JPS6230019B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an improvement in a method for filling a container, which has been previously formed in a sterile and dust-free state, with a liquid.

By the way, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 112478/1983 discloses the following technical matters. "A parison made of molten plastic material is placed in a mold, one end that will become the mouth of the container is sealed with the mold, air is blown into the other end that will become the bottom of the container, and the air inlet is melted and closed. Consisting of a first step of making a sealed empty container, a second step of melting and drilling an injection port in the bottom of the container and filling it with a predetermined amount of contents, and a third step of melting and sealing the injection port. According to this method, it is possible to maintain the sterile and dust-free state during blow molding until the time of filling the content liquid, and it is possible to maintain the sterile and dust-free state during blow molding until the time of filling the content liquid, which was previously required. This eliminates the need for cleaning and sterilizing the inside of the container at the time of use, making it possible to simplify and speed up the cleaning and sterilization operations.

However, this method has a flaw in its second step, the melt-drilling of the inlet. That is,
This process is carried out by inserting a cone-shaped metal rod into the air inlet created during molding, but if the method disclosed in this document is followed, the injection hole may be twisted or the metal rod may not bite properly and the hole cannot be drilled at all. Such problems may occur.

In addition, there is also a flaw in the third step, and if the method disclosed in the document is followed, pinholes will occur in the resealing part, or an extremely thin part will be formed, making the sealing performance unstable. It is. This is thought to be due to the fact that the filling port was expanded in a tulle shape in the second step.

The present invention aims to solve this problem by making it easier to make a hole for the filling port and further improving the sealing performance of the container as a final product.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the final container made through the process according to the invention. In the figure, 10 is the eye drop container body, 12 is a cap, and 14 is a ring.
By removing the ring 14 and screwing the cap 12 deeper by its thickness, a small hole can be made in the tip 18 of the container body using the needle 16 in the roof of the cap. From there, the eye drops are instilled.

The present invention is intended for filling and sealing the container body 10.

The container body 10 has been blow-molded with sterile gas in advance, and a cylindrical liquid filling port 20 as shown in FIG. 2 is formed at the bottom. The tip 22 of the filling port is melt-sealed immediately after the container body is molded.

The process of filling the container body with the liquid content is shown in FIG.

First, the tip 22 of the sealing portion of the filling port is preheated and softened by a mold 26 containing a heater 24, and then pressed (). The tip 28 of the mold 26 is flattened, so the tip 22 of the welding part is also flattened.

Next, the cone-shaped heating needle 30 is inserted into the flattened melt-sealed portion 22, the filling port 20 is opened, and the filling port 20 is expanded into a flattened shape (). heating needle 30
A heater 32 is also built in, so that the filling opening is heated and softened while being smoothly pushed and expanded. Furthermore, when the heating needle 30 comes into contact with the welding part tip 22, since the tip has been flattened in advance in step (), the needle can be stabbed accurately.
This eliminates the possibility of incorrect drilling positions.

Thereafter, the liquid filling nozzle 34 is inserted into the filling port, and a liquid such as eye drops 36 is filled (). Since the filling cylinder 20 is expanded into a flap shape during the process, the nozzle 34 can be inserted smoothly.

When the liquid content 36 is filled, a mold 38 is then applied to the trumpet-shaped filling port, and the filling port 20 is made concave (). A conical recess 40 is provided at the tip of the mold for performing such molding, and a heater 42 is provided inside.

The filling port 20 with its deflated tip is then crushed and sealed by another mold 44 (). A spherical recess 46 is formed in this mold 44, and a heater 48 is provided inside. Sealing is performed by pressing the mold toward the filling port and rotating it around its axis.

At this time, since the tip of the filling port has been narrowed in the previous step, the seal can be formed smoothly. Therefore, pinholes are prevented from forming in the seal portion 50,
The sealing performance of the container can be improved.

Immediately after this sealing step (), the seal portion 50 is further crushed by the cooling die 52 and rapidly cooled (). As a result, the sealing performance is further improved.

In addition, in this step, by providing a desired stamp on the cooling mold in advance, it is possible to stamp the bottom of the container.

Now, the present invention is obtained by adding steps (), (), and () to the conventional filling and sealing process as described above.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the next step of expanding the filling opening using the heating needle can be performed reliably in step (), and the next step of sealing step () can be performed reliably and in step (). It can be done quickly. The sealing failure in step () is mainly caused by the formation of pinholes in the seal portion and partial thinning of the seal, but the existence of step () makes it possible to eliminate such problems.

Furthermore, since the step () is provided at the end, it is possible to crush the pinholes that may have occurred in the sealing step () to further improve the sealing performance. Moreover, since the center of the bottom of the container can be lowered in this step, the stability of the container can be further improved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a capped container filled and sealed by the method according to the invention. FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway sectional view of the container before filling and sealing. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of each step of the filling and sealing method according to the present invention. 10... Container body, 20... Content liquid filling port, 2
2... Filling port melt sealing part, 26... Molding mold, 28...
Flat tip of mold, 30... Heating needle, 34...
Filling nozzle, 36...content liquid, 38...molding mold,
40...Concavity at the tip of the mold, 44...Mold, 4
6... Concavity at the tip of the mold, 50... Seal part, 5
2...Cooling type.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A method for filling and sealing a container, which comprises the following items. a Holding a container that has been blow-molded with sterile gas and has a cylindrical liquid filling port formed at the bottom, preheat the melting part of the liquid filling port and insert the tip of the melting part of the filling port first. The process of pressing with a flat mold. b A step of inserting a conical heating needle into the preheated and flattened melt-sealed portion to push and expand the liquid filling port in a tuppy shape. c. A step of filling the container with the liquid by inserting the liquid filling nozzle into the liquid filling opening expanded in the shape of a flap. d. After filling the liquid content, a step of applying a heated mold to the tip of the cylindrical liquid filling port to compress the tip. e Heat the filling port with the narrowed tip,
The process of crushing with a mold and resealing. f. A step of cooling the crushed filling port while further crushing it with a cooling mold.