JPH0811989A - Filling apparatus and filling method using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To discharge filled liquid remaining in a gas passage at the time of completion of previous filling to immediately start filling without delay in timing by opening a snifting valve approximately simultaneously with or before opening a gas valve. CONSTITUTION:When a liquid such as a non-carbonated drink is filled without pressure applied by a filling apparatus, the liquid to be filled is received in a filler bowl 2 while a space above the liquid is made at an atmospheric pressure. A second snifting cam 62 is advanced by a cam driving cylinder 64 so that a snifting valve 46 can be opened by engaging the cam 62 with a snifting spool 46c of the snifting valve 46 and pushing in. When a container 6 is supplied from a supply star wheel onto a bottle lifter and the container 6 rises by elevation of the bottle lifter x according to rotation, a vent tube 24 is inserted into the container 6, and a mouth 6a of the container 6 is sealed by a bottle mouth packing 40 provided in a guide cone 38.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a filling device, and more particularly,
The present invention relates to a gas filling and filling device that pressurizes and fills a liquid such as carbonated drink in a container, and a filling device that can also be used for pressureless filling of non-carbonated drinks and a filling method using this filling device. is there.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A gas filling and filling apparatus for filling a container with a filling liquid such as a carbonated beverage generally has a filler bowl in which the filling liquid and a pressure gas are housed and rotates, and an outer periphery of a bottom portion of the filler bowl. A plurality of filling mechanisms provided at equal intervals in the circumferential direction, and a bottle lifter that is arranged corresponding to each of the lower portions of the filling mechanisms, and that raises and lowers a container while rotating integrally with the filler bowl. It has and. Each of the above-mentioned filling mechanisms includes a filling liquid passage for filling the filling liquid in the filler bowl into the container, a liquid valve for opening and closing the filling liquid passage, and a pressure gas sealed in the container during filling of the filling liquid. It comprises a gas passage for discharging into the filler bowl, a gas valve for opening and closing the gas passage, and the like. In addition, a valve opening cam for opening the gas valve and the liquid valve and a valve closing cam for closing the gas valve and the liquid valve are arranged around the path in which the rotating body including the filler bowl and the bottle lifter rotates. ing.

Further, in the filling mechanism, after the filling liquid such as carbonated drink is filled in the container, the head space of the container is opened to the atmosphere and the pressure gas in the container is gradually released to the outside. Is equipped with a sniff valve,
A sniff cam for opening the sniff valve is arranged downstream of the valve closing cam on the outer peripheral side of the rotating body such as a filler bowl.

In the gas filling and filling device having the above-mentioned structure, the bottle lifter rises while the filler bowl and the bottle lifter rotate integrally, and when the container on the bottle lifter is guided by the guide cone to the filling mechanism side, the inside The vent tube having the filling liquid passage formed therein is inserted into the container, and the container port is sealed by the bottle port packing. In this state, first, when the gas valve is opened by the valve opening cam, the pressure gas in the filler bowl is filled in the container through the gas passage. When the pressure in the container rises due to the supply of pressurized gas and becomes almost equal to the pressure in the filler bowl, the liquid valve is also opened by the spring force, and the liquid in the filler bowl is filled into the container through the filling liquid passage. . During the filling of the liquid, the pressure gas sealed in the container is discharged from the gas passage into the filler bowl.

When the liquid level of the liquid filled in the container rises and reaches the opening of the vent tube (gas passage), there is no escape path for the gas in the container and the inflow from the filled liquid passage is stopped. When the inflow of the filling liquid is stopped, the filling liquid rises in the gas passage and reaches a height where the pressure in the container and the pressure in the filler bowl are equalized. After that, the valve closing cam sequentially closes the gas valve and the liquid valve to complete the filling process. Subsequently, the sniff valve is opened by a sniff cam to gradually release the pressure gas in the head space of the container into the atmosphere, and then the container lifter is lowered to remove the seal from the container port and the container is discharged from the filling device.

