EP1457457B1

EP1457457B1 - Filling head

Info

Publication number: EP1457457B1
Application number: EP04005259A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Marco / c/o Filling Systems srl Botti
Original assignee: Filling Systems Srl
Current assignee: Filling Systems Srl
Priority date: 2003-03-11
Filing date: 2004-03-05
Publication date: 2006-11-29
Anticipated expiration: 2024-03-05
Also published as: ATE346821T1; DE602004003406D1; EP1457457A2; EP1457457A3; ITBO20030024U1

Abstract

Head for carousels for filling bottles or other containers, of the type which comprises a body (1) with a conduit (3) for feeding the liquid to put into the bottles and with a discharge mouth open downwards, up against which the mouth of the bottle to fill with liquid coming from said feed conduit can be abutted tightly, which comprises a valve means (5) for intercepting the flow of liquid between said conduit and said discharge mouth and which comprises a tube (14) which axially engages the bottle during the filling stage, with a penetration correlated with the filling level established for the bottle itself, and which is mobile through the said body (1) and is connected to lowering and raising means abutted on a cam (25) coaxially arranged in the carousel itself. The abovementioned cam is mounted on vertical guide means and is connected to axial displacement actuators (26), for example of the screw and nut screw type, actuated by at least one electric motor with electronic speed and timing control, which is connected by means of an interface (27) to an arithmetic unit (28) with associated inquiry/programming unit (29), by means of which it is possible to set said cam (25) in such a height position that the tubes (14) connected kinematically to it are found case by case in the height position required for filling the bottles to the desired level or for the filling head washing or sanitization stage. <IMAGE>

Description

The invention refers to vertical axis carousel machines for filling bottles or other containers with liquid products. The peripheries of the carousels of these machines are fitted with equidistant heads, connected to the reservoir of liquid product with the interposition of a valve means the opening and closing of which is actuated by controls governed by a cam and which is oriented downwards with its own discharge mouth fitted with an annular gasket against which the mouth of the bottle to be filled is brought by command to cooperate coaxially and tight. A tube protrudes from the lower discharge mouth of the head and extends coaxially downwards and engages the bottle for a section of predetermined length, as the bottom end of this same tube itself determines the filling level of the liquid in the bottle. The tube allows the gas to escape from the bottle while this is progressively filled with liquid and even before filling the same tube is often also used for introducing gas under pressure, usually carbon dioxide, into the bottle, and is also useful for washing the inside of the bottle itself and for other purposes.
In the known technology, the tube can be in fixed position with respect to the filling head, so that in order to make the said adjustments of the filling level of the bottles, even with variations in their capacity, it is necessary to replace the various tubes or carry out complex adjustment operations on every tube on the carousel. The known technology also includes solutions in which the tube is provided with an axial movement in the filling head, for example as described in the document EP 337.913 A2 published on 18-10-1989. The tube protrudes at the top of the body of the valve and is connected to a roller which reads the profile of a cam structured in such a way as to initially lower the tube itself into the bottle which is abutted against the filling head and then to raise the tube itself outside the bottle and into the head after the bottle itself has been filled. In order to adjust the lowered position of the tubes to variations in the bottle filling level in machines of this type, it is presumed to be necessary to adjust the connection of the tubes with the cam reader rollers or that it is necessary to act on the cam, replacing it or adjusting it if it is of the variable profile type. It is evident how, in both cases, the adjustment of the degree of penetration of the tubes into the bottle requires complex operations which are difficult to automate. Another great problem can be observed in fillers of this latter type, caused by the fact that as a consequence of the axial displacement of a considerable magnitude to which the tube is subjected, upper sections of the same cyclically enter and exit the chamber interested by the liquid to put into the bottles, making possible the transfer into this chamber of bacteria from the air in the environment in which the machine is working.
Document DE-A-2 634 021 represents the closest prior art according to the preamble of the appended claim 1.
This invention intends to overcome this and other problems of the known technology, with the following solution idea. A lining is fitted tight on the body of the valve of the head and incorporates the length of tube which protrudes from the top part of said body, and said lining is connected at the top to the chamber feeding carbon dioxide under pressure and is provided internally at the top with a coaxial and fixed sleeve, with a length greater than the maximum axial stroke executable by the tube, in which the tube itself moves laterally tight and the top end of which is intercepted by a valve means commandable from the outside, in such a way that the tube may or may not be connected at the top with the chamber of gas under pressure. Under said guide sleeve, the tube is connected kinematically to any suitable axial displacement mechanism, fixed laterally tight on the lining which contains the tube and which has an external component cooperating with an annular cam, the upward position of which can be modified automatically by means of servo controls which can be remotely and precisely piloted from the machine's control board, in such a way that it can adjust the downward position of the tubes of all the carousel filling heads simply and rapidly, depending on the different requirements dictated, for example, by the different forms and/or capacities of the containers to fill and/or characteristics of the product to bottle. With this solution, the tube is always protected inside the lining and in an environment containing carbon dioxide, in such a way that it is guarded from all contamination from the environment in which the filling carousel is working. According to a preferred form of embodiment of the invention, said tube axial displacement mechanism consists of a rack and pinion unit, the rack being arranged vertically and maintained in cooperation with the annular cam by elastic means and with its position in height remotely adjustable, while the pinion bears a fork lever arm, keyed on its axis, with end rollers which cooperate with guides integral with the tube. Further characteristics of the invention, and the advantages which derive from it, will appear more evident from the following description made with reference to the figures in the attached sheets of drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 illustrates a work head for the container-filling carousels, viewed laterally, essentially sectioned on an axial plane and seen in the rest position;
Fig. 2 illustrates details drawn in accordance with the section II-II in figure 1;
Figs. 3, 4, 5 and 6 illustrate the bottom part of the head in figure 1, enlarged, in section and in different working conditions;
Fig. 7 illustrates the bottom part of the head in question, in section, in the working stage.

