JP6707844B2 - Filling machine - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a filling machine. In particular, regarding a container in which a plastic liquid container called a bag-in-box is contained in a paper box such as corrugated cardboard and has a double structure, a filling machine that can easily bleed air when filling the liquid Is to provide.

Among the packaging bags, what is called a liquid container, those composed of a single body or a laminated body having a plastic film as a base material are widespread, and various forms are used for a wide range of purposes, It has become an integral part of modern life.

For example, it is also used as a liquid container, is widely used in food fields such as beverages and retort foods, and in the field of daily necessities and toiletries, various products are bustling the product shelves of supermarkets, drug stores, and convenience stores. .. In addition to liquid containers, various applications have been developed.

Liquid containers based on plastic films have the advantages of low material cost, the container itself is less bulky than cans and bottles, and space saving for transportation and storage of the container itself. Has been done.

However, if you try to use it for a large capacity, the container itself is a soft material, so it is difficult to stand on its own, and it is difficult to stack, handle and transport, etc. Has a limit.

Therefore, a liquid container having a plastic film as a base material is housed in a paper box such as a cardboard box to have a double-structured container, which has been devised and commercialized as a bag-in-box. This is a liquid container using a plastic film as a base material and a container that makes full use of the advantages of a paper box such as a cardboard, and is mainly used as a large-capacity liquid container.

The liquid can be filled through a spout attached to a liquid container having an inner plastic film as a base material, and in order to pour out the liquid of the content, the spout is removed from the outer box. It can be pulled out and opened and closed.

Patent Document 1 discloses a device of a bag-in-box in which a liquid container having an inner plastic film as a base material is housed in a paper box such as an outer cardboard box using a shooter.

According to the method shown here, since the liquid is filled on the inclined conveyor, the liquid is concentrated in the lower part of the bag by its own weight, so that the filling efficiency is good, and after the filling, the bag is put in the box. Since it is dropped and stored by its own weight, there is an advantage that it is not necessary to drive the conveyor. On the other hand, I could not overcome the difficulty that air easily enters the bag.

As a method for preventing the entry of air, Patent Documents 2 and 3 also propose a technique for moving a pad up and down during filling. These are the methods used when filling the bag in a horizontal position. Therefore, when a lifting pad is used on an inclined conveyor, a large drop occurs between the pad and the conveyor, so the pad pulls downward from the side of the spout supported by the pad due to the weight of the liquid that accumulates in the bottom of the bag. There was a risk that air would enter.

JP, 9-207244, A JP-A-8-183504 JP-A-62-208301

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a filling machine capable of easily bleeding air without filling a liquid container with a complicated air bleeding structure such as vacuum. ..

As a means for solving the above problems, the invention according to claim 1 has a filling system for supplying and filling a liquid to a liquid container, and a filling system for a liquid container having a spout. A filling machine for connecting to and filling
Comprised of a filling system, a lifting pad, and a tilt roll,
The lifting pad supports the stopper of the liquid container placed on the inclined roll from below and connects and fixes it to the filling system.
The inclined roll is arranged at the bottom of the filling system, and the plurality of conveying rolls are arranged so as to be sequentially lowered, and
Of the plurality of transport rolls of the inclined roll, the roll above the center of the liquid container is configured to be able to move up and down, and the position of the liquid level after filling is controlled by raising this roll. It is a filling machine characterized by.
The invention according to claim 2 is the filling machine according to claim 1, characterized in that a plurality of rolls that can be raised and lowered are provided .

Further, the invention according to claim 3 is characterized in that the inclined roll moves the liquid container after the liquid filling to the downstream side by its own weight, in the filling machine according to claim 1 or 2. is there.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a filling machine that does not require a complicated air bleeding structure such as a vacuum when filling a liquid container and can easily prevent air from entering.

In particular, according to the invention described in claim 2, when filling the liquid container, the liquid container with less air can be provided as it is for easy and reliable transport by the filling machine that does not require a complicated air bleeding structure such as vacuum. Thus, it is possible to provide a filling machine that can be a double container with a paper container.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram for explaining a state during filling of an embodiment of a filling machine according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram for explaining a state after filling of one embodiment of the filling machine according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view for explaining an example of a liquid container used for filling in one example of the filling machine according to the present invention.

