MX2011012615A - Pressurized capping apparatus. - Google Patents

Abstract

Apparatus (10) for pressurizing the headspace of a filled plastic bottle (12) while applying a cap (14) includes a sealing ring (24) having a surface for engaging a support ring (28), or other surface of known dimension, of the plastic bottle (12), clamping apparatus (32) for moving the sealing ring (24), a chuck (48) for holding the cap (14) in a position to engage a finish of the plastic bottle (12), a pressure chamber (36) surrounding the chuck (48) having a sealing surface (42) for contacting the sealing ring (24), a source of pressure (60) coupled to the pressure chamber (36) for introducing a volume of gas or vapor at super-atmospheric pressure into the chamber (36), and a motor (54) for rotating the chuck (48) and cap (14) within the pressure chamber (36) while the chamber is subjected to the gas or vapor at super-atmospheric pressure to seal the gas or vapor within the headspace of the filled plastic bottle (12) with the cap (14).

Description

PRESSURIZED PLUGGING APPARATUS Cross Reference to the Related Request The present application relates to and claims all of the available benefit of US Provisional Application 61 / 261,972 filed on November 17, 2009.

Field of the Invention The present description is directed to the apparatus for covering plastic bottles, and particularly to the apparatus for covering the hot filled plastic bottles having a threaded end suitable for receiving an internally threaded cover. The present disclosure is further directed to such an apparatus that would be used to apply an internally threaded cap to a plastic bottle having a molded end that includes a support ring located below the threaded portion of the end.

Background of the Invention In a conventional hot-fill process using plastic bottles, a hot beverage type product is introduced into a plastic bottle, which commonly fills most of the bottle. The fluid is heated during a pasteurization or sterilization process to remove bacteria or other contamination, or immediately before or after the product is introduced into the plastic bottle. The plastic bottle is then sealed tightly with a lid while the product is still hot. After capping, the temperature of the liquid is allowed to cool from a high temperature of about 185 ° F (85 ° C), the common hot fill temperature, to about 40 ° F (4 ° C), the common refrigeration temperature . The change in temperature, from hot to cold, decreases the internal pressure of the sealed bottle and can create a sub-atmospheric pressure or a partial vacuum inside the bottle mainly as a result of the thermal contraction of the liquid in the bottle. If the bottle can not structurally support the pressure difference between the external ambient pressure and the lower internal pressure inside the bottle, the decrease in internal pressure can cause the geometry of the bottle to twist and / or deform.

Current bottles are generally designed to be compressed in specific locations with vacuum panels and / or flexible bases to compensate for the decrease in internal pressure. These vacuum reactive mechanisms are very efficient to maintain a balanced pressure and preserve the remaining structural geometry of the bottle despite compression. Vacuum panels, however, are occasionally difficult to mold. In addition, labeling the bottle is difficult because bottles using high and / or hollowed-out vacuum panels often have a reduced surface area convenient for receiving a label. The reduction of the convenient surface area also restricts the ornamental design of the label, restricts the placement of the label, and frequently leads to the unattractive fold of the label. Therefore, there is a desire to use bottles that avoid the use of any vacuum reactive surface characteristic in the hot filling process so that the labeling process and the final product can be more satisfactory for the bottler and the public consumer.

The bottles that avoid the use of any surface characteristic reactive to the vacuum can be used in the process of hot filling by conveniently pressurizing the free space of the filled bottle before applying and sealing any closure or lid. By suitably pressurizing the free space before applying and sealing any closure, the pressure inside the bottle will still be sufficient to avoid any distortion or deformation of the bottle during and after the cooling of the bottle and so that its content of the filling temperature in hot common decreases to the common refrigerated temperature. Therefore, there is a need for convenient equipment to pressurize the free space of the filled bottle before applying any closure that requires only a minimum of change to the filling line currently used in hot filling operations. There is also a need for such equipment to be used in a variety of styles of plastic bottles, and that can operate at or near the current speed of the filling line currently used in hot fill operations.

