JPS63218093A - Gas filler - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a gas filling device for filling a container with a filling liquid, and more specifically, it is equipped with a pre-evacuated gas valve that creates a vacuum inside the container. This invention relates to a gas filling device.

``Prior Art'' Conventionally, depending on the type of liquid filled into the container, it is undesirable to leave air in the container.
When filling such a filling liquid into a container, before filling the container with the filling liquid, the air inside the container is discharged to temporarily create a vacuum state inside the container, and then the filling liquid is filled.

This type of gas filling device usually includes a plurality of filling mechanisms that are provided at equal intervals on the outer circumference of a rotating body and are moved as the rotating body rotates, and a plurality of filling mechanisms that are provided for each filling mechanism.
A pre-vacation cage valve opens and closes a pre-vacation passage to exhaust air from the container, a gas valve opens and closes a gas passage for supplying inert gas into the container, and a filling liquid passage supplies a filling liquid to the container. a liquid valve that opens and closes; a pre-vacation cam that is provided at a position close to the movement locus of the filling mechanism and engages with the pre-evacuation cage valves of a plurality of adjacent filling mechanisms to open them simultaneously; The valve opening means is arranged downstream of the vacation cam and opens the waste valve and the liquid valve, and the valve closing means is arranged downstream of the valve opening means and closes the gas valve and the liquid valve. Before the filling mechanism fills the container with the filling liquid, the pre-vacage valve is opened, thereby sucking and discharging the air inside the container to create a vacuum inside the container.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] By the way, when starting the operation of the gas filling device, it is necessary that the negative pressure source connected to the pre-evacuated gas valve has the required vacuum pressure. Since the above-mentioned cam was arranged and fixed at a predetermined position in the gas filling device, multiple pre-evacuation cage gin valves were to engage with the pre-vacation cam even when the gas filling device was stopped. .

If the pre-vacage gin valve is opened by the pre-vacation cam while no container is being supplied to the filling mechanism, the negative pressure source will always be in communication with the atmosphere, resulting in a drop in vacuum pressure. At the start of operation, a defective product will be manufactured in which more than a predetermined amount of air is mixed into the container. Such defective products also occurred at the end of a run or when a container to be continuously supplied was missing.

The defective product is removed from the normal product line after filling with the filling liquid, but the filling liquid filled in the container is wasted.

1. In view of such circumstances, the present invention provides the above-mentioned gas filling device, with the valve opening means being in an opening operation position in which the gas valve and the liquid valve are opened, and in which they are not opened. and a non-operating position, and detects that the vacuum pressure in the pre-vacation passage becomes less than a predetermined value, or detects a predetermined state in which the vacuum pressure becomes less than a predetermined value. The valve opening means is moved to a non-operating position.

"Function" According to such a configuration, when the vacuum pressure drops below a predetermined value, or when the vacuum pressure is expected to drop below a predetermined value, in other words, when the vacuum pressure drops below a predetermined value, a predetermined amount or more is added to the container. If there is a high risk that a defective product containing air will be manufactured, the valve opening means is moved to the non-operating position, thereby preventing the filling liquid from being filled into the container. Therefore, even if defective products are produced, the filling liquid is not filled in them, so it is possible to eliminate waste of the filling liquid.

Embodiment The present invention will be described below with reference to an illustrated embodiment. In FIG. 2, a rotating body 1 that is rotationally driven around a vertical axis of rotation (not shown) is provided with a filling liquid tank 2 above it. A gas filling liquid 3a is stored in this tank 2, and a pressure gas 3b is introduced into the upper space. A plurality of filling mechanisms 4 are mounted at equal intervals on the bottom of the outer circumference of the tank 2, and a lift table (not shown) is provided below each filling mechanism 4 so as to be able to rise and fall freely.

