SYSTEM COMPRISING ALTERNATING FILLING OF CONTAINERS, AND METHOD THEREFOR

Abstract

The invention relates to a system (10) for filling containers (100), in particular syringes, comprising a multi-track transport device for transporting a plurality of rows of containers (100) in a transport direction; at least two weighing devices, which are arranged in succession in the transport direction; at least one multi-track filling station (20), wherein the number of tracks of the filling station matches the number of tracks of the transport device; at least one sealing station (14); means (24, 44) for placing each row of containers (100) on one of the at least two weighing devices (30); and control configured to actuate the transport device such that each row of containers (100) is placed at a relevant weighing device (30) for a filling process, wherein the row of containers merely passes by the other weighing devices (30) without being placed at these other weighing devices (30) for a filling process. The invention also relates to a corresponding method.

Claims

1. System for filling containers, in particular syringes, comprising: a multi-track transport device for transporting a plurality of rows of containers in a transport direction; at least two weighing devices, which are arranged in succession below the transport device and along the transport device; at least one multi-track filling station, wherein the number of tracks of the multi-track filling station matches the number of tracks of the multi-track transport device, wherein the at least one filling station is is configured to perform a process of filling rows of containers positioned above or at two of the at least two weighing devices; at least one sealing station; means for placing each row of containers on a respective one of the at least two weighing devices; and a control configured to actuate the transport device such that each row of containers is placed above or at a respective weighing device for a filling process, wherein the row of containers passes by the other weighing devices without being placed above or at these other weighing devices for any filling process.

2. System according to claim 1, wherein the at least one filling station can be moved in the transport direction from a first filling position for a process of filling a row of containers positioned at one of the at least two weighing devices to another filling position for a process of filling a row of containers positioned at another of the at least two weighing devices.

3. System according to claim 1, wherein the system comprises at least two multi-track filling stations arranged in succession in the transport direction, wherein at least one of the filling stations is movable relative to another one of the filling stations.

4. System according to claim 1, wherein the transport device comprises at least one strip per row of containers, each strip having one through-hole per track or container in a row of containers.

5. System according to claim 4, wherein the strip has two arms, with one arm on each side of the holes, and wherein the strip is hinged.

6. System according to claim 4, wherein the holes are conical and taper from an upper face of the strip towards a lower face of the strip.

7. System according to claim 4, wherein the strip is a hollow strip, wherein the transport device further comprises one or more strip inserts that can be slid into the hollow stripe and in a longitudinal direction of said hollow strip, wherein the strip inserts each have one hole per hole in the hollow strip.

8. System according to claim 7, wherein the shape of the holes in the strip inserts does not match the shape of the holes in the hollow strip, such that there are positions of the strip inserts which cover a region of a passage for the holes in the hollow strip and positions of the strip inserts which leave the passage for the holes in the hollow strip open.

9. System according to claim 7, wherein the shape of the holes has a circular or elliptical portion and a portion that differs from the circular or elliptical shape.

10. System according to claim 1, further comprising at least one centring insert, which can be guided through the holes in the strips due to its shape, wherein the centring insert comprises one end suitable for coupling to the weighing devices and comprises a clamping device at the other end for clamping or centring a container.

11. System according to claim 10, wherein the centring insert comprises a resilient or resiliently mounted projection for engaging with retaining means inside the strips.

12. System according to claim 4, wherein the strips are movable relative to one another, such that the distance between strips that are in succession in the transport direction can be decreased and increased during transport.

13. System according to claim 1, further comprising at least one gripper device per filling station, which is designed to raise and/or lower at least one container, wherein the gripper device is designed such that the at least one container can be raised from a hole in the strip and/or lowered onto a weight sensor of the weighing device.

14. System according to claim 1, wherein the distance between two weighing devices of the at least two weighing devices that are in succession in the transport direction is such that, when positioning each row of containers at or above each of the successive weighing devices, there is either no space for a row of containers between said rows of containers or there is space for a number of rows of containers that is equal to the total number of the at least two weighing devices or corresponds to a multiple thereof.

