A filling machine

By introducing a cleaning cup control component into the filling machine, the position of the CIP cleaning cup is automatically adjusted, solving the problem of low production efficiency caused by manual disassembly and assembly of the guide plate, and achieving a more efficient production process.

CN116534781BActive Publication Date: 2025-11-25HEFEI ZHONGCHEN LIGHT IND MACHINERY
View PDF 1 Cites 0 Cited by

Patent Information

Application Number
CN202310659393.6
Authority / Receiving Office
CN · China
Patent Type
Patents(China)
Current Assignee / Owner
Filing Date
2023-06-05
Publication Date
2025-11-25
Estimated Expiration
2043-06-05

AI Technical Summary

Technical Problem

Existing filling machines require manual disassembly and reassembly of the guide plate during CIP cleaning, resulting in low production efficiency.

Method used

A new cleaning cup control component has been added, including a swingable cleaning cup roller cam and a slide plate. By automatically adjusting the position of the CIP cleaning cup, the guide plate can be installed without manual disassembly.

Benefits of technology

It reduces the time spent manually disassembling and assembling guide plates, saves labor intensity, and improves production efficiency.

✦ Generated by Eureka AI based on patent content.

Smart Images

  • Figure CN116534781B_ABST
    Figure CN116534781B_ABST
Patent Text Reader

Abstract

The application discloses a filling machine, which comprises a cleaning cup control assembly and a rotatable filling valve. The filling valve comprises a fixed valve nozzle and a slide plate slidably arranged below the valve nozzle. The slide plate is lifted and lowered relative to the valve nozzle. The slide plate is provided with a CIP cleaning cup and a cleaning cup roller. The cleaning cup control assembly comprises a swingably arranged cleaning cup roller cam. The cleaning cup roller cam comprises a first cam and a second cam which are distributed in a spreader shape. The application adjusts the position of the CIP cleaning cup by using the cleaning cup control assembly, realizes automatic installation and dismounting of the CIP cleaning cup, and does not need to frequently manually dismount and mount the guide plate during CIP cleaning. Therefore, invalid dismounting and mounting time is saved, labor intensity is reduced, and production efficiency is improved.
Need to check novelty before this filing date? Find Prior Art

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of filling technology, and in particular to a filling machine. Background Technology

[0002] Considering that deposits often accumulate inside filling machines during production, more and more filling machines are adopting CIP (Cleaning In Place) cleaning systems. These systems clean and disinfect the filling machine in a closed loop without the need for manual disassembly, thereby improving production quality.

[0003] Some existing filling machines are equipped with CIP (Clean-In-Place) cups on their filling valves to ensure a closed-loop circuit within the machine. Both the inlet and outlet star wheels are equipped with guide plates to prevent bottles from tilting during transport. However, due to current technological limitations, existing filling machines cannot automatically disassemble and reassemble the CIP cups. During CIP cleaning, the guide plates are typically removed manually to prevent interference between the CIP cup and the guide plate, and then manually reassembled afterward. This frequent disassembly and reassembly of the guide plates delays production time and severely impacts efficiency. Summary of the Invention

[0004] In view of this, the purpose of the present invention is to provide a filling machine that adds a cleaning cup control component for adjusting the position of the CIP cleaning cup, which can automatically disassemble and assemble the CIP cleaning cup, eliminating the need for manual disassembly and assembly of the guide plate during CIP cleaning, thus solving the technical problem of low production efficiency caused by disassembly and assembly of the guide plate and improving production efficiency.

[0005] The filling machine provided by the present invention includes a cleaning cup control component and a rotatably configured filling valve. The filling valve includes a fixedly configured valve nozzle and a slide plate slidably configured below the valve nozzle. The slide plate is raised and lowered relative to the valve nozzle. The slide plate is provided with a CIP cleaning cup and a cleaning cup roller. The cleaning cup control component includes a swingable cleaning cup roller cam. The cleaning cup roller cam includes a first cam and a second cam distributed in a figure-eight shape.

[0006] When the cleaning cup roller cam swings to the cup hanging position, the cleaning cup roller descends with the slide plate until the cleaning cup roller abuts against the first cam. Driven by the filling valve, the cleaning cup roller moves along the first cam to push the slide plate forward relative to the valve nozzle until the CIP cleaning cup is aligned with the valve nozzle. The slide plate then rises again until the CIP cleaning cup is in contact with the valve nozzle.

[0007] When the cleaning cup roller cam swings to the cup retraction position, the slide plate descends until the CIP cleaning cup disengages from the valve nozzle. The cleaning cup roller descends with the slide plate until it abuts against the second cam. Driven by the filling valve, the cleaning cup roller moves along the second cam to pull the slide plate backward relative to the valve nozzle until the CIP cleaning cup is disengaged from the valve nozzle.

[0008] Preferably, the cleaning cup control assembly further includes a fixed support plate forming a limiting groove; the cleaning cup roller is rolled into the limiting groove by the first cam, and the limiting groove is used to correct the movement trajectory of the slide plate and limit the slide plate from excessive sliding relative to the valve nozzle.

[0009] Preferably, the cleaning cup control assembly further includes a first limiting strip and a second limiting strip respectively fixed to the support plate, the first limiting strip and the second limiting strip cooperating to form a limiting groove.

[0010] Preferably, the support plate is provided with a fan-shaped guide groove, and the cleaning cup control assembly also includes a swing guide wheel and a limit buffer wheel fixed to the roller cam of the cleaning cup, the swing guide wheel and the limit buffer wheel respectively abutting against the two arc sides of the fan-shaped guide groove.

