Filling device

Abstract

To close a liquid valve swiftly to prevent a liquid dripping even when a container is filled with filling liquid with high viscosity.SOLUTION: A lift shaft 12 of a filling valve 6 comprises a first shaft 12A connected to an electrically driven cylinder 15, a piston 12B below the first shaft and a second shaft 12C formed integrally with the piston 12B. A liquid valve 14 comprises a valve body 18 provided at a lower end of the second shaft 12C and a valve seat 19 in a valve body 11. The whole of the lift shaft 12 is energized upward by low pressure air in a second pressure chamber 23 and when the lift shaft 12 is lifted by the electrically driven cylinder 15 in that state, the liquid valve 14 is opened and a filling of the filling liquid 3 into a container 2 is started (See Figure 3(a)). Then, as high pressure air is supplied to a first pressure chamber 22 when the liquid valve 14 is closed, the piston 12B and the second shaft 12C are swiftly dropped and the liquid valve 14 is swiftly closed (See Figure 3(a)).SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a filling device, and more particularly to a filling device that fills a container with a filling liquid by opening and closing a liquid valve of a filling valve by an electric drive means. [Background technology]

[0002] 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known a filling device configured to fill a container with a filling liquid by opening a liquid valve of a filling valve using an electric drive means (for example, Patent Document 1). In the filling valve of Patent Document 1, the opening degree (the distance between the valve body and the valve seat) when the liquid valve is opened by the electric drive means can be changed to set the optimal filling flow rate according to the type of liquid. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2012-176783 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, the filling device in which the liquid valve is operated using an electric drive means as in Patent Document 1 has the following problems. That is, when the liquid valve is operated by an electric drive means, if one tries to obtain a liquid valve operating speed as fast as that when it is operated by an air cylinder, there is a drawback that the tightening thrust of the valve body of the liquid valve decreases. On the other hand, if emphasis is placed on the tightening thrust of the valve body of the liquid valve, there is a problem that the operating speed of the valve body of the liquid valve becomes slow. In particular, when filling a container with a highly viscous filling liquid, if the liquid valve is not closed as quickly as possible, the liquid will adhere to the tip of the liquid valve in the form of icicles, and over time, this will drip, causing the product container to become contaminated. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] In view of the above circumstances, the present invention provides a filling device for filling a container with a filling liquid, the filling device comprising: The filling valve includes a cylindrical valve body having a discharge port for filling liquid formed at a lower end thereof, a lift shaft provided in the valve body so as to be movable up and down, a liquid passage formed between the lift shaft and an inner periphery of the valve body, a liquid valve including a valve body provided on the lift shaft and a valve seat formed on the inner periphery of the valve body, and an electric drive means for lifting and lowering the lift shaft, In the filling device, the lifting shaft is raised and lowered by the electric drive means to open and close the liquid valve, The lifting shaft includes a first shaft that is lifted and lowered by the electric drive means, and the first shaft is separate from the first shaft, The lower side of the first axis and a second shaft on which the valve body is provided, a biasing means for biasing the second shaft toward the first shaft, a pressure chamber formed adjacent to and above a piston provided on the second shaft, high-pressure air supplying means for supplying high-pressure air to the pressure chamber, and a control device for controlling operation of the electric drive means and the high-pressure air supplying means, the control device is configured to, in a state in which the second shaft is in contact with the first shaft by the biasing means, raise and lower the first shaft, the second shaft and the piston together by the electric drive means to open and close the liquid valve, When closing an open liquid valve, the control device causes the high-pressure air supply means to supply high-pressure air to the pressure chamber, thereby separating and lowering the second shaft from the first shaft against the biasing force of the biasing means, thereby closing the liquid valve. Effect of the Invention

