TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a machine for dosing fluids in containers, in particular, in bottles. The machine may be operated continuously or intermittently . BACKGROUND ART

As is known, machines of the type described above comprise one, or more, carrousel conveyors with gripping means provided along the peripheral edge to grip the containers, a feeding station to feed a plurality of containers to the carrousel conveyor, a dosing station for dosing a fluid into the containers, a magazine of caps, means for picking said caps up from the cap magasine, a capping station for capping the containers and a station in which the capped containers are unloaded from the carrousel conveyor.

However, the machines currently available on the market have some drawbacks .

In particular in the prior art machines the container must travel a fairly long distance from the feeding station to the capping station, in particular when dosing and capping are performed with the machine operating continuously.

The fluid inside the container is thus exposed to a high risk of contamination. Clearly, the longer the distance the container has to travel before being capped, the greater the probability of contamination of said fluid with particles that are present in the environment and which are also disturbed by the movements of the various parts of the machine. Moreover, even when sterilized air is supplied this is subject to turbulence and disturbance caused by the moving parts of the machine.

It should also be emphasized that machines tend to be equipped with dosing systems that are chosen according to the type and dimensions of the containers and the type and quantity of the fluid to be dosed. Thus the machines currently available on the market are substantially not modular, being designed and built for a certain type of container and fitted with a specific dosing system suitable for dosing a specific type of fluid product.

Moreover, particularly in machines that are operated intermittently, the arrangement of the various parts of the machine around the carrousel conveyor means some sections of the conveyor are not used. Lastly, each machine is designed for use with certain types of caps. Therefore, in industrial use, certain types of caps require the use of dedicated machines .

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

Therefore, the main purpose of the present invention is to provide a machine for dosing fluid in containers that overcomes the drawbacks described above. According to the present invention there is provided a machine for dosing fluids in containers according to that claimed in independent claim 1 and in the other claims depending directly or indirectly on said claim 1.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will now be described with reference to the attached drawings, illustrating some non-limiting embodiments thereof, in which: figure 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of a machine produced according to the present invention;

- figures 2 and 3 are plan views of the first embodiment of the machine of figure 1 with some parts removed and in two different operational steps;

- figures 4, 5 and 6 are perspective views on an enlarged scale of respective parts of the machine of figure 1; - figures 7 and 8 are plan views of a second embodiment of a machine produced according to the present invention with some parts removed and in two different operational steps,-

- figure 9 is a three-dimensional view of a cap transfer device used in the second embodiment of the machine illustrated in figures 7 and 8 ;

- figure 10 is a three-dimensional view of some elements of the cap transfer device of figure 9,-

- figure 11 is an enlarged scale view of some details of the elements of figure 10; - figure 12 is an exploded view of some elements of the cap transfer device of figure 9;

- figure 13 is a three-dimensional view of some elements of the cap transfer device of figure 9; and

- figure 14 is a plan view of the elements of figure 13.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION With reference to figures 1 to 3, designated as a whole by number 1 is a first embodiment of a machine for dosing fluids in containers that, in this embodiment, consist of a plurality of empty bottles 2A. The machine 1 comprises a carrousel conveyor 3 that rotates about a vertical axis (z) driven by driving means 4. The carrousel conveyor 3 rotates in a direction illustrated by the arrow (ARW) . Moreover, the carrousel conveyor 3 is defined by an annular body 5 along the external peripheral edge of which is formed a channel 6 suitable to house in a first section a plurality of aligned, empty bottles 2A, and in a second section a plurality of full bottles 2B. in a further embodiment that is not illustrated the channel 6 is not present, and ordinary notches are provided instead.

The machine 1 comprises:

- a .feeding station 7 for feeding the empty bottles 2A to the carrousel conveyor 3 ; - a feeding station 8 for feeding caps 11;

- a dosing station 12 for dosing the fluid in the empty bottles 2A, so that said empty bottles 2A become respective full bottles 2B;

- a capping station 13 for capping the full bottles 2B so that said full bottles 2B become respective full and capped bottles 2C, and

- an unloading station 14 for unloading the full and capped bottles 2C from the carrousel conveyor 3.

