JP5135039B2 - Liquid filling device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a liquid filling apparatus, and more particularly to a technique for efficiently filling a spherical container having an opening with a liquid such as water.

  Water is indispensable for the survival of living organisms, and it is a substance with extremely high industrial utility value such as agriculture and industry. However, the uneven distribution of water resources is a problem on a global scale. In other words, there are areas where damage is caused by flood damage, while there are other areas where the drought drastically affects crop growth. Even within the same area, flooding and water shortages will be repeated if the amount of precipitation varies greatly depending on the season. The uneven distribution of water resources is expected to become more serious in the future due to the influence of abnormal weather caused by global warming and El Nino phenomenon.

Such uneven distribution of water resources can be transported in a timely manner from a region where water resources are abundant (or excessive) to a deficient region, or rainwater in the rainy season can be stored until the dry season. It is to eliminate.
However, water has the characteristics that (1) various substances are easily dissolved, (2) microorganisms are easy to propagate, and (3) they are easily lost by spillage and evaporation. Transporting long distances or storing them for a long time is expensive.
Of course, even today, the country's abundant water resources are positioned as important strategic substances, and there is a movement to actively export to countries and regions suffering from water shortages, but oil-producing countries, etc. can purchase such expensive water. It is difficult to obtain for the residents of developing countries, which are limited to some rich countries, and rely on assistance from developed countries.
In addition, the current export of water is traded as a large mass of water using large tankers, etc., so that even if it is transported to developing countries, it will reach the level of individual residents. It is necessary to arrange water supply facilities and water trucks, which requires a large amount of funds.
If water is subdivided into plastic bottles or plastic tanks from the beginning and transported to developing countries, it can be delivered to the residents by ordinary rail transport or truck transport. It will be costly.
Furthermore, after using the internal water, there will be a problem of disposal of a large number of containers, and there is a concern about environmental destruction due to illegal dumping.

Based on this problem consciousness, the present inventor has previously filed a “water resource reservoir” (Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-195496), and patents have already been granted for some of them.
Japanese Patent No. 3822069

  The water resource reservoir described in Patent Document 1 includes a spherical housing having an opening for taking in flowing water from a water source, a spherical spindle ball slidably accommodated in the housing, and the opening. And the housing and the floating member are made of biodegradable plastic, and the ball is fitted into the opening when the opening is positioned below. In addition to closing the opening, when the opening is positioned upward, the opening is opened on the floating member side. The buoyancy is at least provided so that when the housing is once submerged in the water due to the pressure of the water flow and the buoyancy drop accompanying the water filling, it can be rotated and re-floated.

In this water resource reservoir, the water can be easily filled into the enclosure simply by guiding the running water from above toward the opening while floating in the water. Sedimentation → turning → re-levitation is achieved, and in the process, the opening can be automatically sealed with the ball, which has the advantage of being able to fill the liquid with extremely high efficiency and low cost.
As a result, uneven distribution of water resources is mitigated by filling and storing water resources in water resource reservoirs in times and regions where water is surplus and using them in times and regions where water is scarce. It becomes possible.

However, in the case of a conventional water resource reservoir, there is a problem that a relatively large space is required in order to float a large number of water resource reservoirs on water in advance.
Of course, there is no problem when natural waterfalls are used as they are, but space factors cannot be ignored, for example, when rainwater is filled in units of buildings in urban areas.

  The present invention has been devised to overcome the above-described problems, and can be efficiently filled with a liquid in a spherical casing having a small opening, and the liquid filling satisfies the demand for space saving. The object is to provide a device.

