Combined filling machine with weighing function and volume control for cleanrooms

Abstract

Filling machine for filling containers (B) with a liquid, in particular a medical substance, comprising: - a handling device (2), - a weighing device (3), - a first filling device (4), and - a second filling device (5), - wherein the first filling device (4) is configured to fill containers (B) arranged on the weighing device (3), in particular during a weighing process, wherein the second filling device (5) is configured to fill containers (B) arranged in a nest (6), in particular by controlling a volume flow of the liquid, and wherein the handling device (2) is configured to bring individual containers (B) and / or rows of containers (B) from the nest (6) to the weighing device (3), to remove them from the weighing device (3), and to place the containers (B) back into the nest (6).

Description

Prior ArtThe present invention relates to a filling machine and a method for filling containers with a liquid. More specifically, the present invention relates to an improved filling machine and an improved method for the targeted adaptation of the sample density for the filling of containers, in particular for medicaments.Demanding requirements are placed on filling machines for filling containers with medicaments, since the purity and dose of medicaments are sometimes of vital importance to the user. In order to ensure the purity of the liquid, the filling process is sometimes carried out in "clean rooms" or "clean rooms". These offer a maximum degree of safety with regard to foreign body introduction and introduction of pathogens, in that the accesses are configured via corresponding locks and the air conditioning or air discharge via complicated fluid guides and filter systems. Due to this, the clean room is a volume which requires high costs and precautions for the operator. Accordingly, the machines to be operated in ultra clean rooms are to be designed in a particularly compact manner and / or to combine as many functions as possible in a machine in order to only have to keep available a small number of such machines within the ultra clean room. On the other hand, the filling quantity for containers containing medical substances must be dimensioned exactly in order to make metering or application by the user as fault-tolerant as possible. In other words, the fill quantity must correspond exactly to the fill quantity provided and must be secured by means of a predefined sample density or 100% sampling. For this purpose, various systems or measurement principles are known in the prior art, which involve a different outlay and a different period of time.In order to be able to operate an aforementioned system economically, it is therefore necessary to make the filling machine compact, to be able to operate the filling quantity protection at a high level and nevertheless to ensure, for economic reasons, as high a throughput as possible in cases in which 100% protection is possibly not required. In the prior art, unsatisfactory solutions have been proposed for this purpose since filling machines either combine a volume flow control with a weight determination carried out elsewhere, which makes corrective measures more difficult or impossible and thus increases the waste in the event of a misfilling. Particularly in the case of high-cost liquids and containers, the production costs increase if subsequent metering is impossible. If the waste is to be reduced and, in particular, a high percentage of the filled containers is to be verified with respect to their fill level, it is necessary to arrange the containers to be filled on a scale and, during the filling, to compare the actual weight with the desired weight and, if appropriate, to change the fill quantity in response to the comparison result. Due to the flow dynamics and the response behavior of a scale, however, such a process is time-consuming and thus cost-intensive. Even if the fill level can be determined in this way with up to 100% certainty, 100% sampling can be economically disadvantageous. If a charge with a lower liquid value is to be filled, a certain uncorrectable waste due to misfilling is of secondary importance, so that the above-described volume flow-based filling would be preferable in conjunction with weight determination at another location. However, in the case where different liquid values are to be processed, an arrangement of both types of machines in a clean room is also not always economically possible due to the operator costs of the clean room.DE 199 51 555 A1 discloses a filling machine having features of claim 1.It is therefore an object to avoid the aforementioned disadvantages.Disclosure of the InventionThe aforementioned object is achieved according to the invention by a filling machine having the features according to claim 1 and a method for filling containers having the features according to claim 7. For example, the handling device can be a robot or a similar device with which individual containers or a plurality of containers can be removed from the conveying device and introduced into the filling machine. In addition, the filling machine according to the invention comprises a weighing device, with which a weight determination of empty or filled containers can be carried out. Furthermore, a first filling device and a second filling device are provided in the filling machine according to the invention, wherein the first filling device is configured to fill containers arranged on the weighing device, in particular during a weighing process. For this purpose, the first filling device can have a plurality of outlets, for example in the form of needles, the distance between which can correspond to the smallest possible distance between containers to be filled. The outlets or needles can be arranged in the first filling device in such a way that they can be removed by hand and can be plugged onto further filling devices, which may