EP0022541A2 - Dosing method for goblets and filling machine for carrying out the method - Google Patents

Abstract

In a dosing method for filling cups with pourable filling materials, and a filling machine for carrying out this method, the object of dosing the filling material more exactly than hitherto possible, and at the same time in a gentle manner, is achieved in that material which is excessive for the beaker due to the filling amount measured out in an upstream dosing station is taken to a downstream dosing station in which the excess filling material is at least partially stripped and dammed up, so that there is formed a downstream filling material column which increases from the bottom, for which purpose it is mechanically provided that at least one downstream filling chamber (20, 22, 24, 26; 120, 164, 122, 124, 126) in in each case one downstream dosing station is connected, along the path of movement of the cups (12; 112) in their direction of movement to the pouring funnel (14; 114) arranged above an upstream filling chamber (18; 118) in an upstream dosing station, which downstream chambers each have a chamber wall (42, 44, 46, 32; 166, 142, 144, 146, 132) which strips at least partially and dams up excess filling material from the beakers, which wall for this purpose forms with the rotating body (10; 110) a passage (40, 48, 50, 52; 140, 168, 148, 150/152); in that the front chamber wall (38; 138) of the first downstream filling chamber (20; 120) bounding the upstream filling chamber (18; 118) to the rear, forms with the rotating element (10; 110) a first passage (40; 140); and in that the chamber wall (32; 132) furthest away from the pouring funnel (14; 114) comes right up to the rotating element (10; 110) for complete stripping. In this way it is achieved that the filling operation is carried out in two or more steps under stepwise reduced pressure, so that the cups are filled uniformly without the filling material being stressed or influenced. <IMAGE>

Description

The invention relates to a cup dosing method for filling pourable filling goods, in which a predetermined amount is measured volumetrically from a supply of filling goods by moving a cup of corresponding volume under a column of filling goods and at least approximately absorbing the determined amount of goods; and a filling machine for carrying out the method, with a rotating body which has cups arranged one behind the other along a circular path in its direction of movement, and with a pouring funnel whose mouth is arranged above the path of movement and in the case of a body rotating about a horizontal axis ( Roller) hangs over the upper half.
According to the prior art, the hopper arranged in a single dosing station forms only one filling chamber, on the rear wall of which excess filling material is scraped off over the edge of the cup rim. The filling material is more or less compressed and / or partially torn out of the cup, depending on its nature in the cup, so that dosing errors occur. With higher compression, vortices are created when stripping, which can lead to segregation or even destruction of the filling material, its composition undergoes an undesirable change. The invention is therefore based on the object of metering the filling material precisely and gently.

This object is achieved according to the invention in a method of the type mentioned at the outset in that the quantity of filling material measured in a pre-metering station takes excess material on the filled cup into a post-metering station in which the excess filling material is at least partially stripped and stowed, so that it forms a refill column growing from below. Advantageously, several successive replenishment stations are used, the quantity of which refill columns decrease. It is thereby achieved that the filling process takes place in two or more steps under gradually reduced pressure, so that the cups are filled evenly without the filling material being stressed or influenced.
In a filling machine of the type mentioned at the outset, the object on which the invention is based is achieved according to the invention in that, along the path of movement of the cup in its direction of movement, at least one refill chamber in each replenishment station is connected to the hopper arranged above a pre-filling feature in a pre-metering station and each has an excess filling material of have the cups at least partially wiping and jamming in front of the chamber wall, which for this purpose forms a passage with the rotating body; that the front chamber wall of the first refilling chamber, which defines the rear filling chamber at the rear, forms a first passage with the rotating body; and that the chamber wall furthest away from the hopper reaches for complete wiping off against the rotating body. If there are several refill chambers, passages with a decreasing height are preferred. The method according to the invention can be carried out expediently and advantageously with this machine.

