The present invention relates to a cassette consisting of two mutually connectable cassette trays, between which a tubular bag to be emptied, having an outlet opening, is suspendingly held and is emptiable in a largely residue-free manner by means of a press roller.
Cassettes of the type which is here of interest are suitable for those dispensers in which one or more cassettes are insertable and, if need be, heatable. In particular, dispensers for flowable foods which must be delivered in a metered manner are here at issue. Such dispensers are used, in particular, in snackbars and fastfood restaurants.
From US2002/0092879, a dispenser device for the food supply sector is already known, in which a tubular bag having a viscous content is fitted or fittable and has an auxiliary device with which, by mechanical application of pressure onto the tubular bag, the viscous content present in the tubular bag is continuously shovable in the direction of the dispensing device on the tubular bag. In particular, there is here disclosed a press roller which, in the fluid dispenser, rests on and bears horizontally against the tubular bag and, by its own weight, is capable of shoving the viscous content present in the tubular bag continuously to the dispensing device on the tubular bag. This dispenser device has, however, no cassettes, and the tubular bag is not suspended, but rather is held clampingly on the frontal cover of the dispenser housing. The press roller possesses a core which is rotatably mounted on an axle and onto which is slipped a hollow-cylindrical casing made of foamed, elastically compressible plastic. On the side walls of the dispenser housing are arranged two toothed racks, which in an arc approach the front wall and then lead downward parallel thereto. At the end of the axle which passes through the core are on both sides pivot arms with guide rollers which bear on the bottom side directly, or indirectly via a slide block. The mobility of the press roller perpendicular to the toothed rack is hence prevented.
From U.S. Pat. No. 5,199,610, a dispenser device for a toothpaste tube is disclosed. This device also has no cassettes. The device possesses a press roller which is guided on one side on a toothed rack and on the other side in a slotted guide. The press roller is moved mechanically downward via a lever system.
From U.S. Pat. No. 7,147,134 and further documents, dispensers are known which have cassettes and in which are held tubular bags which, by means of a pump, are emptiable in desired metering quantities. Such cassettes have, however, no press rollers. The problem consists, however, in the fact that, during the emptying of the tubular bags, these deform and accordingly tend to form folds in which residual quantities of the useful contents remain trapped. Accordingly, losses of up to 15% are perfectly usual. Cassettes for dispenser units for receiving tubular bags which have, moreover, a press roller are hitherto unknown. Only such cassettes which are made of metal or plastic make it possible to ensure a continuous operation where the corresponding dispenser possesses more than one cassette, so that, during the replacement of a cassette by a new cassette with filled tubular bag, metering can continue to be performed without interruption. An operating stoppage is hereby avoided.
The object of the present invention is consequently to provide a cassette of the type stated in the introduction with a press roller which is capable of largely avoiding the creasing in the tubular bag and ensures an absolutely horizontal orientation of the press roller in any emptying position, and the function of which, even with the formation of folds in the tubular bag or in case of somewhat larger soft parts in the bag content, can be overcome without stoppage of the press roller, which moves downward solely under the force of its weight. As already known from US2002/0092879A1, the press roller possesses a cylindrical, metal core having a thereon fitted hollow-cylindrical casing, made of foamed, elastically compressible plastic, wherein the core is provided with respectively a rotationally fixedly mounted gearwheel, wherein, in accordance with the size of the cassette, two parallel toothed racks aligned with and matched to the gearwheels are present.
The present invention now for the first time provides a solution for cassettes for a metering device, as here described, which is distinguished by the fact that the two gearwheels arranged in a rotationally fixed manner on the core of the press roller are each provided with a thereon disposed, freely rotating running wheel, which running wheels have a larger diameter than the gearwheels, and that, in the cassette tray which in the closed state lies opposite the cassette tray with the toothed racks, tracks are present, on which the freely rotating running wheel can roll.