In order to achieve the above object, an apparatus according to claim 1 is an apparatus for filling a spherical container having an opening with a liquid, and a tubular member having a diameter larger than the diameter of the spherical container; A container inlet formed in the tubular member, a liquid jet provided below the tubular member, and a pressure of the liquid guided from the container inlet into the tubular member and ejected from the liquid jet A spherical container that receives the spherical container moved in the tubular member and receives the direct impact of the jetted liquid at the opening of the spherical container, and the spherical container is rotatably contacted by the pressure. It is characterized by that. The “sphere receiving portion” corresponds to, for example, a ceiling portion that closes one end portion of the tubular member. Alternatively, one end side of the tubular portion can be simply bent into a “<” shape without being blocked, and the inner wall surface can function as a “ball receiving portion”.

A liquid filling apparatus according to a second aspect is the apparatus according to the first aspect, further comprising a container discharge port formed in the tubular member, and a distribution member provided rotatably in the tubular member. The distribution member is characterized by having the following configurations (1) to (4).
(1) In a normal state, it has an inclined portion so that the spherical container placed thereon can be guided to the container discharge port.
(2) When the spherical container ascends in the tubular member, the spherical container is pushed and rotated from below to allow the spherical container to move in the direction of the spherical receiving portion.
(3) After the spherical container has passed, it rotates in the opposite direction and returns to its original position.
(4) It has a pressure liquid passage part for allowing passage of the liquid ejected from the liquid ejection port when returning to the original position.

  A liquid filling apparatus according to a third aspect is the apparatus according to the second aspect, further comprising: a lid member that opens / closes the container introduction port; and a plurality of spherical containers toward the container introduction port. Means for urging, a liquid discharge port provided in the tubular member, a water wheel provided with a plurality of water storage chambers, and a liquid led out of the tubular member from the liquid discharge port to the water storage chamber of the water wheel When a predetermined amount of liquid is collected in at least one water storage chamber of the water wheel, comprising a water guide channel, a plurality of contact pieces provided on the outer peripheral surface of the water wheel, and an engaging part provided on the lid member. When the water wheel is rotated and the abutting piece pushes the engaging part of the lid member upward, the lid member rises to open the container inlet, and the abutment piece is raised when the lid member rises a certain amount. And the engagement part is disengaged and the lid member descends to close the container inlet. It is a symptom.

  A liquid filling apparatus according to a fourth aspect is the apparatus according to the second aspect, further comprising: a lid member that opens / closes the container inlet, and a plurality of spherical containers toward the container inlet. An urging means; an electric drive means for switching the opening / closing of the lid member; and a control means for controlling the operation of the drive means. The control means is closed after the lid member is released for a predetermined time. It is characterized by repeating the required operation as many times as necessary.

A liquid filling apparatus according to a fifth aspect is the apparatus according to the second aspect, further comprising: a lid member that opens / closes the container inlet, and a plurality of spherical containers toward the container inlet. Means for biasing, electric driving means for switching opening / closing of the lid member, an electromagnetic valve for switching start / stop of liquid supply to the liquid jet port of the tubular member, and operations of the driving means and the electromagnetic valve The control means is characterized in that the following timing control (1) to (3) is repeated as many times as necessary.
(1) The lid member is closed for a predetermined time and then closed.
(2) Open the electromagnetic valve and start supplying liquid.
(3) After a predetermined time elapses, the electromagnetic valve is closed to stop the liquid supply.

  A liquid filling apparatus according to a sixth aspect is the apparatus according to the first to fifth aspects, wherein the ball receiving portion further includes a ball bearing.

  A liquid filling apparatus according to a seventh aspect is the apparatus according to the first to fifth aspects, wherein the ball receiving portion further includes a water flow groove.

  The liquid filling apparatus according to an eighth aspect is the apparatus according to the first to fifth aspects, wherein the ball receiving portion is a ceiling portion of a tubular member formed in a curved surface shape. .

  A liquid filling apparatus according to a ninth aspect is the apparatus according to the eighth aspect, wherein a plurality of columnar protrusions are further formed on at least a part of the ceiling formed in the curved surface. It is characterized by that.

