Lid supply for a sealer and a sealer

Abstract

A sealer for sealing a container includes a working space, the container capable of being sealed with a lid from a plurality of lids in the working space, a housing surrounding the working space, and a lid supply configured to supply the plurality of the lids in a lid stack to the working space. The lid supply includes a first section which is arranged in the working space in such a way that the first section is surrounded by the housing, and a second section arranged outside the housing, and the lid supply comprising a seal arranged between the first section and the second section in such a way that the first section is capable of being sealed off from the second section.

Claims

1. A sealer for scaling a container comprising: a working space, the container capable of being sealed with a lid from a plurality of lids in the working space; a housing surrounding the working space; and a lid supply configured to supply the plurality of the lids in a lid stack to the working space; the lid supply comprising a first section which is arranged in the working space in such a way that the first section is surrounded by the housing, and a second section arranged outside the housing, and the lid supply comprising a seal arranged between the first section and the second section in such a way that the first section is capable of being sealed off from the second section, the seal being a lid clamp sealing off the first section from the second section when stopping the lid stack by exerting a force on the lid stack.

2. The sealer according to claim 1, wherein the lid clamp is capable of being expanded from a first state to a second state so that the lid stack is capable of being held by the lid clamp in the second state.

3. The sealer according to claim 2, wherein the lid clamp comprises an expansion space which is capable of being filled with a fluid for expansion into the second state.

4. The sealer according to claim 3, wherein the fluid is a gas and/or a liquid.

5. The sealer according to claim 1, wherein the housing comprises a housing portion arranged around a part of the first section in such a way that the working space is enlarged.

6. The sealer according to claim 1, wherein the lid supply comprises a treatment device, so that the lids in a predeterminable treatment area and/or the lid supply and/or the working space first section are treated with a treatment medium.

7. The sealer according to claim 6, wherein the treatment device comprises a ring nozzle.

8. The sealer according to claim 6, wherein the treatment medium is a liquid and/or gaseous treatment medium or a cleaning or drying gas, or an electromagnetic radiation medium.

9. The sealer according to claim 6, wherein the treatment medium is a disinfecting agent or an electromagnetic radiation medium.

10. The sealer according to claim 9, wherein the disinfecting agent is chlorine dioxide, water, or air.

11. The sealer according to claim 9, wherein the electromagnetic radiation medium is ultraviolet radiation.

12. The sealer according to claim 6, wherein the liquid treatment medium or the gaseous treatment medium is capable of being introduced into the treatment area under a predeterminable treatment pressure.

13. The sealer according to claim 1, wherein a discharge device is provided at the working space to remove a treatment residue.

14. The sealer according to claim 1, wherein the housing is tubular and comprises a housing portion arranged around a part of the first section in such a way that the working space is enlarged.

15. A lid supply for supplying a plurality of lids in a lid stack to a working space of a sealer comprising a first section and a second section, the lid supply comprising: a seal which is a lid clamp arranged between the first section and the second section in such a way that the first section is capable of being sealed off from the second section when stopping the lid stack by exerting a force on the lid stack.

16. The lid supply according to claim 15, comprising a housing portion arranged around the first section.

17. The lid supply according to claim 15, comprising a guide element or a guide rail to guide the lid stack.

18. A method of supplying a lid to a sealer comprising: providing the sealer according to claim 1; and supplying the plurality of the lids in the lid stack to the working space.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) In the following, the disclosure and the state of the art are explained in more detail based on embodiments with reference to the drawings.

(2) FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic representation of a state-of-the-art sealer;

(3) FIG. 2 illustrates a top view of a can sealer according to the disclosure;

(4) FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic representation of a can sealer according to the disclosure;

(5) FIG. 4 illustrates a side view of a lid supply according to the disclosure with seal;

(6) FIG. 5 illustrates a side view of a lid supply according to the disclosure with treatment device;

(7) FIG. 6 illustrates a side view of a lid supply according to the disclosure with sensor.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(8) FIG. 1 has already been described above in the presentation of the state of the art.

(9) FIG. 2 shows a top view of a sealer 1000 according to the disclosure which comprises a working space 2 in which containers 100 are sealed with a lid 101, i.e., a seaming process takes place. In this case, the working space 2 is surrounded by the housing 20, whereby the working space 2 is separated and closed off from an environment 7, so that the working space 2 can function as a hygienic area, i.e., a hygiene zone. In this way, a hygienic sealing of the container 100 is ensured.

(10) The sealer 1000 for sealing the container 100 comprises a lid supply 1 for supplying the lid 101 to the working space 2 and to the container 100, a gassing rotor 15 for supplying gas to the container 100, and a sealer station 14 for closing the container 100 with the lid 101.

(11) The sealer station 14 is arranged in the working space 2 and designed as a carousel, which comprises a plurality of similar stations of sealing heads (for seaming) arranged in a carousel shape and lifting stations (for transporting and moving).

(12) In the represented embodiment, the sealer 1000 is preferably designed as a can sealer 1000. The container 100 is a can 100, which is seamed with the lid 101 in the sealer station 14.

(13) In the operating state, the lid 101 is introduced into the can sealer 1000 through the lid supply 1 along the arrow C. In this process, the lids 101 are arranged on the gassing rotor 1:5. By rotation of the gassing rotor 15, the lids 101 are transported further. Then, the containers 100 are introduced through the container supply 3 along arrow A into the container receptacles 17 of the gassing rotor 15. There, the container 100 is gassed in area B with a gas such as carbon dioxide or nitrogen and combined with the lid 101.

(14) The gassing is carried out along the arrow D with the gas supply 16, After gassing, the container 100 with the lid 101 is moved on from the gassing rotor 15 to the sealer station 14 and is sealed there. As an alternative to the gassing rotor 15, a lid rotor with rails can also be used to transport the lids, whereby the gassing is carried out via a linear gassing device which is arranged in a stationary manner. Then, the lids rest only on the rails and are moved by the lid rotor.

(15) Finally, the sealed container 111 is discharged from the working space 2 by the container discharge 8.

(16) FIG. 3 shows a schematic representation of a can sealer 1000 according to the disclosure.

(17) The can sealer 1000 comprises the working space 2, in which the seaming process takes place and is surrounded by the housing 20.

(18) In addition, the can sealer 1000 comprises the lid supply 1 for supplying the plurality of the lids 101 in a lid stack 121 to the working space 2. In this regard, the lid supply 1 comprises a first section 11 which is arranged in the working space 2 and a second section 12 arranged outside the working space.

(19) The first section 11 is partly arranged in the housing 20 (i.e., it is surrounded by it) and partly arranged in a housing portion 21 of the housing 20. The housing portion 21 is a part of the housing 20, which forms a kind of tubular housing extension (i.e., a tube) and thus extends the working space 2, i.e., the hygiene zone.

(20) The lid supply 1 further comprises a seal 5, which is arranged between the first section 11 and the second section 12 and thus enables a sealing of the first section 11 with respect to the second section 12. However, a permanent seal need not be provided here.

(21) Indeed, the seal 5 is designed as a lid clamp 5 and the working space 2 can be sealed by a cooperation of the lid clamp 5 with the lid stack 121.

(22) The working space 2 is thus extended to the lid clamp 5 with the aid of the tube 20. In the embodiment shown, the tube 20 is sealed at the top and bottom with further sealing elements 9 in the form of an O-ring 9. In doing so, an additional sealing and separation of the working space 2 is enabled.

(23) The lid clamp 5 is designed as an inflatable seal 5. This means that the lid clamp 5 can be expanded from a first state to a second state by supplying air/gas (e.g., in the form of a pneumatic air) into an expansion space, so that the lid stack 121 can be held by the lid clamp 5 in the second (expanded) state. In this expanded holding state, a sealing is achieved between the lid stack 121 and the lid clamp 5.

(24) In this way, a large lift can be achieved and the working space 2 can be sealed cleanly. By switching off the pneumatic air and any vacuum, the seal 5 can be compressed (the expansion is therefore reversible). When the pneumatic air is switched on again, the seal 5 is active again.

(25) Due to the seal 5, it is thus enabled that the working space 2 is separated and closed off from the environment 7, so that the working space 2 functions as a hygienic area, i.e., the hygiene zone. Due to the seal 5 with housing 20 and housing portion 21, an undesired entry of gases, vapors, solids and/or liquids from the second section 12 into the first section 11 and thus from the environment 7 into the working space 2 can therefore be prevented or at least reduced.

(26) In addition, the lid supply 1 comprises several guide rods 110 for guiding the lid stack 121.

(27) As an alternative to the embodiment according to FIG. 3, the seal/lid clamp 5 could also be arranged at an opening 22 of the housing 20 and the housing portion 21 could be dispensed with.

(28) The lids 101 are supplied to the working space through the lid supply 1 in the lid stack 121. There, the lids 101 are removed individually from the lid stack 121 by a destacking device and positioned on a lid starwheel/gassing starwheel, from which they are guided to the containers and placed on the containers.

(29) FIG. 4 shows a side view of the lid supply 1 according to the disclosure with seal 5. Here, the seal 5 is inflatable and shown on the left side of the representation in the first (compressed) state and on the right side in the second (expanded) state.

(30) FIG. 5 shows a side view of the lid supply 1 according to the disclosure with treatment device 6. The treatment device 6 is designed as a ring nozzle 6 arranged under the lid clamp 5. Lids in the treatment area 60 can be cleaned by the ring nozzle 6, However, as an alternative or in addition, the working space 2 and/or the lid supply 1 can also be cleaned by the ring nozzle. The ring nozzle 6 is a ring with several nozzles, some of which clean upwards and some downwards. The entire tube 21 is cleaned by reflection and gravity.

(31) FIG. 6 shows a side view of the lid supply 1 according to the disclosure with sensor.

(32) To carry out the cleaning of the lid supply 1, all lids 101 located below the lid clamp 5 are preferably removed before cleaning. These can be removed manually in the first section 11, After cleaning, the lid stack 121 must be placed down again. The lid stack 121 can be placed down again by an auxiliary means or device 13. If the auxiliary means 13 is below the lid 101, the position is detected with the magnetic sensor 18 and the lid clamp 5 is set to inactive.

(33) The disclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. Other variations of the disclosed embodiments can be understood and effected by persons skilled in the art in practicing a claimed disclosure from a study of the drawings, the disclosure, and the dependent claims. In the claims, the word comprising does not exclude other elements or steps, and the indefinite article a or a does not exclude a plurality. The mere fact that certain measures are repeated in mutually different dependent claims does not mean that a combination of these measures cannot be advantageously used. Any reference signs in the claims should not be interpreted as limiting the scope.