JPH0811988A - Cleaner for filling valve - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To automate attaching/removal of a cleaning adapter and clean a filling valve around an entire periphery of a filling machine by making a stopper advance to be engagedly supported by an engaging part of the cleaning adapter and mounting the cleaning adapter on the filling valve. CONSTITUTION:A cleaning adapter 22 is automatically mounted on a filling valve 4 by appropriately changing over switch valves 70, 72, 80 of respective air cylinders 46, 60, 8. A stopper 24 is provided freely retreatably, and the cleaning adapter 22 is held by the stopper 24 so as to be mounted on the filling valve 4. Even a part with a main guide placed between an exhaust star wheel and a supply star wheel can be cleaned without removing the main guide while the cleaning adapter 22 is mounted on the filling valve 4.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a filling valve cleaning apparatus, and more particularly to a filling valve cleaning apparatus applied to a filling machine such as a gas filling and filling machine in which a container is moved up and down by a bottle lifter for filling. It relates to the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a filling machine, a filler bowl in which a filling liquid is contained and which rotates, a large number of filling valves installed at equal intervals in the circumferential direction near the outer peripheral portion of the bottom surface of the filler bowl, and each filling It has a bottle lifter that is placed below the valve and that moves the container up and down.While the filler bowl, the bottle lifter, etc. rotate integrally, the container is supplied onto the bottle lifter, and the container is raised by raising the bottle lifter. It is generally known that the liquid is filled in the container by pushing up the container to the filling valve, inserting the nozzle of the filling valve into the container, and then opening the valve.

When cleaning the filling valve of such a filling machine, a cleaning adapter is attached so as to cover the nozzle of each filling valve, and the cleaning adapter and the filling valve side are in close contact with each other. And open the filling valve,
Instead of the filling liquid, the cleaning liquid supplied in the filler bowl,
The inside of the filling valve is washed by flowing it into the washing adapter through the opened filling valve.

Various cleaning devices are already known as cleaning adapters used for cleaning the filling valves, and devices for mounting the cleaning adapters on the respective filling valves for cleaning. Conventionally, a method of manually attaching and fixing cleaning adapters to a large number of filling valves provided in a filling machine has been generally performed. However, the work of manually attaching the cleaning adapter to a large number of filling valves requires a long time and labor.

Therefore, a cap (cleaning adapter) for cleaning the filling valve, which can be automatically attached to the filling valve, has been proposed (Japanese Patent Publication No. 61-3716). When the cleaning cap 20 described in this publication is supplied onto the elevating bottle base 55 in the filling machine 41 via the bottle supply conveyor 42 and the bottle supply star wheel 44,
The filling valve 48 is automatically operated by the rise of the lifting bottle base 55 and the outflow pressure of the cleaning liquid from the filler bowl 47.
It is designed to be attached to. In this configuration, since the cleaning cap 20 can be automatically attached, the workability is improved as compared with the case where the cleaning cap 20 is manually attached, but nevertheless, the filling cap is fed from the outside by the bottle feeding conveyor 42. And must be manually supplied to the bottle feeding conveyor 42, and after cleaning is completed,
Similarly, since it has to be manually taken out from the bottle discharging conveyor 46 that discharges from the inside of the filling machine 41, there is a problem in that the work also requires a considerable amount of time and labor.

Further, a cleaning device has already been known in which a cylindrical member (cleaning adapter) is automatically attached to the nozzle of the filling valve to facilitate the cleaning of the filling valve (Jitsuko Sho 52-35222). Issue). A filling machine equipped with this cleaning device is provided with a filling nozzle 1 provided on a lower surface of a filling liquid storage tank 2, an elevating cylinder 3 arranged below the filling nozzle 1 so as to face each other, and an elevating cylinder 3 is movable up and down. In order to perform normal filling, the container B fed onto the elevating cylinder 3 is raised by the elevating cylinder 3, and the upper end opening of the container B is filled with the filling nozzle 1. The container B is filled with the filling liquid in the tank 2 by making the valve in the filling nozzle 1 open by being brought into pressure contact with. The cleaning device for the filling machine has a bracket 5 fixed on the support member 4, one end pivotally supported by the bracket 5, and a cylindrical member (cleaning adapter) 7 slidably held at the other end. The arm member 6 is provided so that the arm member 6 can be rotationally moved between a position abutting on one stopper portion 5a formed on the bracket 5 and a position abutting on the other stopper portion 5b. Has become.

