Device for handling preforms for heating units

Abstract

The invention concerns a device for handling preforms for heating units. The device includes a mandrel that defines a rotation axis of the preforms; a tip mounted at an end of the mandrel and having a part penetrating into the neck of the preforms; a rubbing contact rigidly connected to the tip; and a heatsink rigidly connected to the mandrel and intended to come into contact with the tip. The tip also includes a cooling part axially in line with the penetrating part. The cooling part includes at least one thermal exchange raised portion in contact with the surrounding air. Furthermore, the tip is mounted such that it can be mobile on the mandrel.

Claims

1. A device for handling preforms for heating units, comprising: a mandrel defining a rotation axis of the preforms; a tip mounted at a first end of the mandrel and having a part penetrating into the neck of the preforms; a rubbing contact rigidly connected to the tip, and a heatsink rigidly connected to the mandrel and intended to come into contact with the tip, wherein the tip further comprises a cooling part axially in line with the penetrating part, the cooling part including at least one thermal exchange raised portion in contact with the surrounding air, and in that the tip is mounted to be mobile on the mandrel and wherein the penetrating part and the cooling part form a one-piece assembly.

2. The device as claimed in the claim 1, wherein the cooling part comprises at least two raised portions spaced axially from one another.

3. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of the raised portions is formed of an annular flange that extends radially around the mandrel.

4. The device as claimed in claim 3, wherein at least one of the raised portions of the cooling part has an overall dimension greater than an overall dimension of the penetrating part.

5. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the tip comprises at least two angular sectors in each of which the penetrating part and the cooling part of the tip are in one piece.

6. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the penetrating part and the cooling part of the tip are integral with one another.

7. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rubbing contact means are integrated into the penetrating part and take the form of at least one radial projection.

8. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the mandrel has a reflective solid surface at its first end to reflect luminous radiation from luminous radiation sources of a heating units.

9. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the mandrel has at its first end a shoulder intended to form an abutment in translation of the tip on the mandrel.

10. The device as claimed in claim 9, wherein the shoulder of the mandrel includes an annular groove in which is received an annular bead carried by the penetrating part of the tip.

11. A unit for heating preforms comprising at least one device for handling preforms as claimed in claim 1.

12. A device for handling preforms for heating units, comprising: a mandrel defining a rotation axis of the preforms; a tip mounted at a first end of the mandrel and having a part penetrating into the neck of the preforms; a rubbing contact rigidly connected to the tip, and a heatsink rigidly connected to the mandrel and intended to come into contact with the tip, wherein the tip further comprises a cooling part axially in line with the penetrating part, the cooling part including at least one thermal exchange raised portion in contact with the surrounding air, and in that the tip is mounted to be mobile on the mandrel, wherein the mandrel has a reflective solid surface at its first end to reflect luminous radiation from luminous radiation sources of a heating units.

13. The device as claimed in claim 12, wherein the mandrel has at its first end a shoulder intended to form an abutment in translation of the tip on the mandrel.

14. The device as claimed in claim 13, wherein the shoulder of the mandrel includes an annular groove in which is received an annular bead carried by the penetrating part of the tip.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Other features and advantages of the invention will become more clearly apparent on reading the following description of various embodiment, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

(2) FIG. 1 is a schematic view in cross section of a prior art device for handling preforms;

(3) FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a device in accordance with the invention for handling preforms;

(4) FIG. 3 is a view in cross section of the device in accordance with the invention for handling preforms;

(5) FIG. 4 is a perspective view from below of a preform handling device tip in accordance with a first embodiment of the invention;

(6) FIG. 5 is a perspective view from below of a tip of the preform handling device in accordance with a second embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(7) As illustrated in FIG. 1, a prior art device 100 for handling preforms 2 comprises a mandrel 101, a support 102 mounted at a first end of the mandrel 101, means 103 for rubbing contact with a preform 2 attached to the support 102, and a heatsink 104 rigidly connected to the mandrel 101.

(8) The rubbing contact means 103 are more particularly formed of a ring mounted between the mandrel 101 on the one hand and the support 102 on the other hand.

(9) The ring comprises a plurality of angular sectors.

