Particle removal device for filling machines

Abstract

A particle removal device (18) for a filling machine (10) configured to form, fill and seal individual packages (4) is provided. The particle removal device (18) includes an air supply tube (181) and a controller (186) programmed to actuate the particle removal device (18) so that a jet of air is directed into a package (2) to be filled that passes through the particle removal device (18).

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a filling machine, in particular to a particle removal device of a filling machine, the filling machine being configured to form, fill and seal individual packages. The present invention also relates to a method of removing packaging particles during production, ie during package forming and filling. Background Art

[0002] In the food industry, beverages and other products are often packaged in paper or paperboard based packages. Packages for liquid foods are usually made of a packaging laminate comprising a paper or paperboard core layer and a liquid-impermeable outer layer of thermoplastic material on at least one side of the core layer that will form the inside of the package.

[0003] One group of packages that frequently occur are the so-called ready-to-fill packages. Such ready-to-fill packages are provided as a sleeve of a packaging laminate as described above, which is sealed at its bottom end before filling. The upper end may be formed by sealing and forming the upper end of the sleeve, or by adding an upper part, for example in the form of a plastic top; the upper end / part may be provided with an opening / closing device, for example a screw cap.

[0004] An open-ended sleeve of packaging material is received at the infeed station of the filling machine, the bottom end of which is then formed and sealed; the semi-finished package is now ready for filling. At a downstream station, the ready-to-fill package is sterilized or disinfected at least on the inside in order to extend the shelf life of the product to be stored in the package. Different sterilization / disinfection levels can be obtained depending on the required length of shelf life and depending on whether the package is distributed and stored in a refrigerated environment or at room temperature.

[0005] After sterilization, the packages are further conveyed to a filling area for product filling, a sealing area for sealing the open ends and usually also to a final forming area for final shaping of the packages.

[0006] Especially for liquid food packaging, it is important to produce packaging with a minimum of unwanted particles. These particles are disadvantageous for a number of reasons. For example, large particles can affect the quality of the closed product in a negative way. Large particles can also negatively affect filling machine performance, such as sealing operations. In addition, particles of any size may carry unwanted organisms due to hygiene issues. In addition to the above-mentioned disadvantages, if hydrogen peroxide is used as a disinfecting medium, the presence of particles can also lead to combustion. Therefore, a filling machine that provides improved removal of particles from a to-be-filled package is needed. Summary of the invention

[0007] An object of the present invention is to at least partially overcome one or more of the above-mentioned limitations of the prior art. In particular, an object is to provide a particle removal device for a filling machine, which is capable of removing particles from a package to be filled. Since particles may be generated during the operation of producing the package to be filled, it is advantageous to arrange the particle removal device in the filling machine close to the particle generation location.

[0008] To address these objectives, a particle removal device is provided. The particle removal device is to be used with a filling machine configured to form, fill and seal individual packages. The particle removal device includes an air supply tube and a controller programmed to actuate the particle removal device so that a jet of air is directed into a package to be filled that passes through the particle removal device.

[0009] The controller may be programmed to control actuation of the particle removal device based on movement of the package to be filled through the particle removal device.

[0010] The controller may be programmed to control actuation of the particle removal device throughout an indexing cycle during which two consecutive packages to be filled are passing the particle removal device.

[0011] In one embodiment, the air jet is constant during actuation of the particle removal device.

[0012] When the leading side wall of the package to be filled is positioned in the same vertical plane as the orifice of the air supply tube, actuation of the particle removal device may be initiated.

[0013] The particle removal device may further include a housing, and the air supply pipe may be arranged inside the housing. The housing may be provided with a gas extraction unit. The orifice of the air supply pipe may be arranged vertically below the bottom end of the housing.

[0014] The cover may be dimensioned to cover at least one package to be filled.

[0015] According to a second aspect, a filling machine is provided, comprising the particle removal device according to the first aspect.

[0016] The filling machine may further comprise a cap applicator station, wherein the particle removal device is arranged downstream of the cap applicator station.

[0017] The filling machine may further comprise a sterilization station, wherein the particle removal device is arranged upstream of the sterilization station.

[0018] According to a third aspect, there is provided a method for a filling machine configured to form, fill and seal individual packages. The method comprises a first step of providing a particle removal device according to the first aspect, and a step of actuating the particle removal device such that a jet of air is directed into a package to be filled passing through the particle removal device.