15. System according to claim 1, wherein the spatial arrangement of the at least two weighing devices in the transport direction is such that it produces a number such that, in a transport pattern corresponding to a forward movement by this number of rows of containers followed by a filling stop followed by another forward movement by this number of rows of containers, each row of containers is only positioned at one of the weighing devices once at one filling stop and is not positioned at one of the weighing devices at all the other filling stops.

16. System according to claim 1, wherein each filling station has a number of filling needles that is equal to the number of tracks.

17. System according to claim 1, wherein more than one sealing station is provided, and wherein there is one sealing station for every two of the at least two weighing devices.

18. System according to claim 1, wherein a nest emptying device is provided at the start of the transport device in order to remove containers from a nest and introduce them into the transport device.

19. Method for filling containers using a system according to claim 1, comprising the steps of: arranging empty containers in successive rows, wherein at least two containers are arranged per row; moving the rows in a transport direction; and applying one of the following sub-steps to each of the rows: filling the containers in the row at a first filling point and moving these containers past at least one other filling point without filling; moving the containers in the row past the first filling point and filling these containers at precisely one of the at least one other filling point.

20. Method for filling containers according to claim 19, wherein the steps of arranging the empty containers in the successive rows and moving the rows in the transport direction are applied to different containers and rows simultaneously.

21. Method for filling containers according to claim 19, wherein the method further comprises at least one of the steps of: removing the empty containers from a nest prior to arranging the empty containers in the successive rows; or inserting the filled containers into a nest.

22. Method for filling containers according to claim 19, wherein moving the rows comprises the steps of: moving the rows by a length corresponding to an integer multiple of the distance of two successive rows, wherein the integer multiple is at least two; and stopping at least some of the rows for a processing time that corresponds at least to the time required for a filling process.

23. Method for filling containers according to claim 19, wherein the containers are weighed starting immediately before the filling until the filling is complete to measure the fill level and/or the absolute filling quantity of the containers during this time period.

24. Method for filling containers according to claim 19, wherein the method is applied to each of the containers either individually or as an element of a row of containers.

Description

[0090] An embodiment of the invention is described in the following with reference to the drawings, in which:

[0091] FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a system according to the invention;

[0092] FIG. 2a to 2c are schematic views of a closed strip of the system according to the invention, an open strip of the system according to the invention, and a section through the strip of the system according to the invention along the line A-A, respectively;

[0093] FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the system from FIG. 1 viewed in the transport direction;

[0094] FIG. 4 is a schematic side view of another system according to the invention comprising just one filling station;

[0095] FIG. 5a to 5d show a schematic view of a hollow strip, a schematic view of a strip insert, a schematic side view of a strip comprising a centring insert, and a schematic plan view of a centring insert, respectively.

[0096] An embodiment of the system 10 according to the invention for filling containers 100, which are designed as syringes here by way of example, comprises, as shown in FIG. 1, a transport device formed by means of strips 40, two filling stations 20, two weighing devices 30 and a sealing station 14.

[0097] As shown in FIG. 2a, a single strip 40 comprises five holes 42, the strip 40 being formed by the arms 40a and 40b, which are coupled by a hinge 44. As shown in FIG. 2d, the arms 40a and 40b can therefore open out, while in other embodiments the hinge or another appropriate mechanism can be designed such that the arms 40a and 40b can only open out by a few degrees. Here, an opening angle that is large enough for the containers 100 retained in the holes to be accordingly released is sufficient.

[0098] Since the embodiment is designed for syringes that comprise a somewhat thicker region and a somewhat thinner region towards the tip of the syringe, the holes 42 are tapered from top to bottom, as can be seen from the cross section of a hole in FIG. 2c, such that, as shown in FIG. 1, the thinner head region of the syringe 100 can project downwards, while the wider upper region cannot pass through the hole and is thus retained.

