Patent Application
20140102484
This claims the benefit of German Patent Application DE 10 2011 054 683.9, filed Oct. 21, 2011 and hereby incorporated by references herein.
The present invention relates to a drying device for containers, especially for bottles. The invention furthermore relates to a method for cleaning such a drying device.
During the manufacturing, filling and/or packaging of containers, particularly during manufacturing, filling and/or packaging of bottles in the beverage industry, it happens quite often that moisture adheres to the outside of the containers. As an example, the moisture often originates from liquid, which overflows during the filling of the containers. Furthermore, it may also be residual liquid, which still sticks to the containers after they have been cleaned. In addition, temperature fluctuations during processing can result in moisture condensing on the outside of the containers. Since this moisture can interfere with subsequent processing steps, it needs to be removed from the outer sides of the containers. Such subsequent processing steps can be, for example, the inspection of empty bottles, the inspection of filled bottles, the labeling of bottles etc. For this purpose, the containers are transported through so called drying modules, where the adhering moisture is blown off. The blown-off droplets of moisture collect in a catch basin. But often the blown-off droplets can also be found hanging on the inner side walls of the drying module.
A device for drying articles is described in DE 102008004774 A1. One drying chamber has air supply openings for supplying drying air and furthermore at least one discharge opening for discharging the exhaust humid air. In particular, this device is provided with an internal air flow, whereby the air flow is directed past the inlet opening and/or past the outlet opening, through which the articles to be dried enter and/or leave the drying chamber.
Even with this directed guidance of the exhaust air flow, it cannot be excluded, that blown-off droplets collect at the side walls of the drying module. Especially in warm regions this leads to huge problems regarding the contamination of the drying module. In excellent wet and/or hot conditions a lot of germs easily accumulate and quickly multiply. To avoid an increased germ formation and germ load, the drying modules must therefore be cleaned regularly. Preferentially, the drying modules must be cleaned at least once a day. Conventionally the cleaning is performed manually, whereby the interior of the drying module is usually hosed with water, optionally treated with a detergent and subsequently hosed with water again. This process is quite time consuming. Additionally, this cleaning procedure is often very uncomfortable for the implementing operators and is especially acquainted with serious health risks. Since no production can be run during this cleaning time, the time intervals between subsequent cleanings of the drying chamber are often extended. This in turn creates a higher germ load for the operators of subsequent processing stations, since the growing conditions for the germs are improved.
It is an object of the present invention is to perform a simple, quick and inexpensive cleaning of drying modules.
The present invention provides a device for drying containers, especially a drying module for drying empty or full beverage bottles or the like in a container treatment plant and/or in a container filling plant. The device comprises a substantially closed drying chamber, comprising an inlet opening and an outlet opening for the containers to be dried. The containers are transported through the drying chamber in an upright position via a transport system. The device comprises at least one air supply opening for supplying drying air. Furthermore, the device comprises at least one air discharge opening for discharging the moist exhaust air. According to the invention, the device comprises at least one cleaning device for the chemical cleaning of the interior of the drying chamber or the device comprises at least one cleaning device for the chemical and mechanical cleaning of the interior of the drying chamber. A cleansing agent and/or a disinfectant can be injected into the interior of the drying chamber via the cleaning device. The cleansing agent and/or disinfectant is then distributed and removed again from the interior of the drying chamber through this cleaning device.
Neutral cleansing agents, for example cold water and/or hot water, can be used as cleansing agents and/or as disinfectants. Furthermore, special cleansing agents, especially alkaline cleansing agents, can be used. The use of acidic cleansing agents is also possible, as far as they do not attack the materials used in the interior of the drying chamber.
The cleaning device comprises at least one cleansing nozzle and/or a cleansing brush. In particular, a spraying ball, a deflection nozzle, a rotary nozzle, a jet nozzle or a double-jet nozzle can be used. Preferably the apparatus comprises a plurality of cleansing nozzles and/or brushes, whereby at least one cleansing nozzle and/or one cleansing brush is arranged in each of the corner regions of the drying chamber.
