RU2261825C1 - Sealing member sterilizing device - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: mechanical engineering; sealing.

SUBSTANCE: invention relates to devices for sterilization of sealing members, for instance, aluminum foil lids by ultra-violet rays. Proposed device contains sealing member feeder, device for arrangement of sealing members in sterilization zone, and sterilizer. Sealing member feeder has "n" storage positions in form of plates with holes and limiters secured over contour of holes and turnable shaft with vacuum grips. Sealing member arrangement device is essentially drum made in form of polyhedral prism installed in device for step-by-step turning, on faces of which "n" sockets are made corresponding to number of rows of transportation system of packing machine. Sockets are made in form of holes corresponding to form of sealing members, and holders of members are arranged over contour of holes. Drum is installed on fixed axle with supports provided with row of pneumatic cylinders furnished with knockouts with vacuum grips. Sterilizer is made in form of sources of ultra-violet rays installed in protective housing secured on packing machine over drum with treated articles.

EFFECT: possibility of effective sterilization of considerable number of easily deformable sealing members simultaneously.

10 cl, 7 dwg

Description

The proposal relates to automatic filling and packaging equipment and can be used in the food industry for packaging various products, mainly liquid and pasty products, including dairy products, in plastic containers, for example, cups of any volume and shape, sealed with aluminum foil and sealed with lids.

It is preferable to use the claimed technical solution in devices for sterilizing clogging elements, for example, covers made of packaging aluminum foil, under the action of ultraviolet radiation.

In order that no microorganisms could come into contact with the food product to be packaged, the packaging containers must be sterilized immediately before the packaging of the products in them. The corking elements for these containers should also be sterile and should be kept under sterile conditions until the packaging is sealed, thus ensuring that the food contained in it is free of any microorganisms that could spoil the product and transmit the disease to the consumer.

The prior art installation for packaging the product in containers containing a rotary conveyor mounted on the base with a drive for rotating it around its axis to move containers, a dispenser for filling containers with a product and a device for sealing containers with caps (see patent RU 2137685, 65 V 3/00, September 20, 1999).

This unit is equipped with a means of sterilizing the inner surface of the containers before filling them with the product to increase the shelf life of the sealed product.

However, the sterilization efficiency in this installation is insufficient due to the lack of processing of the clogging elements, namely the covers of the packaging foil. It should also be noted that the installation of covers on the cup is carried out manually by the operator, and the performance of this packaging machine is quite low.

Also known is a machine for processing tapes and foils, containing sterilization from microorganisms possibly located on the surface of the foil, including a cylindrical body into which the processed tape or foil is placed, and processing sources (see patent RU 2142519, С 23 С 14/02, 10.12 .1999).

This device allows you to sterilize the surface of the foil on the roll, but it can not be used to sterilize individual elements of the foil, such as lids for containers with food products, in a continuous process on the packaging equipment. Moreover, the known device is not simple enough and compact, since it requires the availability of devices for sources of ions, electrons, gas supply systems necessary for sterilization of the foil.

A device is also known for sterilizing a sleeve packaging material in which a UV source with a protective shield is used for surface treatment (see patent RU 2023635, 65 V 55/08, 11/30/1994).

This known device is equipped with a simple and compact source of surface treatment, however, it is intended for a sleeve made of tape material and is not suitable for sterilization of clogging elements for containers with food products in a continuous technological process on filling and packaging equipment.

The closest in technical essence to the claimed solution are a method and device for sealing bottles with sterile sealing caps, including means for supplying sealing elements for sterile treatment, means for placing processed objects in the sterilization zone and sterilization means, while means for supplying sealing elements is made with the possibility of piece their movement by means of grippers, and the means for placing the processed objects in the sterilization zone has the form of a bar Aban made with sockets for objects and equipped with elements holding these objects in the sockets, as well as installed in the device with the possibility of step-by-step rotation in it (see patent US 634472, 65 B 55/04, 01/29/2002).

This device allows you to sterilize the clogging elements, namely, small bottle caps, with their installation on the bottle immediately after sterilization, without interrupting the process of the packaging machine.

However, this known device does not allow bactericidal treatment of, for example, foil caps having a sufficient surface that requires processing in comparison with a bottle cap, and it should be noted that this surface is easy to crush, deform with gripping and holding elements.

When working with a multi-row filling installation, this device is quite difficult to manufacture and use, in addition, it does not allow maintaining high packaging performance without impairing the aseptic characteristics of the clogging elements, leading to a decrease in the sterility of the products in the packages.