[0011] Preferably, the cleaning cup control assembly further includes a swing drive hinged to the cleaning cup roller cam, the swing drive including a first air inlet, a second air inlet and a third air inlet;

[0012] When neither the first nor the second air inlet is intake, but the third air inlet is intake, the swing drive drives the cleaning cup roller cam to swing to the cup hanging position.

[0013] When air enters through both the first and second air inlets and not through the third air inlet, the oscillating drive drives the cleaning cup roller cam to oscillate to the cup retraction position.

[0014] When air enters through the first air inlet and neither the second nor the third air inlet enters, the swing drive drives the cleaning cup roller cam to swing to the filling position, and the cleaning cup roller descends with the slide plate between the first and second cams.

[0015] Preferably, it also includes an inlet star wheel, an outlet star wheel, and a fixed inlet / outlet cam; the filling valve includes a lifting cylinder, a roller rotatably connected to the piston rod of the lifting cylinder, and a bottle clamping plate located below the lifting cylinder and connected to the piston rod via a connecting rod; the top side profile of the inlet / outlet cam includes a first ramp section and a second ramp section respectively located at both ends.

[0016] When the roller rolls to the lowest position of the first ramp section, the bottle clamping plate receives the bottle from the bottle inlet star wheel; when the roller rolls from the lowest position of the first ramp section to its highest position, the lifting cylinder extends, and the piston rod drives the bottle clamping plate to rise until the bottle clamped by the bottle clamping plate abuts against the valve nozzle.

[0017] When the lifting cylinder retracts, the piston rod drives the roller to the highest position of the second ramp section, and at the same time drives the bottle clamping plate to descend until the bottle clamped by the bottle clamping plate is released from the valve nozzle; when the roller rolls from the highest position of the second ramp section to its lowest position, the bottle clamping plate receives the bottle from the bottle outlet star wheel.

[0018] Preferably, it also includes a limit cam that can be raised and lowered on the bottle inlet / outlet cam; when the filling valve is in the filling state, the gap width between the bottle inlet / outlet cam and the limit cam is equal to the diameter of the roller; when the filling valve is in the cleaning state, the gap width between the bottle inlet / outlet cam and the limit cam is greater than the diameter of the roller.

[0019] Preferably, it also includes a controller and an alarm and a first detection element connected to the controller. The first detection element is used to detect whether the lifting cylinder drives the roller to rise to the upper limit position at the highest position of the second slope section. When the first detection element detects that the roller has not risen to the upper limit position, the controller activates the alarm according to the signal fed back by the first detection element.

[0020] Preferably, the top side profile of the bottle inlet / outlet cam also includes a smooth intermediate horizontal section connected between the first and second ramp sections, a second detection element, and a fixedly installed bottle outlet guide plate. The bottle outlet guide plate is used to guide the bottle clamping plate to receive the bottle from the bottle outlet star wheel. The second detection element is used to detect whether the distance between the roller and the bottle outlet guide plate reaches a preset distance when the roller rolls along the intermediate horizontal section in a direction away from the bottle outlet guide plate. The controller is connected to the second detection element, the swing drive element, and the lifting cylinder respectively. When the second detection element detects that the distance between the roller and the bottle outlet guide plate reaches the preset distance, the controller first controls the swing drive element to drive the cleaning cup roller cam to swing to the cup hanging position according to the signal fed back by the second detection element, and then controls the lifting cylinder to retract.

[0021] Preferably, it also includes a third detection element connected to the controller and a fixedly installed bottle inlet guide plate, which is used to guide the bottle card plate to receive bottles from the bottle inlet star wheel;

[0022] The third detection element is used to detect whether the distance between the roller and the inlet guide plate reaches the specified distance when the roller rolls along the middle horizontal section towards the bottle inlet guide plate. When the third detection element detects that the distance between the roller and the bottle outlet guide plate reaches the specified distance, the controller first controls the swing drive to drive the washing cup roller cam to swing to the cup retraction position according to the signal fed back by the third detection element, and then controls the lifting cylinder to retract.

[0023] Compared with the prior art, the present invention adds a cleaning cup control component, wherein the cleaning cup roller cam of the cleaning cup control component is oscillating and includes a first cam and a second cam distributed in a figure-eight shape.

[0024] When the cleaning cup roller cam swings to the cup-hanging position, the slide plate descends relative to the valve nozzle. The CIP cleaning cup and the cleaning cup roller descend synchronously with the slide plate until the cleaning cup roller abuts against the first cam. Driven by the filling valve, the cleaning cup roller moves along the first cam. The first cam pushes the slide plate forward relative to the valve nozzle through the cleaning cup roller until the CIP cleaning cup is aligned with the valve nozzle. The slide plate then rises relative to the valve nozzle until the CIP cleaning cup is in contact with the valve nozzle, thus completing the installation of the CIP cleaning cup.

[0025] When the cleaning cup roller cam swings to the cup retraction position, the slide plate descends relative to the valve nozzle. The CIP cleaning cup and the cleaning cup roller descend synchronously with the slide plate. The CIP cleaning cup disengages from the valve nozzle until the cleaning cup roller abuts against the second cam. Driven by the filling valve, the cleaning cup roller moves along the second cam. The second cam pulls the slide plate backward relative to the valve nozzle through the cleaning cup roller until the CIP cleaning cup is disengaged from the valve nozzle, thus removing the CIP cleaning cup.

[0026] As can be seen from the above, the present invention uses a cleaning cup control component to adjust the position of the CIP cleaning cup, eliminating the need for frequent manual disassembly and assembly of the guide plate during CIP cleaning, saving ineffective disassembly and assembly time, reducing labor intensity, and improving production efficiency. Attached Figure Description

[0027] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only embodiments of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on the provided drawings without creative effort.

