CONTAINER LID FOR A CONTAINER, AND METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FILLING A CONTAINER

Abstract

A container lid for a container for holding liquid or paste-like products has a lid body, which can be fixed to a container housing of the container via a container opening. By a manually operable metering dispenser device a predefinable quantity of the product can be dispensed from the container housing through a product dispensing opening of the metering dispenser device when an actuating element of the metering dispenser device is actuated. A mixing device for the product located in the container has a displaceable mixing element, which is operatively connected to the actuating element of the metering dispenser device and which is displaced by an actuation of the actuating element. In a filling process, the container is filled with several product components and mixed in a mixing step with the aid of the mixing device located on the container lid before the container is sealed with the container lid.

Claims

1.-22. (canceled)

23. A container lid (3) for a container (12) for holding a liquid or paste-like product, comprising: a lid body (27), which can be fixed to a container housing of the container (3) via a container opening, and a manually operable metering dispenser device (19), by which a predefinable quantity of the product can be dispensed from the container housing through a product dispensing opening (23) of the metering dispenser device (19) when an actuating element (21) of the metering dispenser device (19) is actuated, wherein, when the container lid (3) is used as intended with the container (12), the container lid (3) engages with a mixing device (13) for the product located in the container (12), wherein the mixing device (13) has a displaceable mixing element (14), which is operatively connected to the actuating element (21) of the metering dispenser device (19) and which is displaced by an actuation of the actuating element (21).

24. The container lid (3) according to claim 23, wherein the mixing device (13) is arranged on the container lid (3).

25. The container lid (3) according to claim 23, wherein the metering dispenser device (19) has an intake pipe (29) extending away from the lid body (27) for the product to be dispensed through the product dispensing opening (23), and wherein the mixing element (14) is displaceably mounted on an end region of the intake pipe (29) remote from the lid body (27).

26. The container lid (3) according to claim 25, wherein the mixing element (14) extends in a longitudinal direction of the intake pipe (29) beyond an intake opening (31) formed in the intake pipe (29) for the product to be dispensed.

27. The container lid (3) according to claim 25, wherein the mixing device (13) has a displaceably mounted mixing element sleeve (30), which is arranged coaxially to the intake pipe (29) and is operatively connected to the actuating element (21), so that the mixing element sleeve (30) is displaced relative to the intake pipe (29) when the actuating element (21) is actuated.

28. The container lid (3) according to claim 23, wherein the mixing element (14) is pivotably mounted about a displacement axis (33) extending away from the lid body (27).

29. The container lid (3) according to claim 23, wherein the mixing element (14) has at least one mixing blade (32) extending along a helical line.

30. The container lid (3) according to claim 29, wherein the at least one mixing blade (32) is mounted at a radial distance with respect to a displacement axis (33).

31. A method for filling a container (12) with a liquid or paste-like product, comprising: filling the product into the container (12) through a container opening in a filling step with a filling device; closing the filled container (12) with a container lid (3); mixing the product filled into the container (12) in a mixing step; bringing the container lid (3) into operative connection with a mixing device (13) in an interior (15) of the container (12) or introducing a mixing device (13) with a mixing element (14) that is part of the container lid (3) into an interior (15) of the container (12); and displacing a mixing element (14) of the mixing device in the interior (15) of the container (12) before the container lid (3) is fixed on the container (12) and the container opening is thereby closed.

32. The method according to claim 31, wherein, in the mixing step, the container lid (3) is used with a metering dispenser device (19), with which a predefinable quantity of the product can be dispensed from the container through a product dispensing opening (23) of the metering dispenser device (19) when an actuating element (21) of the metering dispenser device (19) is actuated and is used with the mixing device (13).

33. The method according to claim 31, further comprising removing the filled container (12) with the container lid (3) closing the container opening from the filling device.

34. The method according to claim 31, further comprising rotating the container lid (3) about an axis of rotation in the mixing step with the mixing device (13) projecting into the interior (15) of the container (12), without the container lid (3) thereby being fixed on the container (12).

