High-pressure loss generating unit and filling apparatus

Abstract

To perform a highly precise filling by achieving a fluid supply configured to inhibit influence of disturbances, such as physical properties of a filling fluid and filling environment.SOLUTION: A filling apparatus includes: a unit upper part 14 that generates a swirling flow using an inner wall by supplying a filling fluid in a tangential direction of a vortex generating chamber 16 formed in a columnar shape; and a unit lower part 15 that discharges the swirling flow of the filling fluid by changing the swirling flow into a flow in a vertical downward direction by a tapered part 19 constituting a bottom part of the vortex generating chamber 16.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a high pressure loss generating unit that is disposed in a liquid flow path in a pressure-type filling device and is capable of generating a high pressure loss, and to a filling device equipped with the high pressure loss generating unit. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, when filling a container with a fixed amount of liquid, a liquid filling method has been carried out in which the filling valve is opened to start filling, and then, when the weight of the container measured by a weighing scale reaches a predetermined weight, the filling valve is closed to end filling.

[0003] However, the flow rate of the filling liquid (amount of weight change per unit time) changes from moment to moment due to, for example, an increase or decrease in the number of containers that are simultaneously filled by branching out from the same filling liquid tank, changes in the physical properties of the liquid, changes in the pressure of the filling liquid in the filling liquid tank, etc.

[0004] For example, when multiple filling valves of a rotary or serial pressure filling device are open at the same time and liquid is being filled, if the number of open filling valves decreases compared to the steady-state operating state due to containers not being transported intermittently or the supply of containers being stopped just before the device is shut down, the total flow rate of liquid discharged from the entire system of the device decreases. As the total flow rate decreases, the pressure in the system increases, and the flow rate of liquid discharged from each filling valve increases. In reality, the pressurizing mechanism has a pressure regulation function, so the pressure is adjusted to return to the set pressure, but there is a response delay in the pressure regulation mechanism. The amount of liquid filled into containers during that time will be greater than the fixed amount.

[0005] Conversely, immediately after the start of operation of the filling device, the number of open filling valves increases as the containers are transported in sequence, and the total flow rate of the liquid discharged from the entire system of the device increases. Since an increase in the total flow rate is synonymous with a decrease in the pressure force of the system, the flow rate of the liquid discharged from each filling valve temporarily decreases, and the amount of liquid filled into the containers filled during that time becomes less than the fixed amount.

[0006] As such, pressure fluctuations (variations) during filling are a direct cause of filling errors, and so countermeasures are essential.Currently, a mechanism called an "orifice" is installed in the filling liquid flow path, which creates pressure loss by narrowing the flow path, to reduce the impact of pressure fluctuations downstream of the orifice. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0007] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-69107 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0008] However, the greater the pressure loss, the greater the effect of reducing the impact of pressure fluctuations. However, increasing the pressure loss in an orifice requires a larger pipe diameter. Therefore, when used with filling liquids containing solids (ingredients) such as dressings and sauces, the ingredients can clog the orifice. For filling liquids containing ingredients, attempts have been made to increase the pressure loss by lengthening the overall length of the liquid supply pipe or using a spiral hose for the pipe, but it has been difficult to achieve the required level of pressure loss. Of course, an orifice with a large pipe diameter that does not allow the ingredients to clog cannot achieve sufficient pressure loss.

[0009] The present invention has been made in consideration of these problems, and aims to provide a high-pressure loss generating unit that has a simple configuration and enables liquid supply while suppressing the effects of disturbances such as the physical properties of the filling liquid and the filling environment, and a filling device that is equipped with this high-pressure loss generating unit and can perform precise filling with reduced variation in the filling amount, even when the filling liquid contains a large amount of ingredients, for example. [Means for solving the problem]

[0010] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the high pressure loss generating unit of the present invention is characterized by comprising: an upper part of the unit that supplies filler liquid in a tangential direction of a cylindrically formed vortex generating chamber and generates a swirling flow by utilizing the inner wall; and a lower part of the unit that changes the swirling flow of the filler liquid into a vertically downward flow and discharges it by using a tapered part that forms the bottom of the vortex generating chamber.