It can be seen from figure 1 that the head T in question comprises a body 1 that is fixed to the body of the carousel 2 and that is provided with a horizontal inlet channel 3 for the liquid product to be put into the bottles and a discharge mouth 4 open downwards, intercepted by an obturator 5 with associated sealing gasket 105, which, by appropriate means, can be lowered by command to the low closed position of the mouth 4, as in figure 1, or can be raised to permit the outlet of the liquid through the mouth 4 which terminates with a tapered and downward divergent form 104 and is fitted with an annular gasket 6 for tight cooperation with the mouth of the bottle to fill (see below) which is raised by command by known means for filling and is then lowered when filling is complete. There is no axial displacement of the body 1 with respect to the bottles in the example in question.
The obturator 5 is fixed to the bottom end of a composite barrel 205 which moves axially, guided through a bushing 7 fixed with its own bottom flange on the body 1, said barrel being pushed upwards by a helical spring 8 which strikes it and which works by reaction between the top of said bushing 7 and a ring 9 fixed on the barrel 205 itself. The obturator 5 is pushed open upwards by the action of the spring 8, its stroke being controlled by the flange 305 of the barrel 205, which comes to rest against the base of the bushing 7 (see below). A head 405 is fixed axially moveably on the top end of the barrel 205, with the interposition of a damper spring 10 which is harder than the counter-spring 8, and the head 405 itself cooperates with an eccentric 11 keyed on the horizontal axis 112 of a control device 12 of the ON-OFF type, for controlling the ascent or descent of said eccentric, in order to realize the opening or closing of the obturator 5. This occurs because when the eccentric 11 is lowered it pushes the head 405 and causes the compression of the softer spring 8 with lowering of the barrel 305 and closure of the obturator 5, after which the top spring 10 is also loaded to ensure the necessary contact of the obturator gasket 105 with the top siphon part of the discharge mouth 4 of the head T. When, on the other hand, the eccentric 11 is raised, the springs 10 and 8 distend in succession and the entire mobile assembly 5, 105, 205, 305, 405 lifts, causing the opening of the obturator 5, with connection of the feed conduit 3 with the discharge mouth 4 and with feeding of the liquid into the bottle to fill (see below). The barrel 205 is circumscribed coaxially by a composite lining 13, fixed with the bottom end tight to the body 1 of the head, which has such a height as to surpass the head 405 of the mobile assembly of the valve by an appropriate length, and which is set up to revolvably support the shaft 112 of said means 12 which comprises, keyed to the outside end of the shaft itself, a butterfly 212 provided with a slot with a circular sector 312, with an angular amplitude of about 90°, traversed by a pin 412 fixed to the lining 13. During rotation of the carousel, the butterfly 212 cooperates with strikers which make it rotate in one direction or the other to give rise to the ascent or descent of the eccentric 11 and, with it, the opening or closing of the obturator 5.
Mounted axially mobile in the barrel 205 is the tube 14 which protrudes by an appropriate amount from the head 405 of the barrel itself and which, with a lower tapered section, passes axially and with lateral tightness through the obturator 5 and possibly a spout 15 axially integral at the bottom of the obturator itself and on which an annular deflector 16 can be fitted, diverging downwards, to oblige the liquid discharged from the mouth 4 to lap the bottle walls during the filling stage (see below). Above the obturator 5, the barrel 205 can be provided with a lateral opening 17 through which the liquid fed by the conduit 3 also interests the chamber 18 present between the parts 14 and 205. The bushing 7 can also be provided, on the base flange, with at least one through hole 17' through which the liquid fed by the conduit 3 can partly also engage the chamber 18' present between the lining 13 and the barrel 205.
The lining 13 has an enlarged top section 113, for example with a prismatic section, provided with opposing openings and in correspondence with which a pair of parallel and horizontal discs 19 is fixed on the tube 14 (also see fig. 2) these discs being engaged by opposing rollers 20 mounted on the ends of a fork lever 21 keyed on the axis of rotation 122 of a motion transmission and conversion unit 22, of the rack and pinion type, which is fixed with its own body on a lateral window of said top section 113 of the lining, with a sealing gasket 23 interposed. A possible lateral opening in the lining 113, opposed to the unit 22 and useful, for example, for completing the lever 21 at the end turned towards this opening, is closed tight by a cover 24. The unit 22 has a rack 222 parallel to the lining 13, pushed downwards by suitable elastic means, for example by a gas under pressure as indicated schematically by the arrow 322 while, by means of a bottom extension in prod form 422, the rack itself cooperates with an annular cam 25 which, if the tubes 14 have fixed positioning during the bottle filling cycle, can usefully be mounted on the carousel and rotate integrally with it and with the heads T in question. More in particular, the cam 25 is mounted on the carousel with means for guided axial displacement and is connected to means of precise axial displacement 26, for example of the screw and nut screw type, actuated by at least one electric motor with electronic speed and timing control, which is connected by means of an interface 27 to an arithmetic unit 28 connected in turn to an inquiry/programming unit 29, through which it is possible, at the start of every work cycle, to set the cam 25 in such a height position that the tube 14 connected to it by the servo control 22, has or has not the desired degree of protrusion from the spout 15. If, instead, the tube is required to carry out axial displacements during the bottle filling cycle, the prods 422 cooperate, through interposed rollers, with the cam 25 which will be mounted on the fixed frame of the carousel with the interposition of said adjustment means 26-29, for the remote adjustment of the height position of the bottom end of the tube 14.