35. The method according to claim 31, wherein, in the filling step, at least two product component filling steps are carried out one after another, in which one product component is filled into the container (12) at a time, and wherein the mixing step is carried out between two successive product component filling steps.

36. An apparatus (1) for filling a container (12) with a liquid or paste-like product, comprising: a filling device for filling an interior of the container (12) with the product, wherein the apparatus (1) is designed such that the container (12) and a mixing device (13) can be displaced relative to each other such that a mixing element (14) of the mixing device (13) projects into the interior (15) of the container (12) and the mixing element (14) of the mixing device (13) is displaced in the interior (15) of the container (12), wherein the mixing element (14), after filling the container (12), remains in the interior (15) of the container (12), and wherein the container (12) is closed with a container lid (3) when the container (12) is removed from the apparatus (1).

37. The apparatus (1) according to claim 36, wherein the filling device has a plurality of product component storage containers (5), from each of which a product component can be filled into the container (12).

38. The apparatus (1) according to claim 36, wherein a product mixing device of the apparatus has a container lid handling device, with which the container lid (3) with the mixing device (13) with the mixing element (14) arranged on the container lid (3) can be gripped and moved towards the container (12) in such a way that the mixing element (14) of the mixing device (13) projects into the interior (15) of the container (12), and wherein the mixing element (14) can be displaced with the container lid handling device within the interior (15) of the container (12).

39. The apparatus (1) according to claim 36, wherein the apparatus (1) has a container handling device (6), with which the container (12) can be gripped and moved towards the container lid (3) with the mixing device (13) with the mixing element (14) arranged on the container lid (3) in such a way that the mixing element (14) of the mixing device (13) projects into the interior (15) of the container (12).

40. The apparatus (1) according to claim 39, wherein the container (12) can be displaced with the container handling device (6) such that the mixing element (14) is displaced within the interior (15) of the container (12).

41. The apparatus (1) according to claim 38, wherein the container lid (3) can be displaced relative to the container (12) by the container lid handling device in such a way that the mixing element (14) is displaced within the interior (15) of the container (12).

42. The apparatus (1) according to claim 36, wherein the apparatus (1) has a container closure device with which the container lid (3) can be fastened on the container (12) after the container (12) has been filled with the product and the product has been mixed in the container (12).

43. The apparatus (1) according to claim 36, wherein the apparatus (1) has a container magazine (2) for holding a plurality of containers (12) and a container lid magazine for holding a plurality of container lids (3), each with a respective mixing device (13) arranged on the container lid (3).

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0061] FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of the essential components of an apparatus for filling a container with a liquid or paste-like product,

[0062] FIG. 2 to FIG. 10 each show a representation of the apparatus during a method sequence for filling and mixing a container with a product composed of a plurality of product components,

[0063] FIG. 11 shows a sectional view of a container with a container lid closing a container opening of the container, which has a metering dispenser device and a mixing device,

[0064] FIG. 12 shows a sectional view of the container according to FIG. 11, wherein an actuating element of the metering dispenser device is actuated and a mixing element of the mixing device is displaced thereby, and

[0065] FIGS. 13 to 15 each show different states of the metering dispenser device and the mixing device during an actuation of the metering dispenser device to dispense a quantity of product from a container.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0066] An exemplary apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1 for filling a container (not visible in FIG. 1) with a liquid or paste-like product has a container magazine 2 with a number of containers and associated container lids 3, which are arranged in the container magazine 2 and are held for filling with the product. The apparatus 1 also has a storage container magazine 4 with a number of product component storage containers 5, in each of which a product component is kept in stock, which can be filled into a container provided for this purpose as part of a product composed of several product components.

[0067] The apparatus 1 has a container handling device 6 with which a container can be gripped and displaced in all three spatial directions within a housing of the apparatus 1 (not shown in FIG. 1). For this purpose, the container handling device 6 has a gripping and holding device 7, which can be displaced along correspondingly arranged displacement rails 8, 9, 10 on a container handling slide 11 in all three spatial directions within the housing of the apparatus 1.

