JP2006062660A - Filling valve - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve a gas flushing rate before starting to fill by a filling valve 1 without a vent tube. <P>SOLUTION: A filler liquid passage 4 communicating with a filler liquid supply piping 8 is formed inside a valve housing 2. A working rod 12 is inserted into the passage 4 so as to be raised and lowered and is raised/lowered by an air cylinder 18. A valve element 14 is formed at the lower end of the working rod 12, and a liquid valve 10 is formed of the valve element 14 and a valve seat 16 provided on an internal surface at the lower end of the passage 4. A flushing passage 80 is formed inside the working rod 12 through the valve element 14 to permit a replacement gas to be supplied. A bottle mouth packing unit 40 is fitted over the outer periphery of the valve housing 2 so as to be raised and lowered. A bottle mouth packing 42 or 44 provided in the unit 40 is brought into pressure contact with the mouth of a container to hermetically seal the inside of the container, and the replacement gas is supplied into the container. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a filling valve provided in a filling device that performs filling after replacing the atmosphere in a container such as gas filling, and in particular, a discharge port of a filling liquid passage provided in a housing is filled with the filling in the container. The present invention relates to a filling valve for filling on the mouth, which is filled above the liquid level.

  After replacing the atmosphere in the container by supplying a replacement gas such as carbon dioxide into the container, the container is filled while the liquid valve is opened and the container is filled with the liquid from the filling nozzle. 2. Description of the Related Art A filling valve that discharges a replacement gas from an exhaust passage is conventionally known (see, for example, Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2).

  A filling device described in Patent Document 1 is provided in a filling valve having a filling liquid passage, a hollow valve having a gas passage inside and functioning also as a liquid valve for opening and closing the filling liquid passage, and a container A centering bell that performs centering, a packing that is attached to the inside of the centering bell and seals the mouth of the container, a return gas passage that can communicate with the inside of the container, a sniff gas passage, and a switching valve that opens and closes these passages, and a tank A counter gas passage for communicating the inside with the gas passage of the hollow valve and a counter switching valve for opening and closing the counter gas passage are provided.

  In the filling apparatus according to the present invention, when filling a beverage containing carbon dioxide gas, the carried-in container is raised by raising the lifting platform, and the packing is abutted to seal the mouth. At this time, as the container rises, the tip of the hollow valve enters the container. Subsequently, the counter gas in the filler bowl is sent into the container through the gas passage of the hollow valve, air is expelled from the container and replaced with the counter gas, and then the liquid valve is opened. Then, the carbon dioxide gas beverage in the filler bowl flows down into the container through the filling liquid passage and is filled.

  The filling device disclosed in Patent Document 1 is filled by inserting the tip of a hollow valve (corresponding to a vent tube of a filling valve) into a container. Therefore, there is a problem that when the container is used for different size containers, the vent tube must be exchanged according to the size of the container.

  Therefore, the applicant of the present invention has filed a patent application regarding the invention of a filling valve that performs filling by eliminating the vent tube and positioning the discharge port at the tip of the filling nozzle above the container (Patent Document 2). In the filling valve according to the invention disclosed in Patent Document 2, a filling liquid passage is formed inside the valve housing, and the filling liquid sent from the filling liquid tank is filled into the container through the filling liquid passage. .

  A valve body is formed at a lower end of a rod inserted in the filling liquid passage so as to be movable up and down, and a liquid valve is formed by the valve body and a valve seat provided on a lower inner surface of the filling liquid passage. Is opened and closed with a valve opening and closing air cylinder to open and close the liquid valve. On the outer periphery of the valve housing, a container port packing unit having a sealing member for sealing the container mouth is fitted so as to be movable up and down. Further, a counter passage and a sniff passage are provided inside the valve housing, and an opening / closing valve for opening and closing each of the passages is provided.

