JPH0520644Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a filling nozzle suitable for use in filling a liquid containing solids such as fruit juice, topping sauce, soup, etc.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, a filling nozzle shown in FIG. 4 has been used for aseptic filling. This filling nozzle includes a valve housing 1 having a filling inlet 1A and a filling outlet 1B, a valve body 2 for opening and closing the filling outlet 1B, and a driving means (not shown) for reciprocating the valve body 2. A connected valve shaft 3, a bearing 4 that slidably guides the valve shaft 3, and a bellows 5, etc., whose one end is fixed to the valve shaft 3 by welding or the like and the other end is fixed to the end of the valve housing 1. The filling is supplied from the filling tank (not shown) to the filling inlet 1A, and by opening and closing the filling outlet 1B by the valve body 2, the filling is supplied from the filling outlet 1B to the filling container (not shown).
is filled with. Here, in order to open and close the filling outlet 1B, the valve housing 1 has a conical valve seat 1C.
A seal member 2A made of an elastic material such as rubber is attached to the valve body 2 and is seated on the valve seat 1C.

[The problem that the idea attempts to solve]

However, in a filling nozzle with such a structure,
It has been found that the following problems occur when filling a liquid containing a fixed amount. That is, when moving the valve body 2 downward to close the filling outlet, the valve seat 1C of the valve housing 1 and the sealing material 2 of the valve body 2 are removed as shown in FIG.
A solid object 6 may be caught between the valve seat 1C and the valve seat 1C, and the solid object 6 may prevent the sealing material 2A from reliably seating on the valve seat 1C, resulting in incomplete sealing and leakage. There were problems such as unsanitary problems such as hanging down from the filling outlet and being unsanitary.

The present invention has been developed in view of these conventional problems, and aims to provide a filling nozzle that can be completely sealed even for liquids containing solids and does not allow solids to hang down. purpose.

[Means to solve the problem]

The present invention has a fluid passage leading from a filling inlet to a filling outlet, and the fluid passage includes a short cylindrical first valve hole on the downstream side, and continuing on the upstream side of the first valve hole.
a valve housing comprising: a long cylindrical second valve hole having a slightly larger diameter than the first valve hole; and a valve seat located at an upstream end of the second valve hole; a valve body having a cylindrical valve portion having a length that can be fitted into the hole and the second valve hole at the same time, and a valve seat formed following the valve portion and seatable on the valve seat of the valve housing; The gist of the present invention is a filling nozzle including a sealing material disposed between two valve holes and a cylindrical valve portion, and a driving means for reciprocating the valve body in an axial direction.

[Effect]

In the filling nozzle of the present invention, when the cylindrical valve part of the valve body is in a position away from the second valve hole of the valve housing, the filling nozzle is in an open state, and from this state the valve body moves in the axial direction. The cylindrical valve portion then fits into the second valve hole and the first valve hole to close the filling nozzle. In this closing action, the cylindrical valve portion fits into the second valve hole, stretching and tearing off the solid material present at its entrance. As the cylindrical valve part advances, this stretching and tearing action increases, and then the solid material is torn off more reliably as the cylindrical valve part fits into the small diameter first valve hole.
It is pushed out of the first valve hole. This prevents the solids from hanging down from the tip of the filling nozzle. Thereafter, the valve seat of the valve body is pressed against the valve seat of the valve housing, crushing any solid matter that has fallen into this area. The liquid is blocked by contact between the valve seat of the valve housing and the valve seat of the valve body, and is further reliably sealed by a sealing material disposed between the second valve hole downstream thereof and the cylindrical valve portion.

〔Example〕

Examples of the present invention will be described below. In FIG. 1, 11 is a valve housing. This valve housing 11 has a filling inlet 11A on its side,
It has a filling outlet 11B on one side with the filling inlet 11A in between, and a cylindrical sealing surface 11C on the opposite side. From the filling inlet 11A to the filling outlet 1
The fluid passage leading to 1B has a short cylindrical first valve hole 11a on the downstream side, as shown in an enlarged view in FIG.
and a long cylindrical second valve hole 11b with a slightly larger diameter than the first valve hole, which continues on the upstream side of the first valve hole,
A conical valve seat 11c is formed at the upstream end of the second valve hole. Reference numeral 12 denotes a valve body that is movably provided in the axial direction within the valve housing 11, and has a cylindrical valve portion 12A that fits into the first valve hole 11a and the second valve hole 11b and a valve seat 12B that follows it at one end. , the other end is provided with a sealing portion 12C that is slidable while maintaining a sealing relationship with respect to the sealing surface 11C of the valve housing 11. Cylindrical valve part 12
A groove is formed on the outer periphery of A, and a sealing material 12D such as an O-ring is held in the groove to provide a seal between the cylindrical valve portion 12A and the second valve hole 11b. Note that the sealing material 12D may be held by providing a groove on the inner surface of the second valve hole 11b.