[0006] With this configuration, when the liquid valve is closed from an open state, the valve element can be moved quickly by high pressure air to close the liquid valve quickly. Therefore, even when filling the container with a highly viscous filling liquid, it is possible to reliably prevent the liquid from dripping from the discharge port and contaminating the surrounding area. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0007] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the main part of FIG. [Diagram 3] 3 is an enlarged view of a key portion of FIG. 2, where FIG. 3(a) shows a state in which the liquid valve is open and the container is being filled with the filling liquid, and FIG. 3(b) shows a state in which high-pressure air is supplied to the first pressure chamber and the liquid valve is closed. [Figure 4] 3 is a diagram showing the relationship between the filling flow rate of the filling liquid and the elapsed time from when the liquid valve shown in FIG. 2 is opened to when it is closed. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0008] The present invention will now be described with reference to the illustrated embodiment. In Figures 1 and 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a rotary filling device for filling a container 2 with a filling liquid 3, and this filling device 1 is provided with a plurality of filling valves 6 at equal pitches on the outer periphery of a rotor 4. While the rotor 4 is rotating in the direction of the arrow, empty containers 2 are sequentially supplied from the supply wheel 7 to the lower side of the filling valve 6 at supply position A. Each container 2 is gripped by a gripper (not shown) provided in the filling device 1, and is filled with a predetermined amount of filling liquid 3 by the filling valve 6 while being transported as the rotor 4 rotates. Each container 2 filled with the filling liquid 3 by the filling valve 6 is then released from the gripper, and is discharged from the rotor 4 of the filling device 1 by the discharge wheel 8 at discharge position B and handed over to a capping device (not shown).

[0009] As shown in Figure 2, the filling valve 6 comprises a cylindrical valve body 11 having a discharge port 11A at its lower end, a long, thin, cylindrical lifting shaft 12 arranged so as to be able to rise and fall freely within the valve body 11, a liquid passage 13 formed between the outer periphery of the lifting shaft 12 and the inner periphery of the valve body 11, a liquid valve 14 arranged on the lower side within the valve body 11 for opening and closing the liquid passage 13, and an electric cylinder 15 for opening and closing the liquid valve 14 by raising and lowering the lifting shaft 12. The valve body 11 is connected to the outer periphery of the rotor 4 so as to be vertically oriented at a predetermined height, and therefore the discharge port 11A is directed downward at a predetermined height for filling the container 2 with the filling liquid 3.

[0010] The lift shaft 12 is composed of a first shaft 12A located on the upper side and connected at its upper end to an electric cylinder 15, a stepped cylindrical piston 12B located adjacent to and below the first shaft 12A, and a second shaft 12C located below the piston 12B and formed integrally with it. In other words, the piston 12B is provided integrally with the upper end of the second shaft 12C. As will be described in detail later, the entire lifting shaft 12 (first shaft 12A, piston 12B, second shaft 12C) is raised and lowered by an electric cylinder 15, and when necessary, high-pressure air can be applied to the piston 12B from above to separate the piston 12B from the first shaft 12A and lower only the piston 12B and the second shaft 12C. A small-diameter guide hole 11B is formed on the upper side of the inner periphery of the valve body 11, and the outer periphery of the upper side of the second shaft 12C is slidably inserted through this guide hole 11B. This allows the second shaft 12C and the piston 12B to move up and down within the valve body 11 while being guided by the guide hole 11B. A gap is formed as a liquid passage 13 between the inner periphery of the valve body 11 below the guide hole 11B and the outer periphery of the second shaft 12C facing the inner periphery. A bellows 16 is attached across the inner periphery of the valve body 11, which is adjacent to and below the guide hole 11B, and a step of the second shaft 12C facing the inner periphery. When the second shaft 12C is raised and lowered, the bellows 16 expands and contracts. One end of a filling liquid supply pipe 17 is connected to the liquid passage 13 of the valve body 11 where the bellows 16 is provided, and the other end (not shown) of the filling liquid supply pipe 17 is connected to a supply source of the filling liquid 3. During the filling operation in which the rotor 4 is rotated, the filling liquid 3 is supplied from the supply source of the filling liquid 3 through the filling liquid supply pipe 17 to the liquid passage 13, so that the liquid passage 13 is filled with the filling liquid 3.

