JPH0714756B2 - Cleaning method of filling device - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a fixed position cleaning (CIP) method for a piston metering filling device for metering liquids such as milk, juice, liquor, fruit juice, and soft drinks. .

[Conventional technology]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a piston fixed amount type filling device has been widely used in which a filling piston is reciprocated in a cylinder with a stroke according to a filling amount to fill a fixed amount of liquid. In addition, an automatic machine in which this filling device is arranged in a sterile chamber together with a device for automatically supplying, washing, drying, sealing, and discharging a container is also widely used. In this type of filling device, a cam driven by the driving shaft of the entire machine including the filling device is usually used for reciprocating movement of the filling piston, and a method for timing liquid filling, container supply, discharge, etc. Is used. In order to perform the fixed position cleaning of the cylinder and the filling piston, normally, the filling piston is reciprocated by the cam while rotating the driving shaft, and the cleaning liquid is sent to the cylinder in this state.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

However, in the above-mentioned fixed position cleaning method, since the machine is in motion, it is dangerous to clean other parts and perform maintenance work, and it is impossible to sufficiently clean the back side of the filling piston. There was a problem.

The present invention has been made in view of the above conventional problems,
An object of the present invention is to provide a cleaning method for a filling device, which can perform fixed position cleaning with the driving shaft of the machine stopped and can also clean the back side of the filling piston satisfactorily.

[Means for solving problems]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a filling device,
A cylinder having a small diameter part for measurement and a large diameter part following it and a filling piston reciprocating in the cylinder are used, and the filling piston is at least the large diameter while supplying the cleaning liquid to the cylinder. It is characterized in that it is reciprocally moved in a region including a part.

[Action]

According to the present invention, as described above, the filling piston is reciprocated in the region including at least the large diameter portion, but this region is different from the reciprocating region during the metering and filling, and therefore the cam driven by the driving shaft of the machine is used. Since it is different from the reciprocating region of the filling piston by, it is possible to reciprocate with the driving shaft of the machine stopped. Further, when the filling piston reciprocates in the area including the large diameter portion, a gap is created between the outer circumference of the filling piston and the inner surface of the cylinder, so that the cleaning liquid can pass through the inside of the cylinder and both sides of the filling piston can be satisfactorily improved. It becomes possible to wash.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a filling device which is the object of the present invention, and FIG.
The figure is a sectional view showing the drive mechanism. This filling device is arranged in a sterile chamber together with a device for supplying a container, sterilizing, drying, etc., and constitutes a part of the aseptic filling machine. In the figure, 1 is a filling liquid tank, 2 is a first check valve, 3 is a second check valve, 4 is a filling nozzle, and 5 is a metering device. The weighing device 5 has a cylinder 6 and a filling piston 7 that reciprocates in the cylinder 6, and a piston rod 8 is connected to the filling piston 7. The cylinder 6 has a small-diameter portion 6A for measuring and a large-diameter portion 6B following it, and the filling piston 7 reciprocates in the small-diameter portion 6A to measure and deliver the filling liquid in the measuring chamber 9 on the piston. . Further, when the piston 7 descends to the position of the large diameter portion 6B, a gap is created between the outer circumference of the piston 7 and the inner surface of the cylinder 6, and the measuring chamber 9 communicates with the space 10 below the piston 7. A discharge pipe 11 is connected to the space 10. Reference numeral 12 is a bellows for preventing invasion of various bacteria from the sliding portion between the piston rod and the cylinder bottom wall.

