JP2008105699A - Filling valve - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent the generation of a wear debris or the like from occurring by eliminating a sliding section between a valve housing 20 of a filling valve 1 for gas packing-filling, and a bottle mouth packing unit 62. <P>SOLUTION: A filling liquid passage 22 is formed in the valve housing 20, and is opened/closed by a liquid valve 28. Also, gas passages 52 and 54 which perform the feeding/discharging of a gas into a container 4 are installed in the valve housing 20. The bottle mouth packing unit 62 to which a bottle mouth packing 64 for sealing the mouth section 4a of the container 4 is attached is elevatably arranged under the valve housing 20. One end 66a of a bellows 66 is attached in a manner to surround the peripheries of the filling liquid passage 22 and the gas passages 52 and 54 which open on the bottom surface of the valve housing 20, and the other end 66b is connected with the bottle mouth packing unit 62 on the lower side. The air-tightness is kept by the bellows 66 when the container 4 is sealed by the bottle mouth packing 64. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a filling valve that fills a container with a liquid, and more particularly, to a filling valve that performs filling with a sealing member (bottle opening packing) sealed in the mouth of the container.

  The filling device generally includes a filling liquid passage formed inside the valve housing and a filling valve having a liquid valve for opening and closing the filling liquid passage. The filling valve is opened to open the inside of the container from the filling liquid passage. The filling liquid is injected into the container. Further, in the case of a gas filling and filling device that fills a gas-containing liquid such as carbon dioxide with such a filling device, it is necessary to seal the mouth of the container with a sealing member.

For example, the filling device described in Patent Document 1 has a configuration that can be used for both gas filling and non-gas filling, and the bottle packing unit is attached to the outer periphery of the valve housing so as to be slidable. Match. When filling the gas with this filling device, when the container is supplied below the filling valve, the bottle packing unit is lowered to bring the bottle packing into close contact with the mouth of the container, and the inside of the container is sealed. After the state is reached, the liquid valve is opened to perform filling.
Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2005-289421 (page 3-5, FIG. 3)

  In the conventional filling valve as described in Patent Document 1, a sealing member such as an O-ring is interposed between the valve housing and the bottle packing unit in order to maintain a sealed state inside the container sealed by the bottle packing. In addition, air is prevented from leaking by sliding the bottle packing unit. If there is such a sliding portion, there is a risk that foreign matter such as abrasion powder is generated and mixed into the container. There is also a problem that it is difficult to clean the sliding seal portion.

  The present invention is provided with a valve housing in which a liquid passage is formed, a liquid valve for opening and closing the liquid passage, and a bottle mouth packing for sealing the mouth of the container, and is disposed below the valve housing so as to be movable up and down. A bottle opening packing unit, elevating means for raising and lowering the bottle opening packing unit, and a gas passage formed in the valve housing, and moving the bottle opening packing unit and the container relative to each other to move the bottle opening. In a filling valve for filling in a state where the inside of the container is sealed by bringing the packing into close contact with the opening of the container, the periphery of the opening of the liquid passage and the gas passage formed in the valve housing, and the lower bottle opening packing unit An elastic member is provided to connect the two with airtightness.

  In the filling valve of the present invention, the other end of the elastic member attached to surround the outlet of the liquid passage and the opening of the gas passage is disposed below the valve housing and connected to the port packing unit and sealed by the port packing. Since the inside of the container is kept airtight, the sliding portion in the space through which the filling liquid or gas passes can be eliminated, and the risk of occurrence of foreign matter such as wear powder can be eliminated.

  A liquid passage that is opened and closed by a liquid valve is formed inside the valve housing, and further, a gas passage is formed outside the liquid passage inside the valve housing, and a bottle packing is attached below the valve housing. The liquid of the filling valve in which the bottle packing unit is arranged so that it can be raised and lowered, and when the container is supplied, the bottle packing unit is lowered and the inside of the container is sealed with the bottle packing so as to perform filling. The structure between the position surrounding the outlet of the passage and the opening of the gas passage and the lower bottle opening packing unit is connected with an elastic member while maintaining airtightness. Achieving the goal of eliminating moving parts.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 is a plan view schematically showing the entire arrangement of a rotary filling apparatus having a filling valve according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the filling valve (generally indicated by reference numeral 1). FIG. 3 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view showing the main part of FIG. The containers 4 transported by the container transport conveyor 2 are separated at predetermined intervals by an infeed screw 6 provided on the transport conveyor 2 and are carried into the rotary filling device 10 through the inlet star wheel 8. . Each container 4 is filled with the liquid by the filling valve 1 while being rotated and conveyed in the rotary filling device 10, and then discharged onto the container discharge conveyor 14 by the outlet star wheel 12 for the next step. Sent. In addition, the container 4 used in this embodiment is a PET bottle, and the neck portion is gripped and the neck is conveyed.

