WO2021099936A1 - Dispositif de contrôle de l'étanchéité d'un joint étanche aux gaz de récipients flexibles fermés - Google Patents

Dispositif de contrôle de l'étanchéité d'un joint étanche aux gaz de récipients flexibles fermés Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2021099936A1
WO2021099936A1 PCT/IB2020/060816 IB2020060816W WO2021099936A1 WO 2021099936 A1 WO2021099936 A1 WO 2021099936A1 IB 2020060816 W IB2020060816 W IB 2020060816W WO 2021099936 A1 WO2021099936 A1 WO 2021099936A1
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WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
flexible container
container
detection
leakages
feeler
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/IB2020/060816
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English (en)
Inventor
Massimo Ceccarani
Original Assignee
Ceccarani Engineering S.R.L.
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Ceccarani Engineering S.R.L. filed Critical Ceccarani Engineering S.R.L.
Publication of WO2021099936A1 publication Critical patent/WO2021099936A1/fr

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Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01M—TESTING STATIC OR DYNAMIC BALANCE OF MACHINES OR STRUCTURES; TESTING OF STRUCTURES OR APPARATUS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G01M3/00—Investigating fluid-tightness of structures
    • G01M3/02—Investigating fluid-tightness of structures by using fluid or vacuum
    • G01M3/36—Investigating fluid-tightness of structures by using fluid or vacuum by detecting change in dimensions of the structure being tested
    • G01M3/363—Investigating fluid-tightness of structures by using fluid or vacuum by detecting change in dimensions of the structure being tested the structure being removably mounted in a test cell
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01M—TESTING STATIC OR DYNAMIC BALANCE OF MACHINES OR STRUCTURES; TESTING OF STRUCTURES OR APPARATUS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G01M3/00—Investigating fluid-tightness of structures
    • G01M3/02—Investigating fluid-tightness of structures by using fluid or vacuum
    • G01M3/027—Details with respect to the testing of elastic elements, e.g. gloves, condoms
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01M—TESTING STATIC OR DYNAMIC BALANCE OF MACHINES OR STRUCTURES; TESTING OF STRUCTURES OR APPARATUS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G01M3/00—Investigating fluid-tightness of structures
    • G01M3/02—Investigating fluid-tightness of structures by using fluid or vacuum
    • G01M3/36—Investigating fluid-tightness of structures by using fluid or vacuum by detecting change in dimensions of the structure being tested
    • G01M3/366—Investigating fluid-tightness of structures by using fluid or vacuum by detecting change in dimensions of the structure being tested by isolating only a part of the structure being tested
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01M—TESTING STATIC OR DYNAMIC BALANCE OF MACHINES OR STRUCTURES; TESTING OF STRUCTURES OR APPARATUS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G01M3/00—Investigating fluid-tightness of structures
    • G01M3/38—Investigating fluid-tightness of structures by using light

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a device for non-destruc- tively checking the gastight seal of closed flexible containers, which can be typically used downstream of a packing plant of liquid substances in such containers.
  • said gastight sealed flexible containers in most cases, consist of flexible bags made by hot-sealing opposed sheets of a suitable plastic material along their edges.
  • the checking method most widely employed to this purpose is the so-called "vacuum decay”: a bag ready for sale is placed in a closed space, wherein a predefined degree of vacuum is generated. In the presence of holes or unsealed portions in the bag, the internal pressure, higher than the external degree of vacuum, causes the contained fluids to leak out. Pressure sensors arranged inside said closed space allow to detect, once the desired degree of vacuum is reached, any possible vacuum decay in a predefined period due to gas or liquid leakages from the bag, considering that these latter immediately vaporize in the closed space under vacuum.
  • a second checking method is the so-called "force decay” method, wherein the bag to be checked is squeezed to a predefined extent between two compression plates - one of which being equipped with a load-cell which measures the force exerted on the bag - which are then locked in the compression position.
  • this method any leakage of fluids from the bag is detected through the decrease of the force exerted on the bag, because of the decrease of its volume caused by the leakage of fluids.
  • this technique is usually employed in on-line systems for checking all the bags being processed, it has been found to have too low a sensitivity, which means it can detect only significant fluid leakages. Furthermore, said technique requires a considerably com plicated initial set-up before providing valid results. Finally, the detection device should be carefully adapted each time, in the length of the squeezing stroke of the bag, for each different type of bag to be checked.
