JP2776215B2 - Rotary filling device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a rotary filling device.
More specifically, the present invention relates to a rotary filling device configured to fill a container in a holder with a filling liquid while adsorbing and transporting the holder by a magnet.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a rotary filling method in which a magnet is continuously arranged in a conveying path of a container and a filling liquid is filled in the container while the holder holding the container is attracted to the magnet and conveyed. The device is known (for example, see JP-A-5-971).
No. 86). In the rotary filling device disclosed in the above publication, the magnets are spirally arranged from the outer peripheral side to the inner peripheral side at a position below the rotating body, and the magnets on the inner peripheral side are further extended radially outward. Thus, the magnet is pulled out to the outside of the rotating body so as to cross under the magnet on the outer peripheral side. By arranging the magnets in this manner, the container is filled with the filling liquid in the process of transporting the holder (container) along the magnet on the outer peripheral side with the rotation of the rotating body, and then the inner peripheral side is filled. A cap is attached to the container in the process of transporting the holder (container) along the magnet. The container with the cap attached thereto is further conveyed along the magnet from a position on the inner peripheral side and discharged to the outside of the rotating body.
On the other hand, as a conventional rotary filling device that does not use a magnet when transporting a container, a device having the following configuration is known. That is, a rotary table that is rotatably provided for mounting containers, a plurality of filling valves that are disposed above the mounting position of each container on the rotary table, and that fills the container with a filling liquid; A collecting means for collecting a cleaning liquid for cleaning the filling valve at the time of cleaning the valve, a supply starwheel for supplying the container on the rotary table at a predetermined supply position, and discharging the container from the rotary table at a predetermined discharge position Those with a discharge starwheel are known. In this rotary filling device, when cleaning each filling valve, a cleaning jig is supplied on the rotary table instead of the container, and the filling valve is opened by the jig to clean the inside of the filling valve. Is going. Then, the cleaning liquid after cleaning the filling valve is recovered by the recovery means. Therefore, a configuration in which the transfer technology using a magnet disclosed in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-97186 is applied to such a rotary filling device that does not use a magnet,
Those skilled in the art can relatively easily conceive. In the configuration obtained by combining the above two conventional techniques, the magnets are continuously arranged in the process of transporting the holder storing the container. In this case, the section where the container does not need to be transported is required. That is, it is considered that no magnet is provided in the moving section of the rotary table from the discharge position to the supply position.

In such a construction in which both prior arts are combined, when cleaning the filling valve, a jig for cleaning is housed in the holder instead of the container, and the rotary table is rotated. The top is supplied and the filling valve is opened to perform cleaning. However, in this case, since the magnet is not provided in the moving section of the rotary table from the discharge position to the supply position as described above, the holder accommodating the jig cannot be attracted in that section, and Will fall off. Therefore, when the filling valve is cleaned in the above-described arrangement, the holders sequentially stored on the rotary table are sequentially supplied at the supply position at the supply position, and at the discharge position, as in the case of the filling operation for the container. The filling valve must be cleaned by sequentially discharging the holder containing the jig. Therefore, when cleaning the filling valve in the above-mentioned arrangement, a large number of holders accommodating the cleaning jigs must be prepared, so that there is a disadvantage that the cleaning operation becomes complicated.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In view of such circumstances,
The present invention provides a rotary table which is provided rotatably in one direction and mounts holders accommodating containers at circumferentially equidistant positions, and fills a filling liquid into containers in each holder mounted on the rotary table. A plurality of filling valves, a supply starwheel for supplying a holder containing a container at a predetermined supply position onto the rotary table, a discharge starwheel for discharging the holder from the rotary table at a predetermined discharge position, A first magnet that is continuously disposed below a movement trajectory of the rotary table from the supply position to the discharge position and that attracts a holder on the rotary table, and is mounted on the rotary table. In a rotary filling apparatus, a holder is attracted by the first magnet and a filling liquid is filled in a container in the holder while being conveyed along the magnet. A recovery means for recovering the cleaning liquid that has washed them when the valves are cleaned is provided, and a second magnet for continuously attracting the holder on the rotary table is also provided below the movement trajectory of the rotary table from the discharge position to the supply position. And at the discharge position, a first position allowing the transfer of the holder from the first magnet to the discharge starwheel, and a transfer position of the holder from the first magnet to the second magnet. And a switching mechanism for moving the movable magnet between the first position and the second position.