Flanged laterally tight on the top chamber 113 of the lining 13 is a bell 30, with the interposition of the spoked base flange 131 of a vertical sleeve 31 in which the top and tapered part of the tube 14 moves laterally tight. The bell 30 passes laterally tight through a toroidal manifold 32 for feeding carbon dioxide under pressure, with which the bell itself communicates with lateral openings 33, the bell itself being closed at the top by the body of a cylinder and piston unit 34 the rod 134 of which is pressed upwards by elastic means and equipped at the bottom to act as an obturator for closing or opening the top end of the sleeve 31. The cylinder 34 is connected through a closed hydraulic circuit 35 to a rectilinear unit 36 which has pump and chest functions at the same time, and which is fixed, for example, on one side of the manifold 32 and the rod 136 of which is oriented vertically and arranged with its own opposite ends to cooperate with countering means, not shown, which cause the obturator 134 to close or open during the bottle filling stage, as better specified below. It will be evident how the top part of the chamber 18' engaged by the tube 14 will always be interested by the carbon dioxide under pressure and will never be in communication with the outside environment, as is the case with the known technology on the other hand, with the advantages in hygiene terms which derive from this condition.
The lining 13 is also used, by preference, as a guide for a carriage 37 which, with its own roller 38, reads the profile of an annular cam, not shown, which determines the ascent and descent of said carriage maintained in a fixed angular position by special vertical guide means 39 which extend downwards and which, at the bottom, bear the pincer 40 for gripping and lifting the neck of the bottle B, to arrange it initially with its mouth tight against the gasket 6 of the discharge mouth 4 of the head T in question, as illustrated in figure 3. Open laterally on the discharge mouth 4 is a conduit of a known type 41 which can discharge into the outside environment through a valve 42 arranged for mechanical actuation by external means, not shown, reached by the valve itself to cooperate during rotation of the carousel. The filling head as described works in the following manner. When lifting of the bottle B against the head T has occurred, as in figure 3, the top obturator 134 (fig. 1) is raised and the gas under pressure enters the bottle itself through the tube 14, a predetermined length of which has entered the bottle itself. The gas also engages the vent conduit 41. When pressurization of the bottle is complete, the ascent of the obturator 5 is controlled in such a way that the liquid enters the bottle lapping the inside wall, also thanks to the deflector 16. This stage is shown in figure 4 where it can be seen that while the bottle fills with liquid, the gas contained in it escapes through the tube 14. When the level of the liquid in the bottle touches the bottom end of the tube 14, one part of the liquid itself enters the tube 14, in accordance with the principle of communicating vessels, and engages it up to a predetermined height, after which, as an effect of the pressure of the residual gas pocket in the bottle, the liquid entering the bottle itself stops upstream from the obturator 5 even if raised, as illustrated in figure 5. In successive stages, as in figure 6, the valve 5 is closed mechanically by means of the control 12 in figure 1, the obturator 134 is also commanded by the unit 36 to close the top end of the sleeve 31 and of the tube 14, and special means indicated schematically by the arrow 43 open the vent valve 42, depressurizing the top empty part of the bottle, with the consequence that the volume of liquid which had earlier entered the tube 14 descends into the bottle and completes filling it to the desired level. In successive stages the full bottle is lowered and moved away from the head T of the carousel to permit the repetition of a new work cycle. Figure 7 illustrates the head T in the washing or sanitization condition. Acting on the control means 29 of figure 1, the tubes 14 of the operating heads of the carousel are raised inside the spout 15 and a cup 44 which is associated with the bottle lifting pincers 40, is brought into alignment with the heads and is raised against the gasket 6 to simulate a small container which permits washing of all the internal surfaces of the head, by means of a sanitizing liquid fed, for example, through all the circuits then interested by the product, if the machine is empty, or through specific conduits not shown in the drawings if, contrary to what is shown in figure 7, the machine is full of product and the obturators 5 are closed.