  • EP-1320738 and EP-1922536 disclose various examples of different embodiments of this method.
  • IT-01248248 discloses an alternative to the checking method indicated above, according to which the bag to be checked is squeezed by a force of predefined value, while the displacement of the squeezing plate with respect to a fixed reference is de tected after a certain time of stabilization of the bag in the squeezed configuration. The displacement thus detected is compared to a predefined reference value for undamaged bags, and the bags are discarded when this reference value is exceeded due to a greater squeezing of the bag caused by any leakage of fluids.
  • this method suffers from drawbacks like those described above for the "force decay" method.
  • US-4955226 (1990) discloses an apparatus for detecting the presence of leakages in sealed plastic bags, filled with a product and gas, by compressing each bag by means of pressing devices to make them swollen, and detecting the extent and variations over time of the displacements of a comparator which is in contact with the swollen portion of the bag.
  • the displacement profile over time of the comparator is compared with the same profile of a checked bag with no appreciable leaks.
  • the apparatus allows to detect only relatively large holes (> 1 mm) and is therefore not suitable for detecting micro-leaks, especially in bags containing liquids, which in fact have a higher resistance to leakage in comparison with gases.
  • WO-2019/035711 discloses a further, more recent variant of the checking method indicated above wherein the load-cell is ap plied directly on a deformed portion of the flexible bag, in correspondence of an opening provided in the moving compression plate, to detect the variations of the reaction force exerted by the bag over time, while the compression plates remain locked in the compression position.
  • This checking method allows a certain increase in sensitivity with respect to the traditional methods illustrated above, but this sensitivity is still unsatisfactorily low as regards micro-leaks, especially when the material the bag is has only a moderate flexibility, as typically is the case of bags of pharmaceutical products which, in fact, have high tough ness and thickness to better guarantee the integrity and sterility of their content.
  • a third checking method known as electrically conductive method, is widely employed for checking all the on-line bags, especially because of its high processing speed.
  • this checking method the bag ends are put in contact with two elec trodes under a predetermined voltage, and then the electric cur rent circulating between said electrodes is measured, while ro tating the bag on itself to make the liquid inside the bag to flow out by gravity in case of leakages.
  • any possible leak is checked by detecting any intensity change in the current circulating be tween the electrodes, with respect to a standard value for undam aged bags; any liquid leak, in fact, puts the outside of the bag in electrical communication with its inside, creating preferential paths for the current, which then circulates between the elec trodes with a greater intensity than in undamaged bags.
  • this method is characterized by high sensitivity, on the other hand it shows significant limits in its application, which reduce its field of application and its reliability. Firstly, in fact, to be subjected to this method, the bags must be rigid enough to maintain their shape when rotated by pinching them at their oppo site ends.
  • the subject method cannot be used to check bags containing non-electrically conductive substances, as well as bags just coming out of an autoclave sterilization treatment, which therefore have air humidity condensation on their external surface, or bags made of electrically conductive materials; fi nally, this method does not allow the detection of gas leakages from the bags, which leakages frequently are instead the main or sole type of leak which occurs during leak tests.
  • EP-2365309 and GB-1550807 disclose applications of this method for checking the gastight seal of vials and bottles.
  • the technical problem addressed by the present invention is therefore to provide a device for the detection of leakages, in gastight sealed flexible containers of liquids, which overcomes the drawbacks of the devices used in the checking methods de scribed above and therefore allows high sensitivity of detection even of micro-leaks, high processing speed, low operating cost, and wide applicability, regardless of the shape and content of the gastight sealed containers to be checked.
  • the Applicant focused therefore their attention on simpler mechanical systems, with the aim of eliminating their main draw backs, namely low sensitivity of leak detection, need for an in itial adjustment of the squeezing stroke and labour-intensive set up of the system operation for each new type of container.
  • the present invention represents a significant improve ment of the methods detecting the displacement of a checking mem ber, whose base features are thus comprised in the preamble of the main claim of the present application. Therefore, the prior document US4955226 has been considered as the document of the known prior art closest to the present invention.
