JP2002225989A - Combined use type filling apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a filling apparatus for filling a liquid in a sealed container usable both for a class 1 container A such as a top open type can having no shoulder portion and the like and for a bottle type class 2 container B having a shoulder portion. SOLUTION: A liquid valve 12 opens and closes a filling liquid passage 6 formed within a valve body 4. There are inserted in the outer circumference of the valve body 4 elevating members 34A and 34B equipped with packing 40 and 32 and forced to contact opening portions Aa and Ba of a container A and a container B for sealing the inner sides of the containers. The valve body 4 has a large diameter portion 4a in which the elevating members are inserted and a small diameter portion 4b having a stopper 4c at its lower end. The elevating members 34A and 34B are attachable and removable. When a liquid is filled in a class 1 container A, the inner side of the class 1 container A is sealed by mounting the packing 40 having a size to pass through the small diameter portion 4b and the elevating member 34A equipped with a seal member 36 for sealing the outer circumference of the valve body 4. When the liquid is filled in a class 2 container B, the inner side of the class 2 container B is sealed by mounting the elevating member 34B equipped with the packing 32 capable of contacting the stopper 4c of the valve body 4.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a filling device for filling a liquid in a sealed state of a container, and more particularly to a container without a shoulder having a large opening such as a top open can (hereinafter referred to as a first container). And a bottle-type container having a shoulder such as a PET bottle, a resealable can, or a bottle that can be resealable with a cap such as a bottle can (hereinafter referred to as a second container).
(Referred to as a seed container).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, a filling apparatus includes a filling valve having a filling liquid passage formed in a valve body and a liquid valve for opening and closing the filling liquid passage. The filling liquid is injected into the container from the liquid passage. When filling the container with the carbon dioxide-containing beverage using this filling device, it is necessary to seal the upper end opening of the container. For example, a cylindrical elevating member is provided in the filling valve, For members,
A centering guide that guides the upper end opening of the container, and a packing that seals the upper end opening are attached, and the packing is pressed on the entire periphery of the upper end opening of the container to seal the inside of the container. Is to be filled.

[0003] The first such as top open cans without shoulders
Since the seed container and the bottle-type second container having a shoulder have different diameters at the mouth (opening at the upper end), a filling device for filling a carbonated gas beverage or the like as described above is used for both of these. In order to use the packing and the centering guide for sealing the inside of the container, the cylindrical lifting member to which the packing and the centering guide are attached must be replaced in order to use the packing and the centering guide together.

A filling device in which a cylindrical elevating member provided with a packing for sealing the opening of a container and a centering guide is replaceable has been conventionally known (Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. SHO-6-64).
3-64698).

In the filling device described in the above publication (Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. 63-64698), a packing (seal member in this publication) is held at the lower end of a cylindrical elevating member (in this publication, a seal member holder). Centering guides are attached and these are integrally replaced.
The upper end of the seal member holder is housed in a holding cylinder fixed to the valve body while maintaining airtightness, and the outer side airtightness is maintained by the packing held in the packing housing.

[0006]

In the case of a structure in which the elevating member, to which the packing for sealing the container opening is attached, is moved up and down with respect to the valve body (the valve body in the above-mentioned publication), the packing is attached to the container opening. Are pressed against each other to seal the inside of the container and to maintain airtightness between the valve body and the elevating member fitted around the valve body. In the configuration of the filling device described in the above publication, the upper portion of the elevating member (seal member holder) is housed in a holding cylinder fixed to the outer periphery of the valve body while maintaining airtightness, and is held in the packing housing. Since the airtightness of the valve body side is maintained by the provided packing, the structure is complicated, and when replacing the seal member holder and the packing (seal member), the packing housing must be removed. There is a problem that it takes time to work.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems. The first and second containers can be exchanged by a simple operation of a lifting member and a packing, and have a simple structure. It is an object of the present invention to provide a dual-purpose filling device capable of reliably sealing the inside.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A dual-purpose filling apparatus according to the present invention includes a filling liquid passage formed in a valve body, a liquid valve for opening and closing the filling liquid passage, and a liquid valve formed inside the liquid valve. Filling having an exhaust passage, a cylindrical elevating member which is removably fitted to the outer periphery of the valve body, and a packing which is attached to the elevating member and abuts on an upper end opening of a container filled with liquid. Equipped with a valve,
In particular, when the valve body is formed with a large-diameter portion into which the elevating member is fitted, and a small-diameter portion that is continuous below the small-diameter portion and has a stopper at the lower end, when filling the first-class container without the shoulder portion, Is mounted with an elevating member to which a packing having a size capable of passing through the outer periphery of the small diameter portion of the valve body and a seal member for sealing between the outer periphery of the valve body and the packing and the seal member. When sealing the inside of the container and filling it into a second type container having a shoulder, a lifting member equipped with a packing capable of contacting a stopper of the valve body is attached, and the packing is connected to the opening of the container and the valve. The inside of the container is sealed by contacting the body.

