JP3457701B2 - Automatic detachable cleaning cap device for filling device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic removable cleaning cap device for a filling device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a plurality of filling valves are annularly arranged below a rotating filling liquid tank, and a filling container is raised by a lifter arranged immediately below each of the filling valves. In the filling device for filling the filling liquid in the filling valve into the filling container by pressure contact with the filling valve via, when the liquid contact part such as the filling valve or the filling liquid tank is washed with a cleaning liquid such as sterilizing water or hot water. Although a cleaning liquid circulation circuit is formed to circulate the cleaning liquid, the number of filling valves increases with the recent improvement in the capacity of the filling device, and it takes time to manually attach the cleaning cap. There is a tendency to replace it with wearing.

A conventional example of this automatic removable cleaning cap device will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. In FIG. 3, 1 is a rotating filling liquid tank, and 2 is a ring-shaped arrangement below the filling liquid tank 1. Each of the plurality of filling valves 2 has a valve (not shown) inside, and when the filling valve 2 is pushed up from below by the filling container, the valve is opened and the filling liquid tank 1 is opened. The filling liquid of is filled in the filling container.

A valve cleaning device 3 is provided on the lower surface of the filling liquid tank 1 for each filling valve 2.
Is a pair of left and right L-shaped arms 5 pivotally supported on the lower surface of the filling liquid tank 1 by a pin 4, a tubular body (cleaning cap) 7,
A pin 6 for pivotally supporting the other end of the L-shaped arm 5 on a tubular body 7,
The cylinder device 10 and one end of the cylinder device 10 are L
The mold arm 5 is provided with a pin 8 pivotally supported on the bent portion, and a pin 9 pivotally supporting the other end of the cylinder device 10 on the lower portion of the filling liquid tank 1.

A cleaning liquid passage 11 is formed in the cylindrical body 7 as shown in FIG. The cleaning liquid passage 11 is the cleaning liquid passage 1 in the hose mounting member 13 attached to the tubular body 7.
3 to communicate with a cleaning liquid supply source (not shown).
A seal member 14 surrounds the opening of the cleaning liquid passage 11, and the seal member 14 is attached to the upper portion of the tubular body 7.

The operation of the conventional automatic removable cleaning cap device shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 will be described below. At the time of non-cleaning, the cylinder device 10 is operated in the contracting direction, and the arm 5 and the tubular body 7 are rotated clockwise around the pin 4 to be held at the position indicated by the solid line in FIG. In this state, the tubular body 7 retreats laterally from the position directly below the filling valve 2 and ascends by an elevating table (not shown) so as not to interfere with the filling container that is pressed against the filling valve 2.

At the time of cleaning, the cylinder device 10 is operated in the extension direction, and the arm 5 and the tubular body 7 are rotated counterclockwise about the pin 4 to hold the arm 5 and the tubular body 7 at the position indicated by the alternate long and short dash line. The seal member 14 provided on the upper part of the tubular body 7.
Is pressed against the lower surface of the filling valve 2 to prevent the cleaning liquid from leaking from here. After that, the operation of the cylinder device 10 in the extension direction is continued, the arm 5 and the tubular body 7 are further rotated counterclockwise about the pin 4, and the filling valve 2 is pushed upward to raise the valve in the filling valve 2. open.

The cylindrical body 7 does not rotate relative to the arm 5 until it comes into contact with the filling valve 2 from the retracted position indicated by the solid line. In contrast, it rotates slightly. In order to guarantee this movement, the tubular body 7 and the arm 5 are held at a predetermined angle by a spring (not shown), and when the tubular body 7 contacts the filling valve 2 and then pushes it up. The cylindrical body 7 is rotated against the spring, or a required frictional force is applied between the arm 5 and the cylindrical body 7.

When the tubular body 7 opens the valve in the filling valve 2, the washing liquid is circulated from the washing liquid passage 11 of the tubular body 7 into the filling valve 2 as in the conventional washing apparatus.
The cleaning liquid is circulated from the filling valve 2 side to the tubular body 7 side to clean the filling valve 2 and the filling liquid flow path.

