Apparatus for producing candles

Abstract

The present invention relates to an apparatus 1 for producing candles from a liquid or pasty raw material. The apparatus 1 comprises: a raw-material supply line 10; an outlet 32, from which the liquid or pasty raw material can be dispensed for filling a candle container 5 and / or the liquid or pasty raw material can be suctioned from the candle container 5; and a metering device 20, which comprises a housing 21, having an inflow 22 and an outflow 23, wherein the inflow 22 is fluidically connected to the raw-material supply line 10 and the outflow 23 is fluidically connected to the outlet 32, and wherein, with the aid of the metering device 20, the liquid or pasty raw material can be dispensed and / or suctioned in a metered manner through the outlet 32. According to the invention, at least two mutually intermeshing gearwheels 24, 26 are accommodated inside the housing 21.

Description

[0001] Candle making device

[0002] The present invention relates to a device for producing candles from a liquid or pasty raw material.

[0003] Various methods for producing candles are known from the prior art. For example, candles can be produced using filling or pouring processes. For this purpose, liquid wax or pasty candle raw material is first poured into a container, which can be made of glass, plastic, metal, or another suitable material. Piston pumps or gravity fillers are traditionally used to introduce the liquid or pasty raw material into the candle container. Depending on the operating mode of the piston pump or the size of the opening outlet of the gravity filler, the liquid or pasty raw material can be metered into the candle container. However, both solutions generally require an intermediate tank to provide a sufficiently large reservoir of liquid or pasty raw material to enable the candle production process to run continuously.A shut-off valve must be provided at the outlet downstream of the piston pump or gravity filler to stop the flow of raw material once the candle container is filled with raw material to the desired level.

[0004] An object of the present invention is to reduce or even eliminate the disadvantages known from the prior art. In particular, it is an object of the present invention to provide a device for producing candles that allows for better dosing of the liquid or pasty raw material during the filling process and that also has fewer components, is therefore more cost-effective, and can be cleaned more easily.

[0005] This object is achieved by a device for producing candles from a liquid or pasty raw material, which device comprises a raw material feed line, an outlet from which the liquid or pasty raw material can be dispensed to fill a candle container and / or the liquid or pasty raw material can be sucked out of the candle container, and a dosing device which has a housing with an inlet and an outlet. The inlet is fluidly connected to the raw material feed line and the outlet is fluidly connected to the outlet. With the aid of the dosing device, the liquid or pasty raw material can be dispensed and / or sucked out in a dosed manner through the outlet. According to the invention, at least two intermeshing gear wheels are accommodated within the housing of the dosing device. Preferably, the at least one gear wheel can be driven via a drive shaft.

[0006] Even more preferably, both gears have straight teeth.

[0007] Furthermore, the metering device is preferably an external gear pump.

[0008] It is also advantageous if the gears of the dosing device can be heated.

[0009] According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the housing of the dosing device and the outlet are formed in one piece.

[0010] Likewise preferably, the outlet corresponds to the outlet of the dosing device.

[0011] Furthermore, it is advantageous if an outlet opening of the outlet is arranged in a horizontal plane.

[0012] Even more preferably, the outlet is valveless.

[0013] According to a further preferred embodiment of the invention, the raw material supply line is physically connected directly to the inlet of the dosing device without an intermediate tank.

[0014] A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be explained purely by way of example with reference to the attached figure. It shows:

[0015] Fig. 1 shows a device for producing a candle from a liquid or pasty material according to a preferred embodiment of the invention.

[0016] Using the device shown in Fig. 1, basically all known candle shapes and containers can be filled, i.e. from small tea lights to large candles with a volume of more than 5 l.

[0017] Any liquid or pasty raw materials can be used as raw materials for candle production, for example paraffin, stearin wax, palm wax, beeswax.

[0018] The device 1 shown in Fig. 1 comprises a material feed line 10 which defines a lumen 12 through which the liquid or pasty raw material can flow. Downstream of the material feed line 10, in the case of filling the candle container 5, in which a wick 6 can also be arranged, there is a dosing device 20 which has a housing 21 with an inlet 22 and an outlet 23. Two intermeshing gears 24, 26 are arranged within the housing 21. At least one of the gears 24, 26 can be driven via a preferably horizontally arranged drive shaft 25. However, it is also conceivable that both gears 24, 26 can be driven via one or a common drive shaft 25. Furthermore, it is conceivable to heat the gears 24, 26 in order to keep the viscosity and thus the flow rate of the liquid or pasty raw material at a certain value.

