CONTAINER TREATMENT PLANT AND METHOD OF TREATING CONTAINERS

• US 20110289883A1
• Filed: 05/31/2011
• Published: 12/01/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 05/31/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Krones AG (Krones)
• Original Assignee: Krones AG (Krones)
• Inventors: NEUBAUER, Michael
• Granted Patent: US 8,701,375 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 53/167
• CPC Class Codes: B65B 55/02 Sterilising, e.g. of complete packages
• CPC Class Codes: B67C 7/0013 Synchronising
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 156/17 Surface bonding means and/or assemblymeans with work feeding or handling means

Abstract

A container treatment plant, with a discontinuously working container treatment machine and having a feed conveyor and/or a discharge conveyor each for individual containers, and in the feed conveyor and/or the discharge conveyor, at least two continuously driven, circulating conveyor means supplying each other with individual containers, and where the conveyor means being closer to the discontinuously working container treatment machine in the conveying direction exhibits a closer conveying pitch than the conveying pitch of the conveyor means which is further away. In this manner, a container acceptance and/or transfer interruption caused by the respective cycle standstill of the discontinuously working container treatment machine is compensated by the conveying pitch difference to be able to continuously supply individual containers for the discontinuously working machine or continuously discharge them from the discontinuously working container treatment machine.

Claims

1. Container treatment plant (B), comprising at least one discontinuously working container treatment machine (MT), at least one feed conveyor (Z) and/or at least one discharge conveyor (A), each for individual containers, in functional association to the discontinuously working container treatment machine, and in the feed conveyor (Z) and/or in the discharge conveyor (A), each at least two continuously driven, circulating conveyor means (F1, F2, F1′

, F2′

) supplying each other with individual containers are provided, of which the circulating conveyor means (F2, F2′

) being closer to the discontinuously working container treatment machine (MT) in the conveying direction has a closer conveying pitch (T2) than the wider conveying pitch (T1) of a circulating conveyor means (F1, F1′

) which is further away, and that a container acceptance and/or transfer interruption caused by the respective cycle standstill of the discontinuously working container treatment machine (MT) can be compensated by the conveying pitch difference (T1−

T2) of the circulating conveyor means (F1, F2, F1′

, F2′

) supplying each other continuously with individual containers.

2. Container treatment plant according to claim 1, wherein in two continuously driven, circulating conveyor means (F1, F2;

F1′

, F2′

), the conveying pitch (T2) of the conveyor means (F2, F2′

) being closer to the discontinuously working container treatment machine (MT) amounts to half the conveying pitch (T1) of the conveyor means (F1, F1′

) which is further away.

3. Container treatment plant according to claim 1, wherein the container pitch (T2) provided in the discontinuously working container treatment machine (MT) is in accordance with the conveying pitch (T2) of the closer circulating conveyor means (F2, F2′

).

4. Container treatment plant according to claim 3, wherein between the discontinuously working container treatment machine (MT) and the closer circulating conveyor means (F2, F2′

), an intermediate conveyor means that can be driven in time with the discontinuously working container treatment machine (MT) is provided, the immediate conveyor means has a conveying pitch which (T2) corresponds to the conveying pitch (T2) of the closer conveyor means (F2, F2′

) and the container pitch (T2) in the discontinuously working container treatment machine (MT).

5. Container treatment plant according to claim 1, wherein the at least two continuously driven, circulating conveyor means (F1, F2, F1′

, F2′

) in the feed conveyor (Z) and/or discharge conveyor (A) are rotationally driven conveyor starwheels with essentially circumferential container transport elements, wherein the radian measure distance between the container transport elements of the conveyor starwheel which is further away is twice the radian measure distance between the container transport elements of the closer conveyor starwheel.

6. Container treatment plant according to claim 3, wherein in the discontinuously working container treatment machine (MT), a treatment starwheel with container transport elements is provided.

7. Container treatment plant according to claim 4, wherein the discontinuously driven intermediate conveyor means is a transfer starwheel with container transport elements.

8. Container treatment plant according to claim 5, wherein the container transport elements comprise controlled or non-controlled container acceptance and/or transfer means.

