JPH10181796A - Apparatus for collecting detergent in filling nozzle in filling machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow cleaning of a filling nozzle and cleaning of a conveyer to be done simultaneously by preventing an adapter for connecting the filling nozzle to a collection pipe from interfering with conveyer operation. SOLUTION: An intermittently driven container conveyer 11 has a plurality of holders 22 which are sequentially stopped at a filling station. A filling nozzle 12 has a vertical cylindrical discharge port 31 on a lower part and is placed so that a lower end opening of the discharge port 31 is opposite to the holder 22 stopped at the filling station from above at a gap for allowing an adapter to enter. The adapter 42 has a detergent inlet 73 connected to the lower end opening of the discharge port 31, a detergent exit 71 connected to an inlet 51 of a recovery pipe 41 and a detergent path with the detergent inlet 73 and the detergent exit 72 connected. A moving means moves the adapter 42 so that the detergent inlet 73 is connected with/disconnected from the lower end opening of the discharge port 31. The entire adapter 42 when the detergent inlet 73 is connected with the lower end opening of the discharge port 31 is positioned outside a conveyer moving path.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recovery device for recovering a cleaning liquid supplied to a filling nozzle of a filling machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An apparatus of this type has a plurality of holders which are sequentially stopped at a filling station, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-14096, for example.
An intermittently driven container transport conveyor in which a holder is provided with a container holding hole, and a lower end opening of the discharge port portion is opposed to a holder having a vertical cylindrical discharge port portion at a lower portion and stopped at a filling station. A cleaning liquid inlet connected to a lower end opening of a discharge port, a cleaning liquid outlet connected to an inlet of a recovery pipe, and a cleaning liquid having a communication between the cleaning liquid inlet and the cleaning liquid outlet. There is known an adapter including an adapter having a passage, and moving means for moving the adapter up and down through a container holding hole so as to connect / disconnect a cleaning liquid inlet to / from a lower end opening of a discharge port.

[0003]

In the above apparatus, when cleaning the filling nozzle, the cleaning liquid inlet of the adapter is connected to the lower end opening of the discharge port of the filling nozzle in order to recover the cleaning liquid from the filling nozzle. On the other hand, when cleaning the conveyor, it is necessary to operate the conveyor to pass the conveyor through the cleaning section. In order to connect the adapter to the filling nozzle, the adapter cannot be operated because the adapter is inserted into the container holding hole of the holder. Therefore, the work of cleaning the filling nozzle and the work of cleaning the conveyor are performed separately, which is troublesome.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a convenient cleaning liquid recovery device in a filling nozzle, in which an adapter does not hinder the operation of a conveyor while the filling nozzle is being cleaned, and a cleaning operation of the filling nozzle and a cleaning operation of the conveyor can be performed at the same time. To provide.

[0005]

According to the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for recovering cleaning liquid in a filling nozzle, comprising an intermittently driven container conveying conveyor having a plurality of holders which are sequentially stopped at a filling station, and a vertical cylindrical discharge port at a lower portion. And a filling nozzle arranged so that the lower end opening of the discharge port portion is opposed to the holder stopped at the filling station from above with an adapter entry gap therebetween. Cleaning liquid inlet connected to the lower end opening of the
An adapter having a cleaning liquid outlet connected to the inlet of the recovery pipe and a cleaning liquid passage communicating the cleaning liquid inlet with the cleaning liquid outlet; and a moving means for moving the adapter so as to connect and disconnect the cleaning liquid inlet to the lower end opening of the discharge port. And the entire adapter when the cleaning liquid inlet is connected to the lower end opening of the discharge port is located outside the conveyor moving path.

In the cleaning liquid recovery device in the filling nozzle according to the present invention, when the cleaning liquid inlet is connected to the lower end opening of the discharge port, the entire adapter is located outside the conveyor moving path, so that the adapter operates in the conveyor operation. Do not get in the way. Therefore, the work of cleaning the filling nozzle and the work of cleaning the conveyor can be performed simultaneously. In addition, when the adapter is connected and disconnected from the filling nozzle and put on standby, the adapter is not directly below the filling nozzle, so that there is no risk of the adapter being stained even if the dripping of the contents occurs from the nozzle.