[0019] Other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] Embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying schematic drawings, in which:

[0021] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a filling machine according to an embodiment;

[0022] Figure 2 Is Figure 1 A perspective view of a package produced by the filling machine shown;

[0023] Figure 3 is a partial schematic diagram of a filling machine including a particle removal device according to an embodiment;

[0024] Figure 4 is an isometric view of a particle removal apparatus according to an embodiment;

[0025] Figure 5 is a diagram schematically showing the operation of a particle removal device; and

[0026] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of a method according to one embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] refer to Figure 1 , schematically showing a filling machine 10. The filling machine 10, which is configured to form, fill and seal packages 4, has a feed station 12, in which blanks 2 of packaging material are received. The blanks 2 are usually produced as sleeves of carton-based packaging material, as is well known in the art and has been briefly described in the background section. The feed station 12 is arranged upstream of a bottom sealing station 14, in which the blanks 2 are erected in a sleeve shape and in which the bottom end of each blank is sealed to form a semi-finished package with a closed bottom end and an open top end.

[0028] Upstream or downstream of the bottom sealing station 14, a cap applicator station 16 may be provided. The purpose of the cap applicator station 16 is to attach an opening device to a sleeve-shaped blank 2, such as a screw cap with an associated neck. Typically, the neck and the cap are provided as a prefabricated assembly, and the attachment to the sleeve-shaped blank is accomplished by ultrasonic sealing.

[0029] Immediately downstream of the cap applicator station 16, a particle removal device 18 is arranged. The particle removal device 18 is configured to remove unwanted particles from the sleeve-shaped blank prior to sterilization.

[0030] After passing through the particle removal device 18, the semi-finished package is conveyed to a sterilization station 20 where the number of viable microorganisms is reduced. The sterilization level may vary depending on the user's goals. Sterilizing the packaging material may be accomplished, for example, by treatment with hydrogen peroxide, ultraviolet light, electron beam radiation, etc.

[0031] Downstream of the sterilizing station 20, a filling station 22 is arranged. Here, the ready-to-fill packages are filled with their desired contents. After filling, the packages can be conveyed to a pre-folding station 24, where the upper part of the open-ended packages is formed into the desired shape. After pre-forming, the packages are conveyed to a heating station 26, where the heat-sealable material of the packaging material is heated to an elevated temperature. When the packages enter a sealing station 28, which is arranged immediately after the heating station 26, the elevated temperature of the upper end of the packages facilitates the sealing of the upper end.

[0032] Once sealed, the packages 4 are discharged via a discharge station 30 .

[0033] It should be mentioned that the configuration of the filling machine 10 may not be exactly as described in the reference Figure 1 As described, the filling machine 10 may also be configured to produce other types of packages, such as plastic top packages, etc.

[0034] exist Figure 2 , an example of a package 4 produced by a filling machine 10 is shown. The package 4 is a so-called gable top package, to which a screw cap 6 is attached. As further described below, the screw cap 6 can be attached to the package 4 using a screw cap applicator station 16.

[0035] The specific components of the filling machine 10 are further described in Figure 3 . The sleeve-shaped blank 2 is conveyed through the cap applicator station 16 in direction A as indicated by the box arrow. The cap applicator station 16 may include an indexing turntable 161 carrying an even number of cap application units 162 extending radially outward as spokes. In the example shown, there are eight cap application units 162, although other numbers are possible.

[0036] The indexing turntable 161 does not rotate continuously, but it has four different actuation positions; for each actuation position, two adjacent cap applying units 162 are positioned close to the respective blanks 2, whereby the two blanks 2 will be equipped with their respective caps 6 at the same time. Figure 3 shown.

[0037] The movement sequence of the indexing turntable 161 also needs to control the flow of the blanks 2 in a similar manner; the blanks 2 will be stationarily positioned relative to the active cap applying unit 162, after which the blanks 2 will move forward until the next two blanks 2 are accurately positioned relative to the next active cap applying unit 162.

[0038] exist Figure 3 , it can be seen that caps 6a and 6b have been attached using cap applying units 162a and 162b, respectively.

[0039] A particle removal device 18 is arranged immediately downstream of the cap applicator station 16. The particle removal device 18 is configured to remove unwanted particles from the packages to be filled leaving the cap applicator station 16.

[0040] Now turn to Figure 4 , further detailed description is given of particle removal device 18. Particle removal device 18 operates by providing air (preferably clean air) flow to the package to be filled or the sleeve-shaped blank 2. For this reason, particle removal device 18 comprises an air supply pipe 181, which extends substantially in the vertical direction and has an orifice 182 at its end to allow air to flow into the package. Orifice 182 can be a single orifice or a series of orifices. Each orifice can have a circular, rectangular or any other suitable shape.