  • a first essential object of the present invention is to identify a device for checking the gastight seal of flexible con tainers which provides an increased sensitivity in detecting the volume variations of said container, when subjected to a compres sion action that leads to leakages of its content.
  • a second object of the invention is then to provide a check ing device as mentioned above, which does not require complex initial set-up tasks to adapt the device operation to the specific type of container being checked.
  • a third object of the present invention is further to provide a checking device as mentioned above, wherein no adjustment is needed of the compression stroke of the container to be checked, based on its shape and volume, and it is therefore possible to continuously check the integrity of containers having a variable volume of their internal content.
  • a fourth object of the present invention is to provide a checking device as mentioned above which allows shorter operating times and lower costs with respect to the "vacuum decay" method.
  • Fig. 1 is a schematic, elevation, and cross-section view of a first embodiment of the checking device of the invention
  • Fig. 2 is a schematic, elevation, and cross-section view of a variant of the first embodiment of the checking device of the invention
  • Fig. 3 is a schematic, elevation, and cross-section view of a second embodiment of the checking device of the invention.
  • Figs. 4A, 4B and 4C are three schematic, elevation and cross- section views, on an enlarged scale, of the detail of the checking device feeler of the invention, in different work steps;
  • Fig. 5 is a schematic, elevation, and cross-section view, on an enlarged scale, which illustrates a preferred embodiment of the shape sensor of the checking device of the invention
  • Fig. 6 is a schematic, elevation, and cross-section view, on an enlarged scale, which illustrates an alternative embodiment of the shape sensor of the checking device of the invention.
  • the Applicant sug gested first of all to compress the flexible container with re spect to the surrounding environment, by means of reciprocally moving compression plates which compress the container within a test device, in a manner which is thus similar in this initial step to that of the known "force decay" methods described above.
  • the compression system has reached a predefined value and said compression plates are locked in position, the volume vari ations which the container undergoes are detected in a limited area, where the container is free from the aforesaid compression plates, by means of a suitable shape sensor.
  • the test device acquires a particularly high sensitivity in detecting even micro-leaks of fluids from the container.
  • This is due to the fact that, following possible fluid leakages from the flexible con tainer, the size changes of the entire flexible container concen trate in the aforementioned limited area, thus imparting such changes a relative value significantly higher in relation to what happens in the reference prior art.
  • Said possible volume changes of the flexible container are also preferably detected by means of a magnetically driven linear comparator, which is provided with reduced inertia and friction with respect to standard mechanically driven devices, thus allowing a further increase of the system sensitivity. Based on this concept, the device for checking the gastight seal of flexible containers according to the present invention was developed.
  • the checking device comprises a frame 1 supporting a structure 2 for the detection of possible fluid leakages from a flexible container 3.
  • Said detection structure 2 comprises a pair of opposite and reciprocally moving compression plates 4, 5, be tween which the flexible container 3 to be tested is accommodated, and a sensor 9 apt to detect the volume variations consequent to any possible leakage.
  • the compression plate 4 is fixed and integral with the upper inner wall of said frame 1, while the compression plate 5 is integral with the top of a moving body 6, which is operated in an alternate linear motion by a driving system 7 provided at the opposite end of the aforesaid moving body 6.
  • the compression plates 4, 5 have concave com pression surfaces to confine the largest possible portion of the flexible container 3 and allow a more stable grip of the same.
  • the concave shape of the compression plates 4 and 5 allows to give the compressed container 3 a very regular deformed configuration, moreover reducing the external surface area of the container 3 not confined by said compression plates 4, 5, thus improving the detection sensitivity of the checking device.
  • said concave surface is preferably coated by a layer 11 of porous material so as not to prevent possible leaks from small holes which could instead be plugged by a con tinuous and non-porous surface of the compression plates 4, 5.
  • the layer of porous material the same result can be achieved by means of a surface machining, , e.g. such as knurling, of the concave surface of the compression plates 4 and 5.
  • the manifolds 13 communicate with exhaust ducts 14 for the removal of any fluids, leaked from the tested containers, to the outside of the checking device; to promote a regular flow of the liquids, a slight degree of vacuum can be maintained inside the exhaust ducts 14.
