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WO1988004144A1 - Unloading device for a continuous sterilizer - Google Patents

Unloading device for a continuous sterilizer Download PDF

Info

Publication number
WO1988004144A1
WO1988004144A1 PCT/US1987/003200 US8703200W WO8804144A1 WO 1988004144 A1 WO1988004144 A1 WO 1988004144A1 US 8703200 W US8703200 W US 8703200W WO 8804144 A1 WO8804144 A1 WO 8804144A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
conveyor
bend
rollers
carriers
closing
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/US1987/003200
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Johannes Hoppe
Daniel Lambertus Moellenkamp
Original Assignee
Baxter Travenol Laboratories, Inc.
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Baxter Travenol Laboratories, Inc. filed Critical Baxter Travenol Laboratories, Inc.
Publication of WO1988004144A1 publication Critical patent/WO1988004144A1/en

Links

Classifications

    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A23—FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS; TREATMENT THEREOF, NOT COVERED BY OTHER CLASSES
    • A23B—PRESERVATION OF FOODS, FOODSTUFFS OR NON-ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES; CHEMICAL RIPENING OF FRUIT OR VEGETABLES
    • A23B2/00—Preservation of foods or foodstuffs, in general
    • A23B2/001—Details of apparatus, e.g. pressure feed valves or for transport, or loading or unloading manipulation
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
    • B65B55/00—Preserving, protecting or purifying packages or package contents in association with packaging
    • B65B55/02—Sterilising, e.g. of complete packages
    • B65B55/027—Packaging in aseptic chambers
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65G—TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
    • B65G47/00—Article or material-handling devices associated with conveyors; Methods employing such devices
    • B65G47/52—Devices for transferring articles or materials between conveyors i.e. discharging or feeding devices
    • B65G47/56—Devices for transferring articles or materials between conveyors i.e. discharging or feeding devices to or from inclined or vertical conveyor sections
    • B65G47/57—Devices for transferring articles or materials between conveyors i.e. discharging or feeding devices to or from inclined or vertical conveyor sections for articles

