JPH11290807A - Rotary valve pusher of rotary type bottle washing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To push by a more strong force in execution of steam sterilization than that in ordinary washing operation by making a push force for pushing a distributor onto a rotor variable. SOLUTION: A rotary type bottle washing device supplies a washing liquid to a nozzle via a rotary valve 12 comprising a distributor 16 and a rotor 14. When the distributor 16 is separated from the rotor 14 by a liquid pressure, the liquid is started to leak. Therefore, it is pushed with an air cylinder 53. An air cylinder 53 is incorporated inside the distributor 16. When a pressure air is introduced into a room 44 below that, the distributor descends, and is pressed onto the lower rotor 14. The air comes to be introduced into the lower room 44 via a regulator 56, and a pushing force of the distributor 16 can be adjusted. Then, the distributor 16 is pushed by stronger force in steam sterilization than that in ordinary production operation.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a rotary bottle washer, and more particularly to a rotary valve pressing device for pressing a fixed member (distributor) and a rotary member (rotor) of a rotary valve into pressure.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, a rotary bottle washer is provided with a rotating body that rotates about a central axis, and a bottle provided at an outer circumferential portion of the rotating body at equal intervals in a circumferential direction and conveyed by a conveyor. A plurality of bottle grippers for receiving and grasping from the inlet starwheel and inverting the bottle while rotating and transporting the bottles are provided at positions corresponding to the bottle grippers of the rotating body, respectively. The bottle is provided with a washing nozzle for spraying a washing liquid to wash the inside of the bottle, a rotary valve for supplying the washing liquid from the fixed side to the washing nozzle of the rotating body, and the like.

A conventional rotary valve is mounted on the lower surface of a rotating body and rotates integrally with a stationary plate (distributor), and slides on the stationary plate disposed below the rotating plate. A plate (rotor). In the rotating plate, a discharge passage for supplying the cleaning liquid to a pipe connected to each of the washing nozzles is formed, while a supply passage for distributing and supplying the cleaning liquid sent from the pump is provided in the fixed plate. Is formed, and in a predetermined section during rotation of the rotating plate, when the discharge passage of the rotating plate is connected to the supply passage of the fixed-side plate, the washing liquid is sent to the inner washing nozzle via the pipe, and the bottle is The ink is sprayed into a bottle held by the gripper to clean the bottle.

[0004] In the rotary bottle washer according to the above configuration,
The cleaning liquid sent from the pump is always supplied to the supply passage of the fixed plate, and the cleaning liquid is supplied to the nozzle from the discharge passage corresponding to the supply passage during rotation of the rotating plate so that the cleaning liquid is jetted to the bottle. Therefore, a strong hydraulic pressure acts on the sliding surface between the fixed-side plate and the rotating plate to separate the rotating plate. Therefore, the fixed side plate and the rotating plate are separated from each other and the fixed side plate is pressed against the rotating plate by a pressing means such as an air cylinder so as to prevent the cleaning liquid from leaking from the sliding surface (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 6-1994). 254511, JP-A-6-254512, Japanese Patent Application No. 8-287.
No. 603, Japanese Patent Application No. 8-287604, Japanese Patent Application No. 9-16
No. 8151).

The conventional rotary valve pressing means uses a fixed plate (distributor) with a predetermined force capable of preventing the distributor and the rotor from being separated by the pressure of the supplied cleaning liquid to prevent liquid leakage. ) Is pressed against a rotating plate (rotor).

[0006]

By the way, in the present production line for beverages and the like, filling equipment corresponding to aseptic (sterile) filling is required. As described above, in a rotary bottle washer compatible with aseptic filling, at the end of production, sterilization may be performed by filling the inside of a pipe with high-temperature steam. This steam sterilization has a temperature of 130
In order to raise the temperature to about ° C, the pressure in the piping must be increased. Therefore, as described above, it is impossible to cope with the steam sterilization with the pressing force applied to the distributor during the production operation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problem, and has a structure in which the pressing force of a pressing means for pressing a fixed-side plate against a rotating plate can be easily changed, and furthermore, steam and other cleaning and sterilizing means. When the rotary type bottle washer itself is washed using the cleaning fluid, the rotary sterilization machine is pressed with a higher pressure than in a normal production operation, thereby preventing leakage of the cleaning sterilization fluid.