Further, the invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that a driving means for opening and closing the liquid valve and a flow meter for detecting a filling amount flowing through the liquid valve are provided.

[0010] In the dual-purpose filling device according to the present invention, the large-diameter portion in which the elevating member is fitted and the small-diameter portion which is continuous below and has a stopper at the lower end are formed in the valve body. When filling the second type container, the packing attached to the elevating member can be simultaneously pressed into contact with both the opening of the container and the stopper of the valve body. Can be held.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to an embodiment shown in the drawings. 1 and 2 are longitudinal sectional views showing a filling valve (indicated by a reference numeral 1 as a whole) provided in a dual-purpose filling apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. When the container opening packing unit 2A for the first type container A such as a top-open type can is installed, FIG. 2 shows the mounting of the container opening packing unit 2B for the bottle type second container B having the shoulder Bb. Each case is shown.

A plurality of filling valves 1 of the dual-purpose filling apparatus according to this embodiment are provided at equal intervals in the circumferential direction near the outer periphery of a rotating body 58 (see FIG. 3 described later). The filling liquid passage 6 is formed inside the valve body 4, and the filling liquid supplied from a filling liquid tank (not shown) via a liquid supply pipe 8 passes through the filling liquid passage 6 to the first type container A. Alternatively, the liquid is injected into the second type container B. The liquid supply pipe 8 is provided with a flow meter 10 for measuring the amount of liquid filled in the containers A and B.

A liquid valve 12 is provided in a filling liquid passage 6 formed in the valve body 4 so as to be movable up and down.
Is opened and the containers A and B are filled with the liquid, and the liquid valve 12 is lowered and seated on the valve seat 14 formed in the lower inner surface of the filling liquid passage 6, so that the filling liquid passage 6 is closed. Filling stops.

The liquid valve 12 is a liquid valve operating cylinder (driving means) provided in the upper part of the valve body 4.
16 is activated. The liquid valve operating cylinder 16 is provided in a space formed above the valve body 4.
A piston 18 is fitted slidably up and down via an O-ring 20, and the piston 18 partitions the upper space into two upper and lower pressure chambers 22 and 24. The two pressure chambers 22 and 24 are connected to an air supply source (not shown) via air introduction ports 26 and 28, respectively. When air is introduced into one of the pressure chambers 22 or 24, the piston 18 moves up and down. I do. The piston 18 is connected to the liquid valve 12, and when the piston 18 moves up and down, the liquid valve 12 moves up and down to open and close the filling liquid passage 6. Reference numeral 30 denotes a diaphragm that shuts off the side of the liquid valve operating cylinder 16 having the sliding portion and the side of the filling liquid passage 6.

An exhaust passage 13 is formed through the inside of the liquid valve 12, and a vent tube 15A (see FIG. 1) or 15B (see FIG. 2) is inserted into the lower end of the exhaust passage 13. . Vent tube 15A, 1
Spreaders 15Aa and 15Ba are provided on the outer peripheral surface of the lower end portion of 5B so that the liquid flowing down the filling liquid passage 6 at the time of filling is diffused so as to follow the inner surfaces of the containers A and B. These vent tubes 15A and 15B are detachable, and are removed and replaced according to the shapes of the containers A and B.

In the lower part of the valve body 4, a large-diameter portion 4a in which the container opening packing units 2A and 2B are slidably fitted, and a small-diameter portion 4b continuous below the large-diameter portion 4a are formed. ing. Further, at the lower end of the small diameter portion 4b, a packing 3 for a bottle-type second type container B having a shoulder portion Bb is provided.
2 (see FIG. 2) is provided with a stopper portion 4c to which the upper surface is pressed.