The filling nozzle 1 is constructed by the cleaning device having the above-mentioned configuration.
When the cleaning is performed, first, the tank 1 is filled with the cleaning liquid, and the arm member 6 is moved to the lifting cylinder 3 side while the lifting cylinder 3 is lowered. After that, the elevating cylinder 3 is raised to raise the tubular member 7, and the filling nozzle 1 is pushed up by the upper end portion thereof to open the valve in the filling nozzle 1. Then, the cleaning liquid contained in the tank 2 flows through the filling nozzle 1 and flows out into the tubular member 7, so that the filling nozzle 1 is cleaned. After the cleaning is completed, the arm member 6 is returned to the original position, and the tank 2 is filled with the filling liquid instead of the cleaning liquid, so that the normal filling into the container B can be performed.

[0008]

The filling machine usually has a structure as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, the container transported by the container transport conveyor 100 is supplied by the supply star wheel 102 onto the bottle lifter (referred to as an elevating cylinder in the above publication) in the filling machine 104 (the bottle lifter descends most). E position in section A), the container is lifted to the filling nozzle side by gradually raising the bottle lifter in the section B of FIG. 8, and the filling valve is opened into the container in the section C where the bottle lifter is most raised. After the liquid is filled and the filling into the container is completed, the bottle lifter is gradually lowered in the section D, and the filling is completed at the position F in the section A in which the bottle lifter is descended most as described above. The subsequent container is discharged onto the container transfer conveyor 100 via the discharge star wheel 106.

Therefore, the above-mentioned publication (Jitsuko Sho 52-3522)
No. 2) described above, by raising the elevating cylinder 3 in the same manner as in the normal production operation (when filling the liquid in the container), as in the cleaning device provided in the conventional filling machine. When the tubular member (cleaning adapter) 7 is pushed up to open the valve of the filling nozzle 1 for cleaning, the tubular member 7 is also lowered when the lifting cylinder 3 is lowered. The cleaning can be performed only in the filling section C (section in which the lifting cylinder 3 is most raised) during the normal production operation. Also,
As shown in FIG. 8, a main guide 108 for guiding the side surface of the container rotatably conveyed by the star wheels 102 and 106 is arranged between the supply star wheel 102 and the discharge star wheel 106. However, if cleaning is performed with the elevating cylinder 3 kept raised, the cylindrical member 7 or the elevating cylinder 3 interferes with the main guide 108, so there is a problem that the main guide 108 must be removed. It was

The present invention has been made to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks, and the cleaning adapter can be attached and detached completely automatically, and the filling valve can be washed over the entire circumference of the filling machine. It is an object of the present invention to provide a cleaning device for a filling valve capable of performing the above. It is another object of the present invention to provide a cleaning device for a filling valve that does not require removal of the main guide arranged between the supply star wheel and the discharge star wheel.

[0011]

A cleaning apparatus for a filling valve according to the present invention comprises a filler bowl for containing a filling liquid, a filling valve mounted on the outer peripheral portion of the filler bowl at equal circumferential intervals, and The filling machine is provided with a bottle lifter that is arranged below the filling valve and that moves up and down. While being supported so as to be able to move up and down by the support means, the intermediate position between the filling valve and the bottle lifter and its outside While the bottle lifter is descending, a washing adapter that can move forward and backward between the cleaning adapter and a stopper that can move forward and backward between a position that engages with an engaging portion provided on the cleaning adapter and a position that does not engage with the engaging portion are provided. Move the cleaning adapter forward, push up the cleaning adapter by raising the bottle lifter to make it adhere to the filling valve, and then move the stopper forward to engage the cleaning adapter. A is engaged and supported, then, by lowering the Botorurifuta is washed adapter that so as to mount the filling valve.

[0012]

