1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a packaging machinery of the field of pharmacy, food, and healthcare products, and more particularly to a large transfusion filling and corking machine.
2. Description of Related Arts
Most of the common transfusion filling and corking machine adapts the method of entering fillers into bottles while injecting inert gas, such as nitrogen, therein, and then compressing and pushing one or more corks into the opening of the bottles. This type of process may be able to satisfy the arts of filling large amount of transfusion. However, the current filling process of the transfusion easily reacting with the air via the oxidation reactions can not meet the requirement thereof. More specifically, normally there is no step of pre-entering nitrogen into the bottle before filling the transfusion thereinto. Some of the manufacturing process may pre-inject the nitrogen into the bottles from the top openings thereof in attempt to reduce the level of air in the bottles. However, the specific gravity of nitrogen is smaller then the air and the transfusion filling source is usually located at a higher position then the bottles for being filled, so that the amount of nitrogen gas filled into the bottles is limited. Therefore, there is still a great amount of residual air in each of the bottles. When filling the fillers of the transfusion process into the bottles, the fillers is reacting with the residual air in the bottle, so that the transfusion filling process can not meet the requirement of the residual air below 2 to 3%. Secondly, after filled the bottles with the fillers, the corks are compressed and pushed into the openings of the bottles without vacuuming and injecting nitrogen in the bottles. Therefore, the air remaining in the bottles oxidize with the fillers during the transfusion filling and corking process, so that the products of the fillers may be deteriorated shortly.
The present invention is advantageous in that it provides a transfusion filling and corking machine, which is simple in structure and is able to achieve the low level of the residual air in the bottles during the large transfusion filling and corking process.
Additional advantages and features of the invention will become apparent from the description which follows, and may be realized by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particular point out in the appended claims.
According to the present invention, the foregoing and other objects and advantages are attained by a large transfusion filling and corking machine comprises a frame unit, an electric control unit, a bottle-in unit, a following and filling unit, a nitrogen-charging and corking unit, and a bottle-out transfer wheel unit, wherein the bottle-in unit, the following and filling unit, the nitrogen-charging and corking unit, and the bottle-out transfer wheel unit are orderly supported by the frame unit. The nitrogen-charging and corking unit is operatively linked to a cork-delivering unit. A nitrogen-precharging unit is operatively linked between the bottle-in unit and the following and filling unit. The nitrogen-precharging unit is operatively linked to the bottle-in unit through a bottle-in transfer wheel unit thereof. The nitrogen-precharging unit is operatively linked to the following and filling unit through a transitional transfer wheel unit.
The nitrogen-precharging unit comprises a transmitting shaft, wherein the transmitting shaft has a bottom end portion coupling with a transmitting gear and an upper end portion coupling with a bottle supporting panel. A precharging feed-wheel is coupled with the bottle supporting panel. A precharging fencing member is supported adjacent to the precharging feed-wheel. A directional guide shaft is coaxially coupled within the transmitting shaft. A height adjusting shaft is coaxially coupled within the directional guide shaft, wherein the bottom end portion of the directional guide shaft is coupled at an elevation assembly while the upper end portion of the directional guide shaft is coupled at an elevation cam. The elevation cam has a cam groove that a bearing is coupled therewithin via a connection panel. A bottle stopper seat is coupled with the connection panel. A vacuum adapter and a nitrogen gas adapter are provided at the bottle stopper seat, wherein the vacuum adapter and the nitrogen gas adapter are operatively connected to a vacuum distribution box and a nitrogen gas distribution box respectively.
The vacuum distribution box and the nitrogen gas distribution box are supported by a distribution shaft. A carbon brush is provided at an upper end portion of the distribution shaft. A main vacuum regulator and a main nitrogen gas regulator are coupled at the top end of the distribution shaft to operatively link with the vacuum distribution box and the nitrogen gas distribution box respectively. The vacuum adapter and the nitrogen gas adapter are operatively connected to the vacuum distribution box and the nitrogen gas distribution box through flexible tubes via a vacuum electromagnetic regulator and a nitrogen gas electromagnetic regulator respectively.
