JPH1095495A - Cleaning device of charging valve - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To effectively clean an exhaust passage in an air pipe by a simple constitution. SOLUTION: A fixed cylindrical body 8 is fixed in a hole 2a formed at the bottom of a filler bowl and a vertically movable cylinder 12 is fitted in the fixed cylindrical body 8 so as to slide. A main pipe 14 is fitted to the lower end of the cylinder 12. An air pipe 18 is inserted in respective cylindrical bodies 8, 12, 14 and fixed to the filler bowl 2. A nozzle 24 in which a liquid injection aperture 26 and an exhaust aperture 28 are formed, is fitted to the lower end of the air pipe 18 and it is opened or closed by the vertical movement of the main pipe 14. A closed part 24a is provided at the lower part of the liquid injection aperture 26 and the lower end of the injection aperture is positioned upper than the lower end of the exhaust aperture 28. When a cleaning cup 6 is forcibly positioned to contact the lower end of the vertically movable cylinder 12 and further, the filler bowl is lowered, the main pipe 14 is relatively raised against the nozzle 24. When the filler bowl is lowered by one step, only the exhaust aperture 28 is opened and a cleaning liquid is conducted and when it is lowered by two steps, the liquid injection aperture is opened as well.

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 to a cleaning device for cleaning a filling valve of a filling device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a filling device, a filler bowl in which a filling liquid is stored, an injection pipe and a main pipe supported on the bottom surface of the filler bowl so as to be able to move up and down, and having a passage for the filling liquid formed therein. An air pipe which is inserted into the injection pipe and the main pipe and fixed to the filler bowl and has an exhaust passage formed therein, and an injection port which is attached to a lower end of the air pipe and communicates with the filling liquid passage. Conventionally, a nozzle provided with an exhaust port communicating with an exhaust passage and opening the liquid inlet and the exhaust port to fill the container with liquid by raising the main pipe. Are known.

The above-mentioned filling apparatus is provided with a cleaning apparatus for cleaning the inside of a filling valve composed of a filler bowl, a main pipe, a nozzle and the like. This cleaning device usually mounts a cleaning cup around the main pipe and seals the inside thereof, fills the filler bowl with the cleaning liquid, and then raises the main pipe,
Alternatively, by lowering the filler bowl, the main pipe is raised with respect to the nozzle to open the liquid inlet and the exhaust port at the same time, and the washing liquid in the filler bowl is caused to flow into the filling liquid passage and the exhaust passage. Cleaning is performed.

In the above-described conventional filling valve cleaning apparatus, cleaning is performed by simultaneously opening the filling liquid passage and the exhaust passage, but the exhaust passage has a sectional area larger than that of the filling liquid passage. Is small, the pressure loss is large, and a sufficient flow rate of the cleaning liquid cannot be flowed, so that there is a problem that cleaning performance is poor. Therefore, there has been proposed a cleaning apparatus capable of effectively cleaning the exhaust passage inside the air pipe (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-310222).

The cleaning apparatus described in the above-mentioned publication (the name in this publication is a filling nozzle with a self-cleaning function) is configured as follows. That is, a hole is formed in the bottom of the tank casing, and the fixed outer cylinder is attached. An inflow port facing the hole of the tank casing is formed in the fixed outer cylinder, and a movable outer cylinder is slidably fitted therein within a predetermined range, and the upper end of the movable outer cylinder is at the rising end of the movable outer cylinder. The closing portion is configured to close the inflow port. And
By supplying low-pressure compressed air to the cylinder chamber that raises and lowers the movable outer cylinder, the movable outer cylinder can be raised by a predetermined amount and the outer nozzle port (filling port through which the filling liquid flows out) can be opened. By supplying high-pressure compressed air to the cylinder chamber, the movable outer cylinder is further raised, and the inlet of the fixed outer cylinder is closed at the upper end closing portion of the movable outer cylinder.

