JP4946600B2 - Rotary filling machine - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a rotary filling device, and more particularly, to a rotary filling device in which a tip of a filling nozzle is positioned above a mouth portion of a container and a filling liquid is filled along an inner wall of the container.

  In a rotary filling apparatus that fills with the tip of the nozzle positioned above the mouth of the container, the filling liquid discharged from the filling nozzle is affected by centrifugal force and shakes outward in the radial direction of the rotating body. Therefore, the filling liquid discharged into the container at the start of filling may not hit the center of the bottom of the container but may hit the periphery or the corner of the boundary between the bottom and the peripheral wall. PET bottles widely used in recent years have various shapes at the bottom. For example, in the case of a container with irregularities formed on the bottom, such as a petaloid container, foaming often occurs when the filling liquid hits the depression. There was a problem of becoming.

  In order to prevent the filling liquid discharged into the container from the nozzle whose tip is positioned above the mouth of the container from directly hitting the bottom of the container and foaming, the filling liquid is Various filling devices that flow along the inner wall have been proposed (see Patent Documents 1 to 3).

  The liquid filling apparatus described in Patent Document 1 includes a filler tank 1 in which a filling liquid such as drinking water is stored, and filling liquid passages 33 and 34 are formed therein, and the filling liquid in the filler tank 1 is used. A filling valve block 2 for supplying the container (bottle) 9 is provided. In the lower part of the filling liquid passage 33, an inclined filling liquid passage 35 is formed in order to make the liquid supplied to the bottle 9 into an inclined flow. During the liquid filling operation, the bottle 9 is held in an inclined state by the inclined holding means 50.

  In the configuration of the present invention, the outlet side of the filling liquid passage (inclined filling liquid passage 35) is inclined, and the bottle 9 is held in an inclined state by the inclination holding means 50 so as to be parallel to the inclination of the passage 35. In addition, the upper end edge of the bottle opening 12 is brought into close contact with the sealing gasket 10 for sealing and filling.

  In addition, the filling valve described in Patent Document 2 inclines the center line of the circular cross section of the nozzle of the liquid discharge port provided at the lower end of the liquid passage from the middle by an angle β with respect to the vertical line, and the tip periphery is horizontal It is an ellipse placed on the surface and a pointed shape.

  In the configuration of the present invention, the flow of liquid exiting the nozzle is bent in a direction inclined by an angle β from the vertical direction by the inclination of the lower part of the nozzle, and after colliding with the inner wall of the container, it falls along the inner wall and falls to the bottom. It reaches or reaches the bottom while colliding with the inner wall of the neck of the container and extending along the aspect of the inner wall of the container.

Patent Document 3 describes a configuration in which the container held by the neck gripper is inclined only immediately after the start of filling, and the filling liquid discharged from the nozzle is applied to the inner peripheral surface of the container.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-100096 (page 3-5, FIG. 1) Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2006-160340 (page 5-7, FIG. 5) DE 10 2004 042 516 A1 (FIG. 1)

  In the configuration of the invention described in the cited document 1, the outlet side (inclined filling liquid passage 35) of the filling liquid passage is inclined, and the bottle 9 is inclined in parallel with the inclination at the time of filling and sealed by the sealing gasket 10. Thus, the filling liquid can be filled along the inner wall of the bottle 9. However, in the present invention, the bottle 9 is gripped by the neck support 29 that can swing around the fixed shaft 32, and the neck support 29 is swung by the operation of the air cylinder 11, so that the bottle mouth 12 is filled with the filling valve. In this configuration, the air cylinder 11 that swings the neck support 29 needs to be specially arranged, and a large-sized rotary filling with a large number of neck supports 29 is used. In the case of the apparatus, a large number of air cylinders 11 are required, and there is a problem that costs increase.

  Further, as in the configuration of Patent Document 2, when the liquid discharge port at the lower end of the nozzle is deformed to change the discharge direction of the filling liquid, the non-sealing filling is performed without filling the mouth of the container. If the mouth of the container and the liquid discharge port are separated as in the case, there is a problem that the filling liquid may be scattered outside the container, and it is impossible to perform filling without sealing the mouth of the container. is there.

