JPH0577802A - Filling machine for flexible bag - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To fill a liquid easily and inexpensively by a method wherein a flexible bag is connected to a filling machine, and the flexible bag is manually expanded by air, and the air is replaced by a filling liquid after the expansion of the flexible bag, without a special control unit. CONSTITUTION:A flexible bag is connected to a filling nozzle 01 for which an internal cylinder 1 which becomes an air passage 5, and an external cylinder 4 which becomes a liquid passage 4b on the external periphery of the air passage 5 are integrally formed. The title filling machine is a filling machine which fills a filling liquid by replacing air with the filling liquid, in a flexible bag with a composite valve 02 which respectively communicates with the air passage 5 and the liquid passage 4b. The filling nozzle 01 is movably provided on a sliding cylinder 34 which is fixed on a support frame 18 of the filling machine main body, and in the air passage 5, a second valve 23 which divides the air and liquid in the composite valve 02, and a movable sliding valve 32 which is pressed by a spring 33 are liquid-tightly press-fitted.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a filling machine for filling a flexible bag, which is a liquid container made of a flexible film, and more specifically, a flexible bag that is simple, inexpensive, easy to operate, and can be stably filled. The structure of the filling machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in the transportation of relatively expensive liquids such as chemical products and food oil, they are loaded in a vehicle in a drum or the like. Since the drum can uses steel pipes, it is hard and has the advantage of being able to withstand a little rough handling when loading and unloading vehicles, but there is no change in volume before and after liquid filling, and up to the actual liquid filled product. The transportation of empty drums is not much different from the transportation cost after transportation with liquid, and there is a problem that the space required for storing the drums is large and the storage cost is high. On the other hand, a flexible bag made of a flexible film such as special polyethylene is freely foldable and lightweight, so that the cost for transportation, storage, etc. is remarkably low, and the economical effect is extremely noticeable. However, when a flexible bag is filled with liquid while it is normally folded, the resistance for restoring the flexible bag is large, liquid pool may be formed, and there is a risk of damage during transportation, and rapid liquid filling cannot be performed. Therefore, the air in the container is replaced with the target liquid in a state in which a gas such as air is injected and expanded in the folded flexible bag.

In order to quickly perform the above-mentioned process for filling a flexible bag with liquid, the applicant of the present invention first joins the flexible bag with a filling machine, injects air, expands, and injects liquid.
An automatic filling apparatus for a flexible bag shown in FIG. 5 has been proposed, which makes it possible to suitably perform the steps of air replacement and removal of the flexible bag. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration of a conventional automatic flexible bag filling device, in which A and B are couplers and C
Is a flexible bag, D is a filling machine, E is an operation button, and F is a base.

In FIG. 5, the flexible bag C is shown in a state where the coupler A on the filling machine side and the coupler B on the flexible bag side are joined and inflated, but before being inflated, the flexible bag C is folded into a small size. The filling machine D is equipped with an air source such as an air compressor, a means for transferring and measuring a filling liquid, and a control means, and the filling operation is automatically performed by operating the operation button E.

In the filling operation, first, the flexible bag C
Is placed under the base F, and the coupler A by the driving means driven by air pressure is lowered, and the coupler A and the coupler B are automatically joined. When the couplers A and B are joined, an air valve (not shown) that opens and closes the air flow path is opened. A liquid valve (not shown) is provided on the outer periphery of the air valve, and the air valve and the liquid valve have a coaxial and integral structure.

Next, the air valve is opened to inflate the flexible bag C. After the inflation, the fluid valve is opened to replace the air and fill the filling liquid. The air is opened to the atmosphere by opening the air valve due to the back pressure, and is closed when the filling amount reaches the set value, and the connection between the couplers A and B is released. In each of the above operations, a plurality of valves provided in the coupler A are sequence-controlled to perform the air pressure for operation, the supply liquid of the filling liquid, and the like, and the filling machine is complicated, large, and expensive. became. Also, when the flexible bag is filled with liquid, the load is applied to the lock pin of the filling nozzle,
Since it is difficult to remove the flexible bag from the filling machine,
There was a drawback that the work efficiency was poor. Further, there is a problem that the flexible bag is filled with the liquid and the liquid leaks to the air discharge passage just before the liquid is full.