[0011] The upper part of the unit has one or more upstream piping sections that form a flow path for the filling liquid leading to the vortex generating chamber, the vortex generating chamber, and a connecting pipe that is connected to the upstream piping section at one end and opens at the other end with its axis center oriented tangential to the vortex generating chamber, and the lower part of the unit has a downstream piping section that is arranged hanging vertically from an outlet formed at the center of the tapered section and forms a flow path for the filling liquid leading to the piping.

[0012] Furthermore, the upstream piping has a branch piping section that branches into multiple sections, and each of the connecting piping to which each branch piping section is connected is formed in a point-symmetric position with respect to the center of the vortex generating chamber.

[0013] The high-pressure loss generating unit of the present invention can be easily installed in existing piping, and when installed in the piping of a filling device, the fill liquid flows tangentially from the opening of the connecting piping onto a circumference near the inner wall of the vortex generating chamber at the top of the unit, causing a loss of kinetic energy due to rotation in a direction perpendicular to the direction of gravity using the inner wall of the vortex generating chamber, and then the tapered section at the bottom of the unit reduces the rotational component of the motion vector of the fill liquid so that when the fill liquid flows out of the discharge piping into the downstream piping, only the component of the kinetic energy of the fill liquid that is parallel to gravity remains. This makes it possible to cancel external disturbances caused by changes in the environment inside the tank, etc., and to flow the fill liquid downstream.

[0014] The filling device of the present invention is a filling device that controls the operation of an opening / closing valve arranged in a flow path of the filling liquid from a pressurized tank to a nozzle based on the measurement result of the filling amount using a scale on which a container to be filled is placed, and is characterized in that it comprises a high pressure loss generating unit described in any one of paragraphs 1 to 3 immediately upstream of the opening / closing valve.

[0015] A filling device equipped with this high-pressure loss generating unit immediately upstream of the on-off valve of the piping can control the operation of the on-off valve based on a stable filling amount of the filling liquid that suppresses pressure fluctuations (i.e., the effects of disturbances) during filling, thereby achieving high filling accuracy. Because high-pressure loss can be generated in this way, high pressure loss can be obtained even with filling liquid that contains a large amount of ingredients, while maintaining a pipe diameter that does not clog with ingredients. [Effects of the Invention]

[0016] In this way, the high pressure loss generating unit of the present invention has a simple configuration and a simple method of installation in piping, and enables liquid supply while suppressing the effects of disturbances such as the physical properties of the filling liquid and the filling environment, and a filling device equipped with this high pressure loss generating unit generates a high pressure loss in the high pressure loss generating unit, thereby reducing variation in the filling amount and enabling accurate filling, even with filling liquid that contains a large amount of ingredients, for example. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0017] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a front (transparent) view showing the configuration and liquid flow of an embodiment of a high-pressure loss generating unit of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 1 is a perspective (transparent) view showing the configuration of one embodiment of a high-pressure loss generating unit of the present invention. [Figure 3] FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of a filling device equipped with a high-pressure loss generating unit of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0018] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the high pressure loss generating unit and a filling device equipped with the high pressure loss generating unit according to the present invention will be described with reference to Figs.

[0019] First, an embodiment of the filling device 1 of the present invention shown in Figure 3 will be described. The liquid filling device of this embodiment described below is assumed to be a rotary or serial type liquid filling device composed of multiple lines of filling mechanisms arranged in a filling liquid tank 2 that stores a liquid (filling liquid) to be filled, such as soy sauce, cooking oil, shampoo, or dressing with ingredients. Since the filling mechanisms are all configured similarly, only one line of the filling mechanism will be described.