  Further, as in Patent Document 3, in the configuration in which the lower side of the container held by the neck gripper is inclined from the side by the pressing member, it is impossible to seal the mouth of the container with the bottle packing. There is a problem that it cannot be used for sealing filling performed by sealing the mouth of the container.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and when performing seal filling, the mouth of the container can be surely sealed, and the container is inclined so that the filling liquid is applied to the inner wall of the container. It is possible to prevent foaming at the time of filling because the filling is done alongside, and with a simple operation, sealing filling with sealing the mouth of the container and non-sealing filling with filling without sealing An object of the present invention is to provide a filling device that can be switched and can be used for both seal filling and non-seal filling.

  The present invention provides a plurality of filling means provided in a rotating body at equal intervals in the circumferential direction and having a filling liquid passage formed therein, and provided below the filling means so as to surround the filling liquid passage. A container comprising: a seal capable of sealing the mouth; container support means provided correspondingly below each of the filling means; and elevating means for moving the filling means and the container support means up and down relatively. In the rotary filling device for filling the liquid while rotating and transporting the packing, the packing is attached with the lower surface inclined so that the center side of the rotating body is raised, and the container support means can be rotated about a horizontal axis. And a biasing means for biasing the container support means upward, and a stopper for stopping the biased container support means in a horizontal position, and supporting the container support means by the lifting means. The container support means and the container are made to incline so that the bottom of the container faces the center side of the rotating body by bringing the opening of the container into contact with the packing. It is.

  In the rotary filling apparatus of the present invention, when performing seal filling, the container can be inclined only by raising and lowering the filling means and the container support means relatively, and its mouth can be sealed with packing. It is possible to prevent foaming during filling by filling the liquid along the inner surface of the inclined container, and when performing non-seal filling, the filling means and the container support means are By moving up and down relatively, the mouth of the container can be separated from the bottle packing, and the mouth of the container standing upright below the filling liquid discharge passage can be positioned. Seal filling and non-seal filling can be combined.

  The rotating body is provided with a plurality of filling means at equal intervals in the circumferential direction, enclosing the lower part of the filling liquid passage formed inside each of the filling means, and the lower end side of the bottle packing is higher on the center side of the rotating body. The container support means for supporting the container filled with liquid by the filling means is configured to be rotatable up and down around a horizontal rotation axis, and the container support means is biased upward. Gas filling with a configuration in which a biasing means for stopping and a stopper for stopping at a horizontal position are provided, and the filling means and the container support means are moved up and down relatively to press the mouth of the container against the bottle packing. Sometimes, the object of tilting the container to prevent foaming of the filling liquid and enabling the mouth of the container to be sealed by a simple lifting operation is achieved.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 is a simplified plan view showing the overall arrangement of a rotary filling apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a longitudinal section showing one of filling means provided in the rotary filling apparatus. FIG. In the rotary filling device 2 according to this embodiment, a rinser (not shown) is installed on the upstream side, and the container 4 cleaned in this rinser is delivered to the supply wheel 8 of the filling device 2 via the intermediate wheel 6. Then, it is supplied from the supply wheel 8 into the filling device 2. The container 4 used in this embodiment is a PET bottle. A flange 4b is formed on the neck portion 4a, and the upper side or the lower side of the flange 4b is gripped or supported by the container support means and transported to the neck. The

  The rotary filling device 2 is provided with a plurality of filling means 12 at equal intervals in the circumferential direction on the outer periphery of the rotating body 10 (not shown in FIG. 1). The container support means (neck gripper) 14 is arranged below each of them. The PET bottle 4 supported by these neck grippers 14 is filled with liquid by the filling means 12 and then taken out by the delivery wheel 16 and sent to the next capper 18 for capping and then discharged. It is discharged onto the conveyor 22 by the wheel 20 and sent to the next process.

