JPH08324692A - Liquid quantitative filling method - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Object] To provide a liquid quantitative filling method capable of always filling a fixed amount of liquid accurately without waste, without being affected by changes in the physical properties of the liquid or the filling environment. According to this liquid constant flow rate filling method, the outlet 22F of the liquid L is connected to the mouth portion 3 of the container 30 with the filling valve 22 closed.
After adjusting to 1, the control signal S1 for starting the filling of the control device 24
Gradually open the filling valve 22 based on the
The flow rate of the liquid L that has begun to flow out from the second outlet 22F is measured by the flow meter 23, and the filling valve 22 is fully opened when the predetermined filling amount is reached, and after that state, as the target filling amount is approached. The filling valve 22 is gradually closed as a result, and when the filling amount reaches the target value, the filling valve 22 is closed based on the filling end control signal S1.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a liquid quantitative filling method used for filling a container with a liquid such as shampoo and rinse.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional liquid filling method for repeatedly filling a fixed amount of liquid in a container, for example, a metering and filling method (piston method), a weight measuring method (weight filler method), and a metering and filling method using a flow meter. The method etc. are known. Among the conventional liquid filling methods described above, the measuring and filling method is described in, for example, JP-A-56-151695.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-191193 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-2
Various metering and filling methods have been proposed in Japanese Patent No. 23627.

According to the liquid constant flow rate filling method described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 56-151695, at the time of filling, first, FIG.
As shown by the broken lines in (a) and (b), the filling valve is fully opened to fill the liquid with a large flow rate, and at the start of filling, the flow meter operates to measure the flow rate and the flow rate reaches a constant flow rate. Then, the filling valve is opened halfway to fill the liquid at a small flow rate, and the filling valve is closed when the set flow rate is reached.

Further, the filling method described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-191193 predicts the amount of liquid flowing out during closing of the filling valve, and outputs a closing signal of the filling valve before the flow rate of the flow meter reaches a fixed amount. This is the method of output. Then, as a method of predicting the outflowing liquid amount during closing, the outflowing amount of the liquid to be filled next is obtained by calculation processing based on the difference between the liquid outflowing amounts at the time of filling before and after, and the predicted value is calculated for the next filling. I use it sometimes. Therefore, this filling method is a filling method by feedback control.

Further, the quantitative distribution method described in JP-A-5-223627 compares the weight injected into the container with the reference weight to be filled, and injects the liquid based on the difference. .

[0006]

However, in the case of the liquid constant flow rate filling method described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 56-151695, the filling valve is fully opened from the beginning of filling, so that the liquid in the container is Bubbles were easy to form and there was a risk that bubbles would overflow when the container was full. Further, this method has a problem that when the filling valve is switched from a large flow rate to a small flow rate, a part of the liquid is not poured into the container and overflows. Further, as shown in (c) of FIG. 1, the liquid flows out during the operation of closing the filling valve from a small flow rate, and the amount of the flowing out liquid (the hatched portion in the figure) becomes overfilled. There was a problem of causing variations. There is a problem that the smaller the small flow rate is to reduce the excessive filling amount, the longer the entire filling time for filling the liquid in the container becomes.

Further, the filling method described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-191193 is effective in the case of a filling device configured as a series such as a filling tank, a flow meter, and a filling valve. However, in the case of a filling device in which a flow meter and a filling valve are provided in n series for one filling tank,
Since the filling is performed for the series (n-1) after the filling with the second flow meter and the filling valve is completed and before the filling with the flow meter of the series is performed again, the physical properties of the liquid and the filling environment However, if there is a sharp change such as a decrease in the viscosity of the liquid or a change in pressure, there is a problem that the initially predicted value may not be useful and accurate filling cannot be performed.

Further, in the case of the quantitative distribution method described in JP-A-5-223627, since the weight is measured for each container, it is not necessary to measure the tare weight of the container or the like for each measurement. There was a problem that should not be.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a liquid quantitative filling method capable of always filling a fixed amount of liquid without waste and accurately and at high speed without being affected by disturbance changes such as physical properties of the liquid and filling environment. To provide.

