Preform Transfer Wheel in Dry-Wet Bottled Water Machine
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Solution Overview
Problem
Bottle filling machines are difficult to clean and disinfect due to contamination from the wet area, leading to maintenance challenges and potential product loss, especially when transitioning between dry and wet areas.
Innovation Solution
A machine design with a heating section in the drying area for thermal conditioning, a molding and filling section in the wet area, and a transfer wheel with telescopic or pivotable arms arranged before a lock chamber to increase spacing between preforms, ensuring the dry area remains contamination-free and facilitating easier maintenance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Length of moving object
If the transfer wheel is placed in the wet area to increase spacing between preforms, then the spacing between preforms is increased, but the maintenance complexity increases due to contamination from filling material
Solution Approach 1:
The machine is divided into two separate areas: a dry area for thermal conditioning and a wet area for molding and filling. The lock chamber acts as a boundary between these areas, preventing filling material from contaminating the dry area while allowing the transfer wheel to increase spacing between preforms.
Solution Approach 2:
The lock chamber serves as an intermediary element between the dry and wet areas. It allows preforms to be transferred from the dry area to the wet area while preventing the backflow of filling material, thus protecting the transfer wheel and other components in the dry area from contamination.
2Ease of repair
If the transfer wheel is placed in the dry area, then maintenance is easier, but the spacing between preforms cannot be effectively increased
Solution Approach 1:
The transfer wheel is positioned at the boundary between the dry and wet areas, utilizing the spatial dimension created by the lock chamber entrance. This allows the transfer wheel to function in the dry area while still achieving the spacing increase needed for the wet area operations.
3Device complexity
If the dry area and wet area are not separated, then the machine structure is simpler, but contamination occurs leading to cleaning difficulties and product loss
Solution Approach 1:
The machine is divided into two separate areas: a dry area for thermal conditioning and a wet area for molding and filling. The lock chamber acts as a boundary between these areas, preventing filling material from contaminating the dry area while allowing the transfer wheel to increase spacing between preforms.
Solution Approach 2:
The lock chamber serves as an intermediary element between the dry and wet areas. It allows preforms to be transferred from the dry area to the wet area while preventing the backflow of filling material, thus protecting the transfer wheel and other components in the dry area from contamination.
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 machine design effectively separates the dry and wet areas, preventing contamination and simplifying cleaning and maintenance, while allowing for efficient production of thermally conditioned preforms and filled containers with reduced risk of product loss.
Implementation Method 1
So that a preform can be shaped into a container, it is thermally conditioned, that is to say in particular heated and given a suitable temperature profile. The body of the preform is e.g. heated to approx. 120 °C and malleable
Implementation Method 2
In order to prevent moisture from being carried over from the wet area to the dry area, such machines usually have a lock with a lock chamber, at the entrance of which the dry area is located and at the exit of which the wet area is located
Implementation Method 3
a molding and filling section for simultaneous molding and filling of the containers within a mold by filling material introduced into the preform under pressure
Data Source
Figure 1
AI summary
The invention relates to a machine for production of containers that are filled with a liquid product from preforms made from a thermoplastic material. The problem addressed by the invention is the proposing of such a machine which is easy to clean and disinfect. This problem is solved in that a machine comprises a heating section (1) for thermal conditioning of the preforms in a drying region (2) of the machine, a molding and filling section (3) for simultaneous molding and filling of the containers within a mold by a filled product inserted into the preform under pressure in a wet region (4) of the machine and transport wheels (5, 6, 7, 8, 10) for transporting the preforms or the molded containers through the machine, wherein the distance of adjacent preforms is smaller in the heating section (1) than in the molding and filling section (3). The enlarging of the distances of the preforms between the heating section (1) and the molding and filling section (3) is performed by means of a transfer wheel (11) and the drying region (2) of the machine is separated from the wet region (4) of the machine by a lock (13) having a lock chamber (14). The machine is characterized in that the transfer wheel (11) for enlarging the distances of the preforms is arranged in whole or at least in part before the lock (13) in the drying region (2).