Further advantageous embodiments of the subject of the invention emerge from the dependent claims and the significance and impact of which are explained in the following description.
In the attached drawing, a preferred illustrative embodiment of the subject of the invention is represented and described below, wherein:
In
In
The tubular bag 20 is held in the base cassette tray 12 by means of two clamps 15, 16. The clamp 15 is fixedly arranged, while the clamp 16 is designed to be displaceable. As a result, tubular bags 20 of different size are able to be held. Moreover, the tubular bag 20 is held slightly inclined in the cassette, which is conducive to an emptying which is as loss-free as possible.
On the tubular bag 20, an outflow nozzle 21 is fixedly connected by means of a flange 22. Connected to the outflow nozzle 21 is arranged a pump 23. Molded onto the base cassette tray 12 is a pump mounting 24, in which the pump 23 is held by form closure and/or force closure. The pump possesses a plug-in drive shaft receptacle 25, in which the drive shaft, in the inserted state of the cassette 10 in the dispenser device, engages.
The cassette 10 is preferably made of plastic. The two cassette trays 11 and 12 can be produced separately, or, where the hinged connecting joint 14 is designed as a film hinge, the two cassette trays 11, 12 can be produced in one piece. The actual drive of the pump is part of the dispenser device, yet cannot be seen in
Each cassette tray 11, 12 respectively possesses a tray face wall 18, which is bounded by a circumferential side wall 19. Molded integrally on or in the tray face wall 18 are toothed racks 26. The toothed racks run in parallel and each in relative proximity to the longitudinal side walls, which are part of the circumferential side wall 19. Depending on the design, the two parallel toothed racks 26 can be molded as depressions in the tray face wall 18, preferably in the base cassette shell 12. This is shown by an enlarged partial section through the closed cassette 10 in
In
Those ends of the cylindrical core 31 which jut out from the hollow-cylindrical casing have a roughened structure 33. Onto these ends of the cylindrical core 31 is slipped a gearwheel 34. This gearwheel 34 is part of a double-walled hub 35. The double-walled hub 35 consists of two concentric pipe sections, which are connected to each other via a radially running connecting wall 37.
This radial connecting wall 37 forms, in the slipped-on state of the double-walled hub 35 onto the cylindrical core 31, a stop faces for the hollow-cylindrical casing 32. The inner concentric pipe section possesses a cover face 38, which in the slipped-on state of the double-walled hub 35 forms a stop for the cylindrical core 31. In the casing wall of the inner pipe section 36a, a plurality of flexible tongues 39 are fitted distributed over the periphery at a regular distance apart. Molded on in the outermost region of the outer pipe section 36b is the ring gear, which forms the gearwheel 34. This ring gear is matched in shape and size to the toothed rack 26.
Since the double-walled hub 35 sits with press fit on the cylindrical core 31 of the press roller 30, the gearwheel 34 is connected in a rotationally fixed manner to the cylindrical core 31. The roughened structure 33 on the ends of the cylindrical core 31 increases the adhesion of said hub on the core.
In the double-walled hub 35 is now rotatably mounted a bearing bushing 40. The bearing bushing 40 has an internal diameter which is slightly larger than the external diameter of the inner pipe section 36a of the double-walled hub 35. The axial length of the bearing bushing 40 is longer than the inner pipe section 36a of the double-walled hub 35. On the peripheral end the bearing bushing 40 possesses a flange, which forms the running wheel 41.
In the bearing bushing 40 is molded a step-like offset 42 or an annular groove. In this annular groove or on this offset 42, flexible tongues 39 now engage once the bearing bushing 40 is slipped onto the inner pipe section 36a. The running wheel 41 is hence secured in the axial direction and, by virtue of an appropriate play, the bushing 40 is supported in a freely rotating manner in the double-walled hub. The running wheel 41 is molded as a flange onto the end of the bearing bushing 40 and forms the freely rotating running wheel 41. The flexible tongues 39 have in the region of their freely flexible ends appropriate retaining bosses 43, which engage either in the respective annular groove 42 or behind the step-like offset in the bearing bushing 40.