The disadvantage of this device is the use of chemicals used to sterilize the surface of the clogging elements, as a result of which the possibility of mixing them with the contents of the package is not ruled out. Although the device provides for drying equipment, through which the remains of sterilizing agents are blown out, this leads to an increase in the cost performance of the packaging machine without guaranteeing complete cleaning of the chemicals used.

An analysis of the prior art shows that devices that sterilize the foil in a roll or directly sterilize the foil lids outside the product packaging process require additional conditions for preservation of the treated objects in special sanitary conditions. This leads to an increase in the cost parameters of the packaging process and reduces the effect of the sterilization performed. And devices that sterilize lids without interrupting the process of packaging products and capping containers do not allow them to be used for such easily creased material as foil, while maintaining the high performance of the packaging machine.

The technical result of the proposal is to create a device for sterilization of easily deformable clogging elements, mainly foil covers, as part of a packaging machine, primarily simple in design and convenient to use, allowing you to effectively sterilize a sufficiently large number of clogging elements at the same time without interrupting the product packaging process and maintaining a high performance packaging machine.

To achieve the technical result, the device for sterilizing the clogging elements in the packaging machine, as in the closest analogue, contains means for supplying clogging elements for sterile processing, means for placing the objects to be treated in the sterilization zone and sterilization means, while the means for supplying clogging elements is configured to their single-piece movement by means of grippers, and the means for placing the processed objects in the sterilization zone has the form of a bar ana adapted slots objects and provided with elements, retaining those objects in the nests, and set in the device with the ability to stepwise rotate therein.

According to the proposal, the drum is made in the form of a multifaceted prism with end walls, on the faces of which are placed “n” nests according to the number of rows of the transport system of the packaging machine, the nests having the form of holes corresponding in shape to the sealing elements, mainly foil covers, and the elements holding them are placed along the contour of the holes, while the drum itself is mounted on a fixed axis with supports, which contains a number of drives, essentially pneumatic cylinders, equipped with ejectors with vacuum nipples installed by the number of holes on the faces of the drum and made with the possibility of vertical movement through the holes of the drum, coaxial with each fixation of the drum, while the means for supplying clogging elements to the holes of the drum also contains “n” accumulation positions of these elements placed in a row on mounting structure with support legs and made in the form of plates with holes corresponding in shape to the holes of the drum and clogging elements and having limiters fixed to a round of holes made to create a spatial volume for columns of clogging elements, the mounting structure provided with a rotary shaft fixed between the racks, with a drive for turning it, and grippers for piecewise movement of clogging elements are mounted on this shaft and made according to the number of holes on the faces of the drum, the axis of the grippers will be aligned with the holes of the drum in the locking position, and the sterilization means is made in the form of ultraviolet radiation sources installed in the shield a casing mounted on the packaging machine above the drum with the processed objects.

In this case, in the existing embodiment, the drum is made in the form of an octagonal prism, on the faces of which there are four evenly distributed holes in the number of rows of the carriage, moving containers with the product in accordance with the technological process of the packaging machine. These holes in the faces of the drum have a triangle shape with rounded edges, correspond in shape to the foil lids, and the foil holding elements are made in the form of eccentric washers with annular grooves. The drum is also equipped with two pneumatic cylinders, with each of them having two ejectors with vacuum grippers. The foil supply means contains four positions of foil accumulation, and the stops of these drives are equipped with eccentric washers to hold the column of foil, while the rotary shaft is equipped with two pneumatic cylinders and each of them has two vacuum grippers. And in the protective casing of the sterilization means three bactericidal ultraviolet lamps are installed.

The presence of distinctive features, namely, the design of the drum in the form of a multifaceted prism with end walls, on the faces of which are placed “n” nests according to the number of rows of the transport system of the packaging machine, nests are made in the form of holes corresponding in shape to the foil lids, the placement of the foil holding elements the contour of the holes made, the installation of the drum on a fixed axis with supports, the presence on this axis of a number of drives, essentially pneumatic cylinders, equipped with ejectors with vacuum grippers in number holes on the faces of the drum, the installation of pushers with the possibility of vertical movement through the holes of the drum, which are aligned with each drum fixing, the execution of the foil supply means also with “n” positions of accumulation of these elements, their installation in a row on the mounting structure with support legs and execution in in the form of plates with holes corresponding in shape to the holes of the drum and the lids of the foil, the presence of stops fixed along the contour of these holes, creating a spatial volume for the columns of orienting elements, implementation of the mounting structure with a rotary shaft fixed between the uprights, with its rotation drive, installation of grippers for piece-wise movement of the foil on this shaft according to the number of holes on the faces of the drum in such a way that the axis of the grippers will be aligned with the holes of the drum in the locking position, the implementation of sterilization means in the form of ultraviolet radiation sources installed in a protective casing mounted on a packaging machine above the drum with the objects to be processed indicates on the conformity of the claimed technical solution to the patentability criterion of "novelty."

