JP2008308223A - Filling apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent a filled amount of a filler from becoming short by increasing the density of the filler filled in a container. <P>SOLUTION: A filling apparatus 1 for filling the filler in the container 101 has a filling part 2 and a measuring part 3. The filling part 2 has a cylindrical member 21 and an extruding mechanism 22. The tip 21b of the cylindrical member 21 is inserted into the container 101. The extruding mechanism 22 extrudes the filler in the container from the tip 21b. The filling part 2, at filling, pushes the filler extruded into the container 101 from the tip 21b by using the filler which is extruded from the tip 21b immediately after the extrusion. The measuring part 3, at filling, measures a force to push the filler into the container 101 or pressure applied to the filler in the container 101. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a filling device, and more particularly to filling of a powdery object to be filled.

  Conventionally, a filling apparatus has been used for filling a container with a powdery object to be filled. Specifically, the filling device includes a cylindrical member (hereinafter referred to as a “cylindrical member”) that guides the filling material to the container, and an extrusion mechanism that pushes out the filling material from the tip of the cylindrical member. ing.

  In the conventional filling apparatus, the filling material pushed out from the tip of the cylindrical member is filled into the container by free fall. For this reason, the density of the filling material filled in the container was small. The decrease in density is particularly noticeable in powdery fillings.

  When the density of the filling material is small, the weight of the filling material that can be filled in a container of a predetermined capacity is small. And in order to fill with the filling material of a predetermined weight, it was necessary to enlarge the capacity | capacitance of a container.

Therefore, a filling device disclosed in Patent Document 1 listed below has been proposed. In such a filling apparatus, a plate-like member is disposed at the tip of the cylindrical member, and pressure is applied to the filling material filled in the container. And the container is moving relatively with respect to the cylindrical member with the filling of the filling material.
JP 2006-44727 A

  However, in the filling apparatus of Patent Document 1, the container moves only by a predetermined operation during filling. For this reason, there exists a possibility that the pressure concerning the to-be-filled object in a container may become low temporarily. When the pressure is lowered, the density of the filling material filled in the container becomes small, and as a result, the filling amount of the filling material becomes insufficient.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and an object thereof is to prevent the filling amount of the filling material from being insufficient by increasing the density of the filling material filled in the container. .

  A filling device according to a first aspect of the present invention is a device for filling an object to be filled into a container, and includes a filling unit and a measurement unit. The filling unit has an insertion member that is inserted into the container, and pushes out an object to be filled from the tip of the insertion member into the container. At the time of filling the filling material, the filling unit pushes the filling material pushed out from the tip with the filling material pushed out from the tip immediately thereafter. And a measurement part measures the force (pressure) by which a to-be-filled material is pushed.

  According to the filling apparatus concerning 1st invention, force (pressure) can be applied to the filling material in a container using the filling material extruded from a front-end | tip. And it can prevent that the force (pressure) by which a to-be-filled material is pushed in becomes temporarily low using the measurement result in a measurement part. Therefore, the density of the filling material filled in the container can be increased, so that the filling amount of the filling material can be prevented from being insufficient. Furthermore, no other member for applying force (pressure) to the object to be filled is required, and the structure of the filling apparatus is simplified.

  A filling device according to a second aspect of the present invention is the filling device according to the first aspect of the present invention, further comprising a mechanism for moving the tip and the container relative to each other. Then, the mechanism is controlled so that the force (pressure) measured by the measuring unit is within a predetermined range.

  According to the filling apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention, by controlling the force (pressure) within a predetermined range, the density of the filling material filled in the container can be increased and made uniform.

  A filling device according to a third aspect of the invention is the filling device according to the first or second aspect of the invention, wherein the relative movement amount between the tip and the container is determined based on the force (pressure) measured by the measurement unit. Adjust.

  According to the filling device according to the third invention, the force (pressure) can be controlled within a predetermined range.

  A filling device according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is the filling device according to any one of the first to third aspects of the invention, wherein the force (pressure) measured by the measurement unit is extruded so as to be within a predetermined range. Control the mechanism.

  According to the filling device according to the fourth aspect of the invention, by controlling the force (pressure) within a predetermined range, the density of the filling material filled in the container can be increased and made uniform.

  A filling device according to a fifth aspect of the present invention is the filling device according to any one of the first to fourth aspects of the present invention, based on the force (pressure) measured by the measuring unit, from the tip. Adjust the amount of extrusion.

  A filling device according to a sixth aspect of the present invention is the filling device according to any one of the first to fifth aspects of the present invention, wherein the tip and the container are relative to each other based on the force (pressure) measured by the measuring unit. And a mechanism for automatically moving.