Brief Description of the Invention An apparatus that addresses these needs may include a sealing ring having a first surface for coupling a surface of the known dimension immediately below the lid coupling portion of a plastic bottle. A particularly convenient surface is presented by the support ring which is commonly present in the lower part of the end and on the blow molded portions of the bottle. The apparatus may also include a locking mechanism for moving the sealing ring from a position spaced from the surface of known dimension to a coupling position of the surface of known dimension. A mandrel can also be provided to hold a lid in a position to attach an end to the plastic bottle. A pressure chamber may surround the mandrel and may have a sealing surface to contact a second surface of the sealing ring. The sealing surface of the mandrel can be in sliding contact with the second surface of the sealing ring. A pressure source can be coupled to the pressure chamber to introduce a volume of gas or vapor to the super-atmospheric pressure in the chamber, preferably only when the sealing surface of the pressure chamber is in contact with the sealing ring and the sealing ring couples the surface of known dimension. The coupling between the first surface of the sealing ring and the surface of known dimension only needs to be sufficient to allow the accumulation of the pressure inside the chamber and the free space of the plastic bottle at a desired level. The apparatus can also be provided to rotate the mandrel inside the pressure chamber while the chamber is subjected to gas or steam at super-atmospheric pressure to seal the gas or vapor into the free space of the hot-filled plastic bottle. with the lid at high load pressure.

A feature of this apparatus is the ability to select the super-atmospheric pressure at which a given bottle is charged. Occasionally the charging pressure can be selected such that during cooling to the refrigeration temperature, the pressure inside the bottle is approximately the same as the normal atmospheric pressure so that removal of the bottle cap does not result in a large release of gas. In other circumstances, it may be desirable to select the charging pressure such that during cooling to room temperature the pressure inside the bottle is sufficiently above normal atmospheric pressure while helping to internally support the bottle under top loading which may occur in normal shipping of the piles of filled bottles. An internal pressure after the common cooling for such hot filled beverages is between approximately 2 psi (0.13 bar) and 5 psi (0.34 bar), but higher or lower pressures may be used as desired. This ability to select the loading pressure has the advantage of allowing the use of a filling and capping line given in the bottles that have a wide variety of sizes, shapes and volumes.

Another feature of this device is the ability to use the same capping equipment in a wide variety of plastic bottles. In some cases, the apparatus may need to be modified by a replacement of a convenient size lid holding mandrel to accommodate ends of different sizes. Generally, plastic bottles are molded with one of only a few selected standard end sizes. The support ring associated with each of several standard end sizes is also absolutely uniform as is the outer surface of the end on the support ring and below the bottle top coupling characteristics. A small portion of the bottle immediately below the support ring, which is not altered in dimension by the blow molding process, can also constitute a surface of known dimension. The most popular end sizes currently used include 28mm and 38mm, but other standard end sizes that can be used with this device range from 18mm to 132mm. These standard end sizes are used in a wide variety of bottles that have different heights and volumes. Thus, capping equipment of a given end size can be used in a wide variety of bottles, thus giving the bottler significant flexibility to adapt a specific filling and capping line to handle a wide range of bottles having a size of common extreme. The change from one bottle size to another bottle size can advantageously be performed without any modification of such a given apparatus as long as the end size remains unchanged, and the end includes a corresponding standard sized support ring in a lower edge of the end.

Another feature of the present apparatus is the ability to charge the free space of the bottle with a selected gas or vapor to be compatible with the liquid inside the bottle. The gas or vapor can also be selected to resist any substantial transmission of the free space gas through the barrier presented by the plastic bottle by itself. Compressed air and nitrogen are desirable to minimize this bottle barrier transmission of free space gas after application of the lid. Nitrogen has the additional desirable property of low reactivity with most beverages that are likely to be bottled in this way. For carbonated beverages, C02 may be the gas of choice.

Other features of the present apparatus and the corresponding advantages of such features will become apparent from the following discussion of the preferred embodiments of the present bottle, which exemplify the best mode of practice, which is illustrated in the appended drawings. The components in the figures are not necessarily to scale, in fact the emphasis is on the illustration of the principles of the characteristics. On the other hand, in the figures, similar reference numbers indicate the corresponding parts through the different views.

Brief Description of the Drawings Figure 1 is a schematic illustration of an apparatus for pressurizing the free space of a filled bottle before or during the application of a lid.

Figure 2 is a partial sectional detail of a portion of the apparatus shown in Figure 1.

Figures 3a-3d are a schematic illustration of the method used by the present apparatus.