In the proposed device for sterilization of clogging elements, as well as in the closest analogue, the means for placing the objects to be processed is made essentially in the form of a storage drum, which allows to sterilize a sufficiently large number of clogging elements at the same time without interrupting the process of packaging products.

However, unlike the prototype, in order to achieve the above technical result, namely, for simple and convenient processing of easily deformable clogging elements, for example, foil covers, the proposal uses a drum design, which together with the foil supply means developed for this design allows to place and hold the foil, not crushing it, carefully install the foil on the container with the product, while maintaining the high performance of the packaging machine.

From the above it follows that the technical result is achieved by a new set of essential features, consisting of both known and newly introduced features, which indicates the compliance of the claimed technical solution with the patentability criterion of "inventive step".

The proposal is illustrated by drawings, where figure 1 shows a General top view in perspective of a means of supplying foil; figure 2 presents the means of supplying the foil, a General view from below in a perspective view; figure 3 presents a General view in a perspective view of the means for placing the foil; figure 4 shows a cross section of the means for accommodating the foil; figure 5 shows a block of bactericidal lamps with a fence; figure 6 shows the proposed device installed on the packaging machine "Pastpack-4L"; figure 7 shows a General view of the packaging machine "Pastpak-4L".

It should be noted that for clarity, only those details are presented that are necessary for understanding the essence of the proposal, and related equipment, well known to specialists in this field, is not shown in the drawings.

A device for sterilizing clogging elements is installed in the packaging machine of the Pastpak-4L model. The machine is designed for dosed filling in a plastic container of liquid and pasty products with the inclusion of loose or soft easily deformable additives (fruits, chocolate or waffle chips).

The machine prepares the product in ready-made containers, for example, in round or rectangular polypropylene or foam polystyrene cups with hermetically sealed containers with aluminum foil lids and subsequent capping them with plastic lids-hoods.

General view of the packaging machine "Pastpak-4L" is presented in Fig.7.

The base of the machine is a frame on which all the mechanisms and units of the machine are located (two batcher units are located on separate racks). On the frame are attached: a loading mechanism with a cup feeding unit, a sensor unit, a bactericidal lamp unit, a dispenser valve unit, a foil preparation and stacking device, a cup sealing unit, a plastic cover stacking mechanism with a lift, an unloading unit with an ejector.

An electric cabinet with a control panel, a drive casing, an air preparation unit are also fixed on the frame. The lower part of the frame is closed with removable panels. In the upper part of the frame are pneumatic hoses and electric cables, closed by casings.

The drive of all mechanisms is pneumatic, except for the drive of the transport chain with carriages. The drive of the transport chain is electromechanical.

Mechanisms are controlled using the controller.

The packaging machine automatically performs the following cycle of operations: feeding the glasses to the movable carriage, treating them with bactericidal lamps, filling the glasses with the product, laying sterile foil on the glasses, sealing the foil lids, putting on plastic lid caps, unloading the glasses.

A loading mechanism with a cup feed assembly allows cups to be moved from the drive to the carriage. After sterile processing of glasses with a block of bactericidal lamps and filling them with a product, they arrive at the proposed device, which also includes laying foil on glasses.

The proposed device allows you to continuously sterilize the clogging elements of the foil and feed them to glasses, without interrupting the process.

The proposed device comprises means for supplying the foil for sterile treatment, means for placing the foil under the block of bactericidal lamps, and the lamp block itself with a protective casing.

The foil supply means comprises a mounting structure 1 mounted on racks 2 (FIGS. 1, 2, 6). The mounting structure 1 is made of two interconnected rails on which four foil drives are mounted with the possibility of installation movement.

Each drive includes a plate 3 with an opening corresponding in shape and size to the foil lid, and stops 4 that are mounted on the plate 3 along the contour of the hole made. Essentially, the stops 4 create a spatial volume into which the columns of the foil covers are placed. At the lower end of each stop 4, eccentric washers are secured to hold the column of foil (not shown).

While the racks 2 of the mounting structure 1 are provided with cheeks 5. A rotary pneumatic cylinder 6 is mounted on one of the cheeks 5, and the second cheek has a bearing (not shown in the drawing). In the inner race of said bearing one end of the rotary shaft 7 is installed, the other end of which is fixed to the rotary pneumatic cylinder 6. On the rotary shaft 7 there are two two-rod pneumatic cylinders 8 with vacuum grippers (suction cups) 9, which in turn are interconnected by an intermediate plate, wherein the corresponding hole of each of the plates 3 of the drive is placed on it coaxially to the axis of each rod.