[0068] A number of container lids 3 are stored in the container magazine 2. Firstly, an associated container is connected to each container lid 3. In order to fill the container, the container can be gripped by the container handling device 6 and released from the container lid 3 in order to then be filled with the product and, after a mixing process, reconnected to the container lid 3 and closed by the container lid 3.

[0069] In the following, FIGS. 2 to 10 illustrate in detail various points in time during a filling process of a container with the apparatus 1 described above.

[0070] At the start of a filling process, the gripping and holding device 7 of the container handling device 6 is moved in a horizontal plane under a container 12, which is held in the container magazine 2 together with the associated container lid 3 (FIG. 2).

[0071] The container 12 is then gripped and released from the associated container lid 3 by the gripping and holding device 7, which is then displaced in a vertical direction (FIG. 3).

[0072] The container 12 is removed from the container lid 3 using the gripping and holding device 7, wherein a mixing device 13 arranged on the container lid 3 with a mixing element 14 is pulled out of an interior 15 of the container 12 (FIG. 4).

[0073] The container 12 is then moved with the gripping and holding device 7 of the container handling device 6 out of the container magazine 2 towards the storage container magazine 4 with the product component storage containers 5 arranged there (FIG. 5).

[0074] In order to fill the container 12 with a product component from a selected product component storage container 5 in a product component filling step, the container 12 is displaced directly under a product component storage container 5 and brought from below to a filling nozzle 16 of the relevant product component storage container 5. At the same time, a filling activation device 17 of the container handling device 6 deflects a filling valve actuating element 18 of the product component storage container 5, thereby opening a filling valve of the product component storage container 5 and filling a predetermined quantity of a product component from the product component storage container 5 through the filling nozzle 16 of the product component storage container 5 into the container 12 (FIG. 6).

[0075] Subsequently, the container 12 is displaced away from the product component storage container 5 (FIG. 7) and back towards the associated container lid 3 using the gripping and holding device 7 of the container handling device 6, wherein the container 12 is moved and displaced in the vicinity of the container lid 3 such that the mixing device 13 with the mixing element 14 is inserted into the interior 15 of the container 12 (FIG. 8). The container 12 is then displaced back and forth several times in a vertical direction by the gripping and holding device 7 of the container handling device 6, or pivoted about a vertical axis of rotation or rotated in a rotational movement, so that the mixing device 13 projecting into the interior 15 of the container 12 mixes the quantity of product components located in the interior 15 of the container 12 with the mixing element 14.

[0076] The container 12 is then moved several times to a respective predetermined product component storage container 5 and filled with a predetermined product component quantity from the relevant product component storage container 5 and then mixed with the mixing device 13 arranged on the associated container lid 3 until the container 12 is filled with all selected product components and the product composed and mixed therefrom is produced and completely filled into the container 12.

[0077] The container 12 is then brought up to the associated container lid 3 one last time and, if necessary, after another mixing step with the mixing device 13, the container lid 3 is firmly connected to the container 12, for example by screwing the container lid 3 onto a threaded section of the container 12 shown in the preceding figures. The container lid 3 is removed from the container magazine 11 (FIG. 9).

[0078] Finally, the completely filled and thoroughly mixed container 12, which is closed with the container lid 3, is moved in a vertical direction with the gripping and holding device 7 of the container handling device 6 to a dispensing opening in the housing (also not shown) and held ready for dispensing from the apparatus 1 (FIG. 10).