  In the case of the liquid filling device according to claim 1, the liquid is injected from below into the spherical container loaded in the tubular member, and the spherical container that has risen in the tubular member due to the pressure is received by the spherical receiving portion. Since the liquid is press-fitted into the inside from the opening of the container, it has an advantage that the liquid can be efficiently filled into the spherical container even in a narrow installation space as compared with the conventional example of Patent Document 1.

  In the case of the liquid filling apparatus according to the second aspect, the filled spherical container can be guided to the container discharge port by the sorting member, and the liquid can be efficiently filled into a large number of spherical containers.

  According to the liquid filling apparatus described in claims 3 to 5, it is possible to automate filling of the liquid into a large number of spherical containers.

  According to the liquid filling device described in the sixth to ninth aspects, the rotation of the spherical container in the ball receiving portion can be promoted, and the opening portion can be efficiently directed to the liquid ejection port side.

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the overall configuration of a liquid filling apparatus 10 according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a transverse sectional view.
The liquid filling apparatus 10 includes a vertically standing tubular member 12, a bottom plate portion 14 that is watertightly connected to a lower end opening of the tubular member 12, and a liquid jet port provided at the center of the bottom plate portion 14. 16, four liquid discharge ports 18 provided at positions away from the liquid jet port 16, a container introduction port 20 provided on the bottom plate portion 14 side of the tubular member 12, and outside the container introduction port 20. A lid member 22 provided movably up and down, a container outlet 24 provided near the middle of the tubular member 12, a distribution member 26 provided near the lower end of the container outlet 24, and the tubular member 12 A ceiling portion 28 that closes the upper end, a first ball receiving portion 30 provided on the ceiling portion 28, and a pair of contact plates 32 provided on the lower inner surface of the tubular member 12 are provided.

The distribution member 26 is formed, for example, by bending a stainless steel rod or wire having a circular cross section a plurality of times at a right angle, and as shown in FIG. And a rotating shaft portion 36 formed at both ends.
In a state in which a force is applied from the outside to the frame portion 34 of the distributing member 26 and slightly deformed in the inner direction, each rotating shaft portion 36 is placed inside the bearing portions 38 formed at the left and right ends on the lower side of the container discharge port 24. Is inserted into the tubular member 12 so as to be freely rotatable.

However, since a pair of stopper pieces 40 project from the inner wall surface of the tubular member 12, and each abuts against the frame portion 34 of the sorting member 26 from below, the sorting member 26 is directed upward. Only the rotation is possible, and the downward rotation is restricted.
The distribution member 26 is inclined so that the container discharge port 24 side becomes lower and the opposite side becomes higher as a result of coming into contact with the stopper piece 40 in a normal state.
In addition, since the entire region surrounded by the frame portion 34 constitutes the pressurized liquid passage portion, the rising of the liquid ejected from the liquid ejection port 16 is not hindered by the distribution member 26.

  The first ball receiving portion 30 includes a cylindrical base portion 42 and a plurality of ball bearings 44 embedded in the lower surface thereof.

A container guiding slope 46 is provided outside the container inlet 20, and a plurality of spherical containers 48 are aligned.
Each spherical container 48 on the slope 46 is biased toward the container inlet 20 by attractive force, but cannot enter the tubular member 12 because the lid member 22 closes the container inlet 20.

A slope 50 for guiding the container is also provided outside the container outlet 24.
A liquid supply pipe 52 is connected to the outside of the liquid jet port 16.
In addition, a liquid discharge pipe 54 is connected to the outside of the liquid discharge port 18.

The spherical container 48 filled with the liquid is made of, for example, a biodegradable plastic, and has at least one opening 56 formed therein.
The size of the opening 56 is not particularly limited, but it is desirable to provide a circular opening 56 having a diameter of about 5 mm when the entire spherical container 48 is about the size of a ping-pong ball.