[0041] The air supply pipe 181 and its orifice 182 are arranged in a cover 183, the size of which is designed to cover at least one package to be filled when the particle removal device 18 is activated. The cover 183 is further in fluid communication with a gas extraction unit 184 to allow air to be extracted through the cover 183. The extraction unit 184 can be activated all the time, or it can be controlled so that the extraction of air is only performed when the particle removal device 18 is activated. The cover 183 can be substantially vertically upward, but it can also be bent, for example, to form an L-shape to avoid the particles being extracted from falling into the package directly below the cover 183.

[0042] The air supply pipe 181 is connected to a valve 185, which is in turn controlled by a controller 186. The controller 186 is programmed to provide a control signal to the valve 185 so that the air supply through the air supply pipe 181 is controlled accordingly. The air supply pipe 181 can extend vertically upward, or it can be bent, for example by forming an L shape; preferably, the bent air supply pipe 181 can be used with a straight draw pipe from the cover body 183, and the straight air supply pipe 181 can be used with a bent draw pipe from the cover body 183.

[0043] Now turn to Figure 5 , schematically illustrating the operation of the particle removal device 18. The different stages i)-ix) represent different positions of the flow of to-be-filled packages or sleeve-shaped blanks 2 passing through the stationary particle removal device 18, only the air supply pipe 181 being shown here.

[0044] At i), the package is stationary due to the capping process (not shown) being carried out upstream. At this point, the particle removal device 18 is inactive, which means that no air flows out of the air supply pipe 181. However, the draw unit 184 may still be in operation.

[0045] At ii), the package moves away from the cap applicator station 16 and towards the sterilization station 20 in the direction of arrow A. When the package is aligned with the orifice 182 of the air supply tube 181, so that the leading side wall of the package is arranged in the same vertical plane as the orifice 182, the particle removal device 18 is actuated by the controller 186 so that the valve 185 is opened, thereby allowing the pressurized air to flow out of the orifice 182. Since the orifice 182 is arranged only at a very small distance from the upper end of the package, for example in the range of 1-35mm, an effective jet will be formed, propagating downward into the package without being negatively affected by the discharge flow. The jet will "attach" to the inner side of the package side wall, whereby the jet reaches the other side of the package along the inner side of the package, thereby effectively removing particles from the wall and from the body of the package.

[0046] As the package continues to move forward, as shown in iii), the air supply will be basically directed directly into the package until the trailing side wall of the leading package is aligned with the orifice 182, as shown in iv). At this time, the jet will be attached to the trailing side wall, so that the supplied air is effectively diffused on the entire inner side of the package. At v), the leading package is cleaned, and the orifice 182 is aligned in the small space between two adjacent packages. Although the particle removal device 18 is still in working condition, that is, air is still supplied from the orifice, there is actually no particle removal before the subsequent package is aligned with the orifice 182, as shown in vi). Step vi)-ix) is the same as step ii)-v) in terms of particle removal operation, but at ix), the package stops and remains stationary so as to perform a capping operation upstream of the particle removal device. At this time, the operation of the particle removal device 18 becomes non-working by cutting off the air supply. During step ii)-ix), the movement of the package is continuous in direction A.

[0047] As mentioned above, the technical concept is based on exploiting the movement of the package / blank 2 relative to the pulsed air jet to remove particles from the package or blank 2 to be filled and to capture the particles by a controlled suction flow from the suction unit 184 of the enclosure.

[0048] The air supply tube 181 is preferably a single inlet tube which extends a short distance downwardly from the upper package edge to allow an effective jet to propagate downwardly into the package or blank 2 without being negatively affected by the draw flow.

[0049] A single pulse of pressurized air covers a package or blank 2 of the composition pair as it passes through the orifice 182. In this manner, the movement of the package or blank 2 ensures that the jet adheres first to the package wall on one side and then to the wall on the other side of the package wall, thereby effectively removing particles from the wall as well as from the body of the package. While still taking into account air consumption, the position, timing and length of the pulse are controlled to ensure wall adhesion on both sides of the package and on both packages. Preferably, the air pulse begins as soon as the leading package edge enters under the inlet tube and ends once the second / trailing package of the composition pair has been processed, such as Figure 5 Alternatively, the particle removal device 18 may be continuously actuated so that air is continuously exhausted from the air supply pipe 181, even when the package is stationary.