[0020] In the filling device 1 of this embodiment, the internal pressure is managed to be kept constant at a desired value, and the device is provided with a tank 2 that stores the filling liquid, a nozzle 3 that injects the filling liquid into a container, a pipe 4 that connects the tank 2 and the nozzle 3 to form a flow path for the filling liquid, and an on-off valve 7 that can electromagnetically control the opening and closing of the flow path. A liquid delivery means 5 is connected to the tank 2 to pressure-feed the stored filling liquid to the nozzle 3 through the flow path.

[0021] In addition, the filling device 1 of this embodiment is provided with a scale 8 below the nozzle 3 on which the container to be filled is placed, and the control means 6 is configured to control the operation of the opening and closing valve 7 based on the measurement results of this scale 8.

[0022] In the filling device of this embodiment, the high pressure loss generating unit 11 of this embodiment is disposed immediately upstream of the opening / closing valve 7 of the pipe 4 that constitutes the flow path for sending the filling liquid to the nozzle 3.

[0023] The high pressure loss generating unit 11 of this embodiment has an upper unit part 14 that supplies fill liquid in the tangential direction of a cylindrically formed vortex generating chamber 16 and generates a swirling flow having a motion vector that intersects the direction of gravity by utilizing the inner wall, and a lower unit part 15 that uses a tapered part 19 that forms the bottom of the vortex generating chamber 16 to reduce the rotational component of the motion vector of the swirling flow of the fill liquid and change it into a vertically downward flow by gravity, and then discharges it.

[0024] 1 and 2, the unit upper portion 14 of the high pressure loss generating unit 11 has an upstream piping section 12 connected to one pipe 4 that forms the upstream flow path. In this embodiment, the downstream portion of the upstream piping section 12 is bifurcated into an inverted Y shape, and is formed as two branch piping sections 13 with open ends bent inward toward each other.

[0025] The cylindrical vortex generating chamber 16 has an opening at a centrally symmetrical position in a planar view of the vortex generating chamber 16, with the axis directed in the tangential direction of the vortex generating chamber 16 (or on the circumference near the inner wall), and two connecting pipes 17 are provided on the base end side so that the downstream ends of the two branch pipe sections 13 can be connected to each other.

[0026] The lower part of the unit 15 is composed of a tapered section 19 that forms the bottom of the vortex generating chamber 16, and a downstream piping section 18 that opens in the center of the tapered section 19 and extends outward in the direction of the imaginary central axis of the vortex generating chamber 16.

[0027] In this embodiment, the upper unit 14 and the lower unit 15 are fixed using stays, screws, etc. inside a cylindrical case 20 with a larger diameter than the cylindrical vortex generating chamber 16, and the base end of the connecting pipe 17 is supported by the case 20 and is configured to be easily connected and supported to the downstream end of each branch pipe section 13.

[0028] The high pressure loss generating unit 11 is disposed immediately upstream of the on-off valve 7 in the flow path of the filling liquid, with the upstream piping section 12 and the downstream piping section 18 connected to the piping 4, with the downstream piping section 18 positioned vertically.

[0029] When liquid is fed from the tank 2 of the filling device 1 through piping to the high pressure loss generating unit 11 configured as above, the liquid branches from the upstream piping section 12 of the high pressure loss generating unit 11 to two branch piping sections 13, and flows as a swirling flow tangentially into the vortex generating chamber 16 from two points on the outer periphery of the vortex generating chamber 16 in the upper part 14 of the unit, which are symmetrical about the center in a plan view. The liquid that flows in and swirls generates a loss of kinetic energy due to rotation in a direction perpendicular to the direction of gravity.

[0030] Thereafter, the liquid swirls downstream, and the rotational component of the liquid's motion vector is reduced by the tapered section 19. Therefore, by designing the motion vector of the liquid flowing out of the high-pressure loss generating unit 11 through the downstream piping section 18 to have only a component parallel to gravity, a vertical flow can be achieved. As a result, in the filling device 1, the effects of disturbances can be suppressed immediately upstream of the on-off valve 7, making it possible to stabilize filling.