Each of the filling mechanisms 4 includes a filling liquid passage 5 formed in the shaft portion,
A vent tube 6 is provided to penetrate through the filling liquid passage 5, and the shaft portion of the vent tube 6 serves as a gas passage 7. A liquid valve 8 for opening and closing the filling liquid passage 5 is provided on the outer periphery of the vent tube 6, and the liquid valve 8 is moved downward against the elastic force of a spring 9 to normally operate the filling liquid passage. 5 are closed. Further, a conical spreader 11 is attached to the lower outer periphery of the vent tube 6 to allow the filling liquid 3a filled into the container IO from the filling liquid passage 5 to flow smoothly along the inner peripheral surface of the container IO. There is.

A gas valve 12 for opening and closing the gas passage 7 is provided at the upper end of the vent tube 6. This gas valve 12 is linked to a cam lever 14 via an arm 13, and the operation of the cam lever 14 normally closes the gas passage 7. There is.

This gas valve 12 is provided with a check valve 15, and this check valve 15 allows pressure gas 3b to flow from the gas passage 7 to the tank 2.
The system is designed to allow the flow of goods and prevent the opposite flow.

The filled liquid passage 5 has one end of a pre-vacation passage 20 opened at a position downstream of the liquid valve 8, and the other end is connected to a negative pressure chamber via a pre-vacation valve 21 which normally closes the pre-vacation passage 20. 22, and this negative pressure chamber 22 is connected to a negative pressure source (not shown).

A topping passage 24 connected to the filling liquid passage 5 side of the prevacation valve 21 is connected to the prevacation passage 20 through a gas passage 23 to a compressed air supply source (not shown). This topping passage 24 is normally blocked by a topping valve 25, and when this topping valve 25 is opened, the pressure gas in the tank 2 is A pressure gas higher than that of 3b can be supplied into the container IO.

In addition, the filling liquid passage 5 in which the Brier Vacation passage 20 is opened has a sniff passage 26 connected to the atmosphere.
is opened, and a snift valve 27 that normally shuts off the snift passage 26 is provided in the middle of the snift passage 26.

Furthermore, a support member 28 is disposed below the filling mechanism 4 and is attached to a guide rod (not shown) so as to be able to rise and fall freely, and the opening of the container 10 that is lifted by the above-mentioned lifting table is sealed to this support member 28. A guide cone 30 for centering the bottle packing 29 and its container 10 is attached.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the gas filling device is equipped with a star foil 31 on the supply side and a star foil 32 on the discharge side, and a cracker or capper 33 is connected to the star foil 32 on the discharge side. 33 is provided with a discharge side star wheel 34.

Then, the empty container 10 supplied from the conveyor 35 via the timing screw 36 is supplied onto the elevating table via the supply side star foil 31, while the filled container lO is transferred from the elevating table. At the same time as being discharged via the discharge side star wheel 32, it is supplied to the capper 33.

Further, the container lO capped by the capper 33 is transferred to the conveyor 37 via the discharge side star foil 34.
As will be described in detail later, defective containers that are not filled with filling liquid are transferred to the conveyor 3 by a rejector 38 having a level checker that detects the liquid level height in the container.
7. It is designed so that it can be discharged to the outside from the top.

However, in the gas filling device, the containers IO supplied from the supply side star foil 3I are raised in the clockwise moving direction of the filling mechanism 4 from the supply side star foil 31 to the discharge side star foil 32. A section for sealing, a section B for making the inside of the container IO in a vacuum state, a section C for supplying the pressure gas 3b into the container 10 and filling the filling liquid 3a, and a liquid level height of the filling liquid 3a filled in the container 10. A section D in which the pressure gas is kept constant, a section E in which the pressure gas in the container 10 is discharged, and a section F in which the container IO is lowered are formed.

In the above section B, in this embodiment, there are three first
A cam mechanism 43 consisting of a pre-vacation cam 40, a second pre-vacation cam 41 and a third pre-vacation cam 42 is provided, and each of the pre-vacation cams 40 to 42 is connected to the pre-vacation valve. It is possible to move forward and backward between an open operating position shown by an imaginary line where it engages with 21 and an inactive position shown by a solid line where it does not engage.

