JP6125892B2 - Filling valve - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a filling valve provided in a filling device, and more particularly to a filling valve that fills a carbon dioxide beverage or a non-gas beverage with the mouth of a container sealed with a sealing member such as packing.

  When filling a gas-containing liquid such as carbon dioxide with a filling device, it is necessary to raise and lower the seal member and the container relative to each other and to fill the container with the mouth of the container sealed by the seal member. is there. A filling apparatus that performs filling by sealing the inside of the container is already known (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  In the filling valve described in Patent Document 1, the filling liquid passage formed inside the valve housing is opened and closed by the liquid valve, and the port packing unit disposed so as to be movable up and down below the valve housing includes an air cylinder. When the container is supplied to the neck gripper, the bottle mouth packing unit is lowered, the bottle mouth packing is pressed against the mouth of the container, and the inside of the container is sealed. The valve is opened to fill the beverage containing gas.

JP 2008-105699 A

  As a container filled with liquid by the filling valve, in recent years, PET bottles having a lower stopper portion compared to conventional standards have been introduced to the market for the purpose of reducing environmental burden and reducing costs. Yes. Conventional standard PET bottles are also available on the market. FIG. 3A shows a conventional standard PET bottle having a large stopper portion height, that is, a distance from the lower surface of the flange 2b of the container 2 to the upper end mouth portion 2c (this container is denoted by reference numeral 2A). 3 (b) shows a new standard PET bottle with a small distance from the lower surface of the flange 2b of the container 2 to the upper end mouth 2c (the container is denoted by reference numeral). 2B). In order to fill the two kinds of containers 2A and 2B having different standards with one filling device, the relative relationship between the container 2 and the seal member (bottle mouth packing) to be in close contact with the mouth 2c of the container 2 It is necessary to set a standard lifting stroke based on the container 2B having a low height of the mouth portion 2c. Then, in the container 2A having a high mouth portion 2c that has been conventionally used, the packing load on the mouth portion 2c is increased, and the life of the packing is shortened. Therefore, the frequency of maintenance increases, and the labor and cost increase.

The present invention includes a valve housing in which a filling liquid passage communicating with a filling liquid supply pipe is formed, a discharge port provided at a lower end, a liquid valve for opening and closing the filling liquid passage, and opening and closing of the liquid valve. In the filling valve comprising means, a sealing means arranged below the valve housing and sealing the mouth of the container held by the container holding means, and a container lifting means for raising and lowering the container, the container lifting means A multi-stage stroke cylinder is provided as a changing means for changing the up-and-down stroke of the container, and the up-and-down stroke of the container holding means is changed according to the shape of the container.

  The second invention is characterized in that, in the first invention, the container holding means holds the neck of the container.

  Since the filling valve of the present invention can change the lifting stroke of the neck gripper according to the shape of the container, it is possible to operate the apparatus without increasing the labor for replacing the attachment or maintaining it.

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a filling valve according to an embodiment of the present invention, and shows a case where a container having a high mouth portion is filled. Example 1 FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the same filling valve as in FIG. 1 and shows a case where a container having a low mouth portion is filled. FIGS. 3A and 3B are diagrams comparing a container having a high mouth portion and a container having a low mouth portion.

  A filling liquid passage is formed inside the valve housing, and the filling liquid is supplied and stopped by opening and closing the liquid valve. A neck gripper is disposed below the valve housing, and conveys the container below the flange of the container supplied from the outside. A bottle seal is attached to the lower end of the valve housing. The neck gripper can be moved up and down by an elevating means. The neck gripper receives the container in a lowered state, and then rises to seal the inside of the container by bringing the mouth of the container into close contact with the bottle packing. In this state, the liquid valve is opened to fill the container with the filling liquid sent from the filling liquid tank via the liquid supply pipe.