In FIG. 2, 14 is a rotary shaft driven by the driving shaft of the machine, 15 is a cam attached to the rotary shaft 14, 16 is a support shaft, and 17 is a lever rotatably held by the support shaft 16. .
The lever 17 holds the roller 18 in contact with the cam 15, and has the other end connected to the air cylinder 21 via the pin 19 and the rod 20. Further, the lever 17 has a cylindrical portion 17A,
A block 23 is movably held inside, and the position of the block 23 can be adjusted by a handle 24 and a screw shaft 25. The piston rod 8 is connected to the block 24 via connectors 26 and 27. Thus, the swing of the lever 17 causes the piston 7 to reciprocate. An air pressure source 29 is connected to the air cylinder 21 via a switching valve 28. Here, as shown in FIG. 3 (A), when pneumatic pressure is supplied to the left side of the piston of the air cylinder 21 through the pipe 30, a counterclockwise torque is always applied to the lever 17, Lever 17
The roller 18 is always brought into contact with the cam 15, so that the lever 17 swings in response to the rotation of the cam 15 to reciprocate the piston 7. The cam curve of the cam 15 at this time is selected so that the rotation of the cam 15 causes the filling piston 7 to reciprocate within the small diameter portion 6A of the cylinder 6. The piston stroke can be adjusted by adjusting the position of the block 23 shown in FIG. The stroke of the air cylinder 21 is selected to be much larger than the stroke required to cause the roller 18 at the tip of the lever 17 to follow the cam 15, and as shown in FIG. Piping
When pneumatic pressure is applied via 31, the lever 17 can be rotated clockwise to move the filling piston 7 to the large diameter portion of the cylinder 6.

Next, a filling operation and a cleaning operation by the above device will be described. When the liquid is metered and filled, as shown in FIG. 3 (A), pneumatic pressure is supplied from the pipe 30 to the left side of the piston of the air cylinder 21. In this state, the driving shaft of the machine rotates and the rotation of the cam 15 causes the filling piston 7 to follow the cam 15 and reciprocate in the small diameter portion 6A of the cylinder 6. In one reciprocating cycle, while the filling piston 7 is descending, the liquid in the filling liquid tank 1 is supplied into the measuring chamber 9 through the first check valve 2 and is measured while the filling piston 7 is rising. The liquid in the chamber 9 opens the second check valve 3 and is filled from the filling nozzle 4 into a container (not shown) standing by below the filling nozzle 4. In this way, a predetermined amount of liquid determined by the reciprocating stroke of the filling piston 7 is measured and the containers are successively filled.

Next, in-place cleaning is performed by stopping the prime mover shaft of the machine and thus the cam 15 rotation. In this state, the cleaning liquid is supplied to the filling liquid tank 1, and the cleaning liquid is supplied to the cylinder 6
It is sent to the weighing chamber 9 from above. The switching valve 28 is periodically switched while supplying the cleaning liquid. As a result, the piston of the air cylinder 21 is moved to (A) of FIG.
Reciprocating to the position shown in (B), the filling piston 7 reciprocates between the small diameter portion 6A and the large diameter portion 6B of the cylinder 6. During the reciprocating movement of the filling piston 7, the cleaning liquid is not limited to the measuring chamber 9,
It also flows into the space 10 below the filling piston 7, and the inner surface of the cylinder 6 and the upper and lower surfaces and side surfaces of the filling piston 7 can be cleaned well. In addition, since the machine is stopped during this period, maintenance and cleaning of other parts of the machine can be performed in parallel.

〔The invention's effect〕

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY As described above, the present invention, as a filling device, includes a cylinder having a small diameter portion for measuring and a large diameter portion following the measuring portion,
The one having a filling piston that reciprocates in the cylinder is used, and while the cleaning liquid is supplied to the cylinder, the filling piston is reciprocated in a region including at least the large diameter portion to perform a fixed position cleaning. Therefore, it is possible to clean the inside of the cylinder and the upper and lower surfaces, side surfaces, etc. of the filling piston, and it is not necessary to rotate the driving shaft of the entire machine including the filling device during the cleaning, so that other parts are cleaned. It also has the effect that maintenance can be performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a filling device used for carrying out the method of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a driving mechanism thereof, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view for explaining an operation of a filling piston of the filling device. 1 ... Filling liquid tank, 2, 3 ... Check valve 4 ... Filling nozzle, 5 ... Measuring device 6 ... Cylinder, 6A ... Small diameter part 6B ... Large diameter part, 7 ... Filling piston 8 ... … Piston rod, 14 …… Rotary shaft 15 …… Cam, 17 …… Lever 21 …… Air cylinder, 28 …… Switching valve 29 …… Pneumatic source

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A filling device comprising a cylinder having a small diameter portion for measurement and a large diameter portion following it, and a filling piston reciprocating in the cylinder, wherein at least the filling piston is provided while supplying a cleaning liquid to the cylinder. A method for cleaning a filling device, comprising reciprocating in a region including a large diameter portion.