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
  • B08B9/28—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 invention relates to a cleaning arrangement with a spray device which can be acted upon by a cleaning liquid under pressure and is arranged along a bottle transport device.
• the invention particularly relates to the pre-cleaning of heads of such bottles which have screw caps.
• Bottles for example beverage bottles, are usually cleaned in bottle dishwashers.
• Bottle washers are designed so that the cleaning solutions used, the cleaning temperature and the treatment time, as well as the subsequent rinsing processes, are based on normal soiling of the bottles. Since the intensification of these cleaning conditions, which may be necessary with regard to special soiling, is particularly cost-intensive, options for special treatment of special impurities must be sought.
• the invention is based on the technical problem of demonstrating a cleaning arrangement and a cleaning method with which special soiling of bottle necks can be treated by targeted measures in such a way that targeted removal of this special soiling is possible without having to intensify the entire cleaning process accordingly.
• This problem is solved by changing the cleaning arrangement described above, in which the spraying device is equipped with a plurality of nozzles arranged above and on both sides next to the bottle heads on a nozzle block, by means of which the cleaning liquid can be directed onto the screw thread and collar of the bottle head, and by a method for the pre-cleaning of bottle heads, in which a pre-cleaning liquid is sprayed onto the bottle head with screw thread and collar as soon as possible after the unscrewing device with the help of alternately vertically and laterally arranged nozzles of a spray device if an optical sensor detects contamination on the bottle head.
• Such a cleaning arrangement has the advantage that the parts of a bottle that are particularly affected by the special soiling described, namely the bottle head with the screw thread and the collar, can be sprayed specifically with a cleaning liquid set for this type of soiling, which leads to a soaking or a Disintegration of the encrusted deposits leads. This makes it possible to also remove these special contaminants during the subsequent normal cleaning treatment.
• a spray device can be operated manually based on the observation of an operator.
• the contamination-relevant area of the bottle head can be sprayed over particularly effectively if the nozzle arranged above the bottle and directed vertically downwards is a full-cone jet nozzle and the nozzles arranged on the side are flat jet nozzles, which partly form horizontal and partly vertically oriented flat jets.
• the alignment of at least one nozzle on both sides with vertical flat jet alignment in such a way that the main nozzle direction is directed upwards by about 15 degrees with respect to the horizontal has the advantage that the areas lying in the spray shadow with the cleaning liquid from above are sprayed be wetted.
• the construction of the pipe rods, to which the laterally arranged nozzles are connected, according to the same basic scheme using the same individual parts, advantageously allows the two-sided arrangements to be constructed in a modular manner and the stockpiling to be minimized accordingly.
• this modular structure advantageously allows the cleaning arrangement to be adapted to the particular circumstances. For example, you can use a union nut vertically aligned pipe pieces connected to the pipe bend turn very easily around the pipe axis, so that the lateral nozzles attached to the pipe pipes on the vertical pipes can be rotated and adjusted in a few simple steps around a certain angular position in and against the direction of bottle movement. An angular position of approximately 30 degrees has proven to be advantageous since the formation of spray shadows can be largely avoided.
• the length of the vertical tube can also be determined in such a structure in such a way that the nozzles arranged on it laterally are in a suitable alignment with the bottle heads to be cleaned.
• the use of a pipe bent at an angle at the rear end, around which the laterally arranged nozzles should spray upwards, also solves this problem in the simplest way.
• the spraying device is installed directly behind the unscrewing device and is thus arranged as far as possible in front of the actual bottle cleaning system.
• Figure 1 shows a section of the bottle conveyor over which the cleaning arrangement is installed.
• nozzle 2 shows a section of the nozzle assembly with a vertically downwardly spraying side nozzle and one on each side of the nozzle assembly
• Fig. 3 is a view of the cut nozzle assembly and the vertical and side nozzle arranged thereon and
• Fig. 4 shows a detail with two bottle heads and the hint of the spray jets, which are directed from above or from the side to the screw thread and the collar.
• a bottle conveyor 12 part of a bottle conveyor 12 is indicated very schematically, on which the bottles 13 are transported to the right for normal bottle cleaning.
• a screwdriver 10 is indicated, with which the screw caps are unscrewed from the bottles 13.
• an optical sensor 11 is indicated above the bottle conveyor 12, which is aligned with the bottle head 14. If the sensor 11 detects contamination on the bottle head 14, it triggers a control signal by which the nozzle assembly 1, which is pressurized with a cleaning liquid under pressure, is activated and the cleaning liquid is sprayed for as long as bottles 13 with dirty bottle heads 14 the bottle conveyor 12 are conveyed under the nozzle assembly 1.
• FIG. 2 shows a section from the end of the nozzle assembly 1, on which a vertical nozzle 2 spraying vertically downwards and at approximately equal distances in front of and behind it, side nozzles 3 are arranged.
• the nozzle 2 which is designed as a full jet nozzle, is screwed directly into a receptacle which is fitted around an opening in the lower wall of the nozzle assembly 1, which is designed here as a square hollow profile.
• 2 connections or branches 4 are arranged in the side walls of the nozzle stack 1 at approximately equal distances in front of and behind the vertical nozzle, around openings provided there, which are shown here as branches 4 are.
• FIG. 3 shows, in a viewing direction along the orientation of the nozzle assembly 1, the cut nozzle assembly 1 and the vertical nozzle 2 arranged below the nozzle assembly 1 and the branches 4 arranged on both sides.
• the branches 4 are, as shown in FIG. 1, offset in front of and behind the vertical nozzle 2.
• the length of the vertical tube 6 can be selected in such a length that the nozzle receptacle 8 arranged on the pipe section 6 and thus the nozzle 3 is aligned to the height at which the Run bottle heads 14 under the nozzle assembly 1.
• a spray direction about 15 degrees above the horizontal advantageously allows the vertically oriented flat jet to reach the areas of the collar 16 and screw thread 15, which are not accessible to the vertically directed jets.
• FIG. 4 shows, very schematically, using two bottle heads 14 arranged side by side, how the nozzle jets from the vertical nozzle 2 and the lateral nozzle 3 are directed at the screw thread 15 and collar 16 in a certain position under the nozzle assembly 1.
• the fact that the bottles 13 run continuously under and between the nozzle arrangement ensures that the bottle heads 14 are completely sprayed with the cleaning liquid.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Cleaning In General (AREA)

Priority Applications (2)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=7849798

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (4)

Cited By (1)

Families Citing this family (2)

Citations (6)

Family Cites Families (1)

• 1997
  • 1997-11-26 DE DE1997152263 patent/DE19752263A1/de not_active Withdrawn
• 1998
  • 1998-11-17 WO PCT/EP1998/007345 patent/WO1999028059A1/de not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 1998-11-17 EP EP98961207A patent/EP1034050A1/de not_active Withdrawn
• 2000
  • 2000-05-25 NO NO20002675A patent/NO20002675L/no not_active Application Discontinuation

Patent Citations (6)

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