[0011] A valve element 18 is attached to the outer periphery of the lower end of the second shaft 12C, and the inner periphery of the valve body 11 facing this valve element 18 forms a conical valve seat 19. The valve element 18 and the valve seat 19 constitute the liquid valve 14. When the second shaft 12C and the piston 12B are raised, the valve body 18 lifts off the valve seat 19 and the liquid valve 14 is opened, so that the filling liquid 3 in the liquid passage 13 is filled into the container 2 via the liquid valve 14 and the discharge port 11A (the state shown in Figure 3(a)). On the other hand, when the second shaft 12C and the piston 12B are lowered and the valve body 18 seats on the valve seat 19, the liquid valve 14 is closed, thereby preventing the filling liquid 3 from flowing down from the discharge port 11A (the state shown in Figures 2 and 3(b)).

[0012] The inner periphery of the valve body 11 above the guide hole 11B forms a stepped guide hole 11C whose inner diameter increases successively on the upper side. The piston 12B has a large diameter portion 12Ba on the upper side and a small diameter portion 12Bb on the lower side, and the center of the lower surface of the small diameter portion 12Bb is integrally connected to the upper end of the second shaft 12C. This makes the piston 12B and the second shaft 12C integrally configured. A protruding portion 12Bc is formed in the center of the upper surface of the large diameter portion 12Ba, and this protruding portion 12Bc faces the lower end of the first shaft 12A and is adapted to come into contact with and separate from it. The large diameter portion 12Ba of the piston 12B is fitted into the upper large diameter hole of the stepped guide hole 11C in an airtight manner so as to be able to slide freely, and the small diameter portion 12Bb of the piston 12B can be fitted into the lower small diameter hole of the stepped guide hole 11C.

[0013] The upper end of the valve body 11 is sealed by a disk-shaped member 21, and the electric cylinder 15 is disposed on the upper surface of the disk-shaped member 21. The internal space of the valve body 11 between the disk-shaped member 21 and the piston 12B serves as a first pressure chamber 22. On the other hand, the space between the outer periphery of the second shaft 12C adjacent to and below the piston 12B and the inner periphery of the valve body 11 serves as a second pressure chamber 23. The first shaft 12A slidably passes through a through hole 21A at the center of the disk-shaped member 21 while maintaining airtightness, and the upper end of the first shaft 12A is connected to the electric cylinder 15. The lower portion and the lower end of the first shaft 12A are located within the first pressure chamber 22, and the lower end of the first shaft 12A faces the protruding portion 12Bc of the piston 12B and is adapted to come into contact with and separate from it. A second pressure chamber 23 adjacent to and below the piston 12B communicates with low pressure air supply means 25 via an air passage 11D of the valve body 11 and a conduit 24 connected thereto. During the filling operation of the filling liquid 3 while rotating the rotor 4, low pressure air is continuously supplied from the low pressure air supply means 25 through the conduit 24 to the second pressure chamber 23. During the filling operation, the piston 12B and the second shaft 12C are constantly urged upward by the low pressure air supplied to the second pressure chamber 23. Therefore, the protruding portion 12Bc of the piston 12B is in contact with the lower end of the first shaft 12A, and in this state, the entire lift shaft 12 is lifted and lowered by the electric cylinder 15 to open and close the liquid valve 14 (see Figs. 2 and 3(a)). The low pressure air supplied to the second pressure chamber 23 urges the piston 12B and the valve body 18 upward, functioning as urging means that urges the liquid valve 14 in a direction that always keeps it open.