Detailed description of the invention An apparatus 10 for pressurizing the free space of a previously filled bottle 12 and applying any cover 14 to an end portion 11 of the bottle, is shown in Figure 1. The apparatus 10 may include a first support 16 for the bottle 12. The first support 16 is illustrated as a platform 18 that comes into contact with a base 20 of the bottle. The first support 16 does not need to have the physical appearance shown in Figure 1, and can be formed by any element of a filling line supporting the bottle 12 relative to a lid application apparatus 22. The first support 16 can, for example, take the form of the drive belt or other bottle transport mechanism that supplies a continuous series of such bottles 12 to a filling and capping machine incorporating an apparatus 10.

The apparatus 10 can also include a ring 24 that can be divided into at least two parts 24a and 24b, the parts being movable towards and away from a surface of known dimension in the bottle 12. Each of the parts of the ring 24 can include a first surface 26 in an inner portion of the ring 24, shown in Figure 2, which is opposite the surface of known dimension, for example, a support ring 28, which is a feature injection molded at the lower edge of the end portion 11 of the bottle 12 which is not dimensionally altered during the blow molding of the lower portions of the bottle 12. The movement of the portions of the ring 24 away from the support ring 28 may be sufficient to allow removal insertion of the bottle 12 by the first support 16. The movement of the parts of the ring 24 towards the support ring 28 may be sufficient to couple the first surface 26 onto the support ring 28 of the bottle 12. The first surface 26 of the parts of the ring 24 may include a more or less adaptable element 30 which may include a groove 31 which it can be sealed against the support ring 28 of the bottle 12 to assist in the development of the desired pressure to pressurize the free space of a previously filled bottle 12 as described herein. The parts of the ring 24 can be coupled to a fixing apparatus 32 which causes the movement of the parts of the ring 24 to move away and towards the support ring 28. The fixing apparatus 32 can take the form of the piston and cylinder mechanism pneumatic or hydraulic, an electrically driven solenoid, a pair of followers coupled into a bidirectional threaded screw powered by power, or other convenient mechanism. As previously indicated, another surface of known dimension that is not altered during the blow molding of the bottle 12 can be replaced for the support ring 28.

The movement of the bottle 12 by a bottle transport mechanism, which may include a supply of a continuous series of such bottles 12, may include a mechanism 34 for transporting each bottle 12 vertically relative to the ring 24. The vertical transport mechanism 34 may take the form of a piston and pneumatic or hydraulic cylinder mechanism, electrically operated solenoid, one or more followers engaged in a track that includes a ramp or slope, or other convenient mechanism. The vertical transport mechanism 34 can be calibrated or controlled such that the position of the support ring 28, or another surface of known dimension in the bottle 12, is conveniently placed for the correct coupling by several parts of the ring 24 before an operation of covered. After completing a capping operation, the vertical transport mechanism 34 can return the bottle to a vertical position lowered prior to capping. It should be understood that the vertical transport mechanism 34 can move the bottle 12 relative to the ring 24, or can move the ring 24 and associated devices relative to the bottle 12.

The apparatus 10 may also include a pressure chamber 36 shown sectioned in Figures 1 and 2 which will be defined by a generally cylindrical wall 38, has a closed upper end 40 and has a surface 42 in a lower margin of the cylindrical wall 38 for contacting a surface 44 of the sealing ring 24. The pressure chamber 36 may have other conformations including, for example, a hemispherical wall forming both portions 38 and 40. Alternatively, the generally cylindrical wall 38 may be formed by a rectangular or square wall. The surface 42 may include a more or less adaptable element 46 which can be sealed against the surface 42 of the sealing ring 24 to assist in the development of the desired pressure to pressurize the free space of a previously filled bottle 12 as described herein. The surface 42 is shown as a flat upper surface of the sealing ring 24 against which the adaptive element 46 can be spliced and, if necessary, to slide while the parts of the sealing ring move relative to the support ring 28 or another surface of known dimension. The surface 42 may have other shapes that increase the capacity of the pressure chamber 36 to achieve the desired pressure needed to sufficiently pressurize the free space of a previously filled bottle 12. For example, the surface may take the form of a ring surface sharpened adjacent an outer edge of the sealing ring 24, which under the coupling contact between the pressure chamber 36 could increase the radial internal contact pressure applied by the first surface 26 and the adaptive element 30 of the ring 24 against the ring support 28, or another surface of known dimension, to thereby increase the ability to reach the desired level of pressure within the pressure chamber.

