EP0588070A1 - Safety filling and emptying nozzle for liquid, viscous or powdery materials - Google Patents

Abstract

A transfer locking valve is used for the safe filling and emptying of containers of any kind with liquid, pasty and powdery media, the medium flowing from one barrel in particular into another container, the intention being to prevent contamination of the environment. In the casing (42) of the sealing valve there is arranged a rotatable or displaceable slide (28) which is integrally connected to a filling pipe (55). A lifting mechanism (31,32) is allocated to the slide and is intended to effect the raising and lowering of the lifting lid (26) which seals off or releases one outlet aperture of the casing. In one slide position, the lifting lid (26) therefore acts on the outlet aperture, while in the other slide position the filling pipe is made to adopt a coaxial counter-position between an upper connecting sleeve and a lower outlet aperture. <IMAGE>

Description

The invention relates to a so-called transfer valve according to the preamble of patent claim 1. Such a transfer system is part of a security system which is concerned with, e.g. Filling and / or emptying containers in the chemical and pharmaceutical industry in a reliable manner. Such containers can e.g. Be cone dryers, drums or containers that interact with the new valve using special closures with the aid of a lifting device. The valve according to the invention is intended to ensure that no substances get into the environment. For the sake of simplicity, the term “barrel” will be used below for the container to be filled and / or emptied.

When emptying or filling drums, it has been shown that so far it has not been possible for substances to e.g. Powder got into the environment. So there was an undesirable discharge into the environment.

In a known transfer valve, a so-called double door principle is used. It is assumed here that the barrel to be filled or emptied is closed with a lid which can be rotated through a certain angular range. This barrel with the lid attached to it is placed on a transfer valve, the barrel is then placed and rotated, the inner lid of the barrel then being released. Both lids, ie the lid of the valve and the barrel are then pivoted out together, then the transfer valve is opened and in the known device, a filling tube is inserted through the opened transfer system, which then causes the medium in the barrel to pass through opened transfer system is transferred to another container.

A disadvantage of the known system is the rotation of the container required for docking with the safety transfer valve. There is therefore a risk that the seal will be worn and worn, which means that the tightness of the system can no longer be guaranteed if it is operated more frequently.

Another disadvantage is the relatively high mechanical effort involved in docking and rotating the container to be emptied or filled. Especially with heavy and large barrels, it is unfavorable to first lift this barrel and then by an angular amount of e.g. Turn 60 ° to achieve docking and opening of the transfer valve.

The friction between the surfaces rotating past each other can release particles that undesirably get into the environment. At the same time, there is the problem that, due to the mutual friction of the parts moving past one another, rubbing particles can also get into the product, which leads to undesirable contamination of the product to be filled.

The invention is therefore based on the object of developing a safety transfer valve of the type mentioned in such a way that reliable, reliable filling of hazardous substances is ensured with substantially less mechanical effort.

The technical teaching according to claim 1 serves to solve the problem.

An essential feature of the invention is that according to the invention the barrel to be docked to the transfer valve is no longer rotated must, but there is a pressure of the lid in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the barrel to the transfer valve. There is then a lid lifting mechanism that pulls the barrel lid out of the barrel and moves it laterally out of the fill opening or emptying opening of the barrel, so as to clear the opening of the barrel and thus securely dock the barrel to an emptying or filling system.

Instead of the described rotation according to the prior art for docking and removing a drum cover, a closure slide is provided according to the present invention, which is moved or rotated approximately perpendicular to the filling direction (drum axis).

A system is known which also uses laterally movable slides, although there are two different sliders which operate independently of one another. With the first slide, a filler neck or a filling tube is moved in the transfer valve to be directed coaxially to the longitudinal axis of the barrel, while with a second slide system the lid is moved laterally out of the filling area (outside the longitudinal axis of the barrel). The invention avoids this high level of structural complexity in that a single and uniform slide is present, a lifting system being present which carries out a movement coaxially to the barrel axis and furthermore the slide then moves the lid perpendicularly to this lifting movement out of the barrel axis perpendicularly thereto. Because the barrel to be docked no longer has to be turned, there is no sealing of the seal and the risk of sealing particles contaminating the product.