According to a preferred embodiment, the position of the cleansing nozzles and/or cleansing brushes is fixed inside the drying chamber. Preferably, the cleansing nozzles and/or cleansing brushes are also pivotally arranged within the interior of the drying chamber, so that complete flushing and cleaning of the interior of the drying chamber is possible by pivoting the cleansing nozzles and/or cleansing brushes during the cleansing process.
According to an alternative embodiment, rotating cleansing brushes are provided, which are movable attached to frame members or to cross-beam or transverse frame elements. Particularly, the cleansing brushes are in mounted to the frame elements in the interior of the drying chamber in such a way, that they are able to contact the surfaces to be cleaned. In particular, the cleansing brushes are in mounted to the frame elements in such a way, that they can contact the inner side walls of the drying chamber. The cleansing brushes can thereby scrape across the inner side walls and/or other areas to be cleaned, thereby improving the cleaning success. In addition to the chemical cleaning with water and/or with a suitable cleansing agent, the cleansing brushes provide a mechanical cleaning of the contacted surfaces. At least one reservoir with detergent and/or at least one connection to a water supply may be assigned to the cleaning device. The storage container or the water supply is connected to the cleansing nozzles and/or cleansing brushes via pipes. The cleansing agent and/or the water is supplied to the interior of the drying chamber through these pipes and is distributed inside the drying chamber through these pipes.
The cleaning process is preferably automated. Thereby the cleaning process is preferably controlled and monitored via a control unit. In particular, the cleaning cycle and/or the cleaning process are controlled by the control unit according to a predefined program. The program includes, for example, the information regarding the different cleaning steps. The control unit can also contain the appropriate information regarding, for example, at what time intervals the automatic cleaning of the interior of the drying chamber is required. Alternatively, the cleaning operation can be started manually by an operator via the control unit.
The control of the cleaning operation can thus take place via a control module, which is assigned to the drying module. However, it may also be provided that the control module is connected to a central, higher-level system, which coordinates the different modules of a container treatment plant. If, for example, the system must be at least partially converted due to a product change, the higher-level system activates the control unit. The cleaning intervals can thus be set individually over time. The cleaning intervals can also be programmed according to the beginning of the production, according to the end of the production etc., or the cleaning intervals can be set manually.
According to another embodiment, the inlet opening and outlet opening for the containers can be substantially sealed during the cleaning of the drying chamber by means of closure devices. Thereby the interior of the drying chamber forms a closed system. This is especially useful for preventing cleansing agent escaping from the interior of the drying chamber to the outside of the drying device during the cleaning process and thus polluting the environment of the device. Furthermore, the safety of the operator working on the drying device is improved. In particular, is can be prevented effectively, that the operator may come in contact with the harsh cleansing agents and/or with hot steam. In particular, it can be provided, that the closure devices are controlled by the control unit. The control unit especially controls the opening state of the closure devices before and after the cleaning process.
According to one embodiment of the invention, the closure devices are equipped with sealing elements. The sealing elements are attached to the closure devices in the peripheral region of their surfaces contacting the inlet opening and the outlet opening of the drying chamber. As sealing elements, in particular rubber lips and/or brush strips can be used. In particular, rugged areas in the region of the inlet opening and the outlet opening, such as the guide rails for the containers etc., can thus be better sealed off.
According to another embodiment, the cleaning process takes place automatically at predefined time intervals. The control unit interrupts the flow of the containers into the drying chamber before the beginning of the cleaning process. The containers, which are located in the interior of the drying chamber, are first conveyed out of the drying chamber through the outlet opening, before the cleaning procedure is started. This guarantees that there are no containers inside the drying chamber during the cleaning process. It may further be provided that the transport system continues to move during the cleaning process, ensuring that the entire transportation system is also cleaned sufficiently.