The inventors of the present invention have made various investigations on the bubbling at the start of filling, the liquid overflowing from the mouth of the container when switching the flow rate, and the overfilling at the end of filling in the conventional liquid filling method. I found out that. That is,
With regard to the above, it was found that since the valve was fully opened from the beginning of filling, the flow rate suddenly increased and flowed vigorously into the container, and agitation at that time caused foaming. For, when switching from a large flow rate to a small flow rate, the valve piston moves rapidly, so that a large pressure is instantaneously applied to the liquid from the filling valve, the liquid column swells greatly at the outlet, and the bulge is It was found that the liquid became larger than the part and part of the liquid was not poured into the container and overflowed. As for (1), when the filling valve is closed from a small flow rate as shown in (c) of FIG. 1, the liquid flows out from the filling valve within the response time from the transmission of the fully closing command signal to the closing of the valve. I knew that.

[0011]

The present invention has been made based on the above findings, and is a liquid flow rate filling method for filling liquid with a specific opening / closing operation of a filling valve. That is, the present invention is a liquid quantitative filling method in which the filling amount of liquid in a container is controlled by a flow meter and a filling valve, and after filling the liquid outlet with the mouth of the container with the filling valve closed, filling is performed. Gradually open the filling valve based on the start signal, measure the flow rate of the liquid that started to flow from the outlet of the filling valve with a flow meter, and fully open the filling valve when the prescribed filling amount is reached, After that, the liquid filling method is characterized in that the filling valve is gradually closed as the target filling amount is approached, and when the filling amount reaches a target value, the filling valve is closed based on a signal indicating the end of filling. By doing so, the above-mentioned object is achieved.

[0012]

According to the present invention, when the container is filled with the liquid,
After aligning the outlet of the liquid with the mouth of the container with the filling valve closed, the filling valve is gradually opened based on the signal to start filling, whereby the liquid starts to flow out from the outlet of the filling valve. The flow rate of the liquid is measured with a flow meter,
At this stage, the amount of the liquid flowing out is small, so that the liquid can be gently filled without bubbling the liquid in the container.
After that, when the filling valve is fully opened when the liquid reaches the predetermined filling amount, the liquid is filled in a short time, but after that state, the filling valve is gradually opened as the filling amount approaches the target filling amount. When the filling amount reaches the target value, the filling valve is closed based on the signal indicating the end of filling. Since the flow rate of the liquid is small when the filling valve is closed in this way, it is possible to reduce the excess filling amount that flows out after the filling valve is closed.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below based on the embodiments shown in FIGS. In each of the drawings, FIG. 1 is a graph showing the flow rate and the change in the filling amount when the liquid is filled according to an embodiment of the liquid quantitative filling method of the present invention. FIG. 1A shows the filling flow rate and the filling time. 2 is a graph showing the relationship between the filling amount and the filling time, FIG. 2 (c) is an enlarged graph showing the circled portion of FIG. 2 (a), and FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing an example of a liquid filling device used in the method of the present embodiment, and FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view showing a filling valve of the liquid filling device shown in FIG.

Before describing the liquid quantitative filling method of the present invention, an example of the liquid filling apparatus used in the liquid quantitative filling method of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. As shown in FIG. 2, the present liquid filling device includes a pressure tank 10 for storing a filling liquid such as shampoo and rinse.
And a filling mechanism 20 arranged in n series around the pressure tank 10. In FIG. 2, only one series of the filling mechanism 20 is shown, and other parts are omitted. This filling mechanism 20 is provided with a pipe 21 as shown in FIG.
A linearly driven filling valve 22 connected to the pressure tank 10 via a flow meter, a flow meter 23 attached to a pipe 21 connecting the filling valve 22 and the pressure tank 10, and a signal from the flow meter 23. A control device 24 for driving and controlling the filling valve 22 based on the above is provided, and the filling valve 22 is opened and closed according to the sequence of the program registered in advance in the control device 24 to fill the liquid in the container 30.

