WO2003106322A1

WO2003106322A1 - Device for removing extraneous air from a clean room

Info

Publication number: WO2003106322A1
Application number: PCT/EP2002/014301
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jens H. PÖPPLAU
Original assignee: Poepplau Jens H
Priority date: 2002-06-14
Filing date: 2002-12-16
Publication date: 2003-12-24
Also published as: EP1513761B1; AU2002360985A1; DE10226710A1; EP1513761A1; US20050241725A1; DE10226710B4; ATE336461T1; DE50207892D1

Abstract

The invention relates to a device for removing extraneous air introduced through open containers (3) from a clean room (1) that encloses container processing machines (14, 20; 24). Said clean room is filled with clean gas and is continuously supplied with clean gas to compensate for gas losses. The inventive method is characterized in that inside the clean room (1) an outlet room (9) is disposed that is linked with the exterior via an outlet connection (12, 17) leading from the clean room (1) and with the clean room (1) via an opening (11). On the rim of said opening (11), slot nozzles (A, B) face each other and blow off clean gas towards each other. The outlet room (9) is disposed in such a manner as to enclose, in at least the zone in which the containers (3) are filled, at least the outlet zone of the containers.

Description

Device for removing foreign air from a clean room

The invention relates to a device according to the preamble of claim 1.

Such devices are used in particular in beverage technology. Here are e.g. a filling machine, a downstream sealing machine and possibly other machines are arranged in a clean room, the leaks of which are compensated for by the continuous supply of clean gas under a slight excess pressure and which ensures that the beverage can be filled without contamination during the treatment of the containers.

The contaminants in question here can be bacterial germs which, for example, interfere with sterile beverage filling, since they hinder the longer shelf life of the filled beverage. In this case, a sterile gas, such as sterile air, is used as the clean gas, and sterility can be achieved, for example, by sterile filtering. The contaminants can also consist, for example, of undesired foreign gases, such as oxygen. For many beverages, it is desirable to fill them oxygen-free, i.e. in an oxygen-free one Clean room. Nitrogen or CO2, for example, can be used as clean gas for these purposes. Finally, the contaminants can also consist of introduced dust when it comes to dust-free container filling. These requirements can also occur in combination, for example in the case of bottling beverages, where it is best to work both oxygen-free and germ-free. Sterile filtered CO2 can then be used as the clean gas.

Leakages occur in the clean room, in particular at the inlet and outlet openings at which the containers are led into and out of the room. These leaks can be compensated by the appropriate supply of clean gas. The constant passage of the clean gas through the clean room is intended to ensure that impurities entering the clean room are flushed out again.

Most of the contaminants entering the clean room are brought in by the containers, which openly enter the clean room and contain unclean ambient air with e.g. contain harmful oxygen and harmful germs. When filling with drinks, the impure air is displaced from the container and reaches the clean room. The described constant flushing of the clean room usually serves as a generic known device for removing this external air introduced.

A disadvantage of this known construction is the high consumption of clean gas, which is necessary to eliminate the considerable amounts of external air introduced, and the contacting of the entire clean room with the external air, whereby introduced germs can settle in remote corners, from which they are difficult to flush with clean gas are eliminated. The object of the present invention is to provide a generic device with which the removal of the external air introduced through containers can be achieved more economically and thoroughly.

This object is achieved with the features of claim 1.

According to the invention, a separate discharge space is provided in the clean room, which includes the area where the possibly contaminated air escapes from containers. This is primarily the place where containers are filled with filling material, as well as other places where there is a risk of discharge due to drafts, for example. The clean room can, for example, encompass the entire container or only its mouth area. If air gets out of the container, e.g. B. when infested, the air gets into the drainage space, from which it is led out into the open with the drain connection from the clean room. The opening of the discharge space towards the clean room is provided with gap nozzles which blow off in the plane of the opening and through which clean gas is blown out. Clean gas blown out from opposite regions of the opening edge in the plane of the opening hits the container arranged in the opening and is diverted in portions into the discharge space and into the clean room. If there is no container, the gas flows meet and are also directed in portions both into the drainage space and into the cleanroom. Regardless of whether there is a container in the opening or whether the opening is free, a ram flow always forms, which is directed in parts into the drainage space or into the clean room. The opening with the ram flow generated by it not only provides the air supply for the drain room and for the clean room, but also serves as an opening for introducing and removing the containers into the drain room. The escape of contaminated air from the drain room into the clean room is definitely avoided. This creates both an overpressure in the discharge space and the outside air that has penetrated there through the discharge connection presses on the outside, as well as in the clean room, which is additionally or solely supplied with clean gas for purging. Contamination of the clean room by external air is completely avoided in this way and only limited to the very small area of the drain room. With lower consumption of clean gas, a better cleanliness of the clean room can be achieved. The ram flow in the region of the opening of the discharge space, with its jet component directed into the discharge space, ensures an air flow which runs essentially parallel to the axis of the container at its mouth. Impure air emerging from the mouth is thus carried along in the exit direction by the flowing clean air and disposed of. Disruptive turbulence, which could lead to a wide spread of the impure air, is avoided.

