A conveyor and carriage assembly are synchronized to increase the speed of operation and eliminate any dwell periods to improve the rate at which a linear container filler is able to fill containers with a material. The fill rate approaches or exceeds that of prior art linear and rotary filling mach
A conveyor and carriage assembly are synchronized to increase the speed of operation and eliminate any dwell periods to improve the rate at which a linear container filler is able to fill containers with a material. The fill rate approaches or exceeds that of prior art linear and rotary filling machines.
대표청구항▼
1. For filling with a material a plurality of containers, each having a top opening with a center point, a filling apparatus comprising: a. a base;b. a conveyor assembly comprising at least one conveyor coupled to the base and adapted to carry said plurality of containers in at least one row of cont
1. For filling with a material a plurality of containers, each having a top opening with a center point, a filling apparatus comprising: a. a base;b. a conveyor assembly comprising at least one conveyor coupled to the base and adapted to carry said plurality of containers in at least one row of containers in a first direction at a predetermined constant speed with the center points of the openings of each adjacent pair of said containers of each row of containers being a predetermined distance apart;c. a carriage assembly coupled to the frame and disposed above the conveyor, said carriage assembly having at least one vertical carriage, at least one horizontal carriage, and a plurality of nozzles each having an ejection port, said at least one horizontal carriage adapted to reciprocate side to side between a first termination point and a second termination point, said at least one vertical carriage coupled to said at least one horizontal carriage and adapted to move up and down between a raised position and a lowered position, said nozzles adapted to move up and down with the at least one vertical carriage and side to side with the at least one horizontal carriage, said plurality of nozzles arranged in at least one row of nozzles with each row of nozzles comprising a leading nozzle and the ejection ports of each adjacent pair of nozzles in each row of nozzles being said predetermined distance apart;d. a microcontroller adapted to control and synchronize the speed of the conveyor, movement of said at least one horizontal carriage so that during operation the horizontal carriage moves continuously and instantaneously between said first termination point and said second termination point, and movement of said at least one vertical carriage between said raised position and said lowered position; wherein, as said at least one conveyor carries said plurality of containers in said first direction, said controller is adapted to repeatedly cycle the carriage assembly to (i) cause said at least one horizontal carriage, upon reaching the first termination point, to immediately move toward the second termination point with each of said nozzles aligned with the top opening a container to be filled, (ii) cause said at least one vertical carriage, while the at least one vertical horizontal carriage is moving from the first termination point to the second termination point, to move from the raised position to the lowered position so that each of the nozzles engages a container to be filled with the material and, after the containers engaged by the nozzles are filled with the material, to return to the raised position no later than the point in time at which the at least one horizontal carriage reaches the second termination point, (iii) cause the at least one horizontal carriage to move toward the first termination point immediately upon the at least one horizontal carriage reaching the second termination point, and (iv) cause the leading nozzle of each row of nozzles to be positioned above the first yet to be filled container in the row of containers upon the at least one horizontal carriage reaching the first termination point and beginning to again move back toward the second termination point. 2. The filling apparatus of claim 1 wherein said at least one conveyor comprises a screw having a shaft extending along a longitudinal axis surrounded by flight, wherein the flight indexes the spacing between the center points of the top openings of the containers and the screw is adapted to rotate to move the containers in the first direction. 3. The filling apparatus of claim 1 wherein the predetermined constant speed is variable. 4. The filling apparatus of claim 1 further comprising at least one pump adapted to be controlled by the controller and pump material through the nozzles only when at least one of the nozzles is in filling engagement with a container. 5. The filling apparatus of claim 1 further comprising at least one valve coupled to a nozzle and having an open position which allows material to flow through the nozzle and a closed position restricting the flow of material through the nozzle, wherein the valve is in the open position when the nozzle is in filling engagement with the top opening of a container and otherwise the nozzle is closed. 6. The filling apparatus of claim 5 wherein actuation of the valve of each nozzle between the open position and the closed position is controlled by the controller. 7. The filling apparatus of claim 1 wherein the at least one conveyor is adapted to carry the containers in two rows in the first direction and the nozzles are arranged in two rows. 8. The filling apparatus of claim 7 wherein said at least one conveyor comprises a pair of screws and a guide plate positioned between the screws, wherein each screw has a shaft defining a longitudinal axis of rotation and a flight surrounding the shaft, wherein the longitudinal axes of said screws are parallel to each other, and wherein each of said screws is adapted to rotate to move the containers of each row of containers in the first direction. 9. The filling apparatus of claim 8 wherein the flight of each screw comprises container dividing members. 10. The filling apparatus of claim 1 wherein servomotors are used to move the screws, said servomotors adapted to send signals to the controller that are processed by the controller to synchronize the position and speed of the screws, and further adapted to receive signals from the controller to adjust the position and speed of the screws so the screws turn in synchronization with each other. 