A solenoid 44 is connected to each of the Brier vacation cams 40 to 42, and each solenoid 44 is controlled by a control device (not shown) connected to a sensor 45 that detects the presence or absence of the container 10, and when energized, each solenoid 44 is connected. The pre-vacation cams 40 to 42 can be pushed forward and moved to the open operating position shown in phantom where they engage with the pre-vacation valve 21.

The length in the circumferential direction of each of the Brier Vacation Cams 40 to 42 is such that a plurality of adjacent Brier Vacation Valves 21, for example, three Valves 21, can engage one Brier Vacation Cam at the same time. The total length in the circumferential direction of the pliever vacation cams 40 to 42 is such that even when the operating speed of the gas filling device reaches the maximum speed, the plivacation cams 40 to 42 can be plied for a sufficient amount of time to create a sufficient vacuum inside the container 10. The length is set to maintain engagement between the vacation valve 21 and the prevacation cams 4θ to 42.

Further, the inlet portion of the section C, which is the F flow side of the three prevacation cams 40 to 42, engages with the cam lever 14 to operate it, thereby opening the gas valve 12 and the liquid valve 8. At the same time, a valve closing means 47 for operating the cam lever 14 to close the gas valve 12 and the liquid valve 8 is provided at the exit portion of section C.

The E valve opening means 46 is composed of a cam member that can be engaged with the cam lever 14, and has an opening operation position in which the solenoid 48 engages the L cam lever 14 to open the gas valve 12 and the liquid valve 8, and The solenoid 48 is movable to a non-operating position where it is not opened, and the solenoid 48 is also controlled by the control device described above. The valve closing means 47 is arranged and fixed at a predetermined position with respect to the valve opening means 46.

Further, in the above section, a fixed cam 49 that engages with the topping valve 25 to open it, and in the E section, a fixed cam 50 that engages with and opens the snift valve 27.
are arranged respectively.

In the above configuration, the operation start size of the gas filling device +
In the lff state, the gas valve 12 and the liquid valve 8 are lowered by the arm 13 to open the gas passage 7 and the filling liquid passage 5.
are respectively closed, and each of the Brier vacation cams 40 to 42 of the cam mechanism 43 and the valve opening means 46 are located at the non-operating position, as shown by solid lines in FIG.

Since the Brier Vacation Cams 40 to 42 are in the non-operating position, all Brier Vacation Valves 21 are connected to the Brier Vacation Gin Passage 20, respectively.
has been closed and therefore the Prievacage Passageway 2
The vacuum pressure within 0 is maintained at the required level of vacuum pressure.

When the operation of the gas filling device is started from this state, the container 10 on the conveyor 35 is supplied onto a lifting table (not shown) via the timing screw 36 and the supply star wheel 31, and the container 10 is raised and lowered in the section A. When raised by the table, the guide cone 30
The vent tube 6 is centered and pressed against the bottle packing 29, thereby sealing the inside of the container 310, and at the same time, the 'F end of the vent tube 6 is relatively inserted into the container.

When the control device (not shown) detects that the container lO has been supplied by the sensor 45, the leading container 10 is shifted from the above section A to the section B based on the operating speed of the gas filling device, and the first pre-evacuation is performed. The timing of approaching the cam 40 is detected, and when the container IO approaches the first pre-evacuation cam 40, the solenoid 44 is energized to advance the first pre-evacuation cam 40.

By kneading, the brier vacation valve 21 engages with its first brier vacation cam 40 and is opened.
The air in the container IO is sucked and discharged to a negative pressure source (not shown) via the filling liquid passage 5, the prevacation passage 20, and the negative pressure chamber 22. The leading vessel 310 is followed by the 21st evacation cam 41 and the 3rd evacation cam 4.
2, the control device each time closes the solenoid 44.
is energized to advance the second Brieva casing cam 41 and the third Brieva casing cam 42 in that order so as to engage the Brieva vacation valve 21.

However, as described above, since the length in the circumferential direction of each of the Brier vacation cams 40 to 42 is set to such a length that the three adjacent Brier vacation valves 21 can be engaged simultaneously, the leading valve 310 is When each pre-vacation cam 40 to 42 is engaged, the two pre-vacation valves 21 of the previous container that are not supplied also engage each pre-vacation cam 40 to 42 and are opened to the atmosphere. As a result, the vacuum pressure in the Brier vacation passage 20 becomes small, and there is a possibility that the air in the container IO cannot be sufficiently exhausted.