[0010]

In the conventional automatic attachment / detachment type cleaning cap device shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, (1) the arm 5 and the tubular body 7 rotate about the pin 4, so that the gas passage Pipe (gas passage pipe 27 and gas passage pipe 2 in FIGS. 1 and 2)
(See 8) does not apply if it projects long below the filling valve 2. (2) Since the cylindrical body (cleaning cap) 7 is not provided with the drainage means, there is a problem that the cleaning liquid remaining in the cylindrical body 7 cannot be drained after cleaning.

The present invention has been proposed in view of the above problems, and the object thereof is to attach a cleaning cap to a filling valve in a completely automatic manner. It can also be applied to the case where the gas passage pipe projects long below the filling valve. After cleaning, the cleaning liquid remaining in the cleaning cap can be drained.
Further, another object is to provide an automatic detachable cleaning cap device for a filling device that can smoothly expand and contract the cleaning cap.

[0012]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has a plurality of filling valves arranged annularly at the bottom of a rotating filling liquid tank and arranged directly below the respective filling valves. In the filling device that raises the filling container by the lifter, presses it against the filling valve via the centering bell, and fills the filling liquid in the filling valve into the filling container, the outer cylinder and the outer cylinder are the same. An expandable and retractable cleaning cap consisting of an inner cylinder that is inserted so that it can be extended upward, an expansion and contraction drive means for the cleaning cap, and the cleaning cap in front.
A moving means for the cleaning cap, which is moved forward and backward in the radial direction of the filling valve to move it between a cleaning position immediately below the filling valve and a non-cleaning position that does not interfere with the filling container on the lifter. There is.

When the lifter is pushed from below by raising it, the drain valve which rises against the valve closing spring and separates from the drain hole provided in the end plate at the lower end of the outer cylinder is provided outside the washing cap. It may be provided on the cylinder. An expansion / contraction drive means for the cleaning cap supplies pressure air to an inner cylinder pushing-up spring interposed between a lower part of the outer cylinder and an upper part of the inner cylinder, and an air chamber formed between the inner and outer cylinders. Then, it may be constituted by a pressure air supply means for pushing down the inner cylinder via a piston attached to the lower part of the inner cylinder.

[0014]

The automatic detachable cleaning cap device of the filling device of the present invention is constructed as described above. (1) During the manufacturing operation, the expansion / contraction driving means of the cleaning cap causes the inner cylinder of the cleaning cap to move to the outer cylinder. The cleaning cap is retracted to the non-cleaning position by the cleaning cap moving means while being housed inside and contracting the cleaning cap. (2) At the time of cleaning, the cleaning cap moving means moves the cleaning cap from the non-cleaning position to the cleaning position immediately below the filling valve, and then the expansion / contraction driving means of the cleaning cap moves the inner cylinder of the cleaning cap upward. By extending, the upper end of the inner cylinder is brought into contact with the valve block of the filling valve via the centering bell, then the filling valve is opened and the cleaning liquid is circulated in the cleaning liquid circulation system to clean the liquid contact part. When the cleaning is completed, the lifter is raised, the drain valve is opened, and the cleaning liquid remaining in the cleaning cap is discharged to the outside of the cleaning cap. Then, the expansion / contraction driving means of the cleaning cap stores the inner cylinder of the cleaning cap in the outer cylinder, and the cleaning cap is contracted, while the cleaning cap moving means moves the cleaning cap into the cleaning position immediately below the filling valve. Back to its original non-wash position.

[0015]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, an automatic removable cleaning cap device of a filling device of the present invention will be described with reference to an embodiment shown in FIGS. The automatic removable cleaning cap device is applied to a filling device for a gas-filled filling liquid having a centering bell. FIG. 1 shows a state during manufacturing operation, and FIG. 2 shows a state during cleaning. There is.

First, the filling valve side will be described. In FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numeral 21 is a rotary table installed on a base (not shown), and the rotary table 21 is rotated by an appropriate mechanism. Two
2 is a large number of lifters annularly installed on the rotary table 21,
The lifter 22 supports the filling container and moves up and down. Reference numeral 23 is an annular filling liquid tank that rotates together with the rotation base 21 above the rotation base 21, and the distance between the filling liquid tank 23 and the rotation base 21 is a screw driven by a motor (neither is shown). It is adjustable.