The inside diameter of the cleaning liquid inlet is greater than or equal to the outside diameter of the discharge port, and the moving means moves at least the cleaning liquid inlet peripheral portion of the entire adapter with respect to the gap, and when entering the gap, the cleaning liquid inlet of the adapter. Is directed upward, and the central axis of the cleaning liquid inlet is aligned with the central axis of the discharge port. In this state, the cleaning liquid inlet is further covered with the discharge port by moving the adapter up and down. -It is preferable that it is made to be detached.

The adapter is connected to and disconnected from the filling nozzle when the cleaning liquid inlet of the adapter is fitted over and removed from the discharge port of the filling nozzle. Therefore, the operation of connecting and disconnecting the adapter and the filling nozzle is performed. Can be performed easily and reliably.

Preferably, a seal ring is provided between the peripheral surface of the cleaning liquid inlet and the outer surface of the discharge port.

[0010] Leakage between the filling nozzle and the adapter during connection can be reliably and effectively prevented by the seal ring. In the past, the adapter was simply connected to the lower end of the nozzle by simply abutting it, so a pressing force between the two was required to withstand the hydraulic pressure, but the presence of the seal ring made the pressing force unnecessary. became.

When the seal ring is formed in a substantially inverted V-shape in cross section by an elastic material, the sealing performance of the seal ring becomes extremely good.

Preferably, the moving means comprises a hydraulic cylinder, the hydraulic cylinder having a piston rod connected to the adapter and extending parallel to the central axis of the cleaning liquid inlet.

By moving the piston rod of the hydraulic cylinder forward and backward with the cleaning liquid inlet positioned immediately below the discharge port, the cleaning liquid inlet is fitted over and removed from the discharge port. Connection and disconnection operations can be easily performed.

It is preferable that the fluid pressure cylinder is mounted on a vertically oscillating body or a horizontal moving body.

By the operation of the vertical rocking body or the horizontal moving body, at least the cleaning liquid inlet peripheral portion of the entire adapter can be moved forward and backward with respect to the adapter entrance gap.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In the following description, the front and rear means the front side (the direction shown by the arrow in FIG. 1) where the container is transported by the conveyor, and the opposite side is the rear side. The left and right sides are referred to as left and right.

Referring to FIG. 1, the container transport conveyor 11,
A filling nozzle 12 and a cleaning liquid recovery device 13 are shown.

The container transport conveyor 11 includes a pair of left and right endless chains 21 and a number of holder plates 22 which are continuously transferred to the chains 21.

The chain 21 is driven intermittently so that the holder plate 22 is stopped sequentially at the filling station. The holder plate 22 has four circular container holding holes 23 formed in a line.

In the filling station, four filling nozzles 12 are arranged so as to be located directly above the four container holding holes 23 of the holder plate 22 stopped here. Although only the lower portion of the filling nozzle 12 is shown in FIG. 1, a vertical cylindrical discharge port 31 is shown therein. An adapter entry gap is formed between the holder plate 22 stopped at the filling station and the discharge port 31.

The cleaning liquid recovery device 13 includes a recovery pipe 41 disposed on the side of the conveyor transport path, and an adapter 42 for connecting the filling nozzle 12 and the recovery pipe 41.

In FIG. 1, only the end of the recovery pipe 41 having the inlet 51 is shown. The recovery pipe 41 is equipped with a recovery pump (not shown).

The adapter 42 includes a horizontal rectangular tubular header 61 extending in the left-right direction so as to intersect the conveyor conveyance path and cross over the same, and a horizontal strip-shaped connector 62 provided on the header 61 so as to extend forward. And four rectangular plate-shaped sockets 63 provided on the connector 62 so as to correspond to the four filling nozzles 12.