  • Yet another feasible constructive alterna tive is that of making the entire compression plates 4 and 5 in a porous and water-permeable material, such as for example a ceramic material, so that fluids deriving from possible leaks from the flexible containers 3 can permeate said compression plates without encountering any substantial resistance.
  • the compression plate 4 is provided with a small through- hole 4a, in correspondence of a similar hole provided in the upper wall of frame 1, wherein the free end of an axially movable feeler 8 is accommodated.
  • the feeler 8 - kept pushed into a working position by its own elastic means - is joined to a sensor 9, which in turn is contained and fixed into a support 10 integral with and external to frame 1.
  • Sensor 9 is an instrument apt to detect the linear position variations of feeler 8, such as for example a comparator or a linear encoder.
  • support 10 which houses sensor 9 can be alternatively mounted in any other portion of the device, provided that the feeler 8 can have access to a limited free portion of the flexible container 3.
  • Size of the hole 4a is not particularly limited, being however preferable that hole 4a be small enough with respect to the container 3 to sufficiently enhance the overall shape changes of said container 3 caused by fluid leakages.
  • the maximum area of the hole 4a will therefore advantageously not exceed 1/50 of the total external surface area of the container 3; preferably, the area of the hole 4a will be equal to or less than 1/400 of the total external surface area of the container 3.
  • the afore-mentioned moving body 6 includes a lower base 15 and an upper base 16, connected to each other by parallel uprights 17. Said uprights 17 also act as sliding elements of the moving body 6 within respective guide bushings 18 fixed to an inner wall
  • the moving body 6 can therefore only move in a parallel direction to the axis of the uprights 17.
  • the driving system 7 controls the alternate translation of the moving body 6 and, consequently, the compressing/decompressing operation of a flexible container 3 placed between the compression plates 4 and 5.
  • the driving system 7 provides for a linear actuator 20 which moves the moving body 6 along an alternate bidirectional motion.
  • the linear actuator 20 can be of any known type, and therefore hydraulic, pneumatic, with linear or rotary electric drive by means of suitable leverages, spring or manually moved; in any case, such driving system 7 is not inherently suitable to cause a defined end of stroke of the moving body 6.
  • the stroke length and therefore the extent to which the container 3 is compressed between the compression plates 4, 5 can thus be determined from time to time according to the features of each type of container 3 to be tested or even of each individual container 3 when their inner content volume changes from one con tainer to another.
  • a position indicator 21 which measures the moving body 6 position and thus indirectly identifies the distance between the compres sion plates 4, 5.
  • a position indicator 21 which measures the moving body 6 position and thus indirectly identifies the distance between the compres sion plates 4, 5.
  • brake means 22 are provided which can be fixed for example on the inner wall 19 of the frame 1, to act on the uprights 17 as indicated in the drawing, or even incorporated in the actuator 20 itself or in the relative drive, when possible or convenient.
  • the compression plate 5 In the aforesaid final compression position, the compression plate 5 is in a fixed position and thus the flexible container 3 is subjected to a constant deformation.
  • the container 3 - being filled with fluids and made of flexible walls - tends therefore to occupy any available free space in the areas where it is not confined by the compression plates 4 and 5, assuming the convex configuration schematically illustrated in the drawing, and form ing, in particular, a rounded meniscus M (see Fig. 4A) inside the hole 4a.
  • the feeler 8 Upon stabilization of the container 3 inner pressure, as determined by the compression plates 4 and 5 getting closer to each other, the feeler 8 moves into an equilibrium position in contact with the meniscus M, as a function of the deformation undergone by the container 3 and of the compression force by the elastic means of the feeler 8, which causes its extension.
  • the pressing force applied by the feeler 8 tip on the meniscus M needs to be previously adjusted in such a way as to cause, when equi librium is reached on an undamaged container 3, a substantial reversal of the meniscus M towards the inside of the container, as illustrated in Fig. 4B.
  • the axial position of feeler 8 is detected by sensor 9.
  • the feeler 8 - being free to axially move under the thrust of its own elastic means - tends to maintain constant the inner pressure of said container 3 by shifting towards the inside thereof, so as to compensate for the negative change of volume caused by the fluid leakages, as schematically illustrated in Fig. 4C.