When performing gas filling with the filling valve, the container opening packing unit is lowered to seal the inside of the container, and the opening and closing valves of the counter passage and the snift passage are opened, and the carbon dioxide gas in the filling liquid tank is opened from the counter passage. Is introduced into the container, and the air in the container is discharged through the snift passage to replace the gas in the container. Subsequently, the sniffer passage is closed, the liquid valve is opened, the filling liquid sent from the filling liquid tank is filled into the container through the filling liquid passage, and the carbon dioxide in the container is counter passage (exhaust passage). To return to the filling liquid tank.
JP-A-11-342994 (page 4-6, FIG. 1) JP 2004-136927 A (page 4-7, FIG. 1)

  In the invention described in Patent Document 2, since a counter passage (exhaust passage) passing through the wall surface of the valve housing is provided and connected to the head space of the filling liquid tank, the vent provided in the conventional filling valve is provided. The tube can be eliminated, and there is an effect that there is no need to replace the attachment when the container is also used. However, since the counter passage for performing gas replacement by blowing carbon dioxide into the container before the start of filling is disposed inside the wall surface of the valve housing, that is, outside the opening of the filling nozzle, the replacement gas is not contained in the container. Since it is difficult to reach the bottom surface, the replacement efficiency is low, and there is a problem that it is not suitable for a filling liquid that requires a high replacement rate like beer filling.

  The present invention relates to a cylindrical housing having a filling liquid passage formed therein, an operation rod inserted into the housing and moved up and down by an elevating means, a valve body provided on the operation rod, and a lower end of the housing A liquid valve comprising a valve seat formed on the inner surface; a sealing means provided in the housing for sealing the mouth of the container; a sealing lifting means for moving the sealing means and the container relatively up and down; A filling amount detection means for detecting the amount of filling liquid filled in the housing, and an exhaust passage formed in the housing, the opening of which is located outside the discharge port of the housing. In the filling valve for filling the filling liquid positioned above the filling height, a passage for the replacement gas is formed in the operation rod through the valve body, and the replacement valve An opening / closing valve for opening and closing a body passage is provided, and a replacement gas is supplied into the container from the replacement gas passage to replace the air in the container with the replacement gas, and then the liquid valve is opened to release the exhaust gas. The filling is performed while exhausting the replacement gas from the passage.

  The filling valve of the present invention eliminates the vent tube and improves the compatibility with containers of various sizes and shapes, and also provides a ventilation gas passage through the valve body in the operation rod. The efficiency of gas replacement in the container to be performed can be increased.

  A replacement gas passage is formed through the inside of the operating rod, which is inserted into the cylindrical housing and provided with the valve body of the liquid valve, and an open / close valve for opening and closing the replacement gas passage is provided. The object of improving the gas replacement efficiency was realized by supplying the replacement gas into the container from the replacement gas passage and then discharging the replacement gas from the exhaust passage while filling the liquid in the container.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a filling apparatus having a filling valve according to an embodiment of the present invention. A filling valve (indicated by reference numeral 1 as a whole) according to this embodiment is provided in a so-called lifterless type filling device, which horizontally conveys a container (not shown) and a bottle packing described later. The inside of the container is sealed by being lowered and brought into close contact with the mouth of the container, and then the liquid is filled into the container by the filling valve 1.

  The valve housing 2 of the filling valve 1 is formed with a large diameter portion 2a on the upper side and a small diameter portion 2b on the lower side. A filling liquid passage 4 is formed inside the valve housing 2, and the filling liquid sent from the filling liquid tank 6 through the filling liquid supply pipe 8 passes through the filling liquid passage 4 and is discharged from the lower discharge port. Filled in. In this embodiment, the entire valve housing 2 constitutes a filling nozzle.

  A liquid valve 10 that opens and closes the discharge port of the filling liquid passage 4 is provided in the valve housing 2. The liquid valve 10 includes a valve body 14 formed at the lower end of an operating rod 12 inserted in the filling liquid passage 4 so as to be movable up and down, and a valve seat 16 provided on the inner surface of the lower end portion of the filling liquid passage 4. It is constituted by. A seal member 14a is fitted on the outer peripheral surface of the portion of the valve body 14 that is seated on the valve seat 16 so as to maintain liquid tightness. The operating rod 12 having the valve body 14 is raised and lowered by a valve opening / closing air cylinder (operating rod raising / lowering means) 18 provided on the upper portion of the valve housing 2.

