The present invention concerns a machine and corresponding method to automatically prepare fluid coloring products, for example coloring liquids, paints, enamels, inks, or other fluid coloring substances, contained in a container in which, possibly, a base product can already be present. The present invention allows the user to introduce into the machine a container, possibly containing the base product, and to select the color he/she wants to obtain, after which the machine is able to automatically make both an aperture in the upper part of the container, and to deliver the coloring pigments in the container, and also to close said aperture with a suitable closing element, for example a lid, and also to mix the coloring pigments with the base product, in order to obtain the selected coloring product and make it available to the end user, ready for use.
Machines for dispensing or delivering coloring products are known, able to introduce a metered quantity of coloring substances, for example coloring pigments, into a container, in which, possibly, a base product is already contained, in order to obtain the desired coloring product.
Mixing machines are also known, often distinct from dispensing machines, able to mix the coloring product obtained using dispensing machines, so as to mix and homogenize the pigments that color the base product and thus obtain a finished product, ready for use.
From the international patent application WO-A-2011/161532 and from the European patent application EP-A1-2.384.808 machines are also known in which there are both means to deliver the coloring product inside a container and also means to mix the product dispensed into the container. In both these known machines, each container is already provided, in its upper part, with a hole which is permanently closed by a membrane of elastic/elastomeric material, configured to be perforated by the injection nozzles which are part of the delivery means.
However, these known machines have the disadvantage that they can only be used with particular, non-standard containers, each provided with the membrane as above.
Other types of machines known in the state of the art are suitable, in particular, to be used to automatically fill metal containers, such as for example cylindrical cans. Some known machines of this type are described, for example, in the prior art documents EP-A1-0.779.241, FR-A1-2.867.768, WO-A2-2007/110764, EP-A1-2.272.584. These machines comprise a dispensing unit for the fluid coloring product which is also able to make an opening hole on the upper surface of the containers, and to plug this opening hole once the dispensing has been completed.
One purpose of the present invention is to provide a machine and to perfect the corresponding method to automatically prepare fluid coloring products, inside a container in which, possibly, a base product may already be present, which are simple, fast and reliable, and which are also able to make, before the delivery, an aperture in the upper part of the container, and also to automatically and hermetically close said aperture after delivery and before mixing the products contained in the container.
Another purpose of the present invention is to provide a machine and to perfect the corresponding method to automatically prepare fluid coloring products, which are also able to perform, after the delivery of the coloring substances into the container, a mixing of the products contained in the container, possibly using members of the machine that are intended for other functions, or using members that are intended for mixing but to perform other functions of the machine, for example, but not only, the delivery as above.
The Applicant has devised, tested and embodied the present invention to overcome the shortcomings of the state of the art and to obtain these and other purposes and advantages.
The present invention is set forth and characterized in the independent claims. The corresponding dependent claims describe other characteristics of the invention or variants to the main inventive idea.
In accordance with the above purpose, a machine according to the present invention, to automatically prepare a fluid coloring product contained inside a container, comprises delivery means configured to deliver at least one or more coloring substances, possibly together with other non-coloring substances, inside the container through an aperture provided in the upper part of the latter, when it is in a delivery position.
In accordance with one characteristic of the present invention, the machine also comprises perforating means configured to make the aperture, and closing means configured to automatically and hermetically close the aperture with at least one closing element, preferably of the removable type.
In accordance with one characteristic of the present invention, the machine also comprises mixing means configured to shake the container and therefore mix the coloring substances, possibly with the base product, inside the container when the latter is in a mixing position.
In accordance with one characteristic of the present invention, the machine also comprises a support member configured to support the container, both in the delivery position and also in the mixing position. According to some embodiments provided here, the support member comprises a lower plate provided with its own central axis, preferably vertical, which is substantially parallel to, or coinciding with, a first vertical axis, or axis of delivery, around which the delivery means are disposed when the container is in the delivery position, and which on the other hand is substantially parallel to, or coinciding with, an axis of rotation, or first mixing axis, when the container is in the mixing position.
In accordance with one characteristic of the present invention, the delivery means comprise a delivery device disposed vertically in a fixed position above a loading station of the containers, in substantial alignment with the first vertical axis as above.