The nitrogen-charging and corking unit comprises a transmission shaft, wherein the bottom end portion of the transmission shaft is coupled with a transmission gear, an upper end portion of the transmission shaft is coupled with a bottle supporting panel. A nitrogen-charging and corking fence is supported and retained adjacent to the nitrogen-charging and corking feeding wheel. A directional shaft is coaxially coupled within the transmission shaft. A height adjustment shaft is coaxially coupled within the directional shaft, wherein a bottom end portion of the height adjustment shaft is coupled with an elevator assembly, while an upper end portion of the height adjustment shaft is coupled with an elevating cam. The elevating cam is coupled with a machinery arm and a sealing sleeve, wherein each of the machinery arm and the sealing sleeve has an elevating cam-groove. A first bearing is coupled with an upper connecting member within the elevating cam-groove of the sealing sleeve. A bottle cap seat is coupled with the upper connecting member. A bottle cap seat is coupled with the upper connecting member. A cam sleeve is rotatably coupled on top of the bottle cap seat. The sealing sleeve is coupled with the cam sleeve via a pressuring sleeve. A vacuum adapter head is coupled with the bottle cap seat to operatively link with a vacuum distributing box. A nitrogen gas adapter head is coupled with the cam sleeve to operatively link with a nitrogen gas distributing box.
A second bearing is coupled with a lower connecting member within the elevating cam-groove of the machinery arm, wherein the lower connecting member is coupled with an elevation shaft. The machinery arm is operatively coupled at the bottom end portion of the elevation shaft. A vacuum corking adapter head is operatively coupled at an upper end portion of the elevation shaft, wherein the vacuum corking adapter head is operatively linked to a vacuum corking electromagnetic valve via a flexible tube. Another outlet of the vacuum corking electromagnetic valve is operatively linked to the vacuum distributing box via another flexible tube.
The following and filling unit comprises a swing arm shaft retained at a base panel, wherein a swing arm is operatively coupled with the swing arm shaft and is operatively coupled with a following cam. A cam shaft is coupled at the following cam. One end of connection arm is coupled with the swing arm via a swing shaft. Another end of the connection arm is coupled with a directional guiding shaft to drive the directional guiding shaft to move at a swinging manner. The directional guiding shaft is supported within a hollow shaft. The hollow shaft has a bottom portion coupling with a gear wheel and an upper portion coupling with the following and filling feed-wheel. A filling frame is coupled at an upper portion of the directional guiding shaft, wherein a filling head and a gas distributing box are coupled at the filling frame. The filling head is operatively linked to the gas distributing box via a flexible tube.
The bottle-in unit, which is operatively linked to a bottle transferring unit, comprises a bottle-in gear unit. The bottle transferring unit comprises an endless conveying belt and two fencing elements supported at two sides of the endless conveying belt. The outlet end of the bottle transferring unit is connected to the inlet end of the bottle-in gear unit. The bottle-in gear unit comprises a worm gear having an outer spiral threaded portion and defining a plurality of feeding indentions thereat, wherein the outer surfaces of the bottles are orderly guided at the feeding indentions in a sequent manner when the worm gear is driven to rotate. The outlet end of the bottle-in transfer gear unit is operatively linked with an inlet end of the bottle-in transfer wheel unit.
The present invention has the following advantages compared to the existing arts. The present invention is simple in structure, wherein the main production arts are nitrogen pre-injection, simultaneously bottling and injecting nitrogen gas, and vacuuming and nitrogen injecting and corking process. The nitrogen pre-injecting or pre-filling is vacuuming and filling the nitrogen three times of the sealed bottle in an alternating to manner, so that the air within the bottle is able to replace with the nitrogen gas, so as to minimize the oxidation reaction between the air and the fillers. The nitrogen is injecting into the bottles during the bottle filling process, so as to protect the bottling process from reacting with air. During the corking process, the corks are placed at each of openings of the bottles via a machinery arm, then lower the corks for sealing the bottles, and then vacuuming and injecting nitrogen at least three times in an alternating manner for replacing the air therein. The corks are slightly lifted at a predetermined distance for discharging the pressure in the bottles, and then compressing and pushing the corks into the openings of the bottle under a substantially sealed status of the bottles for corking. Therefore, the residual air in the bottles is insignificant and being minimized, so as to ensure the stability of the fillers in the bottles. The present invention is suitable for chemically unstable fillers of the transfusion products or high added value of the fillers.