[0099] As can be seen in FIG. 3, five syringes 100 are accordingly retained in each strip 40 and the filling stations 20 accordingly have five filling needles 22 and the weighing device 30 has five weight sensors 32. It is not shown, but the sealing station 14 also accordingly has five sealing actuators 16.

[0100] A system could of course also be produced to have a higher or lower number of tracks.

[0101] As can also be seen in FIG. 1, the strips 40 are supplied from the left so as to be empty, and syringes 100 are inserted into the holes 42 in the strips 40.

[0102] In the present embodiment, the control is configured such that the transport device and the strips 40 are each moved forward by two strip distances, and are then stopped for a filling process.

[0103] This figure shows the moment at which the syringes 100 located at the filling stations 20 have already been half-filled by the filling needles 22. Here, the syringes 100 are retained by gripper devices 24.

[0104] When the filling process shown is completed, the syringes 100 located at the filling stations 20 have been filled to the extent shown by the shaded area on the syringes located further to the right.

[0105] At the end of the filling process, the strips 40 retaining the already filled syringes 100 are opened, at which point the syringes 100 additionally retained by the gripper devices 24 are lowered onto the weight sensors 32 of the weighing devices 30, in order to determine the gross weight of each individual syringe. Since the tare weight has already been determined previously in a similar way, the precise fill level or filling quantity is therefore known for each syringe.

[0106] In alternative embodiments, the syringes 100 may also remain on the weight sensors 32 during the filling process, such that the weight is continuously measured and the difference between the starting weight and the current or final weight accordingly serves as a control of the filling quantity.

[0107] During the filling and/or the weighing, the sealing actuators 16 of the sealing station 14 will have also provided the syringes 100 that are currently located immediately below the sealing actuator 16 in FIG. 1 with a stopper or seal 18, as is already the case for the syringes 100 on the far right.

[0108] Even if, in the present embodiments shown, a movable sealing station 14 or sealing actuators 16 are taken as a starting point instead, one or more immovable sealing stations 40 may alternatively also be used, for example by two sealing stations 14 being provided in succession in the transport direction and/or by the strips 40 being rendered movable relative to one another. In the latter case, exactly when two rows of syringes 100 were being filled, the strips 40 in the vicinity of the sealing station 14 would be moved such that two rows of syringes 100 are positioned in succession for sealing at the sealing station 14. For this purpose, the distance between the strips 40 and/or between the rear filling position would have to be suitably selected as required such that there is sufficient clearance for the individual movement of the strips 40.

[0109] The gripper devices 24 then raise the syringes again such that the associated strips 40 can be sealed, and the gripper devices 24 are then released from the syringes 100 such that the gripper devices 24 do not impede the subsequent forward movement of the strips 40 to the right.

[0110] Here, the control is configured such that strips 40 are moved forward by the distance of two adjacent strips, and the strips are then stopped for the time required for weighing and filling and are subsequently moved forward again by two strip distances.

[0111] As shown in FIG. 1, this means that, once the filling of the syringes 100 that are currently being filled in FIG. 1 is complete, the gripper devices 24 are accordingly released and moved away, at which point the strips 40 move precisely far enough that they adopt the position that is further on by two strip distances in FIG. 1.

[0112] Therefore, the syringes 100 on the far left are brought to a stop directly under the filling needles 22 of the first filling station 20. The second syringes 100 from the left are brought to a stop in the first position downstream of the first filling station 20. The syringes 100 that have just been filled by the first filling station 20 are brought to a stop, as completely filled syringes, in a position upstream of the second filling station 20, and the syringes 100 that were previously still empty and were located in the first position downstream of the first filling station 20 are brought to a stop under the second filling station 20. The filled syringes 100 that were previously in a position upstream of the second filling station 20 are now brought to a stop in a position downstream of the filling station 20.

[0113] The syringes that are being filled by the second filling station 20 and the filled syringes that were previously in a position downstream of the second filling station 20 are brought into the region which is accessible to the movably operating sealing station as part of the sealing processes. The filled and then also sealed syringes 100 on the far right in FIG. 1 are transported away to the right, based on FIG. 1, and from there are e.g. supplied to a device that removes the syringes 100 from the strips 40 and inserts the syringes 100 into accordingly prepared nests.

