Device for treating containers

Abstract

A device for treating containers, for example, for filling and closing containers in filling plants is described. The device includes an isolator chamber in which the treatment of the containers takes place, and an outlet disposed beneath the isolator chamber for discharging fluids, wherein the outlet has a housing for receiving ejected containers and a suction device for extracting gases from the isolator chamber.

Claims

1. A device for treating containers, comprising: an isolator chamber where treatment of the containers takes place; an outlet configured to discharge fluids and connected to a floor of the isolator chamber; a suction device configured to extract gases from the isolator chamber and connected to the outlet; a cleaning-in-place system configured to recycle a cleaning medium, clean the isolator chamber with the cleaning medium and circulate the cleaning medium, wherein the cleaning-in-place system is disposed downstream of the outlet in a direction of flow of the cleaning medium; a closer configured to close the containers in the isolator chamber; and a filler configured to fill the containers in the isolator chamber; wherein: the outlet comprises (1) an outlet valve disposed downstream of the connection of the suction device to the outlet in the direction of flow of the cleaning medium (2) a pump disposed downstream of the outlet valve and configured to pump out the cleaning medium and (3) connecting lines extending from below the floor of the isolator chamber towards the outlet valve, the outlet valve is configured to close the outlet during intervals between cleanings of the isolator chamber, the isolator chamber is divided into a filler chamber to accommodate the filler and a closer chamber to accommodate the closer, and wherein the connecting lines comprise a connecting line extending from below a floor of each of the filler chamber and the closer chamber.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the suction device comprises a suction line.

3. The device of claim 2, further comprising a moisture separator configured to separate moisture at the suction device, wherein the moisture separator is disposed on the outlet.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein the suction device comprises an extraction fan.

5. The device of claim 1, further comprising a preform blowing device configured to stretch blow mold plastic preforms.

6. The device of claim 1, wherein the suction device and the outlet valve are disposed on different lines.

7. A device for treating containers, comprising: an isolator chamber where treatment of the containers takes place; an outlet configured to discharge fluids and connected to a floor of the isolator chamber; a suction device configured to extract gases from the isolator chamber and connected to the outlet; a cleaning-in-place system configured to recycle a cleaning medium, clean the isolator chamber with the cleaning medium and circulate the cleaning medium, wherein the cleaning-in-place system is disposed downstream of the outlet in a direction of flow of the cleaning medium; a closer configured to close the containers in the isolator chamber; and a filler configured to fill the containers in the isolator chamber, wherein: the outlet comprises (1) an outlet valve disposed downstream of the connection of the suction device to the outlet in the direction of flow of the cleaning medium, (2) a pump disposed downstream of the outlet valve and configured to pump out the cleaning medium, and (3) connecting lines extending from below the floor of the isolator chamber towards the outlet valve, by closing the outlet valve, a level of the cleaning medium in the isolator chamber is adjusted, the outlet valve is configured to close the outlet during intervals between cleanings of the isolator chamber, the isolator chamber is divided into a filler chamber to accommodate the filler and a closer chamber to accommodate the closer, and wherein the connecting lines comprise a connecting line extending from below a floor of each of the filler chamber and the closer chamber.

8. The device of claim 7, wherein the outlet comprises a housing configured to receive ejected containers.

9. The device of claim 8, wherein the housing is integrated with the isolator chamber.

10. The device of claim 8, wherein the housing comprises: an inlet aperture disposed on an upper face of the housing that communicates with the isolator chamber, an outlet aperture disposed in a lower area of the housing configured to discharge fluid, a container guide disposed in the housing at least between the inlet aperture and the outlet aperture, and a removal aperture configured to be opened or closed.

11. The device of claim 10, wherein the container guide comprises a perforated metal plate or a plurality of rods.

12. The device of claim 10, wherein the container guide and/or a floor of the housing is inclined relative to a vertical axis of the housing.

13. The device of claim 10, wherein the inlet aperture comprises an inlet closing device configured to interrupt communication between the housing and the isolator chamber.

14. The device of claim 7, further comprising a preform blowing device configured to stretch blow mold plastic preforms.

15. The device of claim 7, wherein the suction device comprises a suction line.

16. The device of claim 7, further comprising a moisture separator configured to separate moisture at the suction device, wherein the moisture separator is disposed on the outlet.