Hereinafter, a detailed description will be given of a mode for carrying out the present invention with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. However, the present invention is not limited to the examples shown here.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram for explaining a state during filling of an embodiment of a filling machine according to the present invention. The filling machine (10) according to the present invention comprises a filling system (20), a lifting pad (2) and an inclined roll (5).

The lifting pad (2) supports the mouth plug (1) of the liquid container (8) arranged on the tilt roll (5) from below and connects and fixes it to the filling system (20). ) Is disposed in the lower part of the filling system (20) and is configured such that the plurality of transport rolls are sequentially lowered, and among the plurality of transport rolls of the inclined roll (5), the liquid container ( The roll above the central part of 8) can be raised and lowered.

The liquid container (8) is made of a plastic film and has a stopper (1) on the upper part of the rectangular container. Generally, the spout (1) is made of plastic and supplied as a molded member.

The filling machine has a filling system (20), the spout (1) being supported from below by a lifting pad (2) and connected to the filling system. Subsequently, the liquid (7) can be supplied into the liquid container (8) from the fixed spout (1).

Inside the liquid container (8), in addition to the supplied liquid (7), air (5) exists above the container. This is because during the filling, the liquid (7) is filled from the lower part of the liquid container (8), the liquid container (8) is pulled downward by its own weight, and the air (5) enters. The present invention intends to provide a filling machine that can easily remove air.

The inclined rolls (5) are arranged such that a plurality of transport rolls are gradually lowered toward the downstream side, and are composed of an elevating roll (3) and a fixed roll (4). The elevating roll (3) is a roll located above the central part of the liquid container (8) and can be further raised above a predetermined position of the inclined roll (5). Like the fixed roll (4), the elevating roll (5) is also a transport roll, and is a roll that is rotatable toward the downstream side.

The fixed roll (4) is a roll downstream of the elevating roll (3) and is composed of a plurality of rotatable rolls. After the liquid container is filled, it is used for transportation. At that time, since the inclined roll is inclined downward, it can be moved to the downstream side by its own weight.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram for explaining a state after filling of one embodiment of the filling machine according to the present invention. Even after the predetermined filling amount has been filled by the filling system, as shown in FIG. 1, in addition to the supplied liquid (7) inside the liquid container (8), air (6) is present on the upper part of the container. Exists.

In the present invention, the liquid container (8) is arranged on the inclined roll (5). When the contents of the liquid container are filled with liquid, the lifting pad (2) rises to support and fix the spout (1) of the liquid container (8), and the spout (1) is filled with the liquid.

At this time, among the inclined rolls (5), the rolls above the central portion of the liquid container (8), that is, the elevating rolls (3) are further raised from the original position as the inclined rolls (5). The air (6) remaining on the upper part of the liquid container (8) can be pushed out to fill the liquid container (8) with only the liquid (7). By using the elevating roll (3) as a roll above the center of the liquid container, the air remaining on the upper part of the liquid container (8) can be efficiently pushed out.

The operation of the ascending roll (3) is simple and easy to bleed air as compared with the method of discharging air by using a vacuum or the like, and further, there is no fear of easy splashing, and therefore the defect rate is reduced. It can be reduced.

Further, since the position of the liquid surface is controlled by the position of the ascending roll (3), fine adjustment depending on the type of liquid is unnecessary, the cycle time can be shortened, and the productivity of the entire filling machine can be improved. Is possible.

FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view for explaining an example of a liquid container used for filling in one example of the filling machine according to the present invention. The liquid container (8) consists of a plastic film. For bag making, a heat-sealed rectangular edge can be used.

The liquid container (8) has a rectangular upper part provided with a spigot (1) welded by a heat seal part (11), which can be used for filling the liquid of the contents through the opening (12). After filling, the spout (1) can be sealed with a cap (9) or the like. Further, when opening and using, after removing the cap (9), the liquid of the contents can be poured out from the opening (12) of the spout (1). The liquid container (8) can be used as a double container by storing it in a paper container after filling.

Hereinafter, detailed description will be added to each of the constituent elements of the present invention.

(Filling system)
The liquid container can be filled by an automatic filling system, in which a fixed amount is filled from a mouth plug, air is evacuated by the air bleeding structure according to the present invention, and then sealed by a mouth plug or the like. At this time, when the liquid content is food or beverage, an aseptic filling system called aseptic filling can be more preferably used.