  In the rotary filling device 10, a plurality of filling valves 1 (not shown in FIG. 1) are provided on the outer peripheral portion of the rotating body 16 at equal intervals in the circumferential direction, and neck grippers are respectively provided below the filling valves 1. 18 is arranged. The container 4 transferred from the inlet star wheel 8 to the neck gripper 18 of the rotary filling device 10 is rotated and conveyed while the neck portion is held by the neck gripper 18. The filling valve 1 provided at the upper part of the rotating body 16 and the container 4 held by the neck gripper 18 disposed at the lower part are integrated with the upper and lower positions coincided with the rotation of the rotating body 16. The filling is performed while rotating.

  Next, the structure of the filling valve 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. The valve housing 20 of the filling valve 1 has a filling liquid passage 22 formed therein, and the filling liquid sent from the filling liquid tank 24 via the supply liquid pipe 26 passes through the filling liquid passage 22 to form a container. 4 is filled. In this embodiment, the liquid to be filled is a gas-containing beverage such as carbon dioxide gas, the gas-containing beverage is stored in the filling liquid tank 24, and pressurized gas is introduced into the head space (upper space). Has been.

  A liquid valve 28 for opening and closing the outlet (discharge port) 22 a of the filling liquid passage 22 is provided in the valve housing 20. The liquid valve 28 is constituted by a valve body 32 formed at the lower end of a rod 30 that is inserted into the filling liquid passage 22 so as to be movable up and down, and a valve seat 34 provided on the inner surface of the lower end portion of the filling liquid passage 22. It is configured. A seal member 36 is fitted on the outer peripheral surface of the portion where the valve body 32 is seated on the valve seat 34 so as to maintain liquid tightness. The rod 30 on which the valve body 32 is formed is moved up and down by an air cylinder 38 for opening and closing a liquid valve provided at the upper part of the valve housing 20.

  A piston (liquid valve opening / closing piston) 40 is connected to the upper end of the rod 30 and is slidably fitted into a cylinder portion formed in the upper portion of the valve housing 20, and the space in this cylinder portion is divided into upper and lower pressure chambers 42. , 44. Both the pressure chambers 42 and 44 are connected to an air pressure source (not shown) via air passages 46 and 48, respectively, and pressure air is introduced into the pressure chambers 42 and 44, or to the atmosphere. It can be opened. When pressure air is introduced into the upper pressure chamber 42, the rod 30 is lowered together with the liquid valve opening / closing piston 40, and the valve body 32 is seated on the valve seat 34, thereby closing the discharge port 22 a of the filling liquid passage 22. When air is introduced into the pressure chamber 44, the rod 30 is raised, the valve body 32 is separated from the valve seat 34, the filling liquid passage 22 is opened, and filling is performed.

  A flow meter 50 is provided in a liquid supply pipe 26 for supplying a filling liquid from the filling liquid tank 24 to the filling liquid passage 22, and a signal is sent to a control device (not shown) when the passage of a predetermined amount of filling liquid is measured. The control device operates the fluid valve opening / closing air cylinder 38 to lower the piston 40, the rod 30 and the valve body 32, and closes the fluid valve 28 to complete the filling.

  Two gas passages 52 and 54 that open to the lower end surface of the valve housing 20 are provided outside the filling liquid passage 22 inside the valve housing 20 (FIG. 2 and FIG. 2B). (Refer figure (b) which is a sectional view which meets line (b)). The first gas passage 52 is a counter passage, and is connected to the head space (the upper space of the stored filling liquid) of the filling liquid tank 24 via an on-off valve 56. The counter passage 52 opens toward the outer peripheral portion of the tapered lower end surface of the valve housing 20.

  The second gas passage 54 is an exhaust passage (snift passage), and is connected to the sniff chamber 60 via an on-off valve 58. As with the counter passage 52, the sniff passage 54 is also open near the outer periphery of the lower end surface of the valve housing 20. The sniff passage 54 is opened when the pressurized gas is introduced into the container 4 before the filling is started, and the gas is discharged. After the filling is finished, the pressure sealed in the head space of the container 4 is released. Used for.

