EP0582955B1 - Device for dosing and filling of liquid or pastry products expecially for filling sorted products, for e.g. fruit yoghurt or similar, preferably on multi-way aseptic machines - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a device for dosing and filling liquid or pasty products, in particular for filling sorted products, such as. B. fruit yogurt or the like, preferably on multi-lane aseptic machines, with at least one dosing device assigned to each lane row, which is sealed in a dosing housing via a fitting seal, controls the product feed and the product flow and is driven via a push rod and a control valve driven via a piston rod and via a Fitting seal in the metering housing has a guided metering piston, the piston rod of which, like the push rod of the control valve, is sealed against the metering housing with the interposition of a sealing body.

A metering device of the type mentioned has become known from DE-A-28 14 086. There the metering piston is guided in a cylinder bore of the metering housing and a control valve designed as an outlet valve in a screw-on piece of the metering housing by means of a fitting seal. The back of the metering piston has two guide rods designed as piston rods, which are sealingly guided in a front wall of the metering housing by means of stuffing boxes. The valve body has a tappet rod which is guided in a hollow rod in a sealed manner via a further stuffing box, the inner part of the hollow rod being able to provide sealing support on a recess in the metering piston designed as a valve seat surface. At its end facing the end wall, the hollow rod is guided in a sealed manner with respect to the end wall of the metering housing by means of a further stuffing box. The known metering device is quite complex, in particular due to the coaxial arrangement of the push rod of the valve body in the hollow rod in connection with the double rod design of the metering piston. If there is product leakage on the inside of the stuffing box in the area of the hollow rod or the metering piston, uncontrolled product leaks and, if you look at the rear stuffing boxes in the area of the guide rods of the metering piston and the hollow rod, can contaminate the machine if there are product leaks here is coming. In the event of leaks, in particular the inside of the stuffing box in the area of the tappet of the control valve, it takes a lot of disassembly work to expose this seal and replace it with a new one if necessary. The metering device cannot be easily sterilized and / or cleaned.

The invention has for its object a particular for filling sorted products such. B. fruit yogurt or the like, preferably on multi-lane aseptic machines to provide suitable dosing device of the type mentioned above, which with simple means enables a good seal of the dosing device as well as exact control or monitoring and possibly removal of any product leakage occurring, without thereby reducing the dosing accuracy is impaired and which can also be sterilized and / or cleaned well.

This object is achieved in that the sealing body are held by means of a quick-change device in an intermediate wall (support piece) which penetrate a cylinder space of the metering piston and an inlet space of the control valve and one of the piston rod of the metering piston and the push rod of the control valve, for checking an approximately separating monitoring room serving product leakage.

With the means according to the invention, a metering device is obtained which is characterized by a good seal and exact control and monitoring of a product leakage without impairing the metering accuracy and at the same time having good sterilization and / or cleaning ability. In the event of leaks in the sealing bodies of the piston rod and the push rod, the product leakage can be determined in a controlled manner. The dosing device can initially for a limited period of time continue to be operated without machine components being contaminated by the emerging product. The dosing device or the machine therefore only needs to be switched off when the extent of the leak has reached unacceptable values. In this case, you must react immediately so that the metering device can continue to be operated as quickly as possible. For the purpose of exchanging the leaky sealing bodies, they are held in the intermediate wall between the metering housing and the monitoring space by means of a quick-change device. The surveillance room, which is accessible from the outside through suitable measures, therefore has a dual function. So it serves to indicate the extent of the product leakage and on the other hand it gives the possibility, for example, to release the quick-change device via an assembly opening, so that the sealing bodies on the piston rod and the push rod can be replaced relatively quickly. This is particularly important for multi-track machines and especially when it comes to aseptic machines; because in this case the monitoring room can at the same time be designed as a sterile room, so that even in such a case the dosing device or the filling and closing machine equipped with it can be put back into operation relatively quickly after a product leak.

In the event that the monitoring room is designed as a sterile room, it is advantageously sealed off from the outside air by a sterile air lock in the region of the piston rod and the push rod.

In order to enable easy replacement of the sealing bodies, the piston rod and the push rod are each divided in the area of the monitoring space, which can be provided with an assembly opening that can be closed by a closure cover and at least with an observation window.

In an expedient embodiment of the invention, a lower rod part of the piston rod or the push rod is connected to an upper rod part of the piston rod or push rod via a plug-in pin connection. With this plug-in pin connection, the required axial forces for the dosing piston and the control valve can be transferred exactly. A suitable design of this plug pin connection also makes it possible to transmit the corresponding torque for the control valve designed as a rotary slide valve.

