JP2016159960A - Filling valve device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a filling valve device which can suppress the splash of a liquid in aseptic filling, and reduce an amount of liquid reservoir in carbonic acid beverage filling.SOLUTION: A filling valve device includes a valve body linearly provided in a liftable manner in a liquid channel 13 in which a product liquid flows, a valve seat provided in the liquid channel 13 and stopping the flow of the product liquid through the contact of the valve body 21, and a pneumatic cylinder 3 lifting up and down the valve body 21. The valve body includes a first seal portion 22 provided at the upstream of the flow of the product liquid, and provided upward in the vertical direction, and a second seal portion 24 provided at the downstream of the first seal part 22, and provided downward in the vertical direction. The valve seat includes a first valve seat 17 corresponding to the first seal portion 22, and provided at the upstream of the flow of the product liquid, and a second valve seat 19 corresponding to the second seal portion 24, and provided at the downstream of the flow of the product liquid.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a filling valve device used when filling a beverage with a container.

  Conventionally, beverage filling machines are classified into those that are filled with carbonated beverages and those that are aseptically filled with beverages other than carbonated beverages (non-carbonated beverages), and each dedicated machine has been used. The difference between the two is that non-seal filling in which aseptic filling does not contact the filling valve device and the container in order to avoid the growth of the bacteria without filling the beverage, whereas carbonated beverages are filled by contacting the filling valve device and the container. The point is due to seal filling. However, recently, the combined use of aseptic filling and carbonated drink filling is progressing.

  The filling valve device that has been used for filling beverages so far, for example, as described in Patent Documents 1 to 4, is closed by lowering a valve body provided so as to be able to move up and down against the valve seat. The valve is opened when it is lifted and separated from the valve seat. Therefore, in aseptic filling, if the valve is closed when filling a certain amount of beverage into the container, the valve body pushes the product liquid that becomes the beverage downstream, so the diameter of the jet flow toward the container increases with the closing of the valve. To do. When entering the liquid level of the container with the enlarged jet diameter, a space is created on the liquid level, droplets are generated when the space returns to the original level, and the liquid droplets fly out of the container. May adhere to the tip surface of Since there is a concern that bacteria may propagate in the adhering liquid, it is necessary to prevent the liquid from rebounding in aseptic filling.

  On the other hand, what is concerned when filling carbonated beverages is the phenomenon of dripping. In other words, a liquid pool in which carbonated beverages remain in the space from the seal part where the valve body is in contact with the valve seat to the valve tip part, and when the seal is released to atmospheric pressure after filling is completed and the pressure is reduced, the accumulated product liquid foams. Dripping into the container. If the amount of dripping increases as the amount of liquid pool increases, the time until dripping ends is unstable, and some may remain in the space. Variations will occur. Therefore, in carbonated beverages, it is desired to reduce the amount of liquid pool by reducing the space from the seal portion to the valve tip.

JP 2010-52780 A JP 2010-189035 A JP 2012-167883 A JP 2014-73855 A

  Accordingly, the present invention presupposes a beverage filling machine that is used for aseptic filling of non-carbonated beverages and filling of carbonated beverages. An object of the present invention is to provide a filling valve device capable of reducing the amount of liquid pool.

In order to suppress the bounce of aseptically filled liquid, it is necessary to suppress the expansion of the jet diameter when the valve is closed. For this purpose, a valve that drives and seals the valve body in the upstream direction (hereinafter referred to as reverse operation). It is effective to adopt a valve). However, when the reverse operation valve is used, the space from the seal portion to the valve tip portion is expanded, so that the amount of liquid pool increases when the carbonated beverage is filled. Therefore, it is preferable to employ a valve (hereinafter sometimes referred to as a positively operated valve) in which the valve body is driven and sealed in the downstream direction for filling with carbonic acid.
Therefore, the present invention proposes a filling valve device that has both a function as a normal operation valve and a function as a reverse operation valve, a valve body provided in a flow path through which a product liquid flows, and a flow path, And a valve seat that stops the flow of the product liquid when the valve body comes into contact with the valve body.
The filling valve device according to the present invention includes a first closed state in which the valve body and the valve seat stop the flow of the product liquid at the upstream position, and a first stop state that stops the flow of the product liquid at a position downstream of the first closed state. Either the two-closed state or the open state in which the product liquid flows without contacting the valve body and the valve seat can be selected.
It is characterized by that.