be of identical construction. Since the first filling device can fill containers during a weighing process, the weighing result thereby arising can be used to control the quantity of liquid introduced into the container by the first filling device. In this way, a control circuit results which enables a particularly accurate quantity of liquid to be introduced into the containers. Furthermore, a second filling device is configured to fill containers arranged in a nest, in particular under control of a volume flow of the liquid. The term "nest" is understood by the person skilled in the art for filling machines as meaning a container carrier in which containers arranged in a predefined position with respect to one another can be combined and transported. In particular, the nests are configured to prevent contact of the individual containers in order to prevent scratches and other damage to the containers. The volume flow of the liquid can be controlled in different ways. On the one hand, for example, an opening time of an outlet valve in the filling device can be controlled, which, in conjunction with a known fluid pressure and known flow properties of the outlets of the second filling device, allows a relatively exact determination of the quantity of liquid introduced into the container. However, contamination, blockage or local pressure drops within the filling devices cannot be taken into account in this way, so that 100% safety with respect to reaching a predefined amount of liquid cannot always be ensured. In particular in the case that air inclusions in the liquid could occur due to a liquid supply running down in the liquid tank, an insufficient tolerance range of possible filling levels results. Therefore, according to the invention, the handling device is configured to bring individual containers and / or rows of containers from the nest to the weighing device, to remove them from the weighing device and to return the containers to the nest. In this way, according to flexibly configurable requirements, the sample density and thus the safety of an exact amount of liquid introduced into the containers can be adapted to specific requirements.The dependent claims show preferred developments of the invention.Further preferably, the first filling device and the second filling device can be of identical construction. This offers the advantage that, on the one hand, the manufacturing costs of the machine or its components as well as the maintenance and maintenance of spare parts can be realized more cost-effectively, and, on the other hand, synergies with regard to calibration processes result if it can be assumed that there is a sufficient maximum degree of manufacturing tolerances between the first filling device and the second filling device. For example, a valve opening time within the first filling device, which is adapted in response to a weighing process, can also be transmitted into the valve control of the second filling device without having to perform adaptations such as, for example, conversions.Further preferably, the handling device can have a first receiving device, by means of which it is configured to grasp and / or displace nests. In other words, the first receiving device is attached to the handling device and is configured to introduce it into the filling machine according to the invention in a positive-locking and / or non-positive-locking manner and optionally by means of reduced pressure and / or by means of magnetism Nester, for example from a conveying device, or to export it from the filling machine into a conveying device. In addition, the handling device has a second receiving device, by means of which it is configured to grasp and / or offset individual containers or a plurality of containers, in particular rows of containers. In other words, a second receiving device is attached to the handling device, which receiving device can remove a single container or a plurality of containers from a nest in a positive-locking and / or non-positive-locking manner and can insert them into the weighing device, for example. Within the scope of the present invention, "rows of containers" are understood to mean pluralities of containers which are arranged substantially linearly with respect to one another and which can grip in particular via elongated gripping devices and / or suction devices and transport them between different locations inside and outside the filling machine according to the invention. This offers the advantage that one and the same handling device can take over different transport processes in connection with the operation of the filling machine according to the invention. In this case, the first receiving device and the second receiving device can advantageously be fixedly connected to one another as a handling tool and / or rotatably attached to the handling device. This results in a particularly flexibly positionable or positionable handling device.Further preferably, the filling machine according to the invention comprises a transport device which can be configured in particular as a transport belt or as a movable table (e.g. X-Y table). According to the invention, the transport device is configured to change a relative position between a nest and the second filling device. In other words, after a filling process of a first plurality of containers has taken place, the second filling device and / or the nest of the containers currently to be filled can be moved by means of the second filling device in such a way that the second filling device can still fill empty containers. In this way, a rapid repositioning of the nest relative to the second filling device can take place independently of the handling device, which offers the advantage that the handling device can take over other transport processes during the above-described process.Further preferably, the filling machine comprises a control unit, by means of which it is configured to cause and / or control use