[0007]

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides a simple and compact flexible bag filling machine that can be manually operated, and a flexible bag filled with a liquid from the filling machine. It is easy to remove, and in the case of the upper filling method, the sliding member in the vertical sliding portion of the filling nozzle is made of a stable material for a long time.
When the liquid is filled by replacing the air in the flexible bag, the purpose is to prevent the filling liquid from flowing out into the air liquid passage from the coupler portion of the filling nozzle and the flexible bag.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides (1)
A flexible bag made of a folded flexible membrane, having a valve portion that concentrically and integrally has a valve that circulates air and a valve that circulates a filling liquid, and is joined to the valve portion of the flexible bag, In a filling machine for inflating a flexible bag with air and replacing the filling liquid with the air after inflation, a pincushion-shaped piston having a valve seat and opened by an aerodynamic force proportional to an area difference; An air flow path that has a valve seat that cooperates with a seat and communicates with the flexible bag, a pressure adjusting spring that adjusts the pressure of the air pressure that acts on the valve seat and expands the flexible bag, and an outer circumference of the air flow path. And a connecting means for connecting the liquid flow passage and the end portion of the air flow passage to the valve portion of the flexible bag so as to be liquid-tightly fixed, and (2) ) Above ( ), An inner cylinder which has the pressure adjusting spring and the piston and serves as an air flow path joined to the air valve of the flexible bag, and an outer cylinder which is provided on the outer periphery of the air flow path and serves as an annular liquid flow path. The filling nozzle of the filling machine that is integrally configured with the liquid valve of the flexible bag is arranged so as to be vertically movable with respect to the filling machine, and further, (3) In the above (2), the filling is performed. When filling up the flexible bag by inserting the filling nozzle into the sliding cylinder fixed to the main body of the filling machine and guiding it through the sliding ring provided on the inner peripheral surface of the sliding cylinder, the nozzle is moved up and down. The material of the sliding ring is a hard bearing material such as metal, and (4) In any one of (1) to (3) above, a cylindrical sliding member is provided in the inner cylinder of the filling nozzle. The valve is arranged so that it can slide in the axial direction, and the sliding Is liquid-tightly pressed via a spring force to a valve body that partitions an air flow path and a liquid flow path in a composite valve of a flexible bag. Hereinafter, description will be given based on an embodiment of the present invention. To do.
FIG. 1 is a structural view of an embodiment of a flexible bag filling machine of the present invention, in which 01 is a filling nozzle, 02 is a flexible back valve, A is a coupler of the filling nozzle 01,
Is an inner cylinder, 2 is a piston, 3 is an air inlet / outlet port, 4 is an outer cylinder,
5 is an air passage, 6 is a pressure gauge tap, 7 is a pressure adjustment spring, 8 is a pressure relief hole, 9 is a spring support pin, 10 is a spring support seat, 11 is a spring cover, 12 is a pressure adjustment bolt,
13 is a detent nut, 14 is a lever fixing tool, 15 is a lever support tool, 16 is a locking part, 17 is a lever, 18 is a support frame, B is a coupler of a flexible valve 02, 21
Is a liquid injection cylinder, 22 is a first valve, 23 is a second valve, 24 is a first spring retainer, 25 is a second spring retainer, 26 and 27 are springs, 28
Is a liquid flow path.

In FIG. 1, a filling nozzle 01 is a nozzle for joining the coupler B of the flexible bag 02 with the coupler A to fill the flexible bag with the filling liquid, and is balanced with the spring force of the pressure adjusting spring 7. An inner cylinder 1 that has a piston 2 that opens by aerodynamic force and serves as an air flow path, and an outer cylinder 4 that is integrally joined to the inner cylinder 1 are provided. A liquid passage 4b for circulating the annular filling liquid is formed with the wall surface. The inner cylinder 1 is a hollow cylinder, and an air passage 1a having a small diameter and a cylinder portion 1b having a large diameter are coaxially provided inside the inner cylinder 1. Inside the cylinder portion 1b, a sliding plate 2a having a diameter substantially equal to the inner diameter of the cylinder portion 1b, and the sliding plate 2a.
A piston 2 in which a valve disc 2b having a diameter smaller than that of the air passage 1a and a diameter slightly larger than the air passage 1a are integrally joined by a shaft portion 2c,
The O-ring 2e is inserted so that it can move in an airtight manner. The outer circumference of the valve disc 2b is a piston valve seat 2d.
And has a valve function in close contact with a valve seat 1c provided on the outer periphery of the upper end of the air flow path 1a.