Definitions

  • the invention relates to a device for the thermal treatment of liquids packed in plastic bags, comprising a treatment chamber and an endless conveyor with trough- shaped carriers provided in a fixed manner therein for receiving, transporting and discharging the bags again, the opening of each carrier being situated parallel to the plane through the conveyor, which traverses a path i.nside the treatment chamber and, outside thereof, a cooling section, an unloading station, a loading station and a heating section, the unloading station being situated beyond a reversing wheel of the conveyor at the end of a bend traversed by the conveyor round said wheel in a downward direction, which bend is provided with a concentrically bent element for the temporary closing-off of the downwardly inclined carrier openings.
  • Said problems are related to the higher sliding resistance of bags of this type in comparison to the more usual glass pots or bottles, or small cans in which the products to be sterilised are usually packed.
  • said bottles and the like slide or roll easily out of the carriers.
  • the conveyor is guided round a bend such that the opening of the carriers is directed downwards so that the objects roll or slide out of the carriers as a result of gravity.
  • the said concentrically bent closing-off element in said bend is used so that although the objects exhibit the tendency to come out of the carriers, this emergence does however only come about Immediately after passing the bent closing-off element.
  • the object of the invention is to avoid the problem described above, for which purpose the device according to the invention is distinguished by the fact that the closing-off element in the bend in the unloading station is provided with a number of rollers which are situated parallel to the carriers and which are connected to a drive for rotating the rollers with a circumferential velocity corresponding to the advance of the conveyor.
  • rollers are accommodated in a yoke which is mounted so that it can be rotated around the centre line of the reversing wheel which is present at the position of the bend.
  • the closing-off element no longer consists of a fixed plate construction (as usual until now), but of a oscillafcable segment, the position of which can easily be adjusted to the position at which the plastic bags must be dropped.
  • the yoke is provided with an extension past its point of rotation at which an operating cylinder is present for swivelling the yoke with the rollers in the direction of movement of the conveyor.
  • Figure 1 is a diagrammatic side view of an embodiment of the continuous steriliser.
  • Figure 2 is a diagrammatic side view on a considerably enlarged scale of the unloading station from the device of figure 1.
  • the construction of the continuous steriliser according to the invention has already been described to a considerable extent in the journal PHARMA-International No. 1, 1968 mentioned above and consists of four towers A-D which are each subdivided into a number of columns.
  • the columns 1 and 2 form the first tower A
  • the tower B consists of the columns 3 and 4 while the towers C and D are constructed from the columns 5 and 6, and 7 and 8 respectively.
  • the tower A forms the heating section
  • the tower B the treatment chamber
  • the tower C is a transition zone
  • the tower D forms the cooling section.
  • the device is provided with an endless conveyor 9 which traverses a loop-shaped path within the heating section A, the treatment chamber B, the transition chamber C and the cooling section D.
  • the conveyor passes a loading station 10 and an unloading station 11.
  • the conveyor 9 is guided along a large number of wheels 12 and is closed at the bottom of the device by means of the inactive linking part 13 of the path.
  • a pressure-controlling liquid seal or hydrostatic limb is produced in the usual manner in the columns 2 and 7.
  • the conveyor 9 is provided over its entire length with trough-shaped carriers 14 shown diagrammatically in figure 2 and described more extensively in patent application No. (855121).
  • the unloading station 11 is situated beyond the reversing wheel 12 shown on the right at the top of figure 2. Beyond said wheel the conveyor 9 moves in a downward direction merging into a bend 15.
  • the trough-shaped carriers 14 have an opening 16 which can be closed by a cover or visor 17.
  • Said visor is closed in the loop-shaped path inside the towers A-D and at a short distance past the deflection wheel 12 mentioned above, a facility (not shown) is present in the downwardly directed path section 18 for opening the visor 17.
  • the means required for this are described in the related patent application No. (855121) already mentioned above.
  • a closing-off element 19 is present which is concentrically bent with the reversing wheel 12' and which is provided with a number of rollers 20.
  • Said rollers which are situated parallel to the carriers 14, are each provided with a pinion which is engaged in a common drive formed as a large gear wheel 21, which is concentric with the reversing wheel 12', for rotating the rollers 20 with a velocity which corresponds to the advance of the conveyor 9.
  • the rollers are accommodated in a yoke 22 consisting of two segment-shaped cheeks 23 situated on either side of the conveyor 9 and rotatably supported on the centre line 24 of the reversing wheel 12' present at the position of the bend.
  • the yoke 22 is provided with an extension 25 past its point ofosclllation 24
  • An operating cylinder 26 is present for swivelling the yoke 22 with the rollers 20 in the direction of movement of the conveyor 9.
  • the unloading station 11 is also provided with an unloading track 27 which moves in a direction transverse to the plane of the conveyor 9.
  • the plastic bags, which are situated in the carriers 14, acquire the tendency in the bend 15 to slide out of the carriers. This tendency is temporarily counteracted by the contact with the rollers 20 until the instant when the carrier emerges from the yoke 22 and the opening 16 of the carrier concerned is directed virtually vertically downwards and the plastic bags present in said carrier can drop onto the unloading track 27.
  • the relatively non-slipping exterior of the plastic bags is the cause of a possible wedging of the bag while traversing the bend 15.
  • the presence of the driven rollers 20 prevents this phenomenon and ensures an expedient unloading of said bags onto the unloading track 27.
  • the operating cylinder 26 makes it possible to swivel the closing-off element 19 in the direction of movement of the conveyor 9 should an inspection of the carriers 14 present inside the bend 15 be necessary.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
  • Wood Science & Technology (AREA)
  • Zoology (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Food Science & Technology (AREA)
  • Polymers & Plastics (AREA)
  • Food Preservation Except Freezing, Refrigeration, And Drying (AREA)
  • Attitude Control For Articles On Conveyors (AREA)

Abstract

An unloading device for a continuous sterilizer of liquids packed in plastic bags includes an unloading station (11) that is positioned beyond a reversing wheel (12) of the conveyor (9). The conveyor (9) bends around the reversing wheel (12). At the bend (15) of the conveyor (9), there is a concentrically bent closing-off element (19) to temporarily close off the carrier openings which are facing downward at the time. The closing-off element (19) in the bend of the unloading station (11) is provided with a number of rollers (20) positioned parallel to the carriers (14) and connected to a drive wheel for rotating the rollers (20) with a circumferential velocity corresponding to the advance of the conveyor (9). After the carriers (14) pass the closing-off element (19), the bags drop from the carriers (14).