At the outer periphery of the large diameter portion 4a formed at the lower portion of the valve body 4, a container port packing unit 2A or 2A is provided.
B is fitted so as to be able to move up and down. The container opening packing unit 2A shown in FIG. 1 is used for a first type container A such as a top-open can, and has a cylindrical elevating member 34A having a substantially same diameter as a whole. A seal member 36 is fitted to a sliding portion of the inner peripheral surface of the elevating member 34A to the valve body 4 to maintain airtightness with the valve body 4.

A centering guide 38 for centering the container A is fixed to the lower end of the lifting member 34A. The centering guide 38 has an inner peripheral surface gradually decreasing in diameter upward, and the container opening packing unit 2A is lowered (or the container A is raised) so that the container A
Is fitted into the elevating member 34A, the container A is centered. Further, the centering guide 38
A packing (container port packing) 40 which is in close contact with the container port (the upper end opening of the container A) Aa and seals the inside of the container A is attached to the upper inner peripheral side. The inner peripheral surface at the lower end of the elevating member 34A to which the packing 40 is attached is larger in diameter than the outer diameter of the small-diameter portion 4b of the valve body 4. When the elevating member 34A moves up and down, the small diameter of the valve body 4 is reduced. The portion 4b can pass through.

The elevating member 34A to which the centering guide 38 and the packing 40 are attached is moved up and down by elevating means (air cylinder 42 in this embodiment). A cylindrical guide tube 44 is fixed to the side surface of the valve body 4.
6 is supported so as to be able to move up and down. An elevating member 34A of the container port packing unit 2A is detachably attached to a lower end of the elevating rod 46 via a connecting member 48. In this embodiment, the annular portion 4 of the connecting member 48
The upper end of the elevating member 34A is screwed and attached inside 8a. On the other hand, the upper end of the lifting rod 46 is connected to the piston rod 42a of the air cylinder 42, and the operation of the air cylinder 42 causes the lifting member 34A to move up and down via the lifting rod 46. The mounting of the container opening packing units 2A and 2B is not limited to a screw, and may be performed by other methods such as a clamp.

A cam follower 50 is fixed to a connecting member 48 attached to the lower end of the lifting rod 46.
By engaging the cam follower 50 with a cam (not shown), the container opening packing unit 2A or 2B screwed to the connecting member 48 can be moved up and down.

The container opening packing unit 2B shown in FIG. 2 is used for a bottle-type second type container B, and is fitted to the outer periphery of the large diameter portion 4a of the valve body 4 and slides with a large diameter. An elevating member 34B having a cylindrical portion 34Ba and a small-diameter cylindrical portion 34Bb provided thereunder via a tapered portion.
It has. A centering guide 52 is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the lower end of the elevating member 34B to guide the mouth Ba of the container B ascending by the container plate 54 (see FIG. 3) with the air lifter 56. In addition, a packing (sealing) for sealing the inside of the container B is provided on the upper inner surface of the small-diameter cylindrical portion 34Bb of the elevating member 34B so as to be in close contact with both the container opening (upper opening portion of the container) Ba and the stopper portion 4c of the valve body 4. Container port packing) 32 is attached.

The container plates 54 are provided below the filling valves 1, respectively. These container plates 54 will be described with reference to FIG. Each of these container plates 54 is moved up and down by an air lifter 56. An air lifter 56 for raising and lowering each of the container plates 54 is fixed upright to a lower part of the rotating body 58 with a cylinder 60 supported in a through hole 58a formed in an outer peripheral portion of the rotating body 58 so as to be able to move up and down. The cylinder 60 is fitted to the outer periphery of the rod 62 via a seal member 64 while maintaining the airtightness. An air pressure chamber 66 is formed above the inside of the cylinder 60, and an air passage 62 formed in the rod 62 is formed in the pressure chamber 66.
Air is supplied or discharged through a. The container plate 54 is attached to the upper ends of these cylinders 60. When air is introduced into the air pressure chamber 66, the cylinder 60 and the container plate 54 rise, and when the air is discharged, the cylinder 60 and the container plate 54 descend. .

The air lifter 5 provided on the rotating body 58
An annular elevating cam 68 is disposed on the inner peripheral side of the rotation path of the cylinder 6, and when air is introduced into the pressure chamber 66 in the cylinder 60, the cylinder 60 ascends, and the cam follower 70 fixed to the outer surface of the cylinder 60 elevates. It is pressed against a cam surface 68a formed on the lower surface side of the cam 68 (see FIG. 3A). The cam follower 70 moves along the cam surface 68a of the elevating cam 68 with the rotation of the rotating body 58, so that the cylinder 60 and the container plate 54 move up and down according to their shapes. When air is not introduced into the cylinder 60, the cylinder 60 and the container plate 54
Is lowered to the lowest position, so that the cam follower 70 does not contact the cam surface 68a of the elevating cam 68 (see FIG. 3B).