  • the actual position of equilibrium of feeler 8 on meniscus M varies depending on the higher or lower flexibility of the container 3 walls and therefore on the higher or lower extent of the initial protrusion of such meniscus M into the opening 4a.
  • the above description of the first embodiment of the checking device of the present invention refers to a vertical type of construction, i.e., a construction wherein the moving body 6 moves in a vertical direction.
  • a type of construction is obviously not limiting, and the same construction can therefore develop horizontally or along any inclined axis, to better adapt itself to the layout of the production line of the containers 3 to be tested, through small structural modifications consistent with the new orientation, within the obvious reach of a person skilled in the art.
  • the above-described feeler 8 provides for the possibility to easily adjust the constant elastic force applied by the feeler 8 itself on the surface of meniscus M, which is formed by one of the walls of container 3.
  • the feeler 8 is equipped with an integral flange 27, against which an elastic element 28 applies an elastic compression force.
  • the other end of the elastic element 28 rests on a movable abutment 25 whose position can be modified at will through an actuator 26.
  • feeler 8 is obviously open to different versions, as regards both the actuator 26 and the elastic element 28.
  • a pneumatic, electric, spring or manually operated actuator can be chosen indifferently as the actuator 26.
  • the function of the compressed elastic body 28 can be performed - with minimal and obvious structural modifi cations - by devices such as a helical spring, a leaf spring, a highly elastic material, a compressed air cushion, or a pair of permanent magnets or electromagnets.
  • This latter solution which has in fact proven to be particularly valid and effective, to further increase the sensitivity of the checking device of the present invention, will be described in greater detail below.
  • a considerable advantage deriving from the feeler 8 con struction described above - in addition to the obvious one of allowing a rapid adjustment in the initial set-up step of the checking device on a new type of container 3 - is that of being able to rapidly oscillate, around a predefined normal operating value, the force with which the feeler presses against the menis cus M.
  • This function which we define here in short as “sensing”, allows in fact to stabilize more rapidly the position of the feeler 8 in contact with the meniscus M and therefore the meas urement of the feeler 8 final position by the sensor 9, thus significantly shortening the test cycle times and improving the device sensitivity.
  • FIG. 2 A variant of the first embodiment of the checking device of the present invention is illustrated in Fig. 2.
  • This variant can usefully be adopted when the checking device of the present in vention is to be implemented in an already existing checking sys tem of the "vacuum decay" type.
  • a sealed chamber E is formed inside frame 1, by means of walls 29 projecting from the moving body 6 and making a seal against the frame 1 upper wall, through the interposition of suitable gaskets 30, when the actuator 20 is in its extended position.
  • the compression on the container 3 by the compression plates 4 and 5 can even be low, as long as it is sufficient to keep the container 3 in the correct position between said plates.
  • a negative pressure is formed, with respect to the atmospheric pressure, through the exhaust ducts 14; this negative pressure increases the flow of possible leakages of fluid from the container 3, where holes or unsealed portion are present. Thanks to the presence of the sensor 9 and relative feeler 8, which act on the meniscus M formed in a small unconfined area of the flexible container 3, any such leakage can be detected in a much shorter time than currently occurs with the "vacuum decay" techniques; adopting the checking device according to the present invention allows therefore to introduce an im portant improvement in this type of systems.
  • the first embodiment described above is to be intended as an exemplary and non-limiting embodiment of the checking device of the present invention. Therefore, other possible variants of the moving system 7 can be validly provided, as long as they are always provided with means suitable to keep a perfectly constant position of the compression plates 4, 5, once the fluids contained in the container 3 have been brought to the desired inner pressure.
  • brake means 22 are not nec essary when the driving system 7 ensures, through its own mechan ical conformation, a defined end-of-stroke position of the moving body 6 in the compression step of the container 3, such as with a toggle or cam system.
  • the uprights 17 may consist of tubes or solid bars of circular section or of other solid or hollow profiles of any desired section or similar support systems which can slide in corresponding guides such as, for example, the bushings 18 described above, recirculating ball guides, skids or other similar technical solutions which are well known to those skilled in the art.
  • FIG. 3 A second embodiment of the checking device of the invention which features a great simplicity of construction and usability, especially as regards loading and unloading the flexible contain ers 3 to be tested, is then illustrated in Fig. 3.
