JPS5952116B2 - filling equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a filling device for filling a container with liquid.

There are two types of filling devices.

One type includes a metering chamber that is provided in communication with the tank and has approximately the same volume as the container, and after the liquid in the tank is once transferred to the metering chamber, the liquid in this chamber is filled into the container. It is called a quantitative formula.

The other type is called a constant water level type, and has a liquid level detector near the injection pipe that fills the liquid into the container, which detects the liquid level in the container and controls the filling operation. It is something to do.

Now, these quantitative type and constant water level type filling devices are used for containers,
Can be used depending on the type of filling liquid.

For example, a constant water level type is suitable for ketchup, yakiniku sauce, etc., and a quantitative type for soy sauce, chemicals, etc. can be filled with higher precision.

Therefore, conventionally, one type of filling device has been adopted depending on the purpose, and the filling device has been used exclusively.

However, recently, with the diversification of products, the operation of filling devices has been reviewed, and it has become desirable to be able to fill multiple types of liquids with a single filling device.

In view of the above points of the present invention, the present invention provides a filling device that can carry out both quantitative and constant level filling as needed, and includes a tank for storing filling liquid and a predetermined internal volume. A metering chamber, a tank valve that communicates or shuts off the tank and the metering chamber, and a liquid injection pipe that is connected to the metering chamber and leads the filling liquid in the chamber to the container by pressurizing means provided in the metering chamber. a liquid injection valve that communicates or closes the metering chamber and the liquid injection pipe; and a liquid level detector that detects, by means of injection air pressure, that the liquid level of the filling liquid in the container is at a predetermined position.
A position detector for the pressurizing means that detects the operating position of the pressurizing means based on changes in the injected air pressure, and quantitative filling operation or constant water level filling based on changes in the air pressure supplied to either of these detectors. and a compressed air control circuit that operates.
This compressed air control circuit includes a first pressure source circuit that supplies compressed air to the position detector and liquid level detector, and a second pressure source circuit that drives the tank valve, liquid injection valve, and pressurizing means. and logical means provided between the first and second pressure source circuits to apply a drive control signal to the second pressure source circuit based on a change in air pressure in the first pressure source circuit, During quantitative filling operation in which the supply of compressed air to the detector is stopped, the pressurizing means alternately controls opening and closing of the tank valve and the liquid injection valve based on changes in the air pressure supplied to the position detector. controls the quantitative filling operation of filling the introduced liquid into the container via the liquid injection pipe and the liquid filling operation into the quantitative chamber, and makes it possible to supply compressed air to the liquid level detector. During the constant water level filling operation, at least the tank valve and the liquid injection valve are controlled to open and close based on changes in the air pressure supplied to the liquid level detector to control the constant water level filling operation and the liquid filling operation to the container. It is a feature.

The present invention will be explained below with reference to embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

A metering chamber 2 having a predetermined internal volume is formed on the outside of the tank 1 that stores the filling liquid, and a liquid injection pipe 3 for guiding the filling liquid to the container C is connected below the metering chamber 2. It is set up.

A passage 4 communicating between the tank 1 and the metering chamber 2 is connected to a tank valve 5.
It is opened and closed by

The tank valve 5 is normally energized by a spring 6 to close the passage 4, but as will be described later, when compressed air from the pressure source 22 is introduced by the action of the switching valve 30, the tank valve 5 descends and closes the passage 4. Open (see Figure 1).

On the other hand, the liquid injection valve 7 that opens and closes the liquid injection pipe 3 is also the tank valve 5.
Similarly, it is opened and closed by the pressure source 22.

That is, the liquid injection valve 7 is normally biased downward by the spring 8 to close the liquid injection pipe 3, but as will be described later, when compressed air is introduced by the action of the switching valve 29, it rises and closes the liquid injection pipe 3. Open the liquid pipe 3 (see Figure 2).

A piston 9 is slidably mounted in the metering chamber 2.

The screws 1 to 9 are driven by a cylinder device 10 formed above the metering chamber 2.

That is, the piston 9 moves up and down by introducing compressed air into either the upper pressure chamber 11 or the lower pressure chamber 12 of the cylinder device 10.