As the carrousel conveyor 3 rotates about the axis (z) it defines:

- a first section provided with the channel 6 after the feeding station 7 in which the dosing station 12 is defined; and

- a second section provided with the channel 6 after the dosing station 12 in which the capping station

13 is defined. The feeding station 7 (figure 2, 3) comprises, in turn, a conveyor belt 16 driven by driving means 17 and along which the empty bottles 2A to be capped are channelled, aligned with one another, a screw conveyor 18 suitable to keep the empty bottles 2A spaced from one another, and a channel 21 suitable to receive the empty bottles 2A leaving the screw conveyor 18 and suitable to channel said empty bottles 2A towards the channel 6. In correspondence with the channel 21 there is a rotating disk 22 the peripheral edge of which is provided with a plurality of notches 23 that house the empty bottles 2A so as to maintain the same distance between said containers as determined by the screw conveyor 18 - In correspondence with the channel 6, the annular body 5 is provided with recesses 24, inside each of which a respective bottle 2 is positioned.

The dosing station 12 is of the known type and consists of a container (not illustrated) of the fluid product to be dosed, a member 25 extending along a circumferential arc and supporting a plurality of nozzles 26 along the same circumferential arc as said first section of the channel 6, and a plurality of ducts 27 suitable to. channel the fluid to be dosed from the container that is not illustrated to the respective nozzles 26. In use, as the carrousel conveyor 3 turns a plurality of nozzles 26 come to be arranged above respective empty bottles 2A. The nozzles 26 perform arotational-translational movement (with just two degreesof freedom) along the axis (z) with the machine operatedcontinuously, or translational only in the case ofintermittent operation. Returning to the operation of the machine 1,product dosing continues even while the carrouselconveyor 3 turns in that the nozzles 26 also rotateabout the axis (z) and thus continue to dose the productin the respective empty bottle 2A until it becomes afull bottle 2B. The nozzles 26 follow the respectiveempty bottle 2A, as the member 25 can rotate about theaxis (z), and in that the ducts 27 are flexible andlonger than the distance between the container that isnot illustrated and the member 25. Moreover, the machine 1 could be provided withmodular dosing systems (not illustrated) . With reference to figures 1 to 4, the feeding station 8 for feeding the caps 11 comprises a conveyorbelt 31 driven by driving means 32 and along which the caps 11, aligned with one another, are channelled, a channel 33 suitable to receive the caps 11 from the belt 31 and suitable to channel the caps 11 towards a channel 34 arranged above the channel 6. The channel 34 is defined along a circumferential arc having a diameter equal to that of the circumference along which the channel 6 is defined. The channel 34 is provided with a conveyor belt 35 driven by driving means 36 and which carries the caps 11 along said channel 34,

It is very important to note that the pitch circle of the path of the bottles 2, along the channel S, always achieves concurrence with the pitch circle of the path of the caps 11 along the channel 34.

Along the channel 33 there is a rotating disk 37A the peripheral edge of which is provided with a plurality of notches 3S that house the caps Ii and determine a distance between them- that is also maintained in the channel 34. In other words the rotating disk 37A with the respective notches 38 regulates the distance between the caps 11. With reference to figures 1-5, the capping station

13 comprises a cap transfer device 41.

Said device 41 comprises a radial element 4IA, pivotable about the axis (z) , and an element extending along a circumferential arc 41B, which, in turn, supports a plurality of gripping members 42 equally spaced along the circumferential arc 41B

Driving means (not illustrated for the sake of simplicity) impart an oscillating motion to the cap transfer device 41 which thus oscillates about the axis (z) starting from a first position (PSl) , reached after a rotational-translational movement about the axis (2) in an anticlockwise direction (F1) (figure 3) . At the end of this step the device 41 is above the channel 34, so that each member 42 can pick up a respective cap 11. v

The device 41 is then made to perform another rotational-translational movement about the axis (z) in a direction (F2) to reach a second position (PS2) (figure 2) , after the dosing station 12, in which it is above the channel 6.

