Fluent material handling – with receiver or receiver coacting mea – With soil removing – coating – lubricating – sterilizing and/or... – With cleaning – coating or drying means
Reexamination Certificate
2001-11-05
2004-07-13
Douglas, Steven O. (Department: 3751)
Fluent material handling, with receiver or receiver coacting mea
With soil removing, coating, lubricating, sterilizing and/or...
With cleaning, coating or drying means
C141S089000, C141S144000, C134S16900A, C134S16800C
Reexamination Certificate
active
06761191
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to liquid filling systems and, more particularly, to the overall production rates (i.e. number of filled containers per minute per filling station) achieved by liquid filling systems utilizing either diverter valve technology or continuous-motion (e.g. walking beam) filling processes, and to the clean up (e.g. clean-out-of-place, clean-in-place) and calibration and/or set-up processes associated with their usage in a production environment.
2. Description of the Background
The production capability (e.g. containers per minute, containers per hour) of an automated filling system is a function of several factors. It is directly proportional to (1) the efficiency and number of filling stations that it possesses, (2) the technique used for indexing the containers to and from the filling stations, (3) the manner in which the filling nozzles move during the filling process, and (4) all system “downtime” associated with the clean up and calibration/set-up processes required for normal usage. While the number of filling stations in a given filling system can generally be varied within a certain range, the container indexing technique and the manner of filling nozzle motion are typically fixed aspects of an automated filling system's design possessing little, if any, operational adjustment.
The production capability of a semi-automated filling system is directly proportional to the efficiency and number of filling stations that it possesses, and the skill of the operator responsible for moving the containers to and from those filling stations. The overall production capability of either type of system, automatic or semi-automatic, is compromised by the amount of “downtime” required for cleaning, calibration/set-up, and periodic maintenance.
With respect to factor (1) above, each filling station typically includes a continuous-flow liquid metering device (e.g. rotary gear pump, rotary lobe pump, peristaltic pump, diaphragm pump, double-ended piston pump, flow meter, time/pressure filling head), a flexible intake/discharge tubing, and a filling nozzle. Conventional automated filling systems, equipped with any existing continuous-flow metering devices and possessing a one-to-one relationship between metering devices and filling nozzles, utilize only 45% to 60% of the maximum output volume, or total available dispensing time, of the metering device. Exactly where a filling system rates within the 45%-60% range is dependent upon factors such as (a) the type of indexing mechanism that controls the containers during the filling process; (b) the number of filling stations present, and/or (c) whether or not the nozzles move during the filling process.
Systems employing intermittent-motion indexing mechanisms tend toward the 45% rate of the aforementioned range because they must bring the empty containers to a stop before the filling process begins. Once the filling process is complete, the filled containers are allowed to resume movement in order to clear the filling area for the next set of empty containers. The liquid metering devices sit idle during the entire container indexing process and for part of the time that the nozzles are in motion. In contrast, systems employing continuous-motion indexing mechanisms tend toward the 60% end of the range because the containers are filled as they move through the filling area by a set of nozzles that travel in unison with them. While this is a more efficient process due to the simple fact that the containers are not brought to a stop during the filling cycle, there is still a significant portion of the output volume of the metering device that remains unused (i.e. the metering devices sit idle while the nozzles return to the infeed end of the filling area for the start of the next filling cycle).
It would, therefore, be greatly advantageous to provide automated, production environment liquid filling systems designed to utilize a greater percentage (i.e. approaching, or equal to 100%) of the maximum output volume, or total available dispensing time, of the metering devices.
There are also semi-automated production environment filling systems in which the filling and container handling processes are mutually exclusive steps in the overall machine cycle. The metering device sits idle while an operator removes the containers that have just been filled and replaces them with empty containers. After restarting the filling process, the operator then waits for that step to be completed before repeating the container removal/replacement process. It would, therefore, also be advantageous to provide a semi-automatic production environment liquid filling systems that likewise possess the means to increase production rate efficiencies by allowing the filling and container handling processes to occur simultaneously.
As the number of filling stations increases in either the automated or semi-automated systems described above, additional design goals and challenges arise. For instance, the cost of spare or replacement parts should be kept to a minimum, as should the amount of time required to changeover and/or clean out the system when changing from one liquid product to another. In general, a significant amount of “downtime” is required to clean filling machinery when changing from one product to another (see the detailed discussion of cleaning processes below). Therefore, a filling system providing an increase in overall production rate efficiency (i.e. filled containers per minute per pump) while requiring little or no increase in the amount of clean up/changeover downtime would be most desirable.
With respect to factors (2) and (3) above, systems employing intermittent-motion indexing mechanisms bring the empty containers to a stop before the filling process begins. Once the filling process is complete, the filled containers are allowed to resume movement in order to clear the filling area for the next set of empty containers. In systems employing continuous-motion indexing mechanisms, the containers are filled as they move through the filling area by a set of nozzles that travel in unison with them. It is readily apparent to those with ordinary skill in the art that a continuous-motion filling/indexing process, as compared to intermittent-motion indexing, is more efficient due to the simple fact that the containers are not brought to a stop during the filling process.
With respect to continuous-motion indexing systems, there are generally two techniques employed for moving the nozzles during the filling process. As seen in the prior art, in-line “walking beam” filling system
20
of
FIGS. 1A and 1B
, empty containers
21
moving in a straight line along a single-lane conveyor
22
(as indicated by directional arrow
24
) are filled by a bank of nozzles
23
that travel in unison with them through the filling zone
26
. Once the filling process is complete, the bank of nozzles
23
returns (as indicated by directional arrow
25
) to the infeed end of the filling zone
26
to align itself with the next set of empty containers
21
. In this fashion, every container
21
is filled as it moves through the filling zone
26
.
Techniques similar to that described above have been utilized in a variety of in-line continuous-motion filling systems. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,971,041 to Drewitz discloses a machine for filling fluid products into containers delivered in a row by a conveyor that has a filling station with a walking nozzle bank (i.e. walking beam mechanism). The nozzle bank includes elongated gripper plates that are moved laterally to engage the containers while the nozzles are inserted therein. Once a batch of containers has been received in the filling station and engaged by the gripper plates, the container batch is allowed to move in the conveying direction together with the nozzle bank as the containers are being filled.
Another example is U.S. Pat. No. 4,004,620 to Rosen which discloses a filling machine for simultaneously filling several containers with a prede
Bennett Richard N.
Dold George R.
McGrath Timothy
Mozelack Richard
Parihar Shailendra K.
Douglas Steven O.
Law Offices of Royal W. Craig
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