Device for filling containers by weight, the device being fitted with an anti-vibration member

Abstract

A device for filling containers by weight, the device comprises: a filler spout carried by a structure and having a delivery orifice; a container support member extending on one side of the filler spout, the container support member being associated with a weight sensor arranged at a level that is higher than the delivery orifice; and a connection arm having a first end fastened to the structure and a second end fastened to the container support member at a level below the weight sensor, the connection arm having two folding portions configured to enable effortless folding about mutually parallel horizontal axes, while providing a connection that is rigid against forces in a horizontal plane.

Description

The present invention relates to a device for filling containers by weight, the device being fitted with an anti-vibration member.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A device for filling containers by weight is disclosed in particular in document EP 1 025 424, which device comprises a filler spout carried by a structure and having a delivery orifice below which the containers are supported by a container support member. The container support member is connected to a weight sensor comprising both an elastically deformable bar having one end rigidly fastened to the structure and an opposite end that is cantilevered out, and a sensing element associated with the elastically deformable bar to measure its deformation.

In order to protect the weight sensor against splashes of the fluid to be packaged or of a fluid for cleaning the filler spout, filler devices have been made in which the weight sensor is arranged at a level that is higher than the delivery orifice. Nevertheless, under such circumstances, it is necessary to use an elongate support member that extends along one side of the filler spout with a top end connected to the cantilevered end of the elastically deformable bar and with a container- holding portion arranged below the delivery orifice.

It has then been found that when the filler device is mounted on a movable structure, for example a rotary structure of a filler carousel, the support member tends to vibrate when a container is put into place, thereby disturbing the measurement of the weight sensor, such that it becomes necessary to wait for the device to stabilize before it is possible to proceed with filling.

This waiting time considerably reduces the throughput rate at which containers can be filled.

In order to mitigate that drawback, proposals have been made to associate the support member with connection arms that are connected by ball bearings so as to form a hinged parallelogram. Nevertheless, in order to ensure that the resulting hinged parallelogram does not give rise to interfering forces on the weight sensor, it is necessary to use high-precision ball bearings that are very expensive and very sensitive to being dirtied by the fluids for packaging or by the fluids for cleaning the filler spouts.

Object of the Invention

An object of the invention is to propose a device for filling containers by weight, the device being fitted with an anti-vibration member of structure that is simple and relatively insensitive to pollution.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In order to achieve this object, the invention provides a device for filling containers by weight, the device comprising: a filler spout carried by a structure and having a delivery orifice; a container support member extending on one side of the filler spout, the container support member being associated with a weight sensor arranged at a level that is higher than the delivery orifice, and including a receptacle holder portion arranged below the delivery orifice; and a connection arm having a first end fastened to the structure and a second end fastened to the container support member at a level below the weight sensor, the connection arm including at least one folding portion configured to enable effortless folding about a horizontal axis while providing a connection that is rigid against forces in a horizontal plane.

It has been found that because of the small movements of the container support member during filling (through a few tenths of a millimeter), there is no need to associate the container support member with a hinged parallelogram, and that a connection with a connection arm having a single folding portion suffices for allowing movement to take place vertically without stressing the support member and while also providing rapid damping of vibration.

In an advantageous version of the invention, the connection arm has two portions for effortless folding about two mutually parallel horizontal axes. This facilitates vertical movement of the container support member.

In an advantageous aspect of the invention, the connection arm is arranged at the level of the container-holding portion, and when the structure is rotary, the connection arm preferably extends radially relative to a path traveled by the containers during filling. This improves resistance to any lateral force exerted by a container while it is being put into place.

In another advantageous aspect of the invention, the support member includes a support plate connected to the weight sensor by a rod, and the connection arm is arranged at the level of the support plate. This provision has been found to be more advantageous with large containers.

In yet another advantageous aspect of the invention, the container support member comprises a rod engaged in a support tube carried by the structure, and the first end of the connection arm is rigidly connected to the support tube by a spacer. This provides a device that is very compact.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention appear on reading the following description of two particular and non-limiting embodiments of the invention.

Reference is made to the accompanying figures, in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary section view of a first embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an outline II in

FIG. 1, drawn on a larger scale;

FIG. 3 is a section view analogous to the view of FIG. 1, showing a second embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary diagrammatic view of a variant of the first embodiment.

MORE DETAILED DESCRIPTION

With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, in this first embodiment, the device comprises in conventional manner a series of filler spouts 1, only one of which is shown in FIG. 1, and its structure is not shown in detail. The filler spouts are carried by a structure represented herein by a rotary platform 2 having two turntables 3 and 4 held spaced apart from each other by spacers 5.

Each filler spout 1 is associated with a weight sensor 6 having a base 7 fastened to the turntable 3 and made integrally with an elastically deformable bar 8 having one end 9 rigidly fastened to the structure 2 via the base 7 and an opposite end 10 that is cantilevered out. The weight sensor also includes a sensing element, a strain gauge 11 in this example, that is associated with the elastically deformable bar 8 in order to measure its deformation.

In the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the weight sensor 6 is associated with a container-support member comprising a rod 12 having a top end connected by a screw 13 to a plate 14 that is fastened to the cantilevered end 10 of the bar 8. The head of the screw 13 bears against the plate 14 via an annular ring 15.

