WO2010020711A1

WO2010020711A1 - A filling control device

Info

Publication number: WO2010020711A1
Application number: PCT/FI2009/050670
Authority: WO
Inventors: Juha Lehtioksa; Mika Peltola; Hannu Aaltonen
Original assignee: Lamican Oy
Priority date: 2008-08-22
Filing date: 2009-08-24
Publication date: 2010-02-25
Also published as: FI121063B; FI20080476A0; FI20080476A

Abstract

A filling control device comprises a product container (1) containing flowing food to be filled in liquid packages by pouring, and at least one filling channel (3) leaving the product container for filling the liquid package. A channel (3) is connected to the product container (1) and said channel is provided with means for bringing the medium in the channel in a motion that mixes the contents of the product container (1).

Description

A FILLING CONTROL DEVICE

The invention relates to a filling control device comprising a product container containing flowing food to be filled in liquid packages by pouring, and at least one filling channel leaving the product container for filling the liquid package.

For filling disposable liquid packages with food, automatic package forming and filling lines are used, in which the package is formed of a blank, filled with liquid-like food, and sealed. For the manufacture of such liquid packages, cardboard is normally used, of which at least one side has been treated with materials designed for the seaming, the gas and liquid tightness as well as the printing of the package material. In the selection, forming and filling of such packages, particularly the requirements of cleanliness are taken into account; in other words, the seams of the package must also be tight, and the aim is to prevent foreign substances and micro-organisms from entering into the package in connection with the filling.

The package formed of a cardboard blank by seaming, partly still open, is filled in a filling unit with liquid-like food which may be milk, juice or any other flowable food. Such material may be a viscose substance which can be packed by pouring. After filling such a package, the aim is to seal it tightly as soon as possible. In the filling line, successive packages on a conveyor pass a nozzle which dispenses a predetermined liquid volume into each package. Such a filling nozzle is provided at the end of the filling channel coming from the product container. The product container is used as an intermediate storage for the liquid to be packed, and the aim is to keep a predetermined liquid volume in it during the filling process.

The liquid foodstuffs to be packed may be very diverse. However, due to their origin, many of them typically contain solids in suspended form (for example, various juices and milk products). If the liquid volume in the product container is not stirred, such material will easily tend to deposit on the bottom of the container, which will make it more difficult to keep the product homogeneous.

It is particularly challenging to keep the liquid column in the container homogeneous when the liquid to be packed contains relatively large edible pieces added on purpose and having a diameter of several millimetres, because such pieces tend to settle onto the bottom faster than the finer material. Stirring is particularly important during a stoppage of the filling operation, because the flow of the liquid through the product container is not stirring the liquid.

According to solutions of prior art, the liquid volume in the container has been kept in motion by mechanical mixers, such as propellers, placed inside the container. Lead-throughs into the container, required for the movement of the mixers, may cause problems of cleanliness and tightness and may require maintenance, so that the whole container has to be opened.

It is an aim of the invention to eliminate these drawbacks and to present a device for controlling the filling of liquid packages, wherein efficient stirring is achieved in the product container even during a stoppage of the filling device. To achieve this aim, the filling device is characterized in that a channel is connected to the container and said channel is provided with means for bringing the medium in the channel in a motion that mixes the contents of the product container.

By means of such a channel, the content of the product container can be mixed by means of a flow introduced from the outside without a need to provide any moving parts for performing the mixing inside the container. The actuator that pumps the medium in the channel into a motion, is thus outside the container.

According to an advantageous embodiment, said channel connected to the container is the same filling channel, through which liquid is dispensed into the packages for filling them. The mixing function can thus be provided in the filling device by a simple arrangement in which the filling channel is equipped with a valve for bringing the liquid into a pumping motion, the valve expanding and constricting the cross-sectional area of the flow in the channel in an alternating manner. When such a valve is provided between the container and the filling valve that closes the channel, it can "rinse" the contents of the container by means of its motion when the filling valve is in the closed position. By the same valve, it is possible to control the throttling in the filling channel during normal operation, which is useful when the flowing properties of the substance to be packed vary.