In the use of the cassette according to the invention, this is initially opened into the position shown by
Hitherto, in known cassettes of a metering device which have no press roller, a residual quantity of 5-12% of the content remained in the emptied tubular bag 20. In trials with the cassette according to the invention, the residual quantity in the emptied cassette with integrated press roller 30 was able to be reduced to 1-4% of the original content. The trials were carried out with a variety of liquids having a viscosity of 1-70,000 Centipoids. In these trials, tubular bags which had as the content foods with solid components were also used. Such foods are, for instance, sauces containing cooked vegetable particles, as are known, for instance, as tartar sauce or barbecue sauce. Precisely sauces of this kind, as a result of their nonexistent homogeneity, produce increased creasing tendency of the tubular bags, so that entrapments are increasingly formed.
In addition to the embodiment which is described here in detail, deviations of the design within the scope of this protective right are perfectly possible. For instance, the running surfaces can be formed as recessed channels, in which the correspondingly designed running wheels travel. In this case, the tracks would then be designed as conical grooves, and the running wheels shaped accordingly. In such an embodiment, it is virtually impossible to place the press roller in such a way on the toothed racks that the left side, in comparison to the right side, is also only offset by one tooth, since now the running wheels jam in the groove-shaped tracks.
In the here represented embodiment, the pump 23 is constituted by a plastics-made gear pump or vane pump, though other pumps, of course, can also be considered. In particular, the pump should also in no way be a pump which is electromagnetically driven, but rather the pump can also, for instance, be manually actuable via an actuating lever. Such an embodiment then makes do, of course, without external energy.
The big advantage of this solution according to the invention consists in the fact that it is here virtually impossible for any air pockets to be able to make their way into the tubular bag while the tubular bag is emptied. In particular in the here represented embodiment, in which the tubular bag is already provided with a molded-on outflow nozzle, and this outflow nozzle is at the same time jointly supplied with a plastics disposable pump. In this way, it is virtually also impossible to contaminate the content, as can otherwise happen if a tubular bag is pierced. Moreover, such a disposable pump has an integral elastomer valve, which automatically closes off the outlet of the pump after each metering.
The here described cassette according to the invention is able to be produced virtually with all necessary structural elements, from one or two parts, by injection molding. Only the clamps have still to be used for the securement of the tubular bag. Also, the fitting of the press roller is extremely simple, in which the hollow-cylindrical casing has merely to be slipped onto the cylindrical core 31, and afterward, on both sides, a double-walled hub can respectively be mounted, and into this can then be placed the bearing bushing with the molded-on running wheels.
By virtue of the exact guidance of the press roller 30, which, on the one hand, runs with the gearwheels 34 on the toothed racks 26 and, on the other hand, with the running wheels 41 on the running surfaces, wherein the gearwheels and the press roller rotate in one direction, and the running wheels in the opposite direction. By virtue of this design, a low-friction, but exact, tilt-free running of the press roller is guaranteed.
It is of advantage, however, if the maximinal nominal measure between the running surface 27 and the tooth gullet of the toothed rack 26, on the same side of the closed cassette 10, is designed larger than the minimal nominal measure. This allows a certain amount of deflection without the engagement of the press roller on the toothed racks being jeopardized. If, however, somewhat larger portions of solids are present in the content of the tubular bag 20 and the tubular bag here also happens to form a fold, then the rolling down of the press roller is still ensured merely under the effect of its own weight.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10 2016 221 605 | Nov 2016 | DE | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/EP2017/071778 | 8/30/2017 | WO | 00 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
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WO2018/082826 | 5/11/2018 | WO | A |
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International Search Report for Application No. PCT/EP2017/071778 dated Dec. 15, 2017 (English Translation, 2 pages). |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20190276295 A1 | Sep 2019 | US |