From the position (PS2) , and again following the direction of rotation of the carrousel conveyor 3 according to the arrow (ARW) , the machine starts capping each full bottle 2B so as to form a respective full and capped bottle 2C. Also in this step the movement of the device 41 is of the rotational-translational type (with just two degrees of freedom) about the axis (z) , and in which each cap 11 is arranged above a respective full bottle 2B, to which it is attached by means of a respective electric motor 43 (figures 5, 6) .

The means 42, 43 for fitting each cap Il must clearly be chosen according to the type of cap to be used. For example, in some cases the cap may be inserted by pressing, without requiring the use of the electric motor 43.

With reference to figures 1-4 after the capping station 13 there is the station 14 for unloading the capped bottles 2C from the carrousel conveyor 3. The station 14 is provided with a rotating disk 37B (figure 1) , coaxial in relation to the rotating disk 37A, the peripheral edge of which is provided with a plurality of notches 23 which house the full and capped bottles 2C so that they can be expelled from the annular body 5 of the carrousel conveyor 3 and two bars 51 which extend inside the channel $ and divert the full and capped bottles 2C from the channel 6 to a channel 52 provided with a conveyor belt 53 driven by driving means 54. The channel 52 carries the bottles 2C towards a packaging machine that is not illustrated.

The machine 1 may be operated continuously or intermittently; the latter option envisages intermittent rotation of the carrousel conveyor 3. The numerous advantages of the present invention are apparent from the above description.

In particular the various stations are arranged along the peripheral edge of the carrousel conveyor 3 making the machine 1, which exploits all the space around said carrousel conveyor 3, more compact compared to conventional continuously operating machines with two carrousel conveyors of the same type as the carrousel conveyor 3. Moreover, the capping station 13 is immediately downstream of the dosing station 12 resulting in an extremely limited probability of contamination of the fluid product to be dosed. Lastly the arrangement of the various units and devices around the carrousel conveyor 3 makes servicing quick and easy and also means said units and devices can become modular depending on the type of bottles 2, the type of fluid product to be dosed and the caps to be used. In the latter case, the cap loading area of the machine can be designed and fitted with modular units to manage different types of caps, without altering the rest of the machine . Moreover, with the machine according to the present invention different categories of products can be used with different types of caps, unlike with conventional machines which must be fitted with optional devices to manage all the above categories (for example screw tops with cannulas) .

Another advantage consists of the fact that with the machine according to the invention all the areas and associated functions are used more efficiently.

A further embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in figures 7-14.

Incidentally, whenever possible the same reference numbers have been used to indicate the elements in the second embodiment (figures 7-14) that are identical or similar to those of the first embodiment illustrated in figures 1-6. in this second solution the channel 34 of the previous solution is replaced with a cap transfer device 134. Said device 134 is illustrated in more detail in figures 3-14.

It is again very important to note that the pitch circle of the path of the bottles 2 always achieves concurrence, along the channel 6, with the pitch circle of the path of the caps 11.

In the particular embodiment illustrated in figures 7-14 the device 134 comprises a guard 135 with a circular-segment geometry and provided with an upper cover 135A (figure 9) .

Inside the guard 135, a closed flexible element 136 slides along a path following that of the outside edge of said guard 135- (for example in this case it is a belt, but it. could be a chain) and supports a plurality of elements 137 (figure 11) .

A respective gripping and transfer unit 138 is fitted to each element 137.

As illustrated in the accompanying figures (in particular figures 10, 11) relating to the second embodiment, in general not all the elements 137 are provided with a respective unit 138. The distance between one unit 138 and the next depends on the size of the bottles 2 and of the relative caps 11. Clearly, for bottles 2 and caps 11 with reduced cross-sections all the elements 137 that are available can be used, each carrying a relative unit 138. In this particular embodiment, each unit 138 is provided with a respective notch 138A suitable to house a respective cap 11 released by the rotating disk ^' 37A. In this second embodiment the rotating disks 37A and 37B are not coaxial.