(10) Each angular sector is mounted between the mandrel 101 and the tip 102 in such a manner as to compress radially O-rings 105 enabling radially outward spreading of the sectors of the ring to force rubbing contact of the ring with the interior of a neck of the preforms 2.

(11) In operation, the handling device 100 is inserted by force into the neck of the preforms 2.

(12) To be more precise, the support 102 is inserted into the neck of the preforms 2 so that the rubbing contact means 103 are pushed radially toward the mandrel 101 and, by reaction, the O-rings 105 push the sectors of the ring against the neck of the preform 2 to retain it by friction.

(13) This operation therefore generates high forces applied by the handling device 100 to the preforms 2 during handling and releasing the preforms 2.

(14) Moreover, when heating the preforms 2, the support 102 rises in temperature and can be cooled only by its contact with the heatsink 104 of the handling device 100.

(15) Also, as the cycles proceed, the support 102 rises in temperature, which prevents good cooling thereof and may in the long run generate damage to the preform 2 and more particularly deformation of the neck of the preform 2 that may prevent fitting a cap onto the formed container. Moreover, bad cooling could generate damage to the machine for manufacturing the containers, for example linked to bad stripping of the preforms on leaving heating.

(16) A device 1 in accordance with the invention for handling preforms 2 is described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 5.

(17) As illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, the device 1 in accordance with the invention for handling preforms 2 comprises: a mandrel 3 defining a rotation axis X of the preforms 2; a tip 4 mounted at a first end of the mandrel 3 and including a part 41 penetrating into the neck of the preforms 2; means 5 for rubbing contact with the preform 2, attached to the tip 4; a heatsink 6 attached to the mandrel 3 and intended to come into contact with the tip 4.

(18) The handling device 1 in accordance with the invention differs from the prior art one in that the tip 4 also comprises a cooling part 42 axially in line with the penetrating part 41.

(19) To be more precise, as can be seen in FIGS. 2, 3, 4 and 5, the cooling part 42 features at least one raised portion 7 for thermal exchange through contact with the surrounding air.

(20) In accordance with the present embodiment, the cooling part comprises at least two raised portions 7 spaced axially from one another.

(21) The or each raised portion 7 is formed of an annular, or quasi-annular, or circular-arc-shaped flange that extends radially around the mandrel 3.

(22) As illustrated by FIG. 3, at least one of the raised portions 7 of the cooling part 42 has an overall dimension greater than an overall dimension of the penetrating part 41.

(23) To be more precise, the penetrating part 41 of the tip 4 has a first diameter D1 less than the diameter D2 of the at least one of the raised portions 7 of the cooling part 42.

(24) This makes it possible, firstly, to be able to cool the tip 4 and, secondly, to form an abutment limiting depression of the penetrating part 41 into the neck of the preforms 2.

(25) With reference to FIGS. 2, 3, 4 and 5, the tip 4 features two raised portions 7 spaced axially from one another, each raised portion 7 having a diameter D2 identical to that of the other.

(26) The two raised portions 7 therefore have an overall diameter greater than the overall diameter of the penetrating part 41, which makes it possible to increase the area of cooling of the tip 4 in contact with air.

(27) As illustrated in FIG. 3, the tip 4 is mounted on the mandrel 3 via a pair of O-rings 8. Here the O-rings 8 are elastically deformable elements.

(28) The mandrel 3 more particularly features at the level of its first end two annular grooves 9 axially spaced from one another inside which O-rings 8 are partly received.

(29) To be more precise, an O-ring 8 is partly received in each of the annular grooves 9.

(30) As will be described hereinafter, this makes it possible to favor the retention by friction of the preforms 2 on the tip 4 but also centering the tip 4 and maintaining it in position on the mandrel 3.

(31) Moreover, as illustrated in FIG. 3, at its first end the mandrel 3 includes a shoulder 10 intended to form an abutment limiting translation movement of the tip 4 on the mandrel 3.

(32) The shoulder 10 of the mandrel 3 more particularly includes an annular groove 11 in which is received an annular bead 12 carried by the penetrating part 41 of the tip 4.

