Patent Application
20170348757
The present invention relates to a can filling/seaming device and a can filling/seaming method for filling a can with a content and seaming a lid to a can.
A conventional filling/seaming device includes a rotary filling machine (filler) that successively fills a can of a metal material with a liquid content such as a beverage, and a seaming machine (seamer) that successively seals a lid (metal lid) to a flange part of the filled can by seaming. A filler generally used has a plurality of holding parts (pockets) provided at the circular outer circumference of a rotating filling turret to receive and hold a can, and a filling nozzle that moves in synchronization with each of the holding parts is provided above the holding part. Successively supplied cans are sequentially held by the filling turret of the filler and then filled with a prescribed amount of liquid content from the respective filling nozzles while being conveyed by the rotation of the filling turret. The filled cans once removed from the filling turret are transported to a feeding conveyer or a hook-up conveyer and conveyed to the seamer. The seamer sequentially supplies lids to the flange parts of the filled cans supplied from the feed conveyer or the hook-up conveyer, and the flange parts of the cans and the curled parts of the lids are joined by double-seaming by roll processing, so that the lids are attached and sealed to the cans (see PTL 1).
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2006-36266
The filling/seaming devices are designed in various forms for different uses, and particularly when a can filled with a liquid content is sealed with a lid by seaming, it is inevitable to take precautions to prevent the content from spilling from the can in a conveyance path between the filling of the content and the seaming with the lid.
Therefore, the conventional filling/seaming device described above has a relatively long linear intermediate conveyance path by a feeding conveyer or a hook-up conveyer between the filler and the seamer, so that the can filled with the content is not subject to high acceleration or centrifugal force during the conveyance in the path.
However, in the conventional filling/seaming device, the presence of the linear intermediate conveyance path necessitates a certain distance to be secured between the filler and the seamer, which prevents these elements from being integrated into a compact arrangement. Positional adjustment is necessary between the carrying-out position of the filler and the receiving position of the linear intermediate conveyance path, and timing adjustment is necessary for transport from the filler to the intermediate conveyance path, which may complicate installation works and prolong the number of days for the device to be set up for operation. In daily use, the timing may be deviated because of the expansion of a conveyer chain for example, and periodic inspection and adjustment should be carried out. Furthermore, if a special driving device is employed to alleviate the timing adjustment between the filler and the seamer, the cost increase may be inevitable.
The present invention is for example directed to a solution to such problems. More specifically, an object of the invention is to allow the filler and the seamer to be integrated in a compact arrangement in a can filling/seaming device and a can filling/seaming method for filling a can with a liquid content and seaming a lid, another object is to simplify installation works and reduce the number of days for the device to be set up for operation by eliminating the necessity of positional adjustment and timing adjustment during transport from the filler to the intermediate conveyance path and from the intermediate conveyance path to the seamer, yet another object is to reduce works related to timing deviation inspection and timing adjustment in daily use, and a still further object is to reduce the manufacturing cost by eliminating the necessity of using a special driving device for timing adjustment.
In order to achieve the objects, a can filling/seaming device and a can filling/seaming method according to the present invention includes the following features.
The can filling/seaming device includes a filler that fills a can with a liquid content while conveying the can by rotation of a filling turret, a seamer that attaches a lid to the can filled with the content by double-seaming, and a forwarding turret provided between a carrying-out position of the filling turret and a carrying-in position to the seamer to circularly convey the can filled with the content, wherein a lid supply part is provided on the forwarding turret.
The can filling/seaming method includes filling a can with a liquid content while conveying the can along a circular conveyance path of a filling turret, transporting the can filled with the content from the filling turret to a forwarding turret and supplying the can with a lid while conveying the can along a circular conveyance path of the forwarding turret, and transporting the can supplied with the lid from the forwarding turret to a seamer and attaching the lid to the can by double-seaming while conveying the can along a circular conveyance path of the seamer.
According to the present invention including such features, when a can is filled with a liquid content and seamed with a lid, a filler that fills the can with the content and the seamer that seams the lid to the can may be integrated through a forwarding turret in a compact arrangement, so that the installation area can be reduced. During the process, acceleration (curvature) is limited at the forwarding turret so that the content filled in the can does not spill from the can, and therefore the installation area can be reduced while keeping high filling accuracy.
Positional adjustment and timing adjustment during transport from the filler to the forwarding turret or from the forwarding turret to the seamer can be abolished, so that installation works can be simplified and the number of days for the device to be set up for operation can be reduced. In daily use, works related to timing deviation inspection or timing adjustment can be reduced, and use of a special driving device for timing adjustment is not necessary, which can lower the manufacturing cost.