  According to the filling device according to the fifth or sixth invention, the force (pressure) can be controlled within a predetermined range.

  A filling device according to a seventh invention is the filling device according to any one of the first to sixth inventions, wherein the measuring unit measures the weight of an object to be filled in the container after filling. Can do.

  According to the filling device concerning the 7th invention, the measuring instrument which measures weight can be used as a measuring part.

  According to the filling apparatus concerning this invention, force (pressure) can be applied to the filling material in a container using the filling material extruded from a front-end | tip. And it can prevent that the force (pressure) by which a to-be-filled material is pushed in becomes temporarily low using the measurement result in a measurement part. Therefore, the density of the filling material filled in the container can be increased, so that the filling amount of the filling material can be prevented from being insufficient. Furthermore, no other member for applying force (pressure) to the object to be filled is required, and the structure of the filling apparatus is simplified.

1. Structure of filling device <Outline of filling device>
FIG. 1 is a diagram conceptually showing a filling device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The filling device 1 is a device that fills a container 101 with an object to be filled, and includes a filling unit 2, a measurement unit 3, an elevating mechanism 5, and a control unit 6. A powdery material such as turmeric powder can be used as the filling material. In the following, the upper side and the lower side in the vertical direction are simply expressed as “upper side” and “lower side”, respectively.

<Filling part>
The filling unit 2 includes a cylindrical member 21 and an extrusion mechanism 22. The cylindrical member 21 guides the filling material introduced from the upper end 21 a into the container 101. The portion on the end 21a side of the cylindrical member 21 is expanded toward the end 21a in order to facilitate the charging of the object to be filled.

  A lower end (hereinafter referred to as “tip”) 21 b of the cylindrical member 21 is inserted into the container 101. And a to-be-filled material is discharged | emitted from the front-end | tip 21b. In view of the fact that the tip 21b of the cylindrical member 21 is inserted into the container 101, the cylindrical member 21 can be grasped as an insertion member.

  In FIG. 1, a chrysanthemum 23 is attached to the tip 21 b of the cylindrical member 21. By attaching the Kikuza 23, the filling material discharged from the tip 21b is prevented from dropping or agglomerating.

  The extrusion mechanism 22 is a mechanism that pushes out an object to be filled from the tip 21 b of the cylindrical member 21, and includes a screw 221 and a drive unit 222 that rotates the screw 221.

  The screw 221 is disposed inside the cylindrical member 21. Specifically, the screw 221 has a rotating shaft 2211 and a propeller 2212. The rotating shaft 2211 is inserted from the upper end 21a of the cylindrical member 21 and extends to the tip 21b. The propeller 2212 is fixed to the rotating shaft 2211 and extends around the rotating shaft 2211 in a spiral shape from the tip 21b toward the upper end 21a.

  The extrusion mechanism 22 rotates the screw 221 with the drive unit 222 to guide the filling material in the cylindrical member 21 toward the tip 21b side, and pushes out the filling material from the tip 21b.

  In particular, when the filling material is pushed out with the tip 21b inserted into the container 101, the filling material pushed into the container 101 from the tip 21b is pushed by the filling material pushed out from the tip 21b immediately thereafter.

  Therefore, force (pressure) is applied to the filling material in the container 101, and the density of the filling material is increased. And the other member for applying force (pressure) to a to-be-filled object is unnecessary, and the structure of the filling apparatus 1 is simplified.

<Measurement unit>
The measuring unit 3 can measure the force with which the filling object is pushed into the container 101 when the filling object is filled, that is, the pressure applied to the filling object in the container 101.

  Specifically, the measuring unit 3 is a measuring instrument that measures weight. At the time of filling the filling material, the measuring instrument obtains a value obtained by adding the weight of the filling material in the container 101 and the pressure applied to the filling material in the container 101.

  When the weight of the filling material filled in the container 101 is smaller than the pressure applied to the filling material in the container 101, the pressure applied to the filling material in the container 101 without changing the measurement value of the measuring instrument. Used as

  When a measuring instrument is used for the measuring unit 3, the measuring unit 3 can also be used for measuring the weight of an object to be filled after filling the container 101. Therefore, the structure of the filling device 1 is simplified.

<Elevating mechanism>
The elevating mechanism 5 is a mechanism for elevating the container 101, and for example, a ball screw, a cylinder, an electromagnetic actuator, or the like is employed. The cylinder includes a hydraulic type and a pneumatic type.