The device also includes a means for accommodating the foil, where clogging elements are transported using vacuum grippers 9 (Figs. 3, 4, 6).

The tool is essentially a storage drum for the foil mounted on a fixed axis 10 mounted on the supports 11. The drum includes two end vertical octagonal plates 12, which are joined together by eight horizontal plates 13 (two horizontal plates 13 are not shown conventionally in FIG. , figure 4 conditionally not shown one of them). In each horizontal plate 13, four holes are made in one row, corresponding in shape to the foil lid, while the size of the foil slightly exceeds the size of the holes made. The storage drum in this case will be a four-row device, although options with a different number of rows are possible. Foil-holding elements 14, for example, eccentric washers with annular grooves on the outside, are installed along the contour of each hole. The end vertical plates 12 are made with holes to facilitate the design of the drum.

Two double-rod pneumatic cylinders 15 with ejectors 16, equipped with vacuum grippers 17, are installed inside the storage drum on the fixed axis 10. The rods are interconnected by an intermediate plate, and the ejector 16 is fixed on each rod, inside of which the vacuum grip 17 is directed downward, and the ejector 16 with a gripper 17 when moving are a single design (figure 4). In this case, the corresponding hole of the horizontal plates 13 of the storage drum is placed on it coaxially to the axis of each vacuum capture 17.

The storage drum is equipped with an intermittent electromechanical drive, namely, the Maltese mechanism, including the Maltese cross 18, made in eight positions, and the drive 19. Moreover, the Maltese cross 18 is fixedly mounted on one of the vertical end plates 12 of the storage drum, and the drive 19 is located on the support 11 and connected to the Maltese cross 18 in a known manner (figure 3).

A block of bactericidal lamps is installed above the storage drum (Fig. 5). The block contains a protective casing 20, which is a welded structure of thin metal sheets open on one side. Three germicidal ultraviolet lamps 21 are installed in series in the protective casing 20. For example, TUV 15W lamps are used in the bactericidal lamp unit. TUV disinfection lamps are low-pressure mercury discharge lamps. They emit short-wave ultraviolet radiation with a maximum at 253.7 nm (UV-C). The special glass that makes up the flask filters out a 185 nm spectral line causing ozone formation. The inner protective coating on the lamp bulb limits the reduction of the beneficial bactericidal UV-C flux throughout the lamp's life. TUV lamps are used to destroy or deactivate bacteria, viruses and other simple organisms; they are recommended for use in the food industry at dairies, breweries and bakeries.

The device operates as follows.

Foil covers are manually inserted into the foil storage devices between the stops 4. In the proposed embodiment, four columns of foil covers hold eccentric washers from below, creating support for the cover along its periphery. Only an insignificant surface of the edge of the lid receives such support, and the entire remaining central surface of the lid can be accessible for contact with the surface of the vacuum grippers 9 through the holes of the plates 3.

Moreover, in the initial position at the beginning of the cycle, the rotary pneumatic cylinder 6 is set so that the vacuum grips 9 of the two-rod pneumatic cylinders 8 are facing up, and the rods are pulled into the cylinders. When the pneumatic cylinders 8 lift the vacuum grippers 9, the rods are extended and the vacuum grippers 9 touch the bottom foil lid, the vacuum is turned on, and the gripper easily separates the foil from the column of lids. Then the rods are pulled back down, the rotary pneumatic cylinder 6 rotates the rotary shaft 7 together with the vacuum grippers 9 and the foil 90 ° to the position of the foil in the storage drum (position A). The axis of the vacuum grippers 9 are aligned with the holes located in a row on one of the horizontal plates 13 of the storage drum. After rotation, the rods again extend, placing the foil close to the holes of the horizontal plate 13 in the area of the holding elements 14. Since the holding elements 14 are made in the form of eccentric washers with annular grooves on the outside, then after turning off the vacuum on the vacuum grips 9, the foil is fixed in the grooves and does not fall. Then the rods are again retracted into the pneumatic cylinders 8, the rotary cylinder 6 again rotates the rotary shaft 7 to its original position, when the vacuum grips 9 are turned up, and the cycle repeats.

Thus, at the position (A) of the storage drum using the above-described foil-laying means, four covers are placed at a time when the storage drum is in static, does not rotate.

