U.S. patent application number 15/521893 was filed with the patent office on 2017-11-09 for device for pumping a liquid in a liquid line.
The applicant listed for this patent is KHS Corpoplast GmbH. Invention is credited to Rolf BAUMGARTE, Ludwig CLUSSERATH, Werner LESINSKI, Michael LINKE, Michael LITZENBERG, Niels MEYER.
Application Number | 20170321685 15/521893 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 54936988 |
Filed Date | 2017-11-09 |
United States Patent
Application |
20170321685 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
BAUMGARTE; Rolf ; et
al. |
November 9, 2017 |
DEVICE FOR PUMPING A LIQUID IN A LIQUID LINE
Abstract
The invention relates to a device for pumping a liquid in a
liquid line, in particular in a bottling system. The object of the
invention is a device for pumping a liquid in a liquid line, the
liquid-guiding areas of which device can be cleaned and/or
disinfected without disassembling the piston assembly or performing
any other interventions from the exterior. According to the
invention, a device for pumping a liquid in a liquid line (1)
comprises a pump element (2) and two valves (3, 4) which are
disposed in the liquid line upstream of and downstream from the
pump element, said pump element (2) comprising a pump piston (6)
operating in a cylinder (5). The inventive device is characterized
in that said pump element (2) comprises a closed chamber (7) having
a constant volume of a secondary liquid on which the pump piston
(6) acts. Also, the chamber (7) is connected to the liquid line (1)
by means of an elastic liquid-impermeable element (8), which
element can be deformed under the pressure exerted by the volume of
the secondary liquid displaced by the pump piston (6).
Inventors: |
BAUMGARTE; Rolf;
(Ahrensburg, DE) ; CLUSSERATH; Ludwig; (Bad
Kreuznach, DE) ; LESINSKI; Werner; (Ahrensburg,
DE) ; LINKE; Michael; (Hamburg, DE) ;
LITZENBERG; Michael; (Geesthacht, DE) ; MEYER;
Niels; (Schenefeld, DE) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
KHS Corpoplast GmbH |
Hamburg |
|
DE |
|
|
Family ID: |
54936988 |
Appl. No.: |
15/521893 |
Filed: |
October 30, 2015 |
PCT Filed: |
October 30, 2015 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/EP2015/002181 |
371 Date: |
April 25, 2017 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65B 39/001 20130101;
F04B 43/107 20130101; F04B 43/067 20130101; B65B 3/32 20130101;
B65B 3/12 20130101; B65B 39/004 20130101 |
International
Class: |
F04B 43/067 20060101
F04B043/067; B65B 39/00 20060101 B65B039/00; B65B 3/32 20060101
B65B003/32; B65B 39/00 20060101 B65B039/00; B65B 3/12 20060101
B65B003/12 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Oct 30, 2014 |
DE |
10 2014 016 526.4 |
Claims
1. A device for pumping a liquid in a liquid line comprising: a
pump element comprising a pump piston operating in a cylinder; and
two valves which are disposed in the liquid line upstream of and
downstream from the pump element respectively; wherein said pump
element comprises a closed chamber having a constant volume of a
secondary liquid on which the pump piston acts; and wherein the
chamber is connected to the liquid line by an elastic
liquid-impermeable element, which element is deformable under
pressure exerted by the volume of the secondary liquid displaced by
the pump piston.
2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the elastic element is
a membrane or a roll membrane.
3. The device according to claim 1, wherein the elastic element is
a bellows or a roll bellows.
4. The device according to claim 1, wherein the secondary liquid is
water or oil.
5. The device according to claim 1, wherein one or both of the
valves are check valves.
Description
[0001] The present invention relates to a device for pumping a
liquid in a liquid line, particularly in a bottling facility for
filling of bottles.
[0002] Pump devices for pumping a liquid within a liquid line can
be designed, e.g., as piston pumps, membrane pumps (diaphragm
pumps), eccentric screw pumps, or peristaltic pumps. For different
applications, it is necessary to convey (pump) a precisely defined
volume per work cycle. One such application is, e.g., filling of
liquids into containers, e.g. in the beverage industry. Here, it is
sought to fill a bottle with a precisely defined volume of a
beverage. This can be accomplished in various ways, e.g. by
measuring a volumetric flow or by measuring the filling height.
[0003] A reliable method which can be used in particular in
volumetric filling is the use of a piston pump in which a piston
executes strokes in a cylinder and displaces a defined volume of
liquid with each stroke. Thus, during a first stroke movement of
the piston, a defined volume can be conveyed into the piston
through a feed line from a storage container. The feed line is then
shut off by a shutoff valve, which may also be in the form of a
check valve, so that no liquid can flow back into the storage
container.
[0004] Then the liquid inside the cylinder is displaced from the
cylinder in the opposite direction by a piston stroke and fed
through a line to the container which is to be filled. Depending on
the forming process (for the container) and the filling process,
and depending on the filling material with which the container is
to be filled, this can be carried out under different pressures.
With this method, an already formed container can be filled, or a
preform can be simultaneously formed and filled under high
pressure.
[0005] A problem with the use of such piston pumps is the cleaning.
In particular, bottling facilities for bottling beverages have
stringent hygiene requirements. This includes regular cleaning and
disinfection, which need to be carried out as quickly as possible
in order to avoid undue periods of idleness of the affected
machinery. In addition, intervention in a machine, e.g. by removal
of parts for cleaning and disinfection, is undesirable and should
be avoided to the extent possible, in order to prevent the
contamination of the machinery by externally introduced
microorganisms. The regions of the machine which serve to convey
the filling material should be isolated from the surroundings to
the extent possible, and should be cleaned without any opening.
[0006] For the cleaning and disinfecting of such machines, largely
without dismantling, various methods have been developed for
so-called CIP (cleaning in place), during which the components
remain in place in their original locations.
