the container during the swiveling movement, a conventional filling nozzle is used for cleaning. Then, a cleaning cap for closing the outlet of the filling nozzle is manually attached, and the cleaning liquid is supplied to the filling nozzle and discharged to a waste liquid pipe.
However, since it takes time to attach caps to the filling nozzles one by one, a cleaning cap is arranged near the filling nozzle, and at the time of cleaning, these cleaning caps are moved to the outlet of each filling nozzle. There has been proposed an automatic cleaning apparatus that automatically performs cleaning by a moving mechanism to be mounted.

[0003]

However, in the above-described conventional structure, the neck holder for holding the mouth of the container is disposed immediately below the washing nozzle, so that the moving stroke of the washing cap is long and it takes time to attach and detach the washing cap. In addition, there is a problem that the moving mechanism using the arm and the link becomes complicated, the weight increases, and maintenance becomes difficult. In addition,
If the time required for cleaning is prolonged, the temperature of the liquid or the filling nozzle changes when the liquid is being filled at a constant temperature, and it takes time to return to the original appropriate temperature.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems and to provide a nozzle cleaning apparatus for a rotary-type filling machine capable of quickly cleaning with a simple structure.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a filling port of a filling nozzle is closed by a cleaning cap and liquid is supplied to a filling passage to clean the filling nozzle. In a nozzle washing device of a possible rotary type filling machine, a lower rotating body in which a container holding portion that holds a container at a constant pitch is arranged on an outer peripheral portion, and the lower rotating body is rotatable around the same axis within a predetermined range on the lower rotating body. An upper rotator having a filling nozzle disposed corresponding to the container holder, a rotator rotating device for rotating one of the lower rotator and the upper rotator, and holding each container of the lower rotator. A cleaning cap disposed between the units so as to be able to move up and down by a cap elevating device, and at the time of cleaning, a rotating nozzle is used to rotate one of the lower rotating member and the upper rotating member by a predetermined angle to fill the nozzle. And cleaning cap Vertically it is obtained by configured to face.

According to the above construction, the upper rotating body or the lower rotating body is rotated by a predetermined angle around the same axis by the rotating body rotating device, and the adjacent filling nozzle and the cleaning cap are vertically opposed. Then, by raising the cleaning cap, the cleaning cap can be mounted on the filling nozzle for cleaning. Therefore, the overall configuration can be extremely simplified, maintenance can be easily performed, all the cleaning caps can be attached to and detached from the cleaning nozzle in a short time, and the cleaning can be performed quickly.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the above-mentioned structure, a cap retraction device is provided between the lower rotating body and the cleaning cap so as to reciprocate the cleaning cap in a radial direction. According to the above configuration, when the container is arranged in the container holding portion below the filling nozzle, even when the cleaning cap cannot be arranged due to interference with the container, the cleaning cap is moved to the lower rotating body side by the cap retracting device. It can be retracted, and can be applied to a rotary filling machine in which the arrangement pitch of the filling nozzle is small or a rotary filling machine for filling a large container.

Further, in the invention according to claim 3, a container gripper capable of holding a container is provided integrally with the lower rotating body above the container holding portion of the lower rotating body. According to the above configuration,
Since the container gripper is provided integrally with the cleaning cap, there is no interference when moving in the circumferential direction.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Here, an embodiment of a nozzle cleaning apparatus for a rotary filling machine according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. This nozzle cleaning device is shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 1, a rotating drum 5 which is an upper rotating body having filling nozzles 1 arranged at regular intervals on the outer peripheral portion, and a filling nozzle 1
Between the container holder 3 and the container holder 3 corresponding to
The lower rotating body having the cleaning cap 4 shifted by the pitch P includes the revolving table 2, and the revolving table 2 and the revolving drum 5 are rotatably arranged by 1/2 pitch P, and are used for cleaning. A drum rotating device 6 is provided for rotating the rotating drum 5 by a half pitch P with respect to the rotating table 2. Thus, the rotating drum 5 is rotated by a half pitch P by the drum rotating device 6 which is a rotating body rotating device at the time of cleaning, and the filling nozzle 1 is placed above the cleaning cap 4.
Can be washed by closing the filling port 1a of the filling nozzle 1 with the cleaning cap 4 by raising the cleaning cap 4.

