JP2853240B2 - Filling device - Google Patents

Description

Description: FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a filling device for filling a container with a predetermined weight or predetermined volume of a filling liquid.

Conventional technology Conventionally, as a weight filling device for filling a filling liquid into a container, a weighing scale for measuring the weight of the container, a filling nozzle for filling the filling liquid into the container, and raising and lowering the filling nozzle 2. Description of the Related Art A filling device including an elevating mechanism, a control device for opening and closing a valve provided on the filling nozzle, and a liquid level detector for detecting a liquid level in a container is known (Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 52-35).
No. 229).

In the filling device having such a configuration, when the filling nozzle is lowered to a predetermined position in the container by the elevating mechanism, the valve is opened at a large opening by the control device, and the container is filled with the filling liquid at a large flow rate. . Then, when the lower end of the filling nozzle is immersed in the filling liquid, the liquid level detector detects the liquid level in the container and follows the rising of the liquid level to raise the filling nozzle, and further fill liquid. When the filling weight has reached 90% of the predetermined filling weight to be filled, the valve is switched to a small opening and the filling nozzle is pulled out of the filling liquid. When the filling weight reaches the predetermined filling weight, the valve is closed to terminate the filling.

Conventionally, instead of switching the valve between a large opening and a small opening, a filling nozzle for a large flow rate and a filling nozzle for a small flow rate are separately provided, and the filling nozzle for a large flow rate is used to increase the liquid level in the container. After filling up to a height of, for example, 95% of the predetermined liquid level, the filling nozzle for the small flow rate was then filled until the liquid level in the container reached the predetermined liquid level. Some have been proposed (JP-A-59-37187).

"Problems to be solved by the invention" In the former filling device, the valve is switched to a small opening at the final stage of filling to fill the container accurately with a predetermined weight of filling liquid, and the filling is performed at a small flow rate. In the latter filling device, the filling nozzle is replaced with a small flow rate filling nozzle in the final stage of filling in order to accurately set the liquid level in the container to a predetermined liquid level. Like that.

By the way, since there is a manufacturing error for each container in the inner volume of the container, even if the container is accurately filled with a predetermined weight of the filling liquid, or even if the container is accurately filled with a predetermined volume of the filling liquid, the liquid level height does not increase. Variations may occur. Conversely, if the liquid level is accurately set to a predetermined height, the filling weight or filling capacity will vary.

In particular, when a predetermined filling weight or filling volume is required, depending on the product, naturally, the liquid level height is not controlled as in the latter filling device, but as in the former weight filling device. Then, the control is performed so that the filling amount in the container becomes a predetermined filling amount.

However, in this case, as described above, there is a manufacturing error in the inner volume of the container, so that the liquid level may vary. Despite having been filled, consumers may have been worried that the amount of filling may be insufficient.

Therefore, the present invention is, after filling the filling liquid of a predetermined filling amount or more in the container, if the liquid level is low enough to give the consumer anxiety that the filling amount may be insufficient, Further, a filling liquid is additionally filled.

"Means for solving the problem" That is, the present invention provides a weight filling device or a volume filling device,
That is, a filling nozzle for filling the filling liquid in the container, a filling amount detecting means for detecting a capacity such as a weight or a flow rate of the filling liquid filled in the container, and a detection signal from the filling amount detecting means are inputted. And a control device for controlling the opening and closing of a valve provided in the filling nozzle. The control device opens the valve to fill the container with the filling liquid, and the filling amount detecting means detects the filling liquid in the container. A filling device that closes the valve when it is detected that the filling amount has reached a predetermined filling amount. In addition, height detecting means for detecting a liquid level of the filling liquid filled in the container is provided. The detection signal from the detection means is input to the control device, the control device,
When the liquid level detected by the height detecting means is lower than the permissible height, the valve is opened and the filling liquid is additionally filled in the container until the liquid level is higher than the permissible height. Things.

[Operation] According to the above configuration, the container can be filled with a predetermined amount of the filling liquid by a normal filling operation as in the related art. Then, after the container is reliably filled with a predetermined amount of filling liquid by the normal filling operation, the liquid level height in the container can be detected by the height detecting means, and the liquid level is allowed When the height is lower than the height, the control device opens the valve, and the filling liquid can be additionally filled in the container until the liquid level becomes equal to or higher than the allowable height.