By means of the Maltese cross 18, while the drive 19 is continuously rotating, the storage drum alternately rotates 45 ° and then stops thereafter. After the drum rotates 45 °, the foil is again placed at position (A) and so on until the first stacked row of foil arrives at position (B).

So the drum is sequentially replenished step by step with new rows of caps, gradually entering the sterilization zone under the block of bactericidal lamps. The first row of covers, entering the sterilization zone, goes through the whole cycle of bactericidal treatment with each step of the drum, being under the lamp unit for a sufficient time and without interrupting the technological process of the packaging machine.

When the covers arrive at position (B), the ejectors 16 move down to the outer surface of the cover at the signal of the sensor and the vacuum grippers 17 capture the foil by vacuum, easily removing it from the holding elements 14 and simultaneously falling down through the hole in the drum. Thus, the ejectors 16 move the lid from the sterilization zone to the zone where containers with pre-packaged product are already installed on the carriage of the packaging machine. Then the vacuum is turned off, and the lid closes the container, after which the glass with the product and the foil lid enters the glass sealing unit, where the foil is welded to the glass.

On this, the operation of the device is completed.

The device was developed and manufactured at the TAURAS-PHOENIX engineering plant and was successfully used at the customer’s enterprise.

From the above it follows that the manufacture of this device in an industrial way does not cause difficulties, involves the use of developed materials and standard equipment, which indicates the compliance of the claimed technical solution with the patentability criterion of "industrial applicability".

Claims (10)

1. Device for sterilizing clogging elements as part of a packaging machine, including means for supplying clogging elements for sterile treatment, means for placing processed objects in the sterilization zone, and sterilization means, while means for supplying clogging elements are capable of moving them individually by means of grippers, and means for placement of processed objects in the sterilization zone has the form of a drum made with sockets for objects and equipped with elements, ud living these objects in the nests, as well as installed in the device with the possibility of step-by-step rotation in it, characterized in that the drum is made in the form of a multifaceted prism with end walls, on the faces of which are placed “n” nests according to the number of rows of the transport system of the packaging machine, and the nests have the form of holes corresponding in shape to the clogging elements, mainly foil covers, and the elements holding them are placed along the contour of the holes made, while the drum itself is mounted on a fixed axis with support frame, which contains a number of drives, essentially pneumatic cylinders, equipped with ejectors with vacuum grippers, installed by the number of holes on the faces of the drum and made with the possibility of vertical movement through the holes of the drum, coaxial with each drum fixing, while the means for supplying clogging elements to the holes the drum also contains "n" positions of accumulation of these elements installed in a row on the mounting structure with support racks and made in the form of plates with holes, respectively drum-shaped holes and clogging elements and having stops fixed along the contour of the hole, creating a spatial volume for the columns of clogging elements, the mounting structure provided with a rotary shaft fixed between the racks, with its rotation drive, and grips for piece-wise movement of the clogging elements are installed on this shaft and made according to the number of holes on the faces of the drum, while the axis of the grippers will be aligned with the holes of the drum in the locking position , Wherein the sterilizing agent is in the form of ultraviolet radiation sources mounted in a protective casing fixed to the packaging machine above the drum with the processed objects. 2. A device for sterilizing clogging elements according to claim 1, characterized in that the drum is made in the form of an octagonal prism. 3. The device for sterilizing clogging elements according to claim 1, characterized in that four holes are made on the faces of the drum according to the number of rows of the carriage moving the product containers in accordance with the technological process of the packaging machine. 4. The device for sterilizing clogging elements according to claim 1, characterized in that the holes in the faces of the drum have a triangle shape with rounded edges corresponding to the shape of the foil lids. 5. The device for sterilizing clogging elements according to claim 1, characterized in that the holes in the faces of the drum are in the form of a rectangle or square. 6. The device for sterilizing clogging elements according to claim 1, characterized in that the foil holding elements are made in the form of eccentric washers with annular grooves. 7. The device for sterilizing clogging elements according to claim 1, characterized in that the drum is equipped with two pneumatic cylinders, each of which has two ejectors with vacuum grippers. 8. The device for sterilizing clogging elements according to claim 1, characterized in that the means for supplying clogging elements contains four positions of foil storage, and the stops of these drives are equipped with eccentric washers to hold the column of foil. 9. The device for sterilizing clogging elements according to claim 1, characterized in that the rotary shaft is equipped with two pneumatic cylinders, each of which has two vacuum grippers. 10. The device for sterilizing clogging elements according to claim 1, characterized in that three germicidal ultraviolet lamps are installed in the protective casing of the sterilization means.

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