According to this structure, when filling the container with the filling liquid, the movable magnet is positioned at the first position by the switching mechanism. Thereby, the holder supplied to the rotary table is filled along with the filling liquid in the container housed therein while being conveyed along the first magnet.
After that, each of the filled holders is attracted to the movable magnet at the first position at the discharge position, and is discharged from the turntable by the discharge star wheel. On the other hand, when cleaning the filling valve, the movable magnet is positioned at the second position by the switching mechanism. This allows
The holder containing the cleaning jig is moved from the first magnet to the second magnet.
Is transferred to the second magnet and is attracted by the second magnet, so that the holder accommodating the jig does not fall off the rotary table in the moving section of the rotary table from the discharge position to the supply position. Therefore, when cleaning the filling valve, the same number of holders containing cleaning jigs as the number of the filling valves may be prepared and supplied to the rotary table. As described above, when cleaning the filling valve, it is sufficient to prepare the same number of jigs for cleaning as the number of filling valves, so that the cleaning operation is simplified.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to the illustrated embodiment. In FIG. 1, a rotary filling device 1 includes a rotating table 2 that rotates clockwise and a feed star wheel 3 at a position adjacent to the rotating table 2. A discharge star wheel 4 is provided. The supply starwheel 3 has a conventionally known configuration. When the holder 6 containing the container 5 is conveyed to the position of the supply starwheel 3 by the supply conveyor 7, the supply starwheel 3 is moved to the supply conveyor 7.
The holders 6 are removed one by one from above, and each of the engaging recesses 2a on the turntable 2 being rotated at the supply position A.
(See FIG. 3). Each holder 6 supplied to each engagement recess 2a on the rotary table 2 is conveyed along with the rotation of the rotary table 2, and accordingly, a predetermined amount is stored in a container 5 stored in each holder 6 by a filling valve described later. Is filled. Thereafter, the holder 6 in which the filling liquid has been filled into the container 5 is rotated by the discharge star wheel 4 at the discharge position B.
It is designed to be discharged sequentially from the top. As shown enlarged in FIG. 2, the holder 6 is formed in a cup shape.
The outer shape of the horizontal cross section is formed in a substantially square shape. The magnet 8 is buried in a flat surface serving as a bottom surface and an outer peripheral portion of the holder 6. When the container 5 is stored in the holder 6 from above, the neck of the container 4 projects upward from the upper end of the holder 6. As shown in FIG.
In a section C in which the turntable 2 moves from the supply position A to the discharge position B, a magnet M1 is continuously disposed at a position below the transport path of the holder 6 (container 5).
Continuously from the end of the magnet M1 located at the discharge position B,
The magnet M2 is also continuously disposed at a position below the transport path of the holder 6 (container 5) in the discharge star wheel 4. Therefore, the holder 6 supplied onto the turntable 2 at the supply position A is conveyed to the discharge position B along the magnet M1 while being attracted by the magnet M1 as the turntable 2 rotates. The container 5 in the holder 6 is filled with the filling liquid. Then, the container 5 in which the filling liquid has been filled is conveyed along the magnet M2 while being attracted by the magnet M2 with the rotation of the discharge star wheel 4, so that the holder 6 is placed on the turntable 2 at the discharge position B. It is to be discharged from. Next, the configuration of the turntable 2 will be described with reference to FIGS. The rotary table 2 is formed with the engaging recesses 2a at circumferentially equal intervals, and the magnet M1 is mounted on the lower side of the holder 6 engaged with each of the engaging recesses 2a.