[0114] The grippers 24 then grip the empty syringes 100 that are currently positioned under the filling stations 20, these syringes are then accordingly transported to tare weighing, i.e. weighing without any contents, and are then transported into a corresponding position suitable for filling, at which point the situation shown in FIG. 1 arises again as part of the following filling process.

[0115] The system thus carries out multi-track and alternating dual-row filling, with complete fill weight determination, for example by tare weighing and gross weighing the objects to be filled, for example syringes, vials or cartridges, being achieved at full machine capacity.

[0116] As shown in FIG. 1, three strip distances present a possible solution as a distance between the two filling stations 20 and weighing devices 30 when there are two filling stations 20 and two weighing devices 30. Alternatively, purely taking into account the operating principle, the two filling stations 20 and weighing devices 30 could also fill directly adjacent strips, even if one forward movement by two strip distances were possible with the accordingly desired result. However, this might often technically be unsuccessful because corresponding filling stations 20 and weighing devices 30 take up too much space to be effectively positioned closely beside one another.

[0117] If more than two filling stations are intended to be used, these may either fill respectively adjacent rows and may be positioned accordingly (again presenting the problem whereby many filling systems are too bulky for this purpose), or the filling stations 20 need to be arranged at a different distance to that in FIG. 1.

[0118] In order for it to be possible to produce the pattern from forward movement by a certain number of strip distances, subsequent stoppage and then forward movement again, it is advantageous for the number of strips between two strips under adjacent filling stations 20 and weighing devices 30 to be equal to the total number of filling stations 20 and weighing devices 30. Then, when a forward movement takes place by the number of strips amounting to the total number of filling stations 20 and weighing devices 30, each strip is only below a filling station 20 and above a weighing device 30 once during the stoppage, and otherwise it is always within the distances between two adjacent filling stations 20 or weighing devices 30 during the stoppage.

[0119] In other words, the forward movement must=F strip distances, where F=number of filling stations, while the distance between two adjacent filling stations or weighing devices 30 must be equal to F+1 strip distances. Then, by simply changing the forward movement by the corresponding length and stoppage, it is possible for a particular strip to only come to be below a filling station 20 and above a weighing device 30 once during the stoppage as it passes along the entire length of the transport device. Therefore, the capacity of the filling stations 20 and weighing devices 30 is fully utilised.

[0120] This is however merely the preferred method, because in principle other distances of the filling stations can also be implemented using more complex actuating systems, in particular with individually movable strips. This merely addresses the control-related problem of how to actuate the strips such that each strip is only below a filling station once during a stoppage for filling processes, and during all other stoppages is not below a filling station, such that each filling station always has empty containers to fill in each stoppage.

[0121] Since the process of weighing is in principle the particularly time-critical component, i.e. the process that takes the most time, filling stations 20 that are movable in the transport direction may also be provided instead of one filling station 20 per weighing device 30.

[0122] An embodiment of this type comprising one movable filling station 20 and two weighing devices 30 is shown in FIG. 4.

[0123] This merely differs from that shown in FIG. 1 relating to the configuration of the control in that one filling station 20 fills a row of containers 100 on/above a weighing device 30, while for example for the other row of containers 100 positioned on a weighing device 30 the strip 40 has been opened and moved away, and the containers 40 have been lowered onto the weight sensors 32 and tare weighing is then carried out.

[0124] The gross weighing of the containers 100 that have just been filled takes place in the same manner, while the filling station 20 moves in the direction of the arrow to the row of containers 100 that have just been tare-weighed, in order to fill these containers once they have been suitably raised by the gripper 24. Otherwise, the system 10 in FIG. 4 operates in a similar manner to that in FIG. 1, and also has accordingly configured control.

[0125] Since the weighing lasts considerably longer than the moving and filling, the system according to FIG. 4 is similarly as rapid as that shown in FIG. 1, since the critical time component of the weighing primarily becomes less significant due to the two weighing devices 30.