Compressed air is introduced into these chambers 11, 12 by switching the switching valve 28 as described later.

A piston position detector 13 is provided above the cylinder device 10 to detect the descent of the screw 1 and 9.

This detector 13 constantly blows out compressed air supplied from a pressure source 21, and has a flange 1 formed above the piston 9.
When the piston 4 contacts the air hole and closes the air hole, the change in air pressure at this time is detected and the downward movement of the piston 9 is stopped.

With the above configuration, quantitative filling operation is possible.

First, when the piston 9 has descended to the lowest position, the tank valve 5 is opened and the liquid injection valve 7 is closed.

When the piston 9 is raised, the filling liquid in the tank 1 is sucked into the metering chamber 2 through the passage 4.
The tube 9 stops its upward movement at a predetermined position to maintain a fixed amount of filling liquid in the metering chamber 2.

Then, when the tank valve 5 is closed and the liquid injection valve 7 is opened to lower the piston 9, the filled liquid flows down into the container C through the liquid injection pipe 3.

The above operations are controlled by a compressed air control circuit 20, which will be described later.

A liquid level detector 15 is disposed on the side of the liquid injection pipe 3.

This detector 15 is equipped with a tubular air injection part, and as described later, injects compressed air supplied from a pressure source 21 into the container C, and the liquid level in the container C is adjusted to a predetermined position via this air pressure. Detect whether it is present or not.

If the liquid level is at a predetermined position, the detector 15 switches the switching valve via a control mechanism (not shown), closes the liquid injection valve 7, and completes the filling process.

That is, the liquid level detector 15 controls the timing of closing the liquid injection valve 7, and is used to perform the above-mentioned constant level filling.

Next, the compressed air control circuit 20 that controls the driving of the response valves 5 and 7 and the piston 9 will be explained.

This circuit 20 is provided outside the tank 1 and mainly includes a first pressure source 21 that supplies compressed air to the piston position detector 13 and the liquid level detector 15, the tank valve 5, the liquid injection valve 7, and the piston 9. and a second pressure source 22 for driving.

The first pressure source 21 constantly supplies compressed air to the piston position detector 13 via a passage 28 and communicates with a filling valve 26 and a cleaning valve 27 via passages 24 and 25, respectively.

The filling valve 26 is connected to the second pressure source 22 as will be described later, and has the function of controlling the tank valve 5, the liquid filling valve 7, and the piston 9, and the cleaning valve 27 is connected to the liquid level detector after filling is completed. Compressed air is supplied to the pipe 15 to remove residual liquid in the pipe.

First, second, and third switching valves 28, 29, and 30 are connected to the second pressure source 22.

The first switching valve 28 is connected to the upper pressure chamber 11 and the lower pressure chamber 1 of the cylinder device 10 through passages 31 and 32, respectively.
2, and supplies compressed air to either of these pressure chambers 11 and 12.

The second switching valve 29 communicates with the liquid injection valve 7 via a passage 33, and the third switching valve 30 communicates with the tank valve 5 via a passage 34.

These second and third switching valves 29 and 30 have passages 35 and 36 at both ends of the valve body of the first switching valve 28, respectively.
This switching valve 28 is also switched.

That is, for example, in the state shown in FIG.
Since the switching valve 29 is in the OFF state, the liquid injection valve 7 is closed by the biasing force of the spring 8, while the third switching valve 30 is in the OFF state.
Since it is in the N state, the tank valve 5 is opened, and the valve body of the first switching valve 28 is energized by the air pressure guided by the third switching valve 30.

Then, the flow is switched to supply compressed air to the passage 32, increasing the pressure in the lower pressure chamber 12 and causing the piston 9 to rise.

The second and third switching valves 29, 30 are controlled by NOR circuits 37, 38, 39.

These NOR circuits 37, 38, and 39 do not generate air pressure if even one of the air pressures on the input side is above a predetermined value, and conversely, when all the air pressures on the input side are below a predetermined value, a constant value is generated. It is designed to generate air pressure.