In the above-described conventional apparatus, when performing cleaning, first, a cleaning cap is attached, and cleaning water is supplied into the tank casing. Next, low-pressure compressed air is supplied to the cylinder chamber to raise the movable outer cylinder by a predetermined amount to open the outer nozzle port. In this state, the upper end closing portion of the movable outer cylinder has not yet reached the inflow port, the washing water flows inside the movable outer cylinder, that is, in the passage of the filling liquid, and the inner nozzle (air pipe having an exhaust passage inside) It flows inside. However, since the filling liquid passage has a considerably larger cross-sectional area than the exhaust passage, the washing water mainly flows through the filling liquid passage in the movable cylinder to perform washing. Next, high-pressure compressed air is supplied to the cylinder chamber to further raise the movable outer cylinder, and close the inflow port at the upper end closing portion. As a result, the cleaning water flows only in the inner nozzle (air pipe), and effectively cleans the internal exhaust passage.

[0007]

The conventional filling valve cleaning apparatus having the above-described structure can effectively clean the inside of the exhaust passage, but includes a first spring for performing compression by low-pressure compressed air; It requires a second spring which is responsible for compression by high-pressure compressed air, and the upper part of the movable cylinder must be greatly extended so that the inlet can be closed.
There are many changes from the conventional filling apparatus without such a washing function, and the cost is high because the structure is complicated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in order to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks. An apparatus for cleaning a filling valve which can effectively clean an exhaust passage in an air pipe with an extremely simple structure and hardly increases the cost is provided. It is intended to provide.

[0009]

A filling valve cleaning apparatus according to the present invention is provided on a bottom surface of a filler bowl and has a filling liquid passage formed therein, and is fixed to a lower end of the cylindrical body. A main pipe, an air pipe disposed inside the cylindrical body and the main pipe and having an exhaust passage formed therein, and a liquid inlet and an exhaust passage fixed to a lower portion of the air pipe and communicating with the filling liquid passage. A nozzle having a communicating exhaust port formed therein, wherein the liquid inlet and the exhaust port are opened and closed by relative elevation of the main pipe and the nozzle, and closed below the liquid inlet of the nozzle. A lower end portion of the liquid inlet is positioned above a lower end portion of the exhaust port, and a relative elevation amount of the main pipe and the nozzle is set in at least two stages.
Only the exhaust port is opened at the stage, and the injection port is opened in addition to the exhaust port at the second stage.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to an embodiment shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 is a view showing an example of an embodiment of the present invention. A plurality of filling valves (indicated by reference numeral 4 as a whole) are provided at equal intervals in a circumferential direction on a bottom surface of a filler bowl 2 for storing a filling liquid. ing. FIG. 1 shows a state in which a cleaning cup 6 is mounted for cleaning the filling valve 4. Below each filling valve 4,
Bottle bases (not shown) are arranged so as to rotate integrally with the filler bowl 2. As will be described later, while these rotate integrally, the inside of the container supplied on the bottle base is rotated. Next, the liquid in the filler bowl 2 is filled by the filling valve 4. Filler bowl 2
Can be raised and lowered by a lifting mechanism (not shown), and can be stopped at an arbitrary height.

Next, the configuration of the filling valve 4 will be described in detail. A circular hole 2a is formed near the outer periphery of the bottom surface of the filler bowl 2, and a fixed cylindrical body 8 is attached through the circular hole 2a. An elevating cylinder 12 is slidably fitted on the inner peripheral surface of the fixed cylinder 8 via a seal ring 10. A main pipe 14 having a diameter smaller than that of the elevating cylinder 12 is fixed to the lower end of the elevating cylinder 12 and moves up and down integrally. A flange 12a is formed at a lower portion of the elevating cylinder 12, and a spring 16 is interposed between an upper surface of the flange 12a and a step portion 8c provided at an upper portion of the fixed cylinder 8, thereby forming an elevating cylinder. The body 12 and the main pipe 14 are constantly urged downward.