[0014] The first pressure chamber 22 adjacent to and above the piston 12B is connected to a high-pressure air supply means 27 via an air passage 11E of the valve body 11 and a conduit 26 connected thereto. A normally-closed solenoid valve 28 is provided in the conduit 26. The operations of the electric cylinder 15, the high pressure air supply means 27 and the solenoid valve 28 are controlled by a control device 31. During the filling operation in which the rotor 4 is rotated, low pressure air is continuously supplied from the low pressure air supply means 25 into the second pressure chamber 23, and in this state, the control device 31 raises and lowers the entire lift shaft 12 using the electric cylinder 15 to open and close the liquid valve 14. Also, during the filling operation, the control device 31 is in a state in which it can supply high pressure air to the first pressure chamber 22 by operating the high pressure air supply means 27, but the supply of high pressure air to the first pressure chamber 22 is prevented by the solenoid valve 28 being closed. Therefore, when high pressure air is not being supplied to the first pressure chamber 22, the piston 12B is in contact with the first shaft 12A by the low pressure air supplied to the second pressure chamber 23. Therefore, the entire lift shaft 12 (first shaft 12A, piston 12B, second shaft 12C) is raised and lowered by the electric cylinder 15, opening and closing the liquid valve 14. This allows the filling liquid 3 to be filled into the container 2 via the open liquid valve 14 and the discharge port 11A. In this embodiment, when the liquid valve 14 is opened to fill the container 2 with an approximately predetermined amount of filling liquid 3 and then the liquid valve 14 is closed, the control device 31 opens the solenoid valve 28. When the solenoid valve 28 is opened in this manner, high pressure air is supplied into the first pressure chamber 22 via the conduit 26, which overcomes the biasing force of the low pressure air in the second pressure chamber 23 serving as the biasing means, causing the piston 12B and second shaft 12C to rapidly descend and seat the valve element 18 on the valve seat 19, thereby quickly closing the liquid valve 14. The piston 12B and the second shaft 12C, which are lowered by the high-pressure air in the first pressure chamber 22, are stopped when the underside of the large diameter portion 12Ba of the piston 12B abuts against the step end face of the stepped hole 11C (see Figure 3 (b)). In this state, the valve body 18 seats on the valve seat 19, and the liquid valve 14 is closed.

[0015] The configuration of the electric cylinder 15 that raises and lowers the first shaft 12A of the lift shaft 12 is already known. Specifically, the electric cylinder 15 includes a servomotor that rotates forward and backward, and a nut member that is screwed with a screw part of the drive shaft of the servomotor and can be raised and lowered, and the upper end of the first shaft 12A is connected to the nut member. The lift position and lift speed of the first shaft 12A can be controlled by controlling the rotation position and rotation speed of the servomotor with a control device 31. When the power supply of the servomotor is not turned on, the rotation shaft of the servomotor can rotate freely to a certain extent. A rotary encoder is connected to the servomotor, and when a voltage is applied to the servomotor to rotate it, a signal sent from the rotary encoder is sent to the control device 31. This allows the control device 31 to recognize the rotational position and rotational speed of the servo motor. Also, when the servo motor is in operation with voltage applied to it, if the servo motor is overloaded due to water hammer or the like, the control device 31 can recognize that an abnormality has occurred in the servo motor of the electric cylinder 15. In a state in which the protruding portion 12Bc of the piston 12B biased by the low pressure air in the second pressure chamber 23 abuts against the lower end of the first shaft 12A, the entire lift shaft 12 is lowered as a unit by rotating the servo motor of the electric cylinder 15 in the forward direction by the control device 31, whereas the entire lift shaft 12 is raised as a unit by rotating the servo motor of the electric cylinder 15 in the reverse direction by the control device 31. In other words, the liquid valve 14 is opened and closed by the entire lift shaft 12 being raised and lowered as a unit by the electric cylinder 15.