As described above, at the end of filling by the gas filling and filling device, the gas valve is closed while the filling liquid rises in the gas passage, so that the filling liquid remains in this gas passage. In the case of normal gas filling, when the gas valve is opened at the beginning of filling the next container, the residual liquid in this gas passage is immediately removed by the pressure gas blown from the filler bowl through the gas passage into the container. It is discharged into the container. However, when the non-carbonated beverage is filled by the gas filling filling device, the upper part of the liquid contained in the filler bowl is usually atmospheric pressure, not pressure gas, and the liquid inside the container is filled with the liquid. Since there is no step of filling with pressurized gas before filling, even if the liquid valve is opened, the filling liquid remaining in the gas passage is not immediately discharged, and there is no escape path for the air in the container, making filling impossible. However, there is a risk that the filling amount may not be constant because the filling start timing is delayed.

Therefore, conventionally, even when a gas-free filling device is used to fill a gas-free liquid such as a non-carbonated beverage,
As in the case of pressure filling of carbonated beverages, the pressurized gas is stored in the upper part of the filling liquid in the filler bowl, and the pressure gas in the filler bowl is fed into the container before the filling of the liquid is started. Accordingly, after the previous filling is completed, the filling liquid remaining in the gas passage is forcibly discharged, and then the liquid is filled in the container. However, if a gas-free beverage is pressure-filled into a soft material container such as a PET bottle, especially in the case of high-temperature filling,
There is a problem that the container is deformed to cause variations in the amount of flavor, and when the container mouth is unsealed after filling, the force of the container to return to its original shape causes liquid splash. Further, since the pressure in the head space of the container at the time of completion of filling changes depending on the amount of the filling liquid in the filler bowl, it is difficult to completely control the pressure, and there is also a problem that a filling error occurs. .

Further, when the filling device for filling the filling liquid such as carbonated beverage into the container is also used for filling the non-carbonated beverage containing no pressure gas, the above-mentioned pressure filling is not performed. There has already been proposed a filling device capable of eliminating the delay in the start timing of filling by immediately discharging the filling liquid remaining in the gas passage at the start of filling (Japanese Patent Publication No. 61-59998, Jpn. -38154 gazette etc.).

The above-mentioned first publication (Japanese Patent Publication No. 61-59998).
The filling device described in "No.)" describes a "communicating passage that connects a gas passage above the liquid valve and below the gas valve to a liquid passage downstream of the liquid valve, a vent tube and a valve stem. An on-off valve that is provided to open and close the communication passage is provided, and the on-off valve contacts each other when the valve stem rises to open the liquid valve to close the communication passage and lower the valve stem. When the liquid valves are closed, they are separated from each other to open their communication passages. " According to this configuration of the filling device, “when the injection of the filling liquid is completed, the gas valve and the liquid valve are closed, and the on-off valve is opened. Then, the upper end portion of the gas passage and the liquid passage communicate with each other to reduce the pressure. Since the same pressure is maintained, the filling liquid that has flowed into the gas passage falls into the container. "When performing the next filling, the timing of starting filling is delayed or filling becomes impossible. There is no fear.

In addition, the second publication (actual fair 3-38154)
No.), a gas passage communicating with a filling liquid passage at a position downstream of a liquid valve, a supply source for supplying a pressurized gas to the gas passage, and an opening / closing device for opening / closing the gas passage. Valve and a cam for supplying pressurized gas that engages with the on-off valve to open the on-off valve. When performing non-pressurized filling, "the rotation of the rotating body causes the on-off valve to be engaged with the pressurized gas supply cam to open the on-off valve. Supplied via a passage into a sealed container,
The pressurized gas supplied into the container circulates through the exhaust passage, pushes up the filling liquid remaining therein, and discharges it into the tank through the check valve. It is like this.