Claims

Carousel for filling bottles or other containers, comprising a plurality of filling heads of the type which comprise a body (1) with a conduit (3) for feeding the liquid to be put into the bottles and with a discharge mouth opening downwards, up against which the mouth of the bottle to be filled with liquid coming from said feed conduit can be abutted tightly, said carousel comprising a valve means (5) for intercepting the flow of liquid between said conduit and said discharge mouth and comprising a tube (14) which is suitable for allowing gas to escape from the bottle which axially engages the bottle during the filling stage with a penetration into the bottle correlated with the filling level established for the bottle itself and which is vertically mobile through the said body (1) and is connected to means for lowering and raising said tube (14), said means for lowering and raising said tube abutting on an abutment member (25) coaxially arranged in the carousel itself, said abutment member (25) being mounted on vertical adjustment means and being connected to axial displacement actuators (26), for example of the screw and nut screw type, actuated by at least one electric motor, such that by means of said axial displacement actuators (26) it is possible to set said abutment member (25) in such a vertical position that the tube (14) is located in the vertical position required either for allowing gas to escape therefrom so as to fill the bottle to the desired level, or for the filling head washing or sanitization stage,
characterized in that said electric motor comprises an electronic speed and timing control which is connected by means of an interface (27) to an arithmetic unit (28) with associated inquiry/programming unit (29) and in that the tube (14) is housed inside a fixed lining (13) which opens at the top into a manifold (32) feeding gas under pressure which may or may not reach the top end of the tube itself through means of interception (134) of the ON-OFF type, an intermediate section of the tube being placed in a section (113) of said lining which is provided with at least one lateral opening wherein in said lateral opening said means for lowering and raising said tube is mounted on said lining (13) with means of a gasket (23) the output of said motion transmission unit being kinematically connected to the tube in order to raise and lower it, and which is provided at its entrance with a member (422) which cooperates with the abutment means (25), in such a way as to detect the displacements in the height of the abutment means and translate them into proportional tube height displacements, all this being envisaged so that the tube (14) itself will work with its own top part in an environment which is always closed with respect to the outside and hygienically protected.
Carousel according to Claim 1), characterized in that the motion transmission unit (22) is composed of a rack and pinion unit, with the axis of the pinion arranged orthogonally with respect to the tube, in such a way that it is possible to fix a fork lever (21) to its axis of rotation (122) wherein said fork lever (21) comprises end rollers (20) and cooperates with guide means (19) fixed perpendicularly to the tube, the rack (222) on the other hand being arranged with its axis parallel to the tube, being pushed downwards by suitable elastic means (322), gas under pressure for example, and being fitted at the bottom with a prod member (422) which directly or by means of a roller cooperates with the cam (25) by means of which it is possible to modify the position in height of the tubes of the various heads of the filling carousel.
