WO2000055087A1

WO2000055087A1 - Filling spout

Info

Publication number: WO2000055087A1
Application number: PCT/FR2000/000611
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jean-Emile Bedin
Original assignee: Sidel Participations Industrielles (Societe Anonyme)
Priority date: 1999-03-18
Filing date: 2000-03-14
Publication date: 2000-09-21
Also published as: EP1082265A1; AU3297200A; FR2791050A1

Abstract

The invention concerns a liquid filling spout, designed in particular to be mounted on high-rate hydro washers, characterised in that it comprises: an air return tube with a central passage (44) and a head integral with said tube, a tube for the liquid flow, externally coaxial, the air return tube and the flow tube being relatively mobile to each other so as to take up two positions, one closed position, the tube being then in sealed contact with the head and the other open wherein the liquid can flow between the tube and the head, as well as levelling means with a valve (17).

Description

FILLING SPOUT

The present invention relates to a valve filling spout, in particular for filling water bottles, mounted in a carousel device at very high speed.

In companies bottling liquids, especially spring water, the filling must be very precise, very rapid and must avoid water losses so as not to waste natural resources. In addition, taking into account the purity of the bottled water, this water should be carried into the bottle without any return of surrounding air in the supply tank. The great precision concerns the volume delivered which results in the bottle by a level at a given and constant height from one bottle to another. A well-known method consists in using gravity or a slight overpressure in the supply tank to allow gravity flow or under slight pressure of the liquid through a filling spout. Such a spout comprises sealing means with the neck of the bottle, a filling tube with a closing head, this tube being movable between two positions, one open, detached from the head in which the liquid flows and the other closed, in sealed support on the head, in which the flow is interrupted. For the flow to be possible, it is also necessary, in addition to the movement of the filling tube, that the air contained in the bottle can escape from the bottle, through a so-called air return duct. As soon as the liquid arranged in the bottle reaches the level of the entry of this conduit, there is interruption of the flow.

In practice, the problem is not as simple because other parameters such as filling time, the volumes of the bottles, the conformation of these bottles can be of paramount importance to achieve the desired rates, especially when they are at very high rates.

Thus, in the case where the bottles parade at 40,000 units per hour, the filling time for a bottle of a liter and a half, even by multiplying the number of spouts on the carousels, must be the order of a few seconds, except to provide excessive installations.

Also, the flow of the liquid in the bottle must be carried out under the best conditions and simultaneously, the stopping of the flow must be very precise. Note that for an upgrade it would be possible to proceed in a known manner. According to this method, after filling in excess above the required level in the bottle, a suction of the overflow of water is carried out by means of a leveling cannula adjusted to a given height.

In the case of spring water for example, such aspiration is possible but it is prohibited to reintroduce this sucked water into the supply tank under penalty of polluting the directly drawn spring water. If the process uses a cannula, this sucked water must be rejected and considered a loss, which is not desirable for financial reasons but also because of the limits of natural resources. It is therefore necessary to stop the flow with a leveling simultaneous with this stop and not for a particular subsequent operation in the carousel.

It is also advisable to provide a simple mechanism so as to avoid any loss of reliability of such a filling machine because any untimely stopping of such a chain is indeed highly detrimental to the user.

In order for the water to flow as quickly as possible, the air exhaust must also be adapted. It is advisable that the evacuated air does not disturb the flow of water by deflecting the veins of water, or even by torch said spout, that is to say that water is directly sucked into the flow d 'air.

In the field of bottling, particularly for water, the bacterial pollution aspect must be taken into account very precisely.

Thus, the spout must avoid presenting retention zones capable of allowing the proliferation of bacteria and preferably the spout must be easy to clean, in particular by a simple passage of disinfection fluid.

The spout according to the present invention aims to meet all of the conditions indicated above.

To this end, according to the invention, the liquid filling spout, with valve, in particular intended to be mounted on carrousel machines and at high speed, is characterized in that it comprises an air return tube with a central channel with a head integral with this tube, and an external coaxial liquid flow tube, the return air tube and the flow tube being movable relative to each other so as to take two positions, one closed, the tube being in leaktight contact with the head and the other open in which the liquid can flow between the tube and the head, as well as valve-leveling means. According to a preferred embodiment, the valve leveling means comprise:

an internal housing formed in the head, opening into the central channel, this housing comprising a lower seat and an upper seat, - at least one lateral channel for circulation of air and water, each channel opening outwards in a point located below the flow tube, and

- a ball of density lower than that of the liquid, intended to rest on the lower seat when the housing is empty and to come to bear on the upper seat when the housing is filled with water.

According to another characteristic, each lateral air and water circulation channel makes an angle α with the longitudinal axis of the air return tube and emerges internally immediately above the ball when it rests on the lower seat.