As illustrated in particular in figures 12-14 the closed ^' .flexible element 136 is made to rotate by two respective pulleys 139, 140, driven by driving means 141, and transmission means 142 (figure 9) ,

In another embodiment that is not illustrated the rotating disk. 37A is keyed to the same axis as the pulley 139.

Moreover, in the particular embodiment illustrated with reference to figures 7, 8 the station 7 for feeding empty bottles 2A to the carrousel conveyor 3 is aligned with the station 14 for unloading the full and capped bottles 2C from the carrousel conveyor 3. Furthermore the cap transfer device 134 is comprised between the rotating disk 22 and the rotating disk 37B.

The closed flexible element 136 may be made to advance continuously or intermittently, according to a direction (P3) or a direction (F4) , opposite to the direction (P3) . Advantageously, but not necessarily, the driving means 141 of the closed flexible element 136 and the respective transmission means 142 may be the ones used to make the rotating disk 37A turn.

Moreover, on the outside of the guard 135 and of the rotating disk 37A there is a respective contrast element 143A, X43B that prevents the caps 11 from falling .

In a further embodiment that is not illustrated the device 134 has no contrast element 143A. In this case each unit 138 is appropriately shaped so as to carry specific types of caps (for example, cannulas) without the use of the contrast element 143A.

The use of this type of system to transfer the caps 11 makes it possible to manage several types of caps, in particular also caps with cannulas, using the same principle of operation and performing minor technical adjustments to the machine. For example the cannulas could be transferred without sliding conveyors and external contrast elements, using an appropriate unit 138. As regards the direction of rotation of the flexible element 136, and thus of the units 138, the possibility of making these turn in either direction indicated by the arrows F3 and F4 has considerable functional advantages; for example it allows greater flexibility for positioning the rotating disk 37A with respect to the device 134. Moreover, another advantage of the possibility of changing the direction of rotation of ^, the flexible element 136 is that checks and/or various operations can be performed on the caps before these are handled on the carrousel conveyor 3 The flexible element 136 comprises a first branch 136A (figure 14) and a second branch 136B, both of which follow the contour of the guard 135. While, as described more fully below, the branch 136A is designed to pass a certain number of caps Ii to the cap transfer device 41, the branch 136B can be used to perform checks and/or operations on the caps using means that are not illustrated. For this purpose it might be helpful to provide a straight branch 136B instead of a branch extending in a circumferential arc, as in the case illustrated in figures 7-14.

Incidentally, at least one branch 136A, 13SB of the flexible element 136 is concentric with the pitch circle of the path of the caps.

Also in this case, in the same way as described for the first embodiment illustrated in figures 1-6, an oscillatory motion is imparted to the cap transfer device 41 which moves between a first position (PSl) (figure 8) in which it picks up a plurality of caps 11 from the cap transfer device 134, and a second position (PS2) (figure 7) in which each cap 11 is placed on a respective full bottle 2B so as to form a respective full and capped bottle 2C.

As usual, to move from the first position (PSl) to the second position (PS2) , and vice versa, driving means

(not illustrated) impart a rotational-translational motion (with just two degrees of freedom) about the axis

(z) to the cap transfer member 41.

Moreover, the device 41 can pick up the caps 11 continuously (thus with a following motion after which the cap transfer device 41 picks up the caps 11 underneath it) , or intermittently, with a stop position; i.e. the device 41 and the caps Ii beneath it stop at a specific point and time and said device 41 picks them up performing a simple vertical movement. The flexible element I3β thus moves continuously or intermittently. . In addition to the advantages that have already been mentioned for the first embodiment of figures 1-6 _/ the second embodiment (figures 7-14) has the additional advantage in terms of hygiene. In this second embodiment, the cap handling zone can be physically isolated from the bottle flow zone so as to guarantee a higher level of cleanliness, as the caps are usually "dirtier" and themselves generate further dirt when moved. Therefore, managing these two aspects completely separately achieves benefits in terms of improved hygiene of the processes performed by the machine.