In addition, it is possible to combine a liquid filling system and a system in which a liquid container is housed inside a paper container to form a double container to form a production line until the whole is sealed.

(Plastic film)
The plastic film is a film made of a polymer resin composition and includes, for example, polyolefin (polyethylene, polypropylene, etc.), polyester (polyethylene terephthalate, polybutylene terephthalate, polyethylene naphthalate, etc.), polyamide (nylon-6, nylon-66, etc.), polyimide. Etc. can be used and is appropriately selected according to the application.

Further, the plastic film can be used as a laminate by laminating a plurality of types and the number of sheets. The type and structure of the plastic film used for the laminate can be appropriately selected so as to satisfy the required quality according to each application. For example, by placing a polyethylene film in the innermost layer of the liquid container, heat sealability can be imparted.

In addition, for example, in addition to a polyethylene film, a polyamide film may be laminated as an intermediate layer. In this case, impact resistance and puncture resistance can be improved. Alternatively, for applications requiring gas barrier properties, using a gas barrier film for the intermediate layer is also effective.

(Gas barrier film)
By using the gas barrier film for the intermediate layer of the laminated body of the liquid container, it is possible to prevent the oxygen deterioration of the contents and protect the contents. The gas barrier film is a plastic film as a base material provided with a gas barrier layer. If necessary, an opaque layer such as a colored film for shielding ultraviolet rays may be provided in the laminate for the purpose of improving the storage stability of the contents.

For the gas barrier layer, for example, a metal foil such as an aluminum foil, or a film obtained by metal deposition on a plastic film can be used. However, when a metal foil such as an aluminum foil cannot be used, a gas barrier film in which a gas barrier layer is provided on a plastic film can be used.

In the case of the gas barrier film, the gas barrier layer can be composed of a vapor deposition layer and a coating layer of an inorganic compound. After the anchor coat is provided on the base film, the vapor deposition layer and the coating layer are sequentially provided.

For the anchor coat layer of the gas barrier film, urethane acrylate can be used, for example. For forming the anchor coat layer, a coating method in which a coating solution obtained by dissolving a resin in a solvent is applied by a printing method such as gravure coating, or a coating method can be formed by using a generally known coating method.

As a method for forming a vapor deposition layer, an inorganic compound such as SiO or AlO may be coated on a base material film provided with an anchor coat layer using a vacuum vapor deposition method to form an inorganic compound layer by a vacuum vapor deposition method. it can. The thickness of the vapor deposition layer is preferably 15 nm to 30 nm.

As a method for forming the coating layer, an aqueous solution or water/alcohol containing at least one of a water-soluble polymer and (a) one or more alkoxides or hydrolysates thereof, or both (b) tin chloride. A coating agent containing a mixed aqueous solution as a main component is applied onto a film and dried by heating to form an inorganic compound layer by a coating method to form a coating layer. At this time, by adding a silane monomer to the coating agent, the adhesion with the anchor coat layer can be improved.

The inorganic compound layer has a gas barrier property only by a coating film formed by a vacuum deposition method, but a coating layer that is an inorganic compound layer formed by a coating method is formed on a deposition layer that is an inorganic compound layer formed by a vacuum deposition method to form a barrier layer. be able to.

By combining these two layers, both reaction layers are formed at the interface between the inorganic compound layer formed by vacuum deposition and the inorganic compound layer formed by coating, or the inorganic compound layer formed by coating becomes an inorganic compound layer formed by vacuum deposition. By filling and reinforcing defects or fine holes such as pinholes, cracks, and grain boundaries that occur, a dense structure is formed, so high gas barrier properties, moisture resistance, and water resistance are achieved, as well as flexibility that can withstand deformation. Since it has a property, it can also be suitable as a liquid container.

In addition, when SiO is used as the barrier layer, it is transparent, so that the contents can be seen from the outside of the liquid container.

(Mouth plug)
As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the spigot can be closed by screwing a cap, a type with a cock attached, a type that can be opened and closed with a hinge, a beverage server attached, and a hose connected. Various formats can be used, such as the ones that are used. The content may be appropriately selected depending on the type of liquid, fluidity, use and purpose.