  The configuration of the valve opening / closing air cylinder 18 will be briefly described. A cylinder housing 20 is provided at the upper part of the valve housing 2, and a space having a large diameter at the upper part and a small diameter at the lower part is formed inside the cylinder housing 20. A first piston 21 having a small diameter is provided at the upper end portion of the operation rod 12 and is slidably fitted in a small diameter portion on the lower side of the space. A second piston 22 having a larger diameter than the first piston 21 is slidably fitted in the large diameter portion on the upper side of the space. The rod 24 of the second piston 22 protrudes above the cylinder housing 20, and a stopper 26 that restricts the lowering limit of the second piston 22 is provided at the protruding upper end portion. A spring 28 is interposed between the first piston 21 and the second piston 22 to urge the pistons 20 and 22 in a direction away from each other.

  A space formed in the cylinder housing 20 is divided into three pressure chambers of a first pressure chamber 30, a second pressure chamber 32, and a third pressure chamber 34 in order from above by the first and second pistons 20 and 22. Has been. These pressure chambers 30, 32, and 34 are connected to a compressed air supply source (not shown) via air passages 30a, 32a, and 34a, respectively, so that air can be supplied and discharged by switching valves. Yes.

  When the upper first pressure chamber 30 and the lower third pressure chamber 34 are opened to the atmosphere via these air passages 30a, 32a, 34a, and compressed air is introduced into the intermediate second pressure chamber 32, the upper As the second piston 22 is raised, the lower first piston 21 is lowered so that the valve element 14 formed at the lower end of the operating rod 12 is seated on the valve seat 16 and the liquid valve 10 is closed. It has become. When the upper first pressure chamber 30 and the intermediate second pressure chamber 32 are opened to the atmosphere, and compressed air is introduced into the lower third pressure chamber 34, the lower first piston 21 rises and the upper first pressure chamber 30 rises. The two pistons 22 are also pushed up, and the lower first piston 21 rises to the highest position. At this time, the valve body 14 at the lower end of the operating rod 12 is greatly separated from the valve seat 16, the liquid valve 10 is opened at a large opening, and filling with a large flow rate is performed. Further, when compressed air is introduced into the upper first pressure chamber 30 and the lower third pressure chamber 34 and the intermediate second pressure chamber 32 is opened to the atmosphere, the upper second piston 22 descends and the lower second pressure chamber 32 is lowered. The first piston 21 rises, but the lower first piston 21 has a small pressure receiving area, and the rise limit is restricted at the lowering position of the second piston 22, so the liquid valve 10 is opened with a small opening, Filling is performed at a small flow rate.

  A bellows 36 is mounted between the upper surface of the valve housing 2 on the side of the filling liquid passage 4 and the upper portion of the operating rod 12, and the filling liquid passage 4 side through which liquid such as beverage circulates and the valve opening / closing air. The cylinder 18 is completely shut off.

  The filling liquid supply pipe 8 connects the upper end of the filling liquid passage 4 formed in the valve housing 2 and the bottom surface of the filling liquid tank 6. The filling liquid supply pipe 8 is provided with a flow meter 38, and the flow rate of the filling liquid supplied through the filling liquid supply pipe 8 and filled into the container through the filling liquid passage 4 and the liquid valve 10. Is detected. The filling amount detection means for detecting the filling amount is not limited to such a flow meter 38. For example, a non-contact type level sensor that detects the level of the filling liquid from the outside of the container is used. May be.

  A cylindrical bottle opening packing unit 40 is fitted to the outer peripheral surface of the small-diameter portion 2b at the lower portion of the valve housing 2 so as to be movable up and down. A seal member 42 is fitted on the inner peripheral surface of the bottle packing unit 40 to maintain airtightness with the outer peripheral surface of the small diameter portion 2b of the valve housing 2.