Reference numeral 24 is a large number of filling valves, and the filling valves 24 are arranged on the lower surface of an annular filling liquid tank 23 so as to correspond to the lifters 22.
The valve block 25, the liquid passage pipe 26, the gas passage pipes 27 and 28, and the liquid valve 2 provided below the gas passage pipe 27.
9 and the like. Reference numeral 30 is an annular centering bell, 31 is an annular sealing member provided on the centering bell 30, 32 is a support member attached to the centering bell 30, 33 is a guide rod attached to the support member 32, and 34 is the above-mentioned. A guide rod 33 is supported by a bracket mounted on the valve block 25 so that the guide rod 33 can move up and down. Reference numeral 35 is an arm for moving the centering bell 30 up and down by a cam (not shown), and the arm 35 is attached to the upper end portion of the guide rod 33.

Next, the automatic detachable cleaning cap device side will be described. 40 is a cleaning cap moving means, 41 is a bracket of the moving means 40, and 42 and 43 are large and small diameters fixed to the bracket 41. The slide rail, 44 is a slide arm movably supported by the slide rails 42, 43, and the bracket 41 is arranged near the center of the filling liquid tank 23 near the filling valve 24. The axis of the filling valve 2
4 is along a straight line passing through the center of 4 in the radial direction, and the slide arm 44 includes an air cylinder (not shown) and a rod 45.
It is driven by and to move forward and backward in the radial direction.

50 is a cleaning cap, and the cleaning cap 50 is an outer cylinder 51 attached to the slide arm 44.
And an end plate 52 that is fluid-tightly screwed into the lower end of the outer cylinder 51.
An inner cylinder 53 fitted in the outer cylinder 51 so as to be able to extend upward, a retainer 55 fixed to the end body 52, and a drain valve 54 supported by the retainer 55 so as to be vertically movable.
And a valve closing spring 60 for urging the drain valve 54 downward. When the inner cylinder 53 is at the position shown in FIG. 1,
A gap is formed between the inner cylinder 53 and the retainer 55 so that the cleaning liquid can flow down.

The diameter of the upper inner peripheral side of the outer cylinder 51 is smaller than that of the intermediate portion. Further, in the center of the end plate 52,
A drain hole that is opened and closed by the drain valve 54 is provided,
The upper part is conical. The outer peripheral surface of the inner cylinder 53 slidably contacts the upper inner peripheral surface of the outer cylinder 51, and a piston 56 is attached to the lower part of the inner cylinder 53, and the inner and outer cylinders 51 above the piston 56. , 53 between the air chambers 62
Are formed. Reference numeral 63 is a nipple of a pressure supply pipe that supplies compressed air to the air chamber 62.

An annular stopper is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the upper end portion of the inner cylinder 53, and a seal member 57 is attached thereto. An annular protrusion is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the upper end of the inner cylinder 53, and an inner cylinder pushing-up spring 58 is interposed between the protrusion and the retainer 55. A seal member 59 that abuts on the conical portion of the drain hole of the end plate 52 is provided at the upper and lower intermediate portions of the drain valve 54. Reference numeral 61 is a nut for fixing the seal member 59 to the drain valve 54.
Reference numeral 1 also serves as a spring seat of the valve closing spring 60. Further, the lower end portion of the drain valve 54 projects below the end plate 52,
An upper portion of the drain valve 54 is slidably fitted in an inner hole of the retainer 55.

2, 70 is a cleaning liquid tank, 71 is a cleaning liquid pump, 72 is a pipe, 73 is a push button type on-off valve provided in the valve block 25, and 23a is the filling liquid tank 23.
3 is a manifold of a cleaning liquid passage provided in the bottom of the. Illustration of control valves provided in the cleaning liquid passage is omitted. Next, the operation of the automatic removable cleaning cap device of the filling device shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 will be specifically described. (1) First, the filling operation of the filling liquid containing gas will be described. Figure 1
In the above, the lifter 22 on which a filling container, for example, a bottle is placed is raised, and the center of the bottle is brought into contact with the lower surface of the seal member 31 while being centered by the centering bell 30 to lift the centering bell 30, the support member 32, and the guide rod 33. , The upper surface of the seal member 31 to the valve block
The lower surface of the bottle is brought into contact with the lower surface of the bottle (see the chain double-dashed line) to shut off the inside of the bottle from the outside air.