[0050] The particles leaving the package opening will be effectively captured by the extraction hood (preferably a central extraction pipe running under a controlled steady-state flow) placed above. Since the air supply pipe 181 extends downward and is therefore vertically below and separated from the extraction point, the air jet will not be negatively affected by the extraction flow and can still capture the particles removed from the package. In this way, dust accumulation in the machine can be minimized. The control of the process can be based on the design of the hood with an integrated air supply pipe 181, the positioning of the air supply pipe 181 relative to the package, the indexing motion curve, the pulse timing controlled by the valve 185, the flow rate of the pressurized air (preferably controlled by pressure) and the extraction flow. If there is enough accumulation volume before the valve 185, it is preferably possible to ensure controlled air flow during the entire pulse by pressure control.

[0051] The solution proposed herein effectively removes particles from the ready-to-fill packages or blanks 2 with a relatively low consumption of pressurized air. In particular, the proposed solution is very effective not only in removing larger particles but also in removing smaller particles (down to 0.1 mm in diameter). Since the particle removal device 18 is separated from the package sterilization station 20, it allows to create optimal conditions for particle removal without being restricted by the requirements of the package sterilization process and the requirements of maintaining hygienic conditions in the hygienic area.

[0052] The particle removal device 18 is a space-saving solution, since only one packaging position is needed to still process two packages of the component degree pair. This space-saving solution can be implemented downstream of the ultrasonic sealing of the cap, thus allowing implementation also for micron-sized particles generated during the ultrasonic cap sealing process. Those small particles that are still present in the package body are preferably captured before they adhere to the packaging material, for example due to the strength of the electrostatic forces and van der Waals bonds between the particles and the package wall. The solution proposed herein allows early processing of the package before the small particles adhere to the wall, thereby washing away most of the small particles.

[0053] Another benefit of implementing the particle removal device 18 before the package sterilization station 20 is that the particle removal function will be independent of the process of package sterilization and maintaining sanitary chamber conditions, respectively, thereby achieving effective particle removal without compromising these critical functions. The particle removal device 18 can thus be operated without increasing the risk of re-contamination of the package after or at the end of the sterilization process, thereby reducing the risk of re-contamination of the package after sterilization. It also achieves the optimization of the package sterilization process without affecting the particle removal function.

[0054] Now turn to Figure 6 , schematically showing a method 100. The method 100 is performed at a filling machine configured to form, fill and seal individual packages. The method 100 comprises a step 102 of providing a particle removal device 18 according to the above description, and a step 104 of actuating the particle removal device so that a jet of air is directed into the package to be filled passing through the particle removal device.

[0055] From the above it can be seen that, although various embodiments of the invention have been described and shown, the invention is not restricted thereto but can also be embodied in other ways within the scope of the subject matter defined in the appended claims.

Claims

1. A particle removal device (18) for a filling machine (10) configured to form, fill and seal individual packages (4), wherein the particle removal device (18) comprises an air supply pipe (181), It is characterized in that A controller (186) is programmed to control the particle removal device (18) so that an air jet is directed into a package to be filled (2) passing through the particle removal device (18), wherein the controller (186) is programmed to control the actuation of the particle removal device (18) based on the movement of the package to be filled (2) passing through the particle removal device (18) of the composition pair, wherein the actuation of the particle removal device (18) begins when the edge of a leading package in the composition pair of packages to be filled (2) is positioned in the same vertical plane as the orifice (182) of the air supply tube (181), and ends after the second / trailing package in the composition pair of packages to be filled (2) passes through the air supply tube (181).

2. The particle removal device of claim 1, wherein the air jet is constant during actuation.

3. The particle removal device according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising a housing (183), and wherein the air supply pipe (181) is arranged inside the housing (183).

4. The particle removal device according to claim 3, wherein the cover body (183) is provided with a gas extraction unit (184).

5. The particle removal device according to claim 3, wherein the orifice (182) of the air supply pipe (181) is arranged vertically below the bottom end of the cover body (183).

6. The particle removal device according to the preceding claim 3, wherein the cover (183) is dimensioned to cover at least one package to be filled.

7. A filling machine (10) comprising a particle removal device according to any one of the preceding claims.

8. Filling machine according to claim 7, further comprising a cap applicator station (16), and wherein the particle removal device (18) is arranged downstream of the cap applicator station (16).

9. Filling machine according to claim 7 or 8, further comprising a sterilizing station (20), and wherein the particle removal device (18) is arranged upstream of the sterilizing station (20).

10. A method for a filling machine configured to form, fill and seal individual packages (4), the method comprising: A particle removal device (18) according to any one of claims 1 to 6 is provided and actuated such that a jet of air is directed into a package (2) to be filled passing through the particle removal device (18).

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