17. The device of claim 7, wherein the suction device comprises an extraction fan.

18. The device of claim 7, wherein the suction device and the outlet valve are disposed on different lines.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

(1) Further embodiments of the invention are more fully explained by the description below of the figures.

(2) FIG. 1 is a schematic side elevation of a device for filling and closing containers, with an outlet which has a suction device;

(3) FIG. 2 is a schematic side elevation of a device for filling and closing containers, with an outlet which has a suction device and two housings for receiving ejected containers;

(4) FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective side elevation of a housing for receiving ejected containers according to FIG. 2; and

(5) FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective partially sectional view through the housing from FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(6) Examples of embodiments are described below with the aid of the figures. In the figures, elements which are identical or similar, or have identical effects, are designated with identical reference signs, and in order to avoid redundancy repeated description of these elements is in part dispensed with.

(7) FIG. 1 shows schematically a side elevation of a device 1 for filling and closing containers, with an outlet 2 which has a suction device 3. In the present case, the filling and closing of, for example, cans takes place in the device 1. The device 1 has an isolator chamber 10, which provides a space sealed off from the surroundings.

(8) The device 1 can be designed, for example, as an aseptic device, and a defined cleanroom atmosphere can be provided in a known manner in the isolator chamber 10. The isolator chamber 10 can however also be designed to meet a less exacting standard of hygiene.

(9) In this embodiment, the isolator chamber 10 is divided into a filler chamber 50 and a closer chamber 60, which are connected with each other via a connecting airlock. In an alternative embodiment, it is also possible to provide two separate isolator chambers, which are connected with each other via a transport channel.

(10) A filler 5 for filling containers is disposed in the filler chamber 50. In the closer chamber 60, a closer 6 with lid gassing is provided for closing the containers that have been filled in the filler 5. CO.sub.2 is used as the treatment gas for lid gassing. However, other treatment gases, for example nitrogen, can also be used.

(11) Accordingly, not only the filler 5 but also the closer 6 is accommodated in an isolator chamber 10.

(12) An outlet 2 is disposed beneath the isolator chamber 10. The outlet 2 has connecting lines 48 which open into the floor areas of both the filler chamber 50 and the closer chamber 60, and are thereby in communication with the interior of the isolator chamber 10. By this means, fluids that reach the floor of the isolator chamber 10 are discharged through the outlet 2 and the connecting lines 48 by the effect of gravity. The floor of each isolator chamber 10 is typically formed such that the separate floor areas are inclined in a funnel shape towards the outlet, and in particular towards the mouth of the connecting line 48, so that all fluids flow into the outlet 2.

(13) The outlet 2 is also in communication with a suction device 3 for extracting gases from the isolator chamber 10. For this purpose, the connecting lines 48 are connected with a suction line 32. A moisture separator 12 for separating moisture at the suction device 3 is disposed on the outlet 2, for example, adjacent to a connection of the suction line 32 of the suction device 3. The gases are sucked by means of an extraction fan 30 into the suction device 3, and discharged via an exhaust air device 34 into an external atmosphere outside a production hall in which the device 1 is installed. The suction line 32 can also be in communication with only one of the connecting lines 48, in order to achieve the extraction by suction of gases from only one chamber of the isolator chamber 10. Depending on the design of the devices for treating the containers, extraction of gases may be necessary in only one of the chambers. If lids are treated with gas in a closer, it may for example only be necessary to provide suction extraction for the chamber that includes the closer, and not the other chamber.

(14) The lines of the outlet 2 and the lines of the suction device 3 are both constructed with a gradient G, so that fluids which enter either of the lines are conveyed away under their own weight, due to the effect of gravity, and do not remain in the lines. The gradient is indicated in FIG. 1 by right-angled triangles designated with the letter G. The direction of the gradient G is shown in FIG. 1 by the inclination of the hypotenuse of each right-angled triangle.

(15) A device for treating cleaning medium 11 is disposed downstream of the outlet 2, and the cleaning medium that is extracted via the outlet is transported by means of a pump 20 to this device 11. Here, the cleaning medium that was used for cleaning the device 1, and was extracted by means of the outlet 2, is treated. Thus there is a closed cycle of cleaning medium in the cleaning of the device 1, and by this means it is possible to save water and cleaning medium. Such a cleaning device 11 is in itself known.