When filling the second type container B of the bottle type with the liquid by this filling device, air is introduced into the pressure chamber 66 of the air lifter 56 to constantly urge the container plate 54 upward. The cam follower 7 by the lifting cam 68
By forcibly lowering 0, the container plate 54 is moved up and down. In addition, the first kind container A such as top open can
When filling is performed, air is not supplied to the pressure chamber 66 of the air lifter 56 that raises and lowers the container plate 54, and is lowered to a position where the cam follower 70 of the cylinder 60 does not contact the lifting cam 68 (FIG. b)).

The operation of the dual-purpose filling device provided with the filling valve 1 having the above-described structure will be described. First, a case of filling a first type container A such as a top open can without a shoulder will be described with reference to FIG. When filling the first type container A, the container opening packing unit 2A having the cylindrical elevating member 34A is attached to the connecting member 48. Further, no air is supplied to the air lifter 56 of the container plate 54. The container plate 54 is lowered. In this embodiment, air is introduced into the air cylinder 42 so that the container opening packing unit 2A is always lowered, and when supplying and discharging the container A to the container plate 54, Cam follower with no cam 50
To raise the container port packing unit 2A.

As described above, the container opening packing unit 2A
Plate 54 is pushed up by the cam.
The first type container A is supplied above. Thereafter, when passing through the section raised by the cam, the container opening packing unit 2A is lowered by the pressing force of the air cylinder 42, and the packing 40 is pressed against the upper end opening Aa of the container A. The inside of the container A is sealed by the packing 40 and the seal member 36 fitted to the inner surface of the elevating member 34A to maintain the airtightness between the valve body 4 and the valve body 4.

Next, air is introduced into the lower pressure chamber 24 of the liquid valve operating cylinder 16 to raise the liquid valve 12. The liquid supplied from the filling liquid tank (not shown) via the liquid supply pipe 8 is measured by the flow meter 10 and flows down through the filling liquid passage 6. The liquid that has passed between the liquid valve 12 and the valve seat 14 spreads outward by the spreader 15Aa of the vent tube 15A, and flows along the inner surface of the container A to be filled. The liquid is filled in the container A, and the air remaining in the sealed container A is exhausted from the exhaust passage 13. When the detection value of the flow meter 10 reaches a predetermined amount, air is introduced into the pressure chamber 22 above the cylinder 16 for operating the liquid valve to lower the liquid valve 12 to close the filling liquid passage 6, thereby completing the filling.

On the other hand, when filling the bottle-type second type container B having the shoulder portion Bb, the container opening packing unit 2A for the first type container A is detached from the connecting member 48, and another second type container B is inserted. Container opening packing unit 2B for seed container B
Attach. Switching from the first type container A to the second type container B is performed by the elevating member 34 to which the packing 40 is attached.
A is removed from the connecting member 48, and the other elevating member 34B is simply fitted to the large diameter portion 4a of the valve body 4 and connected to the connecting member 48. Therefore, switching can be performed with a very simple operation in a short time. The reverse switching can be performed very easily. Further, the vent tube 1 for the first type container A attached to the liquid valve 12
5A, vent tube 15B for the second type container B
Replace with

When filling the second type container B, the lifting rod 46 is raised by the air cylinder 42, and the upper surface of the packing 32 attached to the lower inner surface of the lifting member 34B of the container opening packing unit 2B is cleaned. The lower end of the valve body 4 is brought into contact with a stopper 4c.

As described above, since the second type container B is filled by inserting the vent tube 15B into the container B as described above, the container plate 54 is moved up and down by the air lifter 56 for filling. The container B is supplied at the lower position of the container plate 54, and then the container plate 54 is raised. The container B is raised by the rise of the container plate 54, and the opening Ba is guided by the centering guide 52 and pressed against the lower surface of the upper packing 32, and the upper surface of the packing 32 is connected to the stopper 4 c of the valve body 4.
, The inside of the container B is sealed. As described above, the small-diameter portion 4b is formed at the lower portion of the valve body 4 and the stopper 4c is provided at the lower end surface of the small-diameter portion 4b.
Both sides can be sealed simultaneously.