[0008]

According to the present invention, a rotary valve pressing device for a rotary bottle washer has a cleaning fluid inlet and a supply passage communicating with the inlet and opening to a sliding surface. A fixed-side plate, a rotating plate which is disposed so as to be slidable and rotatable with respect to a sliding surface of the fixed-side plate, and a discharge plate formed with a discharge passage which is cut off and communicated with the supply passage with rotation; Pressing means for pressing against the rotating plate, wherein when the discharge passage is connected to the supply passage of the fixed side plate during rotation of the rotating plate, the washing fluid is jetted to wash the bottle and the bottle is a rotary type bottle. In the washing machine, the pressing force of the pressing means can be adjusted, and when cleaning the rotary type bottle washing machine itself, the pressing is performed at a higher pressure than during operation. Than it is.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to an embodiment shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view showing a main part of a rotary bottle washer provided with a rotary valve pressing device according to one embodiment of the present invention. The rotating wheel 4 is fixed to the outer periphery of the upper part of the rotating shaft 2 arranged at the center and rotates integrally. A plurality of bottle grippers 6 (see FIG. 2 showing a configuration at the time of washing and sterilization described later) are provided at equal intervals in the circumferential direction near the outer periphery of the rotating wheel 4.
Each of these bottle grippers 6 is supported on a column 8 fixed vertically to the outer peripheral edge of the rotating wheel 4, and has a radial outer side (right side in FIG. 2) and an inner side around a horizontal fulcrum. The bottle can be turned upside down and returned to the upright state by turning over.

A rotary valve 12 for shutting off the supply of the cleaning liquid to be supplied to the nozzle 10 is provided on the upper surface of the rotary wheel 4.
Annular rotating plate (rotor) constituting the rotating side member
14 is attached, and rotates integrally with the rotating wheel 4. Here, a configuration of a connecting portion between the annular rotor 14 and the rotating wheel (support body of the rotor 14) 4 will be described. In this embodiment, the rotor 14 is made of resin and slides and rotates with respect to a metal distributor 16 described later. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, radial key grooves 18 are formed at equal intervals on the bottom surface of the rotor 14. On the other hand, protrusions (slip keys) 20 are fixed on the upper surface of the metal rotating wheel 4 at equal intervals in the circumferential direction, and are engaged with the respective key grooves 18. Further, an annular positioning stopper 22 having an outer diameter substantially matching the inner diameter of the rotor 14 is provided on the inner peripheral side of the position where the sliding key 20 of the rotating wheel 4 is attached. The key groove 18 is not limited to one that connects the inner peripheral surface and the outer peripheral surface of the rotor 14, and may be a long hole extending in the radial direction. However, it is necessary that the sliding key 20 be long enough to move relatively in the radial direction.

Inside the rotor 14, the same number of discharge passages 24 as the number of the bottle grippers 6 are formed radially. Each discharge passage 24 formed inside the rotor 14
The cleaning liquid inlet openings 24a are arranged at equal intervals on the same circumference on the upper surface side of the rotor 14, and the cleaning liquid outlet openings 24b are arranged at equal intervals on the outer peripheral surface of the rotor 14. The outlet-side openings 24b of the discharge passages 24 are connected to the nozzles 10 via supply hoses 26, respectively.

A center shaft 30 fixed to a frame 28 is fitted to the upper end of the rotating shaft 2. A fixed plate (distributor) which constitutes the rotary valve 12 together with the rotor 14 is fitted around the center shaft 30. ) 16 is attached. An arc-shaped cleaning liquid supply slot (cleaning liquid supply passage) 32 is formed on the lower surface of the distributor 16 (sliding surface with the rotor 14). The arc-shaped slot 32 is formed on the side surface of the distributor 16. It communicates with the outside through a cleaning liquid inlet 34 that opens. The arc-shaped elongated hole 32 is located on a circumference having the same radius as a circle in which the inlet-side openings 24a of the multiple discharge passages 24 formed in the rotor 14 are arranged. 14 is overlapped with the center of the rotor 14, a part of the inlet side opening 24 a of the discharge passage 24, which is opened at equal intervals over the entire circumference of the sliding surface of the rotor 14, And the other inlet-side opening 24a is closed by a flat portion (sliding surface) in which the elongated hole 32 is not formed. Accordingly, when the rotor 14 rotates with respect to the distributor 16, the discharge passages 24 are sequentially connected to the arc-shaped long holes 32, and thereafter are sequentially shut off.

A cleaning liquid intake port 34 opened on the side surface of the distributor 16 is connected to a cleaning liquid tank 38 via a supply pipe 36, and the cleaning liquid sent to the tank 38 from a pump (not shown) is supplied to the cleaning liquid tank 38. The gas is supplied from the intake port 34 to the discharge passages 24 of the rotor 14 through the arc-shaped elongated holes 32.
4 is supplied to each nozzle 10 via a supply hose 26 connected to the outlet side opening 24b.

