Cleaning and liquid contact with solids – Processes – Combined
Reexamination Certificate
1999-01-25
2001-06-12
Gulakowski, Randy (Department: 1746)
Cleaning and liquid contact with solids
Processes
Combined
C134S022100, C134S0570DL, C134S152000, C134S16700R, C134S113000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06244275
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a method and a device controlling the treatment, e.g., cleaning, sterilizing, and pre-filling, of the interior of the bottles for the performance of the method.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Before being filled with a liquid food or other products, bottles or similar containers are usually subjected to several preliminary treatment steps, particularly to a thorough cleaning and optionally sterilization. To improve the microbiological quality of filled liquid foods, it is known to sterilize the bottles with heat, prior to the filling operation, to kill any germs that may be present and that are dangerous to the food in question. This occurs, in general, by the introduction of steam, hot water or superheated water into the bottle to be sterilized by means of a sterilization installation with spray nozzles, which installation is generally connected as a separate machine before a filling machine, or, in individual cases, it is integrated into the filling machine. However, an incorrect course of the process cannot be completely ruled out. Thus, as a result of a failure of control valves, or insufficient pressure, the killing of the germs in the bottle to be sterilized can be insufficient, or completely absent.
From DE 42 32 323 A1, an installation is known for monitoring the thermal treatment of bottles in a bottle treatment machine. In this process, a first sensor is used, which measures the heat radiation emitted by the external surface of the bottle after the sterilization. In the area of introduction of the bottles, before they reach the sterilization installation, the bottles pass a second sensor, which also works on the principle of a pyrometer. An electronic control unit, to which the first and second sensors are connected, determines whether the temperature measured by the first sensor is enough for sufficient sterilization. Such a measuring system requires extensive apparatuses, resulting in high manufacturing costs. In addition, after a time of exposure to steam of only one to two seconds, the temperature increase on the external side of the bottles is extremely small, and it can only be determined with difficulty by the measuring technology. If the treatment of the bottles is carried out with gas or chemical means, for example, ozonizing water, whose temperature is not higher than the temperature of the bottle, or only insignificantly higher than the temperature of the bottle, at the beginning of the treatment, then the known temperature control installation for monitoring the sterilization process is completely unsuited, because in this case there is no detectable temperature increase of the bottle wall.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The task of the present invention is to indicate, in contrast, a reliable and simplified method and a corresponding installation for controlling the treatment of the interior of bottles.
This task is solved by performing a control to determine the presence of the fluid jet in the area after the exit opening and/or the fluid inlet to the exit opening of the spray nozzles.
If the nozzle which delivers the treatment fluid in the operating phase is at an interval from the bottle mouth, then the fluid jet which exits out of the nozzle opening in the area between the bottle mouth and the nozzle opening can be directly recognized and controlled by a sensor installation. Using a laser beam it is possible, for example, to reliably sense a steam or liquid jet. It should be understood, that the type of the control installation to be used also depends on the type of fluid that is used.
If a so-called “submerged nozzle” is necessary for the treatment of the interior of the bottle, i.e., if a nozzle exit opening is located, at the time of the fluid delivery, behind the bottle mouth in the interior of the bottle, then it is possible to check the fluid inlet to the outlet opening of the nozzle in a simple manner, to sense the occurrence of the treatment of the interior, for example, by querying the position of a flow restrictor which is led in a movable manner in the inlet line by means of the control installation. This control method is particularly advantageous in the case of a treatment with a gaseous fluid (sterile air, CO
2
), because in this case, the above mentioned direct determination of the jet could, under certain circumstances, require a more extensive setup of sensors. It should be understood that the fluid inlet control is not only limited to application cases with submerged nozzles, rather, it is particularly suited in the case of a gaseous or steam-phase treatment fluid, and also for nozzles in which a direct jet control would be possible because of an interval between the nozzle exit opening and the bottle mouth.
In the machines used for the treatment of the interior of bottles, for example, in the rinsing apparatuses that are used in practice, the predominant approach is to use a multitude of nozzles which are distributed at regular intervals on a support which can be moved so that the nozzles move synchronously with the bottle over a certain section of the path, where the bottles are in a position, during the treatment of the interior, such that the bottle mouth is generally pointed towards the bottom, whereas the fluid jet is introduced from the bottom to the top toward the bottom of the floor in the interior.
Ideally, every nozzle is associated with a sensor device which advances simultaneously, for the direct control of the presence of the fluid jet and/or fluid inlet, where, advantageously, the entire treatment process can be tested over its entire duration. However, with stationary sensor devices which are positioned on the circulation path of the nozzle, a sufficient and reliable control of the treatment of the interior of bottles or similar containers, and at low cost, is possible in many cases of application. Using suitable means, the state of the sensors is then queried and evaluated at the time of the passage of a nozzle at the place where the fluid treatment should occur, where the querying by the sensor occurs, for example, as a function of the position of the swing angle of one of the rinsing robots which carries the nozzles, or it occurs as a result of a time- and/or path-dependent triggering by means of certain components which are arranged at regular intervals on the rinsing apparatus (for example, nozzle or bottle retainer parts) taking into account the instantaneous speed of a machine. To recognize such components, the sensors themselves can be used, so that it is not absolutely necessary to provide additional trigger sensors.
This solution with stationary sensory devices can also be used, without any problems, for controlling treatment processes with multiple fluid types, optionally successively with different fluid types, for the treatment with fluid of the bottles. One must only make sure that in each treatment area, where fluid is to be applied to a bottle, at least one sensor device is provided for each nozzle circuit path.
As a rule, the treatment of the interior of the bottle is followed by the filling of the bottle with the intended filling products, for example, a drink. For this purpose, a treated bottle is transferred from the rinsing apparatus to a filling machine. This transfer can occur using a conveyor belt or star wheels. When the filling of the bottle must take place under sterile or aseptic condition in the filling machine, it is particularly advantageous if the bottles, whose interior treatment was determined to have been unsatisfactory by the sensors, so that harmful germs, spores, fungi, etc., can still be present, are removed from circulation before reaching the filling machine, in order to prevent infection of the sterile area. This measure is independent of the type of sensors used for controlling the treatment of the interior. To remove unsatisfactory bottles from circulation it is possible, for example, to use a transfer star wheel with selectively controllable retainer devices, for example, grippers, where the control occurs as a function of the signal
Plschek Klaus
Ziegler Manfred
Chaudhry Saeed
Gulakowski Randy
Krones AG
Tilton, Fallon, Lungmus & Chestnut
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