of the first filling device and / or the second filling device in response to a result of a filling level verification after filling of a container. In other words, for example, after a weighing operation has taken place, with the result that a filled container does not contain sufficient liquid, an additional filling of the container can be initiated by means of the first filling device. Alternatively, for example, in the case of an excessively high filling quantity of a container, the control device can cause the container to be introduced into a nest and the container to be emptied by means of the second filling device. Subsequently, the at least partially emptied container can be weighed again by means of the weighing device and brought to an adequate fill level by means of the first filling device. Alternatively or additionally, the control unit may use an ordinal number of a container to be filled to cause the use of the first or the second filling device. In the simplest case, the atomic number of a container to be filled can be a serial number, optionally of a respective batch of containers in ascending order. For example, the control unit can cause the filling quantity of the first 50 containers to be carried out under 100% fill level verification in a batch of, for example, 1000 containers to be filled, the containers 51 to 100 to be subjected to fill level verification at a reduced percentage and the containers 101 to 900 to be subjected to fill level verification only at a predefined minimum percentage. If, for example, it is known that air inclusions are increasingly to be expected towards the end of a batch because of the low fill level in the liquid tank, the percentage of the containers which after filling are subjected to fill level verification can be increased and the containers with the atomic numbers 950 to 1000 can all be examined with regard to their fill level. Alternatively or additionally, a random algorithm can be used as a basis, according to which individual containers, a plurality of containers and / or rows of containers are subjected to a filling level verification, for example in the form of a weighing process. Alternatively or additionally, the fill level of a tank containing the liquid before filling can be used as a basis, wherein reaching a predefined minimum fill level of the tank increases the percentage of containers to be verified with regard to their fill level or is set to 100%. In this way, it is possible to remove high-quality and / or spoilage liquids as completely as possible from a tank without having to accept undetected fill level variations caused by air inclusions, sediment or other impurities. The aforementioned features offer the advantage that, depending on known problem sources in connection with a respective batch of containers or liquids to be filled, it is possible to effectively and selectively counter them without having to carry out costly and time-consuming verification processes at those locations at which such are expected to be unnecessary.In order to separate defectively filled and / or defectively empty containers and nests from the process, the filling machine can comprise a discharge device, by means of which the containers are separated from the containers checked as "defect-free".According to a further aspect of the present invention, a method for filling containers with a liquid in a single filling machine is proposed. A "single" filling machine is understood within the scope of the present invention to mean a compact device which is designed in the smallest possible space and without, for example, conveyor belts between a volume-based filling unit and a mass-based verification unit. The method according to the invention comprises filling containers with a first fill level control strategy. A fill level control strategy can comprise, for example, a timing of an opening phase of an outlet valve of a filling device described further above in conjunction with a liquid pressure measuring unit and taking into account outlet geometry and filling liquid viscosity. Alternatively, a volume flow can be effected, for example, with heating wires, ultrasonic measurements, or an optical fill level detection. Furthermore, according to the invention, containers are filled with a second fill level control strategy, which comprise, for example, the aforementioned steps or principles and / or comprise a mass-based fill level control. In other words, the second fill level control strategy can comprise a detection of a container empty mass and a running weight force detection of a container during the filling process. According to the invention, the second fill level control strategy can thus comprise steps of the first fill level control strategy, but in each case the first fill level control strategy (or the fill level control principle) and the second fill level control strategy (or fill level control principle) can also comprise steps and measurement principles which go beyond this. According to the invention, the first and the second fill level control strategy are selected further. The selection can be made on the basis of a multiplicity of parameters, wherein measurement results of filling level verifications, as well as, for example, the filling level of the tank containing the liquid to be filled, the ordinal number of containers to be filled or the result of a random algorithm, can be used as the basis. This offers the advantage that different fill level control strategies can be flexibly selected and / or deselected within a single machine.Further preferably, the first fill level control strategy comprises a temporal control of a volume flow of the liquid and the second fill level control strategy comprises a mass-based control of a quantity of liquid introduced into the containers. This offers the advantage that in the case of a fill level verification that is to be verified only occasionally, for example, the advantage of an increased