  Next, the structure of the filling means 12 will be described with reference to FIG. The valve housing 24 of the filling means 12 has a filling liquid passage 26 formed therein, and the filling liquid sent from the filling liquid tank (not shown) through the supply pipe 28 is filled with the filling liquid passage 26. The PET bottle 4 is filled through. The rotary filling device 2 according to this embodiment can be used for both gas filling for filling a gas-containing beverage such as carbon dioxide gas and non-gas filling for filling a gas-free beverage containing no gas. In the case of performing filling and filling, a gas-containing beverage is stored in the filling liquid tank, and pressurized gas is introduced into the head space (upper space). On the other hand, when performing non-gas filling, the upper part of the filling liquid tank storing the liquid not containing gas is opened to the atmosphere.

  A liquid valve 30 for opening and closing the filling liquid passage 26 is provided in the valve housing 24. The liquid valve 30 is constituted by a valve body 34 formed at the lower end of a rod 32 inserted in the filling liquid passage 26 so as to be movable up and down, and a valve seat 36 provided on the inner surface of the lower end portion of the filling liquid passage 26. It is configured. A seal member 38 is fitted on the outer peripheral surface of the portion where the valve body 34 is seated on the valve seat 36 so as to maintain liquid tightness. The rod 32 on which the valve body 34 is formed moves up and down by an air cylinder (not shown) for opening and closing a liquid valve provided at the upper part of the valve housing 24.

  A flow meter 40 is provided in the liquid supply pipe 28 for supplying the filling liquid from the filling liquid tank to the filling liquid passage 26. This is sent to a control device (not shown), and the liquid valve opening / closing air cylinder is operated by a command from the control device, the rod 32 and the valve body 34 are lowered, and the liquid valve 30 is closed to complete the filling.

  The lower portion of the valve housing 24 has an enlarged block shape (hereinafter referred to as a block portion 42), and the liquid valve 30 including the valve seat 36 and the valve body 34 is disposed in the upper portion of the block portion 42. Has been placed. An annular bottle packing 46 is attached around the discharge passage 44 for the filling liquid below the liquid valve 30 in the block portion 42. The bottle mouth packing 46 has an inclined lower surface 46a (a surface that is in close contact with the mouth portion 4c of the PET bottle 4), and the center portion side of the rotating body 10 is higher than the radially outer side (FIG. 1). The center of the rotator 10 is located on the right side of FIG. The lower side of the bottle opening packing 46 is a space having a diameter slightly larger than the outer diameter of the opening 4c so that the opening 4c of the PET bottle 4 can be inserted.

  In the block portion 42 of the valve housing 24, two gas passages 42 a and 42 b are provided that open to the filling liquid discharge passage 44 below the liquid valve 30. A counter passage 50 is connected to the first gas passage 42a. The counter passage 50 communicates with the head space of the filling liquid tank (the upper space of the stored filling liquid) via the on-off valve 54. The counter passage 50 introduces counter gas into the sealed PET bottle 4 and pressurizes the PET bottle 4 before starting filling, while it is introduced into the PET bottle 4 while filling the liquid. It functions as an exhaust passage for discharging counter gas. A sniff passage 52 is connected to the second gas passage 42b. The sniff passage 52 communicates with a sniff chamber (not shown) through an open / close valve 56. The sniffer passage 52 is opened to release the pressure sealed in the head space of the PET bottle 4 after completion of filling. The counter passage 50 and the snift passage 52 are opened below the liquid valve 30 of the discharge passage 44 through gas passages 42 a and 42 b formed in the block portion 42.

  The neck gripper 14 that supports the PET bottle 4 is disposed in parallel to the radially inner side of each valve housing 24 arranged in the vertical direction (that is, arranged in the vertical direction). Is attached. The elevating member 58 is composed of two parallel plates 58a and 58a (see FIG. 3) arranged at a predetermined interval, and a filling liquid discharge passage of the filling means 12 is provided at the lower ends of both the plates 58a and 58a. A neck gripper 14 is attached so that the lower side of 44 is directed. The neck gripper 14 is fitted to a horizontal rotary shaft 60 that passes through both plates 58a, 58a of the elevating member 58, and is always directed upward by a spring 62 mounted around the rotary shaft 60 (FIG. 1). It is energized (towards clockwise). The rotating shaft 60 is oriented in a direction orthogonal to a line connecting the axis of the valve housing 24 and the center of the rotating body 10. On the upper surface of the neck gripper 14, a stopper 64 which is longer than the distance between the plates 58a and 58a of the elevating member 58 is fixed horizontally. The neck gripper 14 urged upward by the spring 62 is stopped at a substantially horizontal position when the stopper 64 hits both plates 58a and 58a of the elevating member 58. A bolt 66 shown in FIG. 1 is used to prevent the lifting member 58 and the rotary shaft 60 from rotating.

