JPH06241173A - Filling velocity control mechanism of liquid filler - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To switch the filling velocity corresponding to carton size and the like when a liquid is to be filled in a carton. CONSTITUTION:A filling cylinder 4 is connected to a liquid tank 2 and a discharge tube 3, while a stopper 7 is fitted to the lower end part of the piston rod 4b of the filling cylinder 4. The piston rod 5b of a drive cylinder 5 is connected to the stopper 7 after the rod is inserted into a regulation member 8. An electromagnetic throttle valve 17 is provided on each of first air channel 13a and second air channel 13b that are connected to the drive cylinder 5, and the amount of flow of air in the both channels 13a, 13b is controlled by the electromagnetic throttle valve 17.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a filling speed control mechanism provided in a liquid filling machine for quantitatively filling a liquid such as sake into a container.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Cartons widely used as one of containers for filling liquids such as liquor (31: see FIG. 3).
Is generally manufactured by the liquid filling apparatus shown in FIG.
This equipment consists of a bottom molding machine (32), a spigot mounting machine (33),
A liquid filling machine (34), a top molding machine (35), etc. are installed side by side in series. The carton (3
1) is manufactured.

A bottom molding machine (32) molds a laminated thin plate made of paper, film, etc., into a bottomed rectangular tube having an open top (36).

In the mouthpiece mounting machine (33), the mouthpiece (37) is inserted into the hole provided in the top (36) in advance and heat-welded.

A liquid filling machine (34) fills a fixed amount of liquid inside.

In the top molding machine (35), the top (36) is bent into a predetermined shape, and this is heat-welded and hermetically sealed.

FIG. 5 shows a schematic structure of a conventional liquid filling machine (34) among the above-mentioned devices (32) to (35). The liquid filling machine (34) includes a liquid tank (40) for storing a liquid,
Quantitative supply mechanism (4 connected to the liquid tank (40)
1), a filling nozzle (43) connected to the fixed quantity supply mechanism (41) through a discharge pipe (42).

The fixed amount supply mechanism (41) includes a filling cylinder (4) connected to the liquid tank (40) and the discharge pipe (42).
4), an air cylinder (45) that drives the piston (44a) of the filling cylinder (44), and a stopper (46) fixed to the piston rod (44b) of the filling cylinder (44).
And a regulating member (47) for regulating the stroke end of the stopper (46). Air cylinder (45)
Is connected to two air flow paths (48a) and (48b) connected to an air supply source (not shown). The piston rod (45b) has a stationary member (49) and a restricting member (47).
Is vertically movably passed through and is connected to a stopper (46). Check valves (51) are provided between the liquid tank (40) and the filling cylinder (44), and between the discharge pipe (42) and the filling nozzle (43).

In the above structure, when the air cylinder (45) is started and the piston (44a) of the filling cylinder (44) is lowered, the liquid is sucked from the liquid tank (40) and filled in the filling cylinder (44). To be done. Further piston (44
When (a) is lowered, the stopper (46) eventually comes into contact with the regulating member (47), and further lowering of the piston (44a) is blocked. At this stage, the liquid suction process ends,
The amount of liquid suctioned at this time is proportional to the stroke (t) of the piston (44a). Next, when the air cylinder (45) is reversely activated to raise the piston (44a), the liquid sucked into the filling cylinder (44) causes the discharge pipe (42) and the check valve (5).
It passes through 1) and is filled into the carton (31) from the filling nozzle (43). Repeat the above steps to repeat the rail (52).
The cartons (31) aligned and supported above are sequentially filled with liquid.

When the size of the carton (31) is changed, the restriction member (47) is replaced with a different length,
The contact position between the restriction member (47) and the stopper (46) is vertically displaced. As a result, the stroke (t) of the piston (44a) changes, so that the filling amount can be switched to match the new carton size.

[0011]

By the way, considering the filling efficiency, the higher the filling speed when filling the liquid into the carton, the better. However, if the filling speed is too high, the liquid may foam. However, the liquid that has rebounded inside the carton adheres to the carton top, which causes problems such as difficulty in heat welding the top. Therefore, when filling the liquid, it is necessary to set an appropriate filling speed that is neither too large nor too small. However, the optimum filling rate depends on the size of the carton, especially the height dimension of the carton and the type of filling liquid. For example, when the height of the carton is small, it is necessary to set the filling speed low in order to prevent the liquid from splashing back. Also, when using a liquid that easily foams, the filling speed must be reduced.

As described above, since the optimum filling speed varies depending on the size of the carton used, the type of liquid, etc., it is desirable that the filling speed can be switched. However, in the conventional liquid filling machine, the carton size and the liquid can be changed. The liquid was always filled at a constant rate regardless of the type.

[0013] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a filling speed control mechanism of a liquid filling machine capable of appropriately changing the filling speed of liquid.

[0014]

[Means for Solving the Problems] To achieve the above object,
According to the present invention, a filling cylinder that sucks a liquid proportional to a stroke of a piston from a liquid tank and discharges the liquid into a container, a drive cylinder that reciprocally drives the piston, and a piston rod of the filling cylinder are fixed. An electromagnetic throttle valve is provided in a liquid filling machine having a stopper and a regulating member that comes into contact with the stopper and regulates a stroke of the piston, the electromagnetic throttle valve being provided in a flow path of a working fluid connected to the drive cylinder. The flow rate of the working fluid is controlled by this electromagnetic throttle valve.