(16) In order to enable the outlet 2 to be closed in the intervals between cleaning procedures, and thus prevent contamination of the atmosphere within the isolator chamber 10 by germs originating from the outlet 2, the outlet 2 can be closed by an outlet valve 22.

(17) The outlet valve 22 can also be used during a cleaning of the device 1 to prevent the outflow of the cleaning medium that is introduced into the device 1, so that the cleaning medium accumulates up to a specified level in the isolator chamber 10. In this manner the cleaning medium can also reach portions of the suction line 32 that are above its point of connection with the connecting lines 48, and the suction device 3 can thereby by flooded with the cleaning medium, at least partially and/or to the extent necessary, in order to clean it. Furthermore, a specified exposure time can be achieved for the components of the device that are below the level of the cleaning medium. After the outlet valve 22 is reopened, the accumulated cleaning medium can again be discharged and/or treated.

(18) During the operation of the device 1, the containers that are to be filled are conveyed through the device along the container path B. The containers to be filled pass through the entry airlock into the filler chamber 50, in which they are filled with a filling product and conveyed onwards through the connecting airlock into the closer chamber 60 and to the closer 6. The closer 6 closes the filled containers, wherein a gassing with CO.sub.2 takes place in order to rinse the container lids. After closing, the closed containers are conveyed along the container path B out of the device, through an exit airlock of the isolator chamber 10.

(19) Because of the molecular mass of CO.sub.2, the CO.sub.2 accumulates on the floor of the closer chamber 60 due to the effect of gravity during the operation of the closer 6, and forms a pool of CO.sub.2 on the floor. Because the outlet 2 is not impinged with cleaning medium during filling operation of the device 1, the suction device 3 can extract, via the outlet 2, the CO.sub.2 that accumulates in the floor area of the closer. Because the outlet 2 is disposed beneath the isolator chamber 10, and the suction device 3 is formed as part of the outlet 2, particularly effective discharge of the CO.sub.2 molecules is achieved.

(20) Furthermore, by means of the common use of the outlet 2 for removing not only fluids, in particular cleaning media, but also CO.sub.2, an efficient and hygienically advantageous design of the device 1 is achieved, since it is possible to dispense with additional apertures for extracting the CO.sub.2 by suction.

(21) FIG. 2 shows a schematic side elevation of a further device 1 for filling and closing containers.

(22) The design and operation, together with the cleaning procedure, of the device 1 correspond to those of the device in FIG. 1. Thus the device 1 in FIG. 2 also has an isolator chamber 10 divided into a filler chamber 50 and a closer chamber 60. In the filler chamber 50, a filler 5 for filling containers is disposed, and in the closer chamber 60 a closer 6 with lid gassing for the subsequent closing of the filled containers is disposed. Beneath the isolator 10 is again disposed an outlet 2 for discharging fluids, on which is again disposed a suction device 3 corresponding to that of FIG. 1, along with an outlet valve 22 and a pump 20 for conveying the extracted cleaning medium to a device for treating the cleaning medium.

(23) In this example embodiment, however, the outlet 2 includes two housings 4 for receiving ejected containers.

(24) In contrast to the device 1 from FIG. 1, the undersides of the filler chamber 50 and the closer chamber 60 of the device 1 in FIG. 2 each issue into a housing 4 for receiving ejected containers, which in turn issues in each case via an outlet aperture 42 into a connecting line 48 of the outlet 2. For communication with the isolator chamber 10, each housing 4 has an inlet aperture 41. The housings 4 are thereby connected with the isolator chamber 10 in a gas-tight manner. The housings 4 accordingly form part of the outlet 2.

(25) During operation of the device 1, containers that are incorrectly filled in the filler 5 are ejected by an ejection device into the housing 4 that is beneath the filler chamber 50. The ejected containers thereby pass through the inlet aperture 41 into the housing 4, and are collected within. The housing 4 thus also serves as a collecting receptacle for ejected containers.

(26) In a similar manner, faulty containers, for example incorrectly closed containers, are ejected from the closer 6, by means of a further ejection device disposed on the closer, into the housing 4 that is beneath the closer chamber 60. The ejected containers thereby pass through the inlet aperture 41 into the housing 4, and are collected within.