  In FIG. 1, the case where a cylinder is employ | adopted as the raising / lowering mechanism 5 is shown. The cylinder includes a cylinder 51 and a movable portion 52 that is movable along the direction in which the cylinder extends. In FIG. 1, the cylinders are arranged upright with the movable portion 52 facing up. Thereby, the movable part 52 moves up and down, and the container 101 and the like can be placed on the upper end part 52a.

  The lower end portion 52b of the movable portion 52 is located in the cylinder 51, and is partitioned with respect to itself into an upper space 511 in the cylinder 51 and a lower space 512 without any gap. Therefore, the pressures in the spaces 511 and 512 can be made different. The object to be moved, that is, the container 101 is placed on the end 52a. In FIG. 1, in addition to the container 101, the measuring unit 3 is also placed on the end 52a.

  In the cylinder, the movable portion 52 is moved using the pressure difference between the space 511 and the space 512. That is, by making the pressure in the space 512 higher than the pressure in the space 511, the movable portion 52 moves upward. On the other hand, by making the pressure in the space 512 smaller than the pressure in the space 511, the movable portion 52 moves downward. Thereby, the container 101 placed on the end 52a can be moved up and down.

  Even when a ball screw or an electromagnetic actuator is employed for the lifting mechanism 5, the container 101 can be lifted or lowered, although the operating principle is different from that of the cylinder.

<Control unit>
The control unit 6 controls the extrusion mechanism 22 and the lifting mechanism 5. In particular, at the time of filling the object to be filled, the control unit 6 obtains the measurement result of the measurement unit 3 from the measurement unit 3, and controls the extrusion mechanism 22 and the lifting mechanism 5 based on the measurement result. Details will be described in “2. Operation of Filling Device”.

<Modification 1>
With respect to the measurement unit 3, when using a measuring instrument, when the weight of the filling material filled in the container 101 is approximately the same as the pressure applied to the filling material in the container 101, the measured value and the pressure are reduced. Since there is a large difference, measured values cannot be used as pressure as they are.

  In such a case, it is desirable to calculate the pressure by predicting the weight of the filling material filled in the container 101.

  Of course, even when the weight of the filling material filled in the container 101 is smaller than the pressure applied to the filling material in the container 101, the pressure may be obtained similarly. By obtaining the pressure, the accuracy of pressure control is increased.

<Modification 2>
With respect to the control unit 6, in FIG. 1, the control of the extrusion mechanism 22 and the lifting mechanism 5 is controlled by one control unit 6. For example, the extrusion mechanism 22 and the lifting mechanism 5 are controlled by separate control units. May be.

  According to this aspect, the number of control units increases. However, if the control unit breaks down, it is only necessary to replace the broken one, so that the filling device can be repaired easily and the cost required for the repair can be reduced.

<Modification 3>
In FIG. 1, the container 101 is lifted and lowered by the lifting mechanism 5, but the filling unit 2 may be lifted and lowered by the lifting mechanism 5, for example. Also in this case, as described above, the filling material 2 pushed into the container 101 from the tip 21b by the filling unit 2 at the time of filling the filling material can be pushed in with the filling material pushed out from the tip 21b immediately thereafter. .

  Moreover, since it is not necessary to move the container 101 up and down, it is easy to move the empty container 101 to below the filling unit 2. Moreover, it is easy to move the filled container 101 from the bottom of the filling unit 2 to another place.

  The above contents including the filling device 1 shown in FIG. 1 can be grasped as follows. That is, the lifting mechanism 5 relatively moves the tip 21b of the cylindrical member 21 and the container 101.

2. Operation of Filling Device The operation of the filling device 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. In any of FIGS. 1 to 4, the filling state of the filling object is indicated by hatching.

<First stage>
FIG. 1 shows a state immediately before the filling of the filling material into the container 101 is started. Specifically, the tip 21 b of the cylindrical member 21 is inserted to the vicinity of the bottom of the empty container 101.

  Then, filling of the object to be filled into the container 101 is started (FIG. 2). At the time of filling the filling material, as described above, the filling unit 2 pushes the filling material pushed into the container 101 from the tip 21b with the filling material pushed out from the tip 21b immediately thereafter. This state is indicated by a solid arrow d1 in FIG.

  Thereby, since the force (pressure) can be applied to the filling material in the container 101 using the filling material pushed out from the tip 21b, the density of the filling material filled in the container 101 can be increased. .

<Second stage>
After starting filling of the container 101 with the filling material (FIG. 2), until the filling material is filled to some extent in the container 101 (FIG. 3), filling the container 101 while pushing the filling material into the container 101. The object to be filled is pushed out from the part 2 into the container 101 and filled. In parallel with this, the lifting mechanism 5 moves the container 101 downward.