The rapid disassembly and assembly of new sealing bodies also contributes if the sealing body is secured by a quick-release element, which is preferably formed by a locking slide which can be displaced essentially in the horizontal direction.

To simplify the replacement of the sealing body, it is further provided that this locking slide is used not only to secure the sealing body of the piston rod and the push rod, but also for two piston rods or push rods located in adjacent rows of tracks.

Each sealing body has a support plate lying on one side of a sealing element engaging the piston rod or the push rod and a cover plate lying on the other side of the sealing element.

The latter expediently has locking collar collars which are located at a distance from one another and which also enable a convenient removal of the sealing elements, for example by means of a tool.

Fig. 1

eine erfindungsgemäße Dosiervorrichtung zum Abfüllen von vier verschiedenen Produkten auf acht nebeneinanderliegenden Bahnreihen mit jeweils zwei Einzeldoseuren in einer Produktreihe,

Fig. 2

die zugehörige Seitenansicht der Dosiervorrichtung,

Fig. 3

einen Schnitt entlang der Linie III-III der Fig. 1,

Fig. 4

einen Teil der Dosiervorrichtung im Längsschnitt und in vergrößertem Maßstab,

Fig. 5

einen Schnitt entlang der Linie V-V der Fig. 4,

Fig. 6

eine Einzelheit einer Verbindung im Bereich der Kolbenstange des Dosierkolbens bzw. der Stößelstange des Ventilschiebers und

Fig. 7

einen Schnitt entlang der Linie VII-VII der Fig. 6.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is shown in the drawing and is explained in more detail below. Show it:

Fig. 1

a dosing device according to the invention for filling four different products on eight adjacent rows of lanes, each with two individual doses in a product row,

Fig. 2

the associated side view of the metering device,

Fig. 3

2 shows a section along the line III-III of FIG. 1,

Fig. 4

part of the metering device in longitudinal section and on an enlarged scale,

Fig. 5

4 shows a section along the line VV of FIG. 4,

Fig. 6

a detail of a connection in the region of the piston rod of the metering piston or the push rod of the valve slide and

Fig. 7

a section along the line VII-VII of Fig. 6th

The basic structure of the metering device according to the invention is shown in FIGS. 1 to 3. From this it can be seen that a filling and closing machine, not shown in detail, has eight adjacent rows of tracks, in which cups with different products, such as. B. fruit yogurt of different flavors can be filled for an assortment packaging.

As can be seen from FIGS. 1 and 3, each row of lanes is assigned two individual doses 1, which are basically of the same design and whose task is to alternately transport cups 3 below the dosing device in the transport direction 2 by means of a transport device, not shown, with the product of the affected Fill row of webs. For this purpose, product components, for example two, for each product to be filled in an adjustable mixing ratio are fed to a mixing container (also not shown) and mixed in a manner not shown. The mixed product is fed from the mixing container via an inflow line 4 directly into a product container 5, 5 ', 5' ', 5' '' of the filling and sealing machine. The respective product is then fed from these product containers via feed lines 6 and distributor pipes 7 to the respective individual doses 1 of the web rows. 2 shows which web rows are loaded with which product.

Each individual metering device 1 has a metering housing 8 in which a cylinder bore 9 for receiving a metering piston 11 and a cylinder bore 12 for a control valve designed as a control slide 13 are provided. By the Control slide valve 13 controls the product inflow and outflow. The product flow takes place via a mouthpiece 14. The control slide 13 has a connecting slot 15 and an outlet channel 16, via which, depending on the position of the rotatable control slide 13, a connection or an interruption between the control valve and the metering space located on the front of the metering piston 11 can be set.

A cylinder chamber 17 is provided on the rear side of the metering piston 11, through which a piston rod 18 of the metering piston 11 extends. Similarly, on the rear side of the control slide 13, a cylinder space serving as an inlet space 19 is provided, through which a push rod 21 of the control slide 13 extends. The rear cylinder chamber 18 and the inlet chamber 19 are partially formed by the actual metering housing 8 and by sealing bushes 23 seated in a support plate 22 and a support piece 24 arranged above and thus fastened above the support plate 22. In this area, the two spaces, that is to say the cylinder space 17 and the inlet space 19, are connected to one another via a connecting duct 25. In the support piece 24 there is also an inlet channel 26, to which the branch pipe 7 of the feed line 6 is connected.