The invention is therefore an XY system which has two directions perpendicular to one another It is important that when the slide is moved laterally, the filling tube is inevitably brought into position at the same time, thus avoiding a second slide operating independently of it, as is known in the prior art. Instead of the described transverse displacement of the slide, a rotary movement can also be provided.

So there is a much safer operation with a simpler structure of the shutoff valve.

The subject matter of the present invention results not only from the subject matter of the individual protection claims, but also from the combination of the individual patent claims with one another.

All information and features disclosed in the documents, including the summary, in particular the spatial design shown in the drawings are claimed as essential to the invention, insofar as they are new to the prior art, individually or in combination.

In the following, the invention will be explained in more detail with reference to drawings showing several possible embodiments. Further essential features and advantages of the invention emerge from the drawings and their description.

Figur 1:

schematisiert ein Pulvertransfersystem nach der Erfindung,

Figuren 2 - 9:

der schrittweise Ablauf beim Entleeren eines Fasses mit dem erfindungsgemäßen Verschlußventil,

Figuren 10 - 17:

die schrittweise Darstellung beim Befüllen eines Behältnisses,

Figur 18:

Schnitt durch ein Verschlußventil nach der Erfindung.

Show it:

Figure 1:

schematized a powder transfer system according to the invention,

Figures 2 - 9:

the step-by-step procedure when emptying a drum with the closure valve according to the invention,

Figures 10-17:

the step-by-step display when filling a container,

Figure 18:

Section through a closure valve according to the invention.

FIG. 1 shows a security powder transfer system which is not to be understood as restrictive with regard to the media to be filled. In the present exemplary embodiment, a barrel 17 is emptied and filled, which is not to be understood as restrictive, because this barrel 17 can be designed as any container, e.g. as a barrel, container, sack, container and the like.

In Figure 1, the drum 17 is fed via a roller conveyor to a drum lifting system 3, which grips the drum 17 and turns it over, so that the emptying opening 19 is directed downward.

The barrel 17 is closed by a closure 21 (see also FIG. 2) which essentially consists of a clamping ring 23 which holds a securing cover 24 in position.

The drain opening 19 is also closed by a flap valve 20 which can be actuated by a locking lever 22.

In the space between the safety cover 24 and the flap valve 20, a drum cover 25 is arranged here, which sits sealingly on the drum counter flange in the region of the drain opening 19.

This barrel lid 25 is then opened and moved accordingly by the closure valve 1, 2 according to the invention.

In Figure 1, the safety cover 24 is first removed from the drum 17 before it is turned upside down by the drum lifting system 3. The drum lid 25 is then located next to the upper emptying opening 19 below which the still closed closure 21 is located.

The barrel 17 is placed with the barrel lifting system 3 on the barrel emptying 4, part of the barrel emptying 4 being the closure valve 1 according to the invention. The contents of the barrel are filled into the vacuum dryer / mixer 9 with the closure valve open. In a manner known per se, this dryer / mixer 9 has a vapor filter 5 and a drive unit 6 for rotating the pharmaceutical screw 8. The product can be filled in via the open transfer valve 1 only when the shut-off valve 7 is open.

The outlet of the vacuum dryer / mixer 9 is formed by a ball segment valve 10, the product being discharged via a metering screw 15 and being filled into a docked drum 13 via a drum filling 16. The barrel 13 is filled via the closure valve 2, which is constructed in the same way as the closure valve 1. The barrel 13 stands on a weighing system 14 and can then be removed via a roller conveyor 18, where it can be fed as a barrel 17 for further processing. The vacuum dryer / mixer 9 also has a pressure compensation line 11 from the metering screw to the interior of the mixer container. The entire arrangement is controlled by a control panel 12.

In this situation, the drum lifting system 3 is actuated and the drum is brought into the reverse position according to FIG. 1 and is placed on the closure valve 1 according to the invention. The individual processes that take place when placed on the closure valve 1 according to the invention, are shown in more detail in Figures 2-9.