A pressure adjusting spring 7 having the upper portion as one spring seat is disposed on the upper portion of the piston 2, and a spring support seat 10 is disposed on the other end of the pressure adjusting spring 7. ing. The pressure adjusting spring 7 and the spring support seat 10 are housed in a spring cover 11, and the spring cover 11 is fixed to the upper peripheral end surface of the inner cylinder 1 with bolts or the like. The spring support seat 10 is locked to the spring detent pin 9 and is pressed and supported by the pressure adjusting bolt 12 to press the valve disc 2b against the valve seat 1c in the axial direction.

At the lower part of the inner cylinder 1, a coaxial outer cylinder 4 forming an annular liquid flow path 4b is provided between the inner cylinder 1 and the outer wall of the inner cylinder 1. Is provided with a liquid injection port 4a. The inner cylinder 1 is fixed to the support frame 18 of the filling machine at a support flange 1d provided on the outer periphery of the lower part. The ends of the inner cylinder 1 and the outer cylinder 4 have an air passage 5 and a liquid passage 4b concentrically, and form a coupler A of a filling nozzle 01 that is joined to a coupler B of a flexible bag described later.

The coupler B of FIG. 1 was previously proposed by the present applicant, and has a coaxial double valve structure in the liquid injection cylinder 21,
The air passage and the liquid passage are opened and closed in cooperation with the coupler A. In the figure, the right half shows the valve open state and the left half shows the valve closed state.

A first valve 22 is arranged on the shaft of the liquid injection cylinder 21, and the first valve 22 is stretched by a spring 2b on a first spring retainer 24 having an air passage 24a at all times. Further, a second valve 23 is arranged on the outer periphery of the first valve 22, and the second spring retainer 2
5, a spring 27 is stretched between them and the valve is always closed. An air flow path 24a is provided between the first valve 22 and the second valve 23.
A liquid flow path 28 is formed between the liquid injection cylinder 21 and the second valve 23.

The coupler A and the coupler B are joined by fitting the annular recess 4c provided in the lower portion of the outer cylinder 4 into the annular recess 21c provided in the upper portion of the liquid injection cylinder 21. After joining, the lever 1 is rotatably supported by a pin 17a on a lever support 15 provided outside the annular recess 4c.
The convex portion 17b of No. 7 is locked and fixed to the annular groove 21b provided on the outer periphery of the annular concave portion 21c by rotating the lever 17 downward. Next, the lever support 15 and the lever 17 are locked by the lock pin 17 in order to securely lock them.
Fix by inserting c.

When the coupler A and the coupler B are joined and locked as described above, the air passage 24a formed by the first valve 22 and the second valve 23 is opened as shown in the right half of the figure. Has been done. At the time of filling, first, when air pressure is introduced from the air injection / exhaust port 3, the piston 2 moves upward due to the aerodynamic force corresponding to the area difference between the sliding disc 2a and the valve disc 2b to open the valve, and the air flows. The flexible bag is inflated through the paths 1a, 5, 24a.

Next, when the filling liquid is injected from the liquid inlet 4a, the filling liquid flows through the liquid flow paths 4b and 28 and is injected into the flexible bag. On the other hand, the air in the flexible bag is replaced with the injected liquid, presses the piston 2, opens the valve, and is released from the air injection / exhaust port 3 to the outside air. The pressure adjusting spring 7 adjusts the pressure inside the flexible bag. The pressure is measured by a pressure gauge (not shown) attached to the pressure gauge tap 6.

FIG. 3 is a view for explaining the case of filling the liquid from above through the flexible bag valve 02. In the figure, 40 is a pallet, 41 is a pole, 42 is a support frame, 43 is a flexible bag, 44 is an air conduit,
Reference numeral 45 is a liquid conduit, and 47 is an opening / closing valve.

The flexible bag 43 is a flexible membrane container having a multi-layered structure made of high-strength resin such as special polyethylene, and an outer bag 43b and an inner bag 43c for containing a filling liquid, and a supporter 43a having a channel 43d in a direction parallel to the axis. Composed of and. Further, the flexible bag valve 02 described above is joined to the upper portion, and the flow pipe 46 provided with the opening / closing valve 47 is joined to the lower portion. When filling and transporting the filling liquid,
The channel 43d is inserted into and locked by a plurality of poles 41 mounted on the pallet 40 and vertically fixed to the pallet 40. The filling liquid may be filled not only from above but also from the bottom. FIG. 4 is a view for explaining the case of downward filling with liquid, in which 48 is a valve, 49 is a liquid conduit, and the same acting parts as in FIG. I am doing it. That is, the fill liquid is introduced from the liquid conduit 49 via the valve 48.

As described above, the filling method using the flexible bag includes the upper filling and the lower filling. According to the upper filling described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 3, when the flexible bag 43 is filled with the liquid, the filling liquid is filled. The fluid pressure of the flexible bag 43 pushes the flexible bag 43 outward and receives a tension in the circumferential direction. At the same time, tension acts in the vertical direction as well, so that a tensile force is generated in the locking portion 16 of the lever 17 of the coupler B. As a result, the stop pin 17c becomes difficult to come off. Further, the pressure at the joint surface between the inner cylinder and the second valve 23 may decrease, and the filling liquid from the liquid flow path 4b may flow into the air flow path 5.

FIG. 2 is a view for explaining another embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 30 is an outer cylinder sliding portion, 31 is an inner cylinder portion, 32 is a sliding valve, 33 is a spring, and 34 is A fixed cylinder, 35 is a support plate, 36 is a sliding ring, and 37 is a stopper, and the same reference numerals as those in FIG. Regarding the YY line in the figure, the left side shows the state before filling and the right side shows the state during filling.

In FIG. 2, the upper structures of the piston 2 and the pouring / discharging port 3 are omitted to avoid complication. Filling nozzle 01
Is not fixed directly to the support frame 18 of the filling machine but is vertically movable in the axial direction. That is, to the support frame 18, a fixed cylinder 34 that is integral with the support plate 35 is fixed, and a sliding ring 36 that is embedded in the inner peripheral wall surface of the fixed cylinder 34 and an outer cylinder sliding portion that extends the outer cylinder 4. Three
It slides with the outer peripheral wall surface of 0. Moving range is upper stopper 3
7 and the position of the lower stopper 30a.

A cylindrical sliding portion 31 having a spring seat 31a and forming an air flow path is provided at the lower end of the inner cylinder 1 so as to extend the inner cylinder 1, and a slide valve 32 is movably fitted therein. ing. A spring 33 stretched between the spring seat 31 a and the slide valve 32 is arranged on the upper end surface of the cylindrical sliding portion 31. An O-ring 32a is provided on the lower end surface of the sliding valve 32, and the second valve 23 of the flexible bag valve 02 is liquid-tightly pressed by the spring force of the spring 33. Further, a protrusion 32b lower than the stop position surface of the second valve 23 is provided at the center of the sliding valve 32, and when the couplers A and B are joined, the first valve 22 is opened to introduce air into the flexible bag. become able to.

The operation of the above structure will be described. On the left side of FIG. 2, the couplers A and B are joined, but the lever 17 is not tilted and is not locked.
As shown on the right side, the lever 17 is tilted to lock the couplers A and B. As a result, the air flow path 5 is held, and the air is poured and exhausted 3
More introduced to inflate the flexible bag. The flexible bag having a constant volume by this air pressure pushes up the filling nozzle 01 and lower stopper 30a and sliding cylinder 34.
And come into contact with each other to the right position. When the liquid is injected from the liquid injection port 4a, the second valve 23 presses the spring force 27 by the hydraulic pressure to open the valve, and the second valve 23 is replaced with air and injected into the flexible bag. At this time, the sliding valve 32 is always pressed against the second valve 23 in a liquid-tight manner by the spring 33, so that the liquid flows through the air flow path 5
It does not mix inside. Next, as the filling of the liquid progresses, the flexible bag is deformed downward as compared with that before the filling due to the weight of the liquid, and the coupler portion is also moved with respect to the sliding cylinder 34 according to this deformation. However, since the filling nozzle 01 slides downward between the sliding cylinder 34 and the couplers A and B without unreasonable force, the stopper pin 17c can be easily released when the couplers are unlocked after filling. Can be extracted.

