EP2217523B1 - Device for closing containers - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a capping machine (capper) according to the preamble of claim 1.

Closing machines for closing bottles with screw caps, which are fastened by screwing on a bottle-side external thread in the area of the bottle mouth, are known in various designs.

Basically, the application of the respective closure with a closure element or Verschließkonus in which the bottle closure is held until it is applied to a bottle and which for driving the closure on the bottle or for screwing by a drive is driven in rotation.

Throughout the closing process, due to the geometric conditions on a capping machine, it is always necessary to vary the distance between the bottom edge of the capping cone and the top of the bottle mouth, e.g. To compensate for the resulting by the screwing change in the distance between the lower edge of the cone and the bottle mouth. In certain embodiments of known capper this is done by the lower edge of the capping cone remains on a height level, while the container to be closed performs all the necessary movements in the height level.

Known capping machines, ie screw cappers and also (crown) corkers, have on a rotating around a vertical axis rotating machine rotor several Verschließpositionen each with a closing tool and with a bottle or container carrier, which is controlled by a lifting cam and rotatable up and down with rotating rotor , For merging the respective bottle with the closing tool before closing and for separating the sealed bottle and closing tool.

The tracking of the bottles when screwing is achieved in known capping machines, for example by lifting the bottle carrier.

In another embodiment of known capping machines, the container to be closed remains at a height level, while the capping cone performs all the necessary movements in the vertical plane or in the vertical direction.

Also known are embodiments in which both the container, as well as the sealing cone perform a part of the required movements in the height level.

Closing machines are also known which close containers by virtue of a closure, for example a crown cap, being plastically deformed by deliberate application of force, as a result of which the container to be closed is securely closed. Even with such sealing machines, there is a change in the distance between the container mouth and Verschließkonus. The necessary with screw caps rotary motion is eliminated.

In all known embodiments of capping machines required movements in the height level by a combination of a preferably stationary lifting curve and rotating around the machine axis, rolling on the lift curve or sliding feeler elements, which tap the height movement of the lift curve and the, in the height level transferred moving components, realized.

Such lifting curves are known to the skilled person for many years, so that it is possible to dispense with a description of such lifting curves at this point.

A disadvantage of such Hubkurvenantrieben is that they can not be changed flexibly after their production, so that even the smallest changes in the desired movement in the height level make the preparation of a new lift curve mandatory.

It is also of great disadvantage that such Hubkurven wear relatively quickly and thus often have to be replaced after a certain number of operating hours. Since these lifting curves are also usually in the base of the capping, replacement is very complex and expensive, which is also undesirable in practice.

Also known is a device according to the preamble of claim 1 of the WO 2005/007556 A1 , In this device, an electric motor is provided at each closing station. In order to produce the vertical linear movement required for a closing operation, these electric motors each act on a toothed rack via a drive pinion, as a result of which this toothed rack can be moved upwards and downwards in the vertical direction. At the lower end of the rack, the actual closing device is arranged. The disadvantage of such a device is that the connection between the pinion and the rack is always associated with an unavoidable game, which finally the height positioning of the closing can not be determined accurately, which can lead to damaged or insufficiently closed containers, which is not desirable in practice.

The object and purpose of the present invention is to avoid these disadvantages.

For this purpose, the present invention provides for the formation of capping machines in which the known reciprocatory cam drives are completely dispensed with. For this purpose, the application of a controlled or regulated drive for realizing the required height movements is proposed.

A corresponding capping machine is the subject of claim 1 Further developments of the invention are the subject of the dependent claims.

Fig. 1

eine dem Stand der Technik entsprechende Verschließmaschine;

Fig. 2

in Einzeldarstellung und teilweise im Schnitt eine der Verschließstationen einer Verschließmaschine in Schraubverschließerbauweise;

Fig. 3

in Einzeldarstellung und teilweise im Schnitt eine der Verschließstationen einer Verschließmaschine in (Kron)Korkerbauweise;

Fig. 4

in Teildarstellung eine Draufsicht auf eine erfindungsgemässe Ausführungsform der vorliegenden Erfindung mit der Verwendung von Linearantrieben;

Fig. 5

in einer Übersichtszeichnung eine mögliche Anordnung von Magneten unterschiedlicher Polariät.

The invention will be explained in more detail below with reference to the figures of exemplary embodiments. Show it:

Fig. 1

a prior art closing machine;

Fig. 2

in an isolated view and partly in section one of the capping stations of a capping machine in Schraubverschließerbauweise;

Fig. 3

in an individual view and partly in section one of the closing stations of a capping machine in (crown) Korkerbauweise;

Fig. 4

in partial view a plan view of an inventive embodiment of the present invention with the use of linear drives;

Fig. 5

in an overview drawing a possible arrangement of magnets of different polarity.

In the FIG. 1 a state of the art sealing machine is shown. The container to be closed 1, in the example shown a bottle with neck ring and screw, is located directly below the closure cone 2. The container to be closed 1 is fixed to a vertically movable lifting rod 3, which by means of a roller 4 permanently and under spring tension of the Lifting curve 5 is present. As a result of this arrangement, the container 1 revolving around the machine axis MA and to be closed follows the height-wise course of the running surface of the lifting cam 5.