The housing also has a lower hole, of diameter d, located in the lower seat, opening under the ball. The arrangement describes a particular head which comprises two cones linked by their bases, the upper cone having a flow ramp leading to a peripheral seal carried by the head and disposed substantially in line with the connecting plane of the two cones.

More particularly, the joint is of rectangular section. Means are also provided for guiding the flow tube with respect to the air return tube.

The spout according to the present invention is now described in detail according to a particular non-limiting embodiment, this with regard to the appended drawings in which the various figures represent: FIG. 1, a view in longitudinal section of the spout according to the invention,

FIG. 2, a view of the spout of FIG. 1, after partial rotation about its longitudinal axis,

- Figure 3, a cross-sectional view along line 3-3 of Figure 1, and - Figures 4A to 4D, a view of a block diagram of the different stages of operation of the spout according to the invention. Figure 1 shows a flow tube 1 0, a head 1 2 and a tube 1 4 for air return as well as means 1 6 for leveling with a valve 1 7.

The flow tube 10 is connected to a membrane 1 8, in the form of a funnel, which is the subject of French Patent No. 2 466 433, which simultaneously guides the liquid coming from the supply tank 20 and the effort of elastic return to press the end of the flow tube 1 0 on the head 1 2 as will be explained later.

The tube is also integral with retaining means 22 allowing the support of the neck 24 of the bottle, means which ensure, under the effect of displacement of the bottle, the movements of the tube 1 0 relative to the head 1 2, against the return effort of the membrane. The diameter of the tube is adapted to cooperate sealingly with the head when it is in the closed position.

To this end, a peripheral seal 26, carried by this head, serves as a seat at the end of the tube 10. This seal is preferably of rectangular section.

This head 1 2 fits substantially in an envelope comprising two cones 28 and 30 linked by their base. The seal 26 is disposed in the immediate vicinity of the connection plane of these two cones linked by their bases.

The lower cone has a housing 32 with part of the valve 1 7, namely a lower seat 34 receiving a ball 36. This housing comprises at its lower part an end hole 38, of diameter d, as well as lateral channels 40 of air and water circulation, inclined at an angle α with respect to the longitudinal axis, putting the outside into communication with the inside of the housing. These channels open at or immediately above the ball when the latter rests in its seat.

These channels are, in the embodiment shown, divided into 2 series of 3 juxtaposed channels and the diameter of each channel is of the order of 1 to 3 mm for a central channel diameter of 5 to 10 mm, in the case of filling with water.

The ball is made of a material having a density lower than that of water in the case of the same example used, and to fix an order of magnitude, the density of this material is 0.6 g / cm ³ . This ball also has a very precise sphericity. Advantageously, the material used is a polymer of great hardness to avoid premature wear in contact with the lower and especially upper seats.

The housing 32 extends into the upper cone 30 which has an upper seat 42, at the junction of this housing with an inner channel 44, formed in the tube 1 4 of air return. Preferably, this seat 42 makes an angle of 45 ° with the vertical. The ball 36 can thus take two positions, one low in which it rests in its seat 34 and the other high, in which it comes to bear on the upper seat 42, closing the channel 44 of the tube 14 for return of air.

It should also be noted that the upper cone 30 has a particular external profile, in the form of a ramp 46. The foot of the ramp opens onto the gasket 26 of the flow tube with the head 12.

The air return tube 14 comprises, in its part located immediately above the head 1 2, means 48 for guiding the flow tube 1 0, internal to this tube. These guide means 48 essentially comprise a ring 50, supported by wings 52, said ring having a barrel shape with a very large radius of curvature so as to ensure essential and preferential contact in the middle part of this ring.

The wings 52 and the ring 50 are profiled so as to disturb the flow of the liquid as little as possible.

FIG. 3 shows the constituent elements in section which give a good approximation of the ratios, in particular in thickness.

The upper part of the air return tube 14 is provided with fixing means 54, suitable for the nozzle concerned of the filling machine. The operation of such a filling spout is now indicated so as to bring out all the precise and complementary roles of the different elements as well as the resulting synergy.

For this description, reference is made to FIGS. 4A to 4D.

In FIG. 4A, the spout is in the waiting position. The filling tube 10 is supported by its end on the seal 26, which prevents any flow of liquid from the buffer tank 20.

Bottle B is waiting, in line with the spout.

The ball 36 rests by simple gravity in its lower seat 34, formed in the lower cone 28, the ball in the air is not subject to any other constraint.

The air return tube 14 is preferably connected to a manifold, not shown, which collects the air evacuated from the bottle, for the sake of containment. The next step shown in FIG. 4B sees a relative movement of the bottle with respect to the spout which causes the neck of the bottle to come into tight contact with the retaining means 22. Therefore the relative movement causes the lifting of the filling tube 1 0 relative to the head, against the elastic return force of the membrane 1 8, which liberates the flow of water by gravity .

