JP7637981B2 - Filling valve device and filling method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a filling valve device and a filling method that open and close a liquid flow path of the fluid, which is made of a flexible tube, when filling a fluid in a filling device, and controls the flow of the fluid.

In the filling and packaging industry, in order to fill containers with filling liquid, a pinch valve is provided in front of the filling nozzle in the liquid flow path of the filling device, and this pinch valve is operated in accordance with the timing of the opening and closing operations to adjust the pressure state of the liquid flow path consisting of a flexible tube, thereby controlling the start and stop of filling or the filling flow rate.

JP 2013-079101 A

In this type of filling device, when the filling liquid is a fluid containing solids, such as a dressing containing ingredients such as vegetables, the ingredients can get caught in the liquid flow path pressed by the pinch valve, creating a gap and making it impossible to completely stop the flow of liquid (leading to dripping).

In addition, to fill a fixed amount, it is important to set the timing, operating time, and speed of the opening and closing operation of the pinch valve. In conventional filling devices, a throttle valve (speed controller) is used to change the operating time and speed of the opening and closing operation of the pinch valve each time the type of liquid being filled into the container changes, and the amount of fluid supplied and discharged by the throttle valve is adjusted to ensure appropriate filling.

However, conventional throttle valve opening adjustments were done manually by relying on the skill of the adjuster to adjust the opening of a built-in needle valve, which did not allow for numerical control and was not reproducible, making it extremely difficult to perform precise opening adjustments.

The present invention was developed in consideration of these problems, and aims to provide a filling valve device and a filling method that can easily adjust the opening and closing speed and closing condition of the filling valve that opens and closes the liquid flow path made of a flexible tube, and can perform good liquid filling without causing dripping even with fluids that contain solids.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the filling valve device of the present invention is disposed between a tank for storing a filling liquid and a filling nozzle for injecting the filling liquid into a container, and opens and closes a liquid flow path of the filling liquid consisting of a flexible tube by driving an actuator, the filling valve device comprising: a rotor disposed on a rotating shaft which rotates forward and backward by driving the actuator and rotates about the rotating shaft; and two pressing portions protruding from the rotor and disposed on both sides of the flexible tube so as to position the flexible tube between them, the upstream pressing portion moving toward and away from an upstream position in the longitudinal direction of the flexible tube by the rotation of the rotor, and a downstream pressing portion moving toward and away from a downstream position, and an upstream contact surface portion against which the upstream pressing portion presses the flexible tube, and a downstream contact surface portion against which the downstream pressing portion presses the flexible tube by the rotation of the rotor. the upstream pressing portion is arranged to be able to press the flexible tube against the upstream contact surface portion before the downstream pressing portion presses the flexible tube against the downstream contact surface portion when the rotating body is rotated in a direction to close the liquid flow path by driving the actuator, and by controlling the rotation of the actuator, a state in which neither the upstream pressing portion nor the downstream pressing portion presses the flexible tube and the liquid flow path is fully opened, a state in which only the upstream pressing portion presses the flexible tube between the upstream pressing portion and the upstream contact surface portion and the cross-sectional area of the liquid flow path is reduced, and a state in which both the upstream pressing portion and the downstream pressing portion press the flexible tube to bend it into an S-shape, and the pressure of the upstream pressing portion reduces the cross-sectional area of the liquid flow path, and the downstream pressing portion fully closes the liquid flow path.

The device is also characterized by having a tube bending/extension adjustment section that adjusts the difference between the liquid flow path length of the flexible tube when it is supported in a stretched, straight tube state and the liquid flow path length of the flexible tube when it is supported in a bent state due to pressure from the upstream pressing section and the downstream pressing section.

Furthermore, the upstream contact surface portion is characterized in that it is arranged so as to be able to cushion the pressure of the upstream pressing portion via the flexible tube by means of an elastic member arranged on the base material of the contact surface portion.

Furthermore, each of the two pressing portions is configured so as to be capable of being fixed by being fitted into an appropriately selected mounting hole from a large number of mounting holes provided on the surface of the rotating body.

