Patent Application
20190014799
The present disclosure relates to a method for switching the operation of a container treatment system, and a container treatment system.
It has been common up to now to have a plurality of necessary manual switching, in particular the empty running of container treatment machines within a container treatment system, carried out manually by an operator when a switching of the container treatment system from a first operating mode to a second operating mode is accomplished.
This on the one hand requires the permanent presence of an operator, and it leads, on the other hand, to delays when the operation is being switched since the operator optionally has to change between several container treatment machines of the container treatment system to cause the required switching.
An object to be achieved consists in providing a method for switching the operation of a container treatment system which can be effected preferably without any intervention by an operator and possibly also more quickly.
This object is achieved by methods for switching the operation of a container treatment system and a container treatment system for treating containers according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.
According to embodiments of the disclosure, in a method for switching the operation of a container treatment system from a first operating mode to a second operating mode, the containers are treated at least in one container treatment machine comprising a heater and/or a pasteurizer and/or a heat exchanger in the first operating mode, the method further comprising that the containers to be treated in the first operating mode are transported into the container treatment machine, wherein the containers are treated in the container treatment machine and are transported to the outlet of the container treatment machine, wherein information indicating that the operation will be switched is stored in the controller of the container treatment system, wherein at least one sensor detects the last treated containers or the last containers to be treated in the first operating mode and outputs a signal indicating the same, and a transferring device transports all the containers which have been treated in the first operating mode from the outlet of the container treatment machine to a transport device at the outlet of the container treatment machine on the basis of the indicative signal.
Here, the first operating mode and the second operating mode may relate to any switching of the container treatment system and also of individual container treatment machines. Thus, switching to another type of containers may be effected. Switching of one or several treatment parameters, for example a temperature employed in the container treatment machine for treating the containers, is possible. Even switching of the treatment of the containers in such a way that one or several container treatment machines are left out after the switching of the container treatment system for the treatment of the container, or are used for treating containers after the switching, is conceivable. Even the filling of various products in the various operating modes is conceivable. Thus, products to be heated or pasteurized in different ways in the different operating modes may be filled into otherwise similar or else different containers. In general, the switching of the operating mode may thus relate to any operation which concerns the separation of two products, two types of containers or the treatment thereof. This in particular comprises those operations where the outlet of a container treatment machine is emptied.
The outlet of the container treatment machine may comprise a support surface onto which the containers are pushed from a transport section extending in the container treatment machine. The support surface may form the transition between a transport section in the container treatment machine and the transport device. In the transport section, the containers may be transported in a disordered manner, in particular in several rows, for example 10 or more, one next to the other. The transport device and the transport section may be embodied as continuous conveyors, wherein the transport device may have a width corresponding to two or three times the diameter of a container, so that in the transport device, too, the containers may be transported in a disordered manner The transferring device may be provided as a movable transferring beam and be in particular configured to move in parallel to the direction of transport of the containers in the container treatment machine, so that containers may be pushed from the support plate following the transport section. In the process, the transport of the containers in the transport device may be effected more quickly than the transport through the container treatment machine.
For the method according to embodiments of the disclosure, the presence or interaction of an operator with the container treatment system for emptying the outlet in the container treatment machine is no longer necessary. This may save time. Furthermore, containers that are treated according to the first operating mode may be prevented from intermingling with containers that are treated according to the second operating mode since these containers are separated using the transferring device.
In one embodiment of the method, the second operating mode defines a treatment of containers in the container treatment machine other than in the first operating mode, and the container treatment machine is switched to the second operating mode after the containers treated in the first operating mode have been transported out of the container treatment machine by the transferring device and before containers to be treated in the second operating mode are transported into the container treatment machine. It is thus ensured that the containers to be treated in different operating modes do not undergo a treatment according to the respective other operating mode at least partially. The quality of the manufactured products may thus be increased.
Furthermore, the transferring device may be, after the transport of the containers onto the transport device, moved to a starting position in the region of the outlet of the container treatment machine, and/or the transferring device may transport the containers treated in the first operating mode out of the outlet before containers treated in the second operating mode are transported into the container treatment machine. It may thus be ensured that the containers treated in different ways are spatially separated and the respective containers are simultaneously exclusively treated in the operating mode intended for them.
In another embodiment, the second operating mode defines a treatment of containers without the container treatment machine. This means that while the containers to be treated in the second operating mode undergo a treatment in the container treatment system, this is done without the container treatment machine, preferably without the containers being transported into the container treatment machine at all.