The details will be described below. A swivel table 2 is supported on a base 11 via a swivel bearing 12 so as to be rotatable about a rotation axis O. The swivel table 2 includes a swivel member 8 supported by a swivel bearing 12 and an elevating member 10 which is arranged on the swivel member 8 via an elevating mechanism 9 so as to be able to move up and down. A container holder 3 is provided at a constant pitch on the outer periphery of the revolving member 8, and the container holder 3 measures the weight of the container B to detect a filling state, A main body gripping tool 14, which is a container gripping tool for gripping a lower portion of the container B, is provided. A passive gear 15a is attached to the swivel bearing 12 on the side of the swivel table 2. The swivel pinion 1 meshes with the passive gear 15a.
The table turning device 15 is constituted by 5b and a turning drive motor 15d that rotates the turning pinion 15b via a speed reducer 15c.

The elevating mechanism 9 is provided with an elevating screw shaft 9 on female screw members 9a arranged at every 90 degrees on the turning member 8.
The lifting member 10 is connected to and supported by upper ends of these lifting screw shafts 9b via bearings. An elevating motor 9c is connected and linked to one elevating screw shaft 9b via a gear box 9d, and these four elevating screw shafts 9b are mounted on the upper portions of the respective elevating screw shafts 9b. The sprocket 16a is linked and interlocked by an interlocking mechanism 16 including a chain 16b wound around the sprocket 16a. Therefore, when the height of the container B is changed to a different value, the height of the container B is changed by the elevating motor 9c via the interlocking mechanism 16.
By rotating the lifting screw shaft 9b, the lifting member 10 is raised and lowered, and the height from the container holder 3 to the filling nozzle 1 can be adjusted.

On the outer periphery of the elevating member 10, a cleaning cap 4 is provided at a position shifted by 1/2 the pitch P from the container holder 3.
Are provided, and a neck holding tool 17 which is a container holding tool capable of holding the neck of the container B is provided corresponding to the container holding section 3.
Although not shown in detail, the neck gripper 17 and the main body gripper 14 are a pair of left and right gripping arms 17a, 14a.
Is biased toward the closing side by a biasing means such as a spring, and the container B is pushed and pulled between the gripping arms 17a and 14a by a push-pull operation by the star wheel 18 disposed at the entrance, and is pulled out to hold the container B in the open state. , Can be disengaged and closed.

As shown in FIG. 3 to FIG. 5, four guide rods 22 are suspended from the bottom surface of the elevating member 10 for each of the four cleaning caps 4 as shown in FIGS. An elevating frame 24 is supported by a 22 via a guide cylinder 23 so as to be able to move up and down. And
The output rod of the cap elevating device (air cylinder) 25 supported by the lower end of the guide rod 22
The cleaning cap 4 is disposed on the lifting frame 24 via four projecting arms 26 projecting in the radial direction.

A rotary drum 5 is supported on the rotary table 2 so as to be rotatable around the same axis within a range of 1/2 pitch P. That is, the rotating drum 5 is rotatably supported via the rotating shaft 32 on the rotating bearing 31 erected on the shaft center of the elevating member 10. The rotating drum 5 is composed of a top plate 5a on which a rotating shaft 32 is suspended and an outer peripheral plate 5b suspended around the top plate 5a. A rotating table is provided at a predetermined position inside the outer peripheral plate 5b. A guide roller 33 for guiding rotation on the upper surface 2 is provided. The filling nozzle 1 is fixed to the outer peripheral plate 5b via a nozzle support member 34 in correspondence with the container holder 3. Then, a piston rod of a drum rotating device (air cylinder) 6 which is a rotating body rotating device provided on the elevating member 10 is connected to the outer peripheral plate 5a,
By this drum rotating device 6, the rotating drum 5 can be rotated about the same axis with respect to the rotating table 2 by a half pitch P in the direction of arrow A, whereby the upper portion of the cleaning cap 4 is filled. The nozzle 1 can be opposed.
At this time, the neck holder 17 attached to the turntable 2 does not interfere with the cleaning cap 4 or the protruding arm 26 thereof.

