Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B08—CLEANING
  • B08B—CLEANING IN GENERAL; PREVENTION OF FOULING IN GENERAL
  • B08B9/00—Cleaning hollow articles by methods or apparatus specially adapted thereto
  • B08B9/08—Cleaning containers, e.g. tanks
  • B08B9/20—Cleaning containers, e.g. tanks by using apparatus into or on to which containers, e.g. bottles, jars, cans are brought
  • B08B9/42—Cleaning containers, e.g. tanks by using apparatus into or on to which containers, e.g. bottles, jars, cans are brought the apparatus being characterised by means for conveying or carrying containers therethrough
  • B08B9/426—Grippers for bottles
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B08—CLEANING
  • B08B—CLEANING IN GENERAL; PREVENTION OF FOULING IN GENERAL
  • B08B9/00—Cleaning hollow articles by methods or apparatus specially adapted thereto
  • B08B9/08—Cleaning containers, e.g. tanks
  • B08B9/20—Cleaning containers, e.g. tanks by using apparatus into or on to which containers, e.g. bottles, jars, cans are brought
  • B08B9/28—Cleaning containers, e.g. tanks by using apparatus into or on to which containers, e.g. bottles, jars, cans are brought the apparatus cleaning by splash, spray, or jet application, with or without soaking
  • B08B9/30—Cleaning containers, e.g. tanks by using apparatus into or on to which containers, e.g. bottles, jars, cans are brought the apparatus cleaning by splash, spray, or jet application, with or without soaking and having conveyors
  • B08B9/32—Rotating conveyors
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B08—CLEANING
  • B08B—CLEANING IN GENERAL; PREVENTION OF FOULING IN GENERAL
  • B08B9/00—Cleaning hollow articles by methods or apparatus specially adapted thereto
  • B08B9/08—Cleaning containers, e.g. tanks
  • B08B9/20—Cleaning containers, e.g. tanks by using apparatus into or on to which containers, e.g. bottles, jars, cans are brought
  • B08B9/28—Cleaning containers, e.g. tanks by using apparatus into or on to which containers, e.g. bottles, jars, cans are brought the apparatus cleaning by splash, spray, or jet application, with or without soaking
  • B08B9/34—Arrangements of conduits or nozzles