[0016] In the above-mentioned configuration, the operation of filling the container 2 with the filling liquid 3 by each filling valve 6 of the filling device 1 is performed as follows. In the filling valve 6, low pressure air is supplied to the second pressure chamber 23, so that the piston 12B comes into contact with the first shaft 12A, and the entire lift shaft 12 is lowered to the lower end by the electric cylinder 15, closing the liquid valve 14. Then, when the filling valve 6 is positioned at the supply position A in this state with the rotation of the rotor 4, an empty container 2 is supplied below the filling valve 6, and the container 2 is held by a gripper (not shown). At this time, the high pressure air supply means 27 connected to the filling valve 6 is operated, but the solenoid valve 28 is closed, so high pressure air is not supplied to the first pressure chamber 22. Thereafter, as the rotor 4 rotates, the electric cylinder 15 of the filling valve 6 is reversed by the control device 31, so that the entire lift shaft 12 is raised and the liquid valve 14 is opened (see FIGS. 2 and 3(a)). By opening the liquid valve 14 in this manner, the filling liquid 3 flows down from the discharge port 11A, and filling of the filling liquid 3 into the container 2 begins. In this embodiment, the electric cylinder 15 then raises and lowers the lift shaft 12 by a required amount to change the flow rate of the filling liquid 3 filled into the container 2. Specifically, as shown in Fig. 4, the liquid valve 14 is opened at time T1, and the filling liquid 3 is first filled at a small flow rate X1, then the small flow rate X1 is switched to a large flow rate X2 to continue filling, and then filling is resumed at the small flow rate X1 again. After continuing filling at this small flow rate X1 for a required time, the electric cylinder 15 lowers the entire lift shaft 12 from time T2 to close the liquid valve 14, and the control device 31 opens the solenoid valve 28 at time T3 immediately after the electric cylinder 15 starts lowering the entire lift shaft 12. As a result, high pressure air is supplied to the second pressure chamber 22, which causes the piston 12B and the second shaft 12C to quickly descend, overcoming the biasing force of the low pressure air in the second pressure chamber 23, and the valve body 18 quickly seats on the valve seat 19, thereby closing the liquid valve 14 (the state shown in FIG. 3(b)). At this time T4, the filling of the container 2 with the filling liquid 3 is completed. In other words, in this embodiment, the valve body 18 is raised and lowered by the electric cylinder 15 from time T1 when the liquid valve 14 is opened to time T2 when the entire lifting shaft 12 (valve body 18) is lowered to close the liquid valve 14, and at time T3 immediately after the transition from time T2 to the closing operation of the liquid valve 14, the piston 12B and second shaft 12C (valve body 18) are rapidly lowered by high-pressure air supplied to the first pressure chamber 22, so that the liquid valve 14 is completely closed at time T3. In addition, the imaginary diagonal line shown for reference on the right end of Figure 4 indicates the relationship between flow rate and time when the lifting shaft 12 is lowered by the electric cylinder 15 continuously from the time T2, causing the liquid valve 14 to be completely closed. In this case, the time T5 at which the liquid valve 14 is closed will be delayed. In comparison, in this embodiment, the valve element 18 is lowered by high pressure air when the liquid valve 14 is closed, so that the time T4 at which the liquid valve 14 is completely closed is made earlier. After the container 2 has been filled with the filling liquid 3 by each filling valve 6 of the filling device 1 in the manner described above, it is then released from the gripper and discharged from the rotating body 4 by the discharge wheel 8.

[0017] As described above, the filling device 1 of this embodiment can close the liquid valve 14 when filling the container 2 with the filling liquid 3 by supplying high-pressure air to the first pressure chamber 22, thereby quickly lowering the piston 12B and the second shaft 12C (valve body 18) and closing the liquid valve 14. In other words, the filling valve 6 is basically configured to fill the filling liquid 3 by opening and closing the liquid valve 14 using the electric cylinder 15, but when closing the liquid valve 14, the liquid valve 14 is closed using high-pressure air instead of the electric cylinder 15. As a result, when closing the liquid valve 14, a sufficient tightening thrust for the valve element 18 can be obtained, and the valve element 18 can be quickly seated on the valve seat 19 to quickly close the liquid valve 14. Therefore, even when filling the container 2 with a highly viscous filling liquid 3 such as ketchup, it is possible to reliably prevent dripping from the discharge port 11A of the filling valve 6 when filling of the filling liquid 3 is completed, thereby preventing contamination of the surrounding area. Furthermore, according to this embodiment, even if a plurality of types of filling liquids having significantly different viscosities are used, filling can be performed using the filling valve 6, so that a filling device 1 having high versatility can be provided.