[0011]

The filling device of the above-mentioned first publication requires a special mechanism for performing pressureless filling inside the filling valve, and is described in the second publication. The filling device needs to be provided with a special mechanism for performing pressureless filling both inside the filling valve and outside the rotating body, and in both cases, the structure is complicated and therefore the cleaning performance is poor, and further, There was a problem of high cost.

The present invention has been made in order to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks, and a filling mechanism including each valve such as a liquid valve, a gas valve and a sniff valve is not specially modified, and only a simple structure is added to the outside. When the gas filling and filling device that fills carbonated drinks is also used for non-gas filling, the filling liquid remaining in the gas passage is discharged at the end of the previous filling, and filling is performed immediately without delaying the timing. It is an object of the present invention to provide a filling device capable of starting. It is another object of the present invention to provide a method of filling with the filling device.

[0013]

A filling method according to the present invention has a filling liquid passage, a gas passage, and a liquid valve and a gas valve for opening and closing these passages inside, and a head space of a container With a filling device having a filling mechanism provided with a sniff valve communicating with the outside and a container base arranged below the filling mechanism, first, the mouth of the container on the container base is sealed, and then After opening the gas valve and liquid valve and filling the liquid in the container,
This is a method of closing both of these valves, and in addition to the above-mentioned steps, the step of opening the sniff valve is performed at substantially the same time as or before opening the gas valve. Further, after closing the gas valve and the liquid valve, the sniff valve may be opened to release the pressure in the head space of the container.

The filling device according to the second aspect of the present invention includes a filler bowl for containing the filling liquid, a filling mechanism provided on the lower surface of the filler bowl, and a container stand arranged below the filling mechanism for placing a container. An elevating means for moving up and down the filling mechanism and the container base relatively, a bottle mouth packing for sealing the mouth of the container which has risen relatively, and a gas valve for opening and closing a gas passage provided inside the filling mechanism. A liquid valve for opening and closing the filling liquid passage, a sniff valve for opening the head space of the container after filling to the atmosphere, and a valve for arranging the gas valve and the liquid valve arranged on the upstream side of the route in which the container is conveyed. An opening means, a valve closing means provided downstream of the valve opening means in the container conveying direction for closing the gas valve and the liquid valve, and more than the valve closing means A sniff cam that is provided on the flow side and that opens the sniff valve; and a second sniff cam that opens the sniff valve near the position where the gas valve and the liquid valve are opened by the valve opening means or on the upstream side thereof. The second sniff cam is provided and is moved back and forth between the position where the sniff valve is opened and the position where it is not opened by the moving means.

[0015]

In the filling method according to the present invention, in order to fill the liquid in the container, the sniff valve is opened before opening the gas valve and the liquid valve or at the same time when the gas valve is opened so that the container is exposed to the atmosphere. Since they are communicated with each other, the filling liquid that has risen in the gas passage at the end of the previous filling and remains in this passage flows down into the container at the same time when the gas valve in the next step is opened.

Further, in the filling apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention, when the carbonated beverage or the like is pressurized and filled, the second sniff cam is retracted by the advancing / retreating means to a position where the sniff valve is not opened, and A filling process similar to that of the filling device is performed. Further, when performing pressureless filling, the advancing / retreating means advances the second sniff cam to the position where the sniff valve is opened. When the filling device is operated in this state, the sniff valve is opened by the second sniff cam at approximately the same time as the gas valve is opened by the valve opening means or before the gas valve is opened, and air in the sealed container is removed. As it will be able to escape to the outside, at the same time as opening the gas valve, the filling liquid remaining in the gas passage at the end of the previous filling will fall into the container and the air discharge passage for the air inside the container will be secured. Filling begins as soon as the valve opens.

[0017]

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 plan view showing a schematic arrangement of a filling device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a main part of the filling device. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 2 is a filler bowl that stores a filling liquid therein and rotates, and a plurality of filling mechanisms (generally indicated by reference numeral 4) are attached to the bottom of the filler bowl near the outer circumference at equal intervals in the circumferential direction. ing. Each of these filling mechanisms 4
A bottle lifter (not shown) for mounting and elevating the container 6 is provided below each of the bottle lifters. While the rotating body including the filler bowl 2, the filling mechanism 4, the bottle lifter, etc. rotates integrally, The container 6 is moved up and down by the
The liquid stored in the filler bowl 2 is filled in the container 6 by opening and closing each valve described below.