An air pipe 18 is inserted through the interior of the fixed cylinder 8, the lifting cylinder 12 and the main pipe 14. The air pipe 18 is fixed to the upper portion 8a of the fixed cylindrical body 8, and has an upper end extending upward inside the filler bowl 2. During a normal filling operation, the opening 18a at the upper end is filled with the liquid of the filling liquid. It protrudes into the space on the surface. The space between the inner surface of the fixed cylinder 8, the elevating cylinder 12, and the outer surface of the main pipe 14 and the outer surface of the air pipe 18 define a passage 20 for the filling liquid.
The inside of the air pipe 18 forms an exhaust passage 22.

A nozzle 24 is fixed to the lower end of the air pipe 18. The nozzle 24 is connected to the main pipe 1
The main pipe 14 slides on the outer peripheral surface of the nozzle 24 and moves up and down.
The nozzle 24 is provided with a liquid inlet 26 for communicating a filling liquid passage 20 formed inside the fixed cylinder 8 and the elevating cylinder 12 to the outside, and an exhaust passage 22 formed inside the air pipe 18. And an exhaust port 28 communicating with the exhaust port 28 are formed. The lower end of the nozzle 24 is a plug 3 formed integrally.
Sealed by 0. A step portion 30a is formed on the outer periphery of the plug 30, and the elevating cylinder body 12 constantly urged downward by the spring 16 has a main pipe 14 fixed to the lower end thereof. The lower limit is regulated by hitting 30a.

A bottle opening packing around the main pipe 14 fixed to the lower end of the elevating cylinder 12 and sealing the inside of the container in close contact with the opening of the container raised by the bottle stand (not shown). 32 is attached, and the bottle mouth packing 32 is pushed up by the mouth of the container,
The main pipe 14 and the elevating cylinder 12 are raised to open the liquid inlet 26 and the exhaust port 28. When the liquid inlet 26 is opened by raising the main pipe 14, the liquid in the filler bowl 2 is supplied to the filling liquid passage 20 through an inflow port 8 b formed in a portion of the fixed cylindrical body 8 located in the filler bowl 2. And the liquid flows into the inlet 2
6 and filled into the container. During the filling, as the liquid is filled in the sealed container, the air in the container flows from the exhaust port 28 to the exhaust passage 22 in the air pipe 18.
Is discharged into the upper space of the filler bowl 2.

Further, in the filling device according to the present embodiment, the injection port 26 formed in the nozzle 24 is
4 is located slightly above the lower end of the liquid injection port 26.
A closing portion 24a that does not open to the outside is provided below the bottom. On the other hand, the exhaust port 28, that is, the opening of the air pipe 18 reaches the lower end of the nozzle 24. Therefore, when the main pipe 14 is slightly raised within the range of the closed portion 24a of the nozzle 24, the liquid inlet 26 is not opened and the outlet 28 is opened.
Only can be opened.

The filling device is provided with a cleaning cup 6 corresponding to each filling valve 4. Each of these cleaning cups 6 includes a cleaning cup bracket 3
3 and is movable between a lower position of the filling valve 4 and a retracted position disengaged from the filling valve 4, and a container which is raised and lowered by a bottle base when performing a normal filling operation. It is retracted to a position where it does not interfere, and is moved to a position immediately below the filling valve 4 during cleaning as shown in FIG. An annular sealing member 3 is provided at the upper end of each cleaning cup 6.
4 is attached. The annular seal member 34 has a diameter corresponding to the cylindrical portion 12b following the flange 12a formed at the lower end of the elevating cylinder 12, and the annular sealing member 34 of the cleaning cup 6 and the elevating cylinder 12 Cylindrical part 12
The inside of the cleaning cup 6 can be sealed by bringing the cleaning cup 6 into close contact. The cylindrical portion 12b at the lower end of the elevating cylinder 12 is provided with a discharge port 12c for the cleaning liquid. The discharge port 12c is connected to a cleaning liquid manifold 38 via a drain hose 36.