Additionally, the closure devices may be monitored by active locks or via door contacts. The cleaning process is only started by the control unit when the closure devices are closed and when there are no more containers in the interior of the drying chamber.
Furthermore, the apparatus may include a suction device for removing the cleansing agent. With the suction device the cleansing agent can be removed from the drying device separately and in a controlled manner. Furthermore, the drying chamber may be equipped with a viewing window. The viewing window allows the operator to monitor the functional state and/or the cleanliness of the interior of the drying chamber.
The invention further relates to a method for cleaning a drying device for drying containers. This method uses a cleaning device according to the invention, which has been described above. According to the invention at least one cleansing agent and/or disinfectant is introduced into the interior of the drying chamber via the cleaning device. During a cleaning cycle the different cleaning steps are preferably performed automatically and/or in a controlled way. Firstly, water is injected into the interior of the drying chamber to moisten the inner wall surfaces and to remove the coarsest impurities. Subsequently, a cleansing agent is injected into the interior of the drying chamber through the cleansing nozzles. In particular, detergent foam is injected into the interior of the drying chamber. Preferably, the cleansing agent can now act upon the surfaces inside the drying chamber for a defined time. For example, an exposure time of about 5 min to 10 min is scheduled. Thereafter, the detergent gets rinsed off by injecting water through the cleansing nozzles into the interior of the drying chamber. After repeated rinsing and blowing air through the at least one air supply opening, the operation of the drying device can resume. The blowing of air through the air supply opening is necessary to remove any detergent residue and/or any water, which has possibly penetrated into the air supply system of the drying device. Before production is resumed, more air can be blown through the cleansing nozzles to furthermore dry the interior of the drying chamber.
In particular, it can be provided, that water and/or cleansing agent is sucked off after each of the cleaning steps. Thereby it is possible, for example, to separately collect and recycle the cleansing agent. For example, a draining device can be integrated either in the bottom plate of the interior of the drying chamber or beside the bottom plate. The cleansing agent can thereby be collected and disposed of or the cleansing agent can be collected, recycled and reused. For example, a first draining device for water and a second draining device for the cleansing agent may be provided. If a cleaning step using water is carried out, the first draining device for water is opened and the second draining device for the cleansing agent is closed. If another cleaning step is carried out with cleansing agent, then the second draining device for the cleansing agent is opened and the first draining device for water is closed. Alternatively, a single draining device may be provided, which can be switched over to different ways of disposal. In particular, a plurality of drain pipes may be connected to this single draining device, each pipe leading to a separate collecting container. Depending on the respective cleaning step, the appropriate disposal pipe or the corresponding discharge pipe for water, alkaline cleansing agents, acidic cleansing agents, etc. is opened by means of a changeover valve. Meanwhile the other disposal pipes are each closed. The water or cleansing agents is thereby guided into the respective collecting container. The water or cleansing agent is subsequently removed from the collecting container and fed to a suitable reprocessing.
According to a preferred embodiment, air is blown continuously through the at least one air supply opening into the interior of the drying chamber during the whole cleaning process. This ensures that no water or cleansing agents enters the air supply system, thereby contaminating the air supply system. To save energy during the cleaning process, the power of the blower of the air supply system can be reduced during the cleaning process in comparison to the power of the blower providing the drying air during the container drying process. For example, only about 20% of the normal dry air volume per unit of time is blown into the interior of the drying chamber during the cleaning process.
The cleaning is preferentially done mechanically, through flushing or through spraying. The pressure, temperature and/or the amount of the cleansing agents is adjustable and controllable by the control unit. The pipes for the water and/or for the cleansing agents leading to the cleansing nozzles can be provided with flow switches and flow meters etc. This allows a better control of the supply of water and/or cleansing agents, thereby ensuring or guaranteeing the complete treatment of the interior of the drying chamber during the cleaning process.