Next, the structure of the filling mechanism 4 will be described. A cylindrical spring case 8 is fixed upright in a hole 2a formed in the bottom surface of the filler bowl 2, and a valve stem 10 is supported in the spring case 8 so as to be able to move up and down. An annular sliding member 12 is fixed to the outer peripheral surface near the upper part of the valve stem 10. The sliding member 12 is fitted in the spring case 8 and slides on the inner peripheral surface to move up and down. . A spring 14 is arranged between a step portion formed on the inner surface of the spring case 8 near the lower portion and the lower surface of the upper sliding member 12, and the sliding member 1
2 and the valve stem 10 are always urged upward.
A valve body 16 is attached to the lower portion of the valve stem 10,
The liquid valve 20 together with the valve seat 18a formed in the valve block 18 fixed to the lower surface of the filler bowl 2
Is composed.

At the center of the lower end of the valve stem 10, a vent tube 24 having a conical spreader 22 attached to the outer surface is mounted. The inside of the valve stem 10 and the inside of the vent tube 24 constitute a gas passage 26, and the outer surface side thereof constitutes a filling liquid passage 28.
A vertically long hole 8a is formed on the wall surface of the spring case 8, and when the valve stem 10 is lifted to open the liquid valve 20, the filling liquid contained in the filler bowl 2 is filled with the vertically long hole 8a. 8a into the spring case 8, passing through the opened liquid valve 20,
The container 6 is filled through the space between the inner surface of the passage hole 18b formed through the valve block 18 and the outer surface of the vent tube 24.

A charging portion for opening and closing a gas passage 26 formed in the valve stem 10 and the vent tube 24 is provided at a portion of the upper end portion of the valve stem 10 protruding above the liquid surface in the filler bowl 2. A valve (gas valve) 30 is provided. The charging valve 30 is connected to an inner end portion of a rotating shaft 32 that penetrates an upper portion of the side wall 2b of the filler bowl 2, and is moved up and down by a rotating operation of a shifter lever 34 fixed to the outer side of the rotating shaft 32. The gas passage 26 is opened and closed.

A guide cone 38 is provided below the valve block 18 so as to be vertically movable via a guide rod 36. The guide cone 38 is pushed up by the mouth portion 6a of the container 6 raised by the bottle lifter. Together, they rise to center the container 6 with respect to the vent tube 24 of the filling mechanism 4. A bottle mouth packing 40 is attached to the inner peripheral side of the guide cone 38,
The bottle mouth packing 40 is pressure-contacted between the mouth portion 6a of the container 6 lifted by the bottle lifter and the lower surface of the valve block 18 to seal the inside of the container 6.

A sniff mechanism 42 is provided near the outer periphery of the valve block 18 (on the left side in FIG. 1). The sniff mechanism 42 has a sniff passage 18c opening downstream from the liquid valve 20 for opening and closing the filling liquid passage 28, that is, a passage hole 18b penetratingly formed in the valve block 18, and a sniff chamber 44.
And these snift passages 18c and sniff chambers 4
4 is opened and closed with a sniff valve 46, and after the filling of the liquid in the container 6 is completed, the sniff valve 46 is opened to leave the head space of the container 6 (the remaining space above the filling liquid). The pressure gas sealed in the closed space) is gradually released to the outside. The sniff valve 46 includes a sniff spool 46b that moves forward and backward in the valve hole 46a, and a spring 46c that presses the sniff spool 46b outward. Normally, the sniff spool 46b is used by the spring 46c.
By pressing b, the sniff passage 18c and the sniff chamber 44 are shut off from each other. Then, by pushing the sniff spool 46b from the outside by a sniff cam described later, the sniff valve 46 is opened and the sniff passage 18c and the sniff chamber 44 are communicated with each other.