At this time, a gas valve (not shown) provided in the gas passage pipe 27 is opened to communicate the inside of the filling liquid tank 23 with the inside of the bottle to balance the gas pressures of both, and a spring (not shown). ), The gas passage pipe 27 and the liquid valve 29 are raised (see FIG. 2) to open the liquid passage, and the filling liquid tank 2
The filling liquid in 3 is made to flow down into the bottle, and the filling liquid is filled in the bottle.

At this time, the gas in the bottle replaced with the filling liquid is passed through the gas passage pipes 28 and 27 to fill the filling liquid tank 23.
It is discharged to the gas phase inside. The filling liquid level in the bottle rises,
When reaching the lower end of the gas passage pipe 28, the escape path for the gas is closed, and the filling of the filling liquid into the bottle is automatically stopped. In addition, 27a is a cylindrical body hung in the gas passage pipe 27,
The cylindrical body 27a is inserted into a groove provided in the valve block 25, and has a role of stopping bubbles of gas rising in the filling liquid at this point.

Then, the gas valve (not shown) is closed, the liquid valve 29 is closed, the sniff valve (not shown) is opened, the inside of the bottle is depressurized, and the lifter 22 is lowered to fill the bottle. finish. (2) Next, the action during cleaning will be described. In FIG. 1, the pressurized air is supplied to the nipple 63 of the pressure supply pipe → the air chamber 62 formed between the inner and outer cylinders 53 and 51 of the cleaning cap 50 to push the inner cylinder 53 having the piston 56 into the inner cylinder pushing spring 58. The slide arm 44 is retracted by an air cylinder (not shown) and a rod 45 to retract the inner and outer cylinders 53 and 51 from the cleaning position directly below the filling valve 24 to the non-cleaning position. It shows the state.

In this state, a cam (not shown) raises the arm 35, the guide rod 33, the support member 32, and the centering bell 30 to move the centering bell 3
The lower end of 0 is located above the upper end of the outer cylinder 51. Then, the slide arm 44 is moved forward by the air cylinder and the rod 45 to move the inner and outer cylinders 53 and 51 of the cleaning cap 50 to the cleaning position immediately below the filling valve 24. When filling a short-length bottle and the lower end of the cleaning cap 50 is located lower than the upper end of the lifter 22, the filling liquid tank 23 is raised.

Next, the inner and outer cylinders 53 of the cleaning cap 50,
The pressurized air in the air chamber 62 formed between 51 is released, the inner cylinder 53 is raised by the inner cylinder pushing spring 58, the seal member 57 is brought into contact with the lower surface of the centering bell 30, and the centering bell 30 is lifted. , The centering bell 3
The zero seal member 31 is brought into contact with the lower surface of the valve block 25. FIG. 2 shows the state at this time.

Then, the cleaning pump 71 is started, the push button type on-off valve 73 is opened by a cam (not shown), and the liquid valve 2 is opened.
9 is opened and the cleaning liquid is supplied to the cleaning liquid tank 70 → the cleaning liquid pump 71 → the cleaning liquid tank 23 → the liquid passage pipes 26 and the gas passage pipes 27 and 28 → the cleaning cap 50 → the push button type on-off valve 73
→ Manifold 23a → Circulate in the cleaning liquid tank 70 to start cleaning the liquid contact part.

At this time, the cleaning liquid in the cleaning cap 50 is caused to flow below the piston 56 through the gap between the inner cylinder 53 and the retainer 55, and pressure is applied to the lower surface of the piston 56 to raise the inner cylinder 53. Then, the seal member 57 attached to the upper end of the inner cylinder 53 is brought into contact with the lower surface of the centering bell 30, and the seal member 31 attached to the upper end of the centering bell 30 is brought into contact with the lower surface of the valve block 25. , Make sure to seal these parts.

After a predetermined time has passed, the cleaning liquid is collected in the cleaning liquid tank 70, the cleaning liquid pump 71 is stopped, and the lifter 2
2 is moved up to move the drain valve 54 to the open position, and the cleaning liquid remaining in the inner and outer cylinders 53, 51 is discharged to the outside of the cleaning cap 50 through the drain hole provided in the end plate 52. Next, the pressurized air is supplied to the nipple 63 of the pressure supply pipe → the air chamber 62 formed between the inner and outer cylinders 53, 51 of the cleaning cap 50 to resist the inner cylinder 53 having the piston 56 against the inner cylinder pushing-up spring 58. To lower.