(33) The cooperation between the annular bead 12 and the annular groove 11, complementing the action of the O-rings 8, makes it possible to keep the tip 4 centered on the mandrel 3, in particular when it rotates, but also guiding translation movement of the tip 4 on the mandrel 3.

(34) As illustrated in FIGS. 2, 3, 4 and 5, the rubbing contact means 5 are integrated into the penetrating part 41 of the tip 4 and take the form of at least one radial projection.

(35) The rubbing contact means 5 more particularly take the form of two radial projections axially spaced from one another and both forming a set of waves.

(36) As illustrated in the FIG. 3 sectional view, each radial projection of the rubbing contact means 5 has an identical diameter.

(37) However, one of the radial projections could have a diameter less than that of the other. The radial projection at the greater distance from the heatsink 6 preferably has a smaller diameter than the radial projection nearer the heatsink 6.

(38) As can be seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, the mandrel 3 has at its first end a reflective solid surface 13 intended to form means for reflecting luminous radiation from luminous radiation sources of a heating unit 14.

(39) The reflective solid surface 13 therefore makes it possible to prevent heating of the mandrel 3 and of the tip 4 by the luminous radiation emitted by the luminous radiation sources of the heating unit 14.

(40) Thus, thanks to the presence of this reflective solid surface 13, the cooling of the tip 4 does not need to be intense.

(41) In operation, despite the reduced time of presence outside the heating unit 14, in particular as a consequence of the increased production throughputs, the simple presence of the raised portions 7, in the form of flanges, of the cooling part 42 then makes it possible for the tip 4 in contact with the surrounding air to be appropriately cooled to prevent any damage to the preforms 2.

(42) The raised portions 7 in the form of flanges enable cooling of the tip 4 during heating thanks to forced air, in particular by ventilation.

(43) The cooling part 42 and the penetrating part 41 of the tip 4 preferably form a one-piece assembly.

(44) In other words, the penetrating part 41 and the cooling part 42 of the tip 4 may be manufactured independently of one another but are assembled in a definitive manner in order to be used on the handling device 1.

(45) The tip 4 of the handling device 1 in accordance with the invention is more particularly made of stainless steel or of a specific form of aluminum, in particular for reasons of contact with a container intended to contain a foodstuff product.

(46) The penetrating part 41 may therefore be assembled with the cooling part 42 of the tip 4 by welding for example.

(47) In accordance with an advantageous embodiment, the penetrating part 41 of the tip 4 and the cooling part 42 are made in one piece.

(48) In other words, the penetrating part 41 and the cooling part 42 of the tip 4 are for example produced by molding or by machining.

(49) In accordance with a first embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 4, the tip 4 comprises at least two angular sectors 4a, 4b.

(50) To be more precise, the tip 4 comprises a first angular sector 4a, a second angular sector 4b and a third angular sector 4c each extending over approximately 120 degrees.

(51) The angular sectors 4a, 4b, 4c are retained on the mandrel 3 by cooperation between the annular groove 11 and the annular bead 12 on the one hand and by inserting them in a shoulder 61 formed in the heatsink 6 on the other hand.

(52) The heatsink 6 is for its part fixed onto the mandrel 3, which makes it possible to allow movement of the tip 4 between the shoulder 10 of the mandrel 3 and the heatsink 6.

(53) In accordance with a second embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5, the tip 4 is formed of a single angular sector including a slot 4d to allow elastic deformation of the tip 4, in particular during loading and stripping, that is to say during handling and releasing of the preform 2.

(54) The single angular sector is retained on the mandrel 3 by cooperation between the annular groove 11 and the annular bead 12 on the one hand and its insertion in the shoulder 61 formed in the heatsink 6 on the other hand.

(55) The handling device 1 that has just been described, in particular the presence of the cooling part 42, makes it possible to ensure adequate cooling of the tip 4 between heating two preforms 2, to the benefit of the integrity of the neck of the preforms.

(56) In fact, the presence of the raised portions 7 on the cooling part 42 of the tip 4 makes it possible to facilitate the thermal exchanges between the tip 4 and the surrounding air and therefore the cooling of the tip 4.