The drain room can hold the entire container. However, according to claim 2, it advantageously comprises only the upper region of one or more containers, that is to say the region of the container mouth in which the air to be disposed of is produced.

Advantageously, the drain space for a single treatment station can be bell-shaped for receiving only one container.

Alternatively, according to claim 4, the drainage space can be designed as an elongated tunnel with an opening designed as an elongated slot. This tunnel can be arranged in a fixed manner, wherein containers can be arranged in a fixed manner in the tunnel and can be transported, for example, with a movable tunnel piece, for example in the case of multi-lane transport of containers in transverse tracks which are transverse to the transport direction and are each supplied with a tunnel. Alternatively, the containers can also be transported in the longitudinal direction through the tunnel, for example with a suitable carrier. Herewith can e.g. B., even if the container is not filled here, the escape of external air z. B. can be prevented by drafts.

The features of claim 5 are advantageously provided. If a tunnel is supplied with clean gas from an elongated opening running in the tunnel direction through the ram flow there and if the discharge connection is also designed as an elongated slot parallel to it, then the discharge space is flowed through in a short way transversely to the tunnel axis. This avoids air currents in the direction of the tunnel, which can lead to the spread of germs between the containers.

In this construction, the features of claim 6 are advantageously provided. Is in the clean room z. B. a rotary filling machine is arranged, so in the container area having the peripheral area of the drainage space can be formed as a longitudinally divided tunnel, one part of which rotates with the machine and the other part is fixed to the housing of the clean room. The two edges of the slot of the tunnel defining the opening to the clean room are provided with slot nozzles which blow against one another. The tunnel is divided longitudinally at another point. This can be a gap which can advantageously be used as a drain connection and which enables problem-free rotary connection of a housing part of the clean room rotating with the machine to a stationary housing part of the clean room.

The features of claim 7 are advantageously provided here. In this way, the neck holder of the bottles that is common today in plastic bottles can be integrated under a neck collar without great design effort. In the drawings, the invention is shown for example and schematically, all cut walls being shown as a simple line for the sake of simplifying the drawing. Show it:

1 shows a section through a clean room with a simple individual container filling machine,

2 shows a section along line 2-2 in Fig. 1 through the drain space,

3 shows a section corresponding to FIG. 2 through a tunnel-shaped drainage space,

4 shows a section along line 4-4 in FIG. 3,

5 shows a highly schematic axial sectional view of a rotating filling machine in a clean room,

6 shows a section along line 6-6 in FIG. 5,

Fig. 7 is a section along line 7-7 in Fig. 5 by an outlet star and

FIG. 8 shows a detail from FIG. 7 in an embodiment variant with a neck collar holder.

Fig. 1 shows a clean room 1, which is enclosed by a housing 2. Containers 3, shown in the form of bottles, are transported on a conveyor belt 4 through the clean room, wherein they enter this at an inlet gate 5 and leave at an outlet gate 6. At a filling point, the container 3, which is raised at this point by means not shown, is soaked. The outside air brought in from outside escapes from this and would contaminate the entire clean room 1.

For this purpose, the clean room through a line 8 clean gas, for. B. sterile air or CO2 and flows out at the gates 5, 6 again, as there with

Arrows shown. This flushing ensures permanent cleaning of the clean room 1.

A capping machine 31 is arranged downstream of the filling point and closes the containers 3 within the clean room 1 with caps 32.

As far as explained so far, the construction shown corresponds to the prior art.

In the construction shown in Fig. 1, a drain chamber 9 is additionally provided, which is arranged in the interior of the clean room 1 and into which the filling pipe 7 opens, and which in the filling position the upper region of the container 3, in the illustrated embodiment the neck region, from above over sums.