(27) The housings 4 are generally designed to collect a plurality of containers. In addition, the sizes of the housings 4 can be adapted, such that if, for example, during the operation of the device 1, more containers are generally ejected during the filling part of an operating cycle than during the closing of the filled containers, the housing 4 beneath the filler 5 is designed to be larger, and therefore has a greater capacity for accommodating containers, than the housing 4 beneath the closer 6.

(28) Because the housings 4 are connected with the suction device 3 via the outlet 2, gases in the isolator chamber 10, in particular the treatment gas CO.sub.2 that accumulates in the closer chamber 60 as the pool C of CO.sub.2, can be sucked out during the operation of the device 1 and discharged into the external atmosphere. This has already been described in connection with FIG. 1.

(29) FIG. 2 shows two housings 4. In a device 1 in which only a single ejection device is provided to eject faulty containers, it is of course also possible to provide only a single housing 4—for example beneath the closer 6.

(30) FIG. 3 shows schematically a perspective side elevation of a housing 4 for receiving ejected containers according to FIG. 2. On the upper face 40 of the housing 4 is disposed the inlet aperture 41, by means of which the housing 4 communicates with the isolator chamber. Through the inlet aperture 41, discharged fluids, gases extracted by suction, and ejected containers enter the interior of the housing 4, inside which a container guide 43 in the form of a perforated metal plate is disposed. The container guide 43 has the task of guiding ejected containers in the direction of a removal aperture 44. The removal aperture 44 is shown here in an airtightly closed state. To remove the containers that have collected in the housing 4, the removal aperture 44 can be temporarily opened.

(31) FIG. 4 shows schematically a perspective, partially sectional view through the housing 4 from FIG. 3. The container guide 43 divides the interior of the housing 4 into a collecting area 45 and a lower area 47. In the collecting area 45, the containers that enter through the inlet aperture 41 are collected. In the lower area 47, the outlet aperture 42, which discharges into the connecting line 48 of the outlet 2, is disposed. The container guide 43 has an incline from the inlet aperture 41 in the direction of the removal aperture 44. By this means, when containers that fall through the inlet aperture 41 meet the container guide 43, they are guided under their own weight in the direction of the removal aperture 44 due to the effect of gravity. Because the inlet aperture 41 on the upper face 40 is disposed on a first side of the housing 4, and the removal aperture 44 is on a side of the housing 4 that is opposite the first side, a large collecting area can be provided for the containers. Furthermore, the containers are guided away from the area below the inlet aperture 41, so that blocking of the inlet aperture 41 is avoided as long as the collecting area 45 is not completely full.

(32) Fluids that enter through the inlet aperture 41 can reach the lower area 47 through the perforations in the container guide 43. There they meet the floor 46 of the housing 4 due to the effect of gravity. The floor 46 has an incline in the direction of the outlet aperture 42, so that fluids that meet the floor 46 are guided into the outlet aperture 42 due to the effect of gravity. Advantageously, the incline of the container guide 43 and the incline of the housing floor 46 are formed in opposite directions from each other. By this means an effective separation of fluids and containers is achieved.

(33) Furthermore, gases that enter the housing 4 through the inlet aperture 41 can pass through the perforations in the container guide 43 and be extracted by suction through the outlet aperture 42.

(34) The inlet aperture 41 can further be closable by means of an inlet closing device, generally in the form of a slatted ventilation grille (which is not shown). By means of the inlet closing device, while the housing 4 is open via the removal aperture 44 the interior of the housing 4 can be fully or partially closed off from the isolator chamber 10, in order that an exchange of gas between the surroundings and the interior of the isolator chamber 10 can be prevented. It is thereby possible to open the housing 4 without, for example, breaching the sterile environment in the isolator chamber 10.

(35) Alternatively, the housing 4 can also be connected with the isolator chamber 10 of device from FIG. 2 via an airlock, so that, by closing the airlock, a housing 4 which is almost completely full of containers can be exchanged for another container with an empty collecting area, without contaminating the atmosphere within the isolator chamber 10.

(36) To the extent applicable, all individual features described in the example embodiments can be combined with each other and/or exchanged, without departing from the field of the invention.