This filling nozzle 1 is, as shown in FIG.
The valve cylinder 41 having the filling passage 42 formed therein in the nozzle body 40 is driven up and down along the axis by a linear opening / closing device 43 and an opening / closing spring 44, and the lower end valve body 41 a is brought into contact with the valve seat 45. The filling passage 42 can be opened and closed by making contact and separation. The filling port 40 at the lower end of the nozzle body 40
A, a nozzle adapter 48 is suspended from a cylindrical skirt 46 via a waste liquid recovery passage 47, and a tip nozzle 50 urged downward by an urging spring 49 is disposed in the nozzle adapter 48. I have. Therefore, the cleaning cap 4 is pushed up from below and fitted into the skirt 46,
Further, the tip nozzle 50 is pushed upward by the cleaning cap 4 against the urging spring 49, so that the valve cylinder 41 is pushed upward at the upper end of the tip nozzle 50, and the valve body 4
1a can be separated from the valve seat 45 to open the valve. As a result, the liquid supplied to the filling passage 42 is
5. The cleaning liquid is sent out through the tip nozzle 50 and is washed. The cleaning liquid is fed from the inside of the skirt 46 closed by the cleaning cap 4 to the waste liquid recovery passage 47 and discharged from the waste liquid discharge pipe 51 to the waste liquid header pipe 52.

Next, in the nozzle cleaning operation performed before and / or after the filling operation, the supply of the container B is stopped, and the drum rotating device 6 is operated to move the rotating drum 5 around the same axis. The filling nozzle 1 is moved in the circumferential direction by rotating in the direction of arrow A by a half pitch P. As a result, the filling nozzle 1 is disposed above the cleaning cap 4 so as to face the same, and then the cap lifting device 25 is extended to raise the cleaning cap 4 via the lifting frame 24 and the projecting arm 26. Then, the cleaning cap 4 is inserted into the filling port 4.
Then, the valve is opened by pushing up the tip nozzle 50 upward by fitting it into the valve 0a. As a result, the liquid is fed from the filling passage 42 to the tip nozzle 50 for cleaning, and further from the inside of the skirt 46 closed by the cleaning cap 4 to the waste liquid header pipe 52 via the waste liquid recovery passage 47 and the waste liquid discharge pipe 51. Discharge.

After the cleaning, the cap lifting device 25 is contracted to remove the cleaning cap 4 from the filling nozzle 1, and the rotating drum 5 is further moved by the drum rotating device 6 in the direction of arrow B.
The filling nozzle 1 is returned to the original position by rotating by a half pitch P.

According to the above embodiment, each filling nozzle 1 is rotated by the drum rotating device 6 via the rotating drum 5 so as to be opposed to the upper side of the cleaning cap 4. Can be mounted on the filling nozzle 1 for cleaning. Therefore, the circumferential movement of the filling nozzle 1 can be performed at once by the rotating drum 5, so that the overall structure can be extremely simplified and maintenance can be easily performed. In addition, the operation stroke of the cleaning cap 4 can be shortened by a circumferential movement of 1/2 pitch P and an elevating stroke for mounting, and the cleaning cap 4 can be mounted on and removed from the filling nozzle 1 in a short time. As a result, cleaning can be performed quickly.
Therefore, when the liquid is filled at a constant temperature, the temperature fluctuation of the liquid caused by the temperature change of the filling nozzle 1 in the nozzle cleaning can be extremely reduced. Container holding part 3
The main body gripping tool 14 and the neck gripping tool 17 provided on the rotating table 2 are provided integrally with the cleaning cap 4, so that they do not interfere with movement in the circumferential direction when the cap is mounted, so that the member arrangement can be improved. The degree of freedom increases.

7 to 9 show another embodiment of the cap mounting portion 21. FIG. This embodiment is adopted in the case of a rotary filling machine in which the pitch is small and the cleaning cap 4 interferes with the container B and cannot be disposed between the container holding sections 3. The same members as those in the previous embodiment are described with the same reference numerals.

That is, in the cap mounting portion 61, for each of the six cleaning caps 4, four guide rods 22 are suspended from the bottom surface of the elevating member 10, and these guide rods 2
An elevating frame 24 is supported at 2 via a guide tube 23 so as to be able to move up and down. Then, an output rod of a cap elevating device (air cylinder) 25 supported at the lower end of the guide rod 22 is connected to an elevating frame 24, and the elevating frame 24 is provided with a cap retracting device ( Air cylinders) 62 are provided, and the output rods are provided with cleaning caps 4 via protruding arms 26 '.