throughput can be carried out by means of the first fill level control strategy and (e.g. in conjunction with another batch) more precise fill levels can be achieved, even with increased complexity, by carrying out a weighing process for at least a portion of the filled containers.As explained in connection with the filling machine according to the invention, different parameters can be used as a basis for the selection between the first and the second fill level control strategy. For example, a result of a fill level verification after filling a container filled according to the first fill level control strategy or according to the second fill level control strategy can be used as a basis for such a selection. Alternatively or additionally, an ordinal number of a container to be filled (e.g. a serial number corresponding to the sequence of the containers contained in a batch), alternatively or additionally, however, also the result of a random algorithm and alternatively or additionally also the fill level of a liquid before the filling-containing tanks can be used as the basis for the selection. This increases the flexibility of the process and the economics of filling liquids into individual containers.The selection preferably comprises a use of the mass-based control of the liquid quantity for a first number of containers at the beginning of a batch and alternatively or additionally a use of the mass-based control of the liquid quantity for a second number of containers towards the end of a batch. In this way, recalibrations of the first filling device, which may be necessary after prolonged service lives or changeovers of the filling machine, may be carried out and, if appropriate, transmitted to the second filling device. If, according to experience, the amount of liquid contained in the tank tends towards the end of a batch to promote incorrect filling of the containers, a high accuracy of the amount of liquid in the filled containers can also be ensured towards the end of the batch by carrying out the mass-based fill level control or weighing testing of the filled containers.Of course, filling level verifications can comprise more than one cycle, so that after filling a container for correcting a previously unsatisfactory filling level, a second filling level verifications (e.g. a second weighing process) and a second categorization process etc. can take place.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGHereinafter, embodiments of the invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawing, the following is: FIG. 1 shows a schematic top view of an exemplary embodiment of the filling machine according to the invention.Embodiments of the InventionFIG. 1 shows a schematic top view of an exemplary embodiment according to the filling machine 1 according to the invention. A transport belt 15 conveys trays 16, e.g. designed as so-called "tubs", and is thus configured to feed containers B, in particular arranged in a nest 6, to the filling machine 1 according to the invention and to transport them away from the filling machine 1 after filling has taken place. A robot as a handling device 2 is configured by means of a gripper as a first receiving device 7 to remove a nest 6 from the tray 16 and place it on a movable table as a transport device 9. By means of a further gripping device as second receiving device 8, the handling device 2 is configured to remove rows of containers B from the nest 6 and to insert them into a scale as weighing device 3. Both the weighing device 3 and the transport device 9 are provided with a first and a second filling device 4, 5, respectively. Above the transport device 9, a plug setting unit 17 is also provided, which receives plugs held ready in a piston plug sorter 12 via a pivoting fork unit 14. The plugs serve for closing containers B which have been filled by the second filling device 5 only a short time or immediately before. Both the first filling device 4 and the second filling device 5 are supplied with liquid from a tank 11. A control unit 10 is provided to control and monitor the processes within the machine. Furthermore, a pump unit 18 is provided, comprising e.g. a piston pump and / or a peristaltic pump and / or a system for measuring the mass flow rate, as well as additionally or alternatively a dosing system, which controls the discharged liquid quantity by means of a measurement of the liquid pressure in connection with a control of the opening and closing times of valves. While FIG. 1 shows only one pump unit 18 which is used for both the first filling device 4 and the second filling device 5, a separate pump unit 18 (not shown) could also be provided for each of the filling devices 4, 5. The containers B shown in nest 6 are presterilized syringes but could alternatively be vials, ampoules, cylinder ampoules or other containers. The controller 10 controls the opening timings of the exhaust valves provided inside the second filling device 5. In this way, either a simultaneous and common switching of the opening valves can take place or, for example, different control times can also be estimated in response to different calibration factors of the outlets or of the outlet valves of the second filling device 5. Moreover, the controller 10 also controls, for example, the examination of each tenth row of containers B of a nest 6 by a weighing operation by means of the weighing device 3. In response to filling level verification results that require correction of the current filling amount of the containers B, the controller 10 may, for example, cause recalibration of the second filling device 5. Alternatively or additionally, the controller 10 can consequently reduce the fill level verification intervals, so that, for example, subsequently every third row of containers B in the nest 6 is supplied to the weighing device 3. Of course, the plug setting unit 17 represents only one example of a closing device within the filling machine 1 according