On the other hand, the flexible bag is formed of a flexible film, and its shape is not necessarily axisymmetric. Therefore, after the filling, the position of the center of gravity deviates from the axial line of the filling nozzle 01, and a rotational moment about the sliding cylinder 34 acts as a fulcrum, so that the sliding ring 36 of the sliding cylinder 34 receives surface pressure and deforms. For this reason, the frictional force of the sliding surface increases, and the vertical movement of the filling nozzle is hindered. Smooth sliding can be achieved by using a metal bearing material such as lead bronze or a hard bearing material such as carbon for the sliding ring 36.

[0025]

As is apparent from the above description, the flexible bag filling machine of the present invention has the following effects. (1) Effect corresponding to claim 1; Joined with a flexible bag by providing an inner cylinder having a cylinder that is opened by an aerodynamic force due to an area difference in the inner cylinder, and an annular liquid channel provided on the outer wall of the inner cylinder. It has a simple structure that can be locked. Since the work of inflating the flexible bag and replacing the filling liquid with the empty space is performed manually, an inexpensive filling machine can be provided without requiring a special control device. (2) Effect corresponding to claim 2; Since the filling nozzle can be moved in the vertical axis direction without being fixed to the filling machine, the flexible bag can be easily attached and detached. (3) Effect corresponding to claim 3; Since the sliding ring serving as the sliding surface between the outer cylinder of the filling nozzle and the sliding cylinder fixed to the main body of the filling machine is made of a hard bearing material such as metal, Even when a bending moment is applied, the vertical movement of the filling nozzle does not stop and the filling nozzle does not break like soft materials such as O-rings. (4) Effect corresponding to claim 4; A slide valve is provided in an inner cylinder that serves as an air flow path of a filling nozzle, and a spring is provided in a valve body that divides the slide valve into an air flow path and a liquid flow path of a flexible bag. By constantly pressing with a force, mutual flow paths are blocked even when an abnormal force acts on the flexible bag, so that the filling liquid does not mix into the air flow path during filling.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a structural view of an embodiment of a flexible bag filling machine of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an upper filling state.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a state of downward filling.

FIG. 5 is a view showing a configuration of a conventional flexible bag automatic filling device.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Inner cylinder, 2 ... Piston, 4 ... Outer cylinder, 7 ... Pressure adjusting spring, 11 ... Spring cover, 17 ... Lever, 30 ... Outer cylinder sliding part, 31 ... Inner cylinder sliding part, 32 ... Sliding Valve, 33 ... spring, 3
4 ... Sliding cylinder, 35 ... Support plate, 36 ... Sliding ring, 37 ...
Stopper.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A flexible bag comprising a folded flexible membrane, which has a valve portion integrally provided with a valve for circulating air and a valve for circulating a filling liquid, and the valve portion of the flexible bag. In a filling machine in which the flexible bag is inflated with air, and after the inflation, the filling liquid is replaced with the air and filled, a spool having a valve seat and opened with an aerodynamic force proportional to the area difference is used. A piston, an air flow path that has a valve seat that cooperates with the valve seat and communicates with the flexible bag, a pressure adjustment spring that adjusts the pressure of the air pressure that acts on the valve seat and expands the flexible bag, and the air An annular liquid flow path provided on the outer periphery of the flow path, and a connecting means for connecting the liquid flow path and the end of the air flow path to the valve portion of the flexible bag to fix the liquid flow tightly As a feature Filling machine for flexible bags. 2. An inner cylinder which has the pressure adjusting spring and a piston and serves as an air flow path joined to an air valve of a flexible bag, and an outer cylinder which is an annular liquid flow path provided on the outer periphery of the air flow path. 2. The filling for a flexible bag according to claim 1, wherein a filling nozzle of a filling machine which is configured integrally with a cylinder and is joined to a liquid valve of the flexible bag is arranged so as to be vertically movable with respect to the filling machine. Machine. 3. A flexible bag in which the vertical movement of the filling nozzle is guided by inserting the filling nozzle into a sliding cylinder fixed to the main body of the filling machine and through a sliding ring provided on an inner peripheral surface of the sliding cylinder. The filling machine for a flexible bag according to claim 2, wherein, when filling from above, the sliding ring is made of a hard bearing material such as metal. 4. A cylindrical sliding valve is disposed in the inner cylinder of the filling nozzle so as to be slidable in the axial direction, and the sliding valve is provided with an air flow path and a liquid flow path in a composite valve of a flexible bag. The filling machine for a flexible bag according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the valve body for partitioning the container is pressed in a liquid-tight manner via a spring force.