Now, embodiments of the present invention will be described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In
The filler 2 includes a filling turret 20 and fills a can W with a liquid content while conveying the can W by rotation of the filling turret 20. The filling turret 20 includes a plurality of pockets 2P that hold cans W at its circular outer circumference, and the pockets 2P are arranged at a set conveyance pitch P1 in a circular conveyance path L1 with a pitch diameter D1. A filling nozzle (not shown) that moves in synchronization with each of the pockets 2P is provided above the pocket 2P, and the filling nozzle fills the can W with a liquid content between the carrying-in position 20A and the carrying-out position 20B of the filling turret 20.
The can W (empty can W1) is supplied to the filler 2 via an appropriate carrying-in path Lin from a rinser that cleans the cans W. As shown, during the process, a carrying-in turret 22 that receives and delivers the cans W to the pockets 2P of the filling turret 20 or a rinser turret (not shown) that cleans the cans W may be additionally provided to the carrying-in turret 22.
The seamer 3 attaches a lid to the flange part of the can filled with the content, by double-seaming by roll processing, and while a can W, on which a lid is placed, is conveyed in a circular conveyance path L2 from a carrying-in position 3A to a carrying-out position 3B, the flange part of the can and the curled part of the lid are subjected to double-seaming by roll processing, so that the can W is sealed. A pitch diameter D2 and a conveyance pitch P2 are set as appropriate in the circular conveyance path L2 of the seamer 3.
The can W carried out from the seamer 3 is carried outside the device via an appropriate carrying-out path Lout. In the path, if necessary, a discharging turret 30 that receives and forwards the can W discharged from the seamer 3 while rotating in the direction of the shown arrow may be provided, or an inspector turret 31 that carries out various kinds of inspection including inspection about a filling amount with respect to the can W discharged from the discharging turret 30 may be provided.
As for the forwarding turret 4, two forwarding turrets 4A and 4B are provided between the carrying-out position 20B of the filling turret 20 and the carrying-in position 3A of the seamer 3 and circularly convey the can W filled with the content, and pockets 4P are provided at respective conveyance pitches P3A and P3B in the circular conveyance paths L3A and L3B with respective pitch diameters D3A and D3B. Note that while the pitch diameters D3A and D3B of the forwarding turrets 4A and 4B are equal and the conveyance pitches P3A and P3B are equal in this example, the arrangement is not limited to the above.
The forwarding turret 4B between the forwarding turrets 4A and 4B is provided with a lid supply part 40 in the circular conveyance path L3B. The lid supply part 40 may be a lid supply device directly provided in the circular conveyance path L3B or may be provided on an additional lid supply turret provided in the carrying-in position 3A to the seamer 3 in the circular conveyance path L3B. The forwarding turret 4B may include, if necessary, a liquid nitrogen filling part 41 provided in the circular conveyance path L3B to fill the can W with liquid nitrogen so that the can is kept under positive pressure and reduced in the thickness.
Note that while one forwarding turret 4 may be provided, if two of them are provided as shown in
In such forwarding turrets 4A and 4B, the cans W filled with the content and transported from the carrying-out position 20B of the filling turret 20 to the forwarding turrets 4A and 4B are filled with nitrogen if necessary while moving in the respective circular conveyance paths L3A and L3B, and then the cans W have lids placed at the flange parts thereof at the lid supply part 40 and are transported to the seamer 3.
The cans W filled with the content and transported to the forwarding turrets 4A and 4B are subject to acceleration (centrifugal force) by moving in the circular conveyance paths L3A and L3B. As shown in
In the filling/seaming device 1, it is preferable that the conveyance pitches P1, P2, P3A, and P3B of the filling turret 20 of the filler 2, the seamer 3, and the forwarding turrets 4A and 4B are all equal. However, the conveyance pitches P1, P2, P3A, and P3B may have difference in an allowable range, and the device can still be designed. In particular, the conveyance pitch (pocket pitch) P1 of the filling turret 20 and the conveyance pitches (pocket pitches) P3A and P3B of the forwarding turrets 4A and 4B need only be in the range that enables pocket pass in the transport from the filling turret 20 to the forwarding turrets 4A and 4B.
An example of the specifications of the filling/seaming device 1 is given in Table 1. Here, the production capacity is 600 CPM (Cans Per Minute i.e. production per minute), the conveyance pitches P1, P2, P3A, and P3B are all 31π (97.4 mm), and the conveyance speed is constant at 0.97 m/s. In this example, the centrifugal acceleration (3.82 m/s2) of the forwarding turrets 4A and 4B is set in the allowable range where the acceleration amax is 4.16 m/s2.
Note that there is another typical can having a diameter (body diameter) D of 53 mm which is slightly smaller than the diameter of the above described can, and the can normally has a headspace height h of 15 mm, so that amax=2×15/53×9.81=5.55 m/s2, which is within the allowable range where the acceleration amax is 5.55 m/s2.
Therefore, the centrifugal acceleration (amax) of the forwarding turrets 4A and 4B is set less than acceleration defined by the expression amax=(2h/D)×G.