to the invention. The illustrated setting tube bar of the plug setting unit 17 can therefore be used alternatively or additionally, for example to weld ampoules after filling has taken place. The container material of the containers B can be deformed by the action of heat and brought together in a materially integral manner; alternatively or additionally, the closing device can also keep ready and use additional material, such as films, lids, crown corks and screw closures, for closing the containers B.It is a core idea of the present invention to provide a filling machine for ultra-clean rooms, by means of which a high load is made possible by making possible a flexible control of fill level verification processes depending on a multiplicity of parameters in a small space. The arrangement proposed in this case can be adapted in an extremely simple manner and without long service lives to different customer requirements, filling liquid values, filling liquid costs and viscosities, and to different container geometries and container costs and, in addition, to specifications imposed by the legislator and other standardization conclusions. In other words, a relatively non-critical mass-produced article, such as tear fluid, can be filled at a high throughput and verified with regard to the fill level in a random sample manner by means of one and the same filling machine, while at a second time, agents critical to existence can be exactly dosed and checked with regard to the fill level 100%-ig, filled and passed on for subsequent processing.Although the aspects and advantageous embodiments according to the invention have been described in detail on the basis of the arrangement explained in conjunction with the appended drawing figure, modifications and combinations of features of the illustrated exemplary embodiment are possible for the person skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the present invention, the scope of protection of which is defined by the appended claims.

Claims

Filling machine for filling containers (B) with a liquid, in particular a medical substance, comprising: - a handling device (2), - a weighing device (3), - a first filling device (4), and - a second filling device (5), - wherein the first filling device (4) is configured to fill containers (B) arranged on the weighing device (3), in particular during a weighing process, wherein the second filling device (5) is configured to fill containers (B) arranged in a nest (6), in particular under control of a volume flow of the liquid, and wherein the handling device (2) is configured to bring individual containers (B) and / or rows of containers (B) from the nest (6) to the weighing device (3), to remove them from the weighing device (3), and to reset the containers (B) into the nest (6).Filling machine according to claim 1, wherein the first filling device (4) and the second filling device (5) are structurally identical.Filling machine according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the handling device (2) has a first receiving device (7) by means of which the handling device (2) is configured to grasp and / or offset nests (6), and a second receiving device (8) by means of which the handling device (2) is configured to grasp and / or offset individual or a plurality of containers (B), in particular rows of containers (B).Filling machine according to one of the preceding claims, further comprising a transport device (9) which is configured, in particular as a transport belt or as a movable table, to change a relative position between the nest and the second filling device (5).Filling machine according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the filling machine (1) further comprises a control unit (10), which is configured to, in response to - a result of a filling level verification after filling a container (B), and / or - an ordinal number of a container (B) to be filled, and / or - the result of a random algorithm, and / or - a filling level of a tank (11) containing the liquid before filling, cause and / or control a use of the first filling device (4) and / or the second filling device (5).Filling machine according to claim 5, comprising a tank (11), wherein the control unit (10) is configured to increase the percentage and / or the number of containers (B) supplied to the weighing device (3) for mass-based fill level verification in response to reaching a first minimum fill level of the tank (11).Method for filling containers (B) with a liquid in a single filling machine (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 6, comprising the steps of: a) filling containers (B) with a first fill level control strategy b) filling containers (B) with a second fill level control strategy c) selecting between the first and the second fill level control strategy.Method according to claim 7, wherein the first fill level control strategy comprises a temporal control of a volume flow of the liquid and the second fill level control strategy comprises a mass-based control of a quantity of liquid introduced into container (B).Method according to any of the preceding claims 7 or 8, wherein the selecting between the first and the second fill level control strategy is controlled in response to - a result of a fill level verification after filling a container (B) filled according to the first fill level control strategy or according to the second fill level control strategy, and / or - an atomic number of a container (B) to be filled, and / or - the result of a random algorithm, and / or - a fill level of a tank (11).The method according to any of the preceding claims 7 to 9, wherein the selecting comprises using the mass-based control of the liquid quantity for a first number of containers (B) at the beginning of a batch and / or using the mass-based control of the liquid quantity for a second number of containers (B) towards the end of a batch.

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