In accordance with one characteristic of the present invention, the perforating means and the closing means are mounted on a slider slidable along a transverse axis that intersects the first vertical axis as above.
In accordance with one characteristic of the present invention, the perforating means comprise a perforating device having a second vertical axis; the closing means comprise a closing device having a third vertical axis; and the slider is selectively mobile between an inactive position, in which both the second vertical axis and also the third vertical axis are distant from the first vertical axis, and at least a first operative position, in which the second vertical axis is substantially coinciding with the first vertical axis.
In accordance with another characteristic of the present invention, the slider is also selectively mobile between the inactive position as above and a second operative position, in which the third vertical axis is substantially coinciding with the first vertical axis.
In accordance with another characteristic of the present invention, the least one closing element as above comprises a lid, the closing device comprises a mandrel configured to insert the lid in the aperture of the container, and the machine comprises an operating unit comprising removal means configured to remove the lid from a store in which a plurality of lids is stored, and position it on the mandrel.
In accordance with another characteristic of the present invention, the removal means as above comprise a support on which a removal gripper is mounted having two jaws configured to remove one lid at a time from the store;
furthermore, the support is mobile at least between a removal position, in which the removal gripper is in correspondence with the store, and a delivery position, in which the removal gripper is in correspondence with the mandrel, when the slider is in the first operative position.
In accordance with another characteristic of the present invention, the lower plate as above is associated with transfer means configured to move it selectively in a bi-directional manner, possibly together with the container, between the delivery position and the mixing position as above, along a first longitudinal axis that intersects perpendicularly both the first vertical axis and also the axis of rotation.
In accordance with another characteristic of the present invention, the mixing means as above further comprise an upper contrast member, parallel to the lower plate; furthermore, the lower plate and the upper contrast member are configured to compress the container between them, when the container is in the mixing position.
In accordance with another characteristic of the present invention, the machine also comprises mixing means comprising at least a fixed structure configured to support the lower plate, and also comprising a rotating support on which an upper slider, which rotatably supports the upper contrast member, and a lower slider, which slidably supports the lower plate, are mounted sliding with reciprocal motion toward or away from each other in the same direction parallel to the axis of rotation.
In accordance with another characteristic of the present invention, second command means are provided to command the reciprocal movement of the two upper and lower sliders toward/away from each other, parallel to the first axis of rotation so as to determine the reciprocal movement toward/away from each other of the upper contrast member and the lower plate, parallel to the axis of rotation.
In accordance with another characteristic of the present invention, the machine also comprises programmable command means, for example comprising an electronic processor, configured to drive the perforating means, in order to make the aperture in the upper part of the container, the delivery means in order to deliver the at least one or more coloring substances into the container through the aperture, and the closing means, while the container is in the delivery position, in a manner coordinated with the displacement of the slider along the transverse axis. The programmable command means as above are also configured to drive the mixing means and to control the movement of the lower plate.
In particular, the programmable command means, for example comprising an electronic processor, are also configured to drive first the transfer means, in order to take the container from the delivery position toward a mixing position, then the mixing means, in order to adequately mix the fluid products contained inside the container, and finally once again the transfer means, in order to return the container from the mixing position to the delivery position in the loading station.
In accordance with another characteristic of the present invention, a method to automatically prepare a fluid coloring product inside a container, which possibly already contains a base product, by means of a machine comprising delivery means configured to deliver at least one or more coloring substances, possibly together with other non-coloring substances, inside the container through an aperture made in the upper part of the latter, comprises, when the container is in a delivery position, at least a perforation step in which perforating means are activated in order to make the aperture, a subsequent delivery step in which the delivery means deliver the at least one or more coloring substances inside the container through the aperture, and a subsequent closing step in which closing means are activated in order to automatically and hermetically close the aperture of the container with at least one closing element, preferably of the removable type.
In accordance with one characteristic of the present invention, the method further comprises a mixing step, in which mixing means mix the at least one or more coloring substances, possibly together with the base product and/or other non-coloring substances, in which it is provided that the container is supported by a support member both during the delivery step, when the container is in the delivery position, and also during the mixing step, when the container is in the mixing position.