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a device for moving a treatment member with respect to a container, in particular a bottle. It also relates to machines comprising such a device.
• the devices are mounted on the periphery of a rotary carousel.
• Each device includes a clamp for gripping a bottle by its neck in the vertical position.
• the clamp is rotatably mounted around a horizontal axis integral with the 0 fluid injection nozzle which is specific to each device.
• the clamp is connected to a fork engaged on a fixed control bar disposed on the periphery of the carousel and whose configuration causes the clamp to pivot during rotation of the carousel.
• the seized bottle is thus presented in the inverted position opposite the nozzle which projects a treatment liquid, for example rinsing liquid, from the neck of the bottle.
• This device has proven to be very advantageous. In particular, it makes it possible to quickly process a large number of bottles while minimizing the risk of damaging them.
• a cannula is introduced inside the container in an inclined position, and the liquid is brought through this cannula. inside said container.
• the treatments of containers also include emptying, decanting, dosing, blowing cold or hot air or saturated or superheated steam, interior sterilization by ultraviolet rays, as well as decapping operations. , encapsulation, capping, labeling, etc.
• the object of the present invention is to remedy the drawbacks of known devices and machines, and to propose a new device for moving a processing member relative to a container, this device being suitable for use in most of the above processing operations.
• the present invention therefore relates to a device for moving a relative movement of a treatment member with respect to a container, in particular a bottle, for the treatment of said container, this device comprising a clamp for gripping the container, first means for making pivot the clamp around a substantially horizontal axis of a support of the device so as to rotate the container around said axis between a gripping position in which the clamp grips the container and a processing position in which the treatment of said container, the device also comprising a treatment member of said container and means for moving the treatment member in a relative movement relative to the container between a first position in which the treatment member is separated from the container when the forceps is in its gripping position, and a second position in which the processing member is in its pos treatment ition with respect to the container, inside or near said container, when the clamp is in the treatment position.
• this device is characterized in that it comprises means for actuating at the same time the means for pivoting the clamp and the means for moving the processing member with a relative movement relative to the container.
• the device comprises a plate pivotally mounted about the axis, and said plate carries on the one hand the processing member, on the other hand means forming a slide on which the clamp is slidably mounted, the means forming a slide extending in a direction substantially parallel to the axis of a container gripped by the clamp.
• the device further comprises at least one link connected in an articulated manner on the one hand to the clamp, on the other hand to a point on the support of the device, this link being arranged in such a way that 'it causes the clamp to slide along the slide between said gripping and processing positions during said pivoting of the clamp.
• the link connecting the clamp to the support of the device forces the clamp to slide along the slide during the pivoting of the plate.
• the treatment member is a tubular cannula adapted to inject a fluid inside a container gripped by the clamp: the cannula is fixed on the plate of so as to extend substantially in the axis of a container gripped by the clamp.
• the machine for treating containers, in particular bottles, comprising at the periphery of a rotary carousel container treatment stations regularly distributed around this carousel is characterized in that each treatment includes a device of the aforementioned type according to the first aspect of the invention.
• FIG. 1 is an elevational view in axial section of a processing machine according to the second aspect of the invention comprising devices according to an embodiment of the first aspect of the invention
• FIG. 2 is a partial elevational view of the device shown schematically in Figure 1, showing the two positions of the bottle and the clamp relative to an injection nozzle;
• FIG. 3 shows a detail of Figure 2 and illustrates the two positions of the bottle and the clamp relative to the plate;
• - Figure 4 is a diagram illustrating the supply of the nozzles of the carousel with different fluids;
• FIG. 5 is an enlarged partial view in elevation, similar to Figure 2, of another embodiment of the device according to the invention, suitable for a filling or metering operation, the clamp being in the gripping position a bottle;
• Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 5, the clamp being in a filling or metering position;
• Figure 7 is a view similar to Figure 6, the clamp being in a slightly raised position, for level adjustment, for example by overflow;
• Figure 8 is a view similar to Figure 5 showing in superposition the two gripping and filling positions of the clamp.
• the device and the machine according to the invention constitute improvements to the device and the machine described in French patents No. 2,660,917, 2,660,884.
• the present description will therefore mainly relate to the improvements made to this machine and to this device, the detailed description of the unchanged parts of the device and of the machine being able to be found in the aforementioned patents.
• the embodiments which will be described relate to the treatment of bottles, but it could be another type of container (jar, test tube, vase, flask, pot, ).
• the machine 1 for treating bottles 2 in a substantially inverted position comprises a rotary carousel 3 already known.
• the carousel 3 is rotated along the vertical axis 4.
• a series of devices 5 for treating a bottle 2 are arranged around the circumference of the carousel 3.
• FIG. 2 The arrival of the bottles for their treatment and the departure of the treated bottles is carried out on the left of the carousel in FIG. 2, by means of a routing device not shown.
• Figure 2 there is shown the device for treating a bottle in position 6 corresponding to the gripping of the bottle 2 before its treatment and position 7 corresponding to the treatment of the bottle in the inverted position.