Still further objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the ensuing description and drawings.
These and other objectives, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, the accompanying drawings, and the appended claims.
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The filling and corking operation of the present invention is illustrated as follows. The bottles 14 are firstly fed at the endless conveying belt 12 of the bottle transferring unit 1 manually or by bottle feeding machine, wherein the bottles 14 will be automatically transferred along the endless conveying belt 12 by the friction between the endless conveying belt 12 and the bottom sides of the bottles 14. The bottles 14 are orderly transferred at the endless conveying belt 12 in a row via the fencing elements 13 to the feeding indentions of the worm gear 15 of the bottle-in gear unit 2. When the worm gear 15 is driven to rotate, the bottles 14 are spacedly separated through the distance between the feeding indentions and are transferred at a constant transferring speed, so as to transfer the bottles 14 to the feeding slots of the bottle-in feed-wheel 16 of the bottle-in transfer wheel unit 3. When the bottle-in feed-wheel 16 is rotated, the bottles 14 are transferred to the slots of the precharging feed-wheel 17 of the precharging unit 4. The precharging assembly 18 at the front side of the precharging feed-wheel 17 will to drop down to seal the respective bottle 14. Then, the precharging assembly 18 will vacuum the interior of the bottle 14 and charge the nitrogen gas thereinto for three sequent cycles in an alternating manner. After the precharge of the nitrogen gas, the precharging assembly 18 is lifted up, wherein the precharged bottle 14 will then be transferred from the precharging feed-wheel 17 to the slot of a transitional feed-wheel 19 of the transitional transfer wheel unit 5. During the rotation of the transitional feed-wheel 19, the bottles 14 are orderly transferred from the transitional feed-wheel 19 of the first transitional transfer wheel unit 5 to the following and filling feed-wheel 20 of the following and filling unit 6. Accordingly, the following and filling feed-wheel 20 is rotated at one direction and at a constant rotational speed to transfer the bottles 14 at a filling position. The peristaltic pump 21 will inject the liquid into the bottle 14. After the liquid is filled into the bottle 14, the filling head 114 will automatically and rapidly moved back to its original position. The bottles 14 are transferred from the following and filling feed-wheel 20 to the transitional feed-wheel 24 of the second transitional transfer wheel unit 23. The second transitional transfer wheel unit 23 is rotated to transfer the bottles 14 to the nitrogen-charging and corking feed-wheel 25 of the nitrogen-charging and corking unit 8. The nitrogen-charging and corking assembly 26 receives a bottle cork from a cork delivering base 27. The nitrogen-charging and corking assembly 26 is dropped down to seal the respective bottle 14. Then, the nitrogen-charging and corking assembly 26 will vacuum the interior of the bottle 14 and charge the nitrogen gas thereinto for three sequent cycles in a pulsation replacement manner. The nitrogen-charging and corking assembly 26 will then cork the bottle cork at the opening of the bottle to seal the bottle. The nitrogen-charging and corking feed-wheel 25 will transfer the bottles 14 to the bottle-out feed-wheel 28 of the bottle-out transfer wheel unit 9. During the rotation of the bottle-out feed-wheel 28, the corked bottle 14 charged with nitrogen gas is transferred from the bottle-out feed-wheel 28 of the bottle-out transfer wheel unit 9 back to the endless conveying belt 12 of the bottle transferring unit 1 for next procedure.
One skilled in the art will understand that the embodiment of the present invention as shown in the drawings and described above is exemplary only and not intended to be limiting.
It will thus be seen that the objects of the present invention have been fully and effectively accomplished. It embodiments have been shown and described for the purposes of illustrating the functional and structural principles of the present invention and is subject to change without departure from such principles. Therefore, this invention includes all modifications encompassed within the spirit and scope of the following claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2008 1 0031331 | May 2008 | CN | national |
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PCT/CN2008/073839 | 12/29/2008 | WO | 00 | 7/1/2010 |
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WO2009/140844 | 11/26/2009 | WO | A |
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