Next, the basic operation of the liquid filling apparatus 10 will be described with reference to FIGS.
First, as shown in FIG. 3, when the lid member 22 is opened upward and the container inlet 20 is opened, each spherical container 48 rolls down the slope 46 and the leading spherical container 48 enters the inside of the tubular member 12. To do.
At this time, since the spherical container 48 comes into contact with the contact plate 32, the spherical container 48 is arranged at the center of the tubular member 12.
A part of the next spherical container 48 also enters the tubular member 12, but when the lid member 22 is closed again downward, the next spherical container 48 is driven to the outside of the tubular member 12.

In this state, as shown in FIG. 4, when a liquid (for example, water) is ejected from the liquid ejection port 16 at a predetermined pressure, the spherical container 48 is pushed by the water pressure and rises inside the tubular member 12.
In the middle of this, the spherical container 48 collides with the sorting member 26 from below, but it jumps up and rises toward the ceiling portion 28.
After the spherical container 48 passes, the sorting member 26 returns to its original position by its own weight, as shown in FIG.

On the other hand, the spherical container 48 receives pressurized water from below, and the ball bearing 44 of the first ball receiving portion 30 is in contact with the spherical container 48, so that it initially rotates with the kurukuru, but there is an opening in it. When 56 comes to a position where it is directly hit by pressurized water, the pressurized water is filled into the container from the opening 56. At this time, the spherical container 48 stops rotating.
Further, the liquid that has failed to be filled in the spherical container 48 is discharged to the outside through the liquid discharge port 18 and the liquid discharge pipe 54 formed in the bottom plate portion 14 of the tubular member 12.

Next, when the supply of pressurized water is stopped at the timing when a sufficient amount of liquid is filled in the spherical container 48, the spherical container 48 falls on the sorting member 26 by its own weight as shown in FIG. To do.
As described above, since the distribution member 26 is restricted by the stopper piece 40 so as to rotate only upward and not downward, the spherical container 48 rolls on the distribution member 26 and is The gas is discharged from the discharge port 24 to the outside of the tubular member 12.
Then, it is guided to a predetermined storage location (not shown) by the slope 50.

  When the liquid filling process for the first spherical container 48 is completed as described above, the filling process of FIGS. 3 to 6 for the next spherical container 48 is repeated, and the liquid filling for the required number of spherical containers 48 is performed. Filling is performed.

  The spherical container 48 filled with a sufficient amount of water will not leak easily even if the opening 56 is not blocked, but it is premised on long-distance transfer and long-term storage. For this, it is desirable to close the opening with a suitable lid such as a waterproof adhesive seal.

In the above description, an example in which the slope 46 is provided as means for urging the spherical container 48 toward the container introduction port 20 is shown, but other urging means may be used.
For example, although illustration is omitted, it corresponds to loading a plurality of spherical containers 48 in a magazine charged with coil springs and urging the spherical containers 48 toward the container inlet 20 by the compression force of the coil springs.

Further, instead of forming the sorting member 26 by bending a stainless steel bar or wire as described above, it can also be constituted by a plate-like member made of plastic or the like.
However, it is necessary to provide a relatively large through hole (pressure fluid passage part) in the plate-like member so as not to obstruct the passage of the pressurized water jetted from the liquid jet port 16.
Also in this case, by inserting a pair of engaging shafts provided on the plate-like member into the bearing portion 38, they are engaged with the inside of the tubular member 12 so as to be rotatable.

  As described above, in the liquid filling apparatus 10, the liquid is continuously supplied to the plurality of spherical containers 48 by controlling the liquid ejection / stop timing and the opening / closing timing of the lid member 22. Can be performed.

Of course, this timing control may be performed by a human but can also be automatically controlled.
FIG. 7 shows a timing control system 68 including a control unit 60, a direct acting solenoid 62, an electromagnetic valve 64, and an electric pump 66 as an example.
The control unit 60 includes a microcomputer, a memory, a timer, and a driver circuit, and an average required for filling a sufficient amount of liquid into one spherical container 48 in advance in the memory. The time is set.
The electromagnetic valve 64 and the electric pump 66 are interposed in the middle of the liquid supply pipe 52 that connects the liquid storage tank 70 and the tubular member 12.
The drive shaft of the direct acting solenoid 62 is connected to the lid member 22.