According to the filling valve device of the present invention, the actuator is driven to rotate the rotor, thereby pressing the flexible tube in two stages at the upstream and downstream positions to close the liquid flow path. With this mechanism, the degree of pressing the flexible tube at the upstream and downstream positions can be adjusted by adjusting the relative positions of the two pressing parts relative to the rotor, and even if the filling liquid is a fluid containing solid matter, it is possible to fill the liquid by reducing the cross-sectional area of the liquid flow path of the flexible tube at the upstream position to block the flow of solid matter, and completely stopping the liquid that is no longer mixed with solid matter at the downstream position, thereby preventing dripping.

Furthermore, by setting the drive timing, speed, and rotation angle (including the direction of rotation) of the electric actuator, the opening and closing speed of the filling valve, which opens and closes the liquid flow path connected to the filling nozzle, can be adjusted with high precision, high reproducibility, and in a short time, making it possible to fill the liquid easily and smoothly.

In this way, the filling valve device of the present invention can easily adjust the opening and closing speed and degree of blockage of the filling valve, which opens and closes the liquid flow path consisting of the flexible tube of the filling device, and can exhibit the excellent effect of preventing dripping even with fluids containing solids, contributing to good liquid filling.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating the configuration of one embodiment of a filling valve device according to the present invention and a fully open state of a liquid flow path in a flexible tube; FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a half-closed state in the filling valve device of FIG. 1, in which the liquid flow path is closed at the upstream position of the flexible tube and opened at the downstream position; FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a fully closed state of the liquid flow path of the flexible tube in the filling valve device of FIG.

Below, an embodiment of the filling valve device 1 according to the present invention will be described with reference to Figures 1 to 3.

The filling valve device 1 of this embodiment is disposed in the piping P of a liquid filling device that includes a tank (not shown) for storing the filling liquid, a filling nozzle (not shown) positioned above the container at the filling site, and a liquid flow path consisting of the piping P that connects the tank and the filling nozzle, and performs the opening and closing operation of the liquid flow path.

The filling valve device 1 in this embodiment is equipped with a flexible tube 2 (shown transparently in Figs. 1 to 3 of this embodiment) that is disposed in a certain section of the liquid flow path and constitutes the liquid flow path together with the piping P. Here, in the filling valve device 1 of this embodiment, the flexible tube 2 is formed in a tube shape with a circular cross section from a flexible material such as rubber, one end of which is connected via an upper connection part 3a to the terminal part of the piping P connected to the tank located on the upstream side of the liquid flow path, and the other end is connected via a lower connection part 3b to the upper end of the filling nozzle (which may be the piping P) located on the downstream side of the liquid flow path.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, the upper connection part 3a has a large diameter tube part 4 that can be fitted and stored with the lower end part of the pipe P arranged on the upstream side of the liquid flow path along its inner circumference, and a small diameter tube part 5 that is connected to the bottom of the large diameter tube part 4 and can be fitted with the upper end part of the flexible tube 2 on its outer circumference. The lower connection part 3b has a large diameter tube part 4 that can be fitted and stored with the upper end part of the filling nozzle arranged on the downstream side of the liquid flow path along its inner circumference, and a small diameter tube part 5 that is connected to the top of the large diameter tube part 4 and can be fitted with the lower end part of the flexible tube 2 on its outer circumference.

In this embodiment, the upper connection portion 3a is equipped with a tube length adjustment portion 6 for adjusting the difference between the liquid flow path length of the flexible tube 2 when supported in a stretched, straight tube state and the liquid flow path length of the flexible tube 2 when supported in a bent state due to the contact and pressure of the two pressing portions 14a and 14b described below.

Specifically, the tube length adjustment unit 6 is made of a coil spring, and with the upper end of the flexible tube 2 positioned within the center diameter of the coil spring, the upper end of the coil spring is fixed to the outer periphery of the large diameter tube section 4 of the upper connection part 3a, and the lower end is arranged around the small diameter tube section 5 of the upper connection part 3a, and cooperates with the upper connection part 3a to adjust the difference with the liquid flow path length. Details will be described later.