The wall of the drain chamber 9 consists of double walls from the walls 10a, 10b. The double wall 10a, 10b comprises the container 3 with a lower opening 11 of the drain space, at which it is connected to the interior of the clean room 1. Otherwise, the double wall 10a, 10b seals the drain space 9.

The gap space formed between the walls 10a and 10b is connected to the line 8 and is supplied with clean gas which can escape from this gap space at the opening 11 of the discharge space 9. The double walls form there 10a, 10b, a slit nozzle A, B which blows out gas in the direction of the plane of the opening 11.

As shown in FIG. 1, the gas exiting at A and B hits the container 3 and is deflected in approximately equal proportions upwards into the discharge chamber 9 and downwards into the cleanroom 1.

The inside of the drain chamber 9 is connected to the outside with a drain connection 12 through the housing 2 of the clean room 1, so that gas is constantly blown out of the drain chamber 9 to the outside. In particular, the external air escaping from the container 3 when the container 3 is filled with beverage from the filling tube 7 is blown out in this way and does not get into the clean room 1. The clean gas flow in the area of the gap nozzle A, B at the opening 11 of the discharge chamber 9 acts as a gas curtain, which blocks the clean room 1 against the entry of external air from the container 3.

The gas flowing in a portion into the clean room 1 at the opening 11 of the drain chamber 9 can be used to purge it only through the gates 5, 6 or can be supported with a further clean gas supply line to the clean room 1.

1 and 2 show a drain chamber 9 which only comprises one container 3, the opening 11 of which, as shown in FIG. 2, is round and thus has a self-contained edge. Nevertheless, the gap nozzle formed around the edge is provided with the two reference symbols A, B in order to clarify its opposite blowing effect and to facilitate comparison with the other embodiments. 3 shows in a sectional view, using the same reference numerals as far as possible, a construction of the discharge space 9, which is not, like in FIGS. 1 and 2, cup-shaped round for receiving only one container 3, but elongated for receiving several containers arranged in a row 3, as shown in FIG. 3. A section along line 4-4 is shown in Fig. 4.

In this embodiment, too, the drain chamber 9 is arranged in the interior of the clean room 1, not shown here. The opening 11 of the tunnel-shaped elongated discharge space 9 is provided in this embodiment as an elongated slot, from the edges of which, with the slot nozzles A, B, the clean gas supplied to the annular space between the double walls 10a and 10b is blown off into the plane of the opening 11, as is the case with this is shown in Fig. 3 with arrows. The cross section according to FIG. 4 shows a point of the tunnel-shaped drainage space 9, at which no container is in the opening 11. It can be seen that here, too, the gas flowing against one another is deflected in portions into the discharge space 9 and outwards into the clean room, forming a ram flow.

The containers 3 can be transported by the tunnel-shaped construction of Figures 3 and 4 in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. 3, z. B. with a transporter, not shown, arranged below this tunnel. Locking plates 13 can be provided between the containers, which protrude from below through the opening 11 into the drainage space 9 and block it essentially transversely and which are transported with the containers 3. Carry-over of foreign air between the containers 3 can thereby be reduced.

Air entrainment between the containers can also be reduced by designing the drain connection 12 not as a tube at one location of the elongated tunnel, but rather as an elongated slot that extends the length of the tunnel. Of the one that forms the opening Slit 17 coming clean air thus flows through the tunnel cross-section and extends essentially transversely to the tunnel axis to the drain connection 12. This further reduces cross-carryover between the containers.

The construction of an elongated tunnel shown in Fig. 3 can also accommodate a series of bottles, e.g. treated at the same time, for example filled. Here, e.g. in a machine in which bottles are transported in multiple lanes in rows transverse to the conveying direction, a tunnel piece corresponding to the embodiment of FIG. 3 is assigned to each such row of bottles, which is movably transported with the rows in the conveying direction.

FIGS. 5 and 6 in turn show a clean room 1 enclosed by a housing 2, which, however, accommodates a rotating filling machine of an otherwise conventional design. The filling machine rotates about a vertical shaft 14, which carries a rotating central base part 15 and cover part 16 of the housing 2. 6 shows, base part 15 and cover part 16 are each roughly sealed with a gap seal 17 on their circumference against fixed base and cover parts 18, 19 of the housing 2.

The containers 3 stand on plates 20, which are supported on the rotating bottom part 15, as shown.

A discharge space 9 is provided around the circumference of the shaft 14, which in the radial section of FIG. 6 basically corresponds to the embodiment of FIGS. 3, 4, but is designed to be curved around the circumference of the machine.