In a further development of this embodiment, the transferring device remains, after the transport of the containers treated according to the first operating mode to the transport device, in a position at the outlet of the container treatment machine, and containers treated in the second operating mode move at the transferring device along the transport device. The transferring device may be advantageously utilized in this position to prevent the containers to be treated according to the second operating mode from entering the container treatment machine even if these containers are transported in the transport device in a congestive way.
A blocking device disposed at the inlet of the container treatment machine may furthermore block the inlet after the last container to be treated in the first operating mode has entered the container treatment machine and before a container treated in the second operating mode passes the blocking device. In this manner, one may prevent the containers to be treated according to the second operating mode from entering the container treatment machine. The blocking device may also be arranged in a transport device leading to the inlet and be embodied for blocking or clearing said transport device.
In a further development of this embodiment, the containers to be treated in the second operating mode are conveyed from the blocking device onto a bypass transport device, and transported from the bypass transport device to the transport device at the outlet of the container treatment machine. By this embodiment, a complete redirection of the containers around the container treatment machine is possible. Thus, containers do not unintentionally enter the container treatment machine. Simultaneously, the transport path of the containers is reduced, thus reducing the production time for the containers to be treated in the second operating mode.
According to one embodiment, the containers are treated by a further container treatment machine according to the first or second operating mode before the containers are transported into the container treatment machine. The further container treatment machine may be embodied, for example, as a filler that fills a product into the containers. Other embodiments of the further container treatment machine, for example as a printing or labeling machine, but also as a closer, are also possible.
The inventive container treatment system for treating containers in the beverage processing industry comprises a container treatment machine to be operated in at least two operating modes which may be embodied as a heater and/or a pasteurizer and/or a heat exchanger, wherein the container treatment machine includes an inlet and an outlet for containers, wherein at the outlet, a transport device is provided, and wherein a sensor for detecting containers treated or to be treated in the container treatment machine is provided, and wherein the container treatment machine includes a transferring device movable in the direction of the transport device, wherein the container treatment system is embodied for carrying out one of the above methods. A switching of the container treatment system may thus be effected much more expeditiously and with fewer interventions by an operator.
In one embodiment, the transferring device is embodied as a transferring beam. The latter may be moved, for example, over the outlet in the direction of the transport device such that the containers may be transported from the outlet onto the transport device.
Furthermore, the transferring device may be arranged to be movable between a starting position and an end position in the outlet.
The transferring device may be embodied in the end position so as to limit the transport device. One may thus omit an additional limiting rail, such as an insertion rail, if the container treatment machine is not to be charged with containers in one of the operating modes.
Furthermore, a blocking device for blocking and clearing the inlet for containers may be provided in the inlet. Thus, a bypass of the container treatment machine may be created if one operating mode of the container treatment system does not include a treatment of containers in the container treatment machine.
In a further development of this embodiment, a bypass transport device is arranged upstream of the blocking device which connects the inlet or a transport device leading to it with the transport device, wherein containers may be transported from the blocking device into the bypass transport device if the blocking device blocks the inlet for containers. If the container treatment machine is not used for treating containers in a certain operating mode, the transport path of the containers may also be shortened with this embodiment.
In one embodiment, upstream of the inlet, a further container treatment machine is arranged and embodied to treat containers according to the first and/or the second operating mode.
The containers 130 are usually transported slowly and in a disordered manner within the container treatment machine 101. In particular, the containers may be transported, at least in the region of the container treatment machine, closely in groups of containers or in a continuous disordered flow of containers. The transport through the container treatment machine 101 may last between several minutes up to one hour or more (in particular in pasteurizers). The capacity of the container treatment machine 101 therefore is normally several 1,000 to 10,000 containers. Since the containers are transported as a continuous flow in the container treatment machine 101, there is a pile-up pressure of the containers at the outlet 103 of the container treatment machine 101 in the direction of transport indicated by the arrow. By this pile-up pressure, the containers in front in the direction of transport are pushed onto the transport device 104 following the outlet 103 by the containers at the rear in the direction of transport, and may be supplied from there to another container treatment machine 120.
Containers to be treated are supplied to the container treatment machine 101 via an inlet 102 and a transport device 121 connected therewith, for example a conveyor belt. Prior to this, the containers might have been treated in a further container treatment machine 110 upstream of the container treatment machine 101, such as a printing machine, a labeling machine, a filler or a closer.
