Device for producing plastic containers according to forming, filling and sealing method

Abstract

The invention relates to a device for producing plastic containers according to a forming, filling and sealing method, at least comprising a forming device (12), an extrusion device (16) and a production device (26), the invention relates to a production device (10) for forming a plasticized plastic material from an extrusion device (16) into a tube in a production position and then supplying the tube to a forming device (12) in order to form a container and filling the container with a predeterminable fluid before sealing the container. By means of the transport device (32), at least the production device (26) can be placed in at least two mutually different positions, one of which corresponds to the production position and at least one other position for undertaking a task different from the production position.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to a device for manufacturing plastic containers according to a forming, filling and sealing method, which device comprises at least a forming device, an extrusion device and a production device, wherein the production device forms the plasticized plastic material from the extrusion device into a hose in a manufacturing position and then supplies it to the forming device to form the container and fill the container with a predefined fluid before the container is sealed. Background Art

[0002] DE 10 2008 028 754 A1 discloses a device for producing and filling containers, in which at least one plasticized plastic material tube can be extruded into an open mold, and by means of a filling device having a plurality of mutually separate functional channels, at least the filling material can be introduced into the respective container by means of a filling mandrel matched to the respective mold, wherein a mandrel shield is present, which has at least one functional chamber and in its functional position establishes a medium-conducting connection between its respective functional chamber and a correspondingly matched functional channel of the filling device. This enables the introduction of media intended for cleaning, disinfection, cooling / drying, etc., into one or more functional chambers within the shield via the corresponding functional channels of the filling device. Accordingly, the shield is a component of a cleaning, disinfection and / or drying device, which can be operated via a corresponding medium supply from the filling device, so that the device is brought into a sterile state for the start of a production series. Summary of the invention

[0003] Starting from this prior art, the object of the present invention is to further improve the known solutions while retaining their advantages.

[0004] This object is achieved by a device having all the features of patent claim 1. According to the invention, the production device can be brought into at least two mutually different positions by means of a transport device, one of these positions corresponding to a production position and at least one other position being used for tasks different from those in relation to the production position, the other position being able to be used as a maintenance position, in which the production device is moved out of the production position or the production position and is largely freely accessible for cleaning, inspection and / or other maintenance work.

[0005] In practice, it has been shown that, in particular, production devices, including a hose head and a filling and metering unit arranged thereon and a mandrel tube, require intensive cleaning from time to time, which includes, for example, the removal of adhering plastic material on the filling mandrel of the filling unit and / or on the underside of the nozzle gap of the hose (extrusion) head. This is usually no longer successful in particular with plastic residues when using liquid or gaseous cleaning agents or baking; instead, mechanical auxiliary devices such as scrapers, brushes, etc. are required here, which can promptly enable manual cleaning. In addition to or instead of the above-mentioned intensive cleaning, the production device can also be checked for possible wear or defects. In addition, damaged parts can be repaired or replaced with new parts within the scope of maintenance. In addition, the further location located outside the manufacturing location can be used in the form of an upgrade station to replace new production devices if necessary.

[0006] In a preferred embodiment of the device according to the invention, it is provided that the transport device has a guide device, by means of which the extrusion device together with the production device can be moved into the various positions and fixed there in a defined manner. In this case, a slide guide device is preferably used as the guide device, which enables a horizontal displacement movement of the extrusion and production devices. In this way, both the "production position" and the "maintenance position" can be occupied in a timely manner, so that when maintenance is required, the actual production process is not unreasonably hindered or delayed.

[0007] In another particularly preferred embodiment of the device according to the invention, it is provided that in the production position the production device is located in a production room designed as a clean room. It is also preferably provided that in the respective other position the production device is located in a receiving room adjacent to the production room and also designed as a clean room. It is therefore preferably provided that during the transport or movement of the production device from the production position to the respective other position and back, the production device always remains in the clean room environment.

[0008] Thus, in the production or manufacturing position, not only the production device with the hose head and the filling device but also the mold of the forming device is surrounded by a housing, on which a blower with an air filter device having a high separation efficiency is mounted, in particular in the form of a suspended matter filter. Thus, an air pressure that is increased relative to the environment can be set in the manufacturing room. Thus, when the device is set to operate, the filtered air is supplied from top to bottom, preferably in the form of a laminar airflow around the production unit and the mold of the forming unit and only flows out to the environment below the mold of the forming device. In this way, a particle-free manufacturing environment that is particularly important for medical use is achieved for the production unit and at least the mold of the forming device, thereby creating a clean room environment in this regard, which can also be maintained when the production device is located in a receiving room adjacent to the manufacturing room and in which maintenance is performed. Preferably, it can be provided here that the receiving room is also equipped with its own air filter device, which can generate an air flow comparable to that in the manufacturing room and in this case uses a suspended matter filter according to EN 1822-1:2009 according to the desired clean room level, for example a filter called a HEPA filter in professional terms, wherein HEPA stands for High Efficiency Particulate Air / Filter.