13 is a valve shaft provided in the axial direction on the seal portion 12C side of the valve body 12. This valve shaft 13 is slidably held by a bearing 15 of a support body 14, and a piston 17 that slides within a cylinder chamber 16 is connected to its tip. Supply and exhaust passages 18 and 19 are connected to the cylinder chamber 16, and by supplying compressed air through these supply and exhaust passages 18 and 19, the piston 17 moves up and down, and the valve body 12
reciprocate. Therefore, the cylinder chamber 16 and the piston 17 constitute a driving means for reciprocating the valve body 12. Note that 20 is a spring that urges the piston 17 downward, and functions to push the valve body 12 downward and close the filling outlet 11B when compressed air is not supplied. The means for driving the valve body is not limited to the one using the illustrated piston 17, but any other mechanism may be used.

21 is a bellows, one end of which is connected to the mounting plate 22.
The other end is hermetically fixed to the end of the valve housing 11 via a mounting plate 23. Bellows 21 and mounting plate 2
2 and 23 are airtightly connected by welding or the like, so that the bellows 21 is connected to the valve housing 11.
Airtightly seals the inside and outside of the room to prevent invasion of outside germs. Note that the mounting plate 22 is not limited to being attached to the valve body 12;
3 may be airtightly fixed by welding or the like. Any bellows can be used as the bellows 21, but metal welded bellows are preferred because they have a long life and good expansion and contraction performance. Pipe connection ports 11D and 11E are formed on the wall surface of the valve housing 11 located outside the bellows 21, and a sterile filter 24, a steam supply pipe 25, and an air supply pipe 26 are connected to one pipe connection port 11D. and an exhaust pipe 28 having a throttle valve 27 at the other pipe connection port 11E.
is connected.

Next, a method of using the above-mentioned filling nozzle will be explained.
Prior to use, superheated steam is supplied from the filling inlet 11A, and from the filling inlet 11A to the filling outlet 11.
Sterilize the filling passage leading to B, the outer surface of the valve body 12, etc. In parallel with this, superheated steam is also supplied from the steam supply pipe 25 to sterilize the space 30 behind the valve body 12 inside the valve housing 11. As a result, the area within the movement range of the valve body 12 within the valve housing 11 is sterilized. After the sterilization is completed, a filling operation is performed while continuing to supply a small amount of sterile air to the space 30 from the air supply pipe 26. That is, the filling is supplied from the filling inlet 11A, and the filling outlet 1 is supplied by the reciprocating movement of the valve body 12.
Open and close 1B and put the filling into the filling container (not shown)
Fill it. At this time, the seal portion 12C of the valve body 12
Due to the seal between the sealing surface 11C of the valve housing 11 and the sealing surface 11C of the valve housing 11, the filling material is kept in the space 30 behind the valve body 12.
Since the filling does not enter the bellows 21, the filling does not come into contact with the bellows 21. Note that the volume of the space 30 behind the valve body changes depending on the reciprocating movement of the valve body 12, but since sterile air is always supplied to this space, there is no negative pressure, and external bacteria are removed. In addition, since the sliding parts such as the bearing 15 of the valve stem 13 are isolated from the inside of the valve housing by the bellows 21, the entry of bacteria from this part is also prevented, and the filling is kept sterile. Filled with condition. Next, after the filling operation is completed, cleaning liquid is supplied at high pressure to the passage of the filling material to perform cleaning. In this case, the cleaning liquid only needs to clean the passage from the filling inlet 11A to the filling outlet 11B, and there is no need to clean the bellows 21, which has a complicated shape. It will not be damaged.