Is arranged. A conventionally known filling valve 24 is provided above each engagement recess 2a. The filling valve 24 is attached to the upper end of the lifting rod 25,
The upper container 5 can be moved up and down. A cam follower 26 is attached to the lower end of the lifting rod 25. The cam follower 26 is mounted on the cam surface of a ring-shaped cam member 27 provided below the cam follower 26.
The cam surface of the cam member 27 is set to be at the lower end in the moving section of the rotary table 2 from a position slightly passing the supply position A to a position immediately before the discharge position B, and from the discharge position B to the supply position. The adjustment is performed so that the rising end is reached in the moving section of the turntable 2 up to A. Thereby, in the section where the cam surface of the cam member 27 is the lower end, the lower end 24a of the filling valve 24 abuts on the upper end of the container 5 in the holder 6, and in the section where the cam surface is the rising end, the filling valve 24 is higher. Is separated from the upper end of the container 5. As shown in an enlarged manner in FIG. 5, the filling liquid is supplied from a filling liquid tank (not shown) to a liquid passage 24 b formed in the filling valve 24 via a supply pipe 28. When compressed air is not introduced into the upper pressure chamber (not shown), the valve body 29 that opens and closes the liquid passage 24b is seated on the valve seat 24c by a spring (not shown) to close the liquid passage 24b. On the other hand, when the compressed air is introduced into the pressure chamber, the valve body 29 is separated from the valve seat 24c and the liquid passage 24b is opened. As a result, the container 5 in a state of contact with the lower end portion 24a is
The inside is filled with a filling liquid. Further, the filling valve 24 is formed with a recovery passage 24d in the valve body continuously from the tapered lower end 24a with which the upper end of the container 5 contacts, and the recovery passage 24d is formed via the recovery pipe 30. It communicates with a collection tank (not shown). After the filling operation is completed by the filling valve 24, it is necessary to clean the inside thereof.
As shown in FIG. 7, a cleaning jig 33 is housed in the holder 6 instead of the container 5 and supplied to the engaging portion 2a of the turntable 2, and the upper end of the jig 33 contacts the lower end 24a of the filling valve 24. I try to contact them. In this state, when the filling valve 24 is opened, the cleaning liquid in the filling liquid tank flows through the supply pipe 28 and the liquid passage 24b of the filling valve 24, and then the lower end 24a and the upper end surface of the jig 33 After being passed through the space defined by the above, it is collected in the collection tank via the collection passage 24d and the collection pipe 30. Thereby, not only the filling valve 24 but also the supply pipe 28 can be washed. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, in the present embodiment, the holder 6 containing the cleaning jig 33 is attached to the rotary table 2.
In order to prevent the upper end of the jig 33 from colliding with the lower end 24a of each filling valve 24, four jacks 34 below the cam member 27 can be supported by four jacks 34 to ascend and descend. Like that. As shown in FIG. 6, the jacks 34 at adjacent positions are linked by a connection shaft 35, and one of the jacks 34 is linked to a motor 36. Therefore, by rotating the motor 36 in the forward and reverse directions, the four jacks 3
4 can be raised and lowered by the same amount in synchronization. When filling the container 4 with the filling liquid by the filling valve 24, the cam member 27 is positioned at the lower end shown by the solid line in FIG. On the other hand, when the holder 6 containing the cleaning jig 33 is supplied to the rotary table 2 to clean the filling valve 24, the cam member 27 is raised by a predetermined amount from the above-described lower end position. Let it. As a result, the cleaning jig 33 is connected to the filling valve 24.
Is supplied onto the turntable 2 without colliding with the lower end 24a of the rotary table. When the holder 6 containing the cleaning jig 33 is supplied below the filling valve 24, the jack 34 is lowered. Then, the lower end 24a of the filling valve 24 contacts the cleaning jig 33 (FIG. 11). Then, in this state, the filling valve 24 is opened and the inside is cleaned as described above. Next, as shown in FIG. 7 to FIG.