The input side of the first NOR circuit 37 communicates with the first pressure source 21 via a passage 41 forming an orifice 40, and communicates with the output side of the third NOR circuit 39 via a passage 42, It is also connected to the output side of the second NOR circuit 38 through a passage 43 .

On the other hand, the output side of the first NOR circuit 37 communicates with the second switching valve 29 via a passage 44, and the second switching valve 29 via a passage 45.
The input side of the NOR circuit 38 is connected to the input side of the NOR circuit 38.

Therefore, when the air pressures in the passages 41, 42, and 43 are all below a predetermined value, the output side of the first NOR circuit 37 is turned on and discharges compressed air, and the second switching is performed via the passage 44. Valve 29 is energized.

In other words, the switching valve 29 is switched and the passage 33 is switched to the second
The pressure source 22 is connected to open the liquid injection valve 7.

In addition to the passage 45, a passage 46 communicating with the filling valve 26 is connected to the input side of the second NOR circuit 38, and on the output side, in addition to the passage 43, a third switch is connected. valve 30
A passage 47 communicating with the input side of the third ONOR circuit 39 and a passage 48 communicating with the input side of the third ONOR circuit 39 are connected.

Therefore, when the air pressures in the passages 45 and 46 are both below a predetermined value, the output side of the second NOR circuit 38 is turned on, and compressed air is sent to the third switching valve 30 via the passage 47.

That is, the valve body of the switching valve 30 is energized to switch it, the passage 34 is brought into communication with the second pressure source 22, and the tank valve 5 is opened.

On the other hand, passages 49 and 50 are provided by branching the passage 4'2 that communicates the output side of the third NOR circuit 39 and the input side of the first NOR circuit 37, and the passage 49 is connected to the cleaning valve 27. At the same time, the passage 50 is connected to the liquid level detector 1.
It is connected to 5.

In the passage 42, near the third NOR circuit 39,
Orifices 51 and 52 are formed on the side of the first NOR circuit 37 from the branch points with the passages 49 and 50, respectively.

Therefore, the compressed air output from the third NOR circuit 39 is reduced in pressure by the orifice 51 and then passed through the passage 50.
The pressure is divided into one that is supplied to the liquid level detector 15 through the passageway, and another that is further reduced in pressure by the orifice 52 and fed to the first NOR circuit 37, and the pressure of the one that is sent to this NOR circuit 37 is always at a predetermined level. The pressure will be lower than the value.

However, since the compressed air supplied from the cleaning valve 27 to the first NOR circuit 37 via the passages 49 and 42 is reduced in pressure only by the orifice 52, it exhibits a pressure higher than the predetermined value, and the first NOR circuit 37 has a pressure higher than the predetermined value. The output of circuit 37 is O.
It will be designated as FF.

Note that the valve mechanism 53 provided in the middle of the passage 50 is closed when quantitative filling is performed, and the supply of compressed air to the liquid level detector 15 is cut off.

Since this apparatus has the above-mentioned configuration, the filling process is performed in the following manner.

First, quantitative filling will be explained.

In this case, the valve mechanism 53 is closed and compressed air is not supplied to the liquid level detector 15.

Before the container C is supplied directly below the liquid injection pipe 3, the filling valve 26 is in an OFF state.

Therefore, the compressed air from the first pressure source 21 is not forced into the passage 46, but is supplied only to the passage 23 side.

At the beginning of this filling process, the piston 9 is at the lowest end,
Since the collar 14 closes the air hole of the piston position sensor 13, the compressed air in the passage 23 is fed into the passage 41 through the orifice 40.

When the air pressure in the passage 41 on the input side of the first NOR circuit 37 rises above a certain value, the output side thereof is turned off and the air pressure in the passages 44 and 45 does not increase.

That is, the second switching valve 29 becomes inactive, compressed air is not supplied to the passage 33, and the liquid injection valve 7 is lowered by the spring force to close the liquid injection pipe 3.

In addition, since the air pressure in the passage 45 does not increase, the passage 4
Coupled with the fact that compressed air is not supplied into the NOR circuit 6, the output side of the second NOR circuit 38 is turned on.

