JP2724801B2 - Liquid filling method and device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for filling a liquid in which a container is lifted in the middle of a conveying path to open a valve of a liquid supply nozzle arranged at a fixed position.
It is used when filling containers such as soft drinks, seasonings, cosmetics and other liquids.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a filling device of this kind,
One disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei 5-30714 is known. This device arranges a liquid filling section in the middle of a box-shaped container conveyance path by a double conveyor belt, raises a stopper from between the belts at a filling work position, forcibly stops the advancement of the container, and moves the belt. The liquid is filled after raising the elevating table from the outside to raise the box-shaped container. This device is convenient for filling one large container with liquid, but it is very inefficient for filling small-volume containers such as bottles and plastic bottles. If the small lightweight container is forcibly stopped by being lifted, there is a disadvantage that the container falls on the belt.

[0003] An apparatus for filling a container with a liquid by serially connecting small-capacity containers along a conveying path at a constant interval is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. HEI 4-1992.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 239495/1990. This device employs a method of filling the liquid by raising the containers one by one, and adopts an extremely complicated filling mechanism of lowering the container while filling, so that the filling efficiency is extremely deteriorated.

[0004]

The present invention relates to a liquid filling method and apparatus in which a container is lifted in the middle of a transport path to open a valve body of a liquid supply nozzle arranged at a fixed position, and a liquid is simultaneously supplied to a plurality of containers arranged in series. It is an object of the present invention to make it possible to fill the space.

[0005]

Technical Means The first technical means for solving this technical problem relates to a method for filling a liquid. (A) A predetermined number of containers are connected in series in accordance with an interval between liquid supply nozzles,
(B) In this state, the container is placed on and transported on the two endless transport bodies. (C) The lifting platform is raised from between the two transport bodies at the liquid filling section, and (d) the lifting platform is located at the center of the bottom of the container. (E) to fill the liquid with the opening of the container facing the valve body. The second technical means relates to an apparatus used for carrying out the above method, and (e) a two-endless endless transfer body for carrying a container on the container,
(F) guide means for supplying containers on the carrier at a predetermined interval; (g) interval maintaining means for enabling advance / retreat on the carrier; (li) lifting and lowering between the two carriers in the liquid filling section. (H) to advance the spacing maintaining means with respect to a predetermined number of container rows facing the lifting platform, and to raise the container while supporting it at the center of the bottom surface.

[0006]

The container is conveyed to the liquid filling section with its bottom straddling two endless conveying members. The containers are serially arranged at predetermined intervals at predetermined intervals during transportation so as to correspond to the intervals of the liquid supply nozzles arranged in the liquid filling section, and are transported to the filling section as they are. The container row is raised at the same time as facing the liquid filling section, but since the lifting table rises from between the two conveying bodies,
The container rises stably with the center of the bottom surface, that is, the position of the center of gravity of the container supported. At this time, the distance between the containers is maintained, and each container rises at a position corresponding to the liquid supply nozzle, so that the liquid can be smoothly filled from the nozzle. Therefore, a plurality of containers can be simultaneously filled with liquid in accordance with the number of liquid supply nozzles in the filling section (see claim 1).

[0007] In the filling device, the containers are arranged in series at regular intervals using a guiding means. The guide means operates the container at a constant speed or intermittently to guide the containers sequentially on the carrier at a constant interval.
Since the number of containers corresponds to the number of operations of the guiding means, if this means is stopped at every predetermined number of operations, a predetermined number of containers will be serially arranged at regular intervals. A known endless conveyor such as a conveyor belt or a conveyor chain is used as the carrier, but it is desirable that the surface be flat.

With respect to the row of containers, the spacing means arranged at the side edge of the transport body is advanced onto the transport body to maintain the interval between the containers, and the row of containers is raised in this state. The container is prevented from moving or falling when ascending and descending, and furthermore, there is no trouble in ascending and descending, so that the container can accurately face the liquid supply nozzle. When the container row is raised, it is desirable to temporarily stop the transport of the container row. As the interval maintaining means, a plate member in which the convex portions are arranged in the width direction can be used. When this plate member is advanced onto the carrier, the convex portion faces between and comes in contact with the containers arranged in series, so that the interval between the containers is reliably maintained. The shape of the convex portion is usually a square shape, a mountain shape, a kamaboko shape, or the like, and may be appropriately designed in consideration of the type and size of the container.

[0009]

According to the present invention, a plurality of containers can be filled with liquid at the same time. As a result, there is an advantage that a small container can be efficiently filled with liquid.