In the filling apparatus having the above-described structure, as shown in FIG. 1, the container 6 conveyed by the container supply conveyor 48 is supplied onto each of the bottle lifters via the supply star wheel 50, and the filler bowl 2 is supplied. It is lifted and lowered by the bottle lifter while rotating together with the filling mechanism 4 provided in the. While the container 6 is rotated by a predetermined angle, the charging valve 30 and the liquid valve 20 are opened to fill the container 6 with the liquid, and then the container 6 is discharged via the discharge star wheel 52. It is discharged onto the conveyor 54.

A valve opening for opening the charging valve 30 and the liquid valve 20 provided in the filling mechanism 4 is provided around the rotation path in which the rotating body including the filler bowl 2 and the bottle lifter integrally rotates. Means, and these charging valve 30 and liquid valve 20
And a opening means for opening the sniff valve 46. The arrangement of these opening / closing means will be described with reference to FIG. First, the charging valve 3 is provided at a position slightly downstream of the position where the container 6 is supplied from the supply star wheel 50 onto the bottle lifter.
A valve opener 56 for opening the zero and liquid valves 20 is provided. This valve opener 56
Engages with the shifter lever 34 that opens and closes the charging valve 30 to rotate it, and pulls up the charging valve 30 through the rotation of the rotary shaft 32 to open it. Further, on the upstream side of the discharge star wheel 52 for discharging the container 6 from the filling device, the shifter lever 34 is rotated in the direction opposite to the valve opener 56 to push down the charging valve 30 to close the valve closer 58. The valve opener 56 and the valve closer 58 open and close the charging valve 30 and the liquid valve 20.

A sniff cam (first sniff cam) 60 for opening the sniff valve 46 is arranged downstream of the position where the valve closer 58 is provided. The valve closer 58 causes the charging valve 30 and the liquid to be discharged. The valve 20 is closed to release the pressure gas sealed in the head space of the container 6 which has been filled, to the outside. This sniff cam 60 is a container 6
In order to gradually release the pressure gas in the head space, the sniff valve 46 has a length such that it can be opened in a predetermined section.

Further, in the filling device according to the present embodiment, the second sniff cam 62 for opening the sniff valve 46 is located near the position where the upstream valve opener 56 opens the charging valve 30 and the liquid valve 20.
Is provided. The second sniff cam 62 is used when performing non-pressurized filling by the filling device and is not used during pressurizing filling, so that the second sniff cam 62 is attached to the cam driving cylinder 64 so that it can be moved back and forth ( See FIG. 2). That is, when performing pressureless filling,
The second sniff cam 62 is moved forward to a position where the sniff valve 46 can be opened by engaging and pushing the sniff spool 46b of the sniff valve 46, and when the pressure filling is performed, the sniff valve 4 is released.
6 is retracted to a position that does not engage with the sniff spool 46c. Further, since the second sniff cam 62 only needs to open the sniff valve 46 momentarily, the second sniff cam 62 has a shorter circumferential length than the first sniff cam 60.

Next, the operation of the filling device having the above structure will be described. When the filling liquid such as a carbonated beverage is pressurized and filled, the filling liquid is contained in the filler bowl 2, and the space above the filling liquid is filled with a pressure gas. Further, the second sniff cam 62 that can move forward and backward is retracted by the cam driving cylinder 64 to a position where it does not interfere with the sniff spool 46c of the sniff valve 46. Container supply conveyor 48
The container 6 conveyed by is supplied onto the bottle lifter in the filling device via the supply star wheel 50. The bottle lifter rises while the rotating body including the filler bowl 2 and the bottle lifter rotates in the direction of the arrow in the figure. The container 6 on the bottle lifter rises while being centered by pushing up the guide cone 38 by its mouth 6a, and the vent tube 24 of the filling mechanism 4 is inserted therein. At the rising end of the bottle lifter, the mouth portion 6a of the container 6 comes into close contact with the bottle mouth packing 40 of the guide cone 38 to seal the inside of the container 6.