Therefore, the air pressure in the passages 43, 47, 48 increases,
The third switching valve 30 operates to direct the passage 34 to the second pressure source 2.
It connects to 2.

That is, the tank valve 5 is energized by compressed air and moves downward to open the passage 4 and communicate the inside of the tank 1 with the metering chamber 2.

On the other hand, the first switching valve 28 is connected to the second and third switching valves 29 .
30, the air pressure only in the passage 35 of the passages 35 and 36 increases, so the valve body moves to the passage 35 side, connects the second pressure source 22 to the passage 32, and connects the passage 31 to this pressure. source 22.

Therefore, compressed air is supplied to the lower pressure chamber 12 of the cylinder device 10, and the piston 9 rises, sucking the filling liquid in the tank 1 into the metering chamber 2.

When the air hole of the piston position detector 13 is opened at the same time as the piston 9 starts to rise, the compressed air in the passage 23 hardly flows toward the passage 41 due to the throttling effect of the orifice 40, and most of it It will be supplied to the detector 13.

In other words, the air pressure in the passage 41 decreased as the piston 9 began to rise, but since the air pressure in the passage 43 communicating with the second NOR circuit 38 remained high, the first NOR circuit The output side of 37 is maintained in the OFF state, and the piston 9 is smoothly raised (see Figure 1).
.

When the piston 9 has risen to a certain height, the piston 9 is stopped by a stop mechanism (not shown), and immediately after this the filling valve 26 is switched and the passages 24, 46 are brought into communication with each other.

That is, a filling operation state as shown in FIG. 2 is established.

First, since the air pressure in the passage 46 increases, the second NO.
The air pressure in the passages 43, 47° 48 on the output side of the R circuit 38 is all low pressure (OFF state), and the first NOR
The air pressure within 44° 45 on the output side of the circuit 37 is all at high pressure (ON state).

Therefore, the third switching valve 30 becomes inactive and blocks the passage 34 from the second pressure source 22, closing the tank valve 5, and the second switching valve 29
The passage 38 is energized by the high pressure air supplied by the circuit 37.
is connected to the first pressure source 22, and the liquid injection valve 7 is opened.

On the other hand, the third switching valve 28 has its valve body energized toward the passage 36 to communicate the second pressure source 22 with the passage 31 .

As a result, compressed air is introduced into the upper pressure chamber 11 of the cylinder device 10, and the piston 9 descends 1, filling the container C with the filling liquid in the metering chamber 2.

When the piston 9 descends to the lowest position, the collar 14 closes the air hole of the piston position detector 13.

Then, compressed air from the first pressure source 21 is supplied to the input side of the first NOR circuit 37 through the passage 41 .

As a result, the output of the first NOR circuit 37 is turned off, the second switching valve 29 is returned to the non-operating state, and the passage 3
3 from the second pressure source 22, the liquid injection valve 7 is closed, and the filling operation is completed.

Immediately after this filling completion operation, the filling valve 26 is switched and the compressed air control circuit 20 returns to the state shown in FIG.

Next, while a new empty container C is supplied directly below the liquid injection pipe 3, the piston 9 rises and sucks the filled liquid into the metering chamber 2, resulting in the state shown in FIG. 1, as described above. Repeat the same operation as above to perform quantitative filling.

On the other hand, constant water level filling is performed with the valve mechanism 53 in a communicating state, but in this embodiment, the filling operation into the container C is performed in the same manner as the quantitative filling described above, and the completion of filling is It is controlled by a surface detector 15.

That is, when the empty container C is supplied, the filling valve 26 is in the OFF state as shown in FIG. 1, so the tank valve 5 is opened while the liquid injection valve 7 is closed.

Then, the piston 9 rises, sucks the filling liquid into the metering chamber 2, and stops at a certain position.

The filling valve 26 is then switched to the filling operation shown in FIG. 2 and begins to descend into the piston 9.

At this time, the output side of the third NOR circuit 39 is in the ON state, and the compressed air discharged from there is supplied to the liquid level detector 15 through the passage 50.

That is, air is injected onto the liquid level in the container C, and the detector 1
5 detects the liquid level position based on this injection pressure.