The closure valve 1 consists essentially of a central bore 27 which is incorporated in the region of a displaceable housing 28. A lifting cover 26 is connected to a tube 33 according to FIG. 18, which tube is held elastically and sealingly on the housing 28 of the valve 1 via a bellows 34.

In the interior of the tube 33, the line 29 for the compressed air supply to the cylinder 31 is guided, which has a piston rod 32.

The tube 33 has a larger diameter than the cylinder 31 and can therefore be slipped over the cylinder 31 when the piston rod 32 is retracted.

The lifting cover 26 is connected to the piston rod 32 of the cylinder 31 via a linkage 30.

The lifting cover 26 also has a lower and outer seal 35, with which the lifting cover 26 seals against a housing flange 36 of the housing 28.

The barrel connector 38 of the barrel 17 has an upper, circumferential end seal 39. In Figure 18, the barrel connector 38 is shown with its seal 39 in two different positions, namely in the raised and in the lowered position.

In the raised position, the seal 39 'thus lies sealingly against the seal 35 of the lifting cover 26. Here, the sealing surface 37 is formed.

The seal 39 lies in its raised position 39 'on the sealing surface 37 at the same time.

A proximity switch 40 is mounted in the lifting cover 26 and is connected to a corresponding sensor line. This proximity switch is intended to prevent the cylinder 31 from being actuated when no barrel connector 38 is docked in its raised position.

In a further development of the present invention it is provided that in the area radially outside of the seal 35 in the housing flange 36 a groove is provided which can be supplied with a compressed air flow. This groove would then lie sealingly on the barrel connector 38 and serves to check whether the barrel connector 38 lies tight against the housing flange 36. If compressed air escapes from this groove, this is a sign of the leak in the system and the lid lifting system is then locked.

It is important that the entire lifting system, consisting of the cylinder 31, the piston rod 32 and the lifting cover 26, is part of the displaceable housing 28, which is displaceable in a housing 42 perpendicular to the barrel axis 41. The shift takes place in that a guide rod 43 acts on the housing 28 and is covered radially outwards by a bellows 44. On the opposite side there is a similar guide rod 45, which is also covered in the interior of the housing 42 by a bellows 46. The guide rod is displaced from the outside by a pneumatic cylinder, not shown, flanged to the housing 42, the guide rod 43 being part of the piston rod of this cylinder.

It goes without saying that instead of actuation with a pneumatic cylinder, actuation via a Hydraulic cylinder or control via a rack can be done. Electromagnetic motion drives can also be used.

The two guide rods 43, 45 do not necessarily have to be arranged centrally opposite one another, they can also engage the housing 28 in a laterally offset manner.

At the central bore 27 of the housing 42, a connecting piece 47 is connected, which is used for connecting or docking a container, container or sack to be filled or emptied.

The connecting piece 47 is part of the housing 42 and is preferably connected to the housing 42 in a resilient manner via corresponding elastic connections 48. The connecting piece 47 carries a connecting flange 49, which is used for connection with appropriate screws to a container to be filled or emptied. The container is shown in FIG. 2 with reference number 50. A shut-off device 51 is arranged between the connecting piece 47 and the container 50. This shut-off device 51 is not necessary for a solution, but rather only serves to prevent contaminants from entering the closure valve 1 in an undesirable manner on the part of the container 50 to be filled in FIG. So this is a lock system.

With the slide system described, the entire housing 28 is slidably mounted in the direction of arrow 52 and in the opposite direction in the surrounding housing 42 and at the same time it is sealed therein.

In the closed position according to FIG. 18, the housing is 28 not sealed in the housing 42 because the only sealing surfaces in the lower part of the system are formed by the seals 35, 39, provided a barrel 17 is connected.

During the transition from the closed position into the open position, the entire housing 28 is thus moved to the right in the direction of arrow 52, as shown in FIG.