In accordance with another characteristic of the present invention, the perforation step, the delivery step and the closing step as above are performed in succession while the container is in the delivery position, in correspondence with a loading station of the containers.
In accordance with one variant embodiment, the method according to the present invention also comprises a transfer step, in which transfer means, after the closing step as above, transfer the support member, together with the container, from the delivery position to the mixing position and, after the mixing step, transfer the support member, together with the container, from the mixing position to the delivery position.
In accordance with another characteristic of the present invention, simultaneously with the delivery step, or the mixing step, there is provided a step of removing the closing element from a store, in which it is provided to drive means to remove the closing element alternatively between an inactive position, in which the removal means are configured to release the closing elements, one at a time, to a mandrel comprised in the closing means, and a removal position in which the removal means are operationally aligned with the store in order to remove from the latter the closing element disposed at the lowest point.
These and other characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment, given as a non-restrictive example with reference to the attached drawings wherein:
We must clarify that in the present description and in the claims the terms high, low, vertical, horizontal, lower, upper, right, left, high and low, with their declinations, have the sole function of better illustrating the present invention with reference to the drawings and must not be in any way used to limit the scope of the invention itself, or the field of protection defined by the claims. For example, by the term horizontal we mean a plane that can be either parallel to the line of the horizon, or inclined, even by several degrees, for example up to 30°, with respect to the latter.
With reference to
The containers 15 can be either made of metal, for example of thin steel, or tin, or of plastic material, and preferably have a cylindrical shape, although they can have any other shape whatsoever, such as for example parallelepiped, with a square or rectangular base.
Furthermore, each container 15 has an upper part 16 (
The cylindrical hole 17 is configured to be automatically and hermetically closed, in the same machine 10, as will be described in detail below, by means of a covering element, which in the example provided here is a lid 18, for example made of plastic material, preferably of the removable type. According to one variant, not shown in the drawings, the covering element could consist of an adhesive label.
In this embodiment, regardless of the shape and size of the container 15, the cylindrical hole 17 has a determinate diameter D1, which corresponds to the external diameter of the lower part of the lid 18 (
In the first compartment 12, which is the furthest to the left in FIGS. from 1 to 5, and the furthest to the right in
A plurality of volumetric pumps 20 (
The delivery device 21 can be of any known type whatsoever, for example of the type described in Italian patent IT-B-1.370.076, or which will be developed in the future, and is positioned so that its center lies on a first vertical axis Z1 (
In the example provided here, the delivery device 21 comprises a plurality of nozzles 23 (
The delivery device 21 is mounted on a fixed plate 25 (
The machine 10 comprises a lower plate 27, for example with a circular shape which develops axial symmetrical around a central axis of its own, which acts as a support element and optionally as a centering member for the container 15 temporarily inserted in the machine 10 in correspondence with the loading station 26.
In an inactive or loading position, the central axis of the lower plate 27 lies on the first vertical axis Z1 (
In the front part of the loading station 26 there is disposed a first small door 28 (
The first operating unit 22 (
The perforating device 29 and the closing device 30 are both mounted on a first slider 31 (
In particular, the first slider 31 is provided with two pairs of sliding blocks 32 (
The perforating device 29 (
The cylindrical tubular support 37, by means of three vertical rods 40 (only two visible in
A thruster element 44 is disposed inside the cylindrical tubular support 37 and is axially slidable along the second vertical axis Z2, selectively commanded by an actuation mechanism 45, preferably mounted in a fixed position (on the left in
The thruster element 44 has the function of selectively expelling toward a collection container 47 (
A second small door 48 (
The closing device 30 (
The closing device 30 comprises a mandrel 49 (
The mandrel 49 has the function of temporarily holding a lid 18, in order to then insert it into the cylindrical hole 17 of the container 15, as will be described in detail below.
The mandrel 49 is vertically slidable with respect to the first slider 31 and is constantly thrust downward by a pair of helical springs 52 which are coaxial to the third vertical axis Z3.