  A bottle opening packing unit 62 is disposed below the lower end portion of the valve housing 20. The bottle opening packing unit 62 is formed with a circular hole 62a having a diameter larger than that of the discharge opening 22a of the filling liquid passage 22 at the center. A bottle opening packing 64 is attached around the lower surface of the circular hole 62a. It has been. An upper end 66 a of a cylindrical elastic member 66 is fixed to the outer peripheral side of the discharge port 22 a of the filling liquid passage 22 that opens to the lower end surface of the valve housing 20 and the openings of the two gas passages 52 and 54. Further, the lower end 66 b side of the elastic member 66 is fixed to the outer peripheral side surrounding the circular hole 62 a on the upper surface of the bottle opening packing unit 62. When the bottle opening packing unit 62 is lowered and the bottle opening packing 64 is brought into close contact with the mouth portion 4a of the container 4, the elastic member 66 maintains the airtightness inside the container 4 and the space inside the elastic member 66. It is like that.

  The elastic member 66 of this embodiment is a bellows having a single peak, but a bellows having a plurality of peaks can also be used. However, in the case of the bellows in which a plurality of peaks are formed, the sanitary property is deteriorated, and therefore it is preferable that the peaks are one bellows. In addition, a diaphragm can be used instead of the bellows. The elastic member 66 is made of fluororesin. In addition, new light, rubber, stainless steel, rubber coated with a fluororesin, or the like can be used.

  A plurality of upright guide rods 68 are fixed to the upper surface of the valve housing 20, and an elevating block 70 is supported on the guide rods 68 so as to be movable up and down. The elevating block 70 is connected to a bottle opening packing unit 62 disposed below the valve housing 20 via a plurality of elevating rods 72. 62 moves up and down.

  The lifting block 70 is lifted and lowered by an air cylinder 74 for lifting and lowering the packing unit provided above the guide rod 68. A piston (packing unit lifting / lowering piston) 76 is slidably fitted in the space inside the air cylinder 74 for lifting / lowering the packing opening unit, and the space is partitioned into upper and lower pressure chambers 78 and 80. These pressure chambers 78 and 80 are connected to an air pressure source (not shown) via air passages 82 and 84, respectively. An elevating block 70 is connected to the piston 76, and the elevating block 70, the elevating rod 72, and the container port packing unit 62 are integrally raised or raised by introducing pressure air into either the upper or lower pressure chambers 78, 80. Lower.

  Further, the lifting block 70 and the container opening packing unit 62 are moved up and down in the opposite direction by a cam (not shown) from the state where they are raised or lowered by the operation of the bottle opening packing unit lifting air cylinder 74. ing. A cam follower 86 is attached to the elevating block 70, and a cam for raising and lowering the cam follower 86 is an ascending cam that forcibly raises the cam follower 86 in a state lowered by the bottle packing unit elevating air cylinder 74. The lowering cam forcibly lowers the cam follower 86 rising by the air cylinder 74. As described in Patent Document 1, the cam is used for switching between gas filling and non-gas filling, but the description thereof is omitted here.

  The operation of the rotary filling device 10 including the filling valve 1 having the above-described configuration will be described. At the start of filling, the filling valve 1 supplies pressure air to the pressure chamber 42 above the air cylinder 38 for opening and closing the liquid valve, lowers the piston 40 and the rod 30, and seats the valve body 32 on the valve seat 34 so as to liquid. By closing the valve 28 and introducing air into the pressure chamber 80 below the air cylinder 74 for elevating and lowering the bottle packing unit, the piston 76, the elevating block 70, and the elevating rod 72 are raised, thereby the bottle opening. The packing unit 62 is pulled up to a height that does not interfere with the supplied container 4. Further, the opening / closing valve 56 of the counter passage 52 and the opening / closing valve 58 of the sniffing passage 54 are closed. In this state, the container 4 conveyed by the container conveying conveyor 2 is cut into a predetermined interval by the infeed screw 6 and then carried into the rotary filling device 10 via the inlet star wheel 8, and the neck gripper 18 is gripped.