[0009] In another particularly preferred embodiment of the device according to the invention, it is provided that the receiving chamber can be separated from the production room by means of a partition in the production position, and that the partition separates the receiving chamber from the environment in the respective other position. It is also preferably provided that the partition is formed by a movable partition wall which, together with the production device and the extrusion device, at least partially penetrates the receiving chamber in order to occupy the respective position. In this way, the desired clean room environment can be optimally maintained even during the transport of the production device between the different positions.

[0010] In a preferred embodiment of the device according to the invention, it is provided that the receiving chamber is formed by a cuboid housing with a plurality of separate side walls and a bottom wall and a top wall, which housing is closed or open at its free, mutually opposite end sides, depending on the displacement position of the partition walls. Such a cuboid housing forms a body delimited by six rectangles, one end wall of which is open, can be manufactured in a particularly cost-effective manner and can be sufficiently sealed from the inside with respect to the environment relative to the rest of the device, so that in this respect the desired clean room conditions can also be maintained.

[0011] For process-safe transport operations, including the transfer of individual devices between positions, it is preferably provided that the partition wall is arranged between the production device and the extrusion device, and is linearly passed through the receiving chamber from the other position in which the receiving chamber is closed relative to the environment from a front position to a rear position by means of a guide device, in which the partition wall directly separates the receiving chamber from the manufacturing chamber.

[0012] Furthermore, in a particularly preferred embodiment of the device according to the invention, it is provided that in the further position of the production device, separate maintenance, inspection and / or cleaning work can be carried out via a closable inspection opening in the bottom of the receiving chamber, in particular at a corresponding outlet opening of a hose head of the production device, so that when the inspection opening is open and within the framework of such work, a connection to the environment is established. In this case, filtered air flows out through the inspection opening into the environment and is thus prevented from entering by the counterflow principle.

[0013] Further advantageous embodiments of the device according to the invention are the subject of the further dependent claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] The device according to the invention will be described in more detail below based on the embodiments according to the drawings. Here, the drawings are schematic and not to scale:

[0015] Figure 1 a perspective front view showing the main components of the device;

[0016] Figure 2 Show Figure 1 The pictures include partial shots of the production and extrusion equipment;

[0017] Figure 3 Enlarged view showing Figure 2 A partial screenshot of the view framed by a circle;

[0018] Figure 4 and Figure 5 Shown for use in accordance with Figure 1 Two different embodiments of the holding chamber used in the device;

[0019] Figure 6 , Figure 7 and Figure 8 Show according to Figure 1 A side view of an apparatus and in this order a manufacturing position, a transition position and a maintenance position for a production device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0020] Figure 1 The invention provides a method for forming, filling and sealing a container by means of a form, fill and seal method (also referred to in the technical terminology as A perspective view of a device for manufacturing plastic containers according to a method of manufacturing plastic containers. The device has a frame 10 that can be erected on a hall floor or the like, which frame is usually composed of a plurality of individual profiles or frame parts, which are connected to each other in a longitudinal and transverse arrangement to form the frame 10 as a whole. A forming device 12 is accommodated within the frame 10, which has a plurality of individual forming molds 14, which can be moved relative to each other between an open receiving position and a closed position for forming the individual container products.

[0021] Furthermore, an extrusion device 16 is accommodated on the frame 10 on its upper side. As an important component, the extrusion device 16 has an upwardly projecting collecting hopper 18 for accommodating plastic granules, which can then be supplied to a plasticizing unit 20, which comprises an extrusion screw unit 22 for melting the plastic granules into a plasticized plastic material, which is pressed at the free end of the extrusion device 16 via a correspondingly designed connecting device 24 into a production device 26, which in particular has a hose head 28 and a filling and metering unit 30 arranged thereon with a mandrel tube, not shown in detail. In this respect, the extrusion device 16 is therefore only an extruder and its important components which are flange-connected to the hose head 28 of the production device 26. Such a construction of such a production device is common and is shown, for example, in DE 10 2020 004564 A1 of the copyright holder, so that this will not be discussed in more detail here. However, in each case, the plasticized plastic material from the extrusion device 16 is formed into a hose in the manufacturing position and then supplied to the forming device 12 to form containers, which are filled with a predeterminable fluid, for example in the form of a pharmaceutical product to be filled, which fluid comes from a filling or metering unit 30 of the production device 26 before they are sealed.

