Bellows Sealing Filling Element Eliminates Sliding Seal Contamination
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing filling machines with sliding seals face challenges in preventing lubricating water from entering filled containers, leading to contamination with bacteria and dirt.
Innovation Solution
A filling element design that replaces the sliding seal with a bellows, which surrounds the filling element axis and connects tightly to the housing and sealing tulip, creating a sealed transition and eliminating the need for a sliding seal, while incorporating a channel for CIP cleaning and sterilization to ensure optimal cleaning and disinfection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a sliding seal is used between the sealing tulip and the filling element housing, then the sealing tulip can be constantly moved up and down, but lubricating water drips into the containers being filled causing contamination
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the sliding seal component entirely from the system. Instead of trying to improve the sliding seal, the invention extracts this problematic element and replaces it with a bellows mechanism that provides the necessary sealing without requiring a sliding interface, thereby eliminating the source of contamination.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a bellows made of flexible material to seal the transition between the sealing tulip and the filling element housing. The bellows acts as a flexible membrane that can accommodate the movement of the sealing tulip while maintaining the seal, preventing lubricating water from entering the filling material.
2Reliability
If a sliding seal is used to seal the transition between the sealing tulip and the filling element housing, then the seal can accommodate movement, but bacteria and dirt particles get past the sliding seal
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the sliding seal that allows bacteria and dirt to pass through and replaces it with a bellows-based sealing system that maintains reliability without the harmful side effects of the sliding interface.
Solution Approach 2:
The bellows acts as a flexible sealing membrane that maintains the seal integrity while accommodating movement, creating a barrier that prevents bacteria and dirt particles from passing through while still allowing the sealing tulip to move between raised and lowered positions.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If a bellows is introduced to seal the transition, then contamination is prevented, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The bellows, as a flexible membrane component, provides an effective sealing solution that prevents contamination. While it adds a new component to the system, the bellows is a relatively simple element that can be integrated into the existing structure, and its flexibility allows it to accommodate movement without requiring complex mechanical linkages.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The bellows-based filling element effectively prevents contamination by eliminating the sliding seal, ensuring a clean and sterile filling process, and allows for adjustable pre-tensioning and filling pressures to accommodate various container sizes, enhancing the efficiency and hygiene of the filling process.
Implementation Method 1
the bellows seal a transition between the sealing tulip and the filling element housing
Implementation Method 2
the channel is used to deliver a liquid cleaning and/or sterilization medium into the annular gap during CIP cleaning and/or sterilization of the filling system
Data Source
AI summary
In a container-filling machine, a filling element includes a housing, a sealing tulip, and a bellows. The housing has a housing section and an orifice. The sealing tulip moves relative to the housing section along an axis between a raised and a lowered position. The bellows surrounds the axis. The bellows' two ends connect tightly to the housing and the tulip respectively. As a result, the bellows seals a transition between the tulip and the housing.