In the cleaning apparatus for a filling valve according to the above construction, during normal production operation, the cleaning adapter and the stopper that locks the cleaning adapter are positioned so that they do not interfere when the bottle lifter moves the container up and down. When cleaning the filling valve, move the cleaning adapter forward, raise the bottle lifter, move the stopper forward, and lower the bottle lifter in this order to keep the cleaning adapter attached to the filling valve. The cleaning adapter can be locked, and after the cleaning is completed, the stopper can be retracted and the cleaning adapter can be retracted to remove the cleaning adapter from the filling valve. It is possible to easily return to the state of performing.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional view of a main part of a filling machine equipped with a filling valve cleaning device according to an embodiment of the present invention. This filling machine stores a filling liquid and rotates a filler bowl 2
And a plurality of filling valves 4 attached to the outer peripheral portion of the bottom surface 2a of the filler bowl 2 at equal intervals in the circumferential direction, and bottle lifters 6 arranged below the respective filling valves 4. The axis O ₁ of these filling valves 4,
Each of the filling valves 4 is arranged so that the axis O ₂ of the bottle lifter 6 corresponding to the filling valve 4 coincides with the filling valve 4. The bottle lifter 6 is composed of a bottle table 6a on which a container is placed and an elevating air cylinder 6b for elevating the bottle table 6a, and is supported by a rotary table 8 which rotates integrally with the filler bowl 2. Therefore, when the filler bowl 2 and the rotary table 8 are rotated, the filling valve 4 and the bottle lifter 6 are integrally rotated with their upper and lower positions aligned. This bottle lifter 6 is constantly urged upward by introducing air into the lifting air cylinder 6b during a normal production operation (when filling the liquid in the container), and a predetermined range during rotation. Then, it is forcibly lowered by a cam (not shown).

The elevating and lowering of the bottle lifter 6 will be described with reference to FIG. The container is supplied onto the bottle base 6a of the bottle lifter 6. In the next section B, the bottle lifter 6 is placed above the filling valve 4
In the section C where the bottle lifter 6 is gradually raised to the highest position, the bottle base 6a of the bottle lifter 6 is lifted.
The filling valve 4 inserted into the upper container fills the liquid. Further, after the filling is completed, the bottle lifter 6 is gradually lowered by the cam in the section D, reaches the section A of the lowest height described above, and the container on the bottle lifter 6 filled with the liquid passes through the discharge star wheel 106. And is discharged from the inside of the filling machine 104 onto the container transfer conveyor 100. Further, around the vent tube 4a of each filling valve 4, a guide cone 12 which is guided by the guide rod 10 and moves up and down vertically is provided.
Guide the mouth of the container to be lifted by the container and ascend together, and the mouth of this container and the vent tube 4 of the filling valve 4
Center with a.

The filling valve cleaning apparatus according to the present embodiment is
A cleaning adapter 22 attached to each filling valve 4 when performing cleaning, a stopper 24 that engages with each cleaning adapter 22 and holds these cleaning adapters 22 in close contact with the filling valve 4, and First and second 2 for moving the cleaning adapter 22 and the stopper 24 back and forth respectively
One air cylinder 46, 60 and switching cams 26, 28, 3 for operating both air cylinders 46, 60
0, 32, and switching cams 34, 36 for operating the lifting air cylinder 6b of the bottle lifter 6 to move the bottle base 6a up and down when the cleaning adapter 22 is mounted on the filling valve 4.

The cleaning adapter 22 and the stopper 24 form a pair, and each set of the filling valve 4 and the bottle lifter 6 is arranged.
Are provided for each. First, the configuration of the cleaning adapter 22 will be described. The filler bowl 2
A horizontal guide cylinder 40 is fixed to the bottom surface 2a of the rotor via the mounting body 38, and a guide vertical to the tip end portion (the rotating filler bowl 2 and the outer peripheral end portion of the rotary table 8) is provided in the horizontal guide cylinder 40. A sliding rod 44 provided with a cylinder 42 is slidably fitted. The cleaning adapter 22 is fitted and supported in the vertical guide cylinder 42 so as to be movable up and down.

A first air cylinder 46 for advancing and retracting the cleaning adapter 22 is fixed to the lower surface of the horizontal guide cylinder 40 in parallel with the guide cylinder 40.
The piston rod 46a of the air cylinder 46 is connected to the vertical guide cylinder 42. The axis O ₃ of the first air cylinder 46 is a radial direction connecting the center of rotation C ₁ (see FIGS. 2 and 3) of the rotating filler bowl 2 and the axes O ₁ and O _{2 of the} filling valve 4 and the bottle lifter 6. It is located on the line. Therefore, this first air cylinder 4
6 is operated to extend the piston rod 46a,
The vertical guide tube 42 connected to the tip of the tube advances toward the filling valve 4 and the bottle lifter 6. The vertical axis O of the guide tube 42 (that is, the axis of the cleaning adapter 22) O ₄ is stopped at a position corresponding to the axes O ₁ and O ₂ of the filling valve 4 and the bottle lifter 6. In addition, the first air cylinder 4
When the piston rod 46a of No. 6 contracts, the cleaning adapter 22 retracts to the position shown in FIG.