The header 61 has cleaning liquid outlets 71 at both ends,
The inside of the hollow is a cleaning liquid passage 72 (FIG. 2). socket
63 has a circular cleaning liquid inlet 73 on the upper surface. As shown in detail in FIG.
It is slightly larger than the outer diameter of the 12 discharge ports 31. A tapered portion 74 is formed at the opening edge of the peripheral surface of the cleaning liquid inlet 73, and an annular groove 75 is formed below the tapered portion. Annular groove 75
Has a seal ring 76 fitted therein. The seal ring 76 has a substantially inverted V-shaped cross section made of an elastic material such as rubber. Note that the seal ring 76 may be attached to the nozzle. In the connector 62, a communication space 77 is formed so as to communicate with the lower end of the cleaning liquid inlet 73, and a communication hole 78 is formed so as to extend backward from the space 77 and reach the cleaning liquid passage 72 of the header 61. .

Referring again to FIGS. 1 and 2, the piston rod 82 of the adapter lifting hydraulic cylinder 81 is connected to both ends of the upper surface of the connector 62. Piston rod 82
Extends parallel to the central axis of the cleaning liquid inlet 73. A lever 84 extending vertically is provided on the body 83 of the fluid pressure cylinder 81.
Are connected at their lower ends. The lever 84 is provided with a horizontal horizontal pin provided on a support 85 erected on the side of the container transport path.
Supported by 86. The upper end of the lever 84 is connected to a piston rod 88 of an adapter advance / retreat fluid pressure cylinder 87. The body 89 of the fluid pressure cylinder 87 is vertically swingably supported by a horizontal horizontal pin 92 provided on another support 91 erected behind the support 85. During the filling operation,
The piston rod 82 of the adapter lifting hydraulic cylinder 81 is retracted, and the piston rod 88 of the adapter moving hydraulic cylinder 87 is advanced. In this state, as shown by a dashed line in FIG. 2, the entire adapter 42 is located behind the filling nozzle 12 and is on standby.

When cleaning the filling nozzle 12, first, the piston rod 82 of the adapter lifting / lowering fluid pressure cylinder 81 is advanced, and then the piston rod 88 of the adapter advancing / retreating fluid pressure cylinder 87 is retracted. Then, lever 84 is
The socket 63 of the adapter 42 is swung in the counterclockwise direction, and the socket 63 of the adapter 42 is caused to enter the adapter entry gap with the swing of the lever 84. In this state, the cleaning liquid inlet 73 is vertically upward, and the central axis of the cleaning liquid inlet 73 is concentric with the central axis of the discharge port 31 of the filling nozzle 12. When the piston rod 82 of the adapter lifting hydraulic cylinder 81 is retracted in this state, the adapter 42 is raised, and the cleaning liquid inlet 73 is fitted over the discharge port 31. The space between the cleaning liquid inlet 73 and the discharge port 31 is kept liquid-tight by the seal ring 76, and the connection between the filling nozzle 12 and the adapter 42 is completed. Meanwhile, adapter 42
The inlet 51 of the recovery pipe 41 is connected to the washing liquid outlet 71. When the preparation is completed in this way, the cleaning liquid is supplied into the filling nozzle 12 through a cleaning liquid supply line (not shown). The cleaning liquid that has passed through the filling nozzle 12 is sent to the recovery pipe 41 by the adapter 42, and is recovered by the recovery pipe 41.

When the collecting operation is completed, the piston rod 82 of the adapter lifting / lowering hydraulic cylinder 81 is advanced to lower the adapter 42, and the cleaning liquid inlet 73 is removed from the discharge port 31. Then, when the piston rod 88 of the adapter advancing / retracting hydraulic cylinder 87 is advanced and the piston rod 82 of the adapter elevating / lowering hydraulic cylinder 81 is retracted, the adapter 42 is returned to the original standby position.