The timing control procedure will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
First, when a main switch (not shown) is turned on (S10), the direct acting solenoid 62 is actuated in response to a command from the control unit 60, and the lid member 22 is temporarily opened (S12). When a predetermined time elapses, the direct acting solenoid 62 operates in the reverse direction in response to a command from the control unit 60, and the lid member 22 is closed (S14).
Next, upon receipt of a command from the control unit 60, the electric pump 66 is turned ON and at the same time the electromagnetic valve 64 is opened (S16, S18), and the liquid in the liquid storage tank 70 is supplied to the liquid jet 16 of the tubular member 12.
When the preset time has elapsed (S20 / Y), upon receipt of a command from the control unit 60, the electromagnetic valve 64 is closed and simultaneously the electric pump 66 is turned off (S22, S24), and the liquid to the tubular member 12 is discharged. Supply is stopped.
Thereafter, by repeating the steps S12 to S24 as many times as necessary (S26), it becomes possible to automatically fill the liquid into the large number of spherical containers 48.

In the above description, the example in which the liquid jet from the liquid jet port 16 is temporarily stopped and then the lid member 22 is opened to introduce the next spherical container 48 into the tubular member 12 has been described, but the liquid jet is continued. The next spherical container 48 can be introduced into the tubular member 12 as it is.
In this case, when the next spherical container 48 is introduced into the tubular member 12, the pressure water supply from the liquid jet 16 is obstructed, and the water pressure to the spherical container 48 before floating above the tubular member 12 is reduced. Will be weakened. Moreover, since the previous spherical container 48 is filled with a sufficient amount of liquid at this point, it immediately falls on the sorting member 26 due to its weight and is discharged to the outside of the tubular member 12.

Instead of providing the control system 68 as described above, when the liquid taken out from the liquid discharge port 18 reaches a certain amount, the opening and closing of the lid member 22 is mechanically controlled using the weight of the liquid. You may comprise.
FIG. 9 is a schematic view showing an example of the driving rod 72 connected to the lid member 22, a guide tube 73 through which the driving rod 72 is inserted, and an engaging portion 74 connected to the upper end of the driving rod 72. And a water wheel 76 that is rotatably arranged around a shaft 75, and a plurality of contact pieces 77 that project radially from the outer peripheral surface of the water wheel 76.
Six water storage chambers 79 separated by a partition plate 78 are provided inside the water turbine 76, and the liquid dropped from the liquid discharge pipe 54 is structured so as to gradually accumulate in the upper right water storage chamber 79. Yes.

When a predetermined amount of liquid is accumulated in the water storage chamber 79, the weight of the water wheel 76 rotates 60 degrees in the right direction, and one of the contact pieces 77 comes into contact with the engaging portion 74 to lift the lid member 22 upward. .
When the lid member 22 is pulled up by a predetermined amount, the engaging portion 74 and the contact piece 77 are disengaged. As a result, the lid member 22 drops to its original position due to its own weight, and closes the container inlet 20.
When the water storage chamber 79 moves from the position α to the position β along with the rotation of the water wheel 76, the liquid stored inside is discharged to the outside.

By repeating the above operations, the spherical containers 48 can be sequentially introduced into the tubular member 12 without using any power and without using a complicated control system.
Although illustration is omitted, it is desirable to restrict the water turbine to rotate only in the right direction in units of 60 degrees by providing a reverse rotation preventing means such as a known ratchet mechanism on the shaft 75 of the water turbine 76.