  The neck gripper lifting air cylinder that lifts and lowers the neck gripper is provided with a small-diameter neck gripper lifting piston connected via a lifting rod attached with the neck gripper, and a large-diameter switching piston disposed above it. The raising / lowering amount of the neck gripper raising / lowering piston can be changed by the position of the switching piston. In the case of a container where the distance from the lower surface of the flange to the upper end of the mouth is small, the neck gripper lifting piston is raised most, and in the case of a container where the distance from the lower surface of the flange to the upper end of the mouth is large, the switching piston is Lower and stop the neck gripper lifting piston at the intermediate position.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings. The filling valve according to this embodiment is provided at equal intervals in the circumferential direction on the rotary body of the rotary filling device, and FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 show one of the filling valves. The container 2 filled with liquid in this embodiment is a PET bottle, and is supported by an air conveyance conveyor (not shown) while being supported on the lower surface side of the flange 2b formed on the neck 2a, and an infeed screw (not shown). After being separated by a predetermined interval, the rotary filling device is supplied. The container 2 supplied to the rotary filling device is rotated and conveyed while the lower surface side of the flange 2b is held by the container holding means (neck gripper 4). While the container 2 is held by the neck gripper 4 and rotated and conveyed, the container 2 is filled with a liquid such as a carbon dioxide beverage with the mouth portion 2c sealed with a sealing means (bottle mouth packing 6).

  The filling valve of this embodiment includes a valve housing 10 in which a filling liquid passage 8 is formed. A filling liquid sent from a filling liquid tank (not shown) via a supply pipe 12 is filled with the filling liquid passage 8. The container 2 is filled through.

  A liquid valve 14 that opens and closes the outlet (discharge port 8 a) of the filling liquid passage 8 is provided in the valve housing 10. The liquid valve 14 includes a valve body 18 formed at the lower end of a rod 16 that is inserted into the filling liquid passage 8 so as to be movable up and down, and a valve seat 20 provided on the inner surface of the lower end portion of the filling liquid passage 8. It is constituted by. The rod 16 on which the valve body 18 is formed is moved up and down by a liquid valve opening / closing air cylinder 22 provided at the upper part of the valve housing 10.

  A piston (liquid valve opening / closing piston 24) is connected to the upper end of the rod 16, and is slidably fitted into a cylinder chamber 25 formed in the upper part of the valve housing 10, and the inside of the cylinder chamber 25 is subjected to vertical pressure. It is divided into chambers 26 and 28. The pressure chambers 26, 28 formed above and below the liquid valve opening / closing piston 24 are connected to an air supply source 34 via air passages 30, 32, respectively, and pressure air is introduced into the pressure chambers 26, 28. In addition, it can be opened to the atmosphere. When pressure air is introduced into the pressure chamber 26 above the liquid valve opening / closing piston 24 and the lower pressure chamber 28 is opened, the rod 16 moves down together with the liquid valve opening / closing piston 24, and the valve body 18 at the lower end of the rod body 18 moves to the valve seat. The discharge port 8 a of the filling liquid passage 8 is closed by being seated on 20. Further, when pressure air is introduced into the pressure chamber 28 below the liquid valve opening / closing piston 24 and the upper pressure chamber 26 is opened, the rod 16 rises and the valve body 18 moves away from the valve seat 20 to fill the filling liquid passage 8. Is opened to fill the liquid.

  A flow meter 36 is provided in the filling liquid supply pipe (feeding pipe 12) for supplying the filling liquid from the filling liquid tank to the filling liquid passage 8 in the valve housing 10, and the passage of a predetermined amount of the filling liquid is measured. A signal is sent to a control device (not shown), and the liquid valve open / close air cylinder 22 is operated by a command from the control device to lower the liquid valve open / close piston 24, the rod 16 and the valve body 18. Close to finish filling.

