CLOSURE DEVICE FOR ADDING GAS TO AND CLOSING CONTAINERS THAT HAVE A FILLER OPENING

Abstract

The invention relates to a closing device for closing containers which have a filling opening, such as bottles or cans, comprising a positioning apparatus for arrangement of a container to be closed into a position for closing, a flushing apparatus with a nozzle device for blowing in flushing gas, in particular inert gas, into a container to be closed though its filling opening prior to closure, a closing element setting apparatus for attachment of a closing element to a container to be closed in a position which closes its filling opening and thus the container and a control apparatus.

Claims

1. Closing device for closing containers which have a filling opening, such as bottles, cans, vials, cartridges or ampoules, comprising: a positioning apparatus for arrangement of a container to be closed into a position for closing, a flushing apparatus with a nozzle device for blowing in flushing gas, in particular inert gas, into a container to be closed though its filling opening prior to closure, a closing element setting apparatus for attachment of a closing element to a container to be closed in a position which closes its filling opening, and a control apparatus, wherein the nozzle device has a central nozzle arrangement and a peripheral nozzle arrangement which surrounds the central nozzle arrangement, wherein the nozzle device and a container to be closed can be positioned relative to one another in a flushing position so that the central nozzle arrangement is aligned at least primarily to its filling opening for the introduction of flushing gas into the container and the peripheral nozzle arrangement aims at a peripheral region of the filling opening so that both the filling opening and also its periphery are exposed to a flushing gas flow when the nozzle device outputs flushing gas, characterized in that the position for closing and the flushing position for a respective container to be flushed and closed correspond to one another and that the nozzle device is movable relative to a container introduced by means of the positioning apparatus into the position for closing between the flushing position and a retracted position, wherein it is positioned in the flushing position with its flushing gas outlet end opposite the filling opening of the container overlapping this.

2. Closing device according to claim 1, characterized in that the central nozzle arrangement and the peripheral nozzle arrangement are each formed as a tube element, wherein the tube element which forms the central nozzle arrangement is received in particular concentrically in the tube element forming which forms the peripheral nozzle arrangement.

3. Closing device according to claim 1, characterized in that the nozzle device is oriented in the flushing position obliquely with respect to the filling opening of a container positioned in position for closing and to be flushed.

4. Closing device according to claim 3, characterized in that the nozzle device is chamfered at its flushing gas outlet end relative to the tube element longitudinal axis, so that the flushing gas outlet end lies in the flushing position of the nozzle device at least approximately in a plane which extends parallel to the upper edge of the filling opening of a respective container positioned in position for closing.

5. Closing device according to claim 1, characterized in that the closing element setting device has a closing element holder which is movable between a retracted passive position and an advanced closing element output position.

6. Closing device according to claim 5, characterized in that it is controllable by means of the control apparatus so that the movement of the closing element holder out of its retracted passive position into the advanced closing element output position and the movement of the nozzle device out of the flushing position into its retracted position are performed simultaneously at least in regions.

7. Closing device according to claim 5, characterized in that it can be controlled by means of the control apparatus so that the closing element holder is always moved out of its closing element output position when the nozzle device is in the flushing position, wherein in the flushing position the nozzle device is positioned between the filling opening of a respective container positioned in position for closing and the closing element holder.

8. Closing device according to claim 1, characterized in that the nozzle device is movable at least approximately horizontally between the retracted position and the flushing position, in particular is pivotable in an at least approximately horizontal plane.

9. Closing device according to claim 1, characterized by an additional nozzle device with at least one flushing nozzle for outputting flushing gas in the direction of the closing element holder so that the flushing nozzle can blow flushing gas onto a closing element which is provided by the closing element holder for a current closing process.

10. Closing device according to claim 1, characterized in that the flushing gas flow output by the central nozzle arrangement and the flushing gas flow output by the peripheral nozzle arrangement can be controlled separately from one another.

11. Closing device according to claim 1, characterized in that the positioning apparatus is formed for arrangement of a group of containers to be closed into a position for closing, that the closing element setting apparatus is formed to attach closing elements to a corresponding group of containers to be closed in a position which closes the filling openings, and that the nozzle device of the flushing apparatus is provided multiple times with the formation of a group of nozzle devices of the same type.

Description

[0029] An exemplary embodiment of the invention is explained in greater detail below with reference to the single FIGURE.