In the method according to embodiments of the disclosure, a switching of the operating mode of the container treatment system from a first operating mode to a second operating mode is accomplished during the operation of the container treatment system 101. This switching may include that containers of a first type are to be treated in the first operating mode, and containers of a second type are to be treated in the second operating mode. The types of containers may differ, for example, concerning their size. As an alternative or in addition, process parameters of the treatment of the containers according to the first operating mode may differ from process parameters of the treatment according to the second operating mode. In particular, the temperature profiles corresponding to which the containers are treated in the container treatment machine 101 may be different for the first operating mode and the second operating mode. Other process parameters, for example the product filled into the containers, may also be different. Basically, the operating modes describe the total of all features characterizing the container treatment in the container treatment system and the containers.
Since an intermingling of the containers treated in the different operating modes may lead, in the region of the container treatment machine, to a non-correct further treatment of the containers (for example, the application of labels or the printing of the containers in a machine disposed downstream), the containers 130 treated according to the first operating mode are completely separated, at least spatially, from the containers 131 treated according to the second operating mode.
To this end, a sensor 106 may detect the last containers treated according to the first operating mode. The sensor 106 may be arranged, for example, in the region of the outlet 103 of the container treatment machine 101 and detect a gap between the containers treated according to the first operating mode and the containers treated according to the second operating mode. If this gap is detected (for example by a sensor designed as a light barrier), a signal indicative of this detection is output. This signal may be transmitted to a controller of the container treatment system 100 or the container treatment machine 101. In addition, information defining the switching from the first operating mode to the second operating mode may be stored in the controller of the container treatment system or the container treatment machine. Further embodiments of the sensor are conceivable. Thus, several sensors may be employed. For example, a sensor which detects the containers treated in different operating modes (for example via an RFID transponder integrated therein) may be provided at the inlet. In addition, a sensor for determining the running time of the containers in the container treatment machine based on the speed of the transport device may be provided in the container treatment machine. Based on these values, one may then determine when the last containers treated according to the first operating mode reach the outlet of the container treatment machine.
By means of the gathered/transmitted and stored information, the control unit or controller of the container treatment system may control a transferring device 105 to transport all containers that are or have been treated according to the first operating mode and are still located in the outlet 103 of the container treatment machine 101 to the transport device 104. The outlet 103 is thus emptied, and a distance between the containers treated according to the second operating mode and the containers treated according to the first operating mode is created or increased. An intermingling of the containers that have been treated according to the first operating mode with containers that have been treated according to the second operating mode may thus be avoided.
It is particularly advantageous if the transferring device is, when a gap is detected, activated if the information on a change of the operating mode is simultaneously present. If, for example, there are information for a filler disposed upstream of the container treatment machine indicating that the operating mode is changed, i. e. the production of a first product is terminated, these information may be utilized, together with the minimum transport time for the containers from the filler to the outlet of the container treatment machine 101, to detect the last containers treated in the first operating mode. If after the lapse of the minimum transport time, there is a gap in the flow of containers which is detected by a corresponding sensor, this gap may be interpreted as a change of the operating mode, and the transferring device 105 may be controlled to empty the outlet.
In addition or as an alternative to the sensor provided in the region of the outlet 103, a sensor may be furthermore arranged, for example, in the inlet region 102. Furthermore, the movement of the containers may be monitored by a speed measurement of the transport device in the container treatment machine. If it is known, for example, that the containers remain in the container treatment machine for 10 minutes from the inlet 102 into the container treatment machine 101 until they reach the outlet 103 of the container treatment machine 101, the transferring device may be used, when a gap in the inlet is detected, to transport the containers that have been treated according to the first operating mode and that still remain in the outlet 103 after 10 minutes into the transferring device 104.
While in the embodiment represented in
In the embodiment shown in
The embodiment according to
A drive means 253 for driving the transferring device 105 is schematically shown here. It may be controlled by the controller or control unit, for example, based on the signal of the sensor represented in
It should be noted that at the transport device 104, an additional rail 260 may be provided which prevents the containers 130 from falling out, in particular while they are being transported onto the transport device 104 by the transferring device 105. This rail 260 may be arranged on the side of the transport device 104 opposite the outlet 103 of the container treatment machine 101.
So, the containers 130 treated according to the first operating mode leave at least the region of the container treatment machine 101 where they are heated or cooled to a certain temperature before the containers 131 to be treated according to the second operating mode enter a region of the container treatment machine 101 where they are heated or cooled to the temperature determined by the second operating mode. Since the region where the containers undergo different temperatures according to the first operating mode and the second operating mode does not necessarily extend over the complete length L of the container treatment machine, containers 131 (to be treated according to the second operating mode) may already be located in the region of the inlet 102 or even in the region of the container treatment machine 101 before all containers 130 (that have been treated according to the first operating mode) leave the outlet. This may be achieved, for example, by a corresponding control of the transport speed of the containers in the transport device 121 guiding the containers 131 to the inlet of the container treatment machine 101.