Therefore, it is possible to prevent a product having a relatively low liquid level from being manufactured despite being filled with a predetermined filling amount, thereby preventing a consumer from feeling uneasy. Can be.

"Example" Hereinafter, an example in which the present invention is applied to a rotary weight filling apparatus will be described. In FIG.
Container 2 transported by the rotary weight filling device 3
By the supply star wheel 4
The container 2 filled with a predetermined weight of the filling liquid by the rotary weight filling device 3 is discharged onto the conveyor 1 by a discharge star wheel 5.

As shown in FIG. 2, the rotary weight filling device 3
A cylindrical rotating body 6 attached to a vertical main shaft (not shown) and driven to rotate in one direction is provided, and a flange portion protruding radially outward at an outer peripheral portion of the rotating body 6.
6a is provided with a weighing scale 7 for measuring the weight of the container 2 at equal intervals in the circumferential direction. A support table 8 on which the container 2 is mounted is attached to the upper part of each weighing scale 7. A microcomputer provided outside the rotating body 6 via a rotary joint (not shown) receives a signal from each weighing scale 7. Input to the control device 9.

The rotating body 6 has a position above each support table 8,
Filling nozzles 16 for filling the filling liquid into the container 2 placed on the support table 8 are provided, and each filling nozzle 16 can be moved up and down by an elevating mechanism 17 provided on the rotating body 6. ing.

As shown in FIG. 3, the valve housing 18 of each filling nozzle 16 is attached to the upper end of an elevating member 19 constituting an elevating mechanism 17, and the valve housing 18 has a filling passage 20 below its shaft. Has formed. And this filling passage 20
Radial hole 21 drilled at the upper end of valve housing 18
And a flexible conduit 22 connected thereto, which communicates with a filling liquid tank (not shown), and a lower end thereof communicates with a liquid injection pipe 23 attached to the valve housing 18.

The valve housing 18 accommodates a valve 25 made of a bottomed cylindrical bellows.The valve 25 is connected to a piston rod 27 of a cylinder device 26, and when the piston rod 27 is lowered, the valve 25 The bottom valve portion 25a is seated on a valve seat portion 18a formed in the valve housing 18 so that the filling passage 20 can be closed.

A piston 28 of a cylinder device 26 formed at the upper end of the piston rod 27 divides a first pressure chamber 29 at an upper part thereof and a second pressure chamber 30 at a lower part thereof.
When the compressed air is supplied from the first supply passage 31 formed in the first pressure chamber 29 to the first pressure chamber 29, the piston 28 and the piston rod 27 are lowered to seat the valve portion 25a on the valve seat portion 18a. Thus, the above-described filling passage 20 can be closed.

On the other hand, when compressed air is supplied to the second pressure chamber 30 from the second supply passage 32 formed in the valve housing 18, the piston 28 and the piston rod 27 are raised to move the valve portion 25a to the valve seat portion. 18a, so that the charging passage 20 can be opened.

In the valve housing 18, the piston 28
A second piston 33 is fitted to a lower position so as to be able to move up and down, and the piston rod 27 is slidably penetrated through the shaft of the second piston 33. The second piston 33 has a diameter larger than that of the piston 28, and has the above-described second pressure chamber 30 formed at an upper portion thereof and a third pressure chamber 34 formed at a lower portion thereof.

Therefore, when compressed air is supplied into the second pressure chamber 30 of the cylinder device 26, the second piston 33 is located at the lower end and allows the piston 28 to rise. In this state, the charging passage 20 is fully opened. Thus, the filling liquid can be filled in the container 2 with a large capacity.

On the other hand, the third
Compressed air is supplied to the third pressure chamber 34 via the supply passage 35 to position the second piston 33 at the rising end. Simultaneously, compressed air is supplied to the first pressure chamber 29 to lower the piston 28. In this case, the piston 28 comes into contact with the second piston 33 so that free lowering to the lower end is restricted. In this case, the valve 25 has a small opening, and the filling liquid is filled into the container 2 at a small flow rate.

Further, each of the supply passages is provided in the valve housing 18.
Atmospheric pressure chamber formed inside the valve 25 in addition to 31, 32, and 35
An air passage 37 is formed to open the atmospheric pressure chamber 36 to the atmosphere in order to allow the volume fluctuation of the 36, and each of the passages 31, 32, 35, 37 is provided inside the elevating member 19. The passages 38 to 41 are provided so as to communicate with each other.

