WO2007063205A1

WO2007063205A1 - Device and method for supplying stoppers to a machine for stoppering containers

Info

Publication number: WO2007063205A1
Application number: PCT/FR2006/002593
Authority: WO
Inventors: Olivier Alix; Eric Adriansens; Pascal Molusson
Original assignee: Sidel Participations
Priority date: 2005-11-30
Filing date: 2006-11-27
Publication date: 2007-06-07
Also published as: EP1954622A1; FR2893915B1; FR2893915A1; ES2387578T3; EP1954622B1

Abstract

The device comprises a lock (12) for passage of at least one bag (14) containing previously sterilized stoppers between a non-sterile external environment (16) and a sterile zone (18), the lock (12) being able to delimit an intermediate zone (28) separated both from the non-sterile external environment (16) and also from the sterile zone (28). It also comprises means (44) for introducing the bag or bags (14) from the non-sterile external environment (16) into the intermediate zone (28), means (46) for sterilizing the intermediate zone (28), and means (34) for passing the bag or bags (14) from the intermediate zone (28) to the sterile zone (18). It additionally comprises means (20) for removing the stoppers contained in each bag (14) from the sterile zone (18) to a stoppering zone (50) of the machine (22) for stoppering of containers. Application to stoppering of containers, such as bottles, filled with liquids for drinking.

Description

Device and method for supplying plugs of a container sealing machine

The present invention relates to a device for supplying plugs of a container sealing machine. It also relates to an associated method. By plug, within the meaning of the present invention, is meant any device that can be applied to a container to seal it: thus, the invention can be applied to screw caps, plugs to force position, to metal or plastic capsules, or else to opercules to stick or heat seal on the containers. For reasons of hygiene, in many cases, in particular in the case of food liquids, the caps of the containers, such as bottles, are packaged in plastic bags and sterilized by means of sterilizing radiation. It is in this conditioned form that they are received by the container filler or by their manufacturer when it is also filling.

The filler must therefore extract the sterile caps from the bags to feed the container capping machine, making sure that the corks remain sterile during extraction, while taking into account that the outer wall of the bag has probably been contaminated during the extraction process. his transport. Indeed, the caps are placed on the containers in a sterile atmosphere.

Thus, it is known to use in the state of the art a device for supplying plugs, previously arranged in bags, which device comprises a tunnel or airlock having an open end, namely the entrance of the airlock, and a closed end, namely the bottom of the lock where is a sterile area.

A mechanical conveyor, for example a treadmill, passes through the airlock so that the bags of plugs can be routed from the non-sterile exterior of the tunnel to the sterile zone.

The closed end, and therefore the bottom of the airlock, is further provided with a chute for evacuating the plugs towards the container sealing machine. The airlock is also equipped with means of sterilization bags carried sending the jets of sterilizing liquid to sterilize the outer casing. The chute is also a sterile area.

A problem with this device lies in the fact that it is difficult to ensure that the bottom of the chamber, from which plugs are extracted, remains perfectly sterile. Indeed, the conveyor can bring there stains carried by its mechanics. In addition, sterilization in the airlock can never guarantee that all the sides of the bags are subjected to the action of the sterilizing agent jets and that no dirty particles enter the airlock and reach the sterile zone. In particular, since the bags rest on the conveyor, their contact area with the conveyor may not be perfectly sterilized.

The object of the invention is to propose a device for feeding corks of a container sealing machine which guarantees the perfect sterility of all the faces of the cork bags.

For this purpose, the subject of the invention is a device for supplying plugs of a machine for capping containers, characterized in that it comprises:

an airlock for passing at least one bag containing previously sterilized plugs, between a non-sterile external environment and a sterile zone, the airlock being able to delimit an intermediate zone, separated at the same time from the non-sterile external environment and the sterile area,

means for introducing, from the non-sterile external environment, the bag or bags into the intermediate zone,

means for sterilizing the intermediate zone,

means for passing the bag or bags from the intermediate zone to the sterile zone, and

means for evacuating the corks contained in each bag from the sterile zone to a corking zone of the container capping machine.