During the movement of the filling tube 1 0, the guide means comprising the ring 50 in the shape of a barrel, provide guidance, including when the movement is not perfectly parallel to the vertical axis, for example under the effect of a very slightly asymmetrical push of the elastic return means.

Note the admission of water into the bottle in the form of an umbrella, over the entire periphery, with a separation of the water stream on the joint 26, thanks to the ramp 46 of the upper part 30 of the head 12 For the water to penetrate, the air in the bottle must have the possibility of being evacuated through the channel 44 inside the tube 1 4 for the return of air. The air passes through the side channels 40. The flow rate of these channels must be sufficient to allow the evacuation of air, but it is also necessary that, at the confluence of the air intake, above the ball, the central channel accepts this flow rate so as not to brake the speed, which would decrease the flow. It is also necessary that the evacuation speed is adapted so as not to create a vortex immediately above the ball so as not to entrain it in the generated air call, the ball then blocking the central channel. In the embodiment, it is noted that the air flows tend to pass immediately above the ball in its seat, being at most tangential to the sphere, well above its horizontal diametral plane, ensuring then rather a tackle.

The hole 38, of diameter d is of reduced dimensions, of the order of 1 to 2 mm so as not to favor the passage of air in order to avoid any untimely lifting of the ball 36. In the following phase illustrated in the figure 4C, the water level has reached the base of the filling tube 1 0. As a result, the water having penetrated into the housing 32, both through the end hole 38 and through the side channels 40, the ball, of density less than that of water, floats and comes to seal, the channel 44 inside the air return tube. The ball bears on the upper seat 42.

The passage of air being prohibited, the admission of water by gravity flow is interrupted, the filling tube 1 0 can be closed.

In FIG. 4D, the relative descent of the bottle relative to the spout releases the force exerted, which allows the elastic return force of the membrane to be exerted.

In other embodiments with the interposition of a return spring, the operation is strictly the same.

The supply tube 10 bears on the seal 26 and provides sealing. Once the neck is cleared, the water level drops to compensate for the volume of the spout removed.

We thus obtain a closure of the spout with a leveling of high precision and this with zero water loss as is qualified in the field of these bottling machines. The absence of water loss is obtained by the presence of the valve, in this case the ball which ensures a sealed closure of the internal air return channel, exactly when the filling level is reached. Note also that in the embodiment shown, cleaning the spout is facilitated by the absence of corners in which there could be accumulation of particles and other bacteria. The different channels and end holes are in fact swept by the different flows.

Combined with the use of a membrane and the absence of a spring, the arrangement is thus attractive and represents the preferred embodiment.

The rates obtained allow filling times of the order of a few seconds to be reached for one and a half liter water bottles.

Claims

1. Liquid filling spout, in particular designed to be mounted on carousel machines and at high speed, characterized in that it comprises:

- an air return tube (1 4) with a central channel (44) and with a head (1 2) integral with this tube,

- an outer coaxial liquid flow tube (1 0), the air return tube and the flow tube being movable relative to each other so as to assume two positions, one closed , the tube being in tight contact with the head and the other open in which the liquid can flow between the tube and the head, as well as

- Means (1 6) leveling valve (1 7).

2. Filling spout according to claim 1, characterized in that the valve leveling means comprise:

an internal housing (32) formed in the head (1 2), opening into the central channel (44), this housing comprising a lower seat (34) and an upper seat (42),

- At least one lateral channel (40) for air and water circulation, each channel opening outwards at a point located below the flow tube, and - a ball (36) of density lower than that liquid, intended to rest on the lower seat when the housing is empty and to come to rest on the upper seat when the housing is filled with water.

3. filling spout according to claim 2, characterized in that each lateral channel (40) of air and water circulation makes an angle g, with the longitudinal axis of the air return tube (1 4) .

4. Filling spout according to claim 3, characterized in that each channel (40) opens internally immediately above the ball (36) when the latter rests on the lower seat.

5. Filling spout according to claim 2, 3 or 4, characterized in that the housing also comprises a hole (38) lower, of diameter d, located in the seat (34) lower, opening out under the ball (36).

6. filling spout according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the head (1 2) comprises two cones (28, 30) linked by their bases, the cone (28) upper having a ramp (46) d flow leading to a peripheral seal (26) carried by the head and disposed substantially in line with the connection plane of the two cones.

7. filling spout according to claim 6, characterized in that the seal (26) is of rectangular section.

8. Filling spout according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises means (48) for guiding the flow tube relative to the air return tube, these means comprising a ring (50 ) supported by wings (52), said ring having a barrel shape with a very large radius of curvature.