IPC분류정보
국가/구분 |
United States(US) Patent
등록
|
국제특허분류(IPC7판) |
|
출원번호 |
US-0762202
(2010-04-16)
|
등록번호 |
US-8386072
(2013-02-26)
|
발명자
/ 주소 |
- Mihalik, Michael
- Carlson, Duane
- Loase, James C.
- Baker, Michael
- Davis, Michael
|
출원인 / 주소 |
- Pneumatic Scale Corporation
|
인용정보 |
피인용 횟수 :
4 인용 특허 :
7 |
초록
▼
A filler product supply system (5) and method using two or more conduits (120, 130) to deliver filler product under pressure from product reservoirs (200, 210) to in fluid isolation to a supply manifold (58). Filler product is further delivered in fluid isolation from supply manifold (58) through co
A filler product supply system (5) and method using two or more conduits (120, 130) to deliver filler product under pressure from product reservoirs (200, 210) to in fluid isolation to a supply manifold (58). Filler product is further delivered in fluid isolation from supply manifold (58) through conduits (170, 171) to two or more filling heads (180, 190). Downstream from filling heads (180, 190), the previously isolated fluid lines are combined to introduce two or more distinct filler products into a single container without creating a homogenous mixture.
대표청구항
▼
1. A system for supplying a plurality of fluids to a container comprising at least one filling station including: a plurality of conduits in fluid isolation from each other,a plurality of flowmeters in one-to-one correspondence with the plurality of conduits,a plurality of filling heads in one-to-on
1. A system for supplying a plurality of fluids to a container comprising at least one filling station including: a plurality of conduits in fluid isolation from each other,a plurality of flowmeters in one-to-one correspondence with the plurality of conduits,a plurality of filling heads in one-to-one correspondence with the plurality of conduits, andat least one nozzle in fluid connection with a plurality of filling heads which nozzle is adapted to deliver a plurality of previously isolated fluids received from the conduits in a non-homogeneous stream;at least one controller in operative connection with each of the plurality of flowmeters and with each of the plurality of filling heads, and which is adapted to individually cause each of the plurality of flowmeters to control the flow of a fluid through said filling head, and which is further adapted to receive and transmit data; andat least one operator station in communication with the at least one controller, the at least one operator station comprising a computer,a recipe, anda software application operative, responsive to data received from the at least one controller to direct at least one of the plurality of flowmeters to cause each of the plurality of filling heads in the at least one filling station to control the flow of fluid through each such filling head in accordance with the recipe. 2. The system of claim 1 in which each of the at least one filling stations is in one to one correspondence with: a platform which is adapted to support a container in vertical alignment with the nozzle thereby permitting the previously isolated fluids to be delivered into the container supported by such platform. 3. The system of claim 2 in which the system includes a plurality of filling stations and associated platforms. 4. The system of claim 2 in which the nozzle in at least one of the at least one filling stations has an axis, and in which the controller causes the corresponding platform selectively to be held in fixed rotational relation to the axis of the nozzle, to rotate clockwise in relation to the axis of the nozzle, or to rotate counterclockwise in relation to the axis of the nozzle, in accordance with the recipe. 5. The system of claim 2 in which flowmeters, filling heads, nozzles, and platforms comprise mechanical components of the system, and in which at least one of the at least one controllers is in operative connection with, and adapted to cause, one or more of the mechanical components to operate in accordance with the recipe. 6. The system of claim 5 in which the recipe includes data representative of a plurality of characteristics associated with mechanical components of the system. 7. The system of claim 6 in which the plurality of characteristics include rotation associated with at least one platform, target quantity of product to be delivered associated with at least one flowmeter, initial pressure associated with at least one product, and target fill time associated with at least one filling station. 8. The system of claim 6 in which the plurality of characteristics includes a plurality of characteristics associated with at least one filling station, which characteristics include nozzle dive distance to start of fill, number of fill regions, time spent in each fill region, and depth of each fill region. 9. The system of claim 2 in which the plurality of filling heads in at least one of the at least one filling stations includes a first and second filling head, and in which the recipe includes: a quantity of fluid to be delivered by the first filling head; anda quantity of fluid to be delivered by the second filling head. 10. The system of claim 9 in which the recipe further includes a target filling time associated with the at least one filling station. 11. The system of claim 10 in which the recipe further includes, with respect to at least one of the at least one filling stations, at least two distinct fill regions and data corresponding to characteristics associated with each such fill regions. 12. The system of claim 11 in which the data is representative of one or more of the following: quantity of rotation of the platform, direction of rotation of the platform, depth of a fill region, and time spent in a fill region. 13. The system of claim 9, in which: the recipe further includes, for each filling head in at least one of the at least one filling stations, data representative of a maximum quantity of fluid and of a minimum quantity of fluid to be dispensed during an acceptable fill, andthe software application is adapted, responsive to data received from the flowmeter associated with each filling head, to cause at least one of the at least one controllers to cause the system to reject a container into which less than the minimum or more than the maximum quantity of any fluid has been transferred. 14. The system of claim 13 in which the recipe further includes data representative of a maximum acceptable number of rejected containers associated with at least one filling station, andthe application is further adapted to store data representative of the number of rejected containers associated with the at least one filling station and, responsive to such data, to cause at least one of the controllers to disable the at least one filling station if the number of rejected containers exceeds the maximum acceptable number of rejected containers. 15. A method for controlling the appearance of the fluid contents of a container by using a computer implemented recipe to monitor and control the operation of a filling apparatus which has been adapted to introduce two previously isolated fluids into a container through a single nozzle by (a) initiating the flow of a first product stream through a first filling head;(b) initiating the flow of a second product stream through a second filling head;(c) combining the second product stream into the first product stream after the first filling head and before a nozzle;(d) capturing data representative of the quantity of product which has passed through each filling head;(e) responsive to the data, stopping the flow of a first product stream through a first filling head; and(f) responsive to the data, stopping the flow of a second product stream through the second filling head. 16. The method of claim 15, wherein step (a) and step (b) take place simultaneously. 17. The method of claim 15 wherein step (a) and step (b) do not take place simultaneously. 18. The method of claim 15 further including, before step (a), providing a recipe to be implemented. 19. The method of claim 18 wherein providing a recipe comprises retrieving a pre-existing recipe from a database of recipes. 20. The method of claim 18 wherein providing a recipe comprises modifying a pre-existing recipe selected from a database of recipes. 21. The method of claim 18 wherein providing the recipe comprises entering, through a user interface, recipe characteristics including target fill weight for a first product, target fill weight for a second product, target fill time, start delay for a first or second product, direction of container rotation, and angular velocity of container rotation. 22. The method of claim 21 wherein the recipe characteristics further include the number of filling regions, direction of container rotation and angular velocity of container rotation.
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