The apparatus 10 may also include a mandrel 48, shown in Figure 1, which forms a lid application apparatus 22 for holding the lid 14 in a position for coupling the upper end portion of the plastic bottle 12. The mandrel 48 it can be coupled to a rod 50 which extends through a sealing opening 52 in the closed upper end 40 of the pressure chamber 36. A motor 54 can be coupled to the rod 50 to rotate the mandrel 48 and the lid 14 to coupling the inner threads of the lid 14 on the end of the bottle 12. A mechanism 56 can be coupled between the motor 54 and / or the rod 50 and the pressure chamber 36 to produce sufficient vertical movement of the rod 50 and mandrel 48 during the application of the lid 14 to ensure that a suitable seal is reached between the lid 14 and the end of the 12. The motor 54 and / or the rod 50 can be coupled to a torque sensor [not shown] that can detect the conclusion of the application of the cap to the end portion 11 of the bottle 12. Another mechanism 58 can be coupled between the pressure chamber 36 and the ring 24 and / or the fixing apparatus 32 to cause any desired movement between the pressure chamber 36 and the ring 24. The range of movement by the mechanism 58 can include movement vertical necessary to fix more or less the adaptive element 46 of the pressure chamber 36 against the surface 42 of the sealing ring 24 during a pressurization and capping operation. The range of movement by the mechanism 58 and / or mechanism 56 may also include the movement necessary to allow the insertion of a lid 14 of a supply of lids (not shown) into the mandrel 48.

The development of the desired pressure to pressurize the free space of a previously filled bottle 12 can be achieved by coupling the pressure chamber 36 to an external source (not shown) of a gas or vapor selected to be compatible with the liquid inside the bottle 12. The external source, which is expected to be commonly maintained at approximately 10 to 40 psi (0.68 to 2.75 bar), can be coupled to the pressure chamber 36 by a convenient conduit 60, which can include a valve 62 that allows the supply of gas or vapor to the pressure chamber 36 only when the pressure chamber 36 engages against the surface 42 of the sealing ring 24. The valve 62 can be controlled, for example, by a proximity switch 64 which detects the position relative between the pressure chamber 36 and the sealing ring 24, or by other machine synchronization mechanisms. A pressure sensor 66 may also be coupled to the pressure chamber 36 and / or conduit 60, to detect any development of inadequate pressure within the pressure chamber during a capping operation. The pressure sensor 66 may be coupled, for example, to the alarm generating apparatus or convenient report to ensure that any systemic problem can be identified and dealt with quickly.

The operation of the apparatus 10 can be better observed with respect to Figures 3a-3d, where the end portion 11 of a bottle 12, which includes the support ring 28, is simply illustrated, the rest of the bottle is omitted for greater clarity. The operation is initiated by placing a lid 14 inside the capping mandrel 48, and placing the capping mandrel 48 in an upper position within the pressure chamber 36 as shown in Figure 3a. A bottle 12, which has been previously hot filled, is positioned so that an upper portion of the end 11 of the bottle 12 extends into the pressure chamber 36 and the support ring 28 is vertically aligned with the fixing ring 24. In the next step, shown in Figure 3b, the fastening ring 24 is closed against the support ring 28 while the adaptive element 46 of the pressure chamber 36 is held in sliding contact with the surface 42 of the sealing ring 24. Alternatively, if the pressure chamber 36 separates on the fixing ring 24, the fixing ring 24 is closed against the support ring 28 and the pressure chamber 36 is lowered relative to the fixing ring 24 until a coupling sealing is established between the adaptive element 46 of the pressure chamber 36 and the surface 42 of the sealing ring 24. After the sealing of the pressure chamber 36 and of the fixing ring 24, a volume When a gas or steam selected at super-atmospheric pressure is then introduced into the chamber 36 through the conduit 60, the volume is sufficient to raise the pressure within the free space of the bottle 12 to a desired pressure. In the next step, shown in Figure 3c, the pressure inside the pressure chamber 36 is maintained at the desired pressure level, and the cover mandrel 48 is lowered and rotated inside the chamber 36 by the stem 50 until the cover 14 is secured on end portion 11 of bottle 12. In the next step, shown in figure 3d, the pressure supplied through conduit 60 is terminated and capping mandrel 44 is contracted to disengage from cover 12 , which is now secured on the end portion 11 of the bottle 12. The fastening ring 24 is disengaged from the support ring 28, and the pressurized capped bottle 12 is moved to a cooling location that will be at least at room temperature.