The cleaning adapter 22 is fitted into the vertical guide cylinder 42 and moves up and down, and a cup-like member which is held and held in the vertically moving outer cylinder 48 so as to be movable up and down relatively. And a member 50. An annular protrusion 48a is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the upper end of the ascending / descending outer cylinder 48. The annular protrusion 48a prevents the elevating outer cylinder 48 from falling off the vertical guide cylinder 42, and will be described later. The stopper 24 that is engaged constitutes an engaging portion for engaging with and holding the cleaning adapter 22 when the stopper 24 advances toward the filling valve 4.

The ascending / descending outer cylinder 48 has a small-diameter portion 48b at the center of the inner surface thereof, and a shaft-like portion integrally provided under the cup-shaped member 50 in the small-diameter portion 48b. 50a is inserted. Further, the tubular portion 50b provided above the shaft-like portion 50a of the cup-shaped member 50 has an outer diameter that substantially matches the inner diameter of the elevating outer cylinder 48, and this tubular portion 50b moves up and down. It slides in the outer cylinder 48 and moves up and down relatively. Furthermore, the tubular portion 50b
A flange-shaped large-diameter portion 50c is formed on the upper part of the. A spring 52 is arranged between the upper surface of the small diameter portion 48b formed inside the elevating outer cylinder 48 and the step formed on the outer surface of the cup-shaped member 50, and the cup-shaped member 50 is moved relative to the elevating outer cylinder 48. Always pushing upwards. A stopper ring 54 is fixed to the lower end of the shaft-shaped portion 50a provided in the lower portion of the cup-shaped member 50 to prevent the cup-shaped member 50 from coming off the lifting outer cylinder 48. A seal ring 56 is fitted to the upper end surface of the flange-shaped large-diameter portion 50c formed at the upper end of the cup-shaped member 50. When the cleaning adapter 22 is attached to the filling valve 4, It is adapted to be in close contact with the lower end surface of the guide cone 12 to maintain liquid tightness.

The stopper 24 is the cleaning adapter 2 described above.
Corresponding to No. 2, they are provided above them. These stoppers 24 have a pair of parallel fork-shaped tips 24a and 24b (see FIG. 7) and are connected to the lower end of a support rod 58 fixed to the bottom surface 2a of the filler bowl 2. The second air cylinder 60 is attached to the piston rod 60a of the second air cylinder 60.
It is moved back and forth by the operation of. As shown in FIG. 7, the distance between the two fork-shaped tip portions 24 a and 24 b is slightly larger than the outer diameter of the lifting outer cylinder 48, and is an annular protrusion (engagement) formed at the upper end of the lifting outer cylinder 48. It is smaller than the outer diameter of the joint portion 48a. Therefore, the two fork-shaped tip portions 24 a and 24 b are connected to the annular protrusion 4 of the elevating outer cylinder 48.
When inserted into the lower surface side of 8a, the cleaning adapter 22 can be held by engaging with the lower surface of the annular protruding portion 48a. The second air cylinder 60 is arranged in parallel with the first air cylinder 46 that moves the cleaning adapter 22 forward and backward, and its axis O ₅ is the rotation center C ₁ of the rotating filler bowl 2 and the filling. It is located on the radial line connecting the axes O ₁ and O ₂ of the valve 4 and the bottle lifter 6 and moves back and forth on this radial line.

The second air cylinder 60 for advancing and retracting the stopper 24 has a base portion 60b (the right end portion in FIG. 1) rotatably connected to the support rod 58, and the connected base portion 60b is used. The fork-shaped tip portions 24a and 24b of the stopper 24 can be swung up and down by rotating around the center. The second air cylinder 60 is constantly urged upward by a spring 62 arranged below the swing end 60c, and
The upward swing is restricted by a pin 64 fixed to face the spring 62 above the swing end 60c. Therefore, this second air cylinder 60
Is actually the upper pin 64 and the lower spring 62.
Can be swung slightly within a range in which the can be flexed.

A pair of stopper supports 66a and 66b are provided on both sides of each filling valve 4 (on both sides in the direction in which the filler bowl 2 rotates, that is, in the vertical direction on the paper surface of FIG. 1). These stopper supports 66a, 66b
7, is fixed to the bottom surface of the filler bowl 2 via fixing members 68a and 68b, and the stopper 24 moves forward to move the two fork-shaped tip portions 24a and 24b.
When the lifting outer cylinder 48 of the cleaning adapter 22 is sandwiched from both sides by 24b, the outer surfaces of both tip portions 24a and 24b are arranged at intervals and heights that can be supported from the lower surface.