9. Container treatment plant according to claim 5, wherein at least two of the conveyor starwheels have identical working diameters.

10. Container treatment plant according to claim 9, wherein the conveyor starwheels which are furthest away from the discontinuously working container treatment machine in the conveying direction have working diameters different than those of the other starwheels exhibiting identical diameters.

11. Container treatment plant according to claim 1, wherein at least one circulating conveyor means (F1, F1′

) in the feed conveyor (Z) and/or in the discharge conveyor (A) which is further away and associated to the discontinuously working container treatment machine (MT) is a discharge and/or feed means of a continuously working container treatment machine (MK1, MK2), or a continuously working container treatment machine (MK1, MK2) which is connected in a block with the discontinuously working container treatment machine (MT) via the feed conveyor (Z) and/or the discharge conveyor (A).

12. Container treatment plant according to claim 1, wherein the discontinuously working container treatment machine (MT) comprises a filler or a sterilizer.

13. Container treatment plant according to claim 11, wherein the continuously working container treatment machine (MK1, MK2) is one of a rotary stretch-blow molding machine, or a closer, or a labeling machine.

18. Container treatment machine according to claim 2, and wherein the closer conveyor means (F2, F2′

) comprises an uneven conveying pitch number, and the conveyor means which is further away comprises an even conveying pitch number.

19. Container treatment machine according to claim 11, wherein the continuously working treatment machine (MK1, MK2) is a rotary machine.

14. Method of treating containers in a container treatment plant (B) which has at least one discontinuously working container treatment machine (MT) and, functionally associated to it, at least one feed conveyor (Z) and/or one discharge conveyor (A), each for individually transported containers, comprising the feed conveyor (Z) or/and the discharge conveyor (A) continuously supplying and/or discharging the individual containers, and compensating for a container discharge and/or transfer interruption, caused by the respective cycle standstill of the discontinuously working container treatment machine (MT), by a conveying pitch difference (T1−

T2) between different conveying pitches (T1, T2) of at least two continuously driven, circulating conveyor means (F1, F2, F1′

, F2′

) supplying each other in the feed conveyor (Z) or the discharge conveyor (A), respectively.

15. Method according to claim 14, and wherein in the feed conveyor (Z), setting the conveying pitch (T2), of the conveyor means (F2, F2′

) being closer to the discontinuously working container treatment machine (MT) in the conveying direction, to half the conveying pitch (T1) of the conveyor means (F1) which is further away, the conveyor means (F1) which is further away filling the closer conveyor means (F2) during at least approximately two circulations of both conveyor means (F1, F2), supplying the complete filling of the closer conveyor means (F2) in a further circulation of the two conveyor means (F1, F2) directly or indirectly into the discontinuously working container treatment machine (MT), and adapting in time the respective circulation of the two conveyor means (F1, F2) to the cycle standstill of the discontinuously working container treatment machine (MT).

16. Method according to claim 14, wherein in the discharge conveyor (A), setting the conveying pitch (T2), of the conveyor means (F2′

) being closer to the discontinuously working container treatment machine (MT), to half the conveying pitch (T1) of the conveyor means (F1′

) which is further away, completely filling the closer conveyor means (F2′

) from the discontinuously working container treatment machine (MT) in one circulation of the conveyor means (F2′

) directly or indirectly, the conveyor means (F1′

) which is further away emptying the closer conveyor means (F2′

) during at least approximately two circulations of both conveyor means (F1′

, F2′

) and adapting in time the respective circulation of the two conveyor means (F1′

, F2′

) in the discharge conveyor (A) to the cycle standstill of the discontinuously working container treatment machine (MT).

17. Method according to claim 15, and filling or emptying the conveyor means (F2, F2′

), as embodied with an uneven conveying pitch number and being closer to the discontinuously working container treatment machine (MT), by the conveyor means (F1, F1′

) which is further away and is embodied with an even conveying pitch number.

20. Method according to claim 16, and filling or emptying the conveyor means (F2, F2′

), as embodied with an uneven conveying pitch number and being closer to the discontinuously working container treatment machine (MT), by the conveyor means (F1, F1′

) which is further away and is embodied with an even conveying pitch number.