  The filling valve device of the present invention can be in the first closed state on the upstream side or in the second closed state on the downstream side. Accordingly, when the first closed state is selected when the non-carbonated beverage is filled in the open state in which the product liquid flows, the portion related to the seal of the valve body moves from the open state toward the upstream side. Does not push out. On the other hand, if the second closed state is selected when the carbonated beverage is filled in the open state, the part related to the seal of the valve body moves from the open state toward the downstream side, and the valve seat is correspondingly moved. Since the space from the seal portion to the valve tip can be narrowed, the amount of liquid pool can be reduced.

In the filling valve device of the present invention, when the valve body is provided in the flow path so as to be movable up and down, the valve body is provided on the upstream side of the flow of the product liquid, and on the downstream side of the first seal part. A valve seat corresponding to the first seal portion and corresponding to the first seal seat provided on the upstream side of the product liquid flow and the second seal portion. A second valve seat provided on the downstream side of the flow.
In this filling valve device, the first closed state is selected when the valve body moves upward in the vertical direction from the open state and the first seal portion contacts the first valve seat. Further, the second closed state is selected when the valve body moves downward in the vertical direction from the open state and the second seal portion contacts the second valve seat.
According to this filling valve device, the first closed state, the second closed state, and the open state can be selected simply by raising and lowering the valve body, and thus the control thereof is easy.

In the filling valve device of the present invention, a pneumatic cylinder driven by supplying operating air can be used as a drive source for raising and lowering the valve body. The pneumatic cylinder includes a first piston that can be moved up and down in the vertical direction, and a second piston that can be moved up and down independently of the first piston. By placing the second piston in the first closed position and pushing down the second piston by operating air, the valve element is put in the second closed position, and the force by which the first piston is pushed down by the working air and the force by which the second piston is pushed up The valve body can be placed in an open position between the first position and the second position.
According to this filling valve device, by adjusting the operation of the two pistons with the operating air, the valve body is first closed position corresponding to the first closed state, second closed position corresponding to the second closed state, And it can be easily moved to the open position corresponding to the open state.

The present invention provides a beverage filling method in which a product liquid is filled in each of a plurality of containers that are continuously conveyed via a filling valve. This filling method uses a non-carbonated beverage as a product liquid in a container. An aseptic filling mode for filling and a carbonated filling mode for filling a container with a carbonated beverage as a product liquid are selectively executed.
In the filling method of the present invention, when the above-described filling valve device is used, when filling the product liquid, the open state is selected in both the aseptic filling mode and the carbonic acid filling mode. In addition, when the filling of the product liquid is stopped in the aseptic filling mode, the first closed position is selected, and when the filling of the product liquid is stopped in the carbonic acid filling mode, the second closed state is selected.

  According to the present invention, the both-side seal structure of the valve body suppresses the expansion of the jet diameter due to the extrusion of the liquid by driving the valve body in the upstream direction and closing the valve during aseptic filling of the non-carbonated beverage. When the beverage is filled, the valve body is driven in the downstream direction to close the valve, thereby reducing liquid pool and suppressing dripping. Therefore, by using the filling valve device of the present invention, it is possible to prevent the growth of bacteria and realize a stable beverage production.

It is front sectional drawing of the filling valve apparatus in this embodiment. It is a figure which decomposes | disassembles and shows the principal part of the filling valve apparatus of FIG. It is a figure which shows operation | movement of the filling valve apparatus of FIG. 1, (a) shows the open state in aseptic filling and carbonated drink filling, (b) shows the closed state in aseptic filling, (c) is The state of the valve closing in carbonated drink filling is shown.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.
A filling valve device 1 shown in FIG. 1 receives supply of a product liquid for beverage from a product liquid supply device (not shown) and is driven by an attached pneumatic cylinder 3 so that the product liquid is supplied to a container. Fill and stop filling. In addition, the beverage filling facility according to the present embodiment corresponds to the dual use that can handle both non-carbonated drinks and carbonated drinks, and the filling valve device 1 has a configuration corresponding to this dual use. Hereinafter, the configuration of the filling valve device 1 will be described, and then the operation and effect of the filling valve device 1 will be mentioned.