  Note that it is difficult to measure the weight of the filling object during filling because the force (pressure) applied to the filling object in the container 101 is affected. Therefore, for example, the weight of the filling material in the container 101 is, for example, about 80 to 90% of the filling amount filled in the container 101 by using the height of the filling material and the filling time as a guide. To do.

  When filling the filling material, it is preferable to prevent the force (pressure) into which the filling material is pushed from becoming temporarily low. This is because the density of the filling material filled in the container 101 can be made uniform while increasing. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the filling amount of the filling material into the container 101 from being insufficient.

  Therefore, the control unit 6 controls at least one of the extrusion mechanism 22 and the lifting mechanism 5 so that the force (pressure) measured by the measurement unit 3 falls within a predetermined range. Specifically, the control unit 6 performs the following control (part 1) and control (part 2).

1. Control (part 1)
The control unit 6 controls ON / OFF of driving of the driving unit 222 for the extrusion mechanism 22. And about the raising / lowering mechanism 5, the control part 6 controls the pressure of the space 511,512 of a cylinder, and adjusts the movement amount of the movable part 52. FIG. Control of the lifting mechanism 5 is performed based on the measurement result in the measurement unit 3, that is, the force (pressure) measured by the measurement unit 3.

2. Control (part 2)
When a motor capable of inverter control is employed as the drive unit 222 in the extrusion mechanism 22, the control unit 6 can perform the following control.

  That is, for the extrusion mechanism 22, the control unit 6 controls the drive unit 222 to adjust the number of rotations of the screw 221 and adjust the amount of the object to be filled from the tip 21b. Control for the drive unit 222 is performed based on the measurement result of the measurement unit 3, that is, the force (pressure) measured by the measurement unit 3.

  For the lifting mechanism 5, the control unit 6 controls the movement of the movable unit 52. The control of the lifting mechanism 5 may be one that moves the movable part 52 by a predetermined operation, or may be one that moves the movable part 52 while adjusting the amount of movement based on the measurement result of the measurement part 3. However, since the latter controls both the extrusion mechanism 22 and the lifting mechanism 5 based on the measurement result in the measurement unit 3, the force (pressure) measured by the measurement unit 3 is controlled within a narrower range. can do.

<Third stage>
After the container 101 is filled with the filling material to some extent, the tip 21b of the cylindrical member 21 is separated from the container 101 (FIG. 4). And the weight of the to-be-filled object in the container 101 is measured with a measuring instrument. Since the tip 21b is separated from the container 101, no force (pressure) is applied to the filling material in the container 101. This is because the filling material immediately after being pushed out from the tip 21b does not come into contact with the filling material in the container 101. Therefore, the weight of the filling material in the container 101 can be accurately measured with the measuring instrument.

  Then, based on the measurement value of the measuring instrument, the filling material is filled into the container 101 by the shortage (FIG. 4). Thereby, it is possible to accurately fill the container 101 with a predetermined amount by the predetermined amount. In addition, since the tip 21b is separated from the container 101, the filling material filled at this time descends on the filling material already filled by natural fall after being pushed out from the tip 21b. This state is indicated by a dashed arrow d2 in FIG.

It is a figure which shows notionally the filling apparatus concerning embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows operation | movement of a filling apparatus in order. It is a figure which shows operation | movement of a filling apparatus in order. It is a figure which shows operation | movement of a filling apparatus in order.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Filling apparatus 2 Filling part 3 Measuring part 5 Lifting mechanism 21 Cylindrical member 22 Extrusion mechanism 21b Tip 101 Container

Claims (7)

An apparatus for filling a container with an object to be filled,
An insertion member that is inserted into the container, and a filling unit that pushes out the filling material from the tip of the insertion member into the container;
With a measuring unit,
When filling the filling material,
The filling unit pushes the filling material pushed out from the tip with the filling material pushed out from the tip immediately thereafter,
The measuring unit measures a force with which the filling material is pushed;
Filling equipment. A mechanism for relatively moving the tip and the container;
The filling device according to claim 1, wherein the mechanism is controlled so that the force measured by the measurement unit falls within a predetermined range.   The filling device according to claim 1, wherein a relative movement amount of the tip and the container is adjusted based on the force measured by the measurement unit.   The filling device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the extrusion mechanism is controlled so that the force measured by the measurement unit falls within a predetermined range.   The filling device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein an amount of extrusion of the filling material from the tip is adjusted based on the force measured by the measurement unit.   The filling device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising a mechanism that relatively moves the tip and the container based on the force measured by the measurement unit.   The filling device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the measurement unit can measure the weight of the filling material in the container after filling.

Images