[0030] The FIGURE shows a partially schematic, cut-out detailed sectional representation of a region of the closing device in which the flushing of a corresponding container with inert gas and the closing of the container take place.

[0031] In the FIGURE, a flask 3 is apparent as a container, which flask is filled up to a headspace volume 5 with an oxygen-sensitive liquid pharmaceutical 7.

[0032] Flask 3 is located in a positioning apparatus 9 of the closing device and has been introduced by means of this positioning apparatus 9 into the shown position for closing, wherein this position for closing also corresponds to the flushing position in which, for example, inert gas is introduced as flushing gas into headspace 5 of flask 3.

[0033] A flushing apparatus 11, of which substantially a nozzle device 13 in its flushing position relative to flask 3 is apparent in the figure, serves this purpose.

[0034] Nozzle device 13 has as a central nozzle arrangement an inner cylindrical tube element 15 which, in the flushing position, is directed substantially at filling opening 18 of flask 3 in order to blow in the inert gas there.

[0035] Nozzle device 13 further comprises as a peripheral nozzle arrangement a cylindrical tube element 17 which coaxially surrounds tube element 15 and which also serves to discharge inert gas. Inert gas can thus be blown out of intermediate space 19 between central tube element 15 and peripheral tube element 17 into the periphery of filling opening 18 of flask 3 in order to displace air and thus the atmospheric oxygen there, so that it is not sucked into filling opening 18 as a result of the sucking actions during the flushing process.

[0036] According to a modified embodiment of the invention, tube element 17 and/or tube element 15 can be widened in a funnel-shaped manner at the output of nozzle device 13.

[0037] Gas flow 20 of central tube element 15, which is directed at filling opening 18 of flask 3 and gas flow 22 delimited at the outside by peripheral tube element 17 can be controlled separately from one another in terms of their strength. Control is carried out by a control apparatus 24 which also controls the other functions of the closing device.

[0038] As a result of the described process, during flushing of the flask, it was possible to reduce the residual oxygen content in headspace volume 5 of flask 3 to an extremely low value of <0.5%.

[0039] An additional nozzle device 26 with at least one additional flushing nozzle 28 serves as a further measure to minimize the residual oxygen content in flask 3, which additional flushing nozzle 28 in the case of the example of inert gas is directed in the direction of a closing element provided for the subsequent closing process in the form of a stopper 30 so that the flushing gas reaches lower recess 32 of stopper 30 and can displace air there.

[0040] Frame 34 of additional nozzle device 26 has such a structure that regions 5, 32 to be flushed are well screened from the entry of air towards the outside, when the flask 3 and nozzle device 13 are in the shown flushing position. In this manner, air is prevented from being able to subsequently flow from the outside in critical quantities to the flushed regions.

[0041] Stopper 30 is located at the lower end of a push-in plunger 36 as a closing element holder of a closing element setting apparatus 38. In the FIGURE, push-in plunger 36 is shown in a retracted passive position from which it can be moved into an advanced closing element output position in order to push stopper 30 into filling opening 18 of flask 3. Before this can happen, however, nozzle device 13 must first be moved out of the path between shown stopper 30 and filling opening 18 of flask 3. This is performed very quickly after the flushing process in that the nozzle device is moved laterally using an at least approximately horizontal movement component to the right in the FIGURE by means of a corresponding drive device (not shown) into a retracted position. After or, where applicable, already during this retraction movement of nozzle device 13, a drive apparatus of closing element setting apparatus 38 moves push-in plunger 36 out of the retracted passive position shown in the FIGURE into an advanced closing element output position, in which it pushes stopper 30 into filling opening 18 of flask 3. Flask 3 is thereafter tightly closed and has an in any event extremely low residual oxygen content in its headspace 5.

[0042] It should also be noted that nozzle device 13, in its flushing position, is oriented obliquely to the filling opening of flask 3 positioned in position for closing and to be flushed. It should furthermore be noted that nozzle device 13 is chamfered at its flushing gas outlet end relative to tube element longitudinal axis 42 so that flushing gas outlet end 40, in the flushing position of nozzle device 13, lies at least approximately in a plane which extends parallel to the upper edge of filling opening 18 of flask 3. These measures serve on one hand to improve the flushing effect of flask 3, on the other hand quicker movability of nozzle device 13 out of the spatial region between stopper 30 and filling opening 18.