After that, the shifter lever 34 is engaged with the valve opener 56 and rotated, and the charging valve 30 is pulled up by the rotation of the rotary shaft 32 and the gas passage 2
6 opens. Then, the pressure gas in the filler bowl 2 is blown into the container 6 through the gas passage 26 to pressurize the inside of the container 6 (see FIG. 3). When the pressure in the container 6 rises and becomes close to the pressure in the filler bowl 2, the valve stem 10 held by the pressure in the filler bowl 2 is pressed.
Is lifted by the spring 14, the liquid valve 20 which has been closed is opened, and filling is started. The filling liquid stored in the filler bowl 2 enters the spring case 8 through the vertically long hole 8 a of the spring case 8, passes through the outer surface side of the valve stem 10, and is opened.
It passes through 0, is diffused by the spreader 22 attached to the outer surface of the vent tube 24, and flows into the container 6.
At this time, the pressure gas filled in the container 6 is discharged to the upper part of the liquid level of the filling liquid in the filler bowl 2 through the gas passage 26 (see FIG. 4).

When the liquid level of the filling liquid filled in the container 2 gradually rises and reaches the lower end opening of the vent tube 24, the gas passage 26 for discharging the pressure gas in the container 2 is closed. The filling liquid rises through the vent tube 24, and when the pressure inside the container 6 and the pressure inside the filler bowl 2 become equal, the flow of the liquid from the filling liquid passage 28 into the container 6 is stopped. After that, when the position of the valve closer 58 is reached, the shifter lever 34 is rotated in the opposite direction to that at the time of the valve opener, and the charging valve 30 is pushed down and closed. Then, the liquid valve 20 is closed by the lowering of the valve stem 10 and the filling is completed (see FIG. 5). Further, at the position of the first sniff cam 60, the sniff spool 46c of the sniff valve 46 becomes
This sniff valve 4 is engaged and pushed into
6 is opened and pressure gas is gradually released from the head space of the container 6 to the same pressure as the atmospheric pressure so that the container 6 does not foam suddenly when the seal by the bottle mouth packing 40 is removed (FIG. 6). reference). After that, the bottle lifter descends, and the container 6 is discharged onto the container discharge conveyor 54 by the discharge star wheel 52.

At the end of the filling, the charging valve 30 is closed with the filling liquid rising in the gas passage 26, so that the filling liquid remains in the gas passage 26. However, in the case of performing pressure filling, when starting the filling of the next container 6, first, the pressure gas is blown from the filler bowl 2 into the container 6 by opening the charging valve 30. So gas passage 2
The filling liquid remaining in the container 6 is immediately discharged into the container 6 together with the pressure gas. After that, filling is performed by the same steps (FIGS. 3 to 6) as the above steps.

When performing pressureless filling of a liquid such as a non-carbonated beverage by the filling device, the filling liquid is contained in the filler bowl 2 and the upper part of the filling liquid is kept at atmospheric pressure. Further, the second sniff cam 62 is advanced by the cam driving cylinder 64 so that the sniff valve 46 can be opened by engaging and pushing in the sniff spool 46c of the sniff valve 46. The container 6 is supplied from the supply star wheel 50 onto the bottle lifter, and when the container 6 rises due to the rise of the bottle lifter due to the rotation, the vent tube 24 is inserted into the container 6 and the bottle provided in the guide cone 38. Mouth packing 4
The opening 6a of the container 6 is sealed by 0 (see FIG. 7).

