Patent Application
20200115209
This application claims priority to Italian Patent Application No. 102018000009471, filed on Oct. 16, 2018, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
The present disclosure relates to a filling machine, and in particular to a filling machine for hot filling and, in particular, for filling glass containers.
A filling machine is a machine intended to be used in plants for filling containers with food-type liquids, such as for example beverages, wines, water, beer or drinks.
Various different types of filling machines for hot filling are known.
Filling machines for food-type liquids have a rotating carousel structure which supports peripherally a plurality of filling heads which are associated with respective valve assemblies, which are adapted to convey the liquid from a containment tank into the containers to be filled.
A first type of machine comprises what are known as “gravity fillers”.
The filling technology is of the gravity type with electropneumatic control: each filling valve is enabled for filling by placing it directly on the bottle, but the passage of the product is time-controlled, by way of an electropneumatic valve. The filling level is given by the position where the valve is arranged, inside the bottle.
Such position is determined mechanically by way of adapted spacers (which are specific to each format). During shutdowns of the machine, the product is recirculated, in order to maintain the filling valve at the correct temperature.
In particular, the recirculation does not affect the product in the bottle, but only the product contained in the valve.
The filling time is set on a panel and can be modified as a function of the format and of the requirements of the product being filled.
The known solutions, although widely used, are not however devoid of drawbacks.
Firstly, many filling machines lower and lift the valve with respect to the bottle simultaneously with the pipe for introducing and recirculating the product.
This results in a fairly high risk of contact between the pipe and the bottle.
Furthermore, many of the solutions on the market today lower and lift the entire valve assembly, which has a weight and inertia that are sometimes extremely high, which in some cases limit the speed of the machine itself.
The aim of the present disclosure is to provide a filling machine for hot filling which is capable of improving the known art in one or more of the above mentioned aspects.
Within this aim, the disclosure provides a filling machine for hot filling which is capable of operating to ensure an extremely precise level of the liquid.
The disclosure also provides a filling machine that is highly reliable, easy to implement and of low cost.
This aim and these and other advantages which will become better apparent hereinafter are achieved by providing a filling machine for hot filling according to the independent claims, optionally provided with one or more characteristics of the dependent claims.
Further characteristics and advantages of the disclosure will become better apparent from the detailed description that follows of a preferred, but not exclusive, embodiment of the filling machine for hot filling according to the disclosure, which is illustrated for the purposes of non-limiting example in the accompanying drawings wherein:
With reference to the figures, the filling machine according to the disclosure, generally designated by the reference numeral 1, for the hot filling of containers 20 with food-type liquids comprises a line for feeding the containers 20 to be filled to at least one supporting plate 2 and a line for unloading the filled container from the supporting plate 2.
Arranged above each supporting plate 2 is a filling head 3, which is associated with a respective valve assembly 4.
The valve assembly 4 is adapted to convey the liquid from a containment tank into the container 20 to be filled, and is associated with an internally hollow feeder conduit 9.
Along at least one section thereof, the feeder conduit 9 is associated with a suction conduit 19 which is provided with at least one suction inlet 19a which is designed to determine the level of the liquid inside the container 20.
With reference to the embodiment shown in the figures, the feeder conduit 9 accommodates, along at least one section of its extension, the suction conduit 19.
However, there is no reason why the suction conduit 19 cannot be arranged adjacent to the feeder conduit 9.
The feeder conduit 9 is functionally associated with a flow control element 9a which can move on command between a closed condition and an open condition and vice versa.
According to the present disclosure, the filling head 3 comprises a sealing element 30 which has a first sealing body 31 which is designed to engage hermetically against the upper edge of the container 20 and is associated with a vent 40 which is adapted to pass between a position for sealing the chamber for passing liquid from the supply feeder conduit 9 toward the container 20 and a position for venting in which at least one port is defined for the passage of air from the chamber for passing liquid toward the outside.
The filling head 3 is further provided with means for actuating the suction of the liquid from the container by way of the suction conduit 19, which are functionally associated with a device for activating the vent 40 from the position for sealing to the position for venting.
According to a preferred embodiment, the vent comprises a venting body 32 which is associated with the feeder conduit 9 and can move on command with respect to the first sealing body 31 between a position for sealing the chamber for passing liquid from the feeder conduit 9 to the container 20, and a position for venting, in which at least one port 32a is defined for the passage of air from the chamber for passing liquid toward the outside.
Advantageously, the device for activating the vent 40 comprises a device for moving the venting body 32 from the position for sealing toward the position for venting.
Such device for activating the vent 40 can further be constituted, for example, by a mechanically-actuated button, by a solenoid valve, by a pneumatic valve etc.
The filling machine 1 is further provided with means for actuating the suction of the excess liquid from the container 20 by way of the suction conduit 19.
In particular, the means for actuating the suction are functionally associated with a device for moving the venting body 32 from the position for sealing to the position for venting.
Conveniently, the filling machine 1 comprises an element for moving the suction conduit 19 between an inactive position, in which it is arranged with its lower edge 19a above the lower edge of the first sealing body 31, and an active position, in which the lower edge 19a of the suction conduit 19 is arranged below the lower edge of the first sealing body 31.
Advantageously, the filling machine 1 comprises a rotating carousel structure which supports peripherally a plurality of supporting plates 2 above which respective filling heads 3 are arranged.
The filling machine 1 is provided with means for moving the sealing element 30 and the suction conduit 19 in a vertical direction.
Conveniently, the device for moving the venting body 32 from the position for sealing to the position for venting and vice versa comprises a cam device.
According to a preferred embodiment, the element for moving the suction conduit 19 between the inactive position and the active position comprises an actuator of the pneumatic type.
According to a further aspect, the present disclosure relates to a method for filling a container 20 by way of hot filling, which comprises the following steps:
Advantageously, the step of evacuation comprises a step of forced suction, so as to make the filling of the container 20 faster.
Conveniently, before the step of opening the flow control element 9a, there is a step of moving the suction conduit 19 from an inactive position, in which its lower edge 19a is arranged above the lower edge of the first sealing body 31, toward an active position, in which the lower edge 19a of the suction conduit 19 is arranged below the lower edge of the first sealing body 31.
In practice it has been found that the disclosure fully achieves the intended aims and advantages by providing a filling machine 1 that can be used in an extremely practical manner for filling both bottles and cans.
The disclosure thus conceived is susceptible of numerous modifications and variations, all of which are within the scope of the appended claims. Moreover, all the details may be substituted by other, technically equivalent elements.
In practice the materials employed, provided they are compatible with the specific use, and the contingent dimensions and shapes, may be any according to requirements and to the state of the art.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 102018000009471 | Oct 2018 | IT | national |