It should be noted that, in particular in container treatment machines 101 operating by zones (i.e., that heat or cool the containers differently in different zones and independently of other zones), the containers that have been treated according to the first operating mode do not have to be removed from the whole container treatment machine before containers to be treated in the second operating mode are transported into it. Here, it is sufficient if the containers that are treated according to the first operating mode at least are not located in a zone within the container treatment machine in which containers to be treated in the second operating mode are treated. This can be ensured by a sufficiently large gap in the flow of containers. The gap can correspond, for example, to the width of the corresponding zone in the direction of transport of the containers or be larger.
As an alternative or in addition, an interruption of the treatment of the containers during the switching from the first operating mode to the second operating mode in a container treatment machine 110 disposed upstream of the container treatment machine 101 may be provided. This may be advantageously effected during a conversion of the container treatment machine 110. During this conversion, the container treatment machine 110 might not carry out any further treatment of containers anyway. Thus, after the last container to be treated in the first operating mode has left the machine, a gap is automatically formed in the flow of containers until the container treatment machine 110 starts with the treatment of containers according to the second operating mode.
To illustrate the course of possible temperature profiles provided during the first or second operating mode in the container treatment machine,
In the embodiment represented in
Other embodiments of the temperature profiles, where the containers are, for example, not heated but cooled down, are also conceivable. It is moreover not necessary for the containers to be brought to their starting temperature again after they have left the container treatment machine 101 or during their transport through the container treatment machine 101.
In an alternative embodiment, it may be provided that the operating modes differ such that according to the first operating mode, the containers 130 are treated in the container treatment machine 101 (for example heated or cooled), whereas the containers 131 to be treated according to the second operating mode are not treated in the container treatment machine 101.
In such a case, on the one hand, the container treatment machine 101 may be switched off to save energy after the containers 130 have left it. Due to the time necessary for a corresponding temperature compensation, however, containers that are to be treated according to the second operating mode would undergo heating or cooling down in the container treatment machine 101 even if it was switched off.
To prevent this and simultaneously advantageously shorten the duration of transport of the containers to be treated according to the second operating mode, after the switching of the container treatment system from the first operating mode to the second operating mode, the inlet 102 or the transport section 121 in which containers may be transported from the first container treatment machine 110 to the inlet 102 of the container treatment machine 101 is blocked by a blocking device 460, so that no container is getting into the container treatment machine or a section of the transport section 121 leading to the inlet 102.
Additionally, the transport section 461 which discharges containers from the container treatment machine 110 may be followed by a bypass transport device 462. This bypass transport device may be arranged such that containers from the transport section 461 are transported onto the transport section 104.
The redirection of the containers actually transported in the transport section 461 in the direction of the inlet 102 may be effected by the blocking device 460. To this end, the blocking device may not, as shown here, be embodied as a pusher provided perpendicularly to the direction of transport, but it may extend, for example, obliquely to the direction of transport, so that containers from the transport section 461 are already redirected to the transport section or the bypass transport device 462.
In addition, in this embodiment, the transferring device 405 may be used as a boundary of the transport device 104 after it has transported containers 130 treated according to the first operating mode from the container treatment machine 101 onto the transport device 104. Since the outlet of the container treatment machine 101 would be open without the transferring device, containers 131 that are transported from the bypass transport device onto the transport device 104 could penetrate into the outlet of the container treatment machine 104 and remain standing there or tip over. To limit the transport device 104, it is therefore provided in this embodiment that the transferring device 405 remains, after the transport of the containers 130 onto the transport device 104, in the end position in which it flushes, for example, with the transport device 104 and at least closes the outlet of the container treatment machine 101, and blocks the outlet of the container treatment machine 101 during the treatment of the containers 131 according to the second operating mode. In addition, the transferring device may in this embodiment comprise an elevated rail, so that the transferring device has a height that is higher than the height of the containers. Even in case of a considerable pile-up pressure of the containers transported in the transport device 104, it may thus be prevented that containers, for example, tip over the transferring device and get into the container treatment machine 101.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 2016 200 281.3 | Jan 2016 | DE | national |
This patent application claims the benefit of International Application No. PCT/EP2016/080397, filed Dec. 9, 2016, that claims priority to German Application No. 102016200281.3, filed Jan. 13, 2016, wherein the entire contents of both are hereby incorporated by reference.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/EP2016/080397 | 12/9/2016 | WO | 00 |