Carousel according to Claim 1), characterized in that on the section of lining (113) on which the motion transmission unit (22) for raising and lowering the tube (14) is fitted, a laterally tight bell (30) is flanged with the interposition of the spoked base flange (131) of a vertical sleeve (31) in which the top and tapered part of the tube (14) moves laterally tight, it being envisaged that the said bell (30) passes laterally tight through a toroidal manifold (32) for feeding carbon dioxide under pressure, and with which the bell itself communicates with lateral openings (33), the bell itself being closed at the top by a body of a hydrostatic and rectilinear actuator (34) the mobile rod (134) of which is equipped to act as an obturator for closing or opening the top end of the said sleeve (31) and which is normally pushed to open by elastic means, this actuator being connected by means of a closed circuit (35) to a pump-chest unit (36) fixed, for example, to the outside of the manifold (22) and which with its own mobile and double-acting rod (136) is oriented vertically and arranged to interfere with fixed cam means, which during the bottle filling stage give rise to the closure or opening of the said sleeve (31), respectively to disconnect or connect the top end of the tube (14) to the manifold (32) for feeding the gas under pressure.
Carousel according to the previous claims, characterized in that the tube (14) passes axially through the obturator (5) for intercepting the liquid discharged through the mouth (4) of the head itself, this obturator being fitted integrally at the bottom with a possible spout (15) possibly with a tapered deflector (16) and being integral with a barrel (205) which moves axially with play on the tube (14), which moves guided axially through a sleeve (7) fixed at the bottom to the body (1) of the head, which is pushed upwards by elastic means (8) and which with its own top and sprung head (405) cooperates with the eccentric (11) of a raising and lowering control (12), supported by the lining (13) and suitable for being actuated by means of its cooperation with fixed means during rotation of the filling carousel, the ascent of the obturator being limited, for example, by the contact of a flange (305) of said barrel against the bottom of said guide sleeve (7).
Carousel according to Claim 4), characterized in that the section of barrel (205) supporting the obturator (5) which is placed just above the obturator itself, in the feed conduit (3) of the liquid to be put into the bottles, is provided with at least one lateral hole (17) and at least another through hole (17') is envisaged in the base flange of the guide sleeve (7) of the said barrel in such a way that the liquid can in part also engage the bottom part of the chambers (18, 18') present between the tube (14) and the external barrel (205) and between this and the external lining (13).
Carousel according to one or more of the previous claims, characterized in that the slide (37) with roller (38) moves on the lining (13) in cooperation with a fixed cam which gives rise to the raising and lowering of the pincer (40) for gripping the bottles by the neck and which also supports the cup (44) for closing the discharge mouth of the head during the washing stages of the head itself.
Head according to one or more of the previous claims, characterized in that open laterally on the discharge mouth (4) of the same is a conduit (41) which can be connected with the outside through a vent valve (42) arranged for actuation by special means during rotation of the filling carousel.
Carousel according to one or more of the previous claims, characterized in that by means of the remote control means (29), the tubes (14) of the heads (T) of one filling carousel can be raised inside the spout (15) and means are envisaged so that a cup (44) associated with the bottle lifting pincers (40) can be brought into alignment with the said heads and can be raised to seal the discharge mouth (4) of the heads themselves, in such a way as to simulate a small container which permits washing of all the internal surfaces of the heads, by means of a sanitizing liquid fed through the conduits then interested by the liquid, if the filler is empty, or fed through specific and auxiliary conduits if the machine is full of product and if the bottom obturators (5) are closed.