  A gas supply / discharge passage 38 that opens to the lower end surface of the valve housing 10 is provided outside the filling liquid passage 8 inside the valve housing 10. The gas supply / exhaust passage 38 is connected to a gas supply pipe 42 via an air supply opening / closing valve 40, and the air supply opening / closing valve 40 is closed in a state where the mouth portion 2 c of the container 2 is sealed by the bottle opening packing 6. By opening, carbon dioxide gas can be supplied into the container 2. The gas supply / discharge passage 38 is connected to the gas exhaust passage 46 via the exhaust on-off valve 44, and the exhaust on-off valve 44 is opened to discharge and collect carbon dioxide from the container 2. Can do. The air supply opening / closing valve 40 and the exhaust opening / closing valve 44 normally urge the valve bodies 40a, 44a by the springs 40b, 44b so as to open them, and air is supplied through the air passages 48, 50, respectively. It is closed by introducing pressure air from the supply source 34.

  An annular sealing means (bottle opening packing 6) surrounding the discharge port 8 a of the filling liquid passage 8 and the outlet of the gas supply / discharge passage 38 is attached to the lower end surface of the valve housing 10. The bottle mouth packing 6 has a size that allows the inside of the container 2 to be sealed by being in close contact with the mouth portion 2 c of the container 2.

  A neck gripper 4 is disposed below each valve housing 10. Each neck gripper 4 is attached to the lower end of the neck gripper raising / lowering rod 52 in the horizontal direction, and is raised and lowered by the operation of the neck gripper raising / lowering air cylinder 56 disposed above the valve housing 10.

  The neck gripper elevating air cylinder 56 is fixed above the valve housing 10 via a plurality of support columns 57. A cylinder chamber 60 having a large diameter at the top and a small diameter at the bottom is formed in the cylinder housing 58 of the air cylinder 56 for raising and lowering the neck gripper. A large-diameter switching piston 62 is slidably fitted into the upper large-diameter portion of the cylinder chamber 60, and a small-diameter neck gripper elevating piston 64 is slidably fitted into the lower-diameter portion of the lower portion. The cylinder chamber 60 is divided into an upper pressure chamber 66, an intermediate pressure chamber 68, and a lower pressure chamber 70 by these two pistons 62 and 64. These upper, middle, and lower three pressure chambers 66, 68, and 70 are connected to the air supply source 34 through air passages 72, 74, and 76, respectively, and pressure air is supplied into the pressure chambers 66, 68, and 70, respectively. It can be introduced and opened to the atmosphere.

  By supplying and discharging the pressure air into and from these three pressure chambers 66, 68 and 70, the neck gripper lifting piston 64 can be stopped at three positions of the rising position, the intermediate position and the lowering position. When pressure air is supplied to the upper pressure chamber 66 and the lower pressure chamber 70 and the intermediate pressure chamber 68 is opened to the atmosphere, the upper switching piston 62 causes a step between the large diameter portion and the small diameter portion of the cylinder chamber 60. The neck gripper raising / lowering piston 64 stops at a position where it abuts on the lower surface of the lowering switching piston 62 due to the pressure receiving area difference between the switching piston 62 and the neck gripper raising / lowering piston 64 (the intermediate position shown in FIG. 1). position). When pressure air is supplied to the lower pressure chamber 70 and the intermediate pressure chamber 68 and the upper pressure chamber 66 are opened to the atmosphere, the neck gripper lifting piston 64 pushes up the switching piston 62 and rises to the highest position ( The most elevated position shown in FIG. In this embodiment, a stopper 58a penetrating the switching piston 62 is provided on the top surface of the cylinder housing 58, and the ascending limit of the neck gripper lifting piston 64 is restricted by the stopper 58a. When the lower pressure chamber 70 is opened to the atmosphere and pressure air is introduced into the intermediate pressure chamber 68, the neck gripper lifting piston 64 is lowered to the lowest position.