Has an engagement wheel 37 and a support wheel 38 which are integrally connected by being superposed. Lower support wheel 38
Each of the supporting portions 38a overlaps with the lower side of the outer peripheral edge of the rotary table 2 and supports the bottom surface of the holder 6 in the process of rotating counterclockwise in synchronization with the rotation of the rotary table 2. At the same time, the side surfaces of the holder 6 are supported by the respective engaging recesses 37a of the upper engaging wheel 37. As shown in FIG. 1, the above-described magnet M2 is continuously arranged at a position below the movement trajectory of each support portion 38a of the lower support wheel 38, thereby supporting the support wheel 38. The holder 6 is sucked and transported. In the above configuration, when filling the container 5 with the filling liquid, the supply position A is set in the engaging concave portion 2a of the rotating rotary table 2 with the ring-shaped cam member 27 positioned at the lower end. , The holders 6 containing the containers 5 are sequentially supplied. The holder 6 supplied to the turntable 2 is conveyed clockwise along the magnet M1 while being attracted to the magnet M1, and
Lower end 24a of the filling valve 24 in the section where
Contacts the upper end of the container 5 (FIG. 5), and the filling valve 24
Is opened, the container 5 is filled with the filling liquid. Thereafter, immediately before the discharge position B, the filling valve 24 is raised to the rising end with the cam curve of the cam member 27 reaching the rising end, so that the lower end 24 a of the filling valve 24 is moved to the upper end of the container 5. Then, at the discharge position B, the holder 6 (container 5) is discharged from above the turntable 2 by the discharge star wheel 4. When the holder 6 is discharged, the ends of the magnets M1 and M2 are substantially continuous, so that the holder 6 is smoothly discharged from the turntable 2 toward the discharge starwheel 4. In this embodiment, on the premise of the above-described configuration, as shown in FIG. 1, the magnet M1 'is continuously provided below the moving section of the turntable 2 from the discharge position B to the supply position A. It is provided. As a result, in the present embodiment, the magnets M1 and M1 'are arranged in the entire area below the movement locus of the engagement recess 2a of the rotary table 2. Further, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the position of the magnet M2 which is the discharge position B is defined by an arc-shaped movable magnet M2 '.
And a switching mechanism 39 for switching the position of the movable magnet M2 '. That is, the movable magnet M2 'is provided on the upper surface of the substantially L-shaped plate member 40, and the plate member 40 is engaged with a pair of horizontally supported guide members 41, 41 to move in the left-right direction of FIG. Can reciprocate. An air cylinder 42 is attached to a side surface of one guide member 41, and a piston 42 a of the air cylinder 42 is connected to a bottom surface of the plate-shaped member 40. The operation of the air cylinder 42 is controlled by a control device (not shown), and is stopped during the above-described filling liquid filling operation. And
When the air cylinder 42 is not operated, the movable magnet M2 '
Is located at the forward end position shown by the broken line in FIG. Therefore, the movable magnet M2 'is substantially continuous with the end of the magnet M1 on the turntable 2 side at the discharge position A. As a result, the holder 6 containing the container 5 after the filling is completed is attracted to the movable magnet M2 'from the end of the magnet M1 and the discharge star wheel 4 side from the rotary table 2 by the two wheels 37 and 38. Is discharged smoothly. On the other hand, when cleaning the filling valve 24, the air cylinder 42 is operated by the control device, and the piston 42a is advanced to the position shown by the imaginary line. Therefore, the movable magnet M2 'is also moved to the rightward retreat end position. At the retracted end position, the movable magnet M2 '
Is completely separated from the end of the magnet M1 on the turntable 2 side. Therefore, in this state, the holder 5 on the turntable 2
Will not be discharged from As described above, since the magnet M1 'is disposed from the discharge position B on the turntable 2 side to the supply position A, the turntable 2 is not discharged from the turntable 2 at the discharge position B. The holder will be attracted by the magnet M1 '. As described above, when the holder 6 is supplied to the rotary table 2 during the cleaning of the filling valve 24, the holder 6
Is transported along the magnets M1 and M1 ′ without being discharged from the magnet. In the present embodiment, when cleaning the filling valve 24, the filling valve 2 provided on the rotary table 2 side in a state where the movable magnet M2 ′ is located at the above-described retracted position.