Although these features have been described with respect to the preferred embodiment illustrated, other embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art that fall within the spirit of the invention as defined in the following claims.

Claims (16)

1. Apparatus for pressurizing the free space of a bottle while applying a lid, comprising: a sealing ring having a first surface for coupling a surface of known dimension in the bottle, and a second surface, a fixing apparatus for moving the sealing ring from a position spaced from the surface of known dimension to a position which couples the surface of known dimension, a mandrel for holding a lid in a position for coupling one end of the bottle, a pressure chamber surrounding the mandrel having a sealing surface for coming into contact with the second surface of the sealing ring, a pressure source coupled to the pressure chamber to introduce a volume of a gas or vapor to the super-atmospheric pressure in the chamber, and an apparatus for moving the mandrel and the cap inside the pressure chamber while the chamber is subjected to gas or vapor at super-atmospheric pressure to seal the gas or vapor within the free space of the bottle with the lid.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the bottle is a plastic bottle having a support ring and the first surface of the sealing ring comprises a concave radial inner surface for coupling a radial outer surface of the support ring in the bottle.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 or 2, wherein the second surface of the sealing ring is a flat surface facing upwardly opposite and the sealing surface of the pressure chamber is a descendingly opposite surface that includes a circumferential seal to come into contact with the second surface of the sealing ring.

4. The apparatus of any of claims 1-3, wherein the apparatus for moving the mandrel and the cap comprises a motor coupled to the mandrel to rotate the mandrel and the cap and the apparatus to move the mandrel and the cap vertically inside the chamber of pressure.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the pressure chamber comprises a peripheral wall that includes the sealing surface in a lower perimeter thereof, and an upper end wall that closes the peripheral wall.

6. The apparatus of claim 9, further comprising a central opening in the upper end wall including a seal surrounding a shank extending through the central opening and coupling the mandrel to the motor.

7. The apparatus of any of claims 1-6, further comprising the apparatus for longitudinally moving the pressure chamber and the fixing ring towards and away from each other.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, further comprising a source of lids for supplying the mandrel, and wherein the apparatus for longitudinally moving the pressure chamber and the fixing ring includes a range of movement sufficient to allow a lid of the source of caps is inserted into the mandrel.

9. The apparatus of any one of claims 1-8, further comprising the apparatus for moving the fastening ring and the bottle relative to each other at least when the fastening ring is in the position separated from the support ring.

10. The apparatus of any of claims 1-9, wherein the source of pressurized gas or steam comprises a source of pressurized air, nitrogen or C02.

11. A method for applying a cap to an end of a filled plastic bottle using the apparatus of any of claims 1-10, comprising: fix the ring to a surface of known dimension in the bottle, place the chamber containing the mandrel holding a lid on the end of the bottle so that a lower edge of the chamber is sealed against the fixed ring, pressurize the inside of the chamber and bottle with a volume of gas or steam at a super-atmospheric pressure, move the mandrel and cap inside the chamber relative to the end of the bottle to seal the gas or vapor inside the super-atmospheric pressure bottle, release the pressure inside the pressure chamber, and Separate the ring from the surface of known dimension.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the fixing step comprises coupling a radial external surface of a support ring in the bottle with a sealing ring having a concave radial inner surface.

13. The method of claim 11 or 12, wherein the positioning step comprises vertically moving one of the fixing ring and the chamber relative to each other.

14. The method of any of claims 11-13, wherein the movement step comprises rotating the mandrel and the lid while moving the mandrel and cover down relative to the chamber.

15. The method of claims 11-14, wherein the separation step is preceded by the release of the mandrel cap.

16. The method of any of claims 11-15, wherein the step of separation is followed by the step of supplying a second cap to the mandrel, and moving at least one of the fixing ring and the bottle relative to each other by a enough distance to place the fixing ring around a second bottle.