Of the passages 38 to 41 provided inside the elevating member 19, the passage 41 communicating with the atmospheric pressure chamber 36 is the elevating member 19
Is open to the atmosphere at the lower end of the
Numeral 40 is connected to a compressed air source via a flexible conduit (not shown) and a solenoid valve.

The solenoid valve (not shown) can be controlled to open and close at a required position in the movement section of the filling nozzle 16 by the control device 9 described above. In this embodiment, the large opening section B of the filling nozzle 16 shown in FIG. The above valve 25
Can be opened with a large opening and a small opening in a small opening section C.

Next, as shown in FIG. 2, an elevating member 19 for supporting each filling nozzle 16 is penetrated through a support pipe 46 fixed to the rotating body 6 so as to be non-rotatable and ascendable and descendable. Is screwed to a gear 48 rotatably supported at the lower end of the support pipe 46. A servo motor 49 having the gear 48 fixed to the bottom surface of the rotating body 6
Side gear 50.

The servo motor 49 is rotationally driven in the forward and reverse directions by the control device 9 described above, whereby the filling nozzle 16 is rotated.
Can be raised and lowered. The control device 9 includes a filling nozzle set in advance for each type of container in consideration of the weight of the filling liquid filled therein and the liquid level in the container obtained at the weight. When the controller 9 detects the weight of the filling liquid in the container 2 based on a signal from the weighing scale 7, the controller 9 stores the detected weight from the correspondence table. The height position of the filling nozzle 16 corresponding to the height is selected, and based on the selected value, the servo motor 49 of the elevating mechanism 17 is controlled to control the position of the filling nozzle 16 at the height position.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, a height detecting means 55 for detecting the liquid level of the filling liquid filled in the container 2 is provided in an inspection section D downstream of the small opening section C. Provided.
In the illustrated embodiment, the height detecting means 55 includes a light source 56 disposed and fixed at a predetermined position, and a light receiving element 57 provided to face the light source 56 with the passing position of the container 2 interposed therebetween. The control device 9 receives the detection signal from the light receiving element 57 and receives the detection signal from the difference in the amount of light received by the light receiving element 57 that changes vertically according to the liquid level of the filling liquid filled in the container 2. The surface height can be detected.

When the liquid level detected by the height detecting means 55 is lower than a predetermined allowable height, the control device 9 sets the valve 25 in the additional filling section E on the downstream side of the inspection section D. The container 2 is opened only for a time corresponding to the difference between the liquid level of the filled filling liquid and the allowable height, and the filling liquid is additionally filled in the container 2.

In the above configuration, when the filling nozzle 16 is located at the rising end position and the valve 25 is closed, the supply star wheel 4 that rotates in synchronization with the rotation of the rotating body 6
When the empty container 2 is supplied onto the support table 8 from the control unit 9, in the moving section A shown in FIG. 1, the control device 9 inputs a signal from the weighing scale 7 and stores the weight of the empty container 2. . At the same time, the control device 9 lowers the filling nozzle 16 located at the rising end, and positions the lower end of the liquid injection pipe 23 at the lower end position close to the bottom in the container 2.

At this time, the lower end of the injection tube 23 is separated from the bottom of the container 2 by a required amount so that the lower end of the injection tube 23 does not contact the bottom of the container 2 to damage the container 2. Of course, it is set.

When the filling nozzle 16 is located at the lowered position, in the next large opening section B, the control device 9 opens the above-described electromagnetic valve to supply compressed air into the second pressure chamber 30 and fully opens the valve 25. At the same time, the ascent of the filling nozzle 16 is started.

At this time, the type of the container 2 to be used before the filling operation is started is input to the control device 9 in advance, and the control device 9 provides a necessary correspondence table according to the type of the container 2, A correspondence table between the weight of the filling liquid in 2 and the height position of the filling nozzle 16 corresponding to the weight is selected.

The control device 9 detects the filling weight of the filling liquid to be filled at a large flow rate, and controls the servo motor 49 to control the height position of the filling nozzle 16 to a height position corresponding to the detected filling weight. As a result, the liquid level of the filling liquid in the container 2 is always kept close to the lower end of the liquid injection tube 23.