• the device comprises an injection nozzle 8 directed upwards disposed at the mouth of a receptacle 9 for spent treatment fluids, the nozzle 8 and the receptacle 9 being already known.
• the nozzle 8 allows the injection of fluid into the overturned bottle 2.
• FIG. 1 shows the supply 10 of the nozzle 8 from the carousel 3.
• the nozzle 8 and the receptacle 9 are integral with the rotary carousel 3.
• the device comprises a clamp 11 for gripping and holding the bottle 2 by its neck. It also comprises first means 12, 18, 40, 41 for pivoting the clamp 11 by approximately 180 ° around a first axis 12 which is substantially horizontal and fixed relative to the nozzle 8 and to the receptacle 9.
• These first means include in particular a fork 40 integral with the clamp 11 in its pivoting movement and engaged on a control bar 41 of a known type.
• a control bar 41 of a known type.
• FIG. 1 the configuration of the control bar 41 on the periphery of the carousel 3 causes the clamp 11 to rotate about the axis 12.
• the device comprises a tubular conduit 16.
• this conduit is rectilinear and placed in the axis 17 of the bottle 2 gripped by the clamp 11.
• the device comprises second means 20, 22, 23 to ensure that this conduit 16 is located inside the bottle 2 when it is in a substantially inverted position 7.
• These second means provide the relative movement of the duct 16 between a first position 6 where the duct is released from the neck of the bottle 2 and a second position 7 where the duct is engaged deep inside the bottle.
• the conduit 16 constitutes the extension of the nozzle 8 for projecting fluid to the bottom 26 of the bottle 2 substantially overturned.
• the second means are arranged to ensure the relative displacement of the conduit 16 simultaneously with said pivoting of the bottle 2.
• conduit 16 is integral with the clamp 11 in its pivoting movement.
• integral is meant that the pivoting of the conduit 16 and of the bottle 2 is always simultaneous and takes place with respect to the same axis 12 and according to the same pivoting angle.
• said second means are arranged to move the clamp 11 in translation relative to the conduit 16 in a direction substantially parallel to said conduit 16.
• the conduit 16 remains substantially in the axis 17 of the bottle 2.
• the conduit 16 and the bottle 2 are in the vertical position.
• the first means for pivoting the clamp also comprise a plate 18 which can pivot around the axis 12 and integral with the fork 40.
• the circles 33 and 34 represent the trajectory of two ends of the plate 18 during its pivoting.
• the plate 18 supports the conduit 16 near its end 19.
• I s second means comprise a slide 20 also supported by the plate 18.
• the slide 20 is parallel to the duct 16 and therefore extends vertically in the first 6 and second 7 positions.
• the slide 20 is for example made up of a cylindrical rod.
• the body of the clamp 11 is engaged on the slide 20 to slide along the latter, as shown in FIG. 3.
• the body of the clamp 11 may have a local reinforcement 21 extending in the direction of the slide 20 in order to improve the precision of the guide on the slide 20 and the solidity of the body of the clamp 11 in the vicinity of the slide 20.
• the slide 20 makes it possible to guide the clamp 11 in translation in the direction of the plate 18 parallel to the axis 17 of the bottle 2 and of the conduit 16. During this translation, the conduit 16 penetrates into the bottle 2.
• the second means further comprise a link 22 connecting the clamp 11 to a point secured to the injection nozzle 8.
• This point is here a lug 23 fixed to the receptacle 9.
• the link 22 is connected in rotation by one end to the lug 23 and by another end to the external surface of the reinforcement 21, the respective axes of rotation 24 and 25 being parallel to the axis 12.
• the link 22 is dimensioned and arranged so that it causes the clamp 11 to slide on the slide 20 between the first 6 and second 7 positions during the pivoting of the clamp 11, of the slide 20 and of the plate 18 around axis 12.
• the arrangement of the link 22 depends on the configuration of the other elements of the device and their location.
• the sliding is caused in particular due to the location of the axis 24 in the vicinity of the fixing of the slide 20 on the plate 18.
• the clamp 11 and the bottle 2 therefore carry out a movement which decomposes into a rotation of axis 12 and a translation of axis 17, the rotation and translation taking place simultaneously .
• This movement has the effect of bringing the bottle into the inverted position 7 above the nozzle 8 and simultaneously introducing into the bottle the conduit 16 which comes to constitute in the second position 7 the extension of the nozzle 8.
• a treatment fluid is then sprayed by the nozzle 8. This fluid travels inside the conduit 16 and spurts inside the bottle 2 in the immediate vicinity of its bottom 26. The fluid then flows along the wall inside of the bottle 2, passes through the plate 18 which for this purpose has evacuation recesses in the vicinity of the conduit 16 and is finally evacuated by the receptacle 9.
• the second means may further comprise a second link (not shown in FIG. 2 since it is hidden by the link 22) arranged in a similar manner and symmetrically to the first link 22 with respect to a plane parallel to the plane of the gripper's pivoting path. This latter plane is the plane of the sheet in the present example, in FIG. 2.
• the second link is for example located behind the slide 20 in FIG. 2 so that the two links are on either side of the slide 20.
• the means for moving the clamp in translation can also be constituted by a set of tubes sliding one inside the other to achieve a telescopic fixing of the clamp on the plate, the movement of the clamp remaining controlled by at least one link.
• one actuation of the clamp 11 in translation can be achieved by means of an actuator suitably controlled.
• the end 27 of the conduit 16 opposite the nozzle 8 in the second position 7, that is to say opposite the end 19, has external means 28 for heating the fluid projected into the bottle 2.
• the heating means 28 include for example a heating resistor supplied with energy from the carousel by suitable connections.
• the heating means make it possible to project into the bottle 2 a fluid heated if necessary at very high temperature.
• the conduit 16 may have external means 29 of emission of ultraviolet rays also connected to the carousel in a suitable manner. Such means allow very good sterilization of the interior of the bottle during treatment.