An annular space (cylinder portion 39) is formed inside the distributor 16, and a piston 40 is accommodated in the space 39. The space 39 is divided into an upper pressure chamber 42 and a lower pressure chamber 44. It is partitioned. Piston 4
Numeral 0 is fixed to the outer periphery of the fixed central shaft 30, while the distributor 16 can move up and down along the outer peripheral surface of the fixed shaft 30. Inside the upper and lower chambers 42, 44 of the piston 42 are air passages 46,
The distributor 16 is connected to the air supply source 52 via the switching valve 48 and the switching valve 50, and the distributor 16 can be moved up and down by introducing air into one of the upper and lower chambers 42 and 44. The air cylinder 53 incorporated in the distributor 16 constitutes pressing means for pressing the distributor 16 against the rotor 14.

A plurality of vertical guide rods 54 are fixed to the upper part of the distributor 16, and these guide rods 54 are slidably supported in the holes of the frame 28 to guide the distributor 16 up and down. It has become. Note that a regulator 56 and a shutoff valve 58 are provided in the air passage 48 that supplies air to the pressure chamber 44 below the piston 40, and the air pressure introduced into the pressure chamber 44 can be adjusted.

Further, the rotary bottle washer according to the present embodiment is provided with a channel for collecting a sterilizing fluid for cleaning and sterilizing the internal fluid passage, the nozzle 10 and the like. As shown in FIG. 2, the nozzle 10 on the rotating wheel 4
A fluid discharge passage 60 is provided near the
2 is connected to a recovery passage 64 inside the rotating shaft 2. When cleaning and sterilizing the internal passage of the rotary bottle washer, a nozzle cap 66 is attached to the tip of the nozzle 10, and in this state, the nozzle 10 is sterilized with a sterilizing solution or steam. When the fluid for injection is ejected, the fluid is applied to the outer surface of the nozzle 10 and the cap 6.
6, enters the discharge passage 60 through a gap between the inner surface of the rotation shaft 6, and is collected through a collection passage 64 in the rotary shaft 2 via a return pipe 62.

The operation of the rotary bottle washer according to the above configuration will be described. During a production operation in which a normal bottle washing operation is performed, air is introduced into the pressure chamber 44 below the piston 40 fitted in the distributor 16 to lower the distributor 16 to a predetermined pressure (that is, the circle of the distributor 16). The distributor 16 and the rotor 14 are brought into pressure contact with the rotor 14 at a pressure which prevents the distributor 16 and the rotor 14 from being separated from each other by the pressure of the cleaning liquid introduced into the arc-shaped elongated hole 32 and causing liquid leakage. In this state, the rotating wheel 4 and the rotor 14 fixed to the rotating shaft 2 are rotated by driving means (not shown).

A large number of bottles continuously transported in an upright state by a transport conveyor (not shown) are sequentially loaded into the rotary bottle washing machine by a supply means such as a star wheel. The bottles carried into the rotary bottle washer are gripped one by one by grippers 6 attached to the outer peripheral portion of the rotating wheel 4. While moving with the rotation of the rotating wheel 4, the gripper 6 is turned inward in the radial direction of the rotating wheel 4, and the held bottle is in an inverted state. The inner washing nozzle 10 faces the mouth of the bottle in the inverted state.

An arc-shaped long hole 32 is formed on the sliding surface of the distributor 16, and the cleaning liquid is constantly supplied. With the rotation of the rotor 14, the inlet-side opening 24 a of the discharge passage 24 is opened. Arc-shaped slot 3
2 is connected to the discharge passage 2 of the rotor 14.
The ink is sent to the inner washing nozzle 10 via the supply hose 4 and the supply hose 26, and is sprayed into an inverted bottle to wash the inside of the bottle.

The discharge passage 2 formed inside the rotor 14
While the inlet-side opening 24a of the nozzle 4 moves in the arc-shaped long hole 32 of the distributor 16, the cleaning liquid is sent to the nozzle 10 and injected into the bottle to perform cleaning. Thereafter, when the inlet side opening 24a of the discharge passage 24 passes through the arc-shaped long hole 32 due to the rotation of the rotor 14, a series of passages for supplying the cleaning liquid is shut off, and the cleaning is completed. Thereafter, the bottle gripper 6 transports and drains the bottle while holding it in an inverted state over a predetermined rotation range. Thereafter, the bottle gripper 6 is again inverted to return the bottle to the upright state, and then discharged out of the bottle washing machine by an outlet star wheel or the like.

The rotary bottle washer according to this embodiment has an excellent sanitary property because the air cylinder 53 as a pressing means for pressing the distributor 16 against the rotor 14 is incorporated in the distributor 16. Further, since the air pressure adjusted by the regulator 56 can be introduced into the lower pressure chamber 44 in the distributor 16, the force of pressing the distributor 16 against the rotor 14 can be freely changed, and Leakage can be reliably prevented, and abnormal wear can be prevented.