It should also be noted that the term “chemical cleaning” is also used to describe the cleaning of the drying chamber using only water as a cleansing agent. For example, the term “chemical cleaning” is also used to describe the cleaning of the drying chamber with hot water vapor.
The automatic cleaning of the cleaning device can be operated independently from the general processing plant cleaning system. Alternatively the automatic cleaning of the cleaning device can be connected to the existing processing plant cleaning system. Thus, for example, common cleansing agent storage containers and/or a connection to a common water supply can be used.
The particular advantage of the automated cleaning is that no time-consuming manual cleaning through an operator is required. It furthermore guarantees that the cleaning of the drying device is performed at regular intervals. This effectively prevents a settlement of germs within the drying chamber, especially a growth of molds such as Aspergillus or the like. This leads to a substantial improvement of the sanitary conditions in such processing plants. Health risks for the operators working on the device by mold spores etc. can thus be minimized as much as possible.
In the following passages, the attached figures further illustrate exemplary embodiments of the invention and their advantages. The size ratios of the individual elements in the figures do not necessarily reflect the real size ratios. It is to be understood that in some instances various aspects of the invention may be shown exaggerated or enlarged to facilitate an understanding of the invention.
The same or equivalent elements of the invention are designated by identical reference characters. Furthermore and for the sake of clarity, only the reference characters relevant for describing the respective figure are provided. It should be understood that the embodiments described are only examples and they are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure.
An air supply system 4 is arranged above and/or beside the transport alley for the bottles 2. For example, drying air 20 is generated through a blower 6 and is then passed through air pipes 7 into the interior of the drying chamber 10. The drying air 20 is preferably blown obliquely downwards onto the bottles 2 through so-called air knifes 5. The blown-off moisture preferably accumulates in a draining pan 9, which comprises a drain 9A. The moist air 22 sucked off through an air removal opening 8, thereby removing it from the interior of the drying chamber 10.
The drying chamber 10 comprises at least one cleaning device, through which the cleansing agent can be injected into the interior of the drying chamber 10. In the illustrated embodiment, the cleaning device comprises a plurality of cleansing nozzles 30, wherein one cleansing nozzle 30 is arranged in each of the corners of the drying chamber 10. Furthermore, at least two cleansing nozzles 30 are arranged in a central region of the drying chamber 10. As cleansing nozzle 30 preferably spray balls, deflection nozzles, flat spray nozzles, dual-fan nozzles etc. are used. Preferably, the cleansing nozzles 30 are mounted pivotal and/or rotatable in all directions in space.
Instead of cleansing nozzles 30 cleansing brushes may also be used. Especially cleansing brushes with openings may be used, whereby the cleansing agent can be injected into the interior of the drying chamber 10 through the openings of the cleansing brushes.
As shown in
The cleaning of the interior of the drying chamber 10 is preferably automated. In particular, the different cleaning steps, the duration of the cleaning process and the intervals between two cleaning processes can be controlled. As shown in
However, it can also be provided, that the cleaning process is started manually by an operator through the control device 40.
Preferably, air 21 is blown continuously into the interior of the drying chamber 10 through the air knifes 5 during the cleaning process. This prevents water and/or cleansing agent 51 getting into the air knifes 5 or into the air pipes 7 during the cleaning process. To save energy during the cleaning process, the power of the blower 6 can be reduced by about 80%, whereby the above described effect is still achieved.
The locking devices 35 can be mounted manually. Preferably, the locking devices 35 are automatically adjustable and controlled by the control device 40. Thereby the inlet opening 15 and the outlet opening 17 for the containers can be closed automatically before the cleaning process starts. And furthermore the inlet opening 15 and the outlet opening 17 can be automatically re-opened after the cleaning process is finished.
According to
According to an alternative embodiment shown in
The invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments. To the expert it is also conceivable, however, to make changes and modifications without leaving the scope of protection of the appended claims.