  The piston rod 64a of the neck gripper lifting / lowering piston 64 extends downward through the lower surface of the cylinder housing 58, and the neck gripper lifting / lowering rod 52 is connected to the piston rod 64a. Therefore, when the neck gripper lifting piston 64 is moved up and down, the neck gripper lifting rod 52 is moved up and down, and the neck gripper 4 connected to the lower end thereof is moved up and down. At the time when the container 2 is supplied to the neck gripper 4, the neck gripper 4 is moved down most together with the neck gripper lifting piston 64 so that the container 2 does not interfere with the bottle opening packing 6. Further, in this embodiment, the two types of containers 2 (2A, 2B) having different lengths from the lower surface side of the flange 2b formed on the container 2 to the mouth part 2c at the upper end are also used. When the gripper raising / lowering piston 64 rises most, the mouth 2c of the container 2 (2B) having a short distance from the flange 2b to the mouth 2c comes into close contact with the bottle mouth packing 6 (see FIG. 2), and the neck gripper raising / lowering piston 64 Is raised to the intermediate position, the mouth 2c of the container 2 (2A) having a long distance from the flange 2b to the mouth 2c is brought into close contact with the bottle mouth packing 6 (see FIG. 1).

  The operation of the filling valve according to the above configuration will be described. A container 2 that is transported by an air transport conveyor and separated at a predetermined interval by an infeed screw is supplied to a rotary filling device including the filling valve. When the container 2 is supplied to the rotary filling device and held by the neck gripper 4, the neck gripper 4 is lowered to the lowest position so that the container 2 does not interfere with the upper bottle opening packing 6. Deliver the container 2. At this time, pressure air is introduced into the intermediate pressure chamber 68 of the neck gripper lifting air cylinder 56 and the lower pressure chamber 70 is opened to the atmosphere. Then, the neck gripper raising / lowering piston 64 descends to the lowest position and hits the bottom surface of the cylinder chamber 60 and stops. Thus, the neck gripper 4 is lowered by the lowering of the neck gripper raising / lowering piston 64, so that the container 2 supplied to the rotary filling device does not interfere with the upper bottle mouth packing 6.

  While the supplied container 2 is held by the neck gripper 4 and is rotated and conveyed, the neck gripper 4 is raised by the operation of the air cylinder 56 for raising and lowering the neck gripper, and the mouth 2c of the held container 2 is moved upward. Adhere to the lower surface of the bottle packing 6. At this time, on / off of the switching piston 62 is controlled by a command from a control means (not shown), and the raising / lowering of the neck gripper raising / lowering piston 64 is controlled according to the height of the container 2.

  When filling the container 2 (2A) having a large distance from the lower surface side of the flange 2b to the mouth 2c, pressure air is introduced into the lower pressure chamber 70 and the upper pressure chamber 66 of the air cylinder 56 for raising and lowering the neck gripper. At the same time, the inside of the intermediate pressure chamber 68 is opened to the atmosphere. Then, the large-diameter switching piston 62 descends and stops by hitting the stepped portion between the large-diameter portion and the small-diameter portion in the cylinder portion 60, and the small-diameter neck gripper elevating piston 64 ascends. To stop. In this state, the opening 2c of the container 2A is in close contact with the bottle opening packing 6 (the state shown in FIG. 1).

  When the opening 2c of the container 2 (2A) is brought into close contact with the lower surface of the upper bottle opening packing 6 and the inside of the container 2A is sealed, the air supply opening / closing valve 40 is opened while the exhaust opening / closing valve 44 is closed. . When the air supply opening / closing valve 40 is opened, carbon dioxide gas is supplied from the gas supply pipe 42 into the container 2 </ b> A through the air supply opening / closing valve 40 and the gas supply / discharge passage 38 in the valve housing 10.

  After a lapse of a predetermined time from the start of the supply of carbon dioxide gas, pressure air is supplied to the lower pressure chamber 28 of the liquid valve opening / closing air cylinder 22 and the upper pressure chamber 26 is opened to the atmosphere to 14 is released. When the liquid valve 14 is opened, the filling liquid is sent from the filling liquid tank (not shown) through the liquid supply pipe 12 into the filling liquid passage 8 and filled into the container 2A. The liquid filled into the container 2A through the liquid supply pipe 12 is measured by the flow meter 36, and when a predetermined amount is filled, the liquid valve opening / closing air cylinder 22 is switched by the command of the control means. The valve opening / closing piston 24 and the rod 16 are lowered, and the liquid valve 14 is closed to complete the filling. After the completion of filling, the air supply on / off valve 40 is closed and the exhaust on / off valve 44 is opened to discharge and collect the gas in the container 2A through the gas exhaust passage 46.