  On the lower surface of the bottle opening packing unit 40, bottle packings (seal members) 42, 44 having a diameter substantially coincident with the diameter of the container filled by the filling device provided with the filling valve 1 are attached. In this embodiment, a large-diameter bottle opening packing 42 and a small-diameter bottle opening packing 44 are attached so that the container can be used as both a large-diameter container and a small-diameter container.

  At the upper end of the housing 20 of the valve opening / closing air cylinder 18, an air cylinder (seal elevating means) 48 for elevating and lowering the bottle packing unit 40 is attached via a vertical guide rod 46. A horizontal base 50 is fixed to the upper end of the guide rod 46, and a housing 52 of the elevating air cylinder 48 is fixed on the base 50. A piston 54 is fitted in the housing 52 so as to be movable up and down, and the inside of the housing 52 is divided into two upper and lower pressure chambers 56 and 58. These upper and lower pressure chambers 56, 58 are connected to a compressed air supply source (not shown) via air passages 56a, 58a provided in the housing 52 so that air can be supplied to and discharged from both pressure chambers 56, 58, respectively. It has become. When the compressed air is introduced into the upper pressure chamber 56 from the compressed air supply source, the piston 54 is lowered, and when the compressed air is introduced into the lower pressure chamber 58, the piston 54 is raised. The bottle opening packing unit 40 is connected to the piston 54 side of the lifting air cylinder 48 via a lifting rod 60, and this bottle is introduced by introducing air into the upper pressure chamber 56 during normal operation. The mouth packing unit 40 is urged downward.

  A cam follower 64 for raising and lowering the bottle packing unit is attached to the piston rod 54a of the raising and lowering air cylinder 48 via a bracket 62. When the cam follower 64 is pushed up by engaging with a cam (not shown), The bottle opening packing unit 40 is raised. A cylindrical portion 62a formed on the other end side of the bracket 62 is fitted to the guide rod 46 to guide the raising and lowering of the cam follower 64.

  A gas passage 66 is provided in the valve housing 2. The gas passage 66 faces the opening on the outlet side outside the outlet (discharge port) of the filling liquid passage 4 formed inside the valve housing 2. The gas passage 66 serves as both a counter passage (exhaust passage), a snift passage, and an air release passage, and is branched into three passages 68, 70, 71 outside the valve housing 2. The first passage 68 is a counter passage (exhaust passage) and is connected to a head space (a gas phase portion above the stored filling liquid) 74 of the filling liquid tank 6 through a counter valve (exhaust valve) 72. ing. The second passage 70 is a sniff passage and communicates with the sniff chamber 78 via the sniff valve 76. Further, the third passage 71 is an atmosphere release passage, and when the atmosphere release valve 73 is opened, the gas passage 66 communicates with the atmosphere. As in this embodiment, it is not necessary to use one gas passage 66 in the valve housing 2 as a counter passage, a snift passage, and an atmosphere release passage, and separate passages may be provided.

  Further, a replacement gas passage 80 for supplying a replacement gas into the container is provided in the operation rod 12 provided with the valve body 14 of the liquid valve 10 at the lower end. The replacement gas passage 80 is attached on the filling liquid tank 6 and is connected to a replacement gas chamber 82 in which a replacement gas is stored through a replacement pipe 84. The replacement pipe 84 is made of a tube made of an elastic material so that the operation rod 12 can move up and down, and is opened and closed by a replacement opening / closing valve 86.

  The operation of the filling apparatus including the filling valve 1 having the above configuration will be described. First, the case where gas filling filling which pressurizes and fills filling liquids, such as carbonated drinks, is demonstrated. In the case of gas filling, the filling liquid is accommodated in the filling liquid tank 6, and pressurized carbon dioxide gas is sealed in the upper space 74.