Therefore, at the time of cleaning, the cap retracting device 6
2, the cleaning cap 4 is moved on the swirl path of the filling nozzle 1, and the drum rotating device 6 is operated to rotate the rotating drum 5 by ピ ッ チ pitch P, thereby cleaning the cap 4. The filling nozzle 1 is made to face above the. Next, by raising the cleaning cap 4 by the cap lifting / lowering device 25, the cleaning cap 4 can be fitted into the filling port 40a of the filling nozzle 1.

According to the above configuration, even when the pitch of the container holder 3 is small and the cleaning cap 4 cannot be arranged between the containers B held by the container holder 3, the cap retraction device 62 can be used. The cleaning cap 4 can be disposed so as to be retracted from the space between the containers B toward the swivel table 2 and can be applied even when the pitch of the container holding portions 3 is small.

In the above embodiment, the rotary drum 5 is rotated by a half pitch with respect to the rotary table 2.
Rotating table 2 is set at 1/2 pitch P with respect to rotating drum 5
It may be rotated. The rotation range is not limited to the half pitch P as long as there is no contact with the container B.

[0024]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the upper rotating body or the lower rotating body is rotated by a predetermined angle around the same axis by the rotating body rotating device, and the adjacent filling nozzles are rotated. The washing cap can be attached to the filling nozzle for washing by raising the washing cap by vertically opposing the washing cap and the washing cap. Therefore, the overall configuration can be extremely simplified, maintenance can be easily performed, all the cleaning caps can be attached to and detached from the cleaning nozzle in a short time, and the cleaning can be performed quickly.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, even if the container is placed in the container holding portion below the filling nozzle, even if the cleaning cap cannot be placed due to interference with the container, the cleaning device can be used to clean the container. The cap for use can be retracted to the lower rotating body side, and it can be applied to a rotary filling machine in which the filling pitch of the filling nozzles is small or a rotary filling machine for filling a large container.

Further, according to the third aspect of the present invention, since the container gripper is provided integrally with the cleaning cap,
There is no interference when moving in the circumferential direction.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing an embodiment of a rotary filling machine according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan sectional view of the rotary filling machine.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing a cap mounting portion of the nozzle cleaning device.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a cap mounting portion of the nozzle cleaning device.

FIG. 5 is a front view showing a cap mounting portion of the nozzle cleaning device.

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a filling nozzle of the rotary filling machine.

FIG. 7 is a side view of a cap mounting portion showing another embodiment of the nozzle cleaning device.

FIG. 8 is a plan view showing the cap mounting portion.

FIG. 9 is a front view showing the cap mounting unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 B Container 1 Filling nozzle 2 Rotating table (lower rotating body) 3 Container holder 4 Cleaning cap 5 Rotating drum (upper rotating body) 6 Drum rotating device (rotating body rotating device) 13 Weight scale 14 Main body gripping tool ( Container Holder) 17 Neck Holder (Container Holder) 21 Cap Attachment Unit 25 Cap Lifting Device 32 Rotating Axis 40 Nozzle Body 40a Filling Port 41 Valve Cylinder 42 Filling Passage 47 Waste Liquid Collection Passage 50 Tip Nozzle 61 Cap Mounting Unit 62 Cap Exit device

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A nozzle cleaning apparatus for a rotary type filling machine capable of cleaning a filling nozzle by closing a filling port of the filling nozzle with a cleaning cap and supplying a liquid to a filling passage. A lower rotator having a container holder for holding the container, and an upper rotator disposed on the lower rotator so as to be rotatable around a same axis within a predetermined range and having a filling nozzle corresponding to the container holder. A rotating body rotating device that rotates one of the lower rotating body and the upper rotating body; and a cleaning cap disposed between the container holding portions of the lower rotating body so as to be vertically movable by a cap lifting device. In the washing, one of the lower rotating body and the upper rotating body is rotated by a predetermined angle by the rotating body rotating device so that the filling nozzle and the cleaning cap are vertically opposed to each other. Rotor Nozzle cleaning device over type filling machine. 2. A nozzle for a rotary filling machine according to claim 1, further comprising a cap retracting device for retracting the cleaning cap in a radial direction between the lower rotating body and the cleaning cap. Cleaning equipment. 3. The rotary filling machine according to claim 1, wherein a container gripper capable of holding the container is provided integrally with the lower rotating body above the container holding portion of the lower rotating body. Nozzle cleaning device.