As shown in FIG. 3, the first air cylinder 46 for moving the cleaning adapter 22 forward and backward and the second air cylinder 60 for moving the stopper 24 forward and backward are respectively switching valves 70, 72 and an air manifold 74. And an air pressure source 78 via a rotary joint 76 or the like provided at the center of rotation C ₁ of the filler bowl 2, and by switching these switching valves 70, 72, air is introduced into the pressure chambers of the cylinders 48, 60. Is operated by feeding and discharging. An elevating air cylinder 6b for elevating the bottle base 6a of the bottle lifter 6 is also connected to the air source 78 via a lifter switching valve 80 and the like, and air is introduced into the elevating air cylinder 6a. The bottle base 6a of the bottle lifter 6 can be raised, and air can be discharged and lowered.

Next, the first air cylinder 46 for moving the cleaning adapter 22 forward and backward, the second air cylinder 60 for moving the stopper 24 forward and backward, and the lifting air cylinder 6b for moving the bottle base 6a of the bottle lifter 6 up and down. By switching the switching valves 70, 72, 80 provided respectively,
The switching cams 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36 for operating the cylinders 48, 60, 8 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. The first air cylinder 46 for moving the cleaning adapter 22 back and forth to a position G on the downstream side of the position E where the container conveyed by the container conveyer 100 is supplied into the filling machine 104 via the supply star wheel 102. Switching valve 7 to operate the
An adapter forward switching cam 26 for switching 0 is provided. Further, at a position H on the downstream side thereof, a lifter lifting switching cam 34 that switches the switching valve 80 so that the lifting air cylinder 6b that lifts the bottle base 6a of the bottle lifter 6 is operated to the lifting side is arranged.

Further, a switching valve 72 is provided at each of the positions J, K, L and M on the downstream side so as to operate the second air cylinder 60 for moving the stopper 24 forward and backward in the forward direction. The stopper forward switching cam 30 for switching, the stopper reversing switching cam 32 for switching the switching valve 72 so as to operate the second air cylinder 60 in the backward direction, and the switching valve 70 for operating the first air cylinder 46 in the backward direction. A switching cam 28 for switching the adapter backward for switching and a switching cam 36 for lowering the lifter for switching the switching valve 80 to open the air in the air cylinder 6b for raising and lowering the bottle lifter 6 to the atmosphere and lower the bottle base 6a of the bottle lifter 6 are arranged. ing. As shown in FIG. 3, these six switching cams 26, 28, 30, 32, 34 and 36 are respectively cam moving cylinders 82,
Switching valves 70, 72, 80 and the switching valves 70, 72, 80 by 84, 86 (the switching cam and a part of the cam moving cylinder are not shown in FIG. 3). It is possible to move back and forth between positions that do not interfere with.

The operation of the cleaning device for the filling valve 4 having the above structure will be described. When performing a normal production operation by the filling machine 104 equipped with this cleaning device, the six switching cams 26 used for cleaning shown in FIG.
All of 28, 30, 32, 34, 36 are switched valve 7 by cam moving cylinders 82, 84, 86 and the like.
Retract to a position that does not interfere with 0, 72, 80. In this state, the cleaning adapter 22 and the stopper 24
1 is located at the position shown in FIG. 1, that is, the filling valve 4 and the bottle lifter so that the container placed on the bottle base 6a of the bottle lifter 6 does not rise and the filling valve 4 fills the container. 6 is receded inward in the radial direction. In addition, during the production operation, air is constantly introduced into the lifting air cylinder 6b that raises and lowers the bottle base 6a of the bottle lifter 6 and urges the bottle lifter 6 in the direction of raising it.

Then, as described above, the filler bowl 2
And while the bottle lifter 6 makes one rotation, the bottle base 6a of the bottle lifter 6 is forcibly lowered by the lifting cam (not shown) in the section A of FIG. Supply the container on top. In the next section B, the bottle base 6a of the bottle lifter 6 is gradually raised, and in the section C where the bottle lifter 6 is most raised, the vent tube 4a of the filling valve 4 is inserted into the container for filling. After the filling is completed, the bottle base 6a of the bottle lifter 6 is gradually lowered in the section D,
The bottle lifter 6 returns to the area A where the bottle lifter 6 is most lowered, and the container is fed through the discharge star wheel 106 to the filling machine 1.
It is discharged from 04 onto the container transport conveyor 100.