  The filling device according to this embodiment is a lifterless type filling device as described above, and when the horizontally transported container is supplied below the filling valve 1, the bottle packing unit 40 is The cam follower 64 is raised by being pushed up by a cam (not shown), and after the container is supplied below the filling valve 1, the cam follower 64 passes through the ascending section of the cam to raise and lower the air cylinder 48. The bottle opening packing unit 40 is lowered by the urging force. When the bottle packing unit 40 is lowered, the bottle packing 42 or 44 attached to the lower surface of the bottle packing unit 40 is pressed against the mouth of the container to seal the inside of the container.

  At the start of filling, first, the air in the container is replaced with a replacement gas. At this time, the replacement valve 86 is opened, the exhaust valve 72 and the sniffer valve 76 are closed, and the atmosphere release valve 73 is further opened. Then, the replacement gas is introduced into the container from the replacement gas chamber 82 through the replacement pipe 84 and the replacement passage 80 in the operation rod 12, and the air in the container is introduced into the gas passage in the valve housing 2. 66 is discharged through the atmosphere opening passage 71. In this embodiment, the replacement operation is performed by sealing the container with the bottle packing 42 or 44 from the beginning to the end of the replacement operation. However, in the first stage, the replacement gas is not sealed without sealing the container. After introduction, the container can be sealed and replaced.

  After replacing the gas by introducing a replacement gas into the container for a predetermined time, the exhaust valve 72 and the snift valve 76 are closed while the replacement valve 86 is open, and the atmosphere release valve 73 is also closed to perform the counter process. . In the counter process, a replacement gas is further introduced into the sealed container and pressurized. After the lapse of a predetermined time, the replacement valve 86 is closed and the exhaust valve 72 is opened, whereby the inside of the container and the gas phase part 74 of the filling liquid tank 6 are communicated, and the pressure in the container is changed to the gas phase part 74. The pressure is almost the same as In the counter process, instead of introducing the replacement gas, the exhaust valve 72 may be opened to supply the gas sealed in the gas phase portion 74 of the filling liquid tank 6.

  Thereafter, each valve remains in the above state, that is, the replacement valve 86 is closed, the snift valve 76 and the air release valve 73 are closed, and the exhaust valve 72 is opened, and the air cylinder 18 for opening and closing the liquid valve is operated. Then, the operating rod 12 and the valve body 14 integrated with the operating rod 12 are raised, the valve body 14 is moved away from the valve seat 16, the liquid valve 10 is opened, and filling is started.

  When the liquid valve 10 is opened, the filling liquid supplied from the filling liquid tank 6 through the filling liquid supply pipe 8 passes through the filling liquid passage 4 in the valve housing 2 and the discharge port at the lower end of the valve housing 2. The carbon dioxide gas in the container is discharged from the gas passage 66 in the valve housing 2 and the exhaust passage 68 connected to the outside and returned to the gas phase portion 74 in the filling liquid tank 6. . In this filling device, large throwing filling in which a filling liquid is introduced into a container at a large flow rate and small throwing filling in which a filling liquid is introduced at a small flow rate are switched. Is filled with 85% of the total filling amount, and then the small filling is switched to the remaining filling liquid.

  Therefore, at the start of filling, in order to perform large throw filling, the first pressure chamber 30 and the second pressure chamber 32 of the air cylinder 18 for opening and closing the liquid valve are opened to the atmosphere, and compressed air is supplied to the third pressure chamber 34. Introduce. Then, the first piston 21 and the second piston 22 are raised to the highest position, the valve body 14 of the operation rod 12 connected to the first piston 21 is greatly raised, and the liquid valve 10 is opened to the maximum. To do. The filling liquid supply pipe 6 for supplying the filling liquid to the filling valve 1 is provided with a flow meter 38 and filled with a predetermined amount (for example, 85% of the filling amount set as described above). When this is detected, the fluid valve opening / closing air cylinder 18 is operated to switch the fluid valve 10 to the small throw.