In another alternative, a separate mixing channel is used, where the actuator for effecting the mixing movement is located. This channel may use the liquid of the product container for mixing by the same principle, wherein it is closed at one end, or the actuator may be arranged to continuously supply the product container with a medium that exits the container and does not end up in packages, preferably sufficiently clean or sterilized gas, depending on the nature of the product to be packed. In this latter case, the actuator is a blower or the like, or the gas is introduced from a container under pressure.

In the following, the invention will be described in more detail with reference to the appended drawings, in which

Fig. 1 shows schematically the operation of a filling device according to the invention in a situation in which liquid is continuously packed,

Fig. 2 shows the operation of the device in the mixing step during a stoppage of filling,

Fig. 3 shows a cross-sectional view of an actuator placed in the filling channel, and

Fig. 4 shows schematically solutions according to a second and a third embodiment of the invention.

Figure 1 shows the first embodiment of a filling device according to the invention during a normal filling operation. The filling device comprises a product container 1 , into which liquid food is supplied by a feeding channel 2. The feeding channel 2 can be introduced in the container 1 from below to the bottom of the container (solid lines), from the side to the lower part of the container close to the bottom, or from above (broken lines). Normally, the aim is to direct the feeding channel to the container in such a way that when the container 1 is filled at the lower limit of its level control, the liquid flowing in simultaneously sets the contents of the container in motion, but this feeding is not capable of continuously mixing the contents of the container. From the bottom of the product container, a filling channel 3 extends downwards, its lower end being provided with a filling valve 4 to open and close the filling channel for filling bypassing liquid packages P, transferred on a conveyor, with a predetermined liquid volume. From the product container, the liquid flows into the channel 3 and into the package P by gravity or additionally by the effect of pressure in the container. The liquid packages are normally made of a liquid packaging laminate by seaming. The method for forming the packages as well as their sealing is not disclosed in more detail in this context, as they are irrelevant to the invention, but it can be briefly mentioned that the packages may be cylindrical cardboard packages, whose cylindrical part is made of a cardboard blank by wrapping and seaming the edges to each other and which is closed by providing both ends of the cylindrical part with end pieces which are seamed fixedly to the cylindrical part. The cross- section of such a package may also be other than a circle. When the package P is filled with food, its one end is open for filling, after which the end piece is placed in it and the package is closed by seaming the end piece in fixed position. In a similar manner, the structure and operation of the filling valve 4 at the lower end of the filling channel, as well as the arrangements for the sufficient level of cleanliness, e.g. asepticity, of the packaging operation, do not fall into the scope of the present invention, but they can be implemented in various ways without altering the invention as such.

Between the product container 1 and the filling valve 4, a valve 5 is provided which is used as an actuator to effect the liquid flow and, correspondingly, the mixing of the liquid volume of the container 1 above, by a principle that was already described above.

Figure 2 shows, in a pictorial series, the operating principle of the valve 5. Under a stoppage of the filling function, the filling channel 3 is closed at the lower end (the filling valve 4 is closed), and no liquid flows from the feeding pipe 2 into the product container 1. Thus, the filling channel and the container have a closed constant liquid volume which can be set in motion by a movement of the valve 5. The valve 5 constricts and expands the filling channel in an alternating manner, wherein it pumps the liquid up and down in the filling channel and simultaneously effects mixing of the liquid volume in the container (arrows). The figure shows schematically pieces in the liquid, whose sedimentation onto the bottom of the container and in the filling channel can thus be prevented. The invention also functions equally well for such liquid-like foodstuffs into which pieces have not been added on purpose but which, due to their origin, contain various solids which tend to settle onto the bottom in standing liquid (for example various juices and milk products).