Description

Unloading device for a continuous sterilizer
The invention relates to a device for the thermal treatment of liquids packed in plastic bags, comprising a treatment chamber and an endless conveyor with trough- shaped carriers provided in a fixed manner therein for receiving, transporting and discharging the bags again, the opening of each carrier being situated parallel to the plane through the conveyor, which traverses a path i.nside the treatment chamber and, outside thereof, a cooling section, an unloading station, a loading station and a heating section, the unloading station being situated beyond a reversing wheel of the conveyor at the end of a bend traversed by the conveyor round said wheel in a downward direction, which bend is provided with a concentrically bent element for the temporary closing-off of the downwardly inclined carrier openings.
A device of this type, but for application to pharmaceutical liquids in bottles, was described in the journal PHARMA-International, No. 1, 1968 by Ing. K . RUIG. Four years later the same author described further additional details for the application to the sterilisation of infusion liquids in plastic bags in the same journal PHARMA-International, No. 5, 1972. Up until then little or no attention was paid to the problems which occur in unloading plastic bags from the continuous steriliser.
Said problems are related to the higher sliding resistance of bags of this type in comparison to the more usual glass pots or bottles, or small cans in which the products to be sterilised are usually packed. In the unloading station said bottles and the like slide or roll easily out of the carriers.
To unload the treated objects the conveyor is guided round a bend such that the opening of the carriers is directed downwards so that the objects roll or slide out of the carriers as a result of gravity. In order to define the moment of emergence clearly, the said concentrically bent closing-off element in said bend is used so that although the objects exhibit the tendency to come out of the carriers, this emergence does however only come about Immediately after passing the bent closing-off element. As a result of the non-slipping characteristic of the outside of the plastic bags problems may arise when the carriers pass the closing-off element as a result of the wedging of the non-slipping plastic bags between the stationary surface of the closing-off element and the edges of the opening of the advancing carriers. Said problems are specific to plastic bags and will not in general occur in the case of round and smooth objects (bottles or small cans). The object of the invention is to avoid the problem described above, for which purpose the device according to the invention is distinguished by the fact that the closing-off element in the bend in the unloading station is provided with a number of rollers which are situated parallel to the carriers and which are connected to a drive for rotating the rollers with a circumferential velocity corresponding to the advance of the conveyor.
Preferably the rollers are accommodated in a yoke which is mounted so that it can be rotated around the centre line of the reversing wheel which is present at the position of the bend. This means that the closing-off element no longer consists of a fixed plate construction (as usual until now), but of a oscillafcable segment, the position of which can easily be adjusted to the position at which the plastic bags must be dropped.
In the event that there is a wish to be able to inspect the bend concerned at all times and a desire to be able to eliminate an unexpected fault, it is to be recommended that the yoke is provided with an extension past its point of rotation at which an operating cylinder is present for swivelling the yoke with the rollers in the direction of movement of the conveyor.
The invention will now be explained in more detail with reference to the drawing which shows a diagram of the continuous steriliser and a view of the unloading station used therein.
Figure 1 is a diagrammatic side view of an embodiment of the continuous steriliser. Figure 2 is a diagrammatic side view on a considerably enlarged scale of the unloading station from the device of figure 1.
The construction of the continuous steriliser according to the invention has already been described to a considerable extent in the journal PHARMA-International No. 1, 1968 mentioned above and consists of four towers A-D which are each subdivided into a number of columns. The columns 1 and 2 form the first tower A, the tower B consists of the columns 3 and 4 while the towers C and D are constructed from the columns 5 and 6, and 7 and 8 respectively. The tower A forms the heating section, the tower B the treatment chamber, the tower C is a transition zone and the tower D forms the cooling section.
In addition, the device is provided with an endless conveyor 9 which traverses a loop-shaped path within the heating section A, the treatment chamber B, the transition chamber C and the cooling section D. In addition, the conveyor passes a loading station 10 and an unloading station 11. The conveyor 9 is guided along a large number of wheels 12 and is closed at the bottom of the device by means of the inactive linking part 13 of the path. During operation a pressure-controlling liquid seal or hydrostatic limb is produced in the usual manner in the columns 2 and 7. The conveyor 9 is provided over its entire length with trough-shaped carriers 14 shown diagrammatically in figure 2 and described more extensively in patent application No. (855121).
As can be seen in figure 2, the unloading station 11 is situated beyond the reversing wheel 12 shown on the right at the top of figure 2. Beyond said wheel the conveyor 9 moves in a downward direction merging into a bend 15. The trough-shaped carriers 14 have an opening 16 which can be closed by a cover or visor 17. Said visor is closed in the loop-shaped path inside the towers A-D and at a short distance past the deflection wheel 12 mentioned above, a facility (not shown) is present in the downwardly directed path section 18 for opening the visor 17. The means required for this are described in the related patent application No. (855121) already mentioned above. In the bend 15 a closing-off element 19 is present which is concentrically bent with the reversing wheel 12' and which is provided with a number of rollers 20. Said rollers, which are situated parallel to the carriers 14, are each provided with a pinion which is engaged in a common drive formed as a large gear wheel 21, which is concentric with the reversing wheel 12', for rotating the rollers 20 with a velocity which corresponds to the advance of the conveyor 9. The rollers are accommodated in a yoke 22 consisting of two segment-shaped cheeks 23 situated on either side of the conveyor 9 and rotatably supported on the centre line 24 of the reversing wheel 12' present at the position of the bend. The yoke 22 is provided with an extension 25 past its point ofosclllation 24 An operating cylinder 26 is present for swivelling the yoke 22 with the rollers 20 in the direction of movement of the conveyor 9.
Finally, the unloading station 11 is also provided with an unloading track 27 which moves in a direction transverse to the plane of the conveyor 9. The plastic bags, which are situated in the carriers 14, acquire the tendency in the bend 15 to slide out of the carriers. This tendency is temporarily counteracted by the contact with the rollers 20 until the instant when the carrier emerges from the yoke 22 and the opening 16 of the carrier concerned is directed virtually vertically downwards and the plastic bags present in said carrier can drop onto the unloading track 27. The relatively non-slipping exterior of the plastic bags is the cause of a possible wedging of the bag while traversing the bend 15. However, the presence of the driven rollers 20 prevents this phenomenon and ensures an expedient unloading of said bags onto the unloading track 27. The operating cylinder 26 makes it possible to swivel the closing-off element 19 in the direction of movement of the conveyor 9 should an inspection of the carriers 14 present inside the bend 15 be necessary.