The closing device 30 also comprises a second contrast ring 53, which is also coaxial to the third vertical axis Z3 and is provided with a central hole 54 having a larger diameter than the external diameter D3 of the upper part of the lid 18. Three helical springs 55 (
In the right part of the second compartment 12 there is a second operating unit 60 (
The second operating unit 60 (
A fourth electric motor 66 (
The distance of the two jaws 69 from the fifth vertical axis Z5 is equal to the second distance L2 (
The fourth electric motor 66 can be selectively driven in order to take, with a rotation of 180°, the jaws 69 from an inactive position, shown in the drawings, to a removal position, in which they are disposed along the fourth vertical axis Z4, that is, exactly aligned with the store 61 of the lids 18, in order to remove the lowest of the latter.
Furthermore, the plate 68 is vertically mobile between a lowered position and a raised position, by means of a fifth electric motor 71 mounted horizontally on the vertical arm of the support 67 and having its own shaft connected to an eccentric pin 72 (
The two jaws 69 can be selectively actuated, between an open position, in which they are distanced, or open, and a gripping position, in which they are thrust against each other in order to grip a lid 18, by means of a sixth electric motor 74 (
The store 61 (
On the upper part of the external cover 14 (
The machine 10 also comprises a mixing device 80 (
In other embodiments, not shown here, but which can be easily understood by a person of skill in the art, the mixing device 80, instead of the gyroscopic type, could be of any other known type whatsoever, or which will be developed in the future, for example of the vibrational type, such as for example that described in international patent application WO-A-2011/161532 mentioned above, or of the vortex or centrifugal type.
In the embodiment described here, the mixing device 80 is able to simultaneously impart upon the container 15 both a main rotation with respect to a second longitudinal axis X2 (
In the embodiment described here, the mixing device 80 (
The upper slider 83 has an arm 85 which is protruding toward the second compartment 12 and has an end 86 on which an upper plate 87 is mounted in a rotating manner, parallel to the lower plate 27 and constantly coaxial to the axis of rotation Z6.
The first structure 81 comprises an upper plate 88 disposed horizontally, on which a seventh electric motor 89 is mounted in a fixed position, which is configured to reciprocally move the upper 83 and lower 84 slider toward and/or away from each other, with respect to the second longitudinal axis X2, and therefore the upper plate 87 and the lower plate 27, in particular when the latter is in a mixing position, in which its central axis is coaxial to the axis of rotation Z6, but also when the lower plate 27 is in the delivery position, in which its central axis is instead coaxial to the vertical axis Z1, as will be described in detail below.
On the upper plate 88 there is also mounted an actuation mechanism 90 (
Furthermore, according to another characteristic aspect of the present invention, when a container 15 to be mixed is disposed on the lower plate 27 (
In order to achieve this, the lower plate 27 is mounted on a fifth slider 91 so that it can always rotate freely around its vertical axis of rotation. In fact, the fifth slider 91 is slidable horizontally along the first longitudinal axis X1 between a loading position, shown in the drawings, in particular in
The fifth slider 91 is provided with two horizontal bars 92 (
The mixing device 80 also comprises an eighth electric motor 94 mounted on the lower part of the third compartment 13 (
Moreover, inside the rotating support 82 there is disposed a transmission, or return, mechanism 95, which can also be of any known type whatsoever, or which will be developed in the future and which for the sake of brevity is not described in detail, which is able to make the upper plate 87 rotate around the axis of rotation Z6, exploiting the rotation of the pulley 94B.
The selective movement of the fifth slider 91 between its loading position and the mixing position, parallel to the first longitudinal axis X1, is obtained by means of a ninth and a tenth electric motor 96 and 97 (
Each of the two motors 96 and 97 has its shaft keyed onto a corresponding toothed wheel 99 and 100 respectively, in turn meshed with a rack 101 and 102, respectively, disposed horizontally. The two racks 101 and 102 are attached to the internal surfaces of two vertical walls 103 and 104 of a sixth slider 105 (
On the upper part of the sixth slider 105 there is attached a connection member 108 which is in engagement with the fifth slider 91, so that to each horizontal displacement of the same sixth slider 105 (
Between the second compartment 12 and the third compartment 13 (
The dividing door 109 is normally lowered, in a closed position, in order to isolate the delivery zone, which is located below the delivery device 21, from the mixing device 80, and it can be raised, in an open operative position, by means of an eleventh and a twelfth electric motor 111 and 112 (
Each of the two motors 111 and 112 has its shaft keyed onto a corresponding toothed wheel 113 and 114, respectively, in turn meshed with a rack 115 and 116 (
The machine 10 also comprises an electronic processor 117 (
The functioning of the machine 10 described heretofore, which substantially corresponds to the method according to the present invention to automatically prepare fluid coloring products according to the present invention, is as follows.