FIG. 4 shows a modification of the moving mechanism for moving the adapter. In this modification, both ends of the connector 62 of the adapter 42 are received by the piston rod 102 of the vertically moving adapter hydraulic cylinder 101 for ascending and descending the adapter. Body 10 of adapter lifting hydraulic cylinder 101
3 is the body 105 of the fluid cylinder 104
Mounted on Adapter cylinder 10
4 is a rodless cylinder with a guide,
Horizontal guide rail extending in the front-rear direction for guiding 5
106.

The operation of the adapter advance / retreat fluid pressure cylinder 104 causes the adapter 42 to move horizontally in the front-rear direction.
Socket 63 is caused to enter the adapter entry gap.
In this state, the adapter 42 is moved up and down by operating the adapter up-and-down fluid pressure cylinder 101. When the adapter 42 is positioned at the upper limit, the cleaning liquid inlet 73 is fitted over the discharge port 31.

In the above description, the end of the header 61 can be formed in an L-shape such that the washing liquid outlet 71 faces downward. In such a case, it is necessary that the header 61 straddle the conveyor transport path and extend downward on the side of the conveyor transport path so that the L-shaped vertical portion does not interfere with the conveyor transport path.

[0032]

According to the present invention, since the adapter does not hinder the conveyor operation, the work of cleaning the filling nozzle and the work of cleaning the conveyor can be performed simultaneously.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a cleaning liquid recovery apparatus according to the present invention, together with a conveyor and a filling nozzle.

FIG. 2 is a side view including a vertical cross section of the portion shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged vertical cross-sectional view of an adapter of the device, showing a main part of FIG. 2 in an enlarged manner.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a modification of the adapter moving mechanism of the apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 Conveyor 12 Filling nozzle 22 Holder plate 31 Discharge port 41 Recovery pipe 42 Adapter 71 Cleaning liquid outlet 72 Cleaning liquid passage 73 Cleaning liquid inlet

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. An intermittently driven container transport conveyor having a plurality of holders that are sequentially stopped at a filling station, and an outlet for a holder having a vertical cylindrical outlet at a lower portion and stopped at the filling station. A filling nozzle arranged so that the lower end opening thereof is opposed from above with a gap for entering the adapter, the cleaning liquid inlet connected to the lower end opening of the discharge port, and the inlet of the recovery pipe. An adapter having a cleaning liquid outlet connected to the cleaning liquid outlet and a cleaning liquid passage communicating the cleaning liquid inlet with the cleaning liquid outlet; and a moving means for moving the adapter so as to connect / disconnect the cleaning liquid inlet to / from the lower end opening of the discharge port. The entire adapter when the cleaning liquid inlet is connected to the lower end opening of the discharge port is located outside the conveyor moving path. Washing liquid recovery device nozzle Hama. 2. The cleaning liquid inlet according to claim 1, wherein the inner diameter of the cleaning liquid inlet is greater than or equal to the outer diameter of the discharge port, and the moving means advances and retreats at least a cleaning liquid inlet peripheral portion of the entire adapter with respect to the gap. The cleaning liquid inlet is directed upward, and the central axis of the cleaning liquid inlet is aligned with the central axis of the discharge port. In this state, the moving liquid is further moved up and down by the adapter so that the cleaning liquid inlet is fitted into the discharge port. The cleaning liquid recovery device in a filling nozzle according to claim 1, wherein the device is adapted to be covered and removed. 3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a seal ring is mounted between the peripheral surface of the cleaning liquid inlet and the outer surface of the discharge port. 4. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the seal ring is formed in an approximately V-shaped cross section by an elastic material. 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the moving means comprises a hydraulic cylinder, the hydraulic cylinder having a piston rod connected to the adapter and extending parallel to a central axis of the cleaning liquid inlet. The cleaning liquid recovery device in a filling nozzle according to any one of the above. 6. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the fluid pressure cylinder is mounted on the vertically oscillating body. 7. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the fluid pressure cylinder is attached to the horizontal moving body.