Claims

Claims 1. Device for the thermal treatment of liquids packed in plastic bags, comprising a treatment chamber and an endless conveyor with trough-shaped carriers provided in a fixed manner therein for receiving, transporting and discharging the bags again, the opening of each carrier being situated parallel to the plane through the conveyor which traverses a path inside the treatment chamber and, outside thereof, a cooling section, an unloading station, a loading station and a heating section, the unloading station being situated beyond a reversing wheel of the conveyor at the end of a bend traversed by the conveyor round said wheel in a downward direction, which bend is provided with a concentrically. bent element for the temporary closing-off of the downwardly inclined carrier openings, characterised in that the closing-off element (19) in the bend (15) in the unloading station (11) is provided with a number of rollers (20) which are situated parallel to the carriers (14) and which are connected to a drive (21) for rotating the rollers with a circumferential velocity corresponding to the advance of the conveyor (9).
2. Device according to Claim 1, characterised in that the rollers (20) are accommodated in a yoke (22) which is mounted so that it can be oscillated around the centre line (24) of the reversing wheel (12') which is present at the position of the bend.
3. Device according to Claim 2, characterised in that the yoke (22) is provided with an extension (25) past its point of oscillation (24) and that an operating cylinder (26) is present for swivelling the yoke with the rollers (20) in the direction of movement of the conveyor (9).
PCT/US1987/003200 1986-12-11 1987-12-02 Unloading device for a continuous sterilizer WO1988004144A1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
NL8603159 1986-12-11
NL8603159A NL8603159A (en) 1986-12-11 1986-12-11 DRAINER FOR A CONTINUOUS STERILIZER.

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO1988004144A1 true WO1988004144A1 (en) 1988-06-16

Family

ID=19848986

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/US1987/003200 WO1988004144A1 (en) 1986-12-11 1987-12-02 Unloading device for a continuous sterilizer

Country Status (2)

Country Link
NL (1) NL8603159A (en)
WO (1) WO1988004144A1 (en)

Citations (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US1584397A (en) * 1922-07-17 1926-05-11 Sherman H Paxton Method and apparatus for cooking canned goods
GB974659A (en) * 1960-01-23 1964-11-11 Komplex Nagyberendezesek Expor Sterilisation plant
US3528826A (en) * 1968-10-31 1970-09-15 Fmc Corp Processing products in flexible containers
US3619126A (en) * 1963-10-01 1971-11-09 Pierre Carvallo Method of continuously heat-treating products in sealed containers, and apparatus for performing the same
US3972679A (en) * 1973-11-12 1976-08-03 Stork Amsterdam B.V. Method for sterilizing and pasteurizing container packed products
US4385035A (en) * 1978-12-01 1983-05-24 Toyo Seikan Kaisha Ltd. Apparatus for continuously sterilizing flat flexible packages
US4646629A (en) * 1984-02-10 1987-03-03 Fmc Corporation Sterilizing apparatus

Patent Citations (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US1584397A (en) * 1922-07-17 1926-05-11 Sherman H Paxton Method and apparatus for cooking canned goods
GB974659A (en) * 1960-01-23 1964-11-11 Komplex Nagyberendezesek Expor Sterilisation plant
US3619126A (en) * 1963-10-01 1971-11-09 Pierre Carvallo Method of continuously heat-treating products in sealed containers, and apparatus for performing the same
US3528826A (en) * 1968-10-31 1970-09-15 Fmc Corp Processing products in flexible containers
US3972679A (en) * 1973-11-12 1976-08-03 Stork Amsterdam B.V. Method for sterilizing and pasteurizing container packed products
US4385035A (en) * 1978-12-01 1983-05-24 Toyo Seikan Kaisha Ltd. Apparatus for continuously sterilizing flat flexible packages
US4646629A (en) * 1984-02-10 1987-03-03 Fmc Corporation Sterilizing apparatus

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
NL8603159A (en) 1988-07-01

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