In an initial inactive, or loading, position shown in the drawings, the machine 10 has the lower plate 27 lowered and in the loading station 26 (
The method to automatically prepare a fluid coloring product according to the present invention, using the machine 10 described heretofore, comprises a loading step, during which a user, after having opened the first small door 28 (
It should be noted that in this embodiment the container 15 already contains inside it the base substance from which to obtain the desired coloring product, by adding coloring substances. Furthermore, the upper part 16 of the container 15 is devoid of any aperture whatsoever. In fact, the cylindrical hole 17 will be made automatically by the perforating device 29, in a subsequent perforation step.
The first small door 28 is then closed again, either manually or automatically, and will remain clamped in this position until the completion of the operating cycle, that is, when the container 15, hermetically closed by a lid 18, and after having undergone a mixing step, can be removed from the loading station 26.
Optionally, the machine 10 can automatically carry out a centering operation of the container 15 with respect to the lower plate 27, by any known mean whatsoever, such as for example those described in international patent application WO-A-2011/161532 mentioned above, or which will be developed in the future.
In this way, the container 15 is positioned exactly below the delivery device 21, but still lowered with respect to it.
A perforation step is then carried out to make the cylindrical hole 17 in the upper part 16 of the container 15. In order to do this, the electronic processor 117 commands the first electric motor 34 in order to translate the first slider 31 to the right, taking it from the inactive position, shown in
Keeping the first slider 31 stationary in this first operative position, the electronic processor 117 first commands the actuation mechanism 90 (
In addition and simultaneously, while the first slider 31 remains in this first operative position (
Once the cylindrical hole 17 has been made and the lid 18 has been inserted on the mandrel 49 (
To this downward movement of the lower plate 27 there corresponds a similar upward movement of the upper plate 87 of the mixing device 80, which thus returns to its initial position.
A delivery step is then carried out, which occurs automatically under the control of the electronic processor 117.
This delivery step provides that the seventh electric motor 89 (
The electronic processor 117 then commands, in a programmed manner, the actual delivery of determinate quantities of at least one or more coloring substances selected automatically, possibly together with other non-coloring substances, in order to obtain the desired color, removing them from the respective tanks 19 (
At the end of the delivery step, a step is carried out of hermetically closing the cylindrical hole 17 of the container 15 by means of the lid 18 which is already positioned on the mandrel 49, as previously described. In particular, the electronic processor 117 first possibly once again commands the seventh electric motor 89 to cause the lowering of the lower plate 27, in order to move the container 15 away from the nozzles 23 and then, in any case, once again commands the first electric motor 34 so as to translate the first slider 31 to the right, taking it from the inactive position, shown in
Keeping the first slider 31 stationary in this second operative position, the electronic processor 117 once again commands the seventh electric motor 89 in order to cause the raising of the lower slider 84 (
Upon completion of the closing step, the electronic processor 117 once again commands the seventh electric motor 89 to cause the lowering of the lower slider 84 (
Once the cylindrical hole 17 of the container 15 has been hermetically closed with the lid 18, the electronic processor 117 possibly commands a step of mixing or shaking by means of the mixing device 80.
In particular, the electronic processor 117 first commands the opening, that is, the raising, of the dividing door 109 (
Then the electronic processor 117 once again commands the seventh electric motor 89 (
Then the eighth electric motor 94 is driven, which rotates the whole rotating system of the mixing device 80, that is, the rotating support 82 and, by means of the transmission mechanism 95, also the upper plate 87 around its axis of rotation Z6 and consequently also the container 15 and the lower plate 27.
The actual mixing step consists of a frenetic rotation, in a gyroscopic manner, of the container 15 clamped between the lower plate 27 and the upper plate 87, for a determinate period of time, for example comprised between 0.5 min and 5 min, in order to thus mix the base product with the coloring substances injected by the delivery device 21 and obtain the desired finished product.