[0007] However, it is difficult to clean and disinfect the piston
and cylinder in a piston arrangement for pumping a liquid, in which
case the piston has to be uninstalled, as a rule, in order to
remove impurities located between the piston and the cylinder. In
particular, in the case of a piston which has a seal with respect
to the matching cylinder surface, impurities in the region of the
seal cannot be satisfactorily removed without disassembly.
[0008] Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to
devise a device for pumping a liquid in a liquid line wherein the
regions of the device which guide the liquid can be cleaned and/or
disinfected without disassembling the piston assembly or performing
any other interventions from the exterior.
[0009] According to the invention, a device is proposed for pumping
a liquid in a liquid line, in particular in a bottle filling line,
which device is comprised of a pump element and two valves which
are disposed in the liquid line upstream and downstream of the pump
element, which pump element is comprised of a pump piston operating
in a cylinder. The inventive device is characterized in that the
pump element has a closed chamber with a constant volume of a
secondary liquid, on which liquid the pump piston acts. The chamber
is connected to the liquid line by an elastic, liquid-impermeable
element which can be deformed under the pressure exerted by the
volume of the secondary liquid displaced by the pumping piston.
[0010] Liquid located in the liquid line can be pumped by means of
the inventive device, by movement of the piston. The volume
delivered per working cycle is determined by the operating stroke
distance of the piston and the diameter of the cylinder. By virtue
of the fact that the piston operates only in the secondary liquid
and does not come into contact with the liquid conveyed, the
pumping device can be used for applications in which the
liquid-guiding areas must be regularly cleaned. It is unnecessary
for the piston pump to be disassembled for the cleaning.
Cleaning-in-place methods can be used. The inventive device thus
combines the advantage of easy cleanability of, e.g., membrane
pumps, with the advantage of an easy to determine delivery volume
of piston pumps.
[0011] The elastic element may be in the form of a bellows or an
elastic membrane. Also, a roll membrane (roll-type diaphragm) or a
roll bellows may be employed.
[0012] The secondary liquid may be, e.g., water or oil.
[0013] One or both of the valves in the liquid line may be check
valves.
[0014] For the cleaning and/or disinfection, customary cleaning
and/or disinfecting agents may be employed, which are introduced
through the liquid line; such agents may be, in particular liquid
or gaseous cleaning agents, e.g. steam.
[0015] The inventive method may be used for filling of already
formed containers, or for simultaneous filling and forming of
containers from preforms. The required pressure can be easily
adjusted via the force applied to the piston.
[0016] Various exemplary embodiments of the invention are described
in more detail below with reference to the accompanying
drawings.
[0017] FIG. 1 shows schematically an embodiment of a pumping device
according to the invention, with a bellows; and
[0018] FIGS. 2a and 2b show schematically a further embodiment of a
pumping device according to the invention, with a membrane.
[0019] It is self-evident to a person skilled in the art that the
drawings presented here are merely intended to illustrate the
principle of the invention and are only schematic in nature and are
not to scale. In particular, the illustrated dimensions are for
illustrative purposes only. The actual dimensions and size ratios
can be readily determined by a person skilled in the art on the
basis of his/her technical knowledge.
[0020] FIG. 1 shows schematically an exemplary embodiment of a pump
device according to the invention. The device serves to pump a
liquid which is located in a liquid line 1, e.g. a liquid of a type
typically present in a line in a bottling facility. In this
application, a liquid to be bottled is to be conveyed from a
storage container (not shown in the Figure), with the direction of
conveyance indicated by the arrow V, wherewith in each case a
defined volume of the liquid is introduced into a container (not
shown), which liquid is conveyed in the direction of the arrow
B.
[0021] The pumping device has a pump element 2 which is disposed in
the liquid line 1 between two valves 3, 4, which here are in the
form of check valves. The valve 3 is disposed upstream of the pump
element 2 and the valve 4 is disposed downstream of the pump
element 2.
[0022] The pump element 2 has a pump piston 6 operating in a
cylinder 5. The pump element 2 also has a closed chamber 7 which
contains a constant volume of water as a secondary liquid, which
water is enclosed in the chamber 7. The pump piston 6 acts on the
enclosed water volume.
[0023] The chamber 7 also has an elastic, liquid-impermeable
bellows 8a which is connected to the liquid line 1.
[0024] If (when) the pump piston 6 displaces liquid in the chamber
7, the elastic bellows 8a is deformed, and transfers the pressure
to the liquid in the liquid line 1, wherewith the volume displaced
by the bellows 8a in the liquid line 1 corresponds to the volume
displaced by the pump piston 6. Thus, the volumetric control of the
liquid delivered by the device corresponds to that of a piston
pump.
[0025] At the same time, the filling-material-carrying regions of
the device can be cleaned and/or disinfected without problems using
CIP cleaning methods, without the need for disassembly. The bellows
8a can be completely charged with a cleaning and/or disinfecting
medium, and subjected to force from said medium, from the liquid
line 1.
[0026] FIG. 2a shows a further exemplary embodiment of the pump
device according to the invention. In contrast to the exemplary
embodiment shown in FIG. 1, a membrane 8b is used here as the
elastic, liquid-impermeable element.
[0027] FIG. 2b shows how the membrane 8b displaces liquid in the
liquid line 1 when the piston 6 displaces the secondary liquid in
the chamber 7. The volume displaced in the liquid line 1 (shown as
crosshatched) exactly corresponds to the volume displaced by the
piston 6 (also shown as crosshatched).
[0028] With this device, all of the regions which serve to guide
the filling liquid can be cleaned and/or disinfected without
disassembly. The device combines the advantages of piston pumps
with the advantages of membrane pumps.
* * * * *