The filling valve device 1 also includes an operating means 7 that opens and closes the liquid flow path of the flexible tube 2. In this embodiment, the operating means 7 is disposed on a mounting member 8 with its front surface oriented vertically along the liquid flow path formed by the flexible tube 2 that is arranged to extend in the vertical direction.

More specifically, an upper support portion 9a and a lower support portion 9b are formed on the front side of the mounting member 8, which support the flexible tube 2 at its upstream and downstream positions in the longitudinal direction. In this embodiment, the upper support portion 9a and the lower support portion 9b are each plate-like members with U-shaped cutouts 10 formed therein, and the flexible tube 2 is fitted into the U-shaped cutouts 10, so that the upper support portion 9a and the lower support portion 9b each support the flexible tube 2 at its upstream and downstream positions.

The flexible tube 2 is supported in a straight tube shape when the coil spring, which serves as the tube length adjustment part 6 and is arranged around the small diameter tube part 5 of the upper connection part 3a, is placed at its lower end on the upper surface of the upper support part 9a in an unstretched state. When the flexible tube 2 is bent by the contact and pressure of the two pressing parts 14a and 14b (described later), the lower end of the coil spring is pressed against the upper surface of the upper support part 9a and contracts, and the liquid flow path length of the flexible tube 2 is slightly extended and supported in an approximately S-shape.

In this embodiment, the effective liquid flow path length of the flexible tube 2 when supported in a straight pipe shape differs from the effective liquid flow path length of the flexible tube 2 when supported in an approximately S-shaped bent state, and as described above, the effective liquid flow path length in the approximately S-shaped bent state is slightly longer. However, the difference in the liquid flow path length of the flexible tube 2 is adjusted by sliding the fitting depth between the large diameter pipe section 4 of the upper connection section 3a, which fits and stores the lower end of the pipe P arranged on the upstream side of the liquid flow path along its inner circumference, and the lower end of the pipe P arranged on the upstream side.

An actuator 12, which serves as the drive source for the filling valve device 1, is disposed on the back side of the mounting member 8. A plate-shaped rotating body 13 is supported on a rotating shaft (not shown) that is disposed so as to be rotatable in both forward and reverse directions by the driving force of the actuator 12, and is positioned in the space between the upper support portion 9a and the lower support portion 9b on the front side of the mounting member 8, so as to rotate about the rotating shaft within a vertical plane. For example, a servo motor is used as the actuator 12, and it is assumed that the rotating body 13 is supported on the rotating shaft of the servo motor.

The rotating body 13 has two pressing parts 14a, 14b, which are protruding toward the front side of the flexible tube 2, and are arranged such that the intermediate part in the longitudinal direction of the flexible tube 2 is located between them: the upstream pressing part 14a, which contacts and separates at the upstream position in the longitudinal direction of the flexible tube 2, and the downstream pressing part 14b, which contacts and separates at the downstream position. The two pressing parts 14a, 14b need to have a contact surface that is wider than the inner diameter (width) when they press the flexible tube 2 and block its liquid flow path. In this embodiment, each of the two pressing parts 14a, 14b is a round bar like a dowel, which is a joining member that replaces metal nails. By selecting an appropriate one from the numerous mounting holes 15 drilled in the surface of the rotor 13 and fitting it into the mounting hole 15 to fix it, it is possible to easily adjust the timing of opening and closing the liquid flow path, the degree of blocking, the strength of pressing, etc. according to the type of filling liquid at any given time.

In the following description, the rotation direction of the rotor 13 when the two pressing parts 14a, 14b increase the pressure on the flexible tube 2 (clockwise in FIG. 1) is referred to as the "forward direction," and the rotation direction of the rotor 13 when the pressure is decreased (counterclockwise in FIG. 1) is referred to as the "reverse direction."

The mounting member 8 is formed with an upstream contact surface portion 16a for pressing the flexible tube 2 with the upstream pressing portion 14a to close the liquid flow path when the rotor 13 rotates in the forward direction, and a downstream contact surface portion 16b for pressing the flexible tube 2 with the downstream pressing portion 14b to close the liquid flow path.

In this embodiment, the two pressing portions 14a, 14b are provided on the rotating body 13 in such a positional relationship that when the rotating body 13 rotates in the forward direction to close the liquid flow path, the upstream pressing portion 14a presses the flexible tube 2 against the upstream contact surface portion 16a before the downstream pressing portion 14b presses the flexible tube 2 against the downstream contact surface portion 16b.

The upstream abutment surface 16a is arranged so that the pressure of the upstream pressing portion 14a via the flexible tube 2 can be cushioned by an elastic member 18 provided on the abutment surface base material 17 arranged on the mounting member 8. In this embodiment, a coil spring is used as the elastic member 18, but it may also be a leaf spring, and furthermore, it is not limited to a spring, and other elastic members having elasticity such as rubber or sponge may also be used.

In this embodiment, a control unit (not shown) is provided to control the driving of the motor as the actuator 12 that rotates the rotating body 13 in the forward and reverse directions. The control unit is provided with a memory that stores numerical control values and operation programs of the motor corresponding to the opening and closing degrees that are preset to appropriate values according to various working conditions such as the type of fluid, filling volume, and filling speed. The control unit is also provided with a command output unit that outputs numerical control values and operation timing values of the motor read from the memory to the motor. The control unit is further provided with an input unit such as a touch panel for inputting various working conditions such as the type of liquid, filling volume, and filling speed, a display unit such as a liquid crystal panel for displaying input information and output information, and a CPU for operating each component in a related manner.

The filling valve device 1 of this embodiment is equipped with a known filling amount detection means (not shown) for detecting the amount of fluid filled into the container. The control unit is capable of driving the motor as the actuator 12 by adjusting the rotation direction, rotation amount, and rotation speed based on the filling amount detected by the filling amount detection means. The control unit may be shared with the control unit of the liquid filling device in which the filling valve device 1 is disposed.

Next, a filling method using the filling valve device 1 of this embodiment will be described as an example in which the filling liquid is a fluid such as a dressing that contains solid matter.

In this embodiment, the rotating body 13 is rotated by changing the drive of the motor serving as the actuator 12, and the open/closed state of the liquid flow path is adjusted by pressing the flexible tube 2 between the upstream pressing portion 14a and the downstream pressing portion 14b arranged on the rotating body 13 and the corresponding contact surface portions 16a and 16b.

Specifically, the control unit controls the rotation of the motor as the actuator 12, switching from a state in which neither the upstream pressing unit 14a nor the downstream pressing unit 14b presses the flexible tube 2 and the liquid flow path is fully open (fully open state: Figure 1), to a state in which only the upstream pressing unit 14a presses the flexible tube 2 between the upstream contact surface unit 16a, reducing the cross-sectional area of the liquid flow path and blocking the flow of solids on the upstream side of the liquid flow path in the flexible tube 2 (semi-closed state: Figure 2), to a state in which both the upstream pressing unit 14a and the downstream pressing unit 14b press the flexible tube 2, reliably blocking the liquid that has passed through the narrow passage formed on the upstream side of the liquid flow path in the flexible tube 2 on the downstream side of the liquid flow path in the flexible tube 2, and fully closing the liquid flow path of the flexible tube 2 (fully closed state: Figure 3).

In practice, before filling begins, the rotation of the motor acting as the actuator 12 is controlled to rotate the rotor 13 in the forward direction as shown in FIG. 3, and the upstream pressing portion 14a and the downstream pressing portion 14b are used to press the flexible tube 2 between the corresponding contact surfaces 16a and 16b, completely closing the liquid flow path and preventing fluid from being sent to the filling nozzle.