When the filler bowl 2 further rotates, the spool 46c of the sniff valve 46 engages with the advancing second sniff cam 62 and is pushed inward, whereby the sniff valve 46 is opened. Simultaneously with the opening of the sniff valve 46, the shifter lever 34 engages with the valve opener 56 and rotates, and the charging valve 30 is pulled up and opened. Since the sniff valve 46 is open, the interior of the container 6 is not in a sealed state but communicates with the atmosphere. When the charging valve 30 is opened, the filling liquid remaining in the gas passage 26 after the end of the previous filling is not filled. As it flows down into the gas passage 26, the air in the container 6 can be exhausted. Further, in the pressureless filling, the inside of the filler bowl 2 is not pressurized and becomes equal to the pressure inside the container 6, so that the shifter lever 3
When 4 rotates and the charging valve 30 is pulled up, the valve stem 10 is lifted by the spring 14 and the liquid valve 20 is opened. When the liquid valve 20 is opened, the filling liquid passage 28 is immediately opened without delaying the timing.
Filling is started (see FIG. 8).

Immediately after the start of filling, the container on the filling mechanism 4 and the bottle lifter passes through the position of the second sniff cam 62, and the sniff valve 46 is closed. In this state, the liquid in the filler bowl 2 is filled in the container 6 from the filling liquid passage 28, and the air in the container 6 is discharged from the gas passage 26 to the upper space of the filler bowl 2.
When the liquid level of the liquid filled in the container 6 rises and reaches the lower end of the vent tube 24, the filling liquid is filled in the vent tube 2
When the pressure in the head space of the container 6 rises to the pressure in the filler bowl 2, the filling is stopped. Then, the valve closer 58 rotates the shifter lever 34 in the opposite direction to push down the charging valve 30, the liquid valve 20 is closed, and the filling is completed (see FIG. 9). After that, the spool 46c of the sniff valve 46 is pushed by the first sniff cam 60 to open the sniff valve 46 again, the pressure in the head space of the container 6 is released (see FIG. 10), and then the bottle lifter descends, so that the container 6 It is discharged onto the container discharge conveyor 54 via the discharge star wheel 52.

Thus, when performing pressureless filling,
At the same time that the charging valve 30 is opened, the sniff valve 46 is opened by the second snift cam 62 to communicate the inside of the container 6 with the atmosphere, so that the filling liquid remaining in the gas passage 26 at the time of the previous filling is stored in the container 6. Since the air in the container 6 is allowed to be discharged from the gas passage 26 by dropping it to, there is no fear that filling will be disabled, or that insufficient filling will occur due to a delay in the timing of starting filling. Moreover, in the filling device according to the present embodiment, the above-described operation can be achieved without providing a change in the structure of the filling mechanism 4 and only by providing the second sniff cam 62 having a simple structure on the outside. It is possible to obtain a filling device that can be used for both pressure filling such as the above and pressureless filling of a non-carbonated beverage with a very simple structure and at low cost. In the above embodiment, the first sniff cam 60 is used.
Opening the sniff valve 46 with the shifter lever 34
Although the opening of the charging valve 30 by the rotation of the second valve is performed almost at the same time, first, the second sniff valve 6
2 may be opened, and the charging valve 30 may be opened during the opening. Further, although the rotary type filling device has been described in the above embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to a line type filling device and the like.

[0035]

As described above, according to the present invention, a filling liquid passage, a gas passage, and a liquid valve and a gas valve for opening and closing these passages are provided inside, and the inside of the head space of the container is opened to the outside. By a filling device provided with a snift valve communicating with the container and a container base arranged below the filling mechanism, first, the mouth of the container on the container base is sealed, and then the gas valve In the filling method in which the liquid valve is opened and the container is filled with the liquid and then both valves are closed, the sniff valve is opened at about the same time as the gas valve is opened or before the opening. Therefore, it is possible to perform pressureless filling by using an ordinary gas filling and filling device only by adding an extremely simple mechanism.