• the arrangement of the sterilization means on the conduit 29 makes it possible to expose the interior wall of the bottle 2 to ultraviolet radiation.
• the conduit 16 has means for uncapping or uncapping the bottle.
• Such a device allows during the inversion of the bottle towards position 7, to remove or pierce the lid of the bottle or even to remove a capsule which would have remained in place.
• the nozzle 8 is selectively connected inside the carousel 3, to different sources of fluid supply 30 as shown diagrammatically in FIG. 4.
• the selection of fluid is carried out by a member distribution valve 31 with conventional valves automatically controlled during the operation of the carousel 3 by suitable mechanical, pneumatic or electromagnetic means of a known type.
• each nozzle 8 in communication successively with several sources of fluid 30 to perform on the bottle 2 the operations using these fluids.
• the cam roller 50 thus pivots the clamp 11 around the substantially horizontal axis 12 of the support
• the device also includes a cannula 16 for filling the bottle 2. This cannula is adapted to inject a fluid inside the bottle 2 gripped by the clamp 11 in its filling position.
• the device comprises means for actuating at the same time the means for pivoting the clamp 11 and means for moving the cannula 16 in a relative movement relative to the bottle 2 between a first position in which the cannula 16 is separated from the bottle when the clamp 11 is in its gripping position, as shown in FIG. 5, and a second position, shown in FIG. 6, in which the cannula 16 is in its treatment position relative to the bottle inside this bottle when the clamp 11 is in the treatment position.
• the cannula 16 is a treatment member suitable for relative movement relative to the bottle 2 substantially in the axis 17 thereof.
• the cannula 16 In the gripping position of the gripper 11, the cannula 16 is situated substantially in the axis 17 of the bottle 2 gripped by said gripper 11.
• the means for moving the cannula 16 in relative motion comprise means for moving the gripper 11 in translation relative to the cannula 16, in a direction substantially parallel to the axis 17, during the pivoting of the clamp 11.
• the device comprises a plate 18 pivotally mounted around the axis 12.
• Said plate 18 carries on the one hand the treatment cannula 16, on the other hand the slide 20 on which the clamp 11 is slidably mounted.
• the slide 20 extends in a direction parallel to the axis 17 of the bottle 2 gripped by the clamp 11.
• the slide 20 can be replaced by equivalent means, for example telescopic tubes.
• the device further comprises at least one link 22 articulated in an articulated way on the one hand to the clamp 11, on the other hand to a point 24 of the support 51 of the device, this link 22 being arranged so that it causes sliding of the clamp 11 along the slide 20 between said first 6 and second 7 positions during the pivoting of the clamp 11.
• F ⁇ L'iL F. RECTSFI ⁇ E (RULE 91) IS / VfcP 2 6. 01. 95 22 on the clamp 11 when " the clamp is in its position for gripping a bottle 2, represented in FIG. 5, at position 25b of said articulation point 25 when the clamp 11 is in its position for processing the figure 6.
• the position of the axis 12 is fixed.
• the treatment member 16 is placed relative to this axis on the one hand, and the clamp 11 and the bottle 2 on the other hand, in each of the two gripping positions and treatment.
• the positions 25a and 25b of the articulation point of the connecting rod 22 are fixed on the body 48 of the clamp, the segment 43 is drawn connecting the two points 25a, 25b, and the perpendicular bisector 42 of this segment.
• the length Y of the segment 43 being predetermined, we set the distance X to place the axis 24 (see figure 8).
• the angle A of inclination of the bottle 2 or of the container is advantageously from 30 to 45 ° for a filling operation, from 50 to 60 ° for a dosing operation in the case of Champagne, etc.
• the rod 44 is telescopic and can lie against the action of a Antagonistic spring 45. While the neck 46 of the bottle 2 has come into contact with the base 47 of the cannula 16, which prevents any further sliding of the clamp along the slide 20, the telescopic link 44 makes it possible to continue the pivoting of the bottle 2 around the axis 12 in order to obtain a greater angle of inclination of the bottle relative to the vertical. This can be useful in certain operations, for example to regularize a filling level by overflow.
• the length of the movement of the clamp 11 along the slide is at least equal to the length of the cannula section introduced inside the container in the treatment position.
• the cannula 16 is connected by any means, such as rigid, flexible tubes, etc., to a suitable source of fluid, which may be a source of vacuum.
• a device has thus been described for moving a treatment member with relative movement relative to a container.
• Such a device is simple, robust, reliable, can be adapted to many treatment bodies, in particular in all treatments or operations using a fluid, such as emptying, rinsing, drying, filling, dosing, decanting, sterilization, maturing, siliconization.
• this device can also be used for operations or treatments using no fluid but using special tools, such as uncapping, uncapping, encapsulation, capping, for which the 'tool must be brought near the container without necessarily being introduced inside thereof.
• the invention is not limited to the embodiments which have just been described, and many modifications and modifications can be made on these without departing from the scope of the invention.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Filling Of Jars Or Cans And Processes For Cleaning And Sealing Jars (AREA)
• Cleaning In General (AREA)

Priority Applications (2)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=9451465

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (5)

Cited By (4)

Families Citing this family (3)

Citations (3)

• 1993
  • 1993-10-01 FR FR9311729A patent/FR2710561B1/fr not_active Expired - Fee Related
• 1994
  • 1994-09-28 WO PCT/FR1994/001135 patent/WO1995009699A1/fr not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 1994-09-28 EP EP94928926A patent/EP0729391A1/fr not_active Withdrawn
  • 1994-09-28 AU AU78160/94A patent/AU7816094A/en not_active Abandoned
  • 1994-09-30 TW TW83109053A patent/TW289741B/zh active

Patent Citations (3)

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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