At the end of the actual mixing step as above, the electronic processor 117 stops the eighth electric motor 94 when the rotating support 82 is again in its initial inactive position, with the axis of rotation Z6 vertical (
Then the electronic processor 117 commands the electric motors 96, 97 in the opposite sense, so that the lower plate 27 and the container 15, with its content already mixed, return to their initial positions, that is, with the latter coaxial to the first vertical axis Z1.
Furthermore, every time the lower plate 27 moves from its loading position, in which it is coaxial to the first vertical axis Z1, to its mixing position, in which it is coaxial to the axis of rotation Z6, the electronic processor 117 selectively commands the eleventh 111 and twelfth 112 electric motor in order to raise and then once again lower the dividing door 109.
At the same time as the delivery step, or the mixing step as above, or separately with respect thereto, there is also performed a step of removing a lid 18 from the store 61 by means of the second operating unit 60 (
Then the electronic processor 117 commands, in sequence and in the opposite sense to the previous one, first the fifth electric motor 71 in order to lower the plate 68 and the removal gripper 70 to their initial vertical position, with the jaws 69 closed around the lid 18 removed, and then the fourth electric motor 66 in order to rotate the support 67 by 180° and thus take the removal gripper 70 once again to its initial inactive position, shown in
At the same time as the removal step as above, or separately from it, an expulsion step is also carried out, during which the part removed from the upper part 16 of the lid 18, which is still between the cutting elements 39 of the blade 38, now in alignment with the second vertical axis Z2, is thrust toward the collection container 47 below (
At this point the operating cycle is completed, the first small door 28 can be reopened and the container 15, containing the desired colored product and hermetically closed with the lid 18, can be removed manually by the user.
It is therefore clear that all the steps of the operating cycle, including the making of the cylindrical hole 17 in the upper part of the container 15 and the hermetic closing of the same cylindrical hole 17, are managed automatically by the electronic processor 117, with only the intervention of the same user, without needing the presence of a specialized operator.
Furthermore, according to one variant of the present invention, not shown in the drawings, but easily understood by a person of skill in the art, the machine 10 could be without the mixing device 80, as described above, and instead be provided with a simplified mixing member, directly connected to the lower plate 27, in order to rotate the latter, together with the container 15, around the first vertical axis Z1, after the completion of both the step of delivering the coloring substances, injected by the delivery device 21, and also the step of closing the cylindrical hole 17 with the lid 18, by means of the closing device 30. For example, during the drive of the simplified mixing member as above, the container 15 could be kept stationary on the underlying lower plate 27 by mechanical, or electromagnetic, means of a known type.
It should be noted that, advantageously, the lower plate 17, which acts as a support member of the container 15, is always supported by the first structure 81, both during the mixing step by means of the mixing device 80, and also during the delivery step, when the container 15 is associated with the delivery device 21.
It is clear that modifications and/or additions of parts may be made to the machine 10 and to the corresponding method as described heretofore, without departing from the field and scope of the present invention.
For example, in a simplified version of the machine 10, the lower plate 27 could be provided with a mandrel with self-centering jaws, of a known type and possibly motorized, which could keep the container 15 stationary in position. In this case, the presence of the upper plate 87 and of the corresponding members for moving the upper 83 and lower 84 slider toward/away from each other would not be necessary.
Furthermore, for example, the delivery device 21 could move parallel to the first longitudinal axis X1 from an inactive position, in which it is disposed along the first vertical axis Z1, to a delivery position, in which it is disposed along the axis of rotation Z6, whereby the latter also becomes the axis of delivery.
It is also clear that, although the present invention has been described with reference to a specific example of one embodiment, a person of skill in the art shall certainly be able to achieve many other equivalent forms of machine to automatically prepare fluid coloring products, and of the corresponding methods, having the characteristics as set forth in the claims and hence all coming within the field of protection defined thereby.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
102019000014610 | Aug 2019 | IT | national |
102019000014613 | Aug 2019 | IT | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
PCT/IT2020/050202 | 8/10/2020 | WO |