  The filling valve device 1 includes a valve body 2 that is responsible for filling and stopping filling of the product liquid, and a pneumatic cylinder 3 that is responsible for driving the valve body 2. The valve body 2 and the pneumatic cylinder 3 are connected to the connection structure 4. Is integrated.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the valve body 2 includes a hollow cylindrical valve box 10 and a valve mechanism 20.
The valve box 10 is provided at the downstream end, and is connected to the discharge port 11 that discharges the product liquid toward the container, the liquid channel 13 that continues from the discharge port 11 toward the upstream, the discharge port 11, and the liquid channel 13, and a valve body housing area 15 having an opening diameter larger than that of the other liquid flow path 13. A liquid supply pipe 12 that receives supply of product liquid from the filling liquid supply apparatus is connected to the valve box 10, and the product liquid received by the liquid supply pipe 12 is supplied to the liquid flow path 13 through the liquid supply pipe 12. The The upstream end of the liquid flow path 13 is sealed with a valve shaft guide 27.
As shown in FIG.2 (b), the valve body accommodating area 15 is connected to an enlarged diameter range 15A in which the diameter increases from the upstream toward the downstream, an equal diameter range 15B connected to the expanded diameter range, and an equal diameter range. And a reduced diameter range 15C in which the diameter decreases toward the downstream. As will be described in detail later, a first valve seat 17 is formed in the expanded diameter range 15A, and a second valve seat 19 is formed in the reduced diameter range 15C.
In addition, including this embodiment, in this invention, upstream and downstream are specified on the basis of the flow of the product liquid when filling the product liquid with the filling valve device 1.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the valve mechanism 20 includes a valve body 21 provided at the downstream end, a valve shaft 25 that is connected to the valve body 21 and transmits the driving force of the pneumatic cylinder 3 to the valve body 21, and a valve shaft. And a valve shaft guide 27 that guides up and down movement of 25.
In the valve mechanism 20, a part of the valve body 21 and the valve shaft 25 is inserted into the liquid flow path 13 of the valve box 10, and the liquid flow path 13 is moved up and down with the operation of the pneumatic cylinder 3. The valve shaft 25 exposed from the valve box 10 is slidably supported by a valve shaft guide 27 provided on the upstream side of the valve box 10. The upper end of the valve shaft 25 is tightly connected to the second piston rod 34C of the pneumatic cylinder 3 directly or indirectly.

  The valve body 21 includes two valve bodies: a first seal portion 22 provided upward in the vertical direction and a second seal portion 24 provided downstream of the first seal portion 22 and provided downward in the vertical direction. It has elements. The first seal portion 22 corresponds to the first valve seat 17 and forms a valve mechanism that closes or opens the liquid flow path 13 by closely contacting the first valve seat 17 with a gap therebetween. The second seal portion 24 corresponds to the second valve seat 19 and forms a valve mechanism that closes or opens the liquid flow path 13 by closely contacting the second valve seat 19 with a gap therebetween. The valve mechanism consisting of the first valve seat 17 and the first seal portion 22 functions when the filling of non-carbonated beverage is stopped, and the valve mechanism consisting of the second valve seat 19 and the second seal portion 24 is filled with carbonated beverage. Works when stopped.

Next, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the pneumatic cylinder 3 includes a cylinder body 30, a first working chamber 31 provided in the cylinder body 30, and a first working chamber 31 provided downstream of the first working chamber 31. Two working chambers 33. A partition 35 is provided between the first working chamber 31 and the second working chamber 33, but working air can flow between the first working chamber 31 and the second working chamber 33.
The cylinder main body 30 includes a bottom wall 37 on the downstream side, and a guide hole 38 into which the second piston rod 34C is slidably inserted is formed through the front and back surfaces of the bottom wall 37.

A first piston 32 is fitted in the first working chamber 31, and a second piston 34 is fitted in the second working chamber 33. The first piston 32 and the second piston 34 can be moved up and down independently from the lower end to the upper end in the first working chamber 31 and the second working chamber 33 by the supplied working air.
The first piston 32 includes a piston main body 32A and a piston rod 32B protruding from the lower surface of the piston main body 32A. The piston rod 32 </ b> B has a protruding amount that can interfere with the first piston rod 324 of the second piston 34.
The second piston 34 includes a piston main body 34A, a first piston rod 34B protruding from the upper surface of the piston main body 34A, and a second piston rod 34C protruding from the lower surface of the piston main body 34A. The first piston rod 34 </ b> B has a protruding amount that can interfere with the piston rod 32 </ b> B of the first piston 32. The second piston rod 34 </ b> C passes through the guide hole 38 of the bottom wall 37, further extends to the inside of the connection structure 4, and is connected to the valve shaft 25.