[0019] The metering device 20 shown in Fig. 1 is an external gear pump in which both gears 24, 26 have straight teeth. As an alternative to an external gear pump, an internal gear pump or a so-called Eaton-type gear pump can also be used. A screw pump, in which two helical gears rotate in opposite directions, is also conceivable.

[0020] The outlet 23 of the dosing device 20 is physically connected to an outlet nozzle 30. The outlet nozzle 30 extends into the candle container 5 during filling, thus simplifying the filling process. The plane of the outlet opening 32 of the outlet nozzle 30 is preferably arranged horizontally to simplify the filling process of the candle container 5 by utilizing gravity.

[0021] Not only the filling of the candle container 5, but also the suctioning of liquid or pasty raw material from the candle container 5 can be accomplished with the device 1 shown in Fig. 1. This is particularly advantageous when, for example, hollow wax molds are to be produced in which, after a short cooling period, residual liquid wax is to be suctioned out so that a wax wall with a hollow space remains. For this purpose, the dosing device 20 only needs to be temporarily operated in the opposite direction, i.e., one of the gears 24, 26 is then rotated in the opposite direction to that during the filling process.

[0022] Depending on the choice of gear geometry, high dosing and repeatability accuracies can be achieved, since, due to its design, the device 1 shown in Fig. 1 operates independently of hydrostatic pressure, as can prevail in a gravity filler, and the risk of vacuum formation, as can occur in a piston pump. Likewise, unlike a piston pump or a gravity filler, the outlet nozzle 30 can operate without volume limitation. This enables a continuous filling process.

[0023] Since the rotational speed at which one of the gears 24, 26 is driven can be freely adjusted or selected via the rotational speed of the drive shaft 25, a variable filling speed can be achieved. This also offers significant advantages over conventional piston pumps, in which the last wax must be sprayed out at high speeds and with high contact pressure. The entire filling process can thus be designed more cleanly, as there is no splashing of costly raw material.

[0024] Likewise, due to its design, a gear pump 20 inhibits the flow of raw material from the outlet 32, eliminating the need for an additional shut-off valve in the area of ​​the outlet 32. To completely prevent any dripping of raw material from the outlet 32, the device 1 can also be operated in the reverse direction for a short time after the filling process has ended. In this way, raw material can be moved back into the outlet nozzle 30.

[0025] Depending on the selected geometry of the housing 21 of the dosing device 20, the outlet 32 ​​can correspond to the outlet 23 of the dosing device 20. An outlet nozzle 30, as shown in Fig. 1, would thus be unnecessary.

Claims

Patent claims:

1. A device (1) for producing candles from a liquid or pasty raw material, comprising: a raw material feed line (10), an outlet (32) from which the liquid or pasty raw material can be dispensed to fill a candle container (5) and / or the liquid or pasty raw material can be sucked out of the candle container (5), and a dosing device (20) having a housing (21) with an inlet (22) and an outlet (23), wherein the inlet (22) is fluidly connected to the raw material feed line (10) and the outlet (23) is fluidly connected to the outlet (32), and wherein with the aid of the dosing device (20) the liquid or pasty raw material can be dispensed and / or sucked out in a dosed manner through the outlet (32), characterized in that at least two intermeshing gear wheels (24, 26) are accommodated within the housing (21) of the dosing device (20).

2. Device (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that at least one gear (24, 26) can be driven via a drive shaft (25).

3. Device (1) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that both gear wheels (24, 26) have straight teeth.

4. Device (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the metering device (20) is an external gear pump.

5. Device (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the gears (24, 26) of the dosing device (20) are heatable.

6. Device (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the housing (21) of the metering device (20) and the outlet (32) are formed in one piece.

7. Device (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the outlet (32) corresponds to the outlet (23) of the dosing device (20). Device (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that an outlet opening of the outlet (32) is arranged in a horizontal plane. Device (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the outlet (32) is valveless. Device (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the raw material supply line (10) is physically connected directly to the inlet (22) of the dosing device (20) without an intermediate tank.

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