Further, the spout is generally a plastic molded product and is prepared as a separate component, and can be attached by welding such as heat sealing to a liquid container. In the case of a double container, for example, the spout can be pulled out to the outside of the outer paper container to open and close, and can be used for pouring out liquid.

(Lift pad)
The lifting pad is located under the liquid supply portion of the filling system, and when filling the liquid, the spout can be supported from below and raised to be connected to the filling system. Subsequently, the liquid can be supplied to the inside of the liquid container from the fixed stopper. However, inside the liquid container, in addition to the supplied liquid, there is a space above the container and air is present. The present invention is intended to provide an air bleeding structure for the upper part of the packaging container in this filling machine.

(Elevating roll)
In the present invention, the liquid container is placed on an inclined roll, so that immediately before filling, the liquid container is on the roll in an inclined state. Further, the spout provided on the upper portion of the liquid container is lifted and supported from below by the lifting pad and connected to the filling system.

As a result of filling in this state, the liquid of the contents may be efficiently filled in the lower part of the liquid container, while air may remain in the upper part. For this reason, after the filling, the roll above the central portion of the liquid container of the inclined rolls rises, so that the air remaining in the upper portion can be effectively pushed out from the spout.

This is the part of the air vent structure of the present invention related to air vent. After the air bleeding is completed and the spout is closed with a cap or the like, the elevating roll descends and returns to the original position as the inclined roll.

(Tilt roll)
The inclined roll is configured by arranging rolls rotatable at least downstream, and the plurality of transport rolls are arranged so as to be sequentially lowered toward the downstream. Of the inclined rolls, the rolls other than the elevating roll that is also used for bleeding air are fixed and are used exclusively as a transport roll.

With the inclined roll, the liquid container after the liquid filling can be moved to the downstream by its own weight. It is also possible to store the liquid container moved downstream in the paper container joined from another line as it is to form a double container.

(Double container)
The liquid container is a double container housed in a paper container after being filled with the liquid. By using, for example, cardboard as the outer paper container, a double container having a large capacity of 2 to 20 liters or more can be obtained. By using a double container, it is possible to ensure durability in transportation and inventory, reduce the space by stacking, and make the container convenient for handling.

Further, in the disposal after use, since the outer paper container and the inner liquid container made of plastic material can be separated and discarded, the total amount of waste can be suppressed and the container can be recycled.

It can be put to practical use as a liquid container in various fields as a double container, and by combining an aseptic filling system and a liquid container having a gas barrier layer, it can be applied to food and beverage applications. ..

For example, seasoning liquids such as soy sauce and sauce, types of sake and wine, shochu, flavors, fruit juice, tomato paste, coffee, oolong tea, edible oil, mineral water, liquid detergent, liquid fertilizer, surfactant, shake mix, whip. It has a wide range of uses such as cream.

Since the filling machine according to the present invention is a system in which the position of the liquid surface is controlled by the position of the rising roll, fine adjustment depending on the type of liquid is basically unnecessary. Further, since the structure is such that the air can be removed only by raising the elevating roll, the cycle time can be shortened and the productivity of the entire filling machine can be improved.

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a filling machine capable of easily bleeding air without filling the liquid container with a complicated air bleeding structure such as vacuum.

1... Spout 2... Lift pad 3... Lift roll 4... Fixed roll 5... Inclined roll 6... Air 7... Liquid 8... Liquid container 9... Cap 10... Filling machine 11... Heat seal part 12... Opening part 20... Filling system

Claims (3)

A filling machine that has a filling system for supplying a liquid to a liquid container and filling the liquid container, and connecting the liquid container having a spigot to the filling system to fill the container.
Comprised of a filling system, a lifting pad, and a tilt roll,
The lifting pad supports the stopper of the liquid container placed on the inclined roll from below and connects and fixes it to the filling system.
The inclined roll is arranged at the bottom of the filling system, and the plurality of conveying rolls are arranged so as to be sequentially lowered, and
Of the plurality of transport rolls of the inclined roll, the roll above the center of the liquid container is configured to be able to move up and down, and the position of the liquid level after filling is controlled by raising this roll. Filling machine characterized by. The filling machine according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of rolls that can move up and down are provided. The filling machine according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the inclined roll moves the liquid container after being filled with the liquid to the downstream side by its own weight.