Next, the cylinder body 30 includes three ports, a first port A, a second port B, and a third port C, which introduce working air into the first working chamber 31 and the second working chamber 33. The working air is selectively supplied to one or two of the first port A, the second port B, and the third port C from an air supply source (not shown). In FIGS. 1 and 2, the operating air is not supplied to any of the first port A, the second port B, and the third port C, and the first piston 32 and the second piston 34 are both unloaded. It is in the state of.
The first port A supplies working air to the first working chamber 31. When working air is supplied to the first port A, the first piston 32 provided in the first working chamber 31 is directed downward. Pressed down with force.
The second port B is provided at the boundary between the first working chamber 31 and the second working chamber 33 and supplies working air to both the first working chamber 31 and the second working chamber 33. When working air is supplied to the second port B, an upward force is applied to the first piston 32 provided in the first working chamber 31 and the second piston 34 of the second working chamber 33 is pushed downward. Pressed down with force.
The third port C supplies working air to the second working chamber 33, and when working air is supplied to the third port C, the second piston 34 provided in the second working chamber 33 faces upward. It is pushed up with force.

  Next, the operation of the filling valve device 1 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 (a) shows the open state (open state, open position) in aseptic filling and carbonated beverage filling, and FIG. 2 (b) shows the closed state (first closed state, second position) in aseptic filling. 2 (c) shows a closed state (second closed state, second closed position) in the carbonated beverage filling.

First, in both aseptic filling and carbonated beverage filling, as shown in FIG. 2A, when the product liquid is supplied to the container by opening the valve, the pneumatic cylinder 3 has the first port A and the third port. The working air Air is supplied to the port C. Then, while the first piston 32 is pushed down to the lower end of the first working chamber 31, the second piston 34 is pushed up in the second working chamber 33, but the first piston rod 34B of the second piston 34 is It interferes with the piston rod 32B of the piston 32. Here, since the force for pushing down the first piston 32 by the working air and the force for pushing up the second piston 34 are set to be balanced, the second piston 34 is positioned at the intermediate position in the height direction of the second working chamber 33. Maintained. Thereby, the valve body 21 provided at the tip of the valve shaft 25 connected to the second piston rod 34 </ b> C is also maintained at an intermediate position (open position) in the valve body housing area 15. Therefore, since a clearance is provided between the first seal portion 22 and the first valve seat 17 and between the second seal portion 24 and the second valve seat 19, the non-carbonated beverage that has flowed through the liquid flow path 13 Alternatively, the carbonated beverage passes through the periphery of the valve body 21 and is discharged from the discharge port 11 toward the container.
In order to balance the force that pushes down the first piston 32 and the force that pushes up the second piston 34, the Pascal principle may be followed.

  When the container is filled with a predetermined amount of the product liquid, the pneumatic cylinder 3 is operated to close the valve, thereby completing the product liquid filling operation. The present embodiment realizes two types of valve closing methods that differ depending on whether the product liquid is a non-carbonated beverage or a carbonated beverage. Hereinafter, the case of a non-carbonated beverage will be described, and then the carbonated beverage. The case of will be described.

  In order to stop filling the non-carbonated beverage aseptically, the supply of the working air to the pneumatic cylinder 3 is limited to the third port C as shown in FIG. Then, as a result of the second piston 34 being pushed up to the top of the second working chamber 33, the first seal portion 22 of the valve body 21 is brought into close contact with the first valve seat 17 via the second piston rod 34 </ b> C and the valve shaft 25. The filling of non-carbonated beverages is stopped. When the filling is stopped, the product liquid of the non-carbonated beverage discharged from the discharge port 11 is not applied with a pressing force, so there is no possibility that the diameter of the jet will increase.

  In order to stop the filling of the carbonated beverage, the supply of the working air to the pneumatic cylinder 3 is limited to the second port B as shown in FIG. Then, the first piston 32 is pushed up to the uppermost position of the first working chamber 31, while the second piston 34 is pushed up to the lowermost position of the second working chamber 33. As a result, the second piston 34 C and the valve shaft 25 are interposed. The second seal portion 24 of the valve body 21 is pressed against the second valve seat 19, and the filling of the carbonated beverage is stopped. When the filling is stopped, the space from the seal portion where the second seal portion 24 is pressed against the second valve seat 19 to the tip of the discharge port 11 is narrow.

  As described above, at the time of closing the valve to stop the filling of non-carbonated beverage, the valve body 2 is made to function as a reverse operation valve, thereby suppressing the expansion of the jet diameter due to the extrusion of the product liquid and filling the carbonated product liquid. When the valve is stopped, the valve main body 2 is caused to function as a positive operation valve, thereby reducing the liquid pool and suppressing the dripping. Therefore, if the filling valve device 1 of the present embodiment is used in a beverage filling machine that uses both non-carbonated beverages and carbonated beverages, it is possible to prevent the growth of bacteria and realize stable beverage production.