  The neck gripper 14 is stopped in a horizontal position by the stopper 64 in a normal state, and rotates downward when a predetermined load or more is applied from the upper surface side. In this embodiment, when the neck gripper 14 supports the PET bottle 4 in a state where the elevating member 58 is lowered (position shown in FIG. 2), the upper end surface of the mouth 4c of the supported PET bottle 4; A gap is formed between the lower end surface of the valve housing 24, and the PET bottle 4 is held in an upright state. On the other hand, when the elevating member 58 is lifted while the neck gripper 14 supports the PET bottle 4, the bottle upper end surface of the mouth portion 4 c of the PET bottle 4 is provided in the block portion 42 of the valve housing 24. By pressing against the lower surface 46 a of the mouth packing 46, the neck gripper 14 is inclined downward, and the PET bottle 4 is inclined so that the bottom 4 d faces the inner side of the rotating body 10. (See FIG. 4 described later). The spring 62 that urges the neck gripper 14 is a spring that can maintain the neck gripper 14 in a horizontal state when a predetermined amount of liquid is filled in the PET bottle 4 supported by the neck gripper 14. Have power.

  The operation of the rotary filling device 2 according to the above configuration will be described. The container 4 filled with the liquid in the filling device 2 according to this embodiment is a PET bottle, and is conveyed while being supported above or below the flange 4b formed on the neck portion 4a. The PET bottle 4 whose inner surface and outer surface have been cleaned by an upstream rinser (not shown) is transferred from the intermediate wheel 6 to the supply wheel 8 and supplied into the rotary filling device 2 through the supply wheel 8. Is done.

  First, the case of non-gas filling in which a liquid not containing gas is filled will be described. A plurality of filling means 12 are provided on the outer periphery of the rotary body 10 of the rotary filling device 2 at equal intervals in the circumferential direction, and neck grippers 14 are respectively arranged below the filling means 12 correspondingly. The PET bottles 4 supplied from the supply wheel 8 are delivered to the neck gripper 14 one by one. The elevating member 58 to which the neck gripper 14 is attached is in a lowered position when the PET bottle 4 is received, and the neck gripper 14 supports the PET bottle 4 in an upright posture in a horizontal state. In the case of non-gas filling, filling is performed while the elevating member 58 is lowered. In this state, a gap is formed between the upper end surface of the mouth portion 4c of the PET bottle 4 and the lower surface of the upper valve housing 24, and filling is performed with the inside of the PET bottle 4 being open.

  In the case of non-gas filling, the on-off valves 54 and 56 provided in the counter passage 50 and the snift passage 52 are always closed. The PET bottle 4 is supplied to the neck gripper 14, and the PET bottle 4 and the upper filling means 12 rotate in a state in which the upper and lower positions coincide with each other, and at a predetermined position on the transport path of the PET bottle 4 by the rotation of the rotating body 10. Then, an air cylinder for opening / closing a liquid valve (not shown) is operated to raise the rod 32 and open the liquid valve 30. The filling liquid supplied from the filling liquid tank to the filling liquid passage 26 in the valve housing 24 through the liquid supply pipe 28 passes through the liquid valve 30 and the discharge passage 44 below the filling liquid tank 30 and fills the PET bottle 4. (State shown in FIG. 1). The filling liquid passing through the liquid supply pipe 28 is measured by a flow meter 40, and the liquid valve 30 is closed when a predetermined liquid amount is measured.