[0010]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a device according to the present invention, in which a part of the device is omitted. On the base 1, two endless belts 2, 2 having a flat surface as a carrier are hung on rollers 3, 3, and circulate in the direction of arrow a by a motor (not shown). In this embodiment, the belts 2, 2
Roller conveyors 4 and 5 are arranged on the upstream side and downstream side, respectively. However, the conveying sections of the belts 2 and 2 are configured to be long without using the roller conveyors 4 and 5, and the containers are supplied on the same belt. Alternatively, the liquid may be filled and transported downstream as it is. The selection is appropriately made according to the configuration of the container supply device and the downstream device.

The bottle container 9 to be filled with the liquid is supplied onto the belt 2 from the roller conveyor 4 side, and is discharged to the roller conveyor 5 side after the liquid is filled. A feed blade 6 as a guide means shown in FIG. 4 is disposed above the roller conveyor 4 and the belts 2, 2. The container 9 is pushed toward the belt 2 (in the direction of the arrow c) so that the belt 2 can convey the container 9 at a certain interval. The distance between the projections 7 of the feed blade and the rotation interval are determined by the size of the container, the liquid supply nozzle 20.
Will be changed depending on the distance between them. As the guide means, a known feed mechanism such as a push-out plunger can be used in addition to the rotary feed blade having the above configuration.

In the liquid filling section 10, an elevator 11 is disposed between the two belts 2, 2. By projecting a piston rod of an air cylinder 12, the elevator 11 is moved along the guide rod 19 by the belt 2, 2. Move upward between the two.

A guide wall 14 is disposed outside one of the belts 2 so that when the container 9 is moved up and down on the elevating platform 11, the container 9 is prevented from moving or overturning together with an interval maintaining device 15 described later. (See FIG. 2). This guide wall 14
Can be moved forward and backward by moving the support rod 13 in the axial direction, and corresponds to the diameter of the conveyed container 9. The position of the support rod 13 is fixed by fixing means (not shown), and the wall 14 can be fixed at an arbitrary position. A container 9 is provided outside the other belt 2.
A maintenance tool 15 for maintaining the interval is arranged. This retainer is constructed by attaching a rubber plate 17 having irregularities on the surface to the surface of the plate 16, and when the rubber plate 17 can move forward and backward by the air cylinder 18 and moves forward, the convex portion of the rubber plate 17 is located between the containers 9 and 9. The container 9 is positioned below the liquid supply nozzle 20 to maintain the interval and finely adjust the interval (see FIGS. 2 and 3).

When the lifting platform 11 is raised in this state, the container 9 is raised in a stable state surrounded by the guide wall 14 and the gap maintaining device 15, and the liquid is filled into the container 9 from the liquid supply nozzle 20. Will be. As the liquid supply nozzle 20, a known mechanism such as a mechanism in which the raised container 9 itself presses the valve body to open the nozzle, a mechanism in which a sensor detects the container 9 and opens the valve body, and the like, are employed.

In the above embodiment, the convex portion is formed by the rubber plate 17, but other materials may be used. Further, the spacing maintaining device 15 has a fixed projection, but if two projecting pieces or partition walls are projected between the containers 9 and 9 so that they can be moved in the longitudinal direction, the container 9 becomes There is an advantage that even if the distance between the containers is changed, the distance between the containers can be changed. In addition, it is also possible to adopt a configuration in which an interval maintaining tool is arranged in this direction instead of the guide wall 14 and the interval can be maintained from both of the containers 9 and 9 rows.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view in which a part of a transfer device in a liquid filling section is omitted.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along a line A-A 'in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a liquid filling unit.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a feed blade.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 1 base, 2 conveyor belt, 4, 5 roller conveyor, 6 feed blade, 9 container, 10 liquid filling section, 11 elevating table, 14 guide wall, 15 interval maintaining tool, 17 rubber plate, 20 liquid supply nozzle

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] In a liquid filling method in which a container is lifted in the middle of a conveying path to open a valve body of a liquid supply nozzle arranged at a fixed position, a predetermined number of containers are connected in series in accordance with a distance between the liquid supply nozzles. In this state, the container is placed on the two endless transfer members and transferred, and the lifting table is raised from between the two transfer members in the liquid filling section, and the lifting table supports the bottom center of the container and simultaneously raises the container row. Liquid filling method. 2. A liquid-filling apparatus in which a container is lifted in the middle of a conveying path to open a valve body of a liquid supply nozzle arranged at a fixed position, and a two-stage endless conveying body and a conveying body for mounting and conveying the container. Guide means for supplying containers at predetermined intervals,
A distance maintaining means for allowing advancement and retreat on the carrier, an elevating table which moves up and down between the two conveying bodies in the liquid filling section, and a distance maintaining means for a predetermined number of container rows facing the elevating table A liquid filling device for moving the container forward and supporting the container at the bottom center.