[0031] In a filling device equipped with this high pressure loss generating unit 11, a predetermined amount is filled while monitoring the filling amount using scale 8 on which the container to be filled is placed. At that time, high pressure loss generating unit 11 can control the drive of the open / close valve based on a stable filling amount of the filling liquid that suppresses pressure fluctuations (i.e., the influence of disturbances) during filling, making it possible to obtain high filling accuracy.

[0032] Here, we will explain an experiment and its results to confirm that the high pressure loss generating unit 11 of this embodiment, which generates pressure loss by creating a vortex in the liquid to be filled in the vortex generating chamber 16 as described above, is effective in reducing the influence of external disturbances and achieving stable filling compared to conventional orifice-type pressure loss generating systems.

[0033] <Experimental Method> Immediately upstream of the on-off valve of the piping installed between the pressurized tank (allowable range 0 kPa to 170 kPa) and the nozzle, a high-pressure loss generating unit (the inner diameter of the piping inside and outside the vortex generating chamber 16 is φ7) having the configuration of this embodiment described above and three types of orifices with narrowest diameter dimensions of φ3, φ6, and φ9 were installed for a total of four units. The source pressure of the pressurized tank was adjusted so that the flow rates of water used as the filling liquid were 50 ml / sec, 100 ml / sec, and 150 ml / sec, respectively. At each of these three flow rates, the pressure inside the piping upstream and downstream of the high-pressure loss generating unit and each of the three types of orifices was measured using a known method using a pressure sensor to obtain an average value of pressure loss. Data was acquired three times for each condition.

[0034] In addition, the maximum (max) and minimum (min) values ​​of pressure fluctuations due to disturbances (opening and closing operations of pinch valves installed in the same piping) during each experiment were measured, and the amplitude ((max-min) / 2, (swing amplitude / average pressure loss) × 100%) was calculated.

[0035] <Results (pressure loss evaluation)> [Table 1]

[0036] As shown in Table 1, the high pressure loss unit 11 of this embodiment was able to obtain results within the pressure tank's allowable range of 0 kPa to 170 kPa under all flow rate conditions of 50 ml / sec, 100 ml / sec, and 150 ml / sec. However, for the three types of orifices, due to the relationship between the pressure inside the pressurized tank and the pipe diameter, the orifice with a minimum diameter dimension of φ3 mm could not obtain results under a flow rate of 150 ml / sec, and the orifice with a minimum diameter dimension of φ6 mm could not obtain results under a flow rate of 50 ml / sec. Furthermore, the orifice with a minimum diameter dimension of φ9 mm could not obtain results under the two flow rate conditions of 50 ml / sec and 100 ml / sec.

[0037] The high pressure loss generating unit 11 of this embodiment and an orifice with a narrowest diameter dimension of φ6, the diameter of the narrowest part of which is similar to that of the high pressure loss generating unit 11 of this embodiment, were compared in terms of pressure loss at the same flow rates of 100 ml / sec and 150 ml / sec. As a result, in the case of the high pressure loss generating unit 11 of this embodiment, the average pressure losses in each measurement at a flow rate of 100 ml / sec were 36.46 kPa, 36.44 kPa, and 36.04 kPa, whereas in the case of the orifice with a narrowest diameter dimension of φ6, the average pressure losses in each measurement at a flow rate of 100 ml / sec were 6.26 kPa, 6.46 kPa, and 6.44 kPa. In other words, the average pressure loss of the high pressure loss generating unit 11 of this embodiment is nearly 5 to 6 times that of the orifice with a narrowest diameter dimension of φ6.