The operation of the filling device according to the above configuration will be described. During the filling operation, the cleaning cup 6 is moved to the retracted position. The container is supplied onto a bottle base (not shown), and the bottle base rises with the rotation of the filler bowl 2 and the bottle base to raise the container. After the opening of the container comes into contact with the bottle opening packing 32 and the inside of the container is sealed, the container further rises, and the elevating cylinder 12 and the main pipe 14 are raised via the bottle opening packing 32. The main pipe 14 rises to a level at which the liquid inlet 26 of the nozzle 24 is opened, and opens both the liquid inlet 26 and the exhaust port 28. Then, the liquid in the filler bowl 2 is transferred to the fixed cylindrical body 8.
Flows into the filling liquid passage 20 from the inflow port 8b formed at the upper part of the container, and is filled into the container from the filling port 26;
The air in the container is discharged from the exhaust port 28 to the space above the liquid level of the filling liquid in the filler bowl 2 via the exhaust passage 22. When the level of the liquid filled in the container rises and reaches the height of the exhaust port 28, the exhaust port 28
Go inside and rise. When the liquid level in the exhaust passage 22 matches the liquid level in the filler bowl 2, the flow of the liquid stops. Thereafter, when the bottle base is lowered, the main pipe 14 is lowered together with the bottle port packing 32, and the liquid inlet 26 and the exhaust port 28 are closed to complete the filling.

When the filling valves 4 are to be cleaned, the cleaning cup 6 held by the cleaning cup bracket 33 is moved directly below each filling valve 4. Also,
The inside of the filler bowl 2 is filled with a cleaning liquid instead of the filling liquid. Thereafter, the filler bowl 2 is lowered by a predetermined amount. The elevating cylinder 12 and the main pipe 14, which can be raised and lowered with respect to the filler bowl 2 and the air pipe 18 fixed to the filler bowl 2, are urged by the spring 16 and are relatively most lowered. 2
And descend together. When the cylindrical portion 12b provided at the lower end of the descending elevating cylinder 12 hits the seal member 34 at the upper end of the cleaning cup 6, the elevating cylinder 12 and the main pipe 14
Rise relatively.

In the present embodiment, the filler bowl 2 is lowered in two stages during cleaning.
At the stage, the height of the main pipe 14 relatively rising to open the exhaust port 28 and the liquid supply port 26 is not opened,
That is, the filler bowl 2 is lowered and stopped until the lower end of the main pipe 14 has a height located outside the closing portion 24 a provided below the liquid inlet 26. When only the exhaust port 28 is opened due to the relative rise of the main pipe 14 with respect to the nozzle 24, the cleaning liquid filled in the filler bowl 2 flows in from the opening 18 a at the upper end of the air pipe 18 and passes through the exhaust passage 22. It flows out of the exhaust port 28 into the cleaning cup 6. Further, the cleaning liquid is sent from the cleaning liquid discharge port 12c to the cleaning liquid manifold 38 via the drainage hose 36, and is discharged. Thus, in the first stage, since the cleaning liquid flows only in the air pipe 18, a sufficient flow rate can be obtained, and the exhaust passage 22 inside the air pipe 18 can be effectively cleaned.

After the cleaning of the inside of the air pipe 18 is completed, the filler bowl 2 is lowered one more stage from the above position. At this time, as in the case of filling, the main pipe 14 is raised relatively to the nozzle 24 to a position where both the liquid inlet 26 and the exhaust port 28 are opened. When both the injection port 26 and the exhaust port 28 are simultaneously opened as described above, the cleaning liquid in the filler bowl 2 flows through the inside of the air pipe 18 in the same manner as in the first stage, and the inflow port 8 of the fixed cylindrical body 8 is opened.
b flows into the filling liquid passage 20 and flows out from the liquid inlet 26 into the washing cup 6. Thereafter, the cleaning liquid is sent to the cleaning liquid manifold 38 through the drain hose 36 together with the cleaning liquid flowing out from the exhaust port 28. When the cleaning liquid flows through both the filling liquid passage 20 and the exhaust passage 22, the cleaning liquid mainly flows through the filling liquid passage 20, since the filling liquid passage 20 has a much larger cross-sectional area. The passage 20 is effectively cleaned at a sufficient cleaning flow rate. As described above, the closing portion 24a is provided below the liquid inlet 26 formed in the nozzle 24 so that the lower end of the liquid inlet 26 is located above the lower end of the outlet 28, and the filler is provided. By lowering the bowl 2 in two stages, the exhaust passage 22 in the air pipe 18 can be formed with a very simple structure and with a slight improvement of the conventional structure.
In addition, the filling liquid passage 20 can be completely cleaned.