[0015]

Since the electromagnetic throttle valve is provided in the working fluid passage connected to the drive cylinder, the suction / discharge speed of the drive cylinder can be arbitrarily adjusted by appropriately adjusting the flow rate of the working fluid with the electromagnetic throttle valve. Changes can be made to obtain the desired fill rate.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 shows a liquid filling machine (1) according to the present invention.
FIG. This liquid filling machine (1) reciprocally drives a filling cylinder (4) connected to a liquid tank (2) and a discharge pipe (3) and a piston (4a) of the filling cylinder (4) as in the conventional product. The drive cylinder (5) (air cylinder), the stopper (7) fixed to the piston rod (4b) of the filling cylinder (4), and the stroke end of the piston (4a) are regulated by contacting the stopper (7). The piston rod (5b) of the drive cylinder (5) penetrates the regulating member (8) and is connected to the stopper (7). In the present embodiment, unlike the conventional product, the regulating member (8) is connected to a slide mechanism (9) having an appropriate structure and can be raised and lowered. Although not shown, the liquid tank (2) and the filling cylinder (4)
Check valves are provided between the discharge pipe (3) and the filling nozzle (10).

A filling speed control mechanism (12) is connected to the drive cylinder (5). The mechanism (12) includes a first air flow path (13a) and a second air flow path (13b) for supplying working fluid, for example, air to air chambers on both sides of a piston (not shown). The flow paths (13a) and (13b) are connected to a supply source of air through a solenoid valve (15) for switching between 3 ports and 2 positions. The first and second air flow paths (13
A check valve (16) and an electromagnetic throttle valve (17) are connected in parallel to each other in b). Here, the electromagnetic throttle valve (17) is
This is a throttle valve of a type that changes the throttle amount in proportion to the electric current. In this embodiment, an electropneumatic proportional valve (trade name) manufactured by SMC Co., Ltd. is used. The electromagnetic throttle valve (17) is connected to the operation panel via a control device, and is configured to control the throttle amount by a control signal from the control device. The control device is preset with a filling speed suitable for various sizes of the carton (18) and kinds of liquids.

The filling operation by the liquid filling machine (1) will be described below with reference to FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b).

First, the slide mechanism (9) is activated to move the regulating member (8) to a position corresponding to the filling amount of the carton (18) to be used. Next, as shown in FIG.
The solenoid valve (15) is switched to connect the first air flow path (13a) to the air supply source, and air is sent to the air chamber (A) above the piston (5a). The flow rate of air at this time is appropriately adjusted by the electromagnetic throttle valve (17) according to the size of the carton (18), the characteristics of the liquid, and the like. As a result, the piston (4a) of the filling cylinder (4) descends and liquid is sucked into the filling cylinder (4) from the liquid tank (2).
Eventually, the stopper (7) contacts the regulating member (8), and the piston (4a) of the filling cylinder (4) stops.

Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 2B, the solenoid valve (15) is switched to connect the second air flow path (13b) to the air supply source to connect the lower side of the piston (5a). Air is sent into the air chamber (B). The air supply amount at this time is also adjusted to an appropriate level by the electromagnetic throttle valve (17) as in the above case. Thereby, the piston (4a) of the filling cylinder (4)
And the liquid sucked into the filling cylinder (4) passes through the discharge pipe (3) and is filled into the carton (18) from the filling nozzle (10) at a predetermined speed. Then, the above work is repeated until each carton (1) aligned and supported on the rail (19) is
Fill 8) with a certain amount of liquid sequentially.

As described above, in the present invention, the electromagnetic throttle valve (17) is provided in the first and second air flow paths (13a) (13b), and the air flow rate is controlled by the electromagnetic throttle valve (17). Since this is done, the suction / discharge speed of the liquid in the filling cylinder (4) can be set arbitrarily. Therefore, when changing the size of the carton (18) or changing the liquid, it is possible to easily select the filling speed suitable for the carton size and the characteristics of the liquid. In addition, since the electromagnetic throttle valve (17) can set the throttle amount infinitely, the optimum filling speed is achieved even when using a carton (18) that does not meet the existing standard dimensions or when filling a new liquid. Can be set easily.

The filling speed control mechanism (1
2) can be similarly applied not only when using the type having the piston (4a) as the filling cylinder (4) as described above but also when using a positive displacement pump such as a bellows.

[0024]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the electromagnetic throttle valve is provided in the flow path of the working fluid connected to the drive cylinder and the flow rate of air is controlled by the electromagnetic throttle valve, Inhalation and discharge speeds can be set arbitrarily. Therefore, when changing the carton size or changing the filling liquid,
The filling speed can be easily switched to suit the carton size and the characteristics of the liquid. Further, since the throttle amount of the electromagnetic throttle valve can be set steplessly, the optimum filling speed can be easily set even when using a carton having an existing nonstandard size or when filling a new liquid.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing the overall configuration of a liquid filling machine according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view showing the operation of the device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a carton.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing the overall structure of the liquid filling device.

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view of a conventional liquid filling machine.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Liquid Filling Machine 2 Liquid Tank 4 Filling Cylinder 4a Piston 4b Piston Rod 5 Drive Cylinder 7 Stopper 8 Controlling Member 12 Filling Speed Control Mechanism 13a First Air Flow Path (Flow Path) 13b Second Air Flow Path (Flow Path) 17 Solenoid throttle valve

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A filling cylinder for sucking a liquid proportional to a stroke of a piston from a liquid tank and discharging the liquid into a container, a drive cylinder for reciprocating the piston, and a piston rod of the filling cylinder. Is provided in a liquid filling machine having a stopper and a regulating member that comes into contact with the stopper and regulates the stroke of the piston, wherein an electromagnetic throttle valve is provided in a flow path of the working fluid connected to the drive cylinder. A filling speed control mechanism for a liquid filling machine, wherein the electromagnetic throttle valve is provided to control the flow rate of the working fluid.