11. For filling with a material a plurality of containers, each having a top opening with a center point, a filling apparatus comprising: a. a base;b. a conveyor assembly comprising at least one conveyor coupled to the base and adapted to carry said plurality of containers in at least two rows of containers in a first direction at a predetermined constant speed with the center points of the openings of each adjacent pair of said containers of each row of containers being a predetermined distance apart;c. a carriage assembly coupled to the frame and disposed above the conveyor, said carriage assembly having a vertical carriage, a horizontal carriage, and a plurality of nozzles each having an ejection port, said horizontal carriage adapted to reciprocate side to side between a first termination point and a second termination point, said vertical carriage member coupled to said horizontal carriage and adapted to move up and down between a raised position and a lowered position, said nozzles adapted to move up and down with the vertical carriage and sided to side with the horizontal carriage, said plurality of nozzles arranges in at least two rows of nozzles with each row of nozzles comprising a leading nozzle and the ejection ports of each adjacent pair of nozzles in each row of nozzles being said predetermined distance apart;d. a microcontroller adapted to control and synchronize the speed of the conveyor, movement of said horizontal carriage so that during operation the horizontal carriage moves continuously and instantaneously between said first termination point and said second termination point, and movement of said vertical carriage between said raised position and said lowered position; wherein, as said conveyor carries said plurality of containers in said first direction, said controller repeatedly cycles the carriage assembly to (i) cause said horizontal carriage, upon reaching the first termination point, to immediately move toward the second termination point with each of said nozzles aligned with the top opening a container to be filled, (ii) cause said vertical carriage, while the horizontal carriage is moving from the first termination point to the second termination point, to move from the raised position to the lowered position so that each of the nozzles engages a container to be filled with the material and, after the containers engaged by the nozzles are filled with the material, to return to the raised position no later than the point in time at which horizontal carriage reaches the second termination point, (iii) cause the horizontal carriage to move toward the first termination point immediately upon the horizontal carriage reaching the second termination point, and (iv) cause the leading nozzle of each row of nozzles to be positioned above the first yet to be filled container in the row of containers upon the horizontal carriage assembly reaching the first termination point and beginning to again move back toward the second termination point. 12. The filling apparatus of claim 11 wherein said at least one conveyor comprises at least two screws each having a shaft extending along a longitudinal axis surrounded by flight, wherein the flight of one of the screws indexes the spacing between the center points of the top openings of the containers of a first row of containers and the flight of another of the screws indexes the spacing between the center points of the top openings of the containers of a second row of containers, and said screws are adapted to rotate to move the containers of each row of containers in the first direction. 13. The filling apparatus of claim 11 wherein the predetermined constant speed is variable. 14. The filling apparatus of claim 11 further comprising at least one pump adapted to be controlled by the controller and pump material through the nozzles only when each of the nozzles is in filling engagement with containers. 15. The filling apparatus of claim 11 further comprising at least one valve coupled to a nozzle and having an open position which allows material to flow through the nozzle and a closed position restricting the flow of material through the nozzle, wherein the valve is in the open position when the nozzle is in filling engagement with the top opening of a container and otherwise the nozzle is closed. 16. The filling apparatus of claim 15 wherein actuation of the valve of each nozzle between the open position and the closed position is controlled by the controller. 17. The filling apparatus of claim 11 wherein said at least one conveyor comprises a pair of screws and a guide plate positioned between the screws, wherein each screw has a shaft defining a longitudinal axis of rotation and a fight surrounding the shaft, wherein the longitudinal axes of said screws are parallel to each other, and wherein said screws are adapted to rotate to move the containers of each row of containers in the first direction. 18. The filling apparatus of claim 17 wherein the flight of each screw comprises container dividing members. 19. The filling apparatus of claim 11 wherein the vertical carriage is attached to the base via at least one track along which the vertical carriage moves up and down, the horizontal carriage is attached to the vertical carriage via at least one track along which the vertical carriage moves side to side, and said nozzles are attached to said horizontal carriage. 20. The filling apparatus of claim 11 wherein servomotors are used to move the horizontal carriage and the vertical carriage, said servomotors adapted to send signals to the controller that are processed by the controller to synchronize the position and speed of the horizontal carriage and vertical carriage, and further adapted to receive signals from the controller to adjust the position and speed of the horizontal carriage and vertical carriage.
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이 특허에 인용된 특허 (15)
Bennett Richard N. (Arbutus MD) Lichaa Albert (Baltimore MD), Anti-spilling safety device for high-speed filling machines.
Hartness,Thomas Patterson; Wiernicki,Richard M.; Dillard,Robert Leslie; Scott,David Lee, Circular motion filling machine for processing parallel rows of containers and method.
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