In the case of this liquid filling device 10, when the spherical container 48 rises to the ceiling portion 28 of the tubular member 12 under the pressure of the injected liquid, the opening 56 of the spherical container 48 is on the side opposite to the liquid ejection port 16. If it sticks to the ceiling part 28 while facing, the liquid filling will not proceed.
For this reason, by providing the first ball receiving portion 30 provided with the ball bearing 44 in the center of the ceiling portion 28 of the tubular member 12 as described above, the spherical container 48 rotates smoothly and the opening 56 is made of the pressurized liquid. A mechanism to quickly move to a position that can receive direct hits is provided.

FIG. 10 shows a second ball receiving portion 82 in which a cross-shaped water flow groove 88 is formed on the lower surface 86 of the cylindrical main body portion 84.
In this case, the liquid that has risen along the outer periphery of the spherical container 48 forms a turbulent flow when passing through the water flow groove 88, and causes the spherical container 48 to rotate.

FIG. 11 shows an example in which the ceiling portion 28 itself is used as the third ball receiving portion 89 by forming the shape of the ceiling portion 28 of the tubular member 12 into a hemispherical shape.
A large number of cylindrical protrusions 90 are formed in the right half region of the inner surface of the third ball receiving portion 89. As a result, when the water flow hits the cylindrical protrusion 90 along the hemispherical inner surface, a turbulent flow due to Karman vortex is generated, and the rotation of the spherical container 48 can be promoted.
In order to prevent the opening 56 of the spherical container 48 from being caught by the cylindrical protrusion 90, it is desirable to set the diameter of the cylindrical protrusion 90 larger than the diameter of the opening 56.

The spherical container 48 has a shape close to a perfect sphere except that the opening 56 is formed. However, any deformation that does not hinder the rotation in the tubular member 12 is acceptable.
Similarly, a protrusion may be formed on the surface of the spherical container 48 as long as rotation within the tubular member 12 is not hindered. By carefully selecting the shape, size, and formation position of the protrusion, it becomes a disturbance factor of the water flow, and on the contrary, it is possible to promote the rotation of the spherical container 48 in the tubular member 12.

This liquid filling device 10 is installed on the roof of each building, and after rainwater collected in the water storage tank on the roof is filled into the softball-sized spherical containers 48 one after another, watering of flower beds and vegetable gardens provided on the roof etc. Can be used.
Alternatively, natural air conditioning using heat of vaporization can be realized by spreading spherical containers 48 filled with rainwater on a rooftop or a veranda as they are, and it can also be expected to alleviate the heat island phenomenon in large cities.
Of course, the liquid filling device 10 is installed on a place other than the rooftop of the building, for example, the seaside or riverside, and the seawater or river water is filled into the countless spherical containers 48, and then transported to the urban area to transport it to the city It is also possible to suppress the heat island phenomenon by spreading it over the surface.

Since this invention was based on the starting point of alleviating the uneven distribution of water resources, in the above description, the explanation was developed on the assumption that the spherical container 48 is filled with water. Is not necessarily limited to water, and it is naturally possible to apply the liquid filling apparatus 10 to filling other liquids.
Further, the spherical container 48 can be made of a material other than the biodegradable plastic.

It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the whole structure of the liquid filling apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is a cross-sectional view which shows the whole structure of a liquid filling apparatus. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows operation | movement of a liquid filling apparatus. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows operation | movement of a liquid filling apparatus. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows operation | movement of a liquid filling apparatus. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows operation | movement of a liquid filling apparatus. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the timing control system which concerns on a liquid filling apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the timing control which concerns on a liquid filling apparatus. It is a schematic diagram which shows the automatic opening / closing mechanism of a cover member. It is an expansion perspective view which shows the modification of a ball | bowl receiving part. It is an expanded sectional view showing other modifications of a ball receiving part.