[0028] Figure 1 This is an isometric view of a filling machine provided in a specific embodiment of the present invention;

[0029] Figure 2 for Figure 1 A magnified view of part A in the image;

[0030] Figure 3 for Figure 1 Another axonometric view;

[0031] Figure 4 for Figure 1 Top view;

[0032] Figure 5 for Figure 1 Assembly diagram of the middle cleaning cup control assembly, filling valve, bottle inlet star wheel and bottle outlet star wheel;

[0033] Figure 6 for Figure 1 Assembly diagram of the cleaning cup control assembly and filling valve;

[0034] Figure 7 for Figure 1 A diagram showing the filling valve in preparation for cup hanging during the CIP cleaning process.

[0035] Figure 8 for Figure 1 A diagram showing the state of the filling valve after cup adhesion during the CIP cleaning process;

[0036] Figure 9 for Figure 1 A diagram showing the state of the filling valve when receiving bottles during the filling process;

[0037] Figure 10 for Figure 1 A state diagram of the cleaning cup control component in the hanging cup state during CIP cleaning;

[0038] Figure 11 for Figure 1 A state diagram of the cleaning cup control component in the cup retraction state during CIP cleaning;

[0039] Figure 12 for Figure 11 Sectional view along the BB direction;

[0040] Figure 13 for Figure 1 A diagram showing the status of the cleaning cup control component during filling production.

[0041] The attached figures are labeled as follows:

[0042] The cleaning cup control assembly includes: 1. Filling valve; 2. Inlet star wheel; 3. Outlet star wheel; 4. Inlet / outlet cam; 5. Limit cam; 6. First detection element; 7. Second detection element; 8. Third detection element; and 9.

[0043] 21. Valve nozzle, 22. Slide plate, 23. CIP cleaning cup, 24. Cleaning cup roller, 25. Lifting cylinder, 26. Roller, 27. Connecting rod, 28. Bottle clamping plate, and 29. Fixing plate;

[0044] The components include a cleaning cup roller cam 11, a support plate 12, a limiting slide groove 13, a first limiting strip 14, a second limiting strip 15, a swing guide wheel 16, a limiting buffer wheel 17, and a swing drive component 18.

[0045] Fan-shaped guide groove 111, first cam 112 and second cam 113;

[0046] First air inlet 181, second air inlet 182 and third air inlet 183;

[0047] Bottle inlet guide plate 31;

[0048] Bottle dispensing guide plate 41;

[0049] The first ramp section 51, the second ramp section 52, the intermediate horizontal section 53, and the regulating cylinder 54. Detailed Implementation

[0050] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0051] To enable those skilled in the art to better understand the present invention, the present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

[0052] This invention discloses a filling machine that uses a newly added cleaning cup control component 1 to adjust the position of the CIP cleaning cup 23, eliminating the need for manual disassembly and assembly of the guide plate during CIP cleaning. This solves the technical problem of low production efficiency caused by manual disassembly and assembly of the guide plate during existing CIP cleaning processes, thereby improving production efficiency.

[0053] like Figures 1 to 13 As shown, the filling machine includes a filling valve 2 and a cup washing control assembly 1. The filling valve 2 is rotatably mounted. In this specific embodiment, considering that both the inlet star wheel 3 and the outlet star wheel 4 rotate counterclockwise, the filling valve 2 also rotates counterclockwise. The rotation direction of the filling valve 2 can be adaptively adjusted according to the rotation directions of the inlet star wheel 3 and the outlet star wheel 4, and is not specifically limited here. Multiple sets of filling valves 2 can be set, and all filling valves 2 rotate synchronously to achieve continuous filling production. A cup washing control assembly is fixed below each set of filling valves 2.

[0054] like Figure 6 As shown, each filling valve 2 includes a fixedly mounted valve nozzle 21 and a slide plate 22 slidably mounted below the valve nozzle 21. The slide plate 22 is equipped with a CIP cleaning cup 23 and a cleaning cup roller 24, which are located at opposite ends of the slide plate 22. The CIP cleaning cup 23 is specifically located on the side of the slide plate 22 closest to the valve nozzle 21. During CIP cleaning, the valve nozzle 21 abuts against the CIP cleaning cup 23, causing the cleaning fluid to circulate inside the filling machine, thus achieving CIP cleaning. During filling production, the valve nozzle 21 abuts against the bottle mouth. The slide plate 22 is slidably mounted parallel to the bottle clamping plate 28. Driven by the bottle clamping plate 28, the slide plate 22 rises and falls relative to the valve nozzle 21, causing the CIP cleaning cup 23 to move closer to or further away from the valve nozzle 21.

[0055] The cleaning cup control assembly 1 is fixedly installed and is used to control the forward or backward movement of the CIP cleaning cup 23 relative to the valve nozzle 21, so that the CIP cleaning cup 23 can be aligned with or offset from the valve nozzle 21. The directional terms such as "forward" and "backward" in this text are all indicated by the appendix. Figure 1The current view is taken as the reference. The cleaning cup control assembly 1 includes a swingable cleaning cup roller cam 11. The cleaning cup roller 24 can fall onto the cleaning cup roller cam 11 under the drive of the lifting cylinder 25. Thus, the movement trajectory of the cleaning cup roller 24 can be changed by adjusting the swing position of the cleaning cup roller cam 11, thereby adjusting the position of the CIP cleaning cup 23 relative to the valve nozzle 21 via the slide plate 22. The cleaning cup roller cam 11 has three swing positions: cup hanging position, cup retraction position, and filling position. The movement trajectory of the cleaning cup roller 24 in the three positions can be referred to the following content for details. Figure 10 , Figure 11 and Figure 13 .

[0056] The cleaning cup roller cam 11 includes a first cam 112 and a second cam 113 arranged in a figure-eight shape. This arrangement ensures that the cleaning cup roller 24 can smoothly enter between the first cam 112 and the second cam 113, and also changes the movement trajectory of the cleaning cup roller 24. Specifically, both the first cam 112 and the second cam 113 are plate-shaped, and both ends are curved into arcs to avoid collision between their ends and the cleaning cup roller 24.

[0057] When the cleaning cup roller cam 11 swings to the cup-hanging position, the slide plate 22 descends relative to the valve nozzle 21. The CIP cleaning cup 23 and the cleaning cup roller 24 descend synchronously with the slide plate 22 until the cleaning cup roller 24 abuts against the first cam 112. The cleaning cup roller 24 moves along the first cam 112 under the drive of the filling valve 2. The first cam 112 pushes the slide plate 22 forward relative to the valve nozzle 21 through the cleaning cup roller 24 until the CIP cleaning cup 23 is aligned with the valve nozzle 21. The slide plate 22 rises relative to the valve nozzle 21 until the CIP cleaning cup 23 is in contact with the valve nozzle 21, thus realizing the installation of the CIP cleaning cup 23.

[0058] When the cleaning cup roller cam 11 swings to the cup retraction position, the slide plate 22 descends relative to the valve nozzle 21. The CIP cleaning cup 23 and the cleaning cup roller 24 descend synchronously with the slide plate 22. The CIP cleaning cup 23 disengages from the valve nozzle 21 until the cleaning cup roller 24 abuts against the second cam 113. The cleaning cup roller 24 moves along the second cam 113 under the drive of the filling valve 2. The second cam 113 pulls the slide plate 22 backward relative to the valve nozzle 21 through the cleaning cup roller 24 until the CIP cleaning cup 23 is displaced from the valve nozzle 21, thus removing the CIP cleaning cup 23.

[0059] In summary, the present invention utilizes the cleaning cup control component 1 to adjust the position of the CIP cleaning cup 23, which can automatically disassemble and assemble the CIP cleaning cup 23. This eliminates the need for frequent manual disassembly and assembly of the guide plate during CIP cleaning, saving ineffective disassembly and assembly time, reducing labor intensity, and improving production efficiency.

[0060] The cup cleaning control assembly 1 also includes a fixed support plate 12, which mainly serves a supporting function. The cup cleaning roller cam 11 is arranged parallel to the support plate 12. A limiting groove 13 is formed on the side of the support plate 12 away from the cup cleaning roller cam 11. When the cup cleaning roller cam 11 swings to the cup hanging position, the cup cleaning roller 24 rolls into the limiting groove 13 from the first cam 112. The limiting groove 13 is used to correct the movement trajectory of the slide plate 22 and limit the slide plate 22 from excessive sliding relative to the valve nozzle 21, thereby preventing the slide plate 22 from excessively sliding and colliding with the bottle inlet guide plate 31 and the bottle outlet guide plate 41.

[0061] The cleaning cup control assembly 1 also includes a first limiting strip 14 and a second limiting strip 15 respectively fixed to the support plate 12. The gap between the first limiting strip 14 and the second limiting strip 15 forms the limiting groove 13. Both the first limiting strip 14 and the second limiting strip 15 can be fixed to the support plate 12 by fastening screws, but the fixing method is not limited to this. The ends of both the first limiting strip 14 and the second limiting strip 15 near the cleaning cup roller cam 11 are both toothed, so that the end of the limiting groove 13 near the cleaning cup roller cam 11 forms a conical groove, which is more conducive to the cleaning cup roller 24 entering the limiting groove 13 and reduces the risk of collision between the cleaning cup roller 24 and the first limiting strip 14 and the second limiting strip 15. Of course, the forming method of the limiting groove 13 is not limited to this.

[0062] The support plate 12 is provided with a fan-shaped guide groove 111 for guiding the oscillation of the cleaning cup roller cam 11. Correspondingly, the cleaning cup control assembly 1 also includes an oscillating guide wheel 16 and a limiting buffer wheel 17 fixed to the cleaning cup roller cam 11. The oscillating guide wheel 16 and the limiting buffer wheel 17 respectively abut against the two arcuate sides of the fan-shaped guide groove 111, so that the oscillating guide wheel 16 is used to guide the cleaning cup roller cam 11 to oscillate along the arcuate trajectory, and the cleaning cup roller cam 11 oscillates stably under the combined action of the oscillating guide wheel 16 and the limiting buffer wheel 17. In addition, the limiting buffer wheel 17 can also absorb the impact vibration generated during the oscillation of the cleaning cup roller cam 11. The material of the limiting buffer wheel 17 can be rubber, nylon, etc., and is not limited here. Both the oscillating guide wheel 16 and the limiting buffer wheel 17 are fixed to the bottom of the cleaning cup roller cam 11 by screws. It should also be noted that the outer surface of the swing guide wheel 16 is stepped, and correspondingly, one of the arc sides of the fan-shaped guide groove 111 is also stepped, and it cooperates with the outer surface of the swing guide wheel 16 to limit the movement of the cleaning cup roller cam 11 along the thickness direction of the support plate 12 during the swing, so as to further ensure the stable swing of the cleaning cup roller cam 11.

[0063] The cleaning cup control assembly 1 also includes a swing drive 18 hinged to the cleaning cup roller cam 11 for driving the cleaning cup roller cam 11 to swing relative to the support plate 12. The swing drive 18 may be a double-stroke cylinder, but is not limited thereto. The swing drive 18 includes a first air inlet 181, a second air inlet 182, and a third air inlet 183.

[0064] When neither the first air inlet 181 nor the second air inlet 182 is intake, and the third air inlet 183 is intake, the piston rod of the swing drive 18 is fully retracted. At this time, the swing drive 18 drives the cleaning cup roller cam 11 to swing to the cup-hanging position. Figure 10 As shown.

[0065] When air is introduced through both the first air inlet 181 and the second air inlet 182, and air is not introduced through the third air inlet 183, the piston rod of the swing drive 18 is fully extended. At this time, the swing drive 18 drives the cleaning cup roller cam 11 to swing to the cup retraction position. Figure 11 As shown.

[0066] When air enters through the first air inlet 181 but not through the second air inlet 182 or the third air inlet 183, the piston rod of the swing drive 18 is not fully extended. Figure 13 As shown, at this time, the drive cleaning cup roller cam 11 swings to the filling position, and the cleaning cup roller 24 descends with the slide plate 22 between the first cam 112 and the second cam 113, ensuring that neither the first cam 112 nor the second cam 113 has significant contact pressure with the cleaning cup roller 24, avoiding excessive impact during normal filling production, and avoiding severe wear of the cleaning cup roller 24.

[0067] The filling machine also includes an inlet star wheel 3, an outlet star wheel 4, and a fixed inlet / outlet cam 5. Both the inlet star wheel 3 and the outlet star wheel 4 are rotatable, and both are disc-shaped with evenly distributed bottle-holding grooves along their outer edges. The inlet / outlet cam 5 bends away from the inlet and outlet star wheels 3 and 4 to support the filling valve 2. Correspondingly, the filling valve 2 includes a lifting cylinder 25, a roller 26, and a bottle-holding plate 28. The lifting cylinder 25 is specifically a pneumatic cylinder. The roller 26 is rotatably mounted on the piston rod of the lifting cylinder 25, and the valve nozzle 21 is fixed to the bottom of the cylinder barrel of the lifting cylinder 25. The bottle-holding plate 28 is located below the lifting cylinder 25 and is connected to the piston rod via a connecting rod 27. Specifically, the cylinder of the lifting cylinder 25 is slidably fitted with a connecting rod 27, and a fixed plate 29 is fixedly mounted on the bottom of the cylinder. The two ends of the connecting rod 27 are connected to the fixed plate 29 and the piston rod, respectively. The bottle-holding plate 28 is fixed below the fixed plate 29 by a pin. The fixed plate 29 has a semi-circular notch to avoid the valve nozzle 21. The fixed plate 29 also has a guide pin, and the sliding plate 22 has a guide hole, which is an oblong hole. The guide pin is inserted through the guide hole to guide the sliding plate 22 to slide relative to the fixed plate 29. When the piston rod of the lifting cylinder 25 extends upward, it drives the bottle-holding plate 28 to move upward via the connecting rod 27; conversely, the bottle-holding plate 28 descends. The end of the bottle-holding plate 28 near the bottle-infeed star wheel 3 has an arc groove to hold the bottle mouth. The roller 26 can roll along the top side profile of the bottle inlet / outlet cam 5. The top side profile has a first ramp section 51 and a second ramp section 52 at both ends, both used to guide the roller 26 to roll, enabling the filling valve 2 to rise and fall as a whole. Figure 1 As shown, the first ramp section 51 is located at the left end of the bottle inlet / outlet cam 5, and the second ramp section 52 is located at the right end of the bottle inlet / outlet cam 5.

[0068] When roller 26 rolls to the lowest position of the first ramp section 51, bottle-holding plate 28 is aligned with one of the bottle-holding slots of the bottle-feeding star wheel 3. Guided by the bottle-feeding guide plate 31, bottle-holding plate 28 receives bottles from the bottle-feeding star wheel 3, as shown. Figure 9 As shown; when the roller 26 rolls from the lowest position to the highest position along the first slope section 51, the lifting cylinder 25 extends, and the piston rod drives the bottle clamping plate 28 to rise until the bottle clamped by the bottle clamping plate 28 abuts against the valve nozzle 21, thus realizing filling.

[0069] When the roller 26 rolls to the highest position of the second ramp section 52, the lifting cylinder 25 retracts, and the piston rod drives the roller 26 to fall to the highest position of the second ramp section 52. The bottle clamping plate 28 descends with the piston rod until the bottle clamped by the bottle clamping plate 28 is released from the valve nozzle 21. When the roller 26 rolls from the highest position of the second ramp section 52 to its lowest position, the bottle clamping plate 28 is opposite to one of the bottle clamping slots of the bottle outlet star wheel 4. Under the guidance of the bottle outlet guide plate 41, the bottle clamping plate 28 receives the bottle from the bottle outlet star wheel 4, and the filling ends.

[0070] The filling machine also includes a limiting cam 6 that is vertically mounted on the inlet / outlet cam 5. The length of the limiting cam 6 is shorter than that of the inlet / outlet cam 5, and the top profile of the limiting cam 6 is opposite to that of the inlet / outlet cam 5. At least one set of adjusting cylinders 54 is fixedly mounted on the inlet / outlet cam 5. The piston rod of the adjusting cylinder 54 is connected to the limiting cam 6 and is used to adjust the distance between the limiting cam 6 and the inlet / outlet cam 5. The adjusting cylinder 54 can be a pneumatic cylinder, but its type is not limited to this.

[0071] When the filling valve 2 is in the filling state, the gap between the inlet / outlet cam 5 and the limiting cam 6 is equal to the diameter of the roller 26. At this time, the limiting cam 6 is used to limit the position of the roller 26 to prevent the bottle jamming plate 28 from hitting the inlet star wheel 3 or the outlet star wheel 4. When the filling valve 2 is in the cleaning state, the gap between the inlet / outlet cam 5 and the limiting cam 6 is greater than the diameter of the roller 26. By increasing the gap between the inlet / outlet cam 5 and the limiting cam 6, the upward space of the roller 26 is increased, ensuring that the CIP cleaning cup 23 can seal the valve nozzle 21 and prevent the CIP cleaning cup 23 from leaking cleaning fluid.

[0072] The filling machine also includes a controller and an alarm and a first detection element 7 connected to the controller. The first detection element 7 is used to detect whether the lifting cylinder 25 drives the roller 26 to rise to the upper limit position at the highest position of the second inclined section 52. The first detection element 7 can be a position sensor, a limit switch, or an obstacle sensor, etc., and is not specifically limited here.

[0073] When the first detection element 7 detects that the roller 26 has not risen to the upper limit position, the controller activates the alarm based on the signal fed back by the first detection element 7, reminding the operator to stop the machine and check for faults. By automatically detecting the position of the roller 26, the controller ensures that the roller 26 reliably stays at the upper limit position, thereby ensuring that the CIP cleaning cup 23 mounted on the slide plate 22 is tightly attached to the valve nozzle 21. This prevents the slide plate 22 from falling and colliding with the bottle outlet guide plate 41 due to insufficient air pressure in the lifting cylinder 25, reducing the failure rate and improving reliability. When the first detection element 7 detects that the roller 26 has risen to the upper limit position, the controller does not activate the alarm.

[0074] The profile of the bottle inlet / outlet cam 5 also includes a smooth intermediate horizontal section 53 that connects the first ramp section 51 and the second ramp section 52. When the filling valve 2 rotates counterclockwise, the roller 26 rolls over the second ramp section 52, the intermediate horizontal section 53 and the first ramp section 51 in sequence.

[0075] The filling machine also includes a second detection element 8 and a fixedly installed bottle outlet guide plate 41. The bottle outlet guide plate 41 is used to guide the bottle clamping plate 28 to receive bottles from the bottle outlet star wheel 4. The second detection element 8 is used to detect whether the distance between the roller 26 and the bottle outlet guide plate 41 reaches a preset distance when the roller 26 rolls away from the bottle outlet guide plate 41 along the middle horizontal section 53. The second detection element 8 can be a distance sensor or a position sensor, which is not specifically limited here. The preset distance refers to the shortest distance between the roller 26 and the bottle outlet guide plate 41 when the slide plate 22 does not collide with the bottle outlet guide plate 41.

[0076] The controller is connected to the second detection element 8, the swing drive element 18, and the lifting cylinder 25. When the second detection element 8 detects that the distance between the roller 26 and the bottle guide plate 41 reaches the preset distance, the controller, based on the signal fed back by the second detection element 8, first controls the swing drive element 18 to drive the cleaning cup roller cam 11 to swing to the cup hanging position, and then controls the lifting cylinder 25 to retract. The cleaning cup roller 24 descends with the slide plate 22 until it abuts against the first cam 112. The first cam 112 pushes the slide plate 22, and the CIP cleaning cup 23 moves forward under the drive of the slide plate 22 to align with the valve nozzle 21.

[0077] The filling machine also includes a valve nozzle 21 connected to the controller and a fixedly mounted bottle inlet guide plate 31. The bottle inlet guide plate 31 guides the bottle clamping plate 28 to receive bottles from the bottle inlet star wheel 3. The valve nozzle 21 is used to detect whether the distance between the roller 26 and the bottle inlet guide plate 31 reaches a specified distance when the roller 26 rolls along the middle horizontal section 53 towards the bottle inlet guide plate 31. It can also be a distance sensor or a position sensor, etc. The specified distance refers to the shortest distance between the roller 26 and the bottle inlet guide plate 31 without the slide plate 22 colliding with it.

[0078] When the valve nozzle 21 detects that the distance between the roller 26 and the bottle outlet guide plate 41 has reached the specified distance, the controller first controls the swing drive 18 to drive the cleaning cup roller cam 11 to swing to the cup retraction position according to the signal fed back by the valve nozzle 21, and then controls the control lifting cylinder 25 to retract. The cleaning cup roller 24 descends with the slide plate 22 until it abuts against the second cam 113. The second cam 113 pulls the slide plate 22, and the CIP cleaning cup 23 moves backward and away from the valve nozzle 21 under the drive of the slide plate 22.

[0079] The second detection component 8 and the valve nozzle 21 ensure that the position of the cleaning cup roller cam 11 is automatically adjusted before the lifting cylinder 25 drives the slide plate 22 to descend during the CIP cleaning process. This prevents the slide plate 22 from colliding with the bottle inlet guide plate 31 and the bottle outlet guide plate 41 during the CIP cleaning process, which can also reduce the failure rate and improve reliability.

[0080] The working principle of the filling machine provided by this invention is as follows:

[0081] CIP cleaning: The adjusting cylinder 54 extends to increase the gap width between the bottle inlet / outlet cam 5 and the limiting cam 6 until it is greater than the diameter of the roller 26;

[0082] When the second detection element 8 detects that the distance between the roller 26 and the bottle guide plate 41 reaches the preset distance, the controller, based on the signal fed back by the second detection element 8, first controls the swing drive element 18 to drive the cleaning cup roller cam 11 to swing to the cup hanging position. The piston rod of the swing drive element 18 fully retracts, and then controls the lifting cylinder 25 to retract. The bottle clamping plate 28 and the slide plate 22 descend synchronously relative to the valve nozzle 21. The CIP cleaning cup 23 and the cleaning cup roller 24 descend synchronously with the slide plate 22 until the cleaning cup roller 24 abuts against the first cam 112. The cleaning cup roller 24 moves along the first cam 112 under the drive of the filling valve 2. The first cam 112 pushes the slide plate 22 forward relative to the valve nozzle 21 through the cleaning cup roller 24 until the CIP cleaning cup 23 is aligned with the valve nozzle 21. The slide plate 22 rises relative to the valve nozzle 21 until the CIP cleaning cup 23 is in contact with the valve nozzle 21, thus realizing the installation of the CIP cleaning cup 23.

[0083] When the valve nozzle 21 detects that the distance between the roller 26 and the bottle guide plate 41 has reached the specified distance, the controller, based on the signal fed back by the valve nozzle 21, first controls the swing drive 18 to drive the cleaning cup roller cam 11 to swing to the cup retraction position. The piston rod of the swing drive 18 is fully extended, and then the control lifting cylinder 25 is retracted. The slide plate 22 descends relative to the valve nozzle 21, and the CIP cleaning cup 23 and the cleaning cup roller 24 descend synchronously with the slide plate 22. The CIP cleaning cup 23 disengages from the valve nozzle 21 until the cleaning cup roller 24 abuts against the second cam 113. The cleaning cup roller 24 moves along the second cam 113 under the drive of the filling valve 2. The second cam 113 pulls the slide plate 22 backward relative to the valve nozzle 21 through the cleaning cup roller 24 until the CIP cleaning cup 23 is disengaged from the valve nozzle 21, thus removing the CIP cleaning cup 23.

[0084] Filling production: The regulating cylinder 54 retracts, and the gap width between the bottle inlet / outlet cam 5 and the limit cam 6 is equal to the diameter of the roller 26; the piston rod of the swing drive 18 is not fully extended, and the cleaning cup roller 24 descends with the slide plate 22 to between the first cam 112 and the second cam 113;

[0085] When the roller 26 rolls from the middle horizontal section 53 to the lowest position of the first ramp section 51, the bottle clamping plate 28 is opposite to the bottle inlet star wheel 3. Under the guidance of the bottle inlet guide plate 31, the bottle clamping plate 28 receives the bottle from the bottle inlet star wheel 3. When the roller 26 rolls from the lowest position of the first ramp section 51 to its highest position, the lifting cylinder 25 extends, and the piston rod drives the bottle clamping plate 28 to rise until the bottle clamped by the bottle clamping plate 28 abuts against the valve nozzle 21, thus realizing filling.

[0086] When the roller 26 rolls to the highest position of the second ramp section 52, the lifting cylinder 25 retracts, and the piston rod drives the roller 26 to fall to the highest position of the second ramp section 52. The bottle clamping plate 28 descends with the piston rod until the bottle clamped by the bottle clamping plate 28 is released from the valve nozzle 21. When the roller 26 rolls from the highest position of the second ramp section 52 to its lowest position, the bottle clamping plate 28 is opposite to one of the bottle clamping slots of the bottle outlet star wheel 4. Under the guidance of the bottle outlet guide plate 41, the bottle clamping plate 28 receives the bottle from the bottle outlet star wheel 4, and the filling ends.

[0087] The filling machine provided by the present invention has been described in detail above. Specific examples have been used to illustrate the principle and implementation of the present invention. The description of the above embodiments is only for the purpose of helping to understand the method and core idea of ​​the present invention. At the same time, for those skilled in the art, there will be changes in the specific implementation and application scope based on the idea of ​​the present invention. Therefore, the content of this specification should not be construed as a limitation of the present invention.

Claims

1. A filling machine, characterized in that, The system includes a cleaning cup control assembly (1) and a rotatably configured filling valve (2). The filling valve (2) includes a fixedly configured valve nozzle (21) and a slide plate (22) slidably disposed below the valve nozzle (21). The slide plate (22) moves up and down relative to the valve nozzle (21). The slide plate (22) is provided with a CIP cleaning cup (23) and a cleaning cup roller (24). The cleaning cup control assembly (1) includes a swingable cleaning cup roller cam (11). The cleaning cup roller cam (11) includes a first cam (112) and a second cam (113) distributed in a figure-eight shape. When the cleaning cup roller cam (11) swings to the cup hanging position, the cleaning cup roller (24) descends with the slide plate (22) until the cleaning cup roller (24) abuts against the first cam (112). The cleaning cup roller (24) moves along the first cam (112) under the drive of the filling valve (2) to push the slide plate (22) forward relative to the valve nozzle (21) until the CIP cleaning cup (23) is aligned with the valve nozzle (21). The slide plate (22) then rises again until the CIP cleaning cup (23) is in contact with the valve nozzle (21). When the cleaning cup roller cam (11) swings to the cup retraction position, the slide plate (22) descends until the CIP cleaning cup (23) disengages from the valve nozzle (21). The cleaning cup roller (24) descends with the slide plate (22) until the cleaning cup roller (24) abuts against the second cam (113). The cleaning cup roller (24) moves along the second cam (113) under the drive of the filling valve (2) to pull the slide plate (22) backward relative to the valve nozzle (21) until the CIP cleaning cup (23) is offset from the valve nozzle (21). The cleaning cup control assembly (1) further includes a fixed support plate (12) forming a limiting groove (13); the cleaning cup roller (24) is rolled into the limiting groove (13) by the first cam (112), and the limiting groove (13) is used to correct the movement trajectory of the slide plate (22) and limit the slide plate (22) from sliding excessively relative to the valve nozzle (21).

2. The filling machine according to claim 1, characterized in that, The cleaning cup control assembly (1) further includes a first limiting strip (14) and a second limiting strip (15) respectively fixed to the support plate (12), the first limiting strip (14) and the second limiting strip (15) cooperate to form the limiting groove (13).

3. The filling machine according to claim 2, characterized in that, The support plate (12) is provided with a fan-shaped guide groove (111). The cleaning cup control assembly (1) also includes a swing guide wheel (16) and a limiting buffer wheel (17) fixed to the cleaning cup roller cam (11). The swing guide wheel (16) and the limiting buffer wheel (17) respectively abut against the two arc sides of the fan-shaped guide groove (111).

4. The filling machine according to claim 3, characterized in that, The cleaning cup control assembly (1) further includes a swing drive (18) hinged to the cleaning cup roller cam (11), the swing drive (18) including a first air inlet (181), a second air inlet (182) and a third air inlet (183). When neither the first air inlet (181) nor the second air inlet (182) is receiving air and the third air inlet (183) is receiving air, the swing drive (18) drives the cleaning cup roller cam (11) to swing to the cup hanging position. When both the first air inlet (181) and the second air inlet (182) are inlet and the third air inlet (183) is not inlet, the swing drive (18) drives the cleaning cup roller cam (11) to swing to the cup retraction position. When air enters through the first air inlet (181) and neither the second air inlet (182) nor the third air inlet (183) enters, the swing drive (18) drives the cleaning cup roller cam (11) to swing to the filling position, and the cleaning cup roller (24) descends with the slide plate (22) between the first cam (112) and the second cam (113).

5. The filling machine according to claim 4, characterized in that, It also includes an inlet star wheel (3), an outlet star wheel (4), and a fixed inlet / outlet cam (5). The filling valve (2) includes a lifting cylinder (25), a roller (26) rotatably connected to the piston rod of the lifting cylinder (25), and a bottle clamping plate (28) located below the lifting cylinder (25) and connected to the piston rod via a connecting rod (27). The top side profile of the inlet / outlet cam (5) includes a first ramp section (51) and a second ramp section (52) respectively located at both ends. When the roller (26) rolls to the lowest position of the first ramp section (51), the bottle clamping plate (28) receives the bottle from the bottle inlet star wheel (3); when the roller (26) rolls to its highest position along the lowest position of the first ramp section (51), the lifting cylinder (25) extends, and the piston rod drives the bottle clamping plate (28) to rise until the bottle clamped by the bottle clamping plate (28) abuts against the valve nozzle (21); When the lifting cylinder (25) retracts, the piston rod drives the roller (26) to fall to the highest position of the second ramp section (52), and at the same time drives the bottle clamping plate (28) to descend until the bottle clamped by the bottle clamping plate (28) is released from the valve nozzle (21); when the roller (26) rolls from the highest position of the second ramp section (52) to its lowest position, the bottle clamping plate (28) receives the bottle from the bottle outlet star wheel (4).

6. The filling machine according to claim 5, characterized in that, It also includes a limiting cam (6) that can be raised and lowered on the bottle inlet / outlet cam (5); when the filling valve (2) is in the filling state, the gap width between the bottle inlet / outlet cam (5) and the limiting cam (6) is equal to the diameter of the roller (26); when the filling valve (2) is in the cleaning state, the gap width between the bottle inlet / outlet cam (5) and the limiting cam (6) is greater than the diameter of the roller (26).

7. The filling machine according to claim 5, characterized in that, It also includes a controller and an alarm and a first detection device (7) connected to the controller. The first detection device (7) is used to detect whether the lifting cylinder (25) drives the roller (26) to rise to the upper limit position at the highest position of the second slope section (52). When the first detection device (7) detects that the roller (26) has not risen to the upper limit position, the controller activates the alarm according to the signal fed back by the first detection device (7).

8. The filling machine according to claim 7, characterized in that, The top profile of the bottle inlet / outlet cam (5) also includes a smooth intermediate horizontal section (53) connecting the first ramp section (51) and the second ramp section (52), and further includes a second detection element (8) and a fixedly installed bottle outlet guide plate (41). The bottle outlet guide plate (41) is used to guide the bottle clamping plate (28) to receive the bottle from the bottle outlet star wheel (4). The second detection element (8) is used to detect the interaction between the roller (26) and the bottle outlet star wheel (41) when the roller (26) rolls along the intermediate horizontal section (53) in a direction away from the bottle outlet guide plate (41). Whether the distance between the bottle guide plates (41) reaches the preset distance; the controller is connected to the second detection element (8), the swing drive element (18) and the lifting cylinder (25) respectively; when the second detection element (8) detects that the distance between the roller (26) and the bottle guide plate (41) reaches the preset distance, the controller first controls the swing drive element (18) to drive the cleaning cup roller cam (11) to swing to the cup hanging position according to the signal fed back by the second detection element (8), and then controls the lifting cylinder (25) to retract.

9. The filling machine according to claim 8, characterized in that, It also includes a third detection element (9) connected to the controller and a fixedly installed bottle inlet guide plate (31), the bottle inlet guide plate (31) being used to guide the bottle holding plate (28) to receive bottles from the bottle inlet star wheel (3); The third detection element (9) is used to detect whether the distance between the roller (26) and the bottle inlet guide plate (31) reaches a specified distance when the roller (26) rolls along the middle horizontal section (53) towards the bottle inlet guide plate (31); when the third detection element (9) detects that the distance between the roller (26) and the bottle outlet guide plate (41) reaches the specified distance, the controller first controls the swing drive element (18) to drive the cleaning cup roller cam (11) to swing to the cup retraction position according to the signal fed back by the third detection element (9), and then controls the lifting cylinder (25) to retract.

Citation Information

Patent Citations

  • Filling machine and false cup device

    CN204211463U