The rod 12 is mounted to slide in a support tube 16 having a shoulder 17 that bears against the bottom face of the turntable 4. At its top end, the support tube 16 has a thread 18 with a nut 19 mounted thereon for locking the support tube 16 to the rotary structure 2. At its bottom end, the support tube 16 carries one end of a spacer 20 having its opposite end acting as an anchor point for a connection arm 21 connected to a block 22 that is fastened to the support rod 12 and that carries in conventional manner jaws 23 for holding a container 24 standing on a support plate 25 that is fastened to the bottom end of the support rod 12. In known manner, the jaws 23 are urged towards each other by a spring 26 and they are opened under the control of a wheel 26 co- operating with a cam (not shown).

The connection arm 21 in this example is formed by a horizontally-extending strip of plastics material. As can be seen better in FIG. 2, the strip 21 has two V-shaped grooves 28 extending parallel to each other and defining folding zones 37. In practice, the thickness of the residual material at the tips of the grooves 28 is a few tenths of a millimeter, thus making it possible firstly for the strip to fold effortlessly about the parallel horizontal axes 38 that coincide with the tips of the grooves 28, and secondly to provide a connection that is rigid against forces in a horizontal plane. In the example shown, in which the filler spouts 1 are mounted on a rotary platform, the connection arms 21 extend radially relative to a trajectory of a container as represented in FIG. 2 by a bold arrow. The connection arm 21 is preferably connected to the spacer 20 by an interfitting connection comprising a tenon 29 made on the spacer 20 and a mortise 30 made in the strip 21. Similarly, the strip 21 is connected to the block 22 by an interfitting connection comprising a tenon 31 made on the block 22 and a mortise 32 made in the strip 21.

As can be seen in FIG. 1, the jaws 23 for holding the container 24 extend at a level below the delivery orifice 33 of the filler spout 1, while the weight sensor 6 is arranged at a level that is higher than the delivery orifice 33.

FIG. 3 shows a second embodiment of a structure that is generally analogous to the first embodiment. Parts that are identical are given the same numerical references in FIG. 3, and these parts are not described again.

In this embodiment, the support rod 12 has a plate 34 at its top end with one end of the plate fastened to the support rod 12 and its opposite end cantilevered out over the cantilevered end 10 of the deformable bar 8. The plate 34 carries a screw 35 on its bottom face, with the head of the screw bearing against the end 10 of the deformable bar 8.

At its bottom end, the support tube 16 in this embodiment is connected to a U-shaped spacer 36 and the connection arm 31 extends between the bottom branch of the spacer 36 and the support plate 25 so as to provide a connection between the support rod 12 and the structure of the machine at the support plate 25.

Naturally, the invention is not limited to the embodiment described and variants may be made thereto without going beyond the ambit of the invention as defined by the claims.

In particular, although the invention is described with reference to a strip 21 in which fold lines are defined by grooves, it is possible to make the connection arm 21 in the form of a strip made up of a plurality of portions that are connected together by a tape of fabric or by a film of plastics material, which tape or film may be clamped between pieces of the plate or embedded in mutually adjacent blocks of resin, thereby defining lines for effortless folding.

Although the invention is shown with support members comprising support plates, the invention could equally well be performed by suspending the containers from the neck.

Although the support rod 12 in the two embodiments shown is suspended to a cantilevered end of an elastically deformable bar 8, the invention could also be implemented with a rocker assembly, as shown in above-mentioned document EP 1 025 424.

Although mounting the rod 12 free relative to the bar, as in both of the above-described embodiments, is particularly advantageous for avoiding interfering twisting, it is possible for the weight sensor 6 to be implemented as a constant-moment gauge and to provide rigid fastening of the top end of the rod 12 to the cantilevered end 10 of the bar 8. This variant is shown in FIG. 4, in which the rod 12 is rigidly fastened to the free end of the plate 14 secured to the cantilevered end 10 of the bar 8. The bar 8 behaves like a deformable parallelogram, with the weight of the container received on the support plate being transmitted in full to the gauge and the connection arm serves to damp vibration quickly.

It is also possible to replace the support tube 10 by a bracket fastened to one of the turntables of the platform 2, or even to both of its turntables.

Claims

1. A device for filling containers by weight, the device comprising: a filler spout carried by a structure and having a delivery orifice; and a container support member extending on one side of the filler spout, the container support member being associated with a weight sensor arranged at a level that is higher than the delivery orifice, and including a receptacle holder portion arranged below the delivery orifice, wherein the device includes a connection arm having a first end fastened to the structure and a second end fastened to the container support member at a level below the weight sensor, and wherein the connection arm includes at least one folding portion configured to enable effortless folding about a horizontal axis while providing a connection that is rigid against forces in a horizontal plane.

2. A device according to claim 1, wherein the connection arm has two portions for effortless folding about two mutually parallel horizontal axes.

3. A device according to claim 1, wherein the connection arm is arranged at the level of the container-holding portion.

4. A device according to claim 1, wherein the connection arm comprises a strip of plastics material and the folding portion is defined by a V-groove.

5. A device according to claim 1, wherein the structure is rotary, and the connection arm extends radially relative to a path traveled by the containers during filling.

6. A device according to claim 1, wherein the support member includes a support plate connected to the weight sensor by a rod, and the connection arm is arranged at the level of the support plate.

7. A device according to claim 1, wherein the container support member is merely placed on the weight sensor.

8. A device according to claim 1, wherein the container support member comprises a rod engaged in a support tube carried by the structure, and the first end of the connection arm is rigidly connected to the support tube by a spacer.

9. A device according to claim 1, wherein the weight sensor comprises: an elastically deformable bar having one end rigidly fastened to the structure and an opposite end that is cantilevered out, together with a sensing element associated with the elastically deformable bar to measure its deformation, and wherein the container support member has a top end connected to the cantilevered end of the elastically deformable bar.