[0022] From as per Figures 6 to 8 The transport device 32 can be used to place the production device 26 in at least two different positions, one of which is different from the other according to the sequence of Figure 6 and at least one other location according to Figure 8 The view is used for different tasks than this, where Figure 7 It is shown in Figure 6 Manufacturing location and basis Figure 8 One of the possible intermediate positions between the other positions. Figure 7 In the view of FIG. 1 , the production device 26 is in a transfer position. When the production device 26 is Figure 8 The other position is moved back according to Figure 6 When the transfer position is in the manufacturing position, the transfer position is also occupied in the reverse direction.

[0023] From especially according to Figure 2 As can be seen from the partial view of FIG. 1 , the extrusion device 16 is housed in the frame 10 in a substantially horizontal orientation, while the production device 26 is in a substantially vertical operating position. Figure 2 As further shown in the figure, the transport device 32 has a guide device 34, in particular in the form of a slide guide device, by means of which the extrusion device 16 can be moved forward and backward together with the production device 26 according to Figures 6 to 8 and can be fixed in at least a defined manner in the end positions. Figure 6 In the production or manufacturing position of the present invention, the plasticized plastic hose from the production device 26 is formed into a container product including an ampoule by means of the forming device 12 and then filled and sealed, and according to the Figure 8 The further position of the view is a maintenance position in which various maintenance tasks can be performed on the production device 26, for example in the form of cleaning and inspection of the device 26. Within the framework of the maintenance, there is also the possibility of repairing possibly defective components or replacing them with new ones, wherein in the further maintenance position outside the production position, a new production device 26 can also be completely replaced in the production plant if necessary. Figure 2 and 3 It turns out that the extrusion device 16 together with the production device 26 are guided horizontally movably as a whole along the parts of the machine frame 10 by means of a transport device 32, and a partition 36 is accommodated between the two devices 16 and 26, which is designed to be closed in a gas-tight manner in the form of a rectangular partition 38, except for a sealed passage with the connecting device 24 as a transition between the extrusion device 16 and the hose head 28 of the production device 26. The other components of the extrusion device 16 are provided with the reference numeral 22.

[0024] Depend on Figure 3 In particular, a design is obtained for the guide device 34, which is designed as a slide guide with two longitudinal guides 40 at a certain distance from each other, along which a slide 42 of the extrusion device 16 is guided in a longitudinally movable manner and which can be moved manually, for example, to a position corresponding to the position of the extrusion device 16. Figure 6 The manufacturing position of the production device 26 can be placed in a front position corresponding to the manufacturing position of the production device 26 according to Figure 8 The guide device 34 also comprises a pinion drive 44 and a rod-shaped clamping device 46, with which the devices 16, 26 and 36 can be fixed in a defined manner at a given position. The guide device 34 designed in this way is stable, functionally reliable and can be implemented in a particularly cost-effective manner.

[0025] When the production device 26 is in accordance with Figure 6 In the working or production position above the forming device 12, the production device is accommodated in a production chamber 48 within the machine frame 10, which is designed as a clean room. Such a production chamber 48 is surrounded laterally by a surrounding shell 50 composed of a plurality of wall parts, wherein the free end face 52 of the production chamber 48 is closed by a partition 36 in the form of a partition plate 38 designed to be adapted, which has separated the production device 26 from its Figure 8 The maintenance location is far away from the ground in accordance with Figure 7 The middle position of the view is carried to the Figure 6 In this case, the extruder 16 has also moved at the same time, while the forming device 12 is arranged stationary in the frame 10. In addition, when moving toward Figure 6 The production chamber 48 is closed upwards by an air filter device 54 with a fan (not shown) and a suspended matter filter or HEPA filter 56, which creates an overpressure relative to the environment. A preferably laminar air flow emerges from the air filter device 54 in the vertical direction from top to bottom and is discharged into the environment after flowing through the production chamber 48 and the production device 26 and after passing through the forming device 12.