The same number of holders 6 as jigs 33 are prepared and supplied from the supply conveyor 7 to the rotary table 2 by the supply starwheel 3. At this time, since the cam member 27 is raised by the jack 34 as described above, the upper end of the jig 33 does not contact the lower end 24a of the filling valve 24. Next, when the holder 6 accommodated in the jig 33 is supplied below each filling valve 24 of the rotary table 2, the rotation of the rotary table 2 is temporarily stopped, and then the cam member 27 is lowered. Thereby, the filling valve 2
4 contacts the upper end of the jig 33 (FIG. 1).
1). In this state, the filling valves 24 are simultaneously opened while the rotary table 2 is stopped, so that the inside of the filling valves 24 is washed with the washing liquid, and the washing liquid after washing passes through the collecting passage 24d and the collecting pipe 30. Collected in the collection tank. In addition, even if the filling valves 24 are simultaneously opened while rotating the rotary table 2 in a state where the holders accommodating the jigs 33 are supplied below all the filling valves 24, the insides thereof may be cleaned. good. When the cleaning of the filling valve 24 is completed in this way, the rotation of the turntable 2 is temporarily stopped, and the movable magnet M2 'is returned to the forward position. Also, the cam member 2
7 is raised to the rising end. When the rotary table 2 is rotated in this state, the holder 6 containing the jig 33 on the rotary table 2 at the discharge position B is discharged by the discharge star wheel 4. Thereafter, the cam member 27 is lowered to the lower end position. by this,
The cleaning operation of the filling valve 24 is completed. As described above, when the filling valve 24 is cleaned, the same number of holders 6 with the same number of cleaning jigs 33 as the number of the filling valves 24 may be prepared. be able to.

As described above, according to the present invention, the effect of greatly simplifying the cleaning operation of the filling valve can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged front view of the holder shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a schematic sectional view taken along the line IV-IV in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing the configuration of the filling valve shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a main part taken along line VI-VI in FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged plan view of a main part of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along the line VIII-VIII in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a plan view of a main part of the member shown in FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a plan view of a main part of the member shown in FIG. 8;

FIG. 11 is a sectional view showing a relationship between a filling valve and a jig during a cleaning operation.

[Description of sign]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 rotary weight filling device 2 rotary table 3 supply starwheel 4 discharge starwheel 6 holder 39 switching mechanism A supply position B discharge position M1, M1 ', M2 magnet M2' movable magnet

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-5-97186 (JP, A) JP-A-3-29703 (JP, A) JP-A-57-77498 (JP, A) (58) Investigation Field (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B65B 1/00-3/36 B67C 3/00-11/06

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A rotary table which is provided rotatably in one direction and mounts holders accommodating containers at circumferentially equally spaced positions, and fills liquid into containers in each holder mounted on the rotary table. A plurality of filling valves to be filled, a supply starwheel for supplying a holder containing a container at a predetermined supply position on the rotary table, and a discharge starwheel for discharging the holder from the rotary table at a predetermined discharge position, A first magnet that is continuously disposed below a movement trajectory of the rotary table from the supply position to the discharge position and attracts a holder on the rotary table, and is mounted on the rotary table. A rotary filling device, in which the filled holder is attracted by the first magnet, and the container in the holder is filled with the filling liquid while being transported along the magnet. Comprising a recovery means for recovering the washing liquid were washed them during cleaning of the filling valve, a second well to adsorb the holder on the rotary table on the lower side of the moving locus of the rotary table which leads to the supply position from the discharge position
And a first position allowing the transfer of the holder from the first magnet to the discharge starwheel, at the discharge position,
A movable magnet movable between a first position and a second position allowing the transfer of the holder from the second magnet to the second position; and a switching mechanism for moving the movable magnet between the first position and the second position. A rotary filling device, characterized in that: