JPH04242589A - Liquid filling device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent a liquid from overflowing without reducing the filling speed or decreasing a liquid filling quantity, and stabilize the volume by switching a switching valve from a first position to fill a liquid to a second position to discharge air and the liquid in a container, right before filling of a liquid to a container by a filling nozzle is completed. CONSTITUTION:A liquid is filled by a filling nozzle 24, and air and the liquid are discharged from a communicating hole 12 on a cylinder 10 through a passage 36 and a gap 33, accompanying with the ascent of the liquid level, and the liquid is recovered by a tank T. Right before filling of the liquid is completed, a small cylinder 35 for opening/closing is pushed up, and the filling nozzle 24 is under an exposed condition, and a ball 42 of a 3-way switching ball valve 40 is switched from a first position to a second position. Therefore, residual air in the container 1 is quickly released through the filling nozzle 24, small cylinder for liquid filling 23, a liquid receiving hole 22, and a communicating port 44, and the container 1 is restored to prevent the liquid from overflowing.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a liquid filling device for filling a container with a predetermined amount of liquid such as liquid detergent, shampoo, conditioner, bath additive, mouthwash, etc.

0002

[Prior Art] Conventionally, methods for filling a container with a fixed amount of liquid include an air sensor control method in which an air sensor is placed at a predetermined position to control the amount, and a load cell that controls the amount by measuring weight. There is a capacity control method in which only the amount of liquid to be filled in one container is injected to control the volume. However, the above-mentioned air sensor control method is rather expensive, and if there are bubbles during liquid filling, the air sensor may malfunction, resulting in significant variations in volume. Further, although the load cell method described above can reduce the variation in weight, it has the problem of being quite expensive and having low production capacity. Furthermore, although the capacity control method described above simplifies the device, it is rather expensive and has the problem of causing variations in volume.

[0003] In order to solve these problems, level control methods have been proposed. This level control method uses a liquid filling device as shown in FIG. That is,
This liquid filling device includes a cylinder 10, a filling member 20,
The actuating member 30 is generally comprised of the actuating member 30.

The cylinder 10 has a cylindrical shape, and has an insertion hole 11 at the bottom and a communication hole 12 at the lower side.
It is sealed with a sealing cap 13. Filling member 20
has a sealing member 21 that seals the upper opening of the cylinder 10 together with the sealing cap 13, and this sealing member 21 has a liquid receiving hole 22 for receiving liquid from the tank T. Further, the filling member 20 has a liquid filling small cylinder 23, which is continuous with the liquid receiving hole 22 and hangs down so as to protrude from the bottom of the cylinder 10, and has a lower end thereof. A filling nozzle 24 for dispensing liquid is provided at the tip, and an O-ring 25 is fitted to the tip to completely seal the tip of the filling nozzle 24.

Furthermore, the actuating member 30 has a plunger portion 31.
The plunger portion 31 is inserted into the insertion hole 11 of the cylinder 10.
The sealing member 2 is mounted in a liquid-tight manner within the cylinder 10.
By interposing a coil spring 32 between the cylinder 10 and the cylinder 10, the cylinder 10 is configured to be movable up and down with respect to the cylinder 10. The flange 31a provided on the upper part of the plunger part 31 is connected to the cylinder 10.
A gap 33 is formed between the inner circumferential surface and the inner peripheral surface. A guide member 34 with which the upper end of the mouth and neck 2 of the container 1 comes into contact is screwed into the lower part of the operating member 30, and a small opening/closing tube 35 extends from the guide member 34 to the filling nozzle 24 of the small liquid filling tube 23.
is installed vertically, and this opening/closing small cylinder 35 and liquid filling small cylinder 23
The communication hole 12 of the cylinder 10 is inserted through the gap 33 between the
A passage 36 is formed which communicates with the.

In the above structure, when the liquid is filled, the upper end of the mouth and neck part 2 of the container 1 comes into contact with the guide member 34 and presses it, so that the opening/closing small cylinder 35 of the operating member 30 is pushed up and released from the filling nozzle 24. As the liquid is injected, the air and liquid in the container 1 are discharged from the communication hole 12 of the cylinder 10 via the passage 36 and the gap 33 as the liquid level rises.

Next, a liquid filling process using the liquid filling apparatus described above will be explained based on FIG. 5. The container 1 is placed on a plurality of tables 4 arranged annularly at predetermined intervals,
When the plurality of tables 4 rotate once at a predetermined speed, one cycle of liquid filling is completed. A roller 5 is rotatably provided at the bottom of the table 4.
A high bottom surface is formed on the path of movement. Therefore, the table 4 is moved up and down by the rollers 5 running on the raised bottom surface.

In FIG. 5, (a) to (f) show one cycle of liquid filling, and in (a), the roller 5 is located on the lower surface 6, and the liquid filling device is located directly above the container 1. Since the filling nozzle 24 is housed in the opening/closing small cylinder 35, the container 1 is not filled with liquid. Then,
In (b), the roller 5 is located on the upward slope 7, the upper end of the mouth and neck 2 of the container 1 comes into contact with the guide member 34, the guide member 34 rises, and the actuating member 30 resists the biasing force of the coil spring 32. By moving upward, the opening/closing small cylinder 35 is pushed up and filled with liquid by the filling nozzle 24. In this case, since the passage 36 is in a closed state, the air inside the container 1 is not exhausted.

Furthermore, in (c) and (d), the roller 5 is located on the high surface 8, and the small opening/closing cylinder 35 is pushed up further, so that the closed passage 36 is also opened, and the liquid is filled by the filling nozzle 24. is filled, and as the liquid level rises, container 1
The air and liquid inside are discharged from the communication hole 12 of the cylinder 10 through the passage 36, and this liquid is collected in the tank T. In (e), the roller 5 is located on the downward slope 9, the small opening/closing cylinder 35 is pushed down and the passage 36 is closed, and the filling nozzle 24 fills the liquid. Then, when the roller 5 is positioned again on the lower surface 5 as shown in (f), the filling nozzle 24 is housed in the opening/closing small cylinder 35, and one filling cycle is completed.

0010

However, in the conventional liquid filling device shown in FIG. 4, the passage 36 is closed immediately before the filling nozzle 24 finishes filling the liquid, so that internal pressure is applied to the container 1. As a result, the container 1 bulges. Therefore, when the container 1 is restored at the end of filling, liquid overflows from the container 1 and the amount varies widely. In order to prevent this, it was necessary to take measures such as slowing down the filling speed or reducing the amount of liquid filled into the container 1. In addition, in the liquid filling device shown in FIG.
Although it is conceivable to enlarge the passage 36 in order to quickly release the residual air, it is restricted by the diameter of the container 1, so the passage 36 cannot be made extremely large.

[0011] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to prevent liquid overflow and maintain the volume level without slowing down the filling speed or reducing the amount of liquid filled. An object of the present invention is to provide a liquid filling device that stabilizes liquid filling.

0012

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the liquid filling device according to the present invention includes a cylinder having an insertion hole at the bottom and a communication hole at the bottom,
The cylinder has a sealing member having a liquid receiving hole that seals the upper part of the cylinder and receives the liquid. A filling member provided with a filling nozzle at the lower end of the small cylinder, and a plunger portion installed in the insertion hole of the cylinder in a liquid-tight manner and movable up and down with respect to the cylinder,
A guide member with which the mouth and neck of the container comes into contact is fixed to the lower part, and a small opening/closing cylinder is suspended from this guiding member, and a communication hole of the cylinder is provided between the opening/closing small cylinder and the liquid filling small cylinder. and an actuating member forming a passage communicating with the container. During filling, the opening/closing small cylinder of the actuating member is pushed up and liquid is injected from the filling nozzle, and as the liquid level rises, the air and liquid in the container are A liquid filling device for discharging liquid from a communication hole of a cylinder through the passage, the liquid receiving hole of the filling member having a first position for filling the liquid and a second position for discharging air and liquid from the container. The present invention is characterized in that the switching valve is connected to a switching valve capable of switching between the first and second positions, and the switching valve is switched from a first position to a second position immediately before the filling nozzle finishes filling the container with liquid.

[0013]

[Operation] In the present invention having the above configuration, immediately before the filling nozzle finishes filling the container with liquid, the switching valve is operated to discharge the air and liquid in the container from the first liquid filling position. By switching to the second position,
Immediately release the residual air in the container through the switching valve and restore the container to its original state. As a result, there was no overflow of liquid, and there was no variation in volume.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. Note that the same reference numerals as in FIGS. 4 and 5 are used for parts that are the same as or correspond to the conventional configuration, and the description thereof will be omitted. As shown in FIG. 1, the liquid filling device according to this embodiment is provided with a three-way switching ball valve 40 as a switching valve in the liquid filling device shown in FIG. The three-way switching ball valve 40 is connected to a liquid receiving hole 22 formed in the sealing member 21 of the filling member 20, and has a ball 4 inside the casing 41.
2 is rotatably provided. The casing 42 has a liquid receiving port 43 that receives liquid from the tank T, and a liquid receiving port 43 that receives the liquid from the tank T.
A communication hole 44 for discharging air and liquid inside is bored. The ball 42 has a flow path having a T-shaped cross section, and is configured to be switched by a cam (not shown) as the table 4 moves. Therefore, in the three-way switching ball valve 40, the liquid receiving port 43 and the liquid receiving hole 22 communicate with each other through the flow path of the bulb 42, and the first valve can be filled with liquid.
(shown in FIG. 1), the communication hole 44 and the liquid receiving hole 22
It is possible to switch between a second position in which the air in the container 1 and the liquid accompanying the rise in the liquid level are discharged through communication with the second position.

Next, the process of filling a container with a certain amount of liquid using the liquid filling apparatus of this embodiment will be explained with reference to FIG. In the figure, (A) to (E) show one cycle of liquid filling, and in (A), the roller 5 is located on the low surface 6, and the liquid filling device is directly above the container 1, and the filling nozzle 24 Since the container 1 is housed in the opening/closing small cylinder 35, the container 1 is not filled with liquid. Next, in (b), the roller 5 is located on the upward slope 7, the upper end of the mouth and neck part 2 of the container 1 comes into contact with the guide member 34, the guide member 34 rises, and the actuating member 30 is activated by the biasing force of the coil spring 32. By moving upward against the pressure, the opening/closing small cylinder 35 is pushed up and the filling nozzle 24 is exposed. However, in this case, since the ball 42 of the three-way switching ball valve 40 is in the second position where the communication hole 44 and the liquid receiving hole 22 communicate with each other, simply discharging the air in the container 1 is enough to remove the air from the tank T. The liquid is not dispensed.

Further, in (c), the ball 42 of the three-way switching ball valve 40 is switched to the first position where the liquid receiving port 43 and the liquid receiving hole 22 communicate with each other and can be filled with liquid, and the roller 5 is located on the high surface 8, the opening/closing small cylinder 35 is pushed up further and the closed passage 36 is also opened, and the liquid is filled by the filling nozzle 24, and as the liquid level rises, the air inside the container 1 and Liquid passage 3
6. The liquid is discharged from the communication hole 12 of the cylinder 10 through the gap 33, and this liquid is collected in the tank T.

Then, (d) shows the state just before the liquid filling is completed, and the roller 5 is positioned on the high surface 8, the opening/closing small cylinder 35 is pushed up and the filling nozzle 24 remains exposed, but the three sides are Ball 42 of switching ball valve 40 is switched from a first position to a second position. Therefore, the remaining air in the container 1 is quickly released through the filling nozzle 24, the liquid filling small cylinder 23, the liquid receiving hole 22, and the communication hole 44, and the container 1 is restored to its original state. This eliminates liquid overflow and allows the container 1 to be filled up to the shoulder 3 with liquid. Next, (F)
When the roller 5 is positioned again on the lower surface 6 as shown in FIG.
One filling cycle is completed with the filling nozzle 24 housed in the opening/closing small cylinder 35.

Next, an experimental example will be explained based on Table 1.

[Table 1]

In Table 1 showing this experimental example, Comparative Examples 1 and 2 are the liquid filling apparatus shown in FIG. 4, and have different filling pressures. In addition, in the experimental example, the number of tables 4 is 12, and a household liquid detergent containing a surfactant is used as the filling liquid, and the liquid specific gravity is 1.005.
g/cc. The standard deviation S indicates the degree of variation in the amount of liquid filled, and the head space (HS) is the dimension from the shoulder 3 of the container 1 to the level of the filled liquid, as shown in FIG. Thus, according to Table 1, in this example, the filling amount was increased, the standard deviation S was decreased, and the size of the head space was also reduced compared to Comparative Examples 1 and 2.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and various modifications can be made. For example, in the above embodiment, the three-way switching ball valve 40 is used as the switching valve, but a three-way switching cylindrical valve or the like may also be used.

[0021]

Effects of the Invention As explained above, according to the liquid filling device according to the present invention, the liquid overflow is prevented without slowing down the filling speed or reducing the amount of liquid filled, so that the liquid can be filled up to near the shoulder of the container. It can be filled with liquid, and there is no need for maintenance because the container does not get dirty due to liquid overflow. Furthermore, since the weight is stable, defective products can be eliminated, production efficiency is improved, and the structure is simple, so costs can be reduced.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing an embodiment of a liquid filling device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a liquid filling process using the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3A and 3B are a front view and a side view of a container used in this example.

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view showing an example of a conventional liquid filling device.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a liquid filling process using the apparatus of FIG. 4;

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Container 2 Mouth and neck 3 Shoulder opening 4 Table 10 Cylinder 12 Communication hole 20 Filling member 22 Liquid receiving hole 23 Liquid filling small cylinder 24 Filling nozzle 30 Operating member 31 Plunger part 32 Coil spring 34 Guide member 35 Opening/closing small cylinder 36 Passage 40 Three-way switching ball valve (switching valve) 41 Casing 42 Ball 43 Liquid receiving port 44 Communication hole

Claims (1)

[Claims] Claim 1: A cylinder having an insertion hole in the bottom and a communication hole in the lower part, and a sealing member having a liquid receiving hole for sealing the upper part of the cylinder and receiving the liquid, the liquid receiving hole A small liquid filling cylinder that is continuous with the cylinder and protrudes from the bottom of the cylinder is suspended, and a filling member is provided with a filling nozzle at the lower end of the small liquid filling cylinder, and a filling member that is connected to the insertion hole of the cylinder in a liquid-tight manner and attached to the cylinder. A plunger part is attached so as to be movable up and down, a guide member with which the mouth and neck of the container comes into contact is fixed to the lower part, and a small opening/closing cylinder is hung from this guiding member, and a small opening/closing cylinder and the above-mentioned liquid filling are attached. and an actuating member forming a passage communicating with the communication hole of the cylinder between the small cylinder and the small cylinder for opening and closing, and when filling, the small cylinder for opening and closing of the actuating member is pushed up and liquid is injected from the filling nozzle. , a liquid filling device for discharging air and liquid in a container from a communication hole of a cylinder via the passage as the liquid level rises, the liquid receiving hole of the filling member being filled with liquid at a first position and the container; The second to expel the air and liquid inside
Liquid filling characterized by connecting a switching valve capable of switching between the first and second positions, and switching the switching valve from the first position to the second position immediately before the filling nozzle finishes filling the container with liquid. Device.