First, in FIG. 17, the barrel 17 is placed on the valve 1 in accordance with the above description, the safety cover 24 having been removed. The lift lid 26 remains in its sealed position, as shown in Figure 18. When the drum 17 is placed in accordance with FIG. 4, the lifting cover 26 is moved downward by actuating the cylinder 31 and moving the piston rod 32 into the cylinder. A vacuum is generated here, a vacuum line being passed through the guide rod 43 and connected to the vacuum connection 53. Vacuum is generated via the opening 54 on the outside of the lift cover 26, so that this vacuum acts on the drum cover 25 and this drum cover adheres to the lift cover 26 of the valve in a sealing manner. This state is shown in Figure 4. Both covers 25, 26 now move into the interior of the housing 28, in order to subsequently guarantee a displacement of the housing 28 into its position 28 ', as shown in FIG. 5.

It is important that the filler pipe 55 is part of the displaceable housing 28 because, as can be seen in the transition from FIG. 4 to FIG. 5, the filler pipe in its position 55 'is now shifted in alignment in the upper connecting piece 47 opposite and thus at the same time in alignment with the barrel socket 38 is moved.

It is therefore important that the slide system with the filling pipe 55 is connected and that when the slide is moved, the filling pipe is inevitably also displaced, thus establishing the flow connection between the barrel 17 to be emptied and the container 50 to be filled. Here, a flow connection is established between the upper connection piece 47 in the housing 42 and a lower outlet opening 66.

As soon as the filler pipe 55 has reached its position 55 'according to FIG. 5, the end seals 56 arranged on the upper and lower end faces are inflated and thus form a seal against the associated inner housing surfaces of the housing 42, so that the filler pipe is hermetically sealed against one another the housing 42 and its interior is completed. This now creates a hermetically sealed flow connection through the housing 42. The shut-off device 51 is then opened according to FIG. 5 and at the same time the locking lever 22 is opened according to FIG. 6, the flap valve 20 releasing the container contents of the barrel 17, which medium flows through the filler neck through the filler pipe 55 'downward through the outlet opening 66 into the to fill container 50 flows.

After the container 50 has been filled, the flap valve 20 is closed, as is the closure member 51 (FIG. 7). The two inflatable seals 56 of the filling tube 55 are vented again and the slide system moves in the direction of arrow 52 'to the left into the starting position, as shown in FIG. 8.

The piston rod 32 is then raised by actuating the cylinder 31 and the drum cover 25 is placed in its starting position on the drum connector 38.

The barrel cover 25 is held frictionally in the region of the barrel connector 38 because it has a radial circumference Has groove in which an O-ring is inserted, which O-ring is frictionally and sealingly on the inside of the barrel connector 38. The barrel cover 25 is thus held in the region of the barrel connector 38 in a non-positive and positive manner and is secured against falling out.

Thus, the barrel 17 can be turned over from its inverted position according to FIG. 9 and placed again upright on the roller conveyor, as this corresponds to the starting position in FIG. 2.

It must also be mentioned that during the transition between FIG. 8 and FIG. 9, the vacuum between the lifting cover 26 and the drum cover 25 is released and this intermediate space is vented in order to ensure that the drum cover 25 is frictionally fitted into the drum connector 38 can and remains there.

A drum 17 is filled in an analogous manner in accordance with FIGS. 10-17. The same positions have been provided with the same reference numerals, the valve 2 working as a filling valve, while the valve 1 described above works as an emptying valve. However, the same movements apply, except that the entire arrangement of valve 1 is rotated by 180 ° compared to valve 2.

As an exemplary embodiment, FIGS. 10-17 show that the content of a conical screw mixer 57 is conveyed into the filler neck 47 via a screw 58 or another means of transport, the displaced air volume being vented via an air compensation line 59, which is closed off by a valve 60 .

There is a drum lifting system 61, to which the filling drum 17 is transported in the direction of the arrow according to FIG. This drum lifting system works with cylinders 62 which control and raise the bottom surface 63 of the lifting system. The barrel 17 is thus pressed onto the underside of the valve 2 and the same processes then occur as have been described with reference to FIGS. 2-9 and 18.

In the present invention, the slide movements of the displaceable housing 28 have only been described in the horizontal direction. The present invention also encompasses other slide movements, namely vertical movements or oblique movements of the displaceable housing 28 in the fixed housing 42.