In this way, the filling of the filling liquid proceeds, and when the filling liquid weighs, for example, about 90% of the final filling weight in the container 2, the control device 9 switches the solenoid valve to switch the first pressure chamber 29.
And the third pressure chamber 34 are simultaneously supplied with compressed air, whereby the valve 25 is switched to a small opening (small opening section C). On the other hand, the filling nozzle 16 is raised almost at the speed when the valve 25 is at the large opening degree, and when the height position reaches the predetermined height position, the rising is stopped.

In this state, when the filling liquid is filled into the container 2 at a small flow rate from the filling nozzle 16 and the control device 9 detects that the filling liquid in the container 2 has reached the expected filling weight by a signal from the weighing scale 9, The control device 9 supplies the compressed air only to the first pressure chamber 29 to close the valve 25 and terminate the filling of the filling liquid in the container 2.

When the predetermined amount of the filling liquid is filled in the container 2 in this way, in the next inspection section D, the height of the filling liquid filled in the container 2 is detected by the height detecting means 55, and this liquid level is detected. When the height is equal to or higher than the allowable height, the container 2 passes through the additional filling section E as it is.

On the other hand, even if the container 2 is filled with the filling liquid of a predetermined weight, if the liquid level of the filling liquid filled in the container 2 is lower than the allowable height due to the variation in the internal volume of the container 2 In the additional filling section E, the control device 9 simultaneously supplies compressed air to the first pressure chamber 29 and the third pressure chamber 34 for a time corresponding to the difference between the liquid level of the filled filling liquid and the allowable height. Supply, thereby opening valve 25 at a small opening.
As a result, the filling liquid is filled in the container 2 in an amount corresponding to the opening time of the valve 25, so that the liquid level of the filling liquid can be equal to or higher than the allowable height.

The moving section F on the downstream side of the additional filling section E in the container 2
Then, the control device 9 raises the filling nozzle 16 to the rising end position, pulls out the liquid injection tube 23 from the inside of the container 2, and the filled container 2 is moved from the support table 8 by the discharge star wheel 5 onto the transport conveyor 1. To complete the filling operation.

Note that the light receiving element 57 in the above embodiment is constituted by a simpler light receiving element, and it is only necessary to detect whether or not the liquid level of the filling liquid filled in the container 2 is equal to or higher than the allowable height. Alternatively, if the height is lower than the allowable height, the valve 25 may be opened for a predetermined time.

In the above embodiment, the present invention is applied to a rotary weight filling device.
The present invention is not limited to the weight filling device, and may be a line type or a capacity type filling device. In the case of the weight filling device, the weighing scale 7 is used as the filling amount detecting means. However, as the filling amount detecting means of the capacity type filling device, a timer for measuring the opening time of the valve 25 can be used simply. More complicatedly, a combination of a flow meter for measuring the flow rate of the filling liquid and the above timer can be used.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, on the assumption that a predetermined filling amount is ensured, the liquid level is relatively low, and the consumer may feel uneasy. Thus, an effect of preventing the production of a simple product can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 is a schematic plan view showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a main part of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a main part of FIG. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Rotary weight filling device, 2 ... Container 7 ... Weight scale (filling amount detection means), 6 ... Rotating body 9 ... Control device, 16 ... Filling nozzle 25 ... Valve, 55 ... High Detector 56: Light source, 57: Light receiving element

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Toshiaki Naka 58, Kozuda-honmachi, Kanazawa-shi, Ishikawa Shibuya Kogyo Co., Ltd. (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B67C 3/00-3/34

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] A filling nozzle for filling a filling liquid into a container,
Filling amount detecting means for detecting the volume, such as the weight or flow rate, of the filling liquid filled in the container, and a detection signal from the filling amount detecting means is input, and a valve provided on the filling nozzle is opened and closed. A control device, wherein the control device opens the valve to fill the container with the filling liquid, and the filling amount detection means detects that the filling liquid in the container has reached a predetermined filling amount, and the valve A height detecting means for detecting a liquid level of the filling liquid filled in the container, and a detection signal from the height detecting means is input to the control device. When the liquid level detected by the height detecting means is lower than the allowable height, the control device opens the valve to fill the container until the liquid level becomes higher than the allowable height. A filling device for additionally filling a liquid.