[0026] In accordance with Figure 6 A substantially rectangular receiving chamber 58 is connected in front of the manufacturing chamber 48 upstream of the manufacturing position. Figure 4 The embodiment shown in FIG. Figure 4 The housing chamber 58 shown comprises two separate side walls 60, one of which faces the Figure 4 The front side wall 60 has a partially glazed access door 62 when viewed from above. In addition, the receiving chamber 58 is provided with a bottom wall 64 and a top wall 66, and the bottom wall 64 transitions into the adjacently arranged side walls 60 via an angular profile 68. In addition, the box-shaped receiving chamber 58 is Figure 4 The free end sides 70, 72 are open at the front and rear at their two mutually opposite end sides 70, 72, and the free end sides 70, 72 have a cross section or define a through chamber 74 inside the receiving chamber 58 so that Figure 2The partition 36 in the form of a partition plate 38 shown in the figure can pass through the receiving chamber 58 from the front side 70 to the rear side 72 and vice versa, in which case a sufficiently tight closure is desired between the peripheral edge 76 of the partition plate 38 forming the partition 36 and the inner circumference of the receiving chamber 58, which includes the through-chamber 74, in this respect, correspondingly on the edge side, so that the existing clean room conditions, especially in the production chamber 48, are not significantly impaired. In order to seal the clean room sufficiently in this way, a gas-tight (i.e. air-tight) seal is preferred, but not absolutely necessary, but in order to maintain the clean room grade, it is sufficient to keep the gap or opening surface so small that the air flowing out of the clean room is prevented from entering the clean room by the counterflow principle. It has therefore been shown that a gap width of 1 mm to 5 mm is possible without disadvantages between the peripheral edge 76 of the partition plate 38 forming the partition 36 and the inner circumference of the receiving chamber 58, in this respect, correspondingly on the edge side. This enables a simple and low-friction movement of the production unit and makes expensive movable seals essentially superfluous. Friction and the particle generation associated therewith are thus reliably minimized.

[0027] If the production device 26 is in its Figure 6 In the rear production position of the partition 36 or the separating plate 38 in this respect closes the free end side 52 of the surrounding shell 50 toward the extrusion device 16. In such a production position, the front end side 70 of the receiving chamber 58 together with the through-passage 74 remains open, while the rear end side 72 is closed, preferably gas-tightly, by the separating plate 38 of the partition 36. If the production device 26 is now removed from its Figure 6 manufacturing location and in a transit position (in Figure 7 In the case of moving forward to the Figure 8 In the maintenance position, the partition plate 38 here passes through the receiving chamber 58 from the rear end side 72 thereof and assumes a front position in which the end side 70 of the receiving chamber 58 is now closed. The receiving chamber 58 is thus closed to the outside and the clean room conditions existing in the production chamber 48 are also extended to the receiving chamber 58 due to the displacement of the partition plate 36. If the partition plate 36 or the dividing plate 38 is penetrated by the connecting device 24 between the extrusion device 16 and the production device 26, the closure at the edge is in any case designed to be gas-tight, so that particle contamination cannot inadvertently enter the clean room, but this is avoided anyway by the overpressure existing in the room relative to the environment.

[0028] Especially from Figure 1 As can be seen from the figure, a partially encircling corridor 78 can be provided in the frame erected in the frame 10, which can be walked through via a staircase 80 at the free end of the device. Figure 1 and Figure 8 In its maintenance position, the production device can be cleaned manually from below via corresponding stairs 80 and the corridor 78 via a freely accessible inspection chamber 82. If no maintenance or other cleaning work is to be carried out, the inspection chamber is closed by a cover 83. For maintenance, a rectangular inspection opening 86 is released by means of a pivotable bottom flap 84 in the bottom wall 64 of the receiving chamber 58, through which the filling mandrel of the filling and metering unit 30 and also the nozzle gap on the underside of the hose (extrusion) head 28 can be cleaned using mechanical auxiliary tools (not shown in detail), such as scrapers, brushes, etc. It is also provided that during operation, when the inspection opening 86 is opened by the pivoted bottom flap 84, the filtered clean room air can flow out into the environment.

[0029] After the receiving chamber 58 is released via the access door 62, maintenance work can also be carried out on the production device 26, such as replacing damaged parts on such a device. Of course, in addition to replacement, it is also possible to consider repairing the relevant structural components.