For closing the container 1, a screwing spindle 6 is provided in the illustrated example, which is driven by a controlled or regulated drive motor 7.

In the context of the present invention, the term "controlled or regulated drive motor" means such a drive motor which can be controlled or, preferably, regulated, inter alia, with regard to its rotational speed, its rotational angle, its total rotational angle, its torque, its angular acceleration and its angular deceleration. Known embodiments are, for example, servo or stepper motors.

The FIG. 2 shows a capper in Schraubverschließerbauweise. The known from the prior art Hubkurvenantrieb for the vertical movements has been replaced according to the teachings of the present invention by a, preferably separately provided for each closing station controlled or regulated drive motor 7 with associated moving member, such as a threaded spindle 8.

Equivalent to the threaded spindle 8, all other possibilities known to those skilled in the art for producing a controlled or controlled linear movement can be used. However, this may not be limited to a belt drive and / or a rack drive and / or linear motor, for example.

Preferably, each drive motor 7 is equipped with a rotary encoder or else an odometer for the lifting movement.

This embodiment makes it possible for the first time, the height movements required for the closing, ie screw or even (Kron) corks to make freely programmable.

Thus, it is possible in a simple manner, the height movements of each closing station, and thus the entire capper, virtually at the push of a button, to change requirements. These changes may be due, for example, to other bottle types of changed length Screw cap revealed. However, other changes can also result from a change in the closure used, for example, by the change from a standard screw cap to a so-called sport cap closure.

As described above, the individual capping stations are wrapped around the machine axis MA with the capper and the container mouth and / or the closure cone / closing tool must occupy different height positions during one revolution around the machine axis MA depending on the current angular position within one revolution. This target motion profile is stored in the machine control for each expected application, and can be called there by the machine operator, whereby the conversion to the new requirements is essentially completed.

Design, production and assembly and wear problems of the known lifting curves are completely eliminated,

The FIG. 3 shows a capper in (crown) Korkerbauweise, In contrast to the embodiment of FIG. 2 this is a capper in which the container 1 is closed by a closure that is to be plastically deformed, for example a crown cap 9.

From the prior art It is known to realize in such closures the necessary height movement of Verschließstempels 10 by a lift curve.

For this purpose, it is provided that this height movement of Verschließstempels 10 by a controlled or regulated drive motor 7 in conjunction with a suitable linear motion member, such as a threaded spindle 8 to realize.

With regard to the further technical teaching and the advantages resulting from the use thereof, the above applies analogously.

The FIG. 4 shows an inventive embodiment of the present invention.

This embodiment is characterized in that at each capping station for the lifting and / or rotational movement linear motors (traveling field machines) be used. Such linear motors or traveling field machines are sufficiently well known to the person skilled in the art, so that at this point only the aspects relevant to the invention need to be explained in more detail.

Linear motors are characterized essentially by a stationary, the exciter windings-containing stator and a movable rotor. In this case, the movable rotor can perform rotational movements and / or translational movements.

According to the invention it is now provided to form the screw 6 of a screw as a runner.

For this purpose, screwing spindle 6 or closing punch 10 are designed in such a way that they have the necessary magnets 13, as required for generating the linear and rotational movements.

At the periphery of a screw 6, a stator 11 is first arranged to generate a rotational movement. By a suitable arrangement and control of the exciter windings contained in this stator, the generation of the desired rotational movements is possible in a manner known to those skilled in the art.

In addition, a further stator 12 for generating a linear movement is arranged on the circumference of the screw 6. This acts, for example, on magnets within or on the circumference of the Verschraubspindel 6, which have different polarity or orientation in the vertical direction.

By a clever arrangement of a plurality of magnets in the screw 6, for example, in a mutually perpendicular and with respect to the circumference of the screw 6 alternating arrangement of magnets of different polarity or orientation, for example in a checkerboard arrangement, can be used in conjunction with the stators 11 and 12 both successively, as well as simultaneously translational and rotational movements of the screw 6 are generated.

In a closure in (crown) Korkerbauweise the arrangement of a linear motor for the execution of the translational movement is sufficient.

It goes without saying that the teaching of the present invention also extends to those embodiments in which the required height movements at least partially performed by the container 1 and at least partially by the Verschraubspindel 6.

Claims (3)

1. Machine for closing bottles or similar containers with screw closures, with a plurality of closing stations formed at the circumference of a rotor that can be driven to rotate about a vertical machine axis (MA) with, in each case, a container carrier and a screw closure tool comprising a closure cone (2), wherein, in order to carry out the height movements necessary for the closing process, a separate drive motor (7), controlled or regulated, is arranged at each closure station, characterised in that
   the controlled or regulated drive motor (7) is a linear motor with a fixed-location stator, containing the exciter windings and with a movable rotor, wherein the rotor can carry out rotational movements and translation movements, wherein a screw spindle (6) of the screw closure tool is configured as the rotor of the linear motor, and that the screw spindle (6) comprises the necessary magnets (13), such as are required to produce the linear movement and rotation movement.
2. Machine according to claim 1, characterised in that the height positions of the container mouth and screw spindle (6) of the individual closing stations during a rotation about the machine axis MA are deposited in the machine control device, such that they can be called up, as a function of the present angle position within a rotation, as a reference movement profile.
3. Machine according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the container mouth carries out at least a part of the necessary height movement.

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