[0038] Similarly, in data from an experiment at a flow rate of 150 ml / sec, the average pressure loss in each measurement for high pressure loss generating unit 11 of this embodiment was 75.05 kPa, 77.99 kPa, and 82.144 kPa, whereas in the case of an orifice with a narrowest diameter portion dimension of φ6 mm, the average pressure loss in each measurement at a flow rate of 150 ml / sec was 16.22 kPa, 16.08 kPa, and 15.93 kPa, meaning that the average pressure loss of high pressure loss generating unit 11 of this embodiment is nearly four to five times that of an orifice with a narrowest diameter portion dimension of φ6 mm.

[0039] In this way, the high pressure loss generating unit 11 having the configuration of this embodiment is able to obtain a larger pressure loss than an orifice having the same narrowest diameter dimension of the flow path, and it has been confirmed that the pressure loss effect in the vortex generating chamber 16 is larger than the pressure loss when narrowing with an orifice.

[0040] Therefore, since there is no need to reduce the pipe diameter to obtain the required pressure loss, even when using a filling liquid such as a dressing containing solids, it is possible to obtain pressure loss while using piping with a diameter that does not cause clogging of the ingredients, which contributes to the stabilization of filling.In addition, the high-pressure loss generating unit appeared to have less effect on pressure loss due to disturbances.

[0041] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0042] For example, the upstream piping section 12 may be directly connected to a single connecting pipe formed in the vortex generating chamber 16, or the downstream end of the upstream piping section 12 may be branched into three pipes, each connected to a branch piping section 13 formed at three points located at rotational positions of 120° each around the center of the vortex generating chamber 16. It is essential to generate a swirling flow in the vortex generating chamber 16.

[0043] The height and diameter of the cylindrical vortex generating chamber 16 and the taper height of the tapered portion 19 can be changed as needed depending on the type of liquid to be filled. In this case, it is desirable to form the opening of the connecting pipe 17 at an upper position of the vortex generating chamber 16 so that the filling liquid that flows and creates vortices remains in the vortex generating chamber 16 for a long time. [Explanation of symbols]

[0044] 1 Filling device 2 Tanks 3 nozzles 4 Piping 5. Liquid delivery means 6. Control Measures 7. Opening and closing valve 8 scales 11 High pressure loss generating unit 12 Upstream piping section 13 Branch piping section 14 Upper part of unit 15 Lower Unit 16 Vortex generation chamber 17 Connecting piping 18 Downstream piping section 19 Tapered section 20 cases

Claims

1. an upper portion of the unit that supplies a fill liquid in a tangential direction of a cylindrically formed vortex generation chamber and generates a swirling flow by utilizing an inner wall; a unit lower portion that changes the swirling flow of the filling liquid into a vertically downward flow by a tapered portion that forms the bottom of the vortex generating chamber and discharges the swirling flow; A high pressure loss generating unit comprising:

2. the upper portion of the unit includes an upstream piping section that forms a flow path for the filling liquid leading to the vortex generating chamber, the vortex generating chamber, and a connecting pipe that is connected to the upstream piping section at one end and has an opening at the other end with its axis center oriented in a tangential direction of the vortex generating chamber; 2. The high-pressure loss generating unit according to claim 1, wherein the lower part of the unit has a downstream piping section that is arranged to hang down vertically from a discharge port formed in the center of the tapered section and that forms a flow path for the fill liquid leading to the piping.

3. The high-pressure loss generating unit according to claim 2, characterized in that the upstream piping is formed with a branch piping section that branches into a plurality of sections, and each of the connecting piping sections to which the branch piping sections are connected is formed in a point-symmetrical position with respect to the center of the vortex generating chamber.

4. A filling device that controls the operation of an on-off valve arranged in a flow path of the filling liquid from a pressurized tank to a nozzle based on the results of measurement of the filling amount using a scale on which a container to be filled is placed, and is characterized in that the filling device comprises a high-pressure loss generating unit described in any one of items 1 to 3 immediately upstream of the on-off valve.

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