When the filling valve 4 is cleaned by the cleaning device, the six switching cams 26, 2 shown in FIG. 2 are used.
Among the 8, 30, 32, 34, 36, the adapter advancement switching cam 26, the lifter elevation switching cam 34, and the stopper advancement switching cam 30 are cleaned by the respective cam moving cylinders 82, 84, 86. The switching valve 70 of the first air cylinder 46 that moves the valve 22 forward and backward, the switching valve 72 of the second air cylinder 60 that moves the stopper 24 forward and backward, and the switching valve 80 of the lifting air cylinder 6b that moves the bottle lifter 6 up and down interfere with each other. Move the valve of to the position for switching. On the other hand, the stopper reversing switching cam 32 and the adapter reversing switching cam 28 are retracted to positions where they do not interfere with the switching valves 72 and 70. Further, the lifter lowering switching cam 36 interferes with the switching valve 80 for the bottle lifter 6 and the switching valve 8
Move to the position where 0 is switched.

In this state, the rotary table 8 supporting the filler bowl 2 and the bottle lifter 6 is integrally rotated in the direction of arrow R in FIG. The filling valve 4, the cleaning adapter 22, the stopper 24, and the bottle lifter 6
The process of mounting the cleaning adapter 22 on the filling valve 4 by moving the above will be sequentially described from the vicinity of the E position where the container is supplied to the bottle lifter 6 of FIG. Near this position E,
As shown in FIG. 1, the cleaning adapter 22 and the stopper 24 are retracted from the positions of the filling valve 4 and the bottle lifter 6, and the bottle lifter 6 is lowered. When the filler bowl 2, the bottle lifter 6 and the like rotate in the direction of arrow R from this state, first, the switching valve 70 of the first air cylinder 46 that moves the cleaning adapter 22 forward and backward moves the adapter forward switching at the G position in FIG. The piston rod 46a of the first air cylinder 46 is switched by the cam 26.
Air is introduced into the pressure chamber on the side of advancing, and the cleaning adapter 22 is moved to an intermediate position between the upper filling valve 4 and the descending bottle lifter 6 (see FIG. 4).

When the rotation further reaches the position H in FIG. 2, the bottle lifter 6 is driven by the lifter lifting switching cam 34.
Switching valve 80 is switched, and the lifting air cylinder 6
Air is introduced into b, and the bottle base 6a of the bottle lifter 6 rises. When the bottle base 6a of the bottle lifter 6 rises,
The upper surface of the bottle base 6a pushes up the bottom surface of the lifting outer cylinder 48 of the cleaning adapter 22. Then, the upper end surface of the cup-shaped member 50 supported in the elevating outer cylinder 48 is guided by the guide cone 1.
The guide cone 12 is pressed against the bottom surface of the filling valve 4 by hitting the lower surface of the upper part 2 and ascending. At this time, the vent tube 4 a of the filling valve 4 penetrates through the guide cone 12 and is inserted into the cup-shaped member 50. Bottle lifter 6
Since the amount by which the bottle base 6a is raised is larger than the range in which the guide cone 12 can be raised and lowered, the spring 52 arranged between the raising and lowering outer cylinder 48 and the cup-shaped member 50 is compressed, and the cup-shaped member 50 is The force of the spring 52 causes the guide cone 12 to elastically contact the bottom surface of the filling valve 4 to seal the inside of the cup-shaped member 50 from the guide cone 12 and the bottom surface of the filling valve 4.

By the subsequent rotation, the filling valve 4 is
When the bottle lifter 6 and the bottle lifter 6 reach the position J in FIG. 2, the switching valve 72 of the second air cylinder 60 for advancing and retracting the stopper.
Is interfering with the stopper advance switching cam 30 and is switched, and the second air cylinder 60 operates to disengage the stopper 24.
The bottle lifter 6 raises it and advances it toward the cleaning adapter 22 pressed against the lower surface of the filling valve 4. The stopper 24 has two fork-shaped tip portions 24.
a, 24b having a fork-shaped tip 24
a and 24b are inserted between the stopper support members 66a and 66b and the lower side of the annular protruding portion (engaging portion) 48a formed at the upper end of the elevating outer cylinder 48 of the cleaning adapter 22.
The lifting outer cylinder 48 is held from both sides (see FIG. 5). The second air cylinder 60 to which the stopper 24 is attached is supported by a spring 62 so as to be capable of slightly swinging, and the lower side of the annular protruding portion (engaging portion) 48a and the stopper support bodies 66a and 66b. Is inserted between and.