Next, the closing operation of the filling outlet 11B by the valve body 12 will be described in more detail. FIG. 2 shows a state in which the filling outlet 11B is open, and the valve body 12 is lowered from this state. Now, assume that the valve body 12 is lowered with the solid matter 32 present at the valve seat 11c, as shown by the broken line. Cylindrical valve part 12A
When the tip of the valve fits into the second valve hole 11b, a shearing force is applied to the solid material 32 at the entrance thereof, and the solid material 32 is stretched and torn off as shown in FIG. This stretching and tearing action is enhanced as the cylindrical valve part 12A advances, and then the solid object 32 is torn off more reliably by fitting the cylindrical valve part 12A into the small diameter first valve hole 11a. The removed portion is pushed out of the first valve hole. The above-described action makes it possible to reliably tear off and extrude even fibrous solid matter that is difficult to tear off, and prevent the solid matter from hanging down to the filling outlet 11B. after that,
The valve seat 12B of the valve body 12 is pressed against the valve seat 11c of the valve housing 11, crushing any solid matter that has fallen into this area. Thus, as shown in FIG.
The valve seat 12B contacts c, and the cylindrical portion 12A fits into the first and second valve holes, thereby reliably closing the filling outlet. Here, it is better to make the gap between the second valve hole 11b and the cylindrical valve part 12A as small as possible in order to tear off the solid material 32, but if it is too small, it will be difficult to move the cylindrical valve part 12A, so It is determined appropriately, for example, 0.1mm.
degree is preferred. Further, the length of the second valve hole 11b is appropriately selected depending on the type of solid material so that the solid material contained in the filling can be stretched and torn off, and is, for example, about 10 to 30 mm. suitable. First valve hole 11a and cylindrical valve part 1
It is preferable to make the gap with 2A as small as possible so that solid objects can be reliably cut.
For example, about 0.02 to 0.04 mm is suitable, and the length is 1
The thickness is preferably about 3 mm.

In addition, in the above embodiment, the seal portion 12C is provided on the valve body 12.
is provided so that the filling material does not come into contact with the bellows 21, but the present invention is not limited to this, and may be applied to a filling nozzle of the type shown in FIG. First, it may be applied to a filling nozzle that performs normal filling.

[Effect of idea]

As is clear from the above description, the filling nozzle of the present invention has a short first valve hole on the tip side in the valve housing, and a long second valve hole with a slightly larger diameter than the first valve hole following the first valve hole. Two valve holes and a valve seat located at one end of the second valve hole are provided, and the valve body that reciprocates within the valve housing has a cylindrical valve that fits into the first valve hole and the second valve hole. The cylindrical valve part is provided with a valve seat and a valve seat that follows the valve part, and a sealing material disposed between the second valve hole and the cylindrical valve part. When the cylindrical valve part is inserted into the first valve hole and the second valve hole to close these valve holes, the cylindrical valve part first fits into the second valve hole and stretches and tears off the solid material that is present at the entrance thereof. Next, by inserting the solid material into the first valve hole, which has a smaller diameter, it is possible to more reliably tear off the solid material and push it out of the first valve hole, thereby preventing the solid material from hanging down at the first valve hole. do not have. Furthermore, as the valve body moves, the valve seat of the valve body is pressed against the valve seat of the valve housing, so the solid matter in this area is crushed, the valve seats come into close contact with each other, and the liquid is blocked. ,
Even if some liquid leaks due to a gap created by solid matter between the valve seats, the sealing material placed between the second valve hole and the cylindrical valve part will ensure a reliable liquid seal. No leakage occurs. Thus, the filling nozzle of the present invention is extremely suitable for filling liquids containing solids.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a filling nozzle according to an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of its essential parts and shows the valve body in the raised position, and Fig. 3 shows the valve body in a lowered position. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a part of a conventional filling nozzle, and FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of the filling nozzle to explain problems with the conventional filling nozzle. 11... Valve tooth housing, 11A... Filling inlet, 11B... Filling outlet, 11C... Seal surface, 11a... First valve hole, 11b... Second valve hole,
11c...Valve seat, 12...Valve body, 12A...Cylindrical valve part, 12B...Valve seat, 12C...Seal part,
13... Valve stem, 17... Piston, 21... Bellows, 32... Solid object.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] It has a fluid passage from the filling inlet to the filling outlet, and in the fluid passage, a short cylindrical first valve hole on the downstream side, and a short cylindrical first valve hole on the upstream side of the first valve hole. a valve housing comprising: a long cylindrical second valve hole having a slightly larger diameter than the first valve hole; and a valve seat located at an upstream end of the second valve hole; a valve body having a cylindrical valve portion having a length that can be fitted into a first valve hole and a second valve hole at the same time; and a valve seat that is formed following the valve portion and can be seated on a valve seat of the valve housing; A filling nozzle comprising: a sealing material disposed between the second valve hole and the cylindrical valve portion; and a driving means for reciprocating the valve body in the axial direction.