Therefore, at the start of operation of the gas filling device, a predetermined number of containers IO, including the first container IO, in which there is a possibility that the internal air may not be sufficiently discharged, is placed in front of the valve opening means 46. The valve opening means 4B is held in the non-operating position even when the cam levers 14 pass through the valve opening means 46. Therefore, each cam lever 14 does not engage with the valve opening means 46, so that the gas valve 12 and the liquid valve 8 are not operated. Filling with the filling liquid is prevented without an opening operation being performed.

If three consecutive containers IO are supplied to each of the Brier vacation cams 40 to 42, all the Brier vacation passages 20 opened simultaneously by the Brier vacation cams 40 to 42 communicate with the containers IO. Therefore, the vacuum pressure within the Brier vacation passage 20 is maintained at a predetermined value or higher.

Therefore, when a predetermined number of containers lO including the first container pass in front of the valve opening means 46, the control device excites the solenoid 48 to move the valve opening means 46 from the non-operating position to the opening operating position. , each subsequent cam lever 14 is sequentially engaged with the valve opening means 46.

When the cam lever 14 is engaged with the valve opening means 46 and operated, the arm 13 is raised and the gas valve 12 is
is opened, and the pressure gas 3b in the tank 2 flows into the container IO via the gas passage 7. Then, when the pressure gas 3b is introduced into the container 10 and the difference between the pressure inside the container 10 and the pressure inside the tank 2 becomes smaller, the vent tube 6 is raised by the elastic force of the spring 9 and the liquid valve 8 is opened. As a result, the filling liquid 3a in the tank 2 flows down the filling liquid passage S, and is filled into the container IO while being guided by the lower spreader 11 toward the inner peripheral surface of the container IO.

The filling liquid 3a filled in the container 1O passes through the vent tube 6.
When the opening of the container 1, that is, the lower end of the gas passage 7 is closed,
Since the pressure gas in the container 10 cannot escape to the outside, filling of the filling liquid 3a from the filling liquid passage 5 into the container 10 is completed. At this point, the filling liquid 3a in the container IO has been filled to an extent above the lower end of the vent tube 6, and in this state, the cam lever 14 is moved to the valve closing means 4.
7 and returned to the original position, and the arm I3 is lowered to close the gas valve 12 and the liquid valve 8.

Next, when the container 10 moves to section D, the topping valve 25 is opened by the fixed cam 49, so that the pressure gas in the gas passage 23 flows through the topping passage 24, the prevacation passage 20, and the filling liquid passage 5. is supplied to the upper space within. Since the pressure of this pressure gas is higher than the pressure of the pressure gas 3b in the tank 2, the filling liquid 3a that has been filled beyond the TG closing opening of the vent tube 6 to a position above it is caused by the pressure of the pressure gas to flow into the vent tube 6. It is pushed out into the gas passage 7 from the lower end opening, opens the check valve 15 provided in the gas valve 12, and is discharged into the tank 2, and the liquid level of the filling liquid 3a in the container IO is kept constant by kneading. It can be arranged.

Further move to container 10 or E section and snift valve 27
is opened by the fixed cam 50, the gas remaining in the upper space of the container 310 flows into the filling liquid passage 5 and the snift passage 26.
The pressure of the gas in the upper space inside the container IO decreases. Then, when the container 10 moves to section F, it is lowered to the original height position as the lifting table is lowered, and is further supplied into the capper 33 from above the lifting table by the discharge side star wheel 32.

Thereafter, the container 10 capped by the capper 33 is discharged onto the conveyor 37 via the discharge side star foil 34. Then, a predetermined number of containers from the first container 10 that is not filled with filling liquid are removed by a rejector 3.
The liquid is detected by the level checker 8 and is discharged from the conveyor 37 by the rejector 38 to the outside.