Although the filler bowl 2 and the bottle lifter 6 continue to rotate further, at the positions K and L where the stopper retracting switching cam 32 and the adapter retracting switching cam 28 are provided, these cams 32, 28 retract. Therefore, the switching valves 70 of both air cylinders 46, 60,
72 is not switched and passes through this position in the state of FIG. Then, when it reaches the position M where the last lifter lowering switching cam 36 is provided, the switching valve 80 for switching the lifting cylinder 6b of the bottle lifter 6 by this cam 36.
Is switched to lower the bottle base 6a of the bottle lifter 6. Although the bottle lifter 6 pushing up the cleaning adapter 22 from the lower side descends, the stopper 24 is provided on the lower surface side of the annular protruding portion (engaging portion) 48a provided at the upper end of the elevating outer cylinder 48 of the cleaning adapter 22. Since they are engaged, the cleaning adapter 22 is held in close contact with the filling valve 4 via the guide cone 12 (see FIGS. 6 and 7). The lifting outer cylinder 4 of the cleaning adapter 22
The length of 8 is the main guide (FIG. 2) arranged between the star wheels 106 and 102 when rotating from the discharge star wheel 106 to the supply star wheel 102 in the state of FIGS. 6 and 7. (Although not shown, a main guide similar to that shown in FIG. 8 is arranged.)
The length is set so that it does not interfere with.

With the cleaning adapter 22 attached to each filling valve 4, the cleaning liquid is introduced into the filler bowl 2, the filling valve 4 is opened, and the cleaning liquid is passed through the filling valve 4 to remove the cleaning adapter 22. Cup-shaped member 50
Cleaning is carried out by flowing into the inside. in this way,
Switching cams 26, 34, 30 in which the cleaning adapter 22, the stopper 24, and the bottle lifter 6 are configured to be movable back and forth or moved up and down by the air cylinders 46, 60, 8 and are sequentially arranged on the rotating circumference of the filler bowl 2. , 3
2, 28, 36 by the air cylinders 46, 60,
By properly switching the switching valves 70, 72, 80 of No. 8, the cleaning adapter 22 can be automatically mounted on the filling valve 4, so that the work of mounting and removing by hand which is conventionally required becomes unnecessary. The work efficiency can be greatly improved. Further, a stopper 24 is provided so as to be movable back and forth, and the cleaning adapter 2 is attached to the stopper 24.
Since 2 is held and mounted on the filling valve 4, unlike the conventional device (Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 52-35222), the main guide between the discharge star wheel 106 and the supply star wheel 102 is arranged. Even in the portion where the main guide is removed, the cleaning can be performed with the cleaning adapter 22 mounted on the filling valve 4.

When the cleaning adapter 22 mounted on the filling valve 4 is to be removed after the cleaning of the filling valve 4 is completed, the adapter advancing switching cam 26 provided at the position G in FIG. 22 is retracted to a position where it does not interfere with the switching valve 70 of the first air cylinder 46 that moves forward and backward, and the lifter lifting switching cam 34 provided at the next position H is switched to the switching valve 80 of the lifting air cylinder 6b.
It interferes with and advances to the position to switch. Furthermore, position J
The stopper advancing switching cam 30 provided in the above is retracted to a position where it does not interfere with the switching valve 72 of the second air cylinder 60 that advances and retracts the stopper 24. Then, the stopper retreat switching cam 32 at the position K is advanced to a position where it is switched by interfering with the switching valve 72 of the second air cylinder 60 that moves the stopper 24 forward and backward, and the adapter backward switching cam 28 at the position L is The cleaning adapter 22 is moved forward and backward by interfering with the switching valve 70 of the first air cylinder 46, which moves the cleaning adapter 22 forward and backward. Further, the lifter lowering switching cam 36 at the position M advances the switching valve 80 of the lifting air cylinder 6b of the bottle lifter 6 to a position where it is switched.