[0079] FIGS. 11 and 12 each show an exemplary and schematic representation of a container 12 with the container lid 3 fixed on the container 12. The container lid 3 has a metering dispenser device 19 with a metering dispenser chamber 20, an actuating element 21 and a product dispensing channel 22 extending in the actuating element 21, which opens into a product dispensing opening 23 in the actuating element 21. At its end opposite the product dispensing opening 23, the product dispensing channel 22 opens into the metering dispenser chamber 20. A chamber opening 24 of the metering dispenser chamber 20 can be closed or opened by a closing element 25. When the actuating element 21 is actuated and displaced in the direction of the metering dispenser chamber 20, the chamber opening 24 of the metering dispenser chamber 20 is closed with the closing element 25 and a predetermined quantity of product is conveyed from the metering dispenser chamber 20 through the product dispensing channel 22 and dispensed from the product dispensing opening 23 (FIG. 12). As soon as the actuating element 21 is released, it is displaced back into an initial position by a spring device 26, thereby simultaneously refilling the metering dispenser chamber 20 with a quantity of product that flows from the interior 15 of the container 12 through the chamber opening 24 into the metering dispenser chamber 20 (FIG. 11). A piston element 36, which is movably mounted between two stops 34, 35, is displaced away from an orifice of the product dispensing channel 22 opening into the metering dispenser chamber 20 when the actuating element 21 is actuated and releases the orifice of the product dispensing channel 22, so that with increasing penetration of the piston element 36 into the metering dispenser chamber 20 a quantity of product is pressed out of the metering dispenser chamber 20 through the released orifice into the product dispensing channel 22 and a corresponding quantity of product is dispensed from the product dispensing opening 23 (FIG. 12). As soon as the actuating element 21 is released and is displaced further out of the interior 14 of the container 12 again due to the spring force of the spring device 26, the opening of the product dispensing channel 22 is first closed again by the piston element 36 and then the piston element 36 is pulled out of the metering dispenser chamber 20 again, so that a quantity of product corresponding to the quantity of product previously pressed into the product dispensing channel 22 flows from the interior 14 of the container 12 into the metering dispenser chamber 20 and fills it up again (FIG. 11).

[0080] In extension of the chamber opening 24 of the metering dispenser chamber 20, an intake tube 29 is formed extending away from a lid body 27 and extending to a bottom 28 of the container 12. The actuating element 21 of the metering dispenser device 19 is in engagement with a mixing element sleeve 30. At an end of the mixing element sleeve 30 facing the base 28 of the container 12, a suction opening 31 is formed between the mixing element sleeve 30 and the surrounding intake tube 29, through which the product located in the interior 15 of the container 12 is sucked in near the bottom 28 and drawn into the metering dispenser chamber 20. Two mixing elements 14, each extending helically and over half a circumference, are fixed to the rotatably mounted mixing element sleeve 30, which is operatively connected to the actuating element 21, via connecting webs 37, and have a mixing blade 32 projecting into the interior 15 of the container 12 at a radial distance from the mixing element sleeve 30. When the actuating element 21 is actuated, the actuating element 21 is pressed in an axial direction into the interior 15 of the container 12. Via the active connection, the mixing element sleeve 30 and the mixing elements 14 fixed thereto with the helically extending mixing blades 32 are set in a rotational movement and rotated about a displacement axis 33 running through the centre of the interior 15 of the container 12. As a result, the product, which is composed of a plurality of product components, is mixed in the interior 15 of the container 12 immediately before it is sucked into the metering dispenser chamber 20 through the intake opening 31 by the backward displacement of the actuating element 21. In this way, it is possible to ensure that a well-mixed quantity of product is sucked into the metering dispenser chamber 20 and dispensed through the product dispensing opening 23 when the actuating element 21 is subsequently actuated.

[0081] FIGS. 13 to 15 each show only the container lid 3 with the metering dispenser device 19 arranged thereon and with the mixing device 13. FIGS. 13 to 15 thus show by way of example that as the actuating element 21 is increasingly displaced, the mixing element sleeve 30 is rotated and the mixing elements 14 fixed to the mixing element sleeve 30 and correspondingly carried are also rotated as a result, causing mixing of the product in the interior 15 of the surrounding container 12 (not shown in FIGS. 13 to 15).