[0018] In the above embodiment, the piston 12B is integrally provided on the upper end of the second shaft 12C, and the piston 12B moves toward and away from the first shaft 12A, but the piston 12B may be provided on the outer periphery of the second shaft 12C below the upper end, rather than at the upper end. In that case, the upper end of the second shaft 12C is directly configured to move toward and away from the first shaft 12A. In the above embodiment, the filling liquid 3 is filled by switching the flow rate from the small flow rate X1 to the large flow rate X2 and then back to the small flow rate X1 after the liquid valve 14 is opened. However, the change in the flow rate after the liquid valve 14 is opened can be changed as appropriate depending on the type of the filling liquid 3. That is, for example, after the liquid valve 14 is opened, filling may be carried out at the large flow rate X2 first, and then the flow rate may be switched to the small flow rate X1, and high-pressure air may be supplied to the first pressure chamber 22 to close the liquid valve 14. Alternatively, the filling liquid 3 may be filled at a constant flow rate of the small flow rate X1 or the large flow rate X2 from the time the liquid valve 14 is opened until just before it is closed. For example, when filling the container 2 with the filling liquid 3 containing solids such as fruit juice particles, the filling liquid 3 can be smoothly filled into the container 2 by filling only with the large flow rate X2 after the liquid valve 14 is opened. In this way, the flow rate during filling from the time the liquid valve 14 is opened until it is closed may be changed as appropriate depending on the type of the filling liquid 3. Furthermore, if any abnormality occurs in the electric cylinder 15 (servo motor) of an individual filling valve 6 during the filling operation of the filling liquid 3, the control device 31 can forcibly switch the position of the valve body of the solenoid valve 28 of the conduit 25 connected thereto to open it. As a result, high-pressure air is supplied to the first pressure chamber 22 of the filling valve 6 corresponding to the opened solenoid valve 28, so that the piston 12B and the second shaft 12C are lowered and the liquid valve 14 is forcibly closed. This makes it possible to prevent liquid leakage from the filling valve 6 in which the abnormality has occurred. In addition, in the above embodiment, low pressure air is supplied to the second pressure chamber 23 as the biasing means, but a coil spring may be elastically mounted in the second pressure chamber instead of low pressure air to bias the piston 12B and the second shaft upward. [Explanation of symbols]

[0019] 1...Filling device 2...Container 3...Filling liquid 6...Filling valve 11...Valve body 11A...Discharge port 12...Lifting axis 12A...1st axis 12B...Piston 12C...Second shaft 13...Liquid passage 14...Liquid valve 15... Electric cylinder (electric driving means) 18... Valve body 19... Valve seat 22... First pressure chamber 27...High pressure air supply means 31...Control device

Claims

1. A plurality of filling valves for filling a filling liquid into the container, The filling valve includes a cylindrical valve body having a discharge port for filling liquid formed at a lower end thereof, a lift shaft provided in the valve body so as to be movable up and down, a liquid passage formed between the lift shaft and an inner periphery of the valve body, a liquid valve including a valve body provided on the lift shaft and a valve seat formed on the inner periphery of the valve body, and an electric drive means for lifting and lowering the lift shaft, In the filling device, the lifting shaft is raised and lowered by the electric drive means to open and close the liquid valve, the lifting shaft includes a first shaft that is lifted and lowered by the electric drive means, and a second shaft that is separate from the first shaft, is disposed below the first shaft, and has the valve body provided thereon; the pressure chamber is formed adjacent to and above a piston provided on the second shaft; high-pressure air supply means is provided for supplying high-pressure air to the pressure chamber; and a control device is provided for controlling the operation of the electric drive means and the high-pressure air supply means, the control device is configured to, in a state in which the second shaft is brought into contact with the first shaft by the biasing means, raise and lower the first shaft, the second shaft and the piston together by the electric drive means to open and close the liquid valve, The control device is characterized in that, when closing an open liquid valve, the control device causes the high-pressure air supply means to supply high-pressure air to the pressure chamber, thereby separating and lowering the second shaft from the first shaft against the biasing force of the biasing means, thereby closing the liquid valve.

2. the piston is integrally formed with the second shaft at an upper end of the second shaft, and the piston is configured to move toward and away from the first shaft; a first pressure chamber is formed adjacent to and above the piston as the pressure chamber, and a second pressure chamber is formed adjacent to and below the piston in the valve body, 2. The filling device according to claim 1, further comprising low pressure air supply means for supplying low pressure air to the second pressure chamber, the biasing means comprising low pressure air supplied from the low pressure air supply means to the second pressure chamber, and in a state in which high pressure air is not supplied to the first pressure chamber, the piston is brought into contact with the first shaft by the low pressure air serving as the biasing means, and in a state in which the piston is in contact with the first shaft, the first shaft, the piston and the second shaft are raised and lowered as a unit by the electric drive means.

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