The invention relates to a device for producing and filling containers, in which at least one tube of plasticized plastic material can be extruded into an open mold, and by means of a filling device comprising several function channels which are separate from one another, at least the filling material can be delivered into the respective containers by means of a filling mandrel which is assigned to the pertinent mold.
In the pertinent prior art, a system which economically enables automated molding (blow molding or vacuum molding), filling, and sealing of containers is known under the trademark Bottelpack®. When the indicated containers are to be filled with highly sensitive products, for example, pharmaceuticals, the international standards for aseptic packaging must be satisfied. To do this, in the known solutions the mold, when it has been moved into the fill position, is under a so-called sterile filling space (ASR) in which sterile air flows via the open fill opening of the container and forms effective protection against the penetration of germs until movable mold parts are closed after completion of the filling process, in order to make the desired head closure of the container by a combined vacuum welding process. Such sterile filling spaces and their systems for sterile filling of containers are known in the prior art, for example, in the form of DE 196 48 087 A1 or U.S. Pat. No. 5,862,840.
Careful cleaning and sterilization both of the filling device with its function channels and also the parts interacting with it are carried out in rotation and definitely at the start of a production period as a further measure to ensure sterility during production which corresponds to Class 100 according to the international classification.
The object of the invention is to make available a device of the type under consideration in which cleaning and sterilization processes can be carried out especially easily and with an efficiency which has been improved relative to the art.
According to the invention, this object is achieved by a device which has the features of claim 1 in its entirety.
Accordingly, one particularity of the invention consists in that there is a mandrel protective cover which has at least one functional space, which in its function position produces a media-carrying connection for purposes of cleaning and/or sterilization and/or drying between its respective functional space and the respectively assignable function channel of the filling device, and which during container production and filling is moved out of its function position. This makes it possible to deliver those media into the functional space or spaces within the protective cover which are suitable for cleaning, sterilization, cooling/drying, etc., via a respective function channel of the filling device. In other words, the protective cover forms a component of a cleaning, sterilizing, and/or drier means which can be operated via the corresponding media supply from the filling device in order to bring the device into an aseptic state for starting the production interval.
In constructions of the device which are designed for efficient production, at least one filling mandrel can be set into the selected operating positions by longitudinal displacement, and in the operating position which interacts with the protective cover is accommodated with a longitudinal section in at least one functional space of the protective cover which is in the function position. In this way the medium intended for the cleaning, sterilization, or drying/cooling process which is to be carried out can be delivered into the pertinent space within the protective cover directly via the pertinent function channels which run within or along the respective filling mandrel. In this way, not only are cleaning, sterilizing, and drying of the function channels of the system through which the media are flowing accomplished, but the corresponding media also act on the outside surface of the filling mandrel which is located in the functional space of the protective cover, so that the processes of cleaning, sterilization, and drying also act on the outside surface of the respective sections of the filling mandrel which are held in the protective cover.
In especially advantageous exemplary embodiments, the protective cover has a first and a second functional space which are offset to one another in the direction of longitudinal displacement of the respective filling mandrel, and of which the first accommodates that end section of the respective filling mandrel on which is located the outlet of the function channel which runs centrally in the filling mandrel and which is used as the filling channel during filling. Therefore, the end section of the filling mandrel is directly flushed by the media which are flowing out of the filling material outlet and through the filling channel, so that in the creation of the aseptic state of the filling channel itself at the same time the outside of the end section of the respective filling mandrel is treated.
Preferably, the second functional space of the protective cover is designed to house the longitudinal section of the respective filling mandrel which is connected to the end section, and has an input opening through which in the corresponding operating position and in the function position of the protective cover the respective filling mandrel extends and via which the connection between the second functional space and another function channel of the filling device can be established. Such channels can be provided, for example, for the supply of sterile air which is used as support air in the process of tube formation, or as a supply channel for cooling media. Because a connection is established between the longitudinal section of the filling mandrel which is accommodated in the second functional space of the protective cover and at least one such media supply channel, the supply of cleaning, sterilizing, and drying media leads not only to the corresponding treatment of media supply channels, but acts in turn on the outer side of the pertinent filling mandrel which is held in the second functional space of the protective cover.