  After the filling is completed, pressure air is supplied to the intermediate pressure chamber 68 of the neck gripper lifting air cylinder 56 and the lower pressure chamber 70 is opened to the atmosphere so that the neck gripper 4 is lowered together with the neck gripper lifting piston 64. The mouth 2c of the container 2A is separated from the bottle packing 6, and the container 2A is discharged from the filling device and sent to the next step.

  When filling the container 2 (2B) having a small distance from the lower surface of the flange 2b to the mouth portion 2c, the pressure air is introduced into the pressure chamber 70 below the air cylinder 56 for raising and lowering the neck gripper, The pressure chamber 68 and the upper pressure chamber 66 are opened to the atmosphere. The neck gripper elevating piston 64 pushes up the switching piston 62 and rises to the highest position (the state shown in FIG. 2). When the neck gripper raising / lowering piston 64 rises to this position, the mouth portion 2c of the container 2B held by the neck gripper 4 is brought into pressure contact with the upper bottle mouth packing 6 to seal the inside of the container 2B. The subsequent filling step is performed in the same manner as the container (the container 2A having a long distance from the flange 2b to the upper end of the mouth portion 2c shown in FIG. 1).

  In the filling valve according to this embodiment, the height from the lower surface side of the flange 2b to the mouth portion 2c is lower than that of the container 2B in which the height from the lower surface side of the flange 2b held by the neck gripper 4 to the mouth portion 2c is low. In the case of the container 2A having a high height, the amount of rise of the neck gripper 4 is reduced by the difference in height, so that the load applied to the container 2 (2A, 2B) is almost the same, and the bottle packing 6 The life of the bottle opening packing 6 is not shortened, the frequency of maintenance is not increased, and the compatibility with different height containers 2 (2A, 2B) is excellent. ing.

  In this embodiment, the filling valve that can be used for two types of containers 2 (2A, 2B) has been described. However, a plurality of switching pistons 62 provided for changing the lifting stroke of the neck gripper 4 are arranged. By doing so, it is possible to change the stroke in multiple stages, and it is also possible to use it for three or more types of containers. In this embodiment, carbon dioxide gas is supplied, but other pressurized gas may be supplied. Moreover, the filling apparatus provided with this filling valve can be used not only for filling gas-containing beverages but also for filling non-gas beverages. In this embodiment, the lifting stroke of the neck gripper can be changed according to the height of the neck of the container. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and supports the bottom of the container according to the total height of the container. The raising / lowering stroke of the container holder may be changed, or a predetermined part of the container may be held, and the raising / lowering stroke of the container holding means may be changed according to the height of the body or other parts of the container.

2 Container 4 Container holding means (neck gripper)
6 Sealing means (bottle opening packing)
8 Filling liquid passage 8a Discharge port 10 Valve housing 12 Filling liquid supply pipe (liquid supply pipe)
14 Liquid valve 22 Opening / closing means (Air cylinder for liquid valve opening / closing)
56 Container lifting / lowering means (neck gripper lifting / lowering air cylinder)
62 Changing means (switching piston)

Claims (2)

A filling liquid passage communicating with the filling liquid supply pipe is formed therein, a valve housing provided with a discharge port at a lower end, a liquid valve for opening and closing the filling liquid passage, an opening and closing means for the liquid valve, In a filling valve provided below the valve housing, comprising a sealing means for sealing the mouth of the container held by the container holding means, and a container lifting means for raising and lowering the container,
A filling valve characterized in that a multi-stage stroke cylinder is provided as a changing means for changing the raising / lowering stroke by the container raising / lowering means, and the raising / lowering stroke of the container holding means is changed according to the shape of the container.   The filling valve according to claim 1, wherein the container holding means holds a neck portion of the container.

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