Instead of the linear displacement of the housing 28 in the fixed housing 42 described here, in a further development of the invention it is provided that the housing 28 can be rotated in the fixed housing and indeed about an eccentric axis, which ensures that when the housing 28 is rotated, the Filling tube 50 reaches the area of the central bore 27 of the housing 42.

Instead of the linear movement of the housing 28, rotary movements of the housing 28 are also claimed.

Instead of lifting the drum lid 25 with the aid of vacuum, it is provided in another embodiment of the invention to mechanically lift this drum lid out of the barrel connector 38, for example with a gripper. It can additionally be provided that the seal 39 and the sealing surface 37 are cleaned with gas or liquid media before the sealing connection is made with the lifting cover. 18 shows a proximity switch 64 which monitors the lifting of the barrel 17 into the position 17 '(arrow direction 65). Drawing legend 1 Transfer lock valve (top) 34 Bellows 2nd Transfer closure valve (below) 35 poetry 3rd Drum lifting system 36 Housing flange 4th Drum emptying 37 Sealing surface 5 Vapor filter 38 Barrel connector 6 Drive unit 39 Seal 39 ' 7 Shut-off valve 40 proximity switch 8th Pharmaceutical screw 41 Barrel axis 9 Vacuum dryer / mixer 42 casing 10th Ball segment valve 43 Guide rod 11 Pressure equalization line 44 bellows 12th control panel 45 Guide rod 13 docked barrel 46 bellows 14 Weighing system 47 Connecting piece 15 Dosing screw 48 connection 16 Barrel filling 49 Connecting flange 17th Barrel 50 container 18th Roller conveyor 51 Shut-off device 19th Drain opening 52 Arrow direction 20th Flap valve 53 Vacuum connection 21 Closure 54 opening 22 Locking lever 55 Filling pipe 23 Tension ring 56 poetry 24th Fuse cover 57 Cone screw mixer 25th Drum lid 58 slug 26 Lift cover 59 Air balance line 27 drilling 60 Valve 28 casing 61 Drum lifting system 29 management 62 cylinder 30th Linkage 63 Floor area 31 cylinder 64 proximity switch 32 Piston rod 65 Arrow direction 33 pipe 66 Outlet opening

Claims (9)

Transfer closure valve for filling and emptying containers of any kind, in particular a drum with a product from another container, consisting of a housing (42) with an upper connecting piece for docking to the drum, which is coaxially opposite a lower connecting piece , wherein at least one slide can be moved in the housing, which moves the sealing elements assigned to the connecting piece in the closed or open position and in the open position of the sealing elements produces a flow connection between the upper and lower connecting pieces, characterized in that the slide as in the housing ( 42) displaceable or rotatable further housing (28) is formed, which has a lifting device (30, 31, 32) for moving a lifting cover (26) onto the barrel connector (38) of a barrel (17) and that with the housing (28) a filling pipe (55) is connected, which in the corresponding displacement or rotation position of the housing uses (42) and creates a flow connection between the upper connecting piece (47) and the lower outlet opening (66) of the housing (42). Valve according to claim 1, characterized in that the lifting device in the housing (28) consists of a cylinder (31), the piston rod (32) of which is connected to the lifting cover (26), which optionally has the outlet opening (66) in the housing (42) closes or opens. Valve according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the slide housing (28) is driven to be linearly displaceable in the housing (42). Valve according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the slide housing (28) is rotatably mounted in the housing (42) and that the lifting device and the filling tube (55) are arranged radially at a distance from the axis of rotation. Valve according to one of claims 1-4, characterized in that a gripper device for gripping the barrel cover (26) is arranged on the lifting cover (26). Valve according to claim 5, characterized in that the gripper device consists of a vacuum system. Valve according to claim 5, characterized in that the gripper device consists of a mechanical gripper. Valve according to one of claims 1-7, characterized in that the filling tube (55) arranged on the slide housing (28) has end-side inflatable seals (56) with which the filling tube (55) seals in the flow position on the inner surfaces of the housing (42) coaxial with the upper connection piece (47) and the lower outlet opening (66). Valve according to one of claims 1-8, characterized in that the lifting cover (26) has a conical, circumferential seal (35) which bears against an associated seal (39) in the region of the barrel connector (38).

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