Next, at the end of the operation of the gas filling device, the two unsupplied prevacation valves 21 of the containers behind the last container are engaged with the respective prevacation cams 40 to 42 and are opened to the atmosphere. Become so. Therefore, in this case, when a predetermined number of containers IO including the last container pass in front of the valve opening means 46, the L control device moves the valve opening means 46 from the opening operation position to the non-operation position. It will now be moved to

Then, once the last container has passed the eleventh evaporation cam 40, the controller deenergizes the solenoid 44 to return that first evaporation cam 40 from the open operative position to the inoperative position, and so on. Each time the last container passes each other Prie Vacation Cam 41, 42, the solenoid 44 is sequentially deenergized to
．． 42 to the inactive position.

Furthermore, during the operation of the gas filling device, when the valve opening means 46 is moved from the opening operating position to the non-operating position: δ, one container between the continuously supplied containers 10 may be chipped, for example. This includes the following situations. In this case, there is a risk that a drop in vacuum pressure will occur in the containers before and after the chipped container, so the valve opening means 46 is moved to the non-operating position for a predetermined number of containers before and after the chipped container. All you have to do is move and hold it.

In the embodiment described above, a state in which the vacuum pressure becomes less than a predetermined value, that is, at the start of operation, at the end of operation, etc., is set in advance, and the valve opening means 46 is moved to the non-operating position at that time. However, there is actually Brier Vacation Passage 2.
It is also possible to detect the vacuum pressure within 0 and move the valve opening means 46 to the non-operating position when the value becomes less than a predetermined value.

Alternatively, the pre-vacation cams 40 to 42 may be constructed from a single unit and installed at a fixed position, or the rejector 38' may be placed midway along the star wheel 32 on the discharge side, as shown by the imaginary line in FIG. Alternatively, the control device may operate the rejector 38' to discharge the empty container which is not filled with the filling liquid to the outside. In this case, a level checker can be omitted, and empty containers can also be prevented from being capped.

"Effects of the Invention" As described above, according to the present invention, even if a defective container occurs due to the vacuum pressure being below a predetermined value, it is possible to prevent the filling liquid from being filled into the defective container. This provides the effect of eliminating waste of filling liquid.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the main parts of the gas filling device. 1... Rotating body 3 a = Filling liquid 3 b-...
Pressure gas 4... Filling mechanism 5... Filling liquid passage
7...Gas passage 8...Liquid valve I O-・
- Container 12 - Gas valve 14 - Cam lever 20 - Briet vacation passage 21 - Briet vacation valve 40.41.42 - Briet vacation cam 45 -
...Sensor 46--Valve opening means 47...Valve closing means Fig. 2

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) A plurality of filling mechanisms are provided at equal intervals on the outer periphery of the rotating body and are moved as the rotating body rotates, and a pre-filling mechanism is provided for each filling mechanism to exhaust air from the container. A pre-vacation valve that opens and closes the vacation passage; a gas valve that opens and closes the gas passage that supplies inert gas into the container; and a liquid valve that opens and closes the filling liquid passage that supplies filling liquid into the container. Movement of the filling mechanism. A pre-vacation cam is provided at a position close to the locus and engages with the pre-vacation valves of a plurality of adjacent filling mechanisms to open them simultaneously; In a gas filling device comprising a valve opening means for opening a valve, and a valve closing means disposed downstream of the valve opening means for closing the gas valve and the liquid valve, the valve opening means is connected to the gas valve and the liquid valve. The valve is movable between an open operation position where the valve is opened and a non-operation position where the valve is not opened. A gas filling device characterized in that the valve opening means is moved to a non-operating position by detecting a predetermined state in which the valve opening means is below a certain value. (2) The predetermined state is at the start of operation and at the end of operation, and the valve opening means is moved and held at a non-operating position for the first or last predetermined number of containers, respectively. A gas filling device according to claim 1. (3) The predetermined state is a state in which a container to be continuously supplied is missing, and the valve opening means is not activated for a predetermined number of containers before and after the container to be supplied. The gas filling device according to claim 2, wherein the gas filling device is moved and held in a certain position.