After sealing the inside of the container B, the first type container A
The filling is performed in the same manner as in the case of. The flow rate during the filling is measured by the flow meter 10, and after a predetermined amount of the filling is performed, the liquid valve 12 is closed to terminate the filling.

In the above embodiment, the second type container B
When filling the container body, the container opening packing unit 2B is raised and the packing 32 is moved to the stopper 4 of the valve body 4.
Although the filling is performed in a state where the container a is brought into contact with the container c, the container opening packing unit 2B is not limited to always being raised, but may be freely lifted and lowered by its own weight. Is also good. In this case, the mouth portion B of the container B which has been raised by raising the container plate 54
a, the packing 32 is pushed up.
Is pressed against the stopper 4c of the valve body 4 to seal the inside of the container B. The filling device according to the embodiment is not limited to filling carbonated beverages,
It goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to a liquid to be filled in a state where the inside of the container is sealed.

[0033]

As described above, according to the present invention, a filling liquid passage formed in a valve body, a liquid valve for opening and closing the filling liquid passage, and an exhaust passage formed inside the liquid valve are provided. A filling valve having a cylindrical elevating member which is removably fitted to the outer periphery of the valve body and which is detachably fitted thereto; and a packing which is attached to the elevating member and abuts on an upper end opening of a container filled with liquid. In the filling device, the valve body is formed with a large-diameter portion into which an elevating member is fitted, and a small-diameter portion continuous below the small-diameter portion and having a stopper at a lower end to fill a first-class container having no shoulder. When mounting, a lifting member to which a packing having a size passing through the outer periphery of the small diameter portion of the valve body and a sealing member for sealing between the outer periphery of the valve body and the packing are attached. When sealing the inside of the container and filling it into the second type container having a shoulder, a lifting member attached with a packing capable of abutting against the stopper of the valve body is attached, and this packing is connected to the opening of the container. Since the inside of the container is sealed by making contact with the valve body, the first
Both the seed container and the second container can be securely sealed with a simple structure, and can be used for both types of containers.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a filling valve when a dual-purpose filling device according to one embodiment of the present invention is applied to a first-class container such as a top-open can without a shoulder.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a filling valve when the dual-purpose filling device is applied to a bottle-type second container having a shoulder.

FIG. 3 is a view for explaining the operation of the container plate;
(A) shows a case where the present invention is applied to a second kind container, and (b) shows a case where it is applied to a first kind container.

[Explanation of symbols]

 A Type 1 Container Aa Opening of Type 1 Container B Type 2 Container Ba Opening of Type 2 Container Bb Shoulder of Type 2 Container 1 Filling Valve 4 Valve Body 4a Large Diameter Part of Valve Body 4b Valve Body 4c Valve body stopper 6 Filling liquid passage 10 Flow meter 12 Liquid valve 13 Exhaust passage 16 Driving means 32 Packing for second kind container 34A Elevating member for first kind container 34B Elevating member for second kind container 36 Sealing member 40 Packing for Class 1 container

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Masaaki Eda 58 Koshizawa Ozuda Honmachi, Kanazawa-shi, Ishikawa F-term in Shibuya Kogyo Co., Ltd.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A filling liquid passage formed in a valve body, a liquid valve for opening and closing the filling liquid passage, an exhaust passage formed inside the liquid valve, and a vertically movable and detachably mounted outer periphery of the valve body. A filling valve having a cylindrical elevating member fitted into the elevating member and a packing attached to the elevating member and abutting on an upper end opening of a container filled with liquid; A large-diameter portion into which the member is fitted,
A small-diameter portion having a stopper at the lower end which is continuous therebelow, and when filling a first-class container having no shoulder, a packing having a size capable of passing through the outer periphery of the small-diameter portion of the valve body; A lifting member having a seal member for sealing a gap between the valve body and the outer periphery of the valve body, the inside of the container is sealed by the packing and the seal member, and a second portion having a shoulder portion is provided.
When filling the seed container, attach an elevating member equipped with a packing that can contact the stopper of the valve body,
A dual-purpose filling device, wherein the packing is brought into contact with the opening of the container and the valve body to seal the inside of the container. 2. A driving means for opening and closing the liquid valve;
The dual-purpose filling device according to claim 1, further comprising a flow meter for detecting a filling amount flowing through the liquid valve.