The exit of the piston rod 18 and the exit of the push rod 21 from the rear cylinder space 17 and the inlet space 19 are each sealed by a sealing body 27. The sealing body 27 are of identical design, so that only one is explained in more detail below. The sealing body 27 is seated in an essentially cylindrical recess 28 of the support piece 24 and seals the cylinder space 17 and the inlet space 19 from a monitoring space 29 which is designed as a sterile space when used on an aseptic machine. This monitoring space 29 serves as an observation and control space for any leakage on the sealing bodies 27. The monitoring space has an observation window 31 and an assembly opening 30 which can be closed by a closure cover 32 and is closed at its upper end by a head plate 33. As can be seen from FIG. 1, the piston rod 18 and the push rod 21 are guided through the top plate 33 of the monitoring space 29, to the extent of one Lift drive 34 for the piston rod 18 and a cylinder-piston unit 35 for the push rod 21. By means of these two drives, the piston rod 18 and the push rod 21 can be moved up and down. Via a rotary lever 36, the control slide 13 can be rotated by 90 ° in addition to its axial movement by a drive, not shown, in order to, as explained above, close the product outlet or open it.

The monitoring space 29 is sealed off from the outside air in the area of the piston rod 18 and the push rod 21 by air locks 37, 38 known per se, so that no sealing wear occurs at these points in the area of the piston rod and the push rod 21.

In Fig. 1 it is indicated that the piston rod 18 and the push rod 21 are formed in the area of the monitoring space 29 divided and are connected to each other via an easily releasable plug pin connection 39. The meaning of the split design of the piston rod 18 and the push rod 21 is explained in more detail below.

In addition, an automatic leakage monitoring device 41 is indicated in FIG. 1. This has drain bores 42 as well as a collecting line 43 and a leakage collecting container 44. As can be seen from FIGS. 4 and 6 and 7, the plug pin connection 39 has a screw bolt 46 which is inserted through a lateral recess 45 in the piston rod 18 or the push rod 21 and which extends into a widened head part 47 of an upper rod part 18 'or 21 'The piston rod 18 or the push rod 21 is screwed in. In this way, the required adjustment forces and, in the case of the push rod, the torques required to transmit the rotary movement of the control slide can be transmitted very precisely.

As can be seen from FIGS. 4 and 5, the sealing bodies 27 for the piston rod 18 and the push rod 21 each have a lower support plate 49 which lies on one side of the actual sealing element 51. These essentially cup-shaped or cup-shaped sealing elements can be commercially available sealing elements or also specifically for the here requirements are selected. On the opposite side of the sealing elements 51 there is in each case a cover plate 52, which on its upper side has locking collar 53 which is at a distance from one another and is essentially in the form of a ring segment. These locking collars interact with an essentially horizontally adjustable and removable locking slide 54, which can be tightened by means of a clamping screw 55 and serves for the simultaneous locking of four rod bushings, namely two adjacent piston rods 18 and two adjacent push rods 21. After loosening the clamping screw 55, the locking slide 54 can be moved laterally in such a way that the clamping screw 55 enters an enlarged opening 56 (FIG. 5), so that the locking slide can be removed for changing the sealing body 27.

The replacement of the sealing body takes place as follows:
As soon as it has been determined through the observation window 31 in the monitoring room 29 or else through the automatic leak indicator that the leakage at certain rod passages is inadmissibly high and a change of these sealing bodies 27 is necessary, the procedure is as follows. After the machine has come to a standstill, the closure cover 32 of the assembly opening 30 is opened, whereupon the plug-in pin connection is released and then the upper rod parts 18 'of the piston rod 18 and 21' of the push rod 21 are lifted upwards by their drives 34 and 35. The lower rod parts of the piston rod 18 and the push rod 21 are brought into their lower position. Then, using a suitable tool which engages the locking collar 53, the sealing elements 51 together with the respective cover plate 52 can be pulled upwards and finally the sealing elements 51 can be replaced by new sealing elements. Assembly takes place in the reverse order.

It has been shown that such a change of the sealing body can be carried out very quickly, and above all, as a result of the simultaneous locking of several sealing elements lying next to one another by visual or automatic leakage monitoring must only be carried out if the observation result gives cause for this. Due to the arrangement of the exchangeable seals in the area of the piston rod and the push rod 21, the production can in general be continued for a limited time in spite of leakage.

Because of the comparatively small number of seals, the metering device according to the invention can be sterilized particularly well, so that it can be filled under aseptic conditions. Cleaning is just as easy. In this case, the metering piston 11 is moved into an annular space 17 ′ of the cylinder space 17 that is larger in diameter, and the valve slide 13 is moved into a correspondingly enlarged annular space 19 ′ of the inlet space 19. In this position, the metering piston 11 and the valve slide 13 can be optimally cleaned. But it is also possible to clean the piston rod 18 and the push rod 21 in the area of the sealing body 27. For this purpose, the piston rod and the push rod are raised until areas with a reduced diameter 18 ″ and 21 ″ reach the area of the sealing body 27.