In a preferred embodiment of the filling machine according to the invention it is provided that the chamber walls which follow one another along the path of movement of the cups, except for the first and last, are designed as approximately radial or normal slides det and the passages between the lower slide edges and the moving surface of the rotating body (roller or plate) are formed. This configuration of the machine has the advantage that the passage heights can be changed slightly and adapted to the properties of the filling material. In addition, the number of slides and thus the refill chambers can be easily increased if necessary.

In the preferred embodiment, the slides are each pivotable about a horizontal axis and can be fixed in different pivoting positions. In addition, the slides are each adjustable in the direction of movement of the cup. Thanks to this double setting option, it is particularly easy to determine or change the volume and shape of the refill chambers in such a way that the weight of the refill column in each refill chamber, which is in dynamic equilibrium with the other machine sizes, exerts the correct filling pressure on the contents in the cup as it passes.

In the preferred embodiment, a regulating flap is provided which can be pivoted about a horizontal axis and which is arranged adjacent to the first chamber wall in the prefilling chamber. This replaces the slide which is usual in its place and enables the carry-over of the filling material from the pre-dosing station to the first post-dosing station to be influenced and the size of the pre-filling chamber on the hopper to be changed.

The filling level of the refill chambers can be limited by an overflow with a return of the filling material into the hopper, on the one hand to set an upper limit of the filling height and on the other hand to avoid that the filling material is lost goes. Instead of the overflow with material return, a stop or a weight could be used to limit the filling height, but these are less suitable because they exert a counter pressure on the refill column.
The preferred embodiment of the filling machine according to the invention makes it possible, for the first time, to create a high-speed machine, which nevertheless dispenses exactly, thanks to the large number of metering stations used one after the other.

• Fig. 1 einen vertikalen Querschnitt durch die Ausführungsform;
• Fig. 2 einen Fig. 1 entsprechenden vertikalen Querschnitt nach der Linie II - II in Fig. 3 durch die Variante der Ausführungsform; und
• Fig. 3 eine Draufsicht auf diese Variante.

The invention is explained in detail below with reference to the preferred embodiment of the filling machine according to the invention and its variant, which is shown by way of example in the drawing. It shows:

• Figure 1 is a vertical cross section through the embodiment.
• 2 shows a vertical cross section corresponding to FIG. 1 along the line II-II in FIG. 3 through the variant of the embodiment; and
• Fig. 3 is a plan view of this variant.

The embodiment according to FIG. 1 essentially consists of a roller 10 rotating counterclockwise about a horizontal axis in a viewing direction according to FIG. 1 with a plurality of cups 12 distributed uniformly over its circular-cylindrical circumference, and one over a viewing direction according to FIG The first quadrants of the roller hopper 14 arranged with a rectangular mouth 16, the vertical opening direction of which intersects the axis of the roller 10 at right angles, from a prefilling chamber 18 arranged between the hopper 14 and the roller 10 and from four arranged one behind the other in the direction of rotation of the roller 10 the pre-filling chamber 18 subsequent refilling chambers 20, 22, 24 and 26th

The chamber walls perpendicular to the axis of the roller 10 are formed by two common flat, vertically placed, parallel plates 28, which are connected to one another by a front plate 30 and a rear plate 32 to form an open-topped container which contains all the chambers. The front plate 30 is tangential to the mouth 16 of the hopper 14 and is cranked at the bottom so that it covers the cup 12 running under the prefilling chamber 18. The rear plate 32 is inclined to the vertical so that it strives upward from the mouth 16 of the hopper 14. At its lower edge, which ends at the surface of the roller 10, there is a circular arc-shaped sheet 34, which partially wraps around the roller 10 and lies against the surface thereof, which holds the cups 12 between the last refill chamber 26 and a transfer station keeps closed on its open side. The transfer station is located at the lowest point of the roller 10.

The prefilling chamber 18 is bounded at the front and rear by a regulating flap 36 or a slide 38 as the chamber walls. The regulating flap 36 is mainly flat, but has a radial lower edge which is angled in relation to the roller 10 and is axially plane. It is mounted in the vicinity of its upper edge and below the mouth 16 of the hopper 14 on the front plate 30 so as to be pivotable about a horizontal axis 37, its rotational position being adjustable so that the chamber volume can be changed. The slider 38 opposite the regulating flap 36 is arranged inclined to the vertical parallel to the rear plate 32 and thereby forms with the regulating flap 36 a downwardly tapering filling funnel which is closed at its front end by the regulating flap 36 reaching up to the surface of the roller 10 , but at its rear end through a gap-like passage 40 between the lower edge of the slide 38 and the roller 10 to the refill chamber 20 to the ground is open.

Between the first slide 38 and the rear plate 32, three further parallel slides 42, 44 and 46 are arranged with a decreasing distance in the direction of rotation of the roller 10, which with the roller 10 form decreasing high passages 48, 50 and 52 in the direction of rotation thereof. The lower marginal edges of the four slides 38, 42, 44 and 46 lie in a cylindrical surface 54, the more curved of which in the direction of rotation of the roller 10, on the lower marginal edge of the rear plate 32, i.e. is drawn in dashed lines in Fig. 1 on the surface of the roller 10, tangentially entering guideline.

In addition to being slidable in their plane with respect to the roller 10 and lockable in any position, all slides can also be pivoted about axes 37 corresponding to the axis 37 and lockable in their rotational position. This would not only determine the height of the passages, but also the volume of the refill chambers 20, 22, 24 and 26. There may also be a possibility of displacing the slide.

As can be seen from FIG. 1, the first refill chamber 20 is through the first and second slide 38 and 42, the second refill chamber 22 through the second and third slide 42 and 44, the third refill chamber 24 through the third and fourth slide 44 and 46 and finally the fourth and last refill chamber 26 by the fourth slide 46 and the rear plate 32 as the chamber walls in the direction of rotation of the roller 10. In the above list, the front chamber wall is always in front of the rear. The side walls of all chambers 18, 20, 22, 24 and 26 are, as mentioned, formed by the two sheets 28 on which all four slides 38, 42, 44 and 46 can be mounted.

• Die Becher 112 sind nicht Vertiefungen in einer Walze, sondern an den scheibenförmigen, waagrechten Teller 160 angehängte Töpfe. Die Becher 112 sind am Rand des Tellers 160 längs eines Kreisbogens angeordnet, der die Schnittlinie II - II bildet.
• Der Schütttrichter 114 besitzt eine sich nach unten verjüngende, rechteckige Mündung 116, die dadurch Keilform erhält. Der Keilwinkel stimmt mit dem Neigungswinkel des ersten Schiebers 138 überein, was nicht sein muß. Eine kreisrunde Mündung wäre möglich.
• Die Vorfüllkammer 118 ist vorn nicht durch den die Regulierklappe der Ausführungsform ersetzenden Vorschieber 162, sonden durch das senkrecht über dem Teller 160 stehende vordere Blech 130 begrenzt.
• Eine zusätzliche fünfte Nachfüllkammer 164 ist durch einen Schieber 166 gebildet.

The variant of the embodiment according to FIG. 1 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 corresponds to this to a large extent, but in the main difference to it has a plate 160 instead of a roller and a feeder 162 instead of a regulating flap. Corresponding to the parts of the embodiment Parts of their variant are therefore labeled with 100 higher reference numbers. In this respect, the above description of the embodiment applies mutatis mutandis. Other differences are as follows:

• The cups 112 are not recesses in a roller, but pots attached to the disc-shaped, horizontal plate 160. The cups 112 are arranged on the edge of the plate 160 along an arc that forms the section line II-II.
• The hopper 114 has a downwardly tapering, rectangular mouth 116, which thereby has a wedge shape. The wedge angle coincides with the angle of inclination of the first slide 138, which need not be. A circular mouth would be possible.
• The prefilling chamber 118 is not delimited at the front by the feeder 162 replacing the regulating flap of the embodiment, but by the front plate 130 standing vertically above the plate 160.
• An additional fifth refill chamber 164 is formed by a slide 166.

The two relatively low side plates 128 are bent in a semicircle and are arranged concentrically with respect to the vertical axis of rotation of the plate 160. The front plate 130 is correspondingly low and an ordinary plate.

This also applies to the rear panel 132.

The plate 134 adjoining the rear plate 132 is a short, horizontal piece which lies horizontally on the surface of the plate 160.

The feeder 162 is inclined obliquely against the horizontal in front of the mouth 116 of the hopper 114, which it closes more or less, so that less or more filling material gets into the prefilling chamber.
The cylinder surface 154 is practically flat here.

Claims (9)

1. cup dosing for filling pourable filling goods, in which a predetermined quantity is measured volumetrically from a supply of filling material, by moving a cup of corresponding volume under a filling material column and absorbing at least approximately the specific quantity of goods, characterized in that by the in a The pre-metering station measures the amount of excess material on the filled cup in a subsequent metering station, in which the excess product is at least partially stripped and stowed so that it forms a refill column growing from below. 2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that a plurality of successive metering stations are used, the quantity of which refill columns decrease. 3. Filling machine for carrying out the method according to claim 1, with a rotating body which has cups arranged one behind the other along a circular path in its direction of movement, and with a hopper, the mouth of which is arranged above the path of movement of the cup and in the case of a around a horizontal axis rotating body hangs over the upper half thereof, characterized in that at least one refill chamber (20.) along the path of movement of the cups (12; 112) in their direction of movement to the hopper (14; 114) arranged above a prefill chamber (18; 118) in a pre-metering station , 22, 24, 26; 120, 164, 122, 124, 126) each in a re-dosing station, each of which overflows an excess filling material from the cups and at least partially scrapes and stalls in front of it (42, 44, 46, 32; 166, 142, 144, 146, 132), which for this purpose forms a passage (40, 48, 50, 52; 140, 168, 148, 150, 152) with the rotating body (10; 110); Votfüllkammer (18; 118) rear chamber wall (38; 138) the first night filling chamber (20; 120) with the rotating body (10; 110) forms a first passage (40; 140); and that the chamber wall (32; 132) furthest from the hopper (14; 114) reaches the rotating body (10; 110) for complete stripping. 4. Machine according to claim 3, characterized in that in the case of several refill chambers (20, 22, 24, 26; 120, 164, 122, 124, 126) the passages (40, 48, 50, 52; 140, 168, 148, 150, 152) have a decreasing height. 5. Machine according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that the along the path of movement of the cups (12; 112) successive chamber walls except for the first (30; 130) and last (32; 132) as approximately radial or normal slide ( 38, 42, 44, 46; 138, 166, 142, 144, 146) and the passages (40, 48, 50, 52; 140, 168, 148, 150, 152) between the lower slide edges and the moving surface of the rotating body (10; 110) are formed. 6. Machine according to claim 5, characterized in that the slides (38, 42, 44, 46; 138, 166, 142, 144, 146) are each pivotably mounted about a horizontal axis and lockable in different pivot positions. 7. Machine according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that the slider (38, 42, 44, 46; 138, 166, 142, 144, 146) are each arranged in the direction of movement of the cup (12; 112) adjustable. 8. Machine according to one of claims 3 to 7, characterized by a pivotable about a horizontal axis (37) regulating flap (36) which is arranged adjacent to the first chamber wall (30) in the prefilling chamber (18). 9. Machine according to one of claims 3 to 8, characterized in that the filling height of the refill chambers (20, 22, 24, 26; 120, 164, 122, 124, 126) by in each case an overflow with filling material return into the hopper (14; 114) is limited.

Images