A feeding device according to the invention may furthermore have one or more of the following characteristics:

- The sterilization means are arranged to also ensure the sterilization of the bag or bags during their passage through the intermediate zone;

- The introduction means comprise introductory openings in the intermediate zone; the airlock comprises an enclosure defining two chambers separated by a wall, one of the chambers delimiting the intermediate zone and the other chamber delimiting the sterile zone;

- The wall comprises a movable portion adapted to pivot on itself substantially 180 °, and the passage means comprise the movable portion of the wall;

said movable part of the wall is able to pivot alternately in one direction and in the opposite direction;

the passage means comprise means for reception by attachment of the bag or bags, and the receiving means are able to be moved from the intermediate zone to the sterile zone;

the sterilization means comprise nozzles distributed over the ceiling and the floor of the sterile zone so that the jets of sterilizing liquid can reach the whole of the external surface of the bag or bags hooked on the reception means;

- The receiving means are integral with the movable part of the wall;

the device comprises means capable of maintaining a pressure in the sterile zone greater than the pressure in the intermediate zone; the means capable of maintaining a pressure in the sterile zone greater than the pressure in the intermediate zone are constituted by an air extraction pump of the intermediate zone.

The subject of the invention is also a method of feeding corks of a container capping machine by means of a device as defined above, characterized in that it comprises:

an introduction step of introducing at least one bag containing previously sterilized plugs into the intermediate zone of the airlock;

a sterilization step of sterilizing the intermediate zone in which the bag or bags are;

a passage step of passing each bag from the intermediate zone to the sterile zone; and - An evacuation step of removing the plugs contained in each bag from the sterile zone to a plugging zone of the container sealing machine.

The invention will be better understood on reading the description which follows, given solely by way of example and with reference to the appended drawings, in which:

- Figure 1 is a schematic top view of a plug feeder according to a first embodiment of the invention;

- Figures 2 to 4 are schematic top views of the device of Figure 1 during its operation;

- Figure 5 is a block diagram illustrating a method implemented by the device, during its operation illustrated in the previous figures; and

- Figure 6 is a schematic top view of a device according to a second embodiment of the invention.

The device shown in Figure 1 is designated by the general reference 10.

The device 10 comprises an airlock 12 for passage of at least one bag 14, containing sterilized plugs, between a non-sterile external environment 16 and a sterile zone 18 where the plugs are extracted from each bag 14. It also comprises discharge of the plugs from the sterile zone 18 to a machine 22 for blocking containers, by means of a device for arranging the plugs 24. It should be noted that the capping machine 22 can be combined with a filling machine, or even with a machine for manufacturing the containers to be closed.

More specifically, the airlock 12 comprises an enclosure 26 defining two chambers, one of the chambers delimiting an intermediate zone 28 and the other chamber delimiting the sterile zone 18. For this purpose, the enclosure 26 consists of an envelope 30 external delimiting a closed space, and a wall 32 extending into the envelope 30. The wall 32 and separates the two chambers.

The envelope 30 has a rectangular horizontal section and thus has four sides, supplemented by a ceiling and a floor (not shown). The wall 32 extends vertically between two opposite sides of the envelope, perpendicular to them. The wall 32 comprises passage means 34 of the bag or bags 14 from the intermediate zone 28 to the sterile zone 18.

For this purpose, the wall 32 comprises, in its center, a movable portion 36 rotatably mounted about a vertical axis 38, able to pivot on itself about 180 ° alternately in one direction and in the opposite direction. The vertical axis 38 is located in the middle of the wall 32. The movable portion 36 is bordered laterally on each side by two fixed portions 40 of the wall 32 which overlap the adjacent edge of the movable portion 36. This overlap improves the insulation between the intermediate zone 28 and the sterile zone 18. The overlap mode is such that it allows a sterile air leakage from the sterile zone 18 to the intermediate zone 28 when the first is at overpressure relative to the second.

Each face of the movable portion 36 is provided with receiving means

42 by hanging the bag or bags 14 of caps, allowing the suspension of the latter. In the example described, the receiving means 42 are hooks intended to cooperate with openings previously arranged in the bags 14.

Thus, by pivoting on itself in one direction, the movable portion 36 of the wall 32 can move the receiving means 42, and therefore the bags 14, from the intermediate zone 28 to the sterile zone 18. Similarly, in FIG. pivoting in the other direction, the movable portion 36 can move the receiving means 42 from the sterile zone 18 to the intermediate zone 28.

The envelope 30 is provided with means of introduction 44 of the bag or bags 14 in the intermediate zone 32. These means 44 are for example constituted by openings arranged on one side of the envelope 30 facing the wall 32 .

The airlock 12 is also provided with sterilization means 46 of the intermediate zone 28. The sterilization means 46 comprise nozzles carried by the envelope 30, able to send jets of sterilizing liquid into the intermediate zone 28. The sterilization means 46 are arranged to sterilize the bag or bags 14 during their passage in the intermediate zone 28. Thus, the nozzles are distributed over the ceiling and the floor so that the jets of sterilizing liquid can reach the entire external surface bags 14. Some of the nozzles can also be used to inject rinse aid.

In a variant, not shown, complementary sterilization means, for example also in the form of nozzles, can be in the sterile zone 18, to facilitate the maintenance of the latter in sterile conditions.

The airlock 12 also comprises gloves 48 integrated in the side of the envelope 30 opposite the introduction means 44 and for handling the bags 14 located in the sterile zone 18, in particular to extract the plugs.

The stopper discharge means 20 comprises a first closed chute 20A, in which the stoppers are conveyed in bulk from the sterile zone 18 to the ordering device 24, also closed. This arranging device 24 is intended to order the plugs in Indian queue. The evacuation means 20 then comprise a second chute 20B, also closed, in which the plugs are routed in single file from the ordering device 24 to a zone 50 of capping the containers in the capping machine 22. The fact that the chutes 20A and 20B are closed makes it possible to ensure the continuity of the sterility. The atmosphere of this plugging zone 50 is sterile and maintained at a relative pressure of around 25 Pa. The closure of the chutes 20A and 20B isolates the plugs conveyed from the external environment 16. Thus, the zone 50 of plugging is in communication with the sterile zone through the evacuation means 20, whose passage section is small. Means 52 associated with the enclosure 26 are also provided and arranged to maintain a pressure in the sterile zone 18 greater than the pressure in the intermediate zone 28, so as to ensure the permanent maintenance of the sterility of the sterile zone 18. These means are for example constituted by an air extraction pump of the intermediate zone 28. The two sterile zones 18 and capping 50 share the same atmosphere, but with a lower pressure in the sterile zone 18, between 5 and 15 Pa, resulting from pressure losses along the evacuation means 20 and leaks through the wall 32. An operating cycle of the method implemented by the device 10 will now be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 5.

The method comprises a first step 100 for opening the openings of the introduction means 44. It continues with a step 200 of introduction, symbolized by arrows in FIG. 2, of introducing the bag or bags 14 containing plugs into the intermediate zone 28. During this step, the bags 14 are suspended from the receiving means 42 on the side of the wall 32 facing the opening of the introduction means 44. When the opening is open, the pump constituting the means 52 able to maintain a pressure in the sterile zone 18 greater than the pressure in the intermediate zone 28 operates at a constant speed, so as to ensure a slight depression of the intermediate zone 28 with respect to the sterile zone 18.

Other bags 14 have been previously suspended at the receiving means 42 on the other side of the wall 32 in the same way, during a previous cycle.

In an isolation step 300, the openings are closed in order to isolate the intermediate zone 28 from both the external environment 16 and the sterile zone 18.

The method then comprises (FIG. 3) a sterilization step 400 consisting of sterilizing the intermediate zone 28 in which the bag or bags 14 are located. Thanks to the fact that the bags 14 are hung in suspension and thanks to the positioning of the nozzles sterilization 46, it is possible to sterilize and if necessary to rinse all of their surface and in particular their lower part intended to be disemboweled, which is impossible with the known devices of the prior art.

In parallel with the sterilization step 400 of the bags coming into the intermediate zone 28, the bags 14 which are suspended from the attachment means on the other side of the wall 32, thus in the sterile zone 18, after being sterilized during a previous pass in the intermediate zone 28, are disemboweled in a step 500 by operators using the gloves 48. The plugs contained in the bags 14 dump into the chute 2OA and are evacuated from the sterile zone 18 to the ordering device 24, and then to the zone 50 for capping the capping machine 22. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the process continues with a passage step 600 consisting in passing the sterilized bag or bags 14 from the intermediate zone 28 to the sterile zone 18. The movable portion 36 of the wall 32 is pivoted for this purpose. in the appropriate direction of rotation about the vertical axis 38 so as to flip-flop.

During steps 400, 500 and 600, the pump operates in a controlled manner to force a flow of air from the sterile zone 18 to the intermediate zone 28. This circulation is made possible in the configuration of FIG. of air leaks between the fixed and mobile parts of the wall 32.

Subsequently, the doors are opened during a step 700. The bags emptied in step 500 are exchanged with new bags full in a step 800. The device 10 is then again in the configuration shown in Figure 2, and is ready to perform a new cycle of operation.

Figure 6 shows a second embodiment of the invention. In this figure, elements similar to those of the preceding figures are designated by identical references.

In this embodiment, the airlock 12 comprises an enclosure 26 of hexagonal horizontal section.

The airlock 12 also comprises a carousel 60 circular mobile in rotation about a vertical axis 38 located in the center of the enclosure 26.

The carousel 60 comprises six walls 62 each extending from the center of the carousel 60 to its periphery and delimiting six sectors of equal size in the carousel 60. The enclosure 26 comprises fixed walls 64 extending from the corners of the carousel 60. the enclosure 26, that is to say the edges 65 on each side of the hexagon, to the carousel 60. The fixed walls 64 of the enclosure and the walls 62 of the carousel 60 are intended to complement each other. aligning to define in the chamber 26 six zones, namely a sterile zone 18, an intermediate zone 28, a loading zone 68, two transition zones 70, hermetically sealed from each other for specific angular positions of the carousel. The carousel 60 comprises, in each sector, means for receiving bags (not shown) similar to those of the first embodiment of the invention.

The enclosure has an open side, through which the bags 14 can be loaded onto the carousel 60 in the loading area 68. The rotation of the carousel 60 is thus adapted to pass the bags 14 from the loading area 68 to another zone, called intermediate zone 28, comprising means for sterilization 46 of the bags 14, then to another zone called sterile zone 18, where the bags can be opened by manual means (as in the first embodiment) ) or automatic so that the plugs are discharged into discharge means 20. The sterilization means 46 and the discharge means 20 are identical to those of the previous embodiment.

The aforementioned loading zones 68, intermediate 28 and sterile 18 are separated from each other by transition or isolation zones 70 in which no action is performed on the bags. Alternatively, the transition zone 70 located between the intermediate zone 28 and the sterile zone 18 is adapted to allow the drying of the bags 14.

The carousel 60 thus constitutes the equivalent of the passage means 34 and the insertion means 44 of the previous embodiment.

From the foregoing description, it is clear that plug feeding devices according to the invention ensure the sterility of the sterile area and sterilize the entire outer surface of the bags before opening.

Claims

1. A device for plugging a machine (22) for capping containers, characterized in that it comprises:

- an airlock (12) for passage of at least one bag (14) containing previously sterilized caps, between a non-sterile environment (16) and a sterile zone (18), the airlock (12) being adapted to defining an intermediate zone (28) separated from both the non-sterile outside environment (16) and the sterile zone (18),

introduction means (44), from the non-sterile outside environment (16), of the bag or bags (14) in the intermediate zone (28),

sterilization means (46) of the intermediate zone (28),

means (34) for passing the bag or bags (14) from the intermediate zone (28) to the sterile zone (18), and

- Evacuation means (20) of the plugs contained in each bag (14) from the sterile zone (18) to a zone (50) of closure of the machine (22) for capping containers.

2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the sterilization means (46) are arranged to also sterilize the bag or bags (14) during their passage through the intermediate zone (28).

3. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the introduction means (44) comprise opening openings in the intermediate zone (28).

4. Device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the lock (12) comprises an enclosure (26) defining two chambers separated by a wall (32), one of the chambers delimiting the zone intermediate (28) and the other chamber defining the sterile zone (18).

5. Device according to claims 3 and 4 taken together, characterized in that the wall (32) comprises a movable portion (36) capable of pivoting on itself over substantially 180 °, and in that the passage means (34) ) comprise the movable portion (36) of the wall (32).

6. Device according to claim 5, characterized in that said movable portion (36) of the wall is adapted to rotate alternately in one direction and in the opposite direction.

7. Device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the passage means (34) comprise receiving means (42) by hooking the bag or bags (14), and in that the means of reception (42) are movable from the intermediate zone (28) to the sterile zone (18).

8. Device according to claim 7, characterized in that the sterilization means (46) comprise nozzles distributed on the ceiling and the floor of the sterile zone so that the jets of sterilizing liquid can reach the entire outer surface of the sterile zone. or bags (14) hooked to the receiving means (42).

9. Device according to claim 7 or 8 taken together with claim 5 or 6, characterized in that the receiving means (42) are integral with the movable portion (36) of the wall (32).

10. Device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises means (52) capable of maintaining a pressure in the sterile zone (18) greater than the pressure in the intermediate zone (28).

11. Device according to claim 10, characterized in that the means (52) capable of maintaining a pressure in the sterile zone (18) greater than the pressure in the intermediate zone (28) are constituted by an extraction pump of air from the intermediate zone (28).

12. A method of plugging a machine (22) for capping containers by means of a device according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that it comprises:

- An introduction step (200) of introducing at least one bag (14) containing previously sterilized plugs in the intermediate zone (28) of the lock (12);

a sterilization step (400) of sterilizing the intermediate zone (28) in which the bag or bags (14) are;

- a passage step (600) of passing each bag (14) from the intermediate zone (28) to the sterile zone (18); and

- An evacuation step (500) of discharging the plugs contained in each bag (14) from the sterile zone (18) to a zone (50) for capping the machine (22) for capping containers.