It is understood that the described invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiment shown, but that modifications are also possible within the scope of the claims. In addition to fruit yoghurt, milk and low-fat curd cheese - as well as edible curd products, as well as jams, fruit pulp and fruit syrup - are generally suitable as mixing components.

Claims (15)

1. Apparatus for the metering and decanting of liquid or pasty products, especially for the decanting of sorted products, such as, for example, fruit yoghurt or the like, preferably on multi-track aseptic machines, with at least one meterer (1) which is assigned to each track row and which has a control valve (13), sealed off in a metering housing (8) via an adaptor gasket, controlling the product inflow and the product outflow and driven via a tappet rod (21), and a metering piston (11), driven via a piston rod (18) and guided in a sealed-off manner in the metering housing (8) via an adaptor gasket, and the piston rod (18) of which metering piston, as well as the tappet rod (21) of the control valve (13), is guided in a sealed-off manner relative to the metering housing (8), in each case with a gasket body (27) being interposed, characterized in that the gasket bodies (27) are held by means of a quick-change device in an intermediate wall (24) (carrier piece) which separates from one another a cylinder space (17) of the metering piston (11) and an entry space (19) of the control valve (13) as well as a monitoring space (29), through which the piston rod (18) of the metering piston (11) and the tappet rod (21) of the control valve (13) pass and which serves for checking a product leakage possibly occurring.
2. Apparatus according to Claim 1, characterized in that the monitoring space (29) is designed as a sterile space and is partitioned off relative to the outside air in the region of the piston rod (18) and of the tappet rod (21) by means of a sterile-air lock (37, 38).
3. Apparatus according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the piston rod (18) and the tappet rod (21) are in each case made divided in the region of the monitoring space (29).
4. Apparatus according to one or more of Claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the monitoring space (29) is provided with an assembly orifice (30) closable by means of a closing cover (32) and with at least one observation window (31).
5. Apparatus according to Claim 3 or 4, characterized in that, in each case, a lower rod part of the piston rod (18) and of the tappet rod (21) is connected to one another [sic] in each case to an upper rod part (18', 21') of the piston rod (18) and tappet rod (21) via a socket-pin connection (45, 46).
6. Apparatus according to Claim 5, characterized in that the socket-pin connection has a screw pin (46) inserted through a lateral recess (45) in the piston rod (18) or of the tappet rod (21) and screwed into a widened head part (47) of an upper rod part (18') or (21') of the piston rod (18) or of the tappet rod (21).
7. Apparatus according to one or more of Claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the gasket body (27) is secured by means of a quick-action fastening element.
8. Apparatus according to Claim 7, characterized in that the quick-action fastening element is formed by a locking slide (54) essentially horizontally adjustable and removable after the release of a clamping screw (55).
9. Apparatus according to Claim 8, characterized in that the locking slide (54) serves at the same time for securing the gasket bodies (27) of the piston rod (18) and the gasket body (27) of the tappet rod (21).
10. Apparatus according to Claim 8, characterized in that the locking slide (54) serves additionally for securing the piston rod (18) or tappet rod (21) located in each case in an adjacent track row.
11. Apparatus according to Claim 9, characterized in that the gasket body (27) has a support plate (49) located on one side of a gasket element (51) engaging on the piston rod (18) or the tappet rod (21) and a cover plate (52) located on the other side of the gasket element (51).
12. Apparatus according to Claim 11, characterized in that the cover plate (52) has locking collars (53) located at a distance opposite one another and essentially in ring-segment form.
13. Apparatus according to Claim 11 or 12, characterized in that the cover plate (52) and the support plate (49) are mounted in an essentially cylindrical recess (28) of a carrier piece (24) which has a connecting duct (25) between the rear cylinder space (17) and the entry space (19) and which is fastened, with bearing bushes (23) interposed, on one side of a carrier plate (22), on the other side of which the metering housing (8) is screwed releasibly.
14. Apparatus according to Claim 13, characterized in that the carrier piece (24) has an entry duct (26) for the product to be decanted and, for any product leakage, an outflow duct (42) which is connected via a collecting conduit (43) to a leakage collecting container (44) of an automatic leakage-monitoring device (41).
15. Apparatus according to one or more of Claims 1 to 4, characterized in that, for cleaning the meterer, the metering housing (8) for the metering piston (11) and for the valve slide (13) has in each case a cylinder space (17', 19') of increased diameter and the piston rod (18) and tappet rod (21) have regions (18'', 21'') of reduced diameter.

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