The rotor 14 is provided with a radial groove 18 and a sliding key 2 with respect to the rotating wheel 4 as a support.
Therefore, even when the resin-made rotor 14 expands due to the use of the high-temperature cleaning liquid, the entire circumference expands almost uniformly outward in the radial direction. Therefore, the sliding surface on which the inlet side opening 24a of the discharge passage 24 of the rotor 14 is formed is not deformed, so that there is no liquid leakage or abnormal wear. Further, the entrance side opening 24a is not completely closed.

When cleaning and sterilizing the inside of the rotary bottle washing machine before or after the production operation, as shown in FIG.
And send a fluid for washing and disinfection along the same route as in the production operation. An arc-shaped long hole (supply passage) 32 of the distributor 16 from the upper tank 38 via the supply pipe 36
The cleaning / sterilizing fluid sent to the nozzle 14 enters the discharge passage 24 communicated with the rotation of the rotor 14, and is supplied to the nozzle 10 from the supply hose 26. The cleaning and sterilizing fluid sprayed from the nozzle 10 is applied to the outer surface of the nozzle 10 and the nozzle cap 6.
6 and into the discharge passage 60, and is collected from the return pipe 62 through the collection passage 64.

When steam sterilization is performed through high-temperature steam as the cleaning and disinfecting fluid, the air pressure introduced into the pressure chamber 44 below the air cylinder 53 is set higher than during the production operation. By pressing the distributor 16 against the rotor 14 with a large force in this manner, the two members 14 and 1 are pressed as in the case of steam sterilization.
Even if a large pressure acts between 6, 14, 14 and 16
Can be prevented from separating and steam leaking.

In the above-described embodiment, the force with which the distributor 16 is pressed against the rotor 14 can be changed. However, the pressure can be changed automatically. In that case, the switching may be performed by providing the same number of regulators 56 and shutoff valves 58 as the number of patterns for changing the pressing force.

Further, in the above embodiment, the air cylinder 53 as a pressing means for pressing the distributor 16 against the rotor 14 is incorporated in the distributor 16, but the present invention is not limited to such a configuration of the air cylinder 53. 4, the pressing force of the distributor 116 against the rotor 114 can be made variable, and a stronger pressing force can be applied during steam sterilization than during normal production operation. In the configuration of FIG. 4, the rotor 114 is disposed above and the distributor 116 is disposed below, and the distributor 116 is supported in the backup ring 117. Air cylinders 119 are connected to the backup ring 117 at a plurality of positions on the circumference, and the output of the air cylinders 119 can be adjusted to change the force with which the distributor 116 is pressed against the rotor 114. Therefore, when performing the steam sterilization, the pressing force of the air cylinder is made larger than that during the normal production operation, so that the steam can be prevented from leaking from between the distributor 116 and the rotor 114.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where the cleaning and sterilization of the inside of the rotary bottle washer is performed using steam has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to steam sterilization, and other conventional cleaning and sterilizing fluids are used. Needless to say, the present invention can be applied to generally used cleaning with warm water and chemical cleaning of nitric acid, oxonia and the like. Even in the case of cleaning with such a cleaning and sterilizing fluid other than steam, leakage of the cleaning fluid at the time of cleaning can be prevented by setting the pressing force by the pressing means (air cylinder) larger than during the production operation.

[0028]

As described above, the rotary valve pressing device of the rotary bottle washer according to the present invention enables the pressing force of the pressing means for pressing the fixed side plate to the rotary plate to be adjusted, and the rotary type washer to be rotated. When cleaning the bottle machine itself, it is pressed at a higher pressure than during operation, so it is possible to perform cleaning with steam sterilization and other cleaning sterilizing fluids that were not possible with the conventional configuration. is there.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a main part of a rotary bottle washer provided with a rotary valve pressing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a state of the rotary bottle washer during cleaning and sterilization.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of a rotary bottle washer provided with a rotary valve pressing device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 14 Rotating plate 16 Fixed side plate (distributor) 24 Discharge passage 32 Supply passage (arc-shaped long hole) 34 Cleaning fluid inlet 53 Pressing means (air cylinder)

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A fixed-side plate formed with an inlet for a cleaning fluid, a supply passage communicating with the inlet, and open to a sliding surface, and slidably rotatable with respect to the sliding surface of the fixed-side plate. A rotating plate having a discharge passage formed therein, the discharge passage being formed so as to be interrupted by the rotation of the supply passage with rotation, and pressing means for pressing the fixed-side plate against the rotating plate, wherein the discharge passage is rotated during rotation of the rotating plate. A rotary bottle washer that injects the cleaning fluid to wash the bottle when it is connected to a supply passage of the fixed side plate, wherein the pressing force of the pressing means is adjustable, and the rotary bottle is A rotary valve pressing device for a rotary bottle washer, wherein when the machine itself is cleaned, the machine is pressed with a higher pressure than during operation.