  Further, the filling valve device 1 selects the first closed state when the valve body 21 moves upward in the vertical direction from the open state, and the first seal portion 22 contacts the first valve seat 17, and When the valve body 21 moves downward in the vertical direction from the open state and the second seal portion 24 contacts the second valve seat 19, the second closed state is selected. As described above, according to the present embodiment, the first closed state, the second closed state, and the open state can be selected simply by moving the valve body 21 up and down, so that the control is easy.

  Further, the filling valve device 1 adjusts the operation of the two pistons, ie, the first piston 32 and the second piston 34, by operating air, so that the valve body 21 is in a first closed position corresponding to the first closed state, It can be easily moved to the second closed position corresponding to the two closed state and the open position corresponding to the open state.

As described above, the present invention has been described based on the preferred embodiments. However, the configuration described in the above embodiments can be selected or changed to other configurations as appropriate without departing from the gist of the present invention. It is.
In this embodiment, the pneumatic cylinder 3 is used for the valve body 21 to selectively move the three positions of the first closed position, the open position, and the second closed position. It is also possible to selectively move the three positions using an electric cylinder.
In this embodiment, the valve body 21 is moved up and down to bring the first seal portion 22 into close contact with the first valve seat 17 and the second seal portion 24 is brought into contact with the second valve seat 19. The invention is not limited to this. For example, the valve seat (first valve seat 17, second valve seat 19) can be selectively moved by selectively moving only the seal portions (first seal portion 22, second seal portion 24) without raising and lowering the valve body itself. ), And the present invention includes this form.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Filling valve apparatus 2 Valve body 3 Pneumatic cylinder 4 Connection structure 10 Valve box 11 Discharge port 12 Liquid supply pipe 13 Liquid flow path 15 Valve body accommodation area 15A Expanded diameter range 15B Equal diameter range 15C Reduced diameter range 17 First valve seat 19 Second valve seat 20 Valve mechanism 21 Valve body 22 First seal portion 24 Second seal portion 25 Valve shaft 27 Valve shaft guide 30 Cylinder body 31 First working chamber 32 First piston 32A Piston body 32B Piston rod 33 Second operation Chamber 34 Second piston 34A Piston body 34B First piston rod 34C Second piston rod 37 Guide wall 38 Guide hole A First port B Second port C Third port

Claims (4)

A valve body provided in a flow path through which the product liquid flows;
A valve seat that is provided in the flow path and stops the flow of the product liquid when the valve body comes into contact therewith,
The valve body and the valve seat are
A first closed state in which the flow of the product liquid is stopped at an upstream position;
A second closed state in which the flow of the product liquid is stopped at a position downstream of the first closed state;
An open state in which the product liquid flows without the valve body and the valve seat being in contact with each other can be selected.
A filling valve device characterized by that. The valve body is provided so as to be movable up and down in the flow path,
A first seal portion provided on the upstream side of the flow of the product liquid;
A second seal portion provided downstream from the first seal portion,
The valve seat is
A first valve seat corresponding to the first seal portion and provided upstream of the flow of the product liquid;
A second valve seat corresponding to the second seal portion and provided on the downstream side of the flow of the product liquid;
With
The first closed state is selected when the valve body moves upward in the vertical direction from the open state, and the first seal portion contacts the first valve seat,
The second closed state is selected by the valve body moving downward in the vertical direction from the open state, and the second seal portion contacting the second valve seat.
2. The filling valve device according to claim 1. A drive source for raising and lowering the valve body;
The drive source comprises a pneumatic cylinder driven by being supplied with working air,
The pneumatic cylinder is
A first piston that is vertically movable,
A second piston that can be moved up and down independently of the first piston,
When the second piston is pushed up by the working air, the first seal portion is placed in a first closed position in contact with the first valve seat,
When the second piston is pushed down by the operating air, the first seal portion is placed in a second closed position in contact with the second valve seat,
The valve body is placed in an open position between the first closed position and the second closed position by balancing the force by which the first piston is pushed down by the working air and the force by which the second piston is pushed up. ,
The filling valve device according to claim 2. A beverage filling method for filling a product liquid via a filling valve to each of a plurality of containers conveyed continuously,
Aseptic filling mode for filling the container with a non-carbonated beverage as the product liquid;
A carbonated filling mode in which the container is filled with a carbonated beverage as the product liquid is selectively executed,
As the filling valve, using the filling valve device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
In the aseptic filling mode, when stopping the filling of the product liquid, the first closed state is selected,
In the carbonic acid filling mode, when the filling of the product liquid is stopped, the second closed state is selected.
A beverage filling method characterized by the above.

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