In the filling/seaming device 1, the filler 2 and the seamer 3 are coupled by the forwarding turrets 4A and 4B, so that the filler 2 and the seamer 3 may be integrated in a compact arrangement through the forwarding turrets 4A and 4B. In this way, the filler 2, the seamer 3, and the forwarding turrets 4A and 4B can be provided on a common frame 10. When the filling/seaming device 1 is produced with the common frame 10, works related to assembly wiring and test run adjustment in the installed state may be finished in advance, and therefore the time for installation works may be reduced.
The cans W are all turret-conveyed at accurately determined conveyance pitches from the filler 2 to the seamer 3, so that the process is not influenced by change with time that would be caused by the expansion of a chain used in linear conveyance, and positional adjustment and timing adjustment that would otherwise be necessary in transport from the filler 2 to the forwarding turrets 4A and 4B and from the forwarding turrets 4A and 4B to the seamer 3 can be abolished by making the conveyance pitches P1, P2, P3A, and P3B close to one another.
Note that although not shown, only one forwarding turret 4 may be provided and in the case, the lid supply part 40 and the liquid nitrogen filling part 41 are provided in the circular conveyance path L3. Using one forwarding turret 4, a lid supply turret may serve both to deoxidize the headspace of the can W with a replacement gas and supply the lid, and in the case, the filling nozzle of the filler 2 must avoid the lid supply turret positioned above the can W in the carrying-out position 20B of the filling turret 20. Therefore, the filling nozzle must be set in a high position, must finish filling in an early stage and then must be raised, and the rotation angle of the filler 2 allocated for filling is reduced, so that the filler 2 is increased in size. However, a separate lid supply turret (lid supply part 40) that carries out deoxidization and supply of the lid may be provided in the carrying-in position 3A for the can W from the forwarding turret 4 to the seamer 3, so that the rotation angle of the filler 2 allocated for filling can be increased.
Note that according to the embodiment, it is preferable that when the liquid content is a content sensitive to oxidization such as a tea beverage and beer, the filling/seaming device is formed in a box structure surrounded by covers entirely or partly until a lid is sealed by seaming after filling, and the inside is kept under positive pressure with an inert gas for the purpose of deoxidization or with filtered air for the purpose of preventing contamination and improving the hygiene state.
In this way, when a bottle can is filled and capped with a cap, the bottle can W filled with a content by the filler 2 is conveyed from the forwarding turret 4A via the branching forwarding turret 5 to the capper 6 and capped with a cap while being conveyed at the capper 6. The bottle can W discharged from the capper 6 is discharged outside the device through a discharge path Lout2 via an inspector turret 60 that carries out various kinds of inspection including inspection about a filling amount. On the other hand, when a normal seam can is filled and sealed with a lid by double-seaming, the can is transported from the forwarding turrets 4A and 4B to the seamer 3 in the conveyance path L3 of the forwarding turrets 4A and 4B without using the branching forwarding turret 5.
In such filling/seaming device 1A, the filler 2, the seamer 3, the forwarding turrets 4A and 4B, the branching forwarding turret 5, the capper 6 and the like may be integrated in a compact arrangement, and these elements can be provided on a common frame 10.
In order to address the problem, in the example shown in
The acceleration relaxation curve S is provided in the transport portion for the can W between the filling turret 20 and the forwarding turret 4A, so that the liquid surface of the can W filled with a liquid content can be suppressed from vibrating during the transport. In this way, the problem such as spilling and foaming of the content during the transport of the can between the filling turret 20 and the forwarding turret 4A can be solved. Note that while the transport portion between the filling turret 20 and the forwarding turret 4A has been described here, transport along an acceleration relaxation curve for the same purpose can be carried out in the transport portions between the forwarding turret 4A and the forwarding turret 4B and between the forwarding turret 4B and the seamer 3, and the same advantageous effect can be obtained.
As in the foregoing, when the can filling/seaming device 1 (1A) according to the embodiments of the present invention fills a can with a liquid content and seals the can with a lid by double-seaming, the filler 2 and the seamer 3 are coupled by the forwarding turret 4 (4A, 4B), so that use of a linear intermediate conveyance path or a special driving device for timing adjustment may be abolished, which can reduce the installation cost and the installation area. The acceleration (curvature) is limited at the forwarding turret 4 so that the content filled in the can does not spill from the can, transport in, for example, the transport portion from the filling turret 20 to the forwarding turret 4 (4A, 4B) is carried out along the acceleration relaxation curve, and therefore the installation area can be reduced while keeping high filling accuracy. The forwarding turret 4 (4A, 4B) may be provided with the lid supply part 40 or the liquid nitrogen filling part 41, and therefore the device may be provided in a compact form.
As in the foregoing, while the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, the specific configurations of the embodiments should not be construed as limiting, design changes and the like without departing from the gist of the invention are covered by the invention. The embodiments described above may have two or more of their features combined between each other unless their purposes, configurations and the like are contradictory to one another or a problem arises in doing so. In particular, the example shown in
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015-006268 | Jan 2015 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2015/085207 | 12/16/2015 | WO | 00 |