The flow meter 23 converts the flow rate of the liquid flowing through the pipe 21 into pulses and expresses the current flow rate by the number of pulses. Then, the flow meter 23 transmits a pulse signal corresponding to the flow rate to the control device 24. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 40 denotes an air pipe, which maintains a constant pressure in the pressure tank 10 through the air pipe 40.
The liquid L in the pressure tank 10 is supplied by the pressure.

Further, the control device 24 has a structure shown in FIG.
A program showing the relationship between the filling time and the flow rate indicated by the solid line is registered in advance, and the filling valve 22 is drive-controlled in accordance with the flow rate measured by the flow meter 23.

The filling valve 22 will be described in more detail. As shown in FIG. 3, the filling valve 22 includes a linear drive motor 22A, a piston 22B whose upper end is connected to the linear drive motor 22A, and a piston 22B.
A valve 22C is provided at the lower end of the piston 22B, and the piston 22B is moved up and down by a linear drive motor 22A that is driven according to a sequence of programs registered in advance in the controller 24. The piston 22B is housed in the casing 22D, and the lower end portion of the piston 22B is located in the casing 22D.
It is housed in the nozzle 22E attached to the lower end of D, and the outlet 22F of the nozzle 22E is opened and closed by the valve 22C by the vertical movement of the piston 22B.
The pipe 21 is connected to the peripheral surface of the nozzle 22E. In FIG. 3, 22G is a casing 22D.
It is a seal member that maintains liquid tightness between the nozzle 22E and the nozzle 22E.

Next, the liquid quantitative filling method of this embodiment using the above liquid filling device will be described with reference to FIG. It should be noted that each of the n-series filling mechanisms 2 is provided around the pressure tank 10.
With respect to 0, the liquid can be filled by the following operation.

When the liquid is filled into the container 30 by the liquid quantitative filling method of this embodiment, first, when the valve 22C of the filling valve 22 is closed (t ₀ ), the outlet of the nozzle 22E is opened. The mouth portion 31 of the container 30 is aligned with 22F. After that, when a control signal S1 for starting the filling is transmitted from the control device 24 to the linear drive motor 22A, the motor 22A is driven from that moment, the piston 22B is raised, and the valve 22C gradually starts to open. As a result, the pressure tank 10
Liquid L of the container 30 through the pipe 21 and the filling valve 22
It begins to be supplied inside.

Then, the flow meter 23 starts measuring the flow rate of the liquid L in the pipe 21, and the pulse signal S2 corresponding to the measured flow rate is transmitted to the control device 24. And the flow meter 23
Keeps transmitting the pulse signal S2 from time to time to the controller 24 while the liquid L is being filled. When the control device 24 transmits the control signal S1 based on the pulse signal S2 to the linear drive motor 22A according to the registration program, the piston 2
The valve 22C rises via 2B, the outlet 22F is gradually opened, and the liquid L from the pressure tank 10 is filled into the container 30.

At this time, since the opening of the outlet 22F of the nozzle 22E is small, the flow rate is small, and the liquid column does not swell than the diameter of the outlet 22F, and a thin liquid column (a little thinner than the diameter of the outlet 22F) is used. The liquid L can reach the bottom of the container 30 while keeping the outlet 22F and the bottom of the container 30 connected by the liquid column, and the liquid L can be smoothly filled into the container 30 without bubbling. At this time, since the opening degree of the outlet 22F gradually increases, the filling flow rate gradually increases as shown by the line in FIG.

Then, for example, as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, when a predetermined amount of the liquid L is accumulated in the container 30 (t ₁ second), the pulse signal S2 from the flow meter 23 at that time is obtained. A control signal S1 based on
To the linear drive motor 22A to issue a full open command for the valve 22C. Then, the valve 22C has a filling time (t
_From the opening at the time of ₁ second), fully open the outlet 22F all at once,
As shown by the line in FIG. 1 (a), the flow rate suddenly increases and reaches the fully open flow rate at the time of the filling time (t ₂ seconds). Even when the flow rate of the liquid L is rapidly increased in this way, a liquid column is already formed between the outlet 22F and the bottom of the container 30 unlike when the filling is started, and the liquid L is filled according to the liquid column without swelling. The liquid L does not overflow from the mouth 31. Then, in this fully opened state (the state of the line in FIG. 1A), the liquid L
Keep filling.

The liquid L is continuously filled and the target filling amount (see FIG.
When it approaches (shown by the broken line in (b)) (FIG. 1 in this embodiment).
When the filling time becomes t ₃ seconds in the graph of (a)), the control device 2 based on the pulse signal S2 from the flow meter 23 at that time
4 to the linear drive motor 22A, and the filling valve 22 is closed in two steps. That is, when the target filling amount is approached, the control signal S1 is transmitted from the control device 24 to the linear drive motor 22A as the first step to cause the valve 22C to control the opening of the outlet 22F to a certain degree, for example, the valve 22C.
Is suddenly squeezed to the opening just before it is fully opened, and the flow rate of the liquid L is sharply reduced as shown by the line in FIG.

Thereafter, in the second stage, as shown by the line in FIG. 1A, the valve 22C is gradually closed to gradually decrease the flow rate, and when the target filling amount is reached, the controller 24 causes the linear drive motor to move. 22A, a control signal S1 of a fully closed command is transmitted, the valve 22C closes the outlet 22F, and the liquid L
To complete the filling. However, there is a slight response time from the time when the control device 24 transmits the fully closed command signal at the end of filling to the time when the valve 22C is fully closed, and during this time, the liquid L is filled in the container 30. Become. However, in this embodiment, when the fully closed command signal is received, the nozzle 22C descends to a state close to fully closed and the outlet 22F is throttled. Therefore, as shown in FIG. Compared with the conventional method, it can be significantly reduced and can be almost ignored.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, after the outlet 22F for the liquid L is aligned with the mouth 31 of the container 30 with the filling valve 22 closed, the control signal for starting the filling of the controller 24. The filling valve 22 is gradually opened based on S1, the flow rate of the liquid L that has started to flow out from the outlet 22F of the filling valve 22 is measured by the flow meter 23, and when the predetermined filling amount is reached, the filling valve 22 is fully opened. And after that state,
The filling valve 22 is gradually closed as the target filling amount is approached, and when the filling amount reaches the target value, a filling end control signal.
By closing the filling valve 22 based on S1, it is possible to always fill a fixed amount of liquid L accurately and at high speed without being affected by changes in the physical properties of the liquid L and disturbance changes such as the filling environment.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and is included in the present invention as long as it does not violate the gist of the present invention.

[0027]

According to the liquid quantitative filling method of the present invention, a fixed amount of liquid can always be filled accurately and at high speed without being affected by disturbance changes such as physical properties of the liquid and filling environment. .

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a graph showing changes in flow rate and filling amount when a liquid is filled according to an embodiment of a liquid quantitative filling method of the present invention, and FIG. 1 (a) shows the relationship between the filling flow rate and the filling time. A graph, the same figure (b) is a graph which shows the relationship between a filling amount and a filling time, and the same figure (c) is a graph which expands and shows the part enclosed by the circle of the same figure (a).

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing an example of a liquid filling device used in the method of the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view showing a filling valve of the liquid filling device shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 20 Filling Mechanism 22 Filling Valve 22C Valve 22F Outlet 23 Flowmeter 24 Controller 30 Container 31 Mouth S1 Control Signal

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A liquid quantitative filling method in which the filling amount of a liquid in a container is controlled by a flow meter and a filling valve, after the liquid outlet is aligned with the mouth of the container with the filling valve closed, filling is started. Gradually open the filling valve based on the signal of, and measure the flow rate of the liquid that started to flow out from the outlet of the filling valve with a flow meter, fully open the filling valve when the prescribed filling amount is reached, and Thereafter, the filling valve is gradually closed as the target filling amount is approached, and when the filling amount reaches a target value, the filling valve is closed based on a signal indicating the end of filling, which is a liquid quantitative filling method.