When the liquid level comes into contact with the lower end of the detector 15, the air injection pressure of the detector 15 increases to a certain value, which closes the passage 33 via a switching valve (not shown), closes the liquid injection valve 7, and performs a filling operation. end.

When the filled container C is discharged, the liquid level detector 15 is then cleaned.

This is done in consideration of the case where the filling liquid adheres to the tip of the detector 15 during the filling process and blocks the air hole.

This cleaning process is clear. The switching valve 27 may be switched to allow the passages 25.49 to communicate.

That is, except that the cleaning lift 27 is in the ON state, the other conditions are the same as shown in FIG.
rises and sucks the filling liquid into the metering chamber 2.

On the other hand, relatively high-pressure compressed air is forced into the passage 50 through the passages 25 and 49, and is supplied to the air hole of the detector 15 to remove residual liquid therein.

Thereafter, the container C is supplied directly below the liquid injection pipe 3, and the state shown in FIG. 2 is reached, and the filling process is performed by the above-described operation.

In addition, in the above-mentioned constant water level filling, although the piston 9 is moved up and down to perform filling, it is not necessarily necessary to operate the piston 9, and the tank valve 5 is kept open at all times.
It is also possible to have a configuration in which only the liquid injection valve 7 is opened and closed.

However, if the piston 9 is moved up and down as in the above embodiment, the filling liquid is filled into the container C while being pressurized, which simplifies the structure of the conventional well-known so-called tank pressurization type filling machine. That's what I did.

Further, the liquid level detector 15 does not necessarily need to be one that injects air, but may be one that uses ultrasonic waves or light beams.

Furthermore, the volume of the metering chamber 2 must be determined by taking into account at least the amount of liquid to be filled when performing quantitative filling, but even when the piston 9 is driven to perform constant water level filling, the volume of the metering chamber 2 must be determined by The volume for filling is required.

As described above, according to the present invention, both quantitative and constant level filling can be performed, and one device can handle filling of various types of liquids.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The figures all show embodiments of the present invention, with FIG. 1 being an explanatory diagram showing a filling preparation operation, and FIG. 2 being an explanatory diagram showing a filling operation. 1...tank, 2...quantity chamber, 3...
...Liquid injection pipe, 5...Tank valve, 7...
...Liquid injection valve, 15...Liquid level detector, 53...
...Valve mechanism.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A tank for storing filling, a metering chamber having a predetermined internal volume, a tank valve for communicating or shutting off the tank and metering chamber, and a tank valve connected to the metering chamber and located in this chamber. A liquid injection pipe that guides the filled liquid into the container by a pressurizing means provided in the metering chamber, a liquid injection valve that communicates or closes the metering chamber and the liquid injection pipe, and a liquid injection valve that controls the filling liquid in the container so that the liquid level is maintained at a predetermined level. A liquid level detector that detects the position of the pressurizing means by the injected air pressure, a position detector of the pressurizing means that detects the operating position of the pressurizing means by the pressure change of the injected air pressure, and a supply to any of these detectors. a compressed air control circuit that performs quantitative filling operation or constant water level filling operation based on changes in air pressure; A pressure source circuit, a second pressure source circuit that drives the tank valve, liquid injection valve, and pressurizing means, and a first pressure source circuit that is provided between the first and second pressure source circuits and changes the air pressure in the first pressure source circuit. and logic means for applying a drive control signal based on the above to the second pressure source circuit, during a quantitative filling operation to stop the supply of compressed air to the liquid level detector,
Based on changes in the air pressure supplied to the position detector, the tank valve, liquid injection valve, and B are alternately controlled to open and close, and the liquid introduced into the metering chamber is filled into the container via the liquid injection pipe by the pressurizing means. In addition to controlling the quantitative filling operation and the liquid filling operation into the metering chamber, the controller changes the air pressure supplied to the liquid level detector during the constant water level filling operation that enables supply of compressed air to the liquid level detector. A filling device characterized in that it controls the opening and closing of at least the tank valve and the liquid injection valve based on the above to control the constant water level filling groove and the liquid filling operation into the container.