EP1899258B1 - Device for preventing filled vessels from spilling during conveying of the same - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed is a device for conveying open vessels, especially wide-mouth vessels, which are filled with liquid. In order to be able to transport said open vessels safely and without soiling, an anti-spilling mechanism is provided which prevents the liquid from spilling from the vessels when the same are conveyed.

Description

The invention relates to an apparatus and a method for conveying open, liquid-filled vessels.

When filling vessels with liquid, it is often necessary to openly transport the vessels already filled with liquid. This need arises, for example, in the area between a filling device and a closing device. For reasons of sales psychology, vessels should be filled as completely as possible, since the buyer refuses a partially filled vessel in the belief that it would not contain the complete contents, even if the vessel is oversized and the content exactly matches the target content. However, vessels that are filled to the rim or close to the rim are in danger of spilling over, i. E. Part of the target content is lost and the outside of the vessels and the conveyor is dirty. This risk increases with increasing conveying speed and is particularly serious in vessels with a wide neck, such as glasses or the increasingly in use wide-mouth bottles.

The invention has for its object to provide a device and a method to promote open, liquid-filled vessels easily and at high speed can.

The object is achieved by the device according to claim 1 and the method according to claim 11.

The inventive design bottles with standardized mouths and even wide-mouth vessels can be promoted with a high conveying speed, without the risk that liquid spills over, is lost and pollutes the vessels and facilities.

Conveniently, the anti-sloshing device is arranged at the transition between two conveying directions, where there is the greatest danger of overspinning.

Since it is hardly possible, especially at high conveying speeds, to determine the exact position where spilling takes place, it is expedient to design the antiframing device in such a way that it is effective over a predetermined conveying path. As a result, the anti-sloshing device also acts on the liquid over a longer period of time, so that spilling over is safely avoided.

The anti-slosh device is designed such that it exerts a limiting pressure on a surge developing in the interior of the vessel, which is achieved in a structurally simple manner by the injection of a gas under pressure with the aid of a nozzle which is directed to a location inside the vessel where the development of a surge is expected. This surge expectancy can be determined empirically or calculated from the acceleration, centrifugal and inertial forces.

In any event, since a surge is formed on the inner surface of the vessel near and below the vessel opening, the nozzle is preferably directed to that location.

In order to prevent that by an abrupt termination of the limiting pressure, i. the injection of gas, again an impulse is applied to the liquid, which could lead to a further surge, the injection velocity is preferably reduced from a higher flow rate at the beginning of the injection process to a lower flow rate at the end of the injection process.

To ensure that the anti-slosh device is effective over a predetermined conveying path, the nozzle can be designed as a long-slit nozzle having a predetermined length in the conveying direction. Preferably, the nozzle is arranged stationary. However, it can also be provided via the predetermined conveying path mitführbare nozzle.

The embodiment of the invention is particularly suitable for conveyors with successively connected circular conveyors, where experience often results in the formation of a surge in the area of transfer between the two conveyors by changing the conveying direction. By virtue of the nozzle for injecting gas provided there according to the invention, the transfer of the filled vessels, for example from a filling device or transfer device, to a closing device can take place smoothly and at high speed without fear of spilling over.

The method of preventing spilling is to inject gas under pressure into the interior of the vessel.

Fig. 1

eine schematische Darstellung der Ausbildung eines Schwalls,

Fig. 2

eine schematische Darstellung der Wirkung eines Ausführungsbeispiels der erfindungsgemäßen Ausgestaltung,

Fig. 3

eine Darstellung einer Düsenform, wobei Fig. 3A eine perspektivische Ansicht und Fig. 3B einen Längsschnitt zeigt,

Fig. 4

eine perspektivische Darstellung einer weiteren Düsenform,

Fig. 5

eine schematische Darstellung eines ersten Ausführungsbeispiels einer erfindungsgemäßen Vorrichtung,

Fig. 6

eine schematische Darstellung eines weiteren Ausführungsbeispiels einer erfindungsgemäßen Vorrichtung,

Fig. 7

eine schematische Darstellung eines weiteren Ausführungsbeispiels einer erfindungsgemäßen Vorrichtung.

An embodiment of the invention will be explained in more detail with reference to the drawings. Show it:

Fig. 1

a schematic representation of the formation of a surge,

Fig. 2

a schematic representation of the effect of an embodiment of the embodiment according to the invention,

Fig. 3

an illustration of a nozzle shape, wherein Fig. 3A a perspective view and Fig. 3B shows a longitudinal section,

Fig. 4

a perspective view of another nozzle shape,

Fig. 5

a schematic representation of a first embodiment of a device according to the invention,

Fig. 6

a schematic representation of another embodiment of a device according to the invention,

Fig. 7

a schematic representation of another embodiment of a device according to the invention.

Fig. 1 shows the processes when forming a surge in a vessel 1, which is filled with liquid 2. The vessel 1 is a so-called wide-mouth vessel, ie it contains a neck 1a with an opening 1b which has a diameter d which is greater than the diameter of standardized bottles, such as wine or beer bottles.
Such vessels 1 are used for example for filling with juice or milk, milk mix or yogurt preparations.

Under unfavorable, discontinuous or abrupt conveying movements, as may occur, for example, when changing the conveying direction in a transfer from a conveyor to a second conveyor or a sudden acceleration or a sudden deceleration, formed in the vessel 1, a surge 2a, ie Fluid 2 rises due to inertia on one side of the vessel on the inner surface upwards and falls off on the opposite side. Depending on the strength of the pulse, which causes the surge, a spill occurs, ie a part 2b of the liquid spouts or runs out of the opening 1b of the vessel 1, while the remaining liquid from the surge 2a falls back into the vessel 1, so that after the end of the pulse again a substantially flat liquid level can form.

In order to prevent the liquid 2 from spilling over, a Schwappschutzvorrichtung 3 is used, the effect in Fig. 2 is explained in more detail. With this Schwappschutzeinrichtung 3, it is possible to exert a limiting force on the liquid 2, specifically targeted and locally limited where the formation of a surge 2a is to be expected. Such a surge point 4 can be determined or calculated empirically, and is located, for example, when changing the conveying direction at the point to which the liquid 2 is pressed by the conveying forces of the new conveying direction. Since at least that part 2b of the surge 2a, which is overflowing, was previously located on the inner surface of the vessel 1, it can be assumed that a surge point 4 is most likely to be located on the inner surface of the vessel 1.

To apply a limiting force on the surge 2a, a gas is preferably used under pressure. For this purpose, air or any other suitable, if necessary, sterile and / or inert gas may be used. The gas is directed via a nozzle 5 against the surge point 4 on the inside of the vessel 1, where it holds the formation of a surge 2a at least so far back that spilling is prevented.

Fig. 3 shows an enlarged view of an embodiment of a symmetrical nozzle 5a with a nozzle opening 11 which is arranged symmetrically and in a direct flow direction to a gas supply 12, wherein Fig. 3A a view from below and Fig. 3B a cut through the nozzle opening 11. From the Fig. 3A, 3B is the curvature of the nozzle slot or the nozzle opening 11 can be seen, which is suitable for adaptation to a curved conveying path and / or a curved inner contour of the vessel 1 expedient, but not essential, and it can be seen that the nozzle opening 11 is arranged in that the gas is injected under pressure onto the inner wall in the neck region 1a of the vessel 1 substantially parallel and at a distance from the center line of the neck 1a onto the liquid level in the vessel 1.

The pressure required for blowing is either calculated or determined empirically and is on the order of about 500 Pa.

It has been found that it is expedient to allow the blowing to end slowly, so that by an abrupt termination no additional impulse is exerted on the liquid, which could lead to the formation of another surge. This can be achieved passively by a suitable design of the nozzle 5, through which, for example, the main part of the injected gas leaves the nozzle opening 11 in the vicinity of the gas supply, while the blow-off speed decreases with increasing distance to the gas supply 12, as for example in the nozzle 5b Fig. 4 the case is. The nozzle 5b differs from the nozzle 5a by an asymmetric configuration. In particular, the pressurized gas supply port 12 is located at the beginning of and across the nozzle orifice 11, while the volume of the nozzle orifice decreases as the distance to the inlet orifice 12 increases. The configuration of the nozzle opening 11 corresponds to that of the nozzle 5a.

Another possibility is widening the nozzle opening 11 in the transport direction of the vessels 1 in a wedge shape. As a result, the blowing speed is increasingly reduced at the same pressure.

However, it is also possible to actively control the pressure so that it decreases during the passage of a vessel 1 under the nozzle opening 11. This pressure control is particularly suitable for anti-slosh devices, in which only one vessel is located under the nozzle 5 at a time.

Fig. 5 shows the application of the inventive principle to a first embodiment of a device according to the invention 6. The device 6 includes a first conveyor 7 shown only schematically, which is designed here as a circular conveyor and a plurality of unillustrated brackets for each vessel 1 contains. The vessels 1 are moved by the first conveyor 7 in a conveying direction F ₁ in a circular path about a center of rotation of the conveyor 7, not shown. Furthermore, a second conveyor 8 is provided, onto which the vessels ₁ arriving in the conveying direction F ₁ are transferred and subsequently conveyed further in a conveying direction F ₂ on a circular path around a center of rotation 9 of the second conveyor 8. The transfer is carried out by a transfer device 10, which in the schematic representation of Fig. 5 only indicated by the transfer point. The transfer device 10 is located at the point at which the conveyor 7 and 8 have the smallest distance from each other and causes a change in direction of the conveying direction F of a first circular path F1 in a second circular path F2, ie an S-shaped Conveying curve for the vessels 1 with a sign change of the centripetal acceleration. The transfer device 10 is z. B. formed by stationary guide rails for the vessels.

As Fig. 5 shows, formed by the conveying movement on the first conveyor 7, a surge, which rises on the axis of rotation of the conveyor 7 facing away from the inner surface of the vessel 1 upwards. This surge will also form on the conveyor 8, but on the opposite inside of the vessel 1. By the movement of the liquid from one inside to the other inside there is a risk of over-sloshing, which is prevented by the Schwappschutzeinrichtung 3 according to the invention. The Schwappschutzeinrichtung 3 includes the nozzle 5a, which is arranged stationary in the illustrated embodiment and designed as Langschlitzdüse. Preferably, the nozzle opening is curved about the axis of rotation 9 of the second conveyor 8. The nozzle 5a is associated with the transfer device 10 and is provided in particular immediately after the transfer point on the second conveyor 8. The nozzle opening 11 of the nozzle 5a extends beyond a predetermined conveying path A in the conveying direction F2 of the second conveyor 8 behind the transfer device 10 or transfer point. In this case, the nozzle opening 11 is directed through the opening 1b of the vessels 1 on and on that inner wall which is turned away during conveying by the second conveyor 8 of the rotation axis 9, that points outward. This ensures that, on the one hand gas under pressure is blown long enough at the surge point 4 on the liquid surface of the developing surge, that spilling is reliably prevented, and on the other hand ensures that, in any case, can be blown onto the surface of the developing surge, even if the surge development is delayed, for example, by a slight inclination of the vessel 1 or by other irregularities in the operation. The conveyor line A, over which can be blown, preferably extends over 10 to 15 degrees, and in particular about 13 degrees, but depending on the specific circumstances, ie the nature and properties of the liquid, the filling state of the vessel, the conveying speed the nature of the transfer, the size of the vessel opening or the shape of the vessel or the like. Be varied.

Fig. 6 shows a further embodiment of an inventively designed device 26, which except for the details of the device 6 according to described below Fig. 5 corresponds, wherein the same or comparable components are identified by the same reference numerals and will not be explained again. The device 26, however, includes a differently designed anti-slosh device 30.

The device 26 includes in the illustrated embodiment for each of the conveyor 7 and 8 each have a Schwappschutzeinrichtung 30a and 30b, which are identical except for the adaptation to the different conveyor 7 and 8. The anti-slosh device 30 in each case contains a nozzle 5c for each vessel 1, which is transported on the respective conveyor 7, 8. The nozzle 5c moves together with its associated vessel 1 at the same speed over the same conveying path as the associated vessel 1. The nozzle 5c also has a curved nozzle opening 11 'which extends over a predetermined length A' in the conveying direction, which is adapted substantially to the inner width of the container opening 1 b, so that compressed gas is blown only into the opening 1 b and not on the outside of the vessel 1. The nozzle opening 11 'is directed at and parallel to the inner wall of the vessel 1 to a surge point 4, which is the side facing away from the respective axis of rotation on the inner surface of the vessel 1 for both circular conveyors 7, 8. Each of the nozzles 5c is connected in each case via a supply line 12 for the compressed gas with a gas distributor 13, which is preferably located at the respective axis of rotation of the conveyor 7, 8. The gas distributor 13 ensures that each nozzle 5c is supplied with compressed gas via a predetermined conveying path A.

The predetermined conveyor line A extends in the case of Schwappschutzeinrichtung 30b on the second conveyor 8 via substantially the same conveying path behind the transfer device 10 as in accordance with the device 6 according to Fig. 5 has been described. The gas distributor 13 on the second conveyor 8 further ensures that the injection pressure, ie the pressure exerted on the liquid level, decreases from a high value in the vicinity of the transfer device 10 to a lower value at the end of the delivery line A.

The anti-slosh device 30a of the first conveyor 7 of the device 26 can be used to increase the speed of the conveyor 7 without the liquid spilling over. For this purpose, the gas distributor 13 ensures that the nozzle 5c of the anti-slosh device 30a over the entire conveying path the associated vessel 1 on the first conveyor 7 blows. In this way, the rising of the liquid on the inner wall of the vessel 1 on the conveyor 7 is counteracted, which is caused by the centrifugal forces on the conveyor 7.

The following table shows an example of an active control of the blowing pressure over the required conveying distance A when passing a vessel according to FIG Fig. 2 from a transfer star (pitch circle 1080mm) to a capper (pitch 1080mm) for a plant capacity of 55000Fl / h, a filling height of 22.8 mm, 1666 U / h (166.6 ° / sec), with the nozzle 5a. print begin The End Time [sec.] Angle [°] 500Pa 0,255sec 0,305sec = 0.05 8.33 ° 300Pa 0,305sec 0,315sec = 0.01 1.66 ° 150Pa 0,316sec 0,325sec = 0.01 1.66 ° 50 Pa 0,326sec 0,335sec = 0.01 1.66 ° Total distance A = 13.31 °

As can be seen, the pressure at the nozzle outlet was gradually reduced to 0Pa after 0.05 sec, whereby the increase of the liquid at the end of the blowing can be further reduced with an even slower reduction.

The device 36 after FIG. 7 differs from the device 6 after FIG. 5 essentially in that here an asymmetrical nozzle 5d with a nozzle opening 11 of constant width is used. The gas supply 12 is at the end pointing in the conveying direction F2 end of the nozzle 5d connected laterally. This results in cooperation with the counter to the conveying direction F2 tapered height of the nozzle 5d in the region B of the nozzle opening 11, which is adjacent to the gas supply 12, a gradual reduction of the flow velocity of the outflowing gas. This leads to a corresponding reduction of the pressure exerted by the inflowing gas on the liquid in which the nozzle 5d in the conveying direction F2 passing vessel 1.

In a modification of the described and illustrated embodiments, the invention can also be used in rectilinear conveyors or in a combination of circular and rectilinear conveyors. The anti-slosh device according to the invention can also be used to increase the approach speed or to reduce the deceleration time, wherein the sloshing of the liquid according to the invention prevents spilling of the liquid at increased acceleration or during heavy braking. The entrainable nozzle does not necessarily have to be carried along the entire conveyor line; it is sufficient if the nozzle is carried along as long as a blowing of the liquid level is required.

Claims (11)

1. Device (6, 26, 36) for conveying open vessels (1) filled with liquid, in particular wide-neck vessels, comprising a conveying device (7, 8) for the vessels (1) and a slosh protector (3, 30) to prevent the liquid from spilling out of the vessels (1) during conveying, characterised in that
   the slosh protector (3, 30) contains at least one nozzle (5, 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d) for blowing a pressurised gas into the interior of the vessel (1) and which is directed toward an anticipated surge point (4).
2. Device according to claim 1, characterised in that the slosh protector (3, 30) is arranged at a transition region (10) between a first conveying direction and a second conveying direction.
3. Device according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the slosh protector (3, 30) is effective over a predetermined conveyor section (A).
4. Device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the nozzle (5, 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d) is directed toward an inner surface of the vessel (1) in the vicinity of and below the vessel opening (1 b).
5. Device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the blow-in pressure is reduced from a higher initial pressure to a lower end pressure.
6. Device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the nozzle (5, 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d) is a long-slot nozzle with a predetermined length in the conveying direction.
7. Device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the nozzle (5a, 5b, 5d) is stationarily arranged.
8. Device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the nozzle (5c) can be taken along over a predetermined conveyor section (A).
9. Device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the conveying device contains a first circular conveyor (7) for conveying the vessels (1) in a first conveying direction and a second circular conveyor (8), driven so as to rotate about an axis of rotation (9), for conveying the vessels (1) in a second conveying direction, and in that a transfer device (10) is provided for transferring the vessels (1) from the first circular conveyor to the second circular conveyor (7, 8), wherein the slosh protector (3, 30b) is associated with the transfer point, is effective over a predetermined conveyor section (A) in the second conveying direction and contains a nozzle (5, 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d) for blowing gas into the vessel (1) and which is directed toward an inner wall of the vessel (1) that faces away from the axis of rotation (9) of the second circular conveyor (8).
10. Method for conveying open vessels (1) filled with liquid, in particular wide-neck vessels, wherein pressurised gas is blown onto an anticipated surge point (4) in the interior of the vessel (1) to prevent the liquid from spilling out during conveying.
11. Method according to claim 10, characterised in that the blow-in speed is reduced from a higher flow speed at the start of the blow-in process to a lower flow speed at the end of the blow-in process.

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