Fluent material handling – with receiver or receiver coacting mea – Filling means with receiver or receiver coacting means – With receiver and supply securing means
Reexamination Certificate
1999-10-21
2001-03-06
Jacyna, J. Casimer (Department: 3751)
Fluent material handling, with receiver or receiver coacting mea
Filling means with receiver or receiver coacting means
With receiver and supply securing means
C141S018000, C141S113000, C141S383000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06196282
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a filling device for cartridges with an annular outlet opening inside a cartridge neck, in the centre of which there is a fixed centre element, comprising a valve cap that is shiftable disposed on the neck which, in a first position into which the valve cap is pretensioned, covers over the annular outlet opening by means of an inwardly projecting annular flange and, in a second position, uncovers the outlet opening.
The invention relates in particular to a filling device for valve cartridges of the type described in DE 197 05 201 C1. Cartridges are used to hold printing inks for printing machines, as well as other pasty materials too, such as silicon and adhesives etc. Said cartridge has a valve cap which is disposed so that it can be displaced longitudinally along the neck of the cartridge, and which opens or closes an annular outlet opening of the cartridge by means of an annular, inwardly projecting edge flange. The valve cap is pretensioned to adopt the closed position and hence it opens automatically when a pressure of sufficient magnitude is exercised by a piston disposed in the cartridge, and closes automatically in the absence of this pressure.
Prior art filling devices for cartridges which operate on an industrial scale are very complicated and expensive, and hence are only financially viable when there are a large number of cartridges to be filled consecutively with the same pasty mass. Only large manufacturers of inks or adhesives meet these prerequisites. To quote just one example, filling cartridges with special colours are not, therefore, a very attractive proposition for large ink manufacturers who use industrial filling technology because the users only require small batches. Furthermore, it is also very difficult for large ink manufacturers to respond flexibly to urgent inquiries.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention is therefore based on the task of creating a filling device which is of a relatively simple construction and inexpensive to manufacture, and which is financially viable even for relatively small batches.
In a filling device of the above-mentioned type, this task is solved in that the device comprises
a cylindrical filling nozzle with a concentric feed bore for filling material inside,
sealing sleeve that encloses the filling nozzle concentrically and can be displaced longitudinally in relation to the filling nozzle,
claws on the end portion of the filling nozzle destined to come into contact with the cartridges, which grip the valve cap and move it into the open position as a result of the filling nozzle being pulled back, and
drive means for independently displacing the filling nozzle and/or the sealing sleeve longitudinally.
During the filling process one cartridge at a time is brought up against the filling nozzle. The sealing sleeve is then pushed forwards over the transition area from the filling nozzle to the cartridge against the front of the cartridge, so that this portion is completely sealed off towards the outside. The filling nozzle is pulled back slightly, whereupon the claws grip the valve cap and pull the valve cap down into the open position. This is the position in which the filling operation can start.
The claws preferably have a cam surface on their radial-outer side, which, when the sealing sleeve is pushed forward towards the cartridge, comes into contact with the sealing sleeve so that the claws are pushed inwards and engage behind the valve cap with hook-like projections. The claws are elastically pretensioned outwards, so that they only engage with the valve cap when the sealing sleeve is pushed completely forwards.
The filling nozzle has an annular seal at the end closest to the cartridge.
In some instances it may be necessary, or at least expedient, to conduct the filling operation under considerably reduced pressure, or a vacuum.
This will be the case, for example, when the piston inside the cartridge has to be pulled back into the starting position. Hence the device according to the invention can also be equipped with means for producing such a vacuum.
Filling cartridges under vacuum offers significant added advantages, and opens up possibilities that could not previously be exploited. To start with, there are no more of the difficulties associated with evacuating air remaining in the cartridge during the filling operation. Used cartridges can be refilled twice and repeatedly. The vacuum works by pulling the piston in the cartridge to the outlet end, from where it is pushed right back to the base of the cartridge by the pressure of the incoming mass. Hence the cartridge can be refilled without removing or damaging the piston. As the cartridges can be repeatedly reused instead of being thrown away once they are empty, as is otherwise usual, the number of cartridges for disposal can be considerably reduced. This means that the same cartridges can be reused for the same type of mass, colour etc., in particular for special colours or other viscous masses which are needed regularly, but only in relatively small quantities.
The vacuum in the filling device and the cartridge can be created in a variety of ways.
It is preferable to provide at least one vacuum channel which, starting from a vacuum source, exits radially outside the feed bore from the filling nozzle at the end portion closest to the cartridge to form a closable outlet opening.
It is preferable to provide an annular slide valve which can be displaced beyond at least one outlet opening, and which has at least one outlet bore for alignment with the outlet opening.
It is also expedient to provide several outlet openings of vacuum channels distributed around the periphery of the feed bore for the mass, with the slide valve being contrived as a rotary slide valve that can be rotated concentrically around the feed bore, and that has a number of correspondingly disposed outlet bores. The rotary slide valve can be formed by an end element of a sleeve which is rotatably disposed inside the feed bore.
The sealing sleeve preferably has an annular seal at the end closest to the cartridge.
The centre element inside the cartridge neck is preferably curved like a dome, and the end portion of the filling nozzle closest to the cartridge has a correspondingly indrawn hollow, with the feed channel at the centre.
REFERENCES:
patent: 1711870 (1929-05-01), Zerk
patent: 5247972 (1993-09-01), Tetreault
patent: 5379812 (1995-01-01), McCunn et al.
patent: 5472022 (1995-12-01), Michel et al.
patent: 5758700 (1998-06-01), Vanderploeg
patent: 93 05 449 U (1993-07-01), None
patent: 19705201 (1998-04-01), None
Goldberg Richard M.
Jacyna J. Casimer
Technotrans AG
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