Figure 3 shows a cross-sectional view of a filling device according to the invention at the filing channel 3 and the valve 5. The valve comprises a membrane which tightly envelopes the liquid content of the filling channel 3 and forms its inner wall. This membrane is externally set in motion to constrict and expand the flow-through location by a pusher that moves back and forth. The figure shows two pushers which operate preferably in phase with each other from opposite sides. The reciprocating motion of the pusher/pushers can be effected by solutions and power sources of prior art. In the arrangement of Fig. 3, the pusher is moved pneumatically. Naturally, the structure of the valve may vary in such a way that the invention can be implemented by other types of solutions as well. The valve may be designed in such a way that in the normal position, during the filling of the packages, the cross-section of the channel may remain unchanged at the valve 5. In its normal position, the valve may also throttle the flow, depending on the nature of the food to be packed. During the pumping operation of the valve, this cross-section becomes smaller and widens again to the normal position in an alternating manner. The normal position may thus be fully open or throttled. The normal position can be set by a suitable mechanical arrangement which may be connected to the control system of the filling line. The maximum pumping effect is achieved so that the valve constricts from the normal position to the fully closed position.

In the valve 5 of Fig. 3, the normal position for filling can be steplessly set by a control screw which will determine whether the filling channel 3 at the valve is fully open or throttled. In the arrangement of Fig. 3, the setting is achieved by adjusting the distance between the head of the pusher and the piston which is in the initial position in the pneumatic cylinder. When the pusher is moved by the pneumatic cylinder, the piston will move forward until the valve is totally closed (the pushers press the opposite halves of the membrane against each other).

Figure 4 shows schematically the second and third embodiments of the invention. The channel connected to the liquid volume of the container 1 , by which channel the mixing is achieved, may also be a channel 3' that is separate from the feeding channel 2 and the filling channel 3 and that comprises the valve 5 operating by the principle of Fig. 2. The channel 3' may be permanently closed at its one end, but it may be openable to remove material possibly accumulated therein. Thus, the arrangement of Figs. 1 and

2 has the advantage that the channel remains constantly clean, because liquid flows through it during the filling operation.

The same Fig. 4 shows an alternative arrangement, in which a medium to effect mixing is continuously supplied along a separate channel 3" into the product container 1. This medium is gaseous, wherein it will not remain in the container but will exit through an exit valve provided in the upper part of the container and allowing a flow away from the container only. The gaseous medium is fed by a suitable blower 5", or it is introduced from a container under pressure. Through the channel 3", a sufficiently clean gas, such as air or a protective gas, is introduced. The gaseous medium may also be led along the channel 3" into the filling channel 3, from which it will flow into the container 1.

The invention is not restricted to the embodiments described above, but it can be modified within the scope of the inventive idea presented in the claims. More than one filling channel 3 may leave the same product container, if liquid is supplied from it, for example, into packages P conveyed in the line in parallel relationship to each other. The mixing actuator, that is, the valve 5, may be provided in all these channels or in only part of them.

Claims

Claims:

1. A filling control device comprising a product container (1) containing flowing food to be filled in liquid packages by pouring, and at least one filling channel (3) leaving the product container for filling the liquid package, characterized in that a channel (3, 3', 3") is connected to the product container (1) and said channel is provided with means for bringing the medium in the channel in a motion that mixes the contents of the product container (1).

2. The control device according to claim 1 , characterized in that the channel connected to the product container (1) is the same filling channel (3), through which liquid is dispensed into packages for filling them.

3. The control device according to claim 2, characterized in that the channel connected to the product container (1 ) is a channel (3', 3") separate from the filling channel (3).

4. The control device according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that the means is a valve (5, 5') that affects the cross-sectional area of the channel

(3, 3') to achieve a pumping motion in the channel, and the channel (3, 3') is closed or can be closed at its one end.

5. The control device according to claim 3, characterized in that the channel connected to the product container (1) is a channel (3") connected to a source of a gaseous medium, and the means is a blower (5") or a pressure container arranged to supply the gaseous medium through the channel (3") into the container (1).

6. The control device according to claim 4, characterized in that the valve (5) is placed in the filling channel (3), and the throttling caused by it is adjustable to control the liquid flow in the filling channel to be suitable during the filling of the packages.