At this time, the flexible tube 2 is bent into a substantially S-shape by the pressure of the upstream pressing portion 14a and the downstream pressing portion 14b to form a liquid flow path. When bending the flexible tube 2 arranged in a straight tube shape between the upper support portion 9a and the lower support portion 9b into a substantially S-shape, in this embodiment, the lower end of the coil spring serving as the tube length adjustment portion 6 is pressed against the upper surface of the upper support portion 9a and contracts, thereby changing the engagement depth between the large diameter pipe portion 4 of the upper connection portion 3a and the lower end of the pipe P arranged upstream to a shallower depth, and the flexible tube 2 is extended outward between the upper support portion 9a and the lower support portion 9b.

In this state, the fluid supplied to the pipe P from the tank under its own weight or pressure flows into the flexible tube 2 through the liquid flow path.

When filling starts, the rotation of the motor acting as the actuator 12 is controlled based on the filling start signal, and as shown in FIG. 1, the rotor 13 is rotated in the reverse direction, the pressure on the flexible tube 2 by the upstream pressing portion 14a and the downstream pressing portion 14b is released, and the fluid is filled into the container from the filling nozzle.

At this time, the pressure applied to the flexible tube 2 by the two pressure sections is released, and the flexible tube 2 is supported in a straight tube shape between the upper support section 9a and the lower support section 9b by the inherent bending restoring force of the flexible tube 2 and the stretching restoring force of the coil spring serving as the tube length adjustment section 6.

Then, the control unit controls the rotation of the motor as the actuator 12 based on the filling amount detected by the filling amount detection means, and rotates the rotor 13 in the forward direction, as shown in FIG. 2, so that only the upstream pressing portion 14a abuts against the flexible tube 2 and is pressed against the upstream contact surface portion 16a to create a semi-closed state, blocking the flow of solids in the fluid and allowing only liquid to pass through. Then, as shown in FIG. 3, the rotor 13 is rotated further in the forward direction so that both the upstream pressing portion 14a and the downstream pressing portion 14b press against the flexible tube 2, and the downstream side of the liquid flow path in the flexible tube 2 is returned to a fully closed state in which the fluid that has passed through the narrow passage upstream of the liquid flow path in the flexible tube 2 is reliably blocked.

Here, when the flow of fluid is blocked by bringing the downstream pressing portion 14b into contact with the flexible tube 2 and pressing the flexible tube 2 against the corresponding downstream contact surface portion 16b to achieve a fully closed state in which only the upstream pressing portion 14a is abutted against the flexible tube 2 and pressed against the corresponding upstream contact surface portion 16a, the upstream pressing portion 14a moves from the position where it was pressed against the upstream contact surface portion 16a in the semi-closed state to a position in the rotational direction as the rotating body 13 rotates, and presses the flexible tube 2 against the upstream contact surface portion 16a. In this embodiment, the upstream contact surface 16a corresponding to the upstream pressing portion 14a is attached to the contact surface base material 17 arranged on the mounting member 8 via a coil spring as an elastic member 18, and the elasticity of this coil spring absorbs and adjusts the amount of movement and pressure of the upstream pressing portion 14a from the half-closed state to the fully closed state, allowing it to move from the half-closed state to the fully closed state.

In this way, the filling method using the filling valve device 1 of this embodiment makes it easy to adjust the opening and closing speed and degree of blockage of the filling valve that opens and closes the liquid flow path consisting of the flexible tube 2 of the filling device, and even if the fluid contains solids, by blocking the solids on the upstream side of the liquid flow path in the flexible tube 2, the liquid passing through there can be completely blocked on the downstream side of the liquid flow path, preventing dripping and contributing to good liquid filling.

In the above embodiment, the upstream pressure section 14a applies pressure to the flexible tube 2 in order to reduce the cross-sectional area of the liquid flow path so that the flow of solids can be blocked. In other words, pressure sufficient to achieve a fully closed state is not required.

The filling valve device 1 of this embodiment is suitable for filling fluids containing solids, as in the above-mentioned embodiment, but even when filling fluids that do not contain solids, proper filling is possible by controlling the drive of the actuator 12 that rotates the rotor 13, and using one of the pressing parts and the corresponding contact surface part to repeat the fully open and fully closed states described above. In other words, depending on the type of liquid, it is also possible to fill by repeating the fully open state of Figure 1 and the fully closed state similar to the state of Figure 2 by adjusting only the pressing state of the flexible tube 2 by the upstream pressing part 14a and the upstream contact surface part 16a, without using the downstream pressing part 14b and the downstream contact surface part 16b.

Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without impairing the characteristics of the present invention.

For example, the two pressing parts 14a, 14b may not be round rod-shaped as described above, but may be roller-shaped attached to an axle in a free-rolling state that allows them to roll smoothly on the outer surface of the flexible tube 2, and the axle may be fitted and supported in a number of mounting holes 15 drilled in the surface of the rotor 13. In this way, by making the two pressing parts 14a, 14b roller-shaped so that they rotate and slide when engaged with the flexible tube 2, it is possible to reduce friction when the two pressing parts 14a, 14b come into contact with the flexible tube 2, and to extend the durable life of the flexible tube 2.

In this embodiment, the tube length adjustment unit 6 is provided at the upper connection part 3a, but this tube length adjustment unit 6 may be provided at the lower connection part 3b, and furthermore, the configuration of the tube length adjustment unit 6 is not limited to this embodiment.

1 Filling valve device 2 Flexible tube 3a Upper connection part 3b Lower connection part 4 Large diameter tube part 5 Small diameter tube part 6 Tube length adjustment part 7 Actuating means 8 Mounting member 9a Upper support part 9b Lower support part 10 Notch 12 Actuator (motor)
13 Rotating body 14a Upstream pressing portion 14b Downstream pressing portion 15 Mounting hole 16a Upstream abutment surface portion 16b Downstream abutment surface portion 17 Abutment surface portion base material 18 Elastic member

Claims (4)

a filling valve device which is disposed between a tank for storing a filling liquid and a filling nozzle which injects the filling liquid into a container, and which opens and closes a liquid flow path of the filling liquid which is made of a flexible tube by driving an actuator, the filling valve device comprising: a rotor which is disposed on a rotating shaft which rotates forward and backward by driving the actuator and which rotates about the rotating shaft; and two pressing sections which protrude from the rotor and are disposed on both sides of the flexible tube so as to position the flexible tube between them, the upstream pressing section moving toward and away from an upstream position in the longitudinal direction of the flexible tube by the rotation of the rotor, and a downstream pressing section moving toward and away from a downstream position, and an upstream contact surface section against which the upstream pressing section presses the flexible tube, and a downstream contact surface section against which the downstream pressing section presses the flexible tube by the rotation of the rotor,
the upstream pressing portion is arranged to be able to press the flexible tube against the upstream contact surface portion before the downstream pressing portion presses the flexible tube against the downstream contact surface portion when the rotating body is rotated in a direction to close the liquid flow path by driving the actuator, and by controlling the rotation of the actuator, the filling valve device can switch between a state in which neither the upstream pressing portion nor the downstream pressing portion presses the flexible tube and the liquid flow path is fully opened, a state in which only the upstream pressing portion presses the flexible tube between the upstream pressing portion and the upstream contact surface portion to reduce a cross-sectional area of the liquid flow path, and a state in which both the upstream pressing portion and the downstream pressing portion press the flexible tube to bend it into an S-shape, and the pressure of the upstream pressing portion reduces the cross-sectional area of the liquid flow path, and the downstream pressing portion fully closes the liquid flow path. The filling valve device according to claim 1, characterized in that it is provided with a tube bending/extension adjustment section that adjusts the difference between the liquid flow path length of the flexible tube when it is supported in a state where it is stretched straight and the liquid flow path length of the flexible tube when it is supported in a state where it is bent by the pressure of the upstream pressing section and the downstream pressing section. The filling valve device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the upstream contact surface is arranged so as to be able to cushion the pressure of the upstream pressing portion via the flexible tube by an elastic member arranged on the contact surface base material. The filling valve device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that each of the two pressing portions is configured to be fixed by fitting into an appropriately selected mounting hole from a plurality of mounting holes provided on the surface of the rotating body.