Further, in the filling apparatus according to the present invention, the filler bowl for containing the filling liquid, the filling mechanism provided on the lower surface of the filler bowl, the container base arranged below the filling mechanism and mounting the container, and the filling device Elevating means for relatively elevating the mechanism and the container base, a bottle mouth packing for sealing the mouth of the container elevated by the bottle lifter, and a gas valve for opening and closing the gas passage provided inside the filling mechanism,
A liquid valve that opens and closes the filling liquid passage, a sniff valve that opens the head space of the container after filling to the atmosphere, and a gas valve and a liquid valve that are arranged on the upstream side of the container transport path of the filling mechanism. A valve opening means, a valve closing means provided downstream of the valve opening means in the container transport direction to close the gas valve and the liquid valve, and a valve closing means provided downstream of the valve closing means to open the sniff valve. In addition to the means for opening and closing each of the above valves in a filling device equipped with a snift cam, the sniff valve is opened near the position of the valve opening means for opening both valves of the gas valve and the liquid valve or on the upstream side of the opening means. A second sniff cam is provided, and the second sniff cam is used to open the sniff valve. And by providing the reciprocating movement means to move forward and backward between a no open position, it can be used also extremely simple construction, the gas filling filling device for filling pressurized to unpressurized filling.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a schematic arrangement of a filling device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a main part of the filling device.

FIG. 3 is a diagram sequentially showing a filling process when pressure filling is performed by the filling device.

FIG. 4 is a diagram sequentially showing a filling process when pressure filling is performed by the filling device.

FIG. 5 is a diagram sequentially showing a filling process when pressure filling is performed by the filling device.

FIG. 6 is a diagram sequentially showing a filling process when pressure filling is performed by the filling device.

FIG. 7 is a diagram sequentially showing a filling process in the case of performing pressureless filling by the filling device.

FIG. 8 is a diagram sequentially showing a filling process when pressureless filling is performed by the filling device.

FIG. 9 is a diagram sequentially showing a filling process when performing pressureless filling by the filling device.

FIG. 10 is a diagram sequentially showing a filling process when pressureless filling is performed by the filling device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Filler bowl 4 Filling mechanism 6 Container 6a Container mouth 20 Liquid valve 30 Gas valve (charging valve) 40 Bottle mouth packing 46 Sniff valve 56 Valve opening means (valve opener) 58 Valve closing means (valve closer) 60 Snift cam 62 Second Snift cam 64 Reciprocating means (cylinder)

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A filling mechanism having a filling liquid passage, a gas passage, and a liquid valve and a gas valve for opening and closing these passages, and a sniff valve for communicating the inside of the head space of the container with the outside. , By means of a filling device with a container base arranged below this filling mechanism,
First, the mouth of the container on the container base is sealed, and then the gas valve and the liquid valve are opened to fill the liquid in the container, and then the both valves are closed. A filling method characterized in that the sniff valve is opened at approximately the same time as or before the opening timing. 2. The filling method according to claim 1, wherein after closing the gas valve and the liquid valve, the sniff valve is opened to release the pressure in the head space of the container. 3. A filler bowl for containing a filling liquid, a filling mechanism provided on the lower surface of the filler bowl, a container stand disposed below the filling mechanism for placing a container, and a filling mechanism and a container stand are provided relative to each other. An elevating means for elevating and lowering, a bottle mouth packing for sealing the mouth of a relatively elevated container, a gas valve for opening and closing a gas passage provided inside the filling mechanism, and a liquid valve for opening and closing a filling liquid passage. , A sniff valve for opening the head space of the container after filling to the atmosphere, a valve opening means arranged on the upstream side of the path through which the container is conveyed, for opening the gas valve and the liquid valve, and the valve opening means A valve closing means for closing the gas valve and the liquid valve provided on the downstream side in the conveying direction of the container, and the sniff bar provided on the downstream side of the valve closing means. In a filling machine provided with a sniff cam for opening the valve, a second sniff cam for opening the sniff valve is provided near or upstream of the position where the gas valve and the liquid valve are opened by the valve opening means, and the second sniff cam is provided. A filling device comprising: a forward / backward moving means for moving the sniff cam forward / backward between a position where the sniff valve is opened and a position where the sniff valve is not opened.