In designs in which the respective filling mandrel extends through an extruder head which preferably has an elongated construction with tube-forming extruder outlet nozzles which are arranged in a row and to which nozzles a respective row of filling mandrels are assigned, said extruder head preferably has a face which is adjoined flat by the cover wall of the protective cover in its function position, which wall has the input opening of the respective second functional space. In especially advantageous exemplary embodiments, the arrangement is such that the other function channel extends along the outer side of the filling mandrel through the extruder head and ends on its face, such that by way of the input opening in the adjoining cover wall of the protective cover the connection to its second functional space is formed, specifically by the other function channel continuing along the outer side of the filling mandrel through the input opening into the interior of the protective cover.
Preferably, each functional space of the protective cover has a media output via which the respective media which are supplied by the connection to the function channels of the filling device, for example, cleaning and/or sterilization media and/or cooling/drying media, can be discharged to the outside.
In advantageous exemplary embodiments, the arrangement can be made such that the protective cover forms a protective body whose respective input opening is adjoined by the second functional space which is separated from the coaxially following first functional space by a seal insert which forms a central passage for the entry of the filling needle-like end section of the filling mandrel which forms the outlet for the filling material into the first functional space.
The protective cover can be arranged to be able to move by displacing its cover wall along the face of the extruder head into and out of the function position; this enables a simple construction by only one linear drive for a displacement motion of the protective cover being necessary.
In embodiments which are characterized by an especially compact structure, the filling device, in addition to the dosing system assigned to the central filling material channel of the respective filling mandrel, also has supply devices by which both the filling material channel and also the other function channels can be alternately supplied with the desired treatment and/or working media, that is, for example, with cleaning media, sterilizing media, drying media, or cooling media.
In especially advantageous exemplary embodiments, at least one function channel which runs outside the filling mandrel along its outer side can be supplied with a sterile, gaseous medium which in the course of the extrusion process which forms the tube can be discharged on the face of the extruder head and which on the inside of the tube is used as support air which stabilizes the tube. In this way, not only is collapse of the tube prevented prior to the molding process of the container, but also sterile air forms a sterile space in the interior of the tube. More accurately, the interior of the tube and the mold, when it is moved into the filling position, are in a so-called sterile filling space (ASR) in which sterile air flows via the open fill opening of the respective container and forms effective protection against the penetration of germs until the movable head jaws of the mold are closed after completion of the filling process in order to form the desired head closure of the container by a combined vacuum welding process.
The invention is detailed below using one exemplary embodiment shown in the drawings.
In
In the manner which is conventional for such devices, the respective filling mandrel 11 can be moved in the longitudinal direction into various chosen operating positions, for example, such that with its filling device 9 it is movably supported on the frame carrier 13. In any case, the filling mandrels 11 can be set clock-controlled into the operating positions which are necessary for the production and filling process and for cleaning, sterilization, and drying.
In contrast to
In the operating state shown in
In the state shown in
In this operating state, all the measures associated with cleaning and sterilizing can be carried out via the connection between the channels 21, 39 of the filling mandrel 11 with the spaces 31 and 35 of the protective cover 27. In this respect, it is possible to proceed such that by way of the supply connection 23 and the dosing system 25 which is switched into the throughflow state, cleaning liquid which cleans the filling channel 21 is delivered into the functional space 31 from which the liquid emerges via the channel 33. By way of the connection between the media supply channel 39 and the second functional space 35, from the supply connection 41 of the filling device 9 further supply of media is possible, as a result of which the longitudinal section 29 of the filling mandrel 11 is cleaned or sterilized on the peripheral side. In the same operating position of the filling mandrel 11 and when the protective cover 27 is in the function position, following the cleaning of the filling channel 21, the sterilization process can be initiated by superheated steam of at least 121° C. flowing in by way of the filling device 9 via the filling channel 21 and sterilizing not only the inside of the filling channel 21, but also the outer side of the end section 15 within the space 31 of the protective cover 27. In the corresponding manner, sterilizing superheated steam can be delivered into the space 35 of the protective cover 27 via the media supply channel 39 so that the outside of the section 29 is sterilized as well.
In the manner which is conventional in cleaning and sterilizing processes, the corresponding drying/cooling processes can then be carried out via the same media connections, the condensate of the preceding sterilizing steam being blown out by supplying sterile air.
Subsequent to the drying, the pertinent filling mandrel 11 is withdrawn into the operating position shown in
After moving the protective cover 27 out of the function position, the device is ready for the start of a production interval. Because the mouth 40 of the function channel 39 running along the outside of the filling mandrel 11 during the production phase shown in
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10 2008 028 754.7 | Jun 2008 | DE | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/EP2009/004151 | 6/10/2009 | WO | 00 | 10/26/2010 |