  When filling with gas, when the PET bottle 4 is delivered from the supply wheel 8 to the neck gripper 14, the elevating member 58 is raised by elevating means such as an air cylinder (not shown). The neck gripper 14 and the PET bottle 4 are raised, and the upper end surface of the mouth portion 4 c of the PET bottle 4 is pressed against the bottle mouth packing 46 provided in the lower block portion 42 of the upper valve housing 24. The bottle packing 46 is inclined such that its lower surface 46a is higher with respect to the filling liquid passage 26 facing in the vertical direction so that the center side of the rotating body 10 is higher, and the neck gripper 14 has a horizontal rotating shaft. By rotating the neck gripper 14 downward, the neck 4c of the PET bottle 4 is pressed against the lower surface 46a of the bottle packing 46 while the neck gripper 14 rotates downward. Is inclined so that its bottom 4d faces the center direction of the rotating body 10 (the state shown in FIG. 4 is obtained). In this embodiment, by raising the elevating member 58, the upper end surface of the mouth portion 4c of the PET bottle 4 is pressed against the lower surface 46a of the bottle mouth packing 46, and the neck gripper 14 is rotated downward. Since the bottle mouth packing 14 and the mouth portion 4 c of the PET bottle 4 are brought into close contact with each other, the mouth portion 4 c of the PET bottle 4 is brought into close contact with the bottom surface of the bottle mouth packing 46 with certainty.

  After sealing the inside of the PET bottle 4 by pressing the mouth portion 4c of the PET bottle 4 supported by the neck gripper 14 against the bottle mouth packing 46 as described above, the opening / closing valve 54 of the counter passage 50 and the snift passage 52 are sealed. The open / close valve 56 is opened to introduce the pressurized counter gas into the PET bottle 4, and the air in the PET bottle 4 is discharged from the sniff passage 52. After a predetermined time has elapsed, the opening / closing valve 56 of the sniff passage 52 is closed, and the liquid valve 30 is opened to start filling. The PET bottle 4 is filled with a liquid, and the pressurized gas introduced into the PET bottle 4 is discharged from the counter passage 50. When it is measured that a predetermined amount of liquid is filled by the flow meter 40 provided in the liquid supply pipe 28, the liquid valve 30 is closed by a command from a control device (not shown), and the filling is finished. Thereafter, the sniffer passage 52 is opened for a predetermined time, and after the pressurized gas in the head space of the PET bottle 4 is discharged, the neck gripper 14 is lowered. The PET bottle 4 filled with the liquid returns to the upright state and is conveyed. When the PET bottle 4 reaches the discharge position with the rotation of the rotating body 10, the PET bottle 4 is transferred to the gripper of the transfer wheel 16 and sent to the next capper 18. The PET bottle 4 capped by the capper 18 is discharged to the transport conveyor 22 via the discharge wheel 20 and sent to the next step.

It is a top view which shows the arrangement | positioning of the whole rotary type | formula filling apparatus. Example 1 It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the state which is performing the non-gas filling of the filling means and neck gripper which were provided in the said rotary type | formula filling apparatus. It is a front view of the neck gripper. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the filling means and neck gripper in a state where gas filling is performed.

Explanation of symbols

2 Rotary filling device 4 Container (PET bottle)
4c Container mouth 4d Container bottom 10 Rotating body 12 Filling means 14 Container support means (neck gripper)
26 Filling liquid passage 46 Packing 60 Horizontal axis (horizontal rotation axis)
62 Biasing means (spring)
64 stopper

Claims (1)

A plurality of filling means provided in the rotating body at equal intervals in the circumferential direction and having a filling liquid passage formed therein, and provided below the filling means so as to surround the filling liquid passage and sealing the mouth of the container Each of the packing means, a container support means provided correspondingly below each of the filling means, and an elevating means for moving the filling means and the container support means up and down relative to each other. In a rotary filling device that fills liquid while
The packing is attached with its lower surface inclined so that the center side of the rotating body is raised, the container support means is installed so as to be rotatable about a horizontal axis, and the container support means is attached upward. A biasing means for biasing and a stopper for stopping the biased container support means in a horizontal position;
By bringing the mouth of the container supported by the container supporting means by the lifting means into contact with the packing, the container supporting means and the container are inclined so that the bottom of the container faces the center side of the rotating body. A rotary-type filling device that performs filling.

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