Each switching cam 26, 34, 30, 32, 2
8 and 36 are moved to the positions described above, and the filler bowl 2
And the rotary table 8 supporting the bottle lifter 6 is rotated. As shown in FIG. 6, when the cleaning adapter 22 rotates while being held by the stopper 24 and attached to the filling valve 4, at the position G in FIG. 2, the switching valve of the first air cylinder 46. 70 passes through the adapter forward switching cam 26 without interfering with the next position G.
Then, the switching valve 80 of the lifting air cylinder 6b is switched by interfering with the lifter lifting switching cam 34, and the bottle lifter 6 is lifted to push up the cleaning adapter 22 from below as in FIG. In this state, the switching valve 72 of the second air cylinder 60 passes through the position J without interfering with the stopper advancing switching cam 30. Then, when it reaches the next position K, the switching valve 72 of the second air cylinder 60 for moving the stopper 24 forward and backward is switched by the switching cam 32 for retracting the stopper, and the stopper 24 is moved.
Moves out of engagement with the lifting outer cylinder 48 of the cleaning adapter 22 and retracts. When the stopper 24 retracts, the cleaning adapter 22 engaged and held by the stopper 24 moves to the next position L while the lower surface is supported by the bottle lifter 6. At this position L, the switching valve 70 of the first air cylinder 46 for advancing and retracting the cleaning adapter 22 is switched by the adapter reversing switching cam 28, and the cleaning adapter 22 is vertically opposed to the filling valve 4 and the bottle lifter. From 6 to the position shown in FIG. After that, at the position M, the switching valve 80 of the lifting air cylinder 6b causes the lifter lowering switching cam 36 to move.
And the bottle lifter 6 descends. This state is the arrangement during normal filling operation, and since the cleaning adapter 22 and the stopper 24 are at positions retracted and separated from the space between the filling valve 4 and the bottle lifter 6 which are vertically opposed, When the container is placed on the table and lifted to perform filling, the cleaning adapter 22 and the stopper 2 are used.
There is no risk of interfering with No. 4 and normal production operation is possible.

[0036]

As described above, according to the present invention, a filler bowl for containing a filling liquid, and a filling valve attached to the outer peripheral portion of the filler bowl at equal intervals in the circumferential direction,
A filling machine provided with a bottle lifter arranged below each filling valve to move up and down is supported by a support means so as to be able to move up and down, and can be moved back and forth between an intermediate position between the filling valve and the bottle lifter and the outside thereof. A cleaning adapter and a stopper that can be moved back and forth between a position that engages with an engaging portion provided on the cleaning adapter and a position that does not engage with the engaging part, and the cleaning adapter can be installed while the bottle lifter is descending. After moving forward, the bottle lifter rises to push up the cleaning adapter to bring it into close contact with the filling valve, and then move the stopper forward to engage and support the engaging part of the cleaning adapter, and then lower the bottle lifter for cleaning. Since the adapter is attached to the filling valve, when cleaning the filling valve of the filling machine, the work of attaching and detaching the cleaning adapter It becomes unnecessary. In addition, the cleaning adapter can be automatically attached to and removed from the filling valve just by moving the switching cam, so the cleaning process of the filling valve can be performed automatically in accordance with the preset cleaning program. Can be executed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional view of a main part of a filling machine equipped with a filling valve cleaning device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an arrangement of a switching cam for switching each cylinder of the filling valve cleaning device.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a switching valve and a switching cam for switching each cylinder of the filling valve cleaning device.

FIG. 4 is a view showing the operation of the cleaning device for the filling valve.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the operation of the filling valve cleaning device;
The next state of FIG. 4 is shown.

FIG. 6 is a view showing the operation of the cleaning device for the filling valve,
The next state of FIG. 5 is shown.

FIG. 7 is a left side view of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a normal filling process of a filling machine.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 Filler bowl 4 Filling valve 6 Bottle lifter 22 Cleaning adapter 24 Stopper 42 Supporting means (vertical guide cylinder) 46 First advancing / retracting means (first air cylinder) 48a Engagement part of cleaning adapter (ring of lifting outer cylinder) Projection part) 60 Second advancing and retracting means (second air cylinder) 104 Filling machine

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A filler bowl for containing a filling liquid, a filling valve mounted on an outer peripheral portion of the filler bowl at equal intervals in a circumferential direction, and a bottle lifter arranged below the respective filling valves and moving up and down. In the filling machine, a washing adapter which is supported by a support means so as to be able to move up and down, and is movable back and forth between an intermediate position between the filling valve and the bottle lifter and the outside thereof, and an engagement provided on the washing adapter. A stopper that can be moved back and forth between the position that engages with the part and the position that does not engage with the part is provided, the washing adapter is advanced while the bottle lifter is descending, and the rising of the bottle lifter pushes up the washing adapter to the filling valve. After the close contact, the stopper is moved forward to engage and support the engaging part of the cleaning adapter, so that the cleaning adapter is mounted on the filling valve. A filling valve cleaning device characterized by the above.