The double walls 10a, 10b are designed here in exactly the same way as in the embodiments of FIGS. 3 and 4, but on the one hand the tunnel is on the long stretched slit-shaped opening 11 and on the other longitudinally divided at the upper gap seal 17, so that the outer double wall 10a2, 10b2 is attached to the stationary housing 2, while the inner double wall lOal, lObl sits on the rotating cover part 16, that is to say is arranged all round the machine. The intermediate space between the moving inner double walls lOal and lObl is supplied with clean gas from the shaft 14 having the corresponding supply lines via a line 21 and the outer double walls 10a2 and 10b2 via a stationary line 22 coming from outside.

A comparison with the explanations for FIGS. 3 and 4 shows that in the exemplary embodiment in FIGS. 5 and 6 the gas flow directed from the gap at the gap nozzles A, B from the sides into the elongated slot-shaped opening 11 with one component upwards blows the drain chamber 9 and with one component down into the clean room 1. The respectively blown gas escapes from the drain chamber 9 as well as from the clean room 1 through the gap seals 17, the upper gap seal 17 on the drain chamber 9 being a drain connection similar to the drain connection 12 in Figures 1 and 4. In addition, gas escapes from the clean room 1 through the inlet and outlet gates 5, 6 (Fig. 5).

6 in circulation around the filling machine shown, they are filled with filling tubes 7 arranged centrally above the plates 20, which are connected to suitable feeds in the shaft 14 and spoke in their radial part in the form of spokes are arranged as shown in dashed lines in Fig. 5.

6, as explained in FIG. 3, air carryover between the containers 3 can be prevented with appropriately arranged locking plates 13. The supply of the containers 3 to the arrangement shown in FIG. 5 takes place in the direction of the arrow through an inlet gate 5 and then up to the circumference of the rotating filling machine with a straight conveyor 23, above which an elongated discharge space corresponding to the embodiments of FIGS. 3 and 4 is arranged. With this, foreign air quantities emerging from the containers can already be intercepted in this supply area. B. escape from these by drafts.

After rotating around the rotating filling machine, the containers 3 leave the clean room 1 after being deflected around a rotating star 24, which is shown in section in FIG. 7, through an outlet gate 6.

As shown in FIG. 7, the star 24 is arranged within the housing 2 of the clean room 1 between its fixed base part 18 and cover part 19 and is driven synchronously with the rotating filling machine via a shaft 25 which is vertical. A star wheel 26 fastened to the shaft 25 holds the containers 3 in pockets 27. Any external circumferential railings provided for holding the containers in the pockets and slide plates arranged under the containers are omitted for the sake of simplifying the drawing.

The star 24 is also provided with a drain chamber 9, which is connected to the outside via a drain connection 12, in accordance with the previously described embodiments. A rotating double disk 28a, 28b is provided above the star wheel 26 and within the upper neck regions of the container 3, which is supplied with clean gas via a feed line 29 through the shaft 25 and forms a gap nozzle B at its edge. Another gap nozzle A is stationary and ring-shaped from the illustrated double bell 29a, 29b, runs around the upper part of the container 3 at the level of the double disc 28a, 28b and is supplied with clean gas via a stationary line 30. Between the outwardly blowing gap nozzle B and the inwardly blowing gap nozzle A, the opening 11 formed as a circumferential slot is formed, in which again the same flow conditions are present as explained with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4.

Clean gas flows both upwards into the discharge chamber 9 and downwards into the clean room 1, so that the contamination of the clean room by air escaping from the container 3 is also prevented in the area of the star 24. This is particularly advantageous if the machine shown in FIG. 5 runs in a different direction, that is to say the containers 3 filled with unclean air are fed to the clean room 1 via the star 24, or if the clean room is larger than that shown in FIG. 5 a plurality of rotating machines are arranged one behind the other, for example a rotating filling machine and a rotating closing machine, which are connected via such a star.

The containers shown as bottles 3 in the figures can be the plastic bottles with a neck collar which are customary today and which are preferably held by the neck according to the prior art (neck handling). They can be held there with pliers or with simple U-shaped neck holders that fit under the neck collar. Such an embodiment is shown in FIG. 8, which shows a section of the area on the right in FIG. 7, but in an embodiment variant in which a neck collar bottle 3 'under its collar 40 with a U-shaped holder 41 is held. The star wheel 26 shown in FIG. 7 can then be omitted. Holders 41 are then to be attached to the rotating disk 28b in a suitable position in place of the pockets 27 (FIG. 7). Such a mounting of the bottles can also be provided in the construction of FIG. 6. The holders 41 can then be attached to the wall 10b in a suitable position.