In the above-described embodiment, the inside of the filling valve 4 is washed by flowing the washing liquid from the filler bowl 2 to the washing cup 6. However, the washing liquid is washed from the washing cup 6 to the filler bowl 2. And backwashing can also be performed. In particular, without opening the liquid inlet 26, the outlet 28
When the reverse cleaning is performed from the cleaning cup 6 side with only the air being opened, the exhaust passage 28 has a small cross-sectional area, so that the flow velocity is increased, and the cleaning liquid is blown up from the upper end opening 18 a of the air pipe 18 to clean the filler bowl 2. Can be cleaned up to the top.

FIG. 2 shows an apparatus for cleaning a filling valve according to a second embodiment. In the above-described embodiment, during cleaning, the filler bowl 2 is moved up and down so that a liquid inlet 26 and an exhaust port 28 are provided.
In this embodiment, the injection port 26 and the exhaust port 28 are opened by an air cylinder. The same parts as those in the above embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

In this embodiment, the cleaning cup 6 is directly attached to the cylindrical portion 12b provided at the lower end of the elevating cylinder 12, and is formed above the cylindrical portion 12b and the cleaning cup 6, respectively. A pin 40 is inserted into the hole to connect the two 12, 12 together. Pin 4 of cleaning cup 6
The O-ring 42 is mounted on the inner surface below the hole for inserting the cleaning cup 6 and the cylindrical portion 1 of the elevating cylinder 12.
2b is maintained.

Adjacent to the position where the fixed cylindrical body 8 is mounted on the lower surface of the filler bowl 2, the exhaust port 2 is provided at the time of cleaning.
8 and an air cylinder device 44 for opening the liquid inlet 26 are fixed. The air cylinder device 44 includes an upper first cylinder 46 and a lower second cylinder 48, and cleans the filling valve 4 by moving the elevating cylinder 12 up and down in two stages. A first cylinder 46 is slidably fitted to the cylindrical portion 50 fixed to the bottom surface of the filler bowl 2 while maintaining airtightness, and a first pressure is applied by the cylindrical portion 50 and the first cylinder 46. A chamber 52 is configured.

On the lower surface of the cylindrical portion 50, a piston 5 is provided at the lower end.
A piston rod 56 having a piston 4 is fixed, and the piston rod 56 penetrates the bottom surface of the first cylinder 46 while maintaining airtightness. A second cylinder 48 is provided below the first cylinder 46, and the piston rod 56 penetrates slidably. The piston 54 is fitted in the second cylinder 48 while maintaining airtightness, and a second pressure chamber 58 is formed above the piston 54 in the second cylinder 48. The first and second
The pressure chambers 52 and 58 are connected to a supply source of pressurized air via a switching valve (not shown), and can supply compressed air to the inside or open to the atmosphere.

A flange 48a is formed at the lower end of the second cylinder 48, and is engaged with the lower surface of the flange 12a formed at the lower part of the elevating cylinder 12. Therefore, the operation of the first and second cylinders 46 and 48 allows the lifting cylinder 12 to be raised against the spring 16.

The operation of the filling device according to the above configuration will be described. When compressed air is introduced into the first pressure chamber 52, the air is supplied to the first cylinder 46 and the second cylinder 4.
8 in the direction of lowering, while the second pressure chamber 48
When compressed air is introduced into the cylinder, it acts in the direction of raising the second cylinder 48 and the first cylinder 46, so that compressed air is introduced into the first pressure chamber 52 and the second pressure chamber 58 Open to the public. As a result, the first and second cylinders 46 and 48 are at the most lowered positions, and the elevating cylinder 12 is not affected by the cylinders 46 and 48. , The liquid inlet 26 and the exhaust port 28 can be closed. The operation of the filling valve 4 during filling is the same as in the previous embodiment.