[0126] FIGS. 5a and 5b show another possible design of the strips 40c. Said strips are designed as hollow strips 40c, and strip inserts 46 are also provided which can be slid into the interior of the hollow strips 40c or are at least movably arranged therein.

[0127] The holes 42c, 42d in the hollow strip 40c have a circular portion 42c and a triangular portion 42d in this case. The holes 48 in the strip inserts 46 are elliptical, however.

[0128] Furthermore, the system 10 or the transport device comprises centring inserts 50 as shown in FIGS. 5c and 5d, comprising a lower end 52 suitable for being positioned so as to be coupled to a weight sensor 32; the shape of this end 52 therefore being determined by the design of the weight sensors 32, and vice versa.

[0129] Furthermore, on an upper end, the centring insert 50 comprises a clamping device 54, 56, comprising a clamp bracket 54 and a clamping block 56 that is resiliently movably mounted in a guide recess 58 towards said bracket, between which clamping bracket and clamping block container ends of containers 100 can be clamped or centred.

[0130] The shape of the centring inserts 50 between the two ends substantially corresponds in this case to a circle, a triangular projection 60 being provided at a suitable height such that the shape as a whole is suitable for passing through the holes 42c, 42d in the hollow strip 40c.

[0131] Depending on the position of the strip insert 46, the centring insert 50 can thus either be released or retained in the downward direction.

[0132] If, for example, based on FIGS. 5a and 5b, the strip insert 46 is slid in the hollow strip 40c, but relatively far down, the region of the strip insert 46 positioned above the elliptical holes 48 blocks the triangular portion 42d of each of the holes 42c, 42d. Therefore, the projection 60 rests on the strip insert 46 and is retained by the hollow strip 40c due to the coupling of the strip insert 46 in the hollow strip 40c.

[0133] If, for example, based on FIGS. 5a and 5b, the strip insert 46 is slid in the hollow strip 40c, but relatively far up, no region of the strip insert 46 blocks the holes 42c, 42d in the hollow strip 40c. Owing to the appropriate shape, a centring insert 50 positioned in a hole 42c, 42d is no longer blocked in the downward direction and can rest its full weight e.g. on the weight sensor 32 located below the strip.

[0134] Once the weighing is complete, the strip insert 46 can be moved again by slightly raising the centring inserts 50 as required by means of the grippers 24, for example, so that the centring insert 50 is retained by the hollow strip 40c again.

[0135] In this way, on one hand the weighing process can be carried out in a technically simple manner, and on the other hand containers 100 having different diameters of the centring insert 50 can be clamped and therefore retained by the hollow strips 40c.

[0136] Of course, other shapes of the holes 42c, 42d, the holes 48 and the centring inserts 50 may produce a corresponding connection, since it is sufficient here for part of the cross section of the holes 42c, 42d to be blocked in one position of the strip insert 46 and for no region to be blocked in another position.

[0137] Alternatively or additionally, the centring insert 50 may also comprise, in addition to the projection 60, movable components that project above the strip 40 or hollow strip 40c, for example, and are moved accordingly for the purpose of releasing.

[0138] In principle, the two embodiments shown may also be designed without a gripper or gripper device 24. Since said gripper or gripper device essentially serves the function of lowering/raising the containers 100 onto/from the weight sensors 32, alternatively and/or additionally the strips 40 and/or the weight sensors 32 may be vertically movable individually or jointly.

[0139] In this case, before a strip 40 is opened or before release by moving a strip insert 46, the strip 40 is suitably lowered and/or the corresponding weight sensors 32 are suitably raised such that the containers 100 rest their weight directly on the weight sensors 32.

[0140] The strip 40 is then closed again or the strip insert 46 is suitably moved for blocking. For this purpose, the strip 40 and/or the weight sensors 32 can still be moved slightly in order to provide optimal relative positioning between containers 100 or centring inserts 50 or strips 40 and/or strip inserts 46 for the purpose of engagement.