  In this case, compressed air is introduced into the third pressure chamber 34, and compressed air is introduced into the first pressure chamber 30 while the second pressure chamber 32 of the open / close air cylinder 18 is open to the atmosphere. Then, an ascending force acts on the first piston 21 and a descending force is applied to the second piston 22, and the operating rod 12 is pushed down from the time of large throw filling due to the pressure receiving area difference between the pistons 20 and 22. Then, the liquid valve 10 stops at a small open position and is switched to a small flow rate filling. When the flow meter 38 detects that the remaining amount of the filling liquid is filled, the first pressure chamber 30 and the third pressure chamber 34 of the open / close air cylinder 18 are opened to the atmosphere, and the intermediate second pressure chamber 32 is opened. Compressed air is introduced to lower the first piston 21 and the operating rod 12, and the liquid valve 10 is closed to complete the filling.

  After the filling is completed, the exhaust valve 72 is closed and the snift valve 76 is opened. After that, the pressure gas is gradually introduced from the inside of the container head space so that the filling liquid does not suddenly foam when the bottle packing 42 or 44 is later released from the container. To the same pressure as the atmospheric pressure. Thereafter, the bottle packing unit 40 is raised by a cam to separate the bottle packings 42 and 44 from the container, and the container is discharged from the filling device.

  The filling valve 1 can be applied not only to filling with gas but also to non-gas filling. When non-gas filling is performed, it is not necessary to seal the mouth of the container with the bottle mouth packings 42 and 44, and the container can be filled in an open state. When the apparatus is used as it is, for example, the gas phase portion 74 of the filling liquid tank 6 is opened to the atmosphere, and the exhaust valve 72 of the exhaust passage 68 is opened to open the exhaust passage 68 to the atmosphere. Thus, the replacement valve 86 of the replacement pipe 84 and the sniff valve 76 of the sniff passage 70 are closed. After the container is supplied in this state, the rising mouth packing unit 40 is lowered by the elevating air cylinder 48 and the bottle packing 42 or 44 is brought into close contact with the mouth of the container, and then the liquid valve is opened and closed. The liquid valve 10 is opened by the air cylinder 18 for filling.

  Since the filling valve 1 having the above-described configuration does not have a vent tube, it can be used for various sizes of containers without replacing attachments, and the replacement gas can be blown from the central portion of the container. A substitution rate can be improved by blowing gas to the bottom. Therefore, it can be applied to a liquid that is sensitive to oxidation such as beer. In addition, although the said Example demonstrated the lifterless type filling apparatus, it is applicable also to the type of filling apparatus which raises / lowers a container with a bottle stand. In this case, the bottle opening packing unit 40 side does not have to be raised and lowered.

It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a filling valve. (Example 1)

Explanation of symbols

1 Filling valve 2 Valve housing (filling nozzle)
4 Filling liquid passage 10 Liquid valve 12 Operation rod 14 Valve body 16 Valve seat 18 Lifting means (air cylinder for lifting and lowering the liquid valve)
42 Sealing means (bottle opening packing)
44 Sealing means (bottle opening packing)
48 Lifting means for sealing (air cylinder for lifting)
80 Replacement gas passage 86 Replacement valve

Claims (1)

A cylindrical housing having a filling liquid passage formed therein, an operation rod inserted into the housing and moved up and down by an elevating means, a valve body provided on the operation rod, and an inner surface of the lower end of the housing A liquid valve comprising a valve seat, sealing means provided in the housing for sealing the mouth of the container, sealing lifting means for moving the sealing means and the container relatively up and down, and filling the container. A filling amount detecting means for detecting a filling liquid amount and an exhaust passage formed in the housing and having an opening located outside the discharge port of the housing, the discharge port of the housing being filled with filling liquid in the container In a filling valve that fills at a position above the height,
A replacement gas passage is formed in the operation rod through the valve body, and an opening / closing valve for opening and closing the replacement gas passage is provided, and the replacement gas is supplied into the container from the replacement gas passage. Thus, after replacing the air in the container with the replacement gas, the liquid valve is opened, and filling is performed while exhausting the replacement gas from the exhaust passage.

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