Next, when cleaning the filling valve 4, the cleaning cup 6 is connected to the cylindrical portion 12 b at the lower end of the elevating cylinder 12.
And fill the inside of the filler bowl 2 with the cleaning liquid. After this state, first, in the first stage of cleaning, compressed air is introduced into both the pressure chamber 52 of the first cylinder 46 and the pressure chamber 58 of the second cylinder 48. The air in the second pressure chamber 58 causes the second cylinder 48 and the first cylinder 46 to rise, but compressed air is also introduced into the first pressure chamber 52 to lower both cylinders 46, 48. Therefore, both cylinders 46 and 48 are raised by a predetermined short distance. Since the flange 48a of the second cylinder 48 is engaged with the flange 12a of the elevating cylinder 12, the elevating cylinder 12 ascends by the same distance as the two cylinders 46 and 48, and opens only the exhaust port 28. The cleaning liquid flows only in the exhaust passage 22 to clean the inside of the exhaust passage 22 as in the above embodiment.

After the cleaning of the exhaust passage 22 is completed, the air is introduced into the second pressure chamber 58 while the first pressure chamber 5
Release 2 to atmosphere. Then, the force for lowering both cylinders 46, 48 is removed, and both cylinders 46, 4 are removed.
8 rises to the top. The raising / lowering cylinder 12 and the main pipe 14 are raised by the rise of the second cylinder 48,
The injection port 26 is also opened in addition to the exhaust port 28 that has already been opened. As a result, the filling liquid passage 20 and the exhaust passage 22
The filling liquid flows in both passages, and the inside of the filling liquid passage 20 is mainly washed as in the above-described embodiment. In this embodiment, the same effects as in the first embodiment can be obtained.

[0030]

As described above, according to the present invention, a cylinder provided on the bottom surface of a filler bowl and having a filling liquid passage formed therein, and a main pipe fixed to a lower end of the cylinder are provided. An air pipe disposed in the cylindrical body and the main pipe and having an exhaust passage formed therein, and an injection port fixed to a lower portion of the air pipe and communicating with the filling liquid passage and an exhaust port communicating with the exhaust passage. A filling valve that opens and closes a liquid injection port and an exhaust port by relative elevation of the main pipe and the nozzle, wherein a closing portion is provided below the liquid injection port of the nozzle, The lower end of the liquid port is positioned higher than the lower end of the exhaust port, and the relative elevation between the main pipe and the nozzle is set in at least two stages, and only the exhaust port is opened in the first stage, By which is adapted also to open injection port in addition to the exhaust port in step, it can be washed very simple structure, also effectively exhaust passage in the air pipe.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a filling valve cleaning apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of a cleaning device for a filling valve according to a second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Filler bowl 4 Filling valve 12 Cylindrical body (elevating cylinder) 14 Main pipe 18 Air pipe 20 Filling liquid passage 22 Exhaust passage 24 Nozzle 24a Closing part 26 Filling port 28 Exhaust port

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A cylinder provided on a bottom surface of a filler bowl and having a filling liquid passage formed therein, a main pipe fixed to a lower end of the cylinder, and a cylinder disposed inside the cylinder and the main pipe. An air pipe having an exhaust passage formed therein, and a nozzle fixed to a lower portion of the air pipe and having a liquid injection port communicating with the filling liquid passage and an exhaust port communicating with the exhaust passage. A filling valve that opens and closes a liquid inlet and an exhaust port by relative elevation of a pipe and a nozzle, wherein a closing portion is provided below the liquid inlet of the nozzle, and a lower end of the liquid inlet is a lower end of the exhaust port. And at least two levels of relative elevation between the main pipe and the nozzle are set, and only the exhaust port is opened in the first step, and the injection port is added to the exhaust port in the second step. Also open Cleaning apparatus of the filling valve, characterized by.