CONTROL UNIT AND FILING HEAD APPARATUS

The invention relates to filling heads for filling machines used in the bottling industry.

In particular, the invention relates to filling heads arranged for filling containers.

Filling machines comprise a rotating carousel on which a plurality of filling heads are mounted, each one of which is arranged to fill a respective container. Each filling head comprises a plurality of solenoid valves that drive actuators arranged to regulate at each filling step a flow of a filling product and a flow of a service fluid.

Filling heads are known comprising a box element positioned on the rotating carousel, above at a certain distance of, and substantially at each filling head.

The box element is designed for receiving a first electronic card and a plurality of solenoid valves connected to the first electronic card by means of electric cables. The solenoid valves are controlled by the first electronic card and are arranged to drive actuators positioned on the filling heads.

This is possible by means of a plurality of pneumatic cables that connect each solenoid valve to a respective actuator. The filling parameters and the control signals that are necessary for correctly operating the solenoid valves are gathered in a second electronic card that is positioned on the ground and that communicates the command signals to each first electronic card of a corresponding filling head by means of infrared-ray transmitting means. A drawback of the known filling heads relates to the constructional complexity that entails great costs to be sustained for the purchase, installation and maintenance of the electric and the pneumatic cabling that is necessary for driving respectively the solenoid valves and the actuators.

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In fact, such cabling is particularly costly and the assembly thereof requires a series of slow and laborious operations that entail a further increase of cost. A further drawback relates to the significant length of the pneumatic cabling between solenoid valves and actuators.

This entails delays in the response times of the actuators with consequent difficulty in setting up the filling head. An object of the invention is to improve the filling heads for filling machines. A further object is to make filling heads that are easy to be made and have limited overall dimensions.

Another object is to obtain filling heads that have electric cabling and/or pneumatic cabling of particularly reduced dimensions with consequent money saving. According to the invention, an apparatus is provided comprising a body of a filling head provided with seat means for receiving actuating means controlled by a control logic unit, characterised in that said control logic unit is mounted on said body. Owing to this aspect of the invention it is possible to obtain filling heads of limited cost.

In fact, the filling heads according to the invention may incorporate possible solenoid valve means arranged for controlling the actuating means, the actuating means, and conduit means arranged for placing the solenoid valve means in communication with the actuating means. In this way connecting cabling is no longer necessary. This furthermore enables the filling head to have particularly reduced overall dimensions and to be easy to carry out .

The invention can be better understood and implemented with reference to the attached drawing, which illustrates an embodiment thereof by way of non-limitative example, in which: Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of a filling head.

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With reference to Figure 1, there is shown a filling head 1 that is positionable on a rotating carousel, not shown, of a filling machine used in the bottling industry.

The filling head 1 enables beverage containers 300 to be filled.

The filling head 1 comprises an upper portion 40 on which a body 2 is removably mounted that defines first actuating means 61.

The body 2 is provided with seat means 13 each one of which receives a respective actuator and with further seat means

14 each one of which receives a respective solenoid valve

310, each solenoid valve 310 is arranged for operating the opening and/or the closing of a corresponding actuator.

The seat means 13 and the further seat means 14 are connected through conduit means 15, obtained in the body 2, said conduit means 15 comprising conduits that are independent of one another and have a prevalently rectilinear extent.

The seat means 13 is arranged for receiving second actuating means 62.

The second actuating means 62 has the function of regulating, in each filling phase, the flow and/or the downflow of an operating fluid.

The passage of the operating fluid contained in a second tank 71 to the bottle 300 occurs owing to passage conduit means 81 obtained in the body 2 and controlled by the second actuating means 62.

The body 2 furthermore comprises inlet conduit means 20.

The inlet conduit means 20 is arranged for receiving a control fluid, for example air, conveyed by a supplying tube

80, used by the solenoid valves to control the aforementioned actuators.

The inlet conduit means 20 has a prevalently rectilinear extent and leads into a chamber 23 communicating in use with the further seat means 14.

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On the body 2 a further box element 200 is furthermore removably fixed in which there is positioned a control logic unit 24, for example an electronic card, arranged for operating the aforesaid solenoid valves. The control logic unit 24 is positioned substantially above and in correspondence of the chamber 23 and communicates therewith by means of passage means obtained in the body 2. The passage means is arranged for receiving electric connecting means 303, for example contact means, connected to the electronic card.

The contact means is arranged for inserting itself into further contact means, which is not shown, projecting above the aforesaid solenoid valves, so as to make a desired electric connection. The position of the control logic unit 24, mounted on the body 2, makes the replacement thereof easy if this is necessary.

It should be noted that the small distance existing between the control unit 200 and therefore the electronic card 24 with respect to the solenoid valves enables to be used instead of electric cabling that is normally used in the known filling heads, contact means, that in addition to being cheaper, has less probability of getting damaged and requires less maintenance than electric cabling and entails very little assembly time.

It should furthermore be noted that the filling head 1 according to the invention has particularly small overall dimensions, is compact and is totally devoid of external pneumatic cabling between the solenoid valves and the respective actuators, which are on the other hand connected together through the conduit means 15 obtained in the body 2.

In addition to greatly simplifying the structure of the filling head 1, this enables the drawbacks to be eliminated that are typically connected with the use of pneumatic

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cabling, i.e. delayed response, high purchase and maintenance cost, need for repair in the event of damage. The operation of the filling head 1 is disclosed briefly below. The electronic card 24, also known as an electronic "slave" card, regulates the operation of the solenoid valves by dialoguing with a "master" electronic card, positioned on the ground and interfaced with a PLC and with an operator interface, as disclosed in WO99/14154. The solenoid valves command in turn the operation of the actuators by suitably regulating the flow of the control fluid.

The actuators, for example pneumatic actuators, are driven by means of the pressure exerted by the control fluid on the latter, whilst the opening of the actuators can be achieved by means of preloaded springs that enable the actuators to be opened once the pressure exerted by the control fluid is interrupted. In an alternative embodiment of the invention, which is not shown, the actuators are commanded directly by the control logic unit 24 and not by solenoid valves.

In this case, electromechanical or piezoelectric actuators can be used that are connected directly to the electronic card by means of further electric connecting means. Lastly, from the body 2, tubular means 106 projects arranged for interacting with the filling product 301 contained in the tank 72 so as to introduce the latter into the bottle 300.

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