In the illustrated embodiments, the gap nozzles A and B blow towards one another exactly in the plane of the opening 11 of the discharge space 9. As is shown, for example, in FIG. 4, this results in a symmetrical ram flow, which feeds clean gas in equal parts into the discharge space 9 and into the clean space 1.

However, it may be desirable to vary the ratio of the gas flows into the discharge space 9 or into the clean room 1, for example to convey a larger proportion into the clean room 1. This can be done in different ways.

On the one hand, it is possible to form the gap nozzles A and B directed towards one another exactly in the plane of the opening 11 at a slight angle to the discharge chamber 9 or to the clean room 1. If, for example, according to FIG. 4, the nozzles A and B were oriented slightly obliquely downwards, this would result in a slightly asymmetrical flow pattern between the nozzles, which promotes a larger proportion downwards, ie into the clean room 1. Conversely, the nozzles A, B could also be directed slightly upwards, so that they direct a stronger flow into the discharge space 9.

In addition, the ratio of the gas streams can also be influenced by the flow resistances which arise for the gas streams on the way through the discharge space 9 to the outside or through the clean room 1 to the outside. For this purpose, for example (see FIG. 1), the cross section of the drain connection 12 can be changed are to change their flow resistance in relation to the Stromlings resistance of the inlet and outlet gates 5, 6 to change.

In the illustrated exemplary embodiments, it is always shown that the drain chamber 9 is open with its opening 11 towards the clean room 1. The bottles 3 shown are therefore inserted with their opening upwards through the opening 11 into the drain chamber 9. In execution variants not shown, however, the drain space 9 can also be arranged with its opening 11 to the side or upwards, so that the bottles 3 would be inserted with their neck from the side or from above. Such an arrangement can e.g. be of advantage if the bottles come directly from a rinser in a hanging arrangement.

In the illustrated embodiments, the gap nozzles A, B are in each case on the edges of double walls 10a, 10b; 28a, 28b; 29a, 29b are formed, through which the clean gas emerging at the gap nozzles is supplied. As a result, the housing enclosing the drain space 9 is largely double-walled. In an alternative embodiment (not shown), the housing of the discharge space 9 can also be single-walled and the double-walled structure required to form a gap nozzle can be limited to the immediate area of the gap nozzles A, B. It can be positioned along the edges of the opening 11 e.g. a pipe connected to the clean gas supply can be laid, which is open with a longitudinal slot, which forms the gap nozzle.

In the illustrated exemplary embodiments, for example in FIGS. 1, 6 and 7, it is always shown that the container 3 only projects into the drain chamber 9 with its upper mouth region, but with its remaining part stands outside of this chamber in the clean room 1. With an enlarged design of the drainage chamber can, in an embodiment not shown, also immerse the container further in the drain space or bring it completely into it.

Claims

Device for removing foreign air from a clean room

1. A device for removing foreign air introduced through open containers (3) from a container treatment machine (14, 20; 24) enclosing, filled with clean gas clean room (1) which is constantly supplied with clean gas to compensate for gas losses, characterized in that in the clean room (1) is a drain room (9) is arranged, which is connected to a drain connection (12, 17) from the clean room (1) to the outside and through an opening (11) to the clean room (1), wherein At the edge of the opening (11) opposing, in the plane of the opening (11) clean gas against each other blowing nozzles (A, B) are provided, the discharge space (9) being arranged such that it at least in the place on the container (3) are filled, at least includes the mouth area of the container.

2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the drain space (9) covers at least the upper region of the container (3).

3. Apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the drain space (9) is bell-shaped with a round opening (11) (Fig. 2).

4. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that the drain space (9) is designed in the form of an elongated tunnel (Fig. 3) with a slot (11).

5. The device according to claim 4, characterized in that the drain connection is designed as a slot (17).

6. The device according to claim 4 for the treatment of on the circumference of a rotating machine (7, 14, 20; 26) rotating containers (3), characterized in that the tunnel (9) is longitudinally divided, one part (lOal, lObl ; 28a, 28b) rotates with the machine (14) and the other part (10a2, 10b2; 29a, 29b) is connected to the fixed housing (2) of the clean room (1).

7. The device according to claim 6 for neck collar bottles (3 ') held with neck holders (41), characterized in that the neck holders (41) are arranged on the peripheral part (10b; 28b) of the discharge space (9).