  After the container is supplied to the neck gripper 18 of the rotary filling device 10, air is introduced into the pressure chamber 78 on the upper side of the air cylinder 74 for raising and lowering the bottle packing unit and the lower pressure chamber 80 is opened to the atmosphere. Then, the bottle opening packing unit 62 is lowered, and the bottle opening packing 64 is brought into close contact with the opening 4 a of the container 4 to seal the inside of the container 4.

  After the inside of the container 10 is sealed by the bottle packing 64 as described above, the on-off valve 56 of the counter passage 52 is opened, and pressurized gas (for example, carbon dioxide gas) is supplied from the counter passage 52 into the container 10. In this embodiment, the counter passage 52 communicates with the upper space in the filling liquid tank 24, and pressurized gas is supplied into the container 10 from this upper space. While the supply of the pressurized gas is started, the open / close valve 58 of the sniff passage 54 is opened. The sniff passage 54 communicates with a dedicated sniff chamber 60, and the air discharged from the container 10 is collected in the sniff chamber 60 as the pressurized gas is supplied into the container 10. In this embodiment, the counter passage 52 is connected to the upper space of the filling liquid tank 24, but it may be connected to a chamber dedicated to pressurized gas.

  After a predetermined time has elapsed from the start of gas supply into the container 10 from the counter passage 52, the open / close valve 58 of the sniff passage 54 is closed and air is introduced into the lower pressure chamber 44 of the liquid valve open / close air cylinder 38. Then, the piston 40 and the rod 30 are raised. When the rod 30 is raised, the valve body 32 provided at the lower end of the rod 30 is separated from the valve seat 34 and the liquid valve 28 is opened. The filling liquid supplied from the filling liquid tank 24 to the filling liquid passage 22 in the valve housing 20 via the liquid supply pipe 26 passes through the liquid valve 28 and is filled into the container 4 from the liquid discharge port 22a. The flow rate of the filling liquid flowing through the liquid supply pipe 26 is measured by the flow meter 50. When a predetermined filling amount is measured, air is introduced into the upper pressure chamber 42 of the liquid valve opening / closing air cylinder 38, and the rod 14 is moved. The liquid valve 12 is closed and the filling is finished.

  Thereafter, the on-off valve 58 of the sniff passage 54 is opened, and the gas in the head space of the container 4 is collected in the sniff chamber 60. After the end of the sniffing, air is introduced into the pressure chamber 80 below the air cylinder 74 for raising and lowering the bottle packing unit to raise the bottle packing unit 62, and the bottle packing 64 is separated from the mouth 4 a of the container 4. To open the inside of the container 4. The container 4 is transferred to the discharge conveyor 14 via the outlet star wheel 12 and sent to the next process. In the filling valve 1 according to the above embodiment, the bottle opening packing unit 62 having the container opening packing 64 that seals the inside of the container 4 is attached to the valve housing 20 via an elastic member (bellows) 66 that can be expanded and contracted. Since there is no portion that slides as in the case of using a conventional container port packing unit made of a cylindrical member, there is no possibility of foreign matter being generated. In addition, although the said Example demonstrated the lifterless type filling apparatus, this invention is applicable also to the apparatus of the type which raises / lowers a bottle stand.

It is a top view which simplifies and shows the whole structure of the rotary filling apparatus provided with the filling valve. Example 1 (A) A figure is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the said filling valve, (b) A figure is sectional drawing which follows the (b)-(b) line | wire of (a) figure. It is an expanded sectional view of the principal part of the filling valve shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

4 container 4a container opening 20 valve housing 22 liquid passage (filling liquid passage)
28 Liquid valve 52 Gas passage (counter passage)
54 Gas passage (snift passage)
62 Bottle Packing Unit 64 Bottle Packing 66 Elastic Member (Bellows)
74 Elevating means (Air cylinder for elevating bottle opening packing)

Claims (1)

A valve housing in which a liquid passage is formed, a liquid valve that opens and closes the liquid passage, and a bottle seal that seals the mouth of the container are attached, and a bottle port that can be moved up and down below the valve housing A packing unit, elevating means for raising and lowering the bottle packing unit, and a gas passage formed inside the valve housing,
In the filling valve that performs filling in a state where the inside of the container is sealed by moving the bottle packing unit and the container relative to each other and bringing the bottle packing into close contact with the mouth of the container,
A filling valve characterized in that an elastic member is provided to connect between the periphery of the opening of the liquid passage and the gas passage formed in the valve housing and a lower bottle opening packing unit in an airtight manner.

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