Explanation of symbols

10 Liquid filling equipment
12 Tubular member
14 Bottom plate
16 Liquid spout
18 Liquid outlet
20 Container inlet
22 Lid member
24 Container outlet
26 Sorting material
28 Ceiling
30 First ball receiver
32 Contact plate
34 Frame
36 Rotating shaft
38 Bearing
40 Stopper piece
42 Base part
44 Ball bearing
46 Slope
48 Spherical container
50 slope
52 Liquid supply pipe
54 Liquid discharge pipe
56 opening
60 Control unit
62 Linear solenoid
64 Solenoid valve
66 Electric pump
68 Timing control system
70 Liquid storage tank
72 Drive rod
73 Guide tube
74 Engagement part
75 axes
76 water wheel
77 Contact piece
78 Partition plate
79 Reservoir
82 Second ball receiver
84 Body
86 Bottom
88 water channel
89 Third ball receiver
90 Cylindrical protrusion

Claims (9)

An apparatus for filling a spherical container having an opening with a liquid,
A tubular member having a diameter larger than the diameter of the spherical container;
A container inlet formed in the tubular member;
A liquid spout provided below the tubular member;
The spherical container guided from the container inlet to the tubular member and moved in the tubular member by receiving the pressure of the liquid ejected from the liquid ejection port, and the direct impact of the liquid ejected from the opening of the spherical container A spherical receiving portion in which the spherical container is rotatably contacted by the pressure so as to be in a position to receive ,
A liquid filling apparatus comprising: A container outlet formed in the tubular member;
A sorting member provided rotatably in the tubular member,
The liquid filling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the distribution member has the following configurations (1) to (4).
(1) In a normal state, it has an inclined portion so that the spherical container placed thereon can be guided to the container discharge port.
(2) When the spherical container ascends in the tubular member, the spherical container is pushed and rotated from below to allow the spherical container to move in the direction of the spherical receiving portion.
(3) After the spherical container has passed, it rotates in the opposite direction and returns to its original position.
(4) It has a pressure liquid passage part for allowing passage of the liquid ejected from the liquid ejection port when returning to the original position. A lid member that realizes opening / closing of the container inlet;
Means for biasing the plurality of spherical containers toward the container inlet;
A liquid outlet provided in the tubular member;
A watermill with a plurality of reservoirs;
A water conduit for guiding the liquid led out of the tubular member from the liquid outlet to the water storage chamber of the water wheel;
A plurality of contact pieces provided on the outer peripheral surface of the water wheel;
An engagement portion provided on the lid member,
When a predetermined amount of liquid has accumulated in at least one water storage chamber of the water wheel, the water wheel rotates, and the contact piece pushes up the engaging portion of the cover member. Open
3. The liquid filling apparatus according to claim 2, wherein when the lid member is raised by a certain amount, the contact piece and the engaging portion are disengaged and the lid member is lowered to close the container inlet. A lid member that realizes opening / closing of the container inlet;
Means for biasing the plurality of spherical containers toward the container inlet;
Electric drive means for switching the opening / closing of the lid member;
Control means for controlling the operation of the driving means,
3. The liquid filling apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the control unit repeats the operation of closing the lid member after releasing it for a predetermined time as many times as necessary. A lid member that realizes opening / closing of the container inlet;
Means for biasing the plurality of spherical containers toward the container inlet;
Electric drive means for switching the opening / closing of the lid member;
An electromagnetic valve for switching start / stop of liquid supply to the liquid ejection port of the tubular member;
Control means for controlling the operation of the drive means and the electromagnetic valve,
3. The liquid filling apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the control means repeats the following timing control (1) to (3) as many times as necessary.
(1) The lid member is closed for a predetermined time and then closed.
(2) Open the electromagnetic valve and start supplying liquid.
(3) After a predetermined time elapses, the electromagnetic valve is closed to stop the liquid supply.   The liquid filling device according to claim 1, wherein the ball receiving portion includes a ball bearing.   The liquid filling device according to claim 1, wherein the ball receiving portion includes a water flow groove.   6. The liquid filling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ball receiving portion is a ceiling portion of a tubular member formed in a curved surface shape.   The liquid filling apparatus according to claim 8, wherein a plurality of columnar protrusions are formed on at least a part of the ceiling formed in the curved surface.

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