[0030] In accordance with Figure 5 In a modified embodiment of the receiving chamber, for the sake of simplicity, given in accordance with Figure 4 In the embodiment of the present invention, the same parts are provided with the same reference numerals, and the descriptions made so far in this regard also apply to the embodiment according to Figure 5 which in this respect is identical to the embodiment according to Figure 4 The significant difference of the embodiment of the invention is that in the rear wall region there is a partially vitrified third side wall 88, which in this respect also defines the rear side 72, which is closed by the partition wall 36 or the partition wall 38. Thus, the production device 26 is in its Figure 6 If the partition 36 is facing Figure 5 In the region of the front end 70 of the receiving chamber 58, a closing wall or delimiting wall, not shown in detail, is additionally required for the receiving chamber 58 so that the partition wall 36 can close the receiving chamber 58 sufficiently tightly in the front position, as described above for the Figure 4 In another modification, according to Figure 5 In the embodiment, in addition to the air filter device 54, an independent air filter device 90 is provided, which has an additional suspended matter filter 92. For the sake of completeness, a multi-link energy chain 94 should also be cited, which is Figure 5 The cross-section is shown, and furthermore according to Figure 1 and Figures 6 to 8 The diagram is used to conventionally supply energy to components of a manufacturing plant.

[0031] In summary, with the device according to the invention, in particular for use in a BFS system, it is possible with only one production station for tube extrusion and filling to achieve in a simple manner an enhanced manual cleaning of the production plant while maintaining clean room conditions, also using mechanical aids, wherein in addition to the actual production station a separate maintenance station with an associated maintenance room is thus provided. This therefore has no counterpart in the prior art.

Claims

1. Equipment for manufacturing plastic containers by the forming, filling and sealing method, comprising at least: A forming device (12), Extrusion device (16) and Production device (26), The production device forms plasticized plastic material from an extrusion device (16) into a hose in a manufacturing position and then supplies it to a forming device (12) to form a container and fill the container with a predefined fluid before it is sealed, characterized in that the production device (26) can be placed in at least two different positions with the help of a transport device (32), one of the positions corresponding to the manufacturing position and at least one other position is used to undertake tasks different from the manufacturing position.

2. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that The transport device (32) has a guide device (34), by means of which the extrusion device (16) together with the production device (26) can be moved into various positions and fixed in a defined manner.

3. The device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that In the production position, the production device (26) is located in a production room (48) designed as a clean room.

4. The device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that In the respective other position, the production device ( 26 ) is located in a receiving room ( 58 ) designed as a clean room and adjacent to the production room ( 48 ).

5. The device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that During the transport of the production device (26) from the production location to the respective other location, the production device (26) remains in the clean room.

6. The device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that The receiving chamber (58) can be separated from the production chamber (48) by means of a partition (36) in a production position, and the partition (36) separates the receiving chamber (58) from the environment in a respective other position.

7. The device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that The partition (36) is formed by a movable partition wall (38) which, together with the production device (26) and the extrusion device (16), at least partially penetrates the receiving chamber (58) in order to assume the respective position.

8. The device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that The receiving chamber (58) is formed by a cuboid housing having a plurality of separate side walls (60, 88) as well as a bottom wall (64) and a top wall (66), which is closed or open at its free end sides (70, 72) facing each other, depending on the displacement position of the partition walls (70, 72).

9. The device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that The partition wall (38) is arranged between the production device (26) and the extrusion device (16), and is linearly passed through the receiving chamber (58) from the other position in which the receiving chamber (58) is closed relative to the environment from a front position to a rear position with the help of a guide device (34), in which the partition wall (38) separates the receiving chamber (58) from the production chamber (48).

10. The device according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that In the other position of the production device (26), separate maintenance, inspection and / or cleaning work can be carried out via a closable inspection opening (86) in the bottom wall (64) of the receiving chamber (58), in particular at a corresponding outlet opening of the hose head (28) of the production device (26).

11. The device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that The guide device (34) is formed by at least one longitudinal guide device (40), along which the extrusion device (16) and the production device (26) together with the partition (36) are guided to and fro so as to be movable, while the production chamber (48) with the forming device (12) and the receiving chamber (58) are arranged stationarily on the frame (10).

12. The device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that In order to establish clean room conditions in the production room (48), an air flow is guided through the air filter system (54), preferably in a vertical flow from top to bottom and after passing through a filter (56), in particular a filter in the form of a particle filter.

13. The device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that At least one particle filter (56) for establishing clean room conditions is mounted on the upper side of the production chamber (48), and optionally at least one further particle filter (92) is mounted on the upper side of the receiving chamber (58).

14. The device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that In order to establish clean room conditions in the holding chamber (58), an air flow from the production chamber (48) is used during and after transport of the production device (26) from the production location to the further location.

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