Then, the slide arm 44 is retracted by the air cylinder and the rod 45, and the cleaning cap 50 is removed.
The inner and outer cylinders 53, 51 are retracted from the cleaning position to the original non-cleaning position.

[0032]

As described above, in the cleaning cap device of the present invention, the cleaning cap moving device moves the cleaning cap from the non-cleaning position to the cleaning position immediately below the filling valve during cleaning. Then, by extending and retracting the cleaning cap, the inner cylinder of the cleaning cap is extended upward and the upper end of the inner cylinder is brought into contact with the valve block of the filling valve via the centering bell. Can be attached to the filling valve completely automatically.

Further, as described above, the inner cap of the cleaning cap is extended upward by the expansion and contraction drive means of the cleaning cap, and the upper end of the inner cap is brought into contact with the valve block of the filling valve via the centering bell. Therefore, the present invention can also be applied to the case where the gas passage pipe projects long below the filling valve. Also, after mounting the cleaning cap on the filling valve, open the filling valve, circulate the cleaning liquid in the cleaning liquid circulation system to clean the liquid contact part, and when the cleaning is completed, raise the lifter,
Since the drain valve is opened, the cleaning liquid remaining in the cleaning cap can be drained after cleaning.

Further, the expansion / contraction drive means of the cleaning cap is provided with an inner cylinder pushing-up spring interposed between a lower part of the outer cylinder and an upper part of the inner cylinder, and pressurized air is supplied to an air chamber formed between the inner and outer cylinders. The cleaning cap can be expanded and contracted smoothly because it is configured by the pressurized air supply means for supplying and pushing down the inner cylinder via the piston attached to the lower part of the inner cylinder.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional side view showing a state during operation manufacturing of an embodiment of an automatic removable cleaning cap device of a filling device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional side view showing a state of the automatic removable cleaning cap device during cleaning.

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional side view showing an automatic removable cleaning cap device of a conventional filling device.

FIG. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional side view showing a tubular body (cleaning cap) of the automatic removable cleaning cap device.

[Explanation of symbols]

22 Lifter 23 Filling liquid tank 24 Filling valve 30 centering bell 40 Moving means for cleaning cap 50 Washing cap 51 outer cylinder 53 inner cylinder 54 drain valve 56 pistons 58 Inner cylinder push-up spring 62 air chamber 63 Pressure air supply means

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) Reference JP-A-4-339793 (JP, A) Actual development Sho 54-9517 (JP, U) Actual development Sho 59-2137 (JP, U) (58) Field (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B67C 3/00

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A plurality of filling valves are annularly arranged in the lower part of a rotating filling liquid tank, and a filling container is raised by a lifter arranged immediately below each of the filling valves, and the filling container is raised through a centering bell. In a filling device that presses the filling valve into pressure to fill the filling liquid in the filling valve into a filling container, the filling device is expandable and contractable with an outer cylinder and an inner cylinder fitted so as to extend upward in the outer cylinder. Cleaning cap, expansion / contraction drive means for the cleaning cap, and the cleaning cap are moved forward and backward in the radial direction of the filling valve.
And a cleaning cap moving means for moving the cleaning cap directly below the filling valve to a non-cleaning position that does not interfere with the filling container on the lifter. Detachable cleaning cap device. 2. A drain valve that is lifted against a valve closing spring and is separated from a drain hole formed in an end plate of a lower end of an outer cylinder when the lifter is pushed from below by raising the lifter to lift the drain cap. The external cylinder is provided on the outer cylinder.
An automatic removable cap device for cleaning of the filling device described. 3. An extension / contraction drive means for the cleaning cap,
The inner cylinder pushing-up spring interposed between the lower part of the outer cylinder and the upper part of the inner cylinder, and pressurized air was supplied to an air chamber formed between the inner and outer cylinders to be attached to the lower part of the inner cylinder. The automatic detachable cleaning cap device for a filling device according to claim 1, characterized in that the cap device comprises a compressed air supply means for pushing down the inner cylinder via a piston.