  • the moving body 6 for compressing the container 3 and its relative driving system 7 are in fact completely absent, the de vice consisting therefore solely of a frame 1, having a very simplified structure, and a relative tilting lid la pivoted on the frame 1 with a hinge 23 to be able to overlap the frame 1 in a predefined position, parallel to its upper wall 24.
  • the recip rocally moving compression plates 4 and 5 are respectively fixed to the upper wall 24 of the frame 1 and on the inner face of said tilting lid la, and their distance, predetermined according to the desired degree of compression to be imparted to a container 3, is maintained constant by means of a suitable stop device (not shown) of the tilting lid la with respect to the frame 1.
  • the compression plate 4 is provided with a through-hole 4a for housing the feeler 8 free end.
  • the related sensor 9 and housing support 10 are therefore arranged inside the frame 1, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 3.
  • the arrangement of the movable abutment 25 and actuator 26 is slightly different from the one disclosed in relation to the first embodiment, to make the device more compact, but even in this case the adjustment of the position of the movable abutment 25 does not interfere with the position of feeler 8 which is in fact free to slide relatively to the abutment 25.
  • Lid la is preferably closed by an electric, hydraulic, or pneumatic actuator, having a stroke suf ficient to impart the desired degree of compression to the fluid inside the container 3, and to ensure a substantial parallelism between the compression plates 4 and 5.
  • the hinge 23 is preferably adjustable in position, so that the device can be quickly adapted to containers 3 of different volume. In this embodiment too the compression can be modulated at will, by adjusting the law of motion of the actuator which controls the closing of the lid la, and providing a stop device to halt the movement of the lid la at a predefined compression position of container 3.
  • a particularly preferred shape sensor for the checking de vice of the present invention is schematically illustrated in Fig. 5.
  • this is a shape sensor with a magnetic operated feeler 8, i.e., wherein the elastic means which provide the load on feeler 8 consist of magnets of the same po larity.
  • the elastic means which provide the load on feeler 8 consist of magnets of the same po larity.
  • at least one of said magnets is an electro magnet whose magnetic force can be varied by changing the current intensity of its power supply.
  • the magnetic shape sensor is associated to a support 10 integral with the compression plate 4, which is in turn integral with the frame 1.
  • the magnetic shape sensor comprises a feeler 8 axially sliding on guides 33 and in contact, through one of its ends opposite to the free end, with the rod of a comparator or linear encoder 9.
  • the magnetic means providing the load on feeler 8 consist of a permanent magnet 31 integral with the feeler 8, and of an opposing electromagnet 32 integral with support 10, having the same polarity as the permanent magnet 31, to generate a spacing force between the two components. Both magnet 31 and electromagnet 32 have a ring shape centred on the feeler 8 axis.
  • the current intensity supplying the electromagnet 32 can be ad justed at will by means of a suitable regulator and so it is possible to modulate effectively and easily the pressing force of the feeler 8, to adapt it to different types of flexible containers 3. Moreover, when checking the seal of a container 3 it is possible to vary at the desired frequency the current intensity supplied to the electromagnet 32, around a constant predefined value, to obtain the sensing effect already described above, in a particu larly effective way, to quickly stabilize the measurement of in strument 9.
  • the guides 33 of the feeler 8 are low friction axial guides which allow the free rotation of feeler 8 around its own axis, such as for example ball guides, Teflon guides or magnetic levi tation guides.
  • the contact between the feeler 8 and the instrument 9 rod is a steel/steel, Teflon/Teflon low friction contact or it involves the interposition of an axial bearing.
  • a flexible baffle 34 is placed around the feeler 8 for preventing any possible leakage of liquid from the container 3 towards the shape sensor, according to the orientation of the checking device on the production line.
  • the magnetic shape sensor shows considerable advantages over the mechanically operated sensors described above, wherein the elastic means consists of a spring. The absence of a mechanical elastic means such as a spring suppresses in fact any radial constraint between the feeler 8 and its related support as well as the dynamic effects of the spring in the sensing step, thus allowing:
  • sensors which directly detect the shape of the meniscus M formed in the hole 4a or, alternatively, in a closed chamber 4b provided in the wall 4, which can be selected in the group of 2D/3D point laser detectors, radar sensors, ultrasonic sensors, video cameras, pro file projectors, inductive sensors, capacitive sensors.
  • Detectors of this type can be used to record the shape taken by the portion of the container 3 forming a meniscus M within the hole 4a or the chamber 4b of the compression plate 4, at the end of the compressing step of the container 3 or immediately after a short stabilization period, and then to compare this recorded shape with the same shape image detected after a predefined period wherein fluid leakages from the container 3 may have occurred. Since any volume change of the container 3 - due to the leakage of fluids - necessarily also involves a detectable change of the meniscus M shape, any significant difference between the images of the meniscus M detected before and after the testing period is considered as an indication of defects in the container 3.
  • Fig. 6 illustrates another type of shape sensor to be used in the checking device of the present invention, which consists in a profile detector.
  • the chamber 4b provided in the compression plate 4 has such a depth as to allow the deformed meniscus M to lay down on its bottom, as illustrated in the drawing, when the container 3 is subjected to the maximum compression.
  • a profile detector 39 is embedded in the bottom of the chamber 4b and detects the profile of the contact area of meniscus M on the same. Any significant variation between the initial profile of the contact area of meniscus M and the one at the end of the testing period is considered as an indication of defects in the container 3.
  • the checking device of the present invention the prefixed objects have been perfectly achieved, through a versatile and cost-effec tive device which is easily adaptable to pre-existing systems, if required.
  • the checking device of the invention can in fact provide reliable information in quite a short time about the possible presence of even minor fluid leakages in gastight sealed contain ers of liquid and gaseous substances.

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  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Examining Or Testing Airtightness (AREA)

Abstract

L'invention concerne un dispositif pour la détection de fuites à partir d'un récipient souple (3) étanche aux gaz pour substances fluides, du type dans lequel ledit récipient souple (3) est comprimé dans une mesure prédéfinie entre deux plaques de compression ou plus (4, 5), dont au moins une est une plaque mobile, depuis une étape de chargement, les plaques de compression (4, 5) étant suffisamment espacées pour permettre l'insertion dudit récipient souple (3) entre celles-ci, jusqu'à une étape de détection, les plaques de compression (4, 5) étant en contact de compression avec la majeure partie de la surface dudit récipient souple (3), des moyens d'arrêt de la ou des plaques de compression mobile (4, 5) étant fournis, qui maintiennent celles-ci dans une position fixe pendant l'étape de détection. Le dispositif comprend des moyens de mesure (9, 35) d'un changement de volume dudit récipient souple (3) suite à une éventuelle fuite de substances fluides à partir de celui-ci pendant l'étape de détection, lesdits moyens de mesure (9, 35) détectant le changement de forme dudit récipient souple (3) se produisant au niveau d'une partie limitée (M) dudit récipient souple (3), libre desdites parois de compression (4, 5).
PCT/IB2020/060816 2019-11-18 2020-11-17 Dispositif de contrôle de l'étanchéité d'un joint étanche aux gaz de récipients flexibles fermés WO2021099936A1 (fr)

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IT102019000021456 2019-11-18
IT102019000021456A IT201900021456A1 (it) 2019-11-18 2019-11-18 Dispositivo di controllo della tenuta ermetica di contenitori flessibili chiusi

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Cited By (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
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CN118641129A (zh) * 2024-06-28 2024-09-13 浙江铁犀智能科技有限公司 一种利用形变力反馈检测真空容器泄露的仪器及其检测方法

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CN115290265A (zh) * 2022-08-04 2022-11-04 杭州深度视觉科技有限公司 泄漏检测装置及检测方法
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LU502688B1 (en) * 2022-08-22 2024-02-22 Pluemat Plate & Luebeck Gmbh & Co Detektionsvorrichtung zur Detektion von Leckagen eines beutelförmigen gefüllten Prüflings
CN117824956A (zh) * 2024-01-03 2024-04-05 山东泉建工程检测有限公司 一种防水卷材粘贴严密性检测设备及检测方法
CN118641129A